Red Beans and Whipped Cream

Not such a pretty name for these guys, nothing with the word “pea” in it is ever going to sound pretty. But since peas are the main ingredient, I guess there is no way around it.

I starred a recipe similar to this in my Google Reader the other day, and decided to make them last night as a side dish. The original recipe didn’t call for any sauce in particular, and I thought a quick lemon butter sauce would work well.

This recipe made about 16 wontons, and they supposedly freeze well, just make sure to double bag them, and then bake straight from the freezer.

Ricotta Pea Wontons with Lemon Butter Sage Sauce

1 c. sweet peas, cooked, and mashed slightly
1/4 c. ricotta (I used part-skim ricotta)
1/4 c. parmesean and/or guyere (I used a microplane so my 1/4 c. was very fluffy and not packed in at all… use less if you’re packing it in more densly)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 serrano pepper, seeds and ribs removed (if you love heat, leave the seeds and ribs in, or use an extra pepper)
Dash of red pepper flakes
Salt to taste
Wonton wrappers (or eggroll wrappers cut in fourths)
Tbsp melted butter

Mix all of the ingredients except the wrappers and butter in a bowl. Lay out your wrappers and place a teaspoonfull of the mixture on each wrapper. Top with another wrapper and seal the edges with water, pressing down to make sure you’ve got them sealed. Brush the tops lightly with butter (I used Smart Balance light margarine with omega 3).

Cook at 450 for 7-10 minutes, or until golden brown and the edges are crispy. Drizzle with lemon butter sage sauce (recipe to follow).

Lemon Butter Sage Sauce

1/4 c. melted butter (I used the Smart Balance light margarine with omega 3)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3-4 sage leaves (I used pineapple sage from my garden)
Dash of garlic powder

I don’t like big pieces of sage, so I muddled my sage in the lemon juice and let it sit for a while, and then poured the lemon juice into the butter while leaving the sage behind. Then I added the garlic.

You could also mince the sage and just mix all of the ingredients together.

A few years ago Zach and I went to a friend’s apartment for Easter dinner. One friend had made greenbeans with a great sauce on top. I loved them so much that I emailed and asked for the recipe. She called them Fancy Pants Greenbeans. In an effort to eat more veggies, I added carrot and corn to the recipe last night. You could add any other veggie that floats your boat. I bet that some chopped up bell peppers would be good. Probably broccoli, if you like that sort of thing.

I cut this recipe in half last night, but here it is in full.

Fancy-Pants Veggies

2 lbs fresh greenbeans
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 can corn
1/2 cup butter
4 Tbs flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup light cream
grated nutmeg (optional)
1/2 cup almonds (blanched)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Ritz crackers

Cook the veggies.

Bring the butter to a simmer then add the flour. Pour in the broth and cream and simmer until they thicken. Crush the crackers in and add almonds and cheese. Then stir in the veggies.

If it is too thick, add some extra broth. Make sure to heat the broth first, especially if you used fresh Parmesan, and not the powdery stuff. Otherwise it may separate.

I didn’t have any almonds last night, so I used chopped pecans instead. I also used 1% milk, because that’s what I had on hand, and it’s better for me anyhow. I also used whole wheat Ritz.

I still ended up with too much sauce. But I think I may not have had the full amount of greenbeans by the time I snapped the ends off of them all, and got rid of the really ugly ones. Harris Teeter didn’t have great greenbeans this weekend.

Chickpea and tomato salad

1 (15-oz.) cans Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
2 Tomatoes (1 lb), cored and chopped
2 Hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
1 c. Sweet onion, chopped
1/3 c. Extra-virgin olive oil
3 T. White wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
1 tsp. Salt
Pepper to taste
Crumbled goat cheese

Combine the garbanzo beans, tomatoes, eggs, and onion in a large bowl. Separately mix the olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a jar or a small bowl. Pour over salad ingredients. Sprinkle on goat cheese. Serve immediately.

Note: If you are not going to eat it all at once, add the goat cheese just before serving.