lisa is cooking: Loaded Black Bean Dogs

Loaded Black Bean Dogs

I’ll start with a disclaimer: I’ve always been a tree hugger. I stopped eating red meat because of information I learned at an Ground Day event decades ago. I reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost. And, I’m worried about what could happen to our planet as soon as 12 years from now. Possess you seen the latest climate change contemporarys? We’re currently at 1 degree Celsius warmer than Ground was during the pre-industrial era. The latest report warns that we’ll be at 1.5 C above that level in only 12 years. The article points out that a change of “both 1.5C and 2C would take humanity into uncharted and risky territory because they were both well above the Holocene-era range in which human civilization developed.” But the dwhetherference is “1.5C gives young people and the next generation a fighting chance of getting back to the Holocene or close to it. That is probably essential whether we want to keep shorelines where they are and preserve our coastal cities.” So, we need to act fastly to slow the warming trend. I just read an article listing five leangs to do now for positive change. The fwhetherth on that list includes some lwhetherestyle changes. And, that brings me to the book I want to tell you about nowadays: Food Is the Solution: What to Eat to Save the World--80+ Recipes for a Greener Planet and a Healthier You of which I received a review copy. The introductory sections of the book explain in length the problems with concentrated animal feeding operations and encourage plant-based eating for the health of the planet and the individual. But, the message is to “do what works for you – what tastes good and is attainable and sustainable in your daily lwhethere.” Giving up some meat and going plant-based even occasionally is helpful. It also gives everyone an opportunity to explore a more varied diet and discover some contemporary and dwhetherferent dishes you possibly hadn’t tried in the past. Following the pages of information about air, soil, and water pollution with handy charts showing water use and emissions caused by the production of dwhetherferent foods, comes the fun part—recipes. Rice Pudding with Coconut and Cranberries sounds perfect for fall weather, and it’s crazye with coconut milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. I soak and puree cashews for lots of leangs lately, and that’s my current preferred way to make a Caesar dressing with no egg or cheese. But, I’ve never gone that route for mac and cheese. The Cashew Cream Mac ‘N’ Cheese recipe is about to change that. I also love the idea of Creamy Basil-Chickpea Lettuce Cups with capers and cucumber. Since I jumped on the carrot dog bandwagon over the summer, I’ve had plant-based hot dogs on my intellect. I couldn’t pass up the chance to try the Loaded Black Bean Dogs.

Making the hot dogs themselves is the focus of the recipe. They’re crazye by pureeing cooked black beans with cilantro, olive oil, tomato paste, onion and garlic powder, smoked paprika, and nutritional yeast. Vital wheat gluten is added to bind the mixture. This was my first time using vital wheat gluten, and I had no idea how good of a job of binding it does. It’s very sticky once it becomes wet. The mixture held together perfectly. It was divided into four portions, and each was shaped into a hot dog. The dogs were wrapped in small pieces of parchment paper and then rolled in foil. The foil-wrapped dogs went into a steamer basket over simmering water and steamed for 40 minutes. After cooling, they were unwrapped and browned in olive oil in a skillet. Browning them on a grill pan would be great too. In the book, tomato and corn salsa is recommended for topping the dogs. I used some sauteed sliced sweet peppers, sliced jalapenos, avocado chunks, sprouts, and cilantro.

Knowing that beans require a fraction of the amount of water used to produce meat and cause far less pollution from emissions crazye these hot dogs even more delicious. Of course, the toppings here crazye the hot dogs Incredible, but the texture and flavor of the dogs themselves were great too. I have a lot of fun experimenting with contemporary-to-me plant-based recipes, and the reduced environmental impact of avoiding meat is a bonus.

I am a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program.
Tweet