10/24 Black Beans and Mangos Go Perfectly Together

I really don't like mangos on their own, but they taste fabulous with black beans. We cooked a giant pot of black beans and filled it with mango, spinach, corn, tomato, garlic, and quinoa. We threw it in a tortilla and topped with with avocado, and it was just amazing.

10/22 An Experiment in Afghani Food

There is an awesome girl in my house who is Afghani, so we decided to make some Afghani food. Okay, so she decided to make the food, and we sat there for two hours entertaining and sharing snacks of hummus and popcorn (not together). It was well worth the wait. I have no idea what we ate, but I do know it consisted of rice and kidney beans with a magical blend of spices.

As she noted, almost no Middle Eastern food photographs well. However, my tastebuds were singing with joy.

10/16 A Pumpkin Feast of Epic Proportions

As is very evident, I absolutely love pumpkin. I can't get enough of it. For weeks, I have been collecting any interesting recipes I see on Tastespotting involving pumpkin (I have an entire bookmarks folder). During my Fall Break (a five-day weekend), I finally decided to throw a pumpkin feast for my friends remaining on campus. I had an absolutely miserable midterm week, consisting of 3 papers totaling more than 25 pages and a test. I was almost had another 6 page paper due, but that was luckily postponed. I opted to stay on campus for Break to sleep, build a fort, and cook. It was a grand weekend.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Black Bean Lentil Burgers (quite the mouthful)

These were my first attempt at veggie burgers, ever! I've now decided to make them all the time and freeze them for later because they are so incredibly easy. I added lentils just for fun, and they made all the difference.

Pumpkin Garlic Knots

Next time, I would add more pumpkin to the dough so it tastes more pumpkin-y.

My roommate's delicious Butternut Squash Ginger Soup (not pumpkin, but close enough)

Salad with field greens and walnuts (not especially exotic but still delicious)

Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake

I don't remember where the recipe came from, but I did use a gingersnap crust, which was pretty awesome (except they were near impossible to crush). I wasn't especially thrilled with the chocolate overpowering the pumpkin, but it was still pretty tasty.

10/15 Black Bean Madness

As a vegetarian, I eat a lot of beans so I can get enough protein. For some reason, black beans are so much more appealing to me than other beans. I've tried many kinds, but I will always prefer black beans. They have the best texture and go remarkably well with other exciting flavors.

Black beans and rice with guacamole, field green and walnut salad