braised romano beans

romano beans were one of the yummy organic veggies that came in our beachgreens.com delivery. every 2 weeks we get a crate of fresh, organic, locally grown veggies and fruits right on our doorstep. these long, green gems were delicious, and for a vegetarian this was a great meal with some wild rice or lentils. this is not my recipe...i found this recipe online and have given a direct link for it above. the only difference with my is i used yellow onion instead of red.

enjoy!

Marco Canora’s Braised Romano Beans
1 large red onion
2 stalks of celery
1 carrot
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
5 hand-crushed Roma tomatoes (or 1 12-oz. can crushed tomatoes)
1 1/2 lbs. Romano beans
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup chopped basil

(1) Trim stem end of beans and cut larger ones in half. Set aside. (2) Finely chop the onion, celery, and carrot, and sauté them in olive oil with tomatoes for about 20 minutes until the soffritto, or sautéed vegetable mixture, turns pale gold. (3) Add Romano beans gradually and stir to coat well. Cover and cook over low heat, adding a couple of tablespoons of water if the mixture appears too dry. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until very soft but not falling apart. Season with salt and pepper, and finish with chopped basil.


BEACHGREENS BOUNTY

maple and fig muffins

apparently i love to make muffins. i didn't realize this until starting this blog. littlefoodie jr. is always happy that i am once again baking ANOTHER variety of muffins.
these are delicious and he couldn't get enough but it seems like i say that with everything. littlefoodie loves food...maybe its luck. maybe i change it up so often that he is used to variety and different textures and flavors or perhaps he is just like his mom and dad and will eat just about anything in front of them...really!
so i give you yet another muffin and another recipe that is so interchangable...i think thats why i love to make muffins so much, the possibilities seem endless. i adapted this from a muffin recipe that i had written down a while ago from allrecipes.com.

enjoy!

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3 tbl organic natural brown sugar
2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup spectrum brand shortening (no transfats/crappy gross ingredients)
1/3 cup oats
handful of flaxseed meal
1 egg
3/4 cup almond milk (we use unsweetened)
1/2 cup organic grade b maple syrup
1/2 cup chopped dried figs

preheat oven to 400F. grease muffin tin.
sift flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together.
cut in shortening.
add oats.
combine egg, almond milk and maple syrup. add to dry and stir until just moistened. stir in figs.
pour into muffin tins and bake 18 minutes.