RECIPE Black Bean Lasagna

[Guest guest]

This is just pasted from my files; sorry for the extra info. Lots of

my hiking/non-cooking friends ask for the recipe. There are lots of

ways to save time here (canned beans, for example), but it's really

not bad. Also, I will sometimes use water-packed firm tofu, drained &

mixed with some olive oil, basil, oregano & lemon, instead of the

cheese for that layer.

 

Amy

******************

Black Bean Lasagna

 

There may be references to people and places you don't

know in there - sorry about that! Rather than type

this over everytime someone asks, I just saved the

first email!

 

It looks like a long, fussy recipe, but it's really

not! My comments for the non-cooks who requested this

recipe are in {}.

 

THE RECIPE

 

" bean layer "

2 cups dried black beans, rinsed, soaked at least 6

hours, and drained

1 large red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and seeded

1 large yellow bell pepper, roasted, peeled and seeded

 

3 mild jalapeno peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded

1 large red onion, quartered

4 garlic cloves, halved lengthwise

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

12 very ripe, fresh medium tomatoes or Roma plum

tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon rind

1 tablespoon Mexican seasoning blend; or 1 tablespoon

chili powder and 2 teaspoons ground oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

Kernels from 4 ears fresh corn

 

" cheese layer "

2 cups cottage cheese

9 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded >

1/3 cup plain yogurt

 

" remaining assembly "

1 1-pound package lasagna noodles

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

{I used 2 ~15-oz. cans of canned black beans (well

rinsed), and 1 ~8-oz. can of corn kernels for the

Halloween party. Kim, you can also buy pre-roasted

peppers, canned peeled, chopped tomatoes, minced

garlic in a jar, pre-shredded cheese and fresh pasta

that barely requires cooking. You still need to heat

and assemble though! }

 

 

Ok, here're the instructions:

 

Put the beans in a deep saucepan with water to cover

to twice their volume. {If canned, rinse and set

aside.} Bring the water to a boil, cover, and let

simmer for 1 hour. Let cool, then drain.

 

In a food processor or blender, process the red,

yellow, and jalapeno peppers, red onion, garlic and

cilantro leaves to finely dice. Take care not to

over-process into a paste.

 

Place the tomatoes in a large skillet and heat gently,

stirring to break them down. Add the pepper mixture

and stir to blend. Sprinkle with lemon rind, Mexican

seasoning (or chili powder and oregano), cumin and

cayenne. Mix well. Cover and let simmer over low heat

for 15 minutes. {If you use (cold) canned beans and

corn, add them before simmering.}

 

Transfer the tomato mixture into a deep saucepan or

Dutch oven, and stir in the corn and beans. Cover and

let simmer 5 minutes. In a medium bowl {ok, this

required what I consider a large bowl, just to warn

you.}, combine the cottage, Cheddar and Monterey Jack

cheeses. Add the yogurt and stir to blend. {I used

lowfat.} Prepare the lasagna noodles according to

package directions. {I did this while the tomatoes

etc. were simmering.} Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

F.

 

Spoon one-fourth of the black bean mixture over the

bottom of a 12x8x3-inch baking pan. Cover with a layer

of lasagna noodles. Spoon another fourth of the bean

mixture on top and cover with a layer of the cheese

mixture. Sprinkle with a third of the Parmesan cheese

and cover with another layer of noodles. Repeat. Cover

with a final layer of noodles. Top with the remaining

bean mixture and sprinkle with the last of the

Parmesan. {I used a 13x9x2 pan, and ended up with one

bean layer, topped by noodles then cheese, then

another bean layer and the Parmesan. If you have it,

try to use the deeper pan - you'll end up with

leftover parts if you don't.} Cover with foil and bake

50 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking 7

minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and brown. Let sit

5 minutes before serving.

 

8 - 10 servings. (Generous servings!)

 

From " Vegetarian Entertaining " , by Diana Shaw, Harmony

Books, 1991.

 

Note that 2 cups dry beans will probably end up as 4 -

6 cups hydrated and cooked. This time I had jalapeno

flakes in a jar and used those instead of fresh

jalapeno, plus I usually add more beans than called

for (probably the equivalent of four cans?). Canned

corn works too, maybe 1 1/2 cans. When making it just

for me, I'll often not bother with as much of the

cheese part, and I'll make it with regular noodles,

like elbow or mafalda (mini-lasagna - these work

great!), so it ends up more like goulash (for the

convenience, 'cause I always have those on hand! :-),

and I add some nutritional yeast for B12. If you're

making it in the lasagna form, I have recently

discovered " bake ready " or " oven ready " lasagna

noodles -- they're wonderful! You don't have to cook

them before assembling the lasagna, and I highly

recommend them for ease. Also, add as much extra

garlic as you like - the dish loves it and I usually

use about twice as much as called for... I also

probably add a bit more cumin than listed. In any

case, it's pretty versatile, so play with it, and

enjoy! :-)

 

Oh, yeah, to roast peppers, you slice them in half,

cut the seeds out, and place them cut-side down in a

preheated broiler. Leave them for 10 minutes or so,

but check every once in a while. The skin should be

completely charred, at which point you pop them into a

paper bag, roll the top closed, and place in the

freezer for a few minutes. After that, peel the char

off and you have wonderfully sweet peppers! For

peeling tomatoes, bring a deep pan of water to a

rolling boil. Drop the tomatoes in for a few seconds

to a minute; when the skins split, remove and

carefully (they're very hot) pull off the skin. It's

best to do this one or two at a time.

[Guest guest]

That's a good one Amy. I'll give it a try, I love black beans.........Donna

 

Amy <sandpiperhiker wrote:This is just pasted from my files; sorry

for the extra info. Lots of

my hiking/non-cooking friends ask for the recipe. There are lots of

ways to save time here (canned beans, for example), but it's really

not bad. Also, I will sometimes use water-packed firm tofu, drained &

mixed with some olive oil, basil, oregano & lemon, instead of the

cheese for that layer.

 

Amy

******************

Black Bean Lasagna

 

There may be references to people and places you don't

know in there - sorry about that! Rather than type

this over everytime someone asks, I just saved the

first email!

 

It looks like a long, fussy recipe, but it's really

not! My comments for the non-cooks who requested this

recipe are in {}.

 

THE RECIPE

 

" bean layer "

2 cups dried black beans, rinsed, soaked at least 6

hours, and drained

1 large red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and seeded

1 large yellow bell pepper, roasted, peeled and seeded

 

3 mild jalapeno peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded

1 large red onion, quartered

4 garlic cloves, halved lengthwise

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

12 very ripe, fresh medium tomatoes or Roma plum

tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon rind

1 tablespoon Mexican seasoning blend; or 1 tablespoon

chili powder and 2 teaspoons ground oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

Kernels from 4 ears fresh corn

 

" cheese layer "

2 cups cottage cheese

9 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded >

1/3 cup plain yogurt

 

" remaining assembly "

1 1-pound package lasagna noodles

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

{I used 2 ~15-oz. cans of canned black beans (well

rinsed), and 1 ~8-oz. can of corn kernels for the

Halloween party. Kim, you can also buy pre-roasted

peppers, canned peeled, chopped tomatoes, minced

garlic in a jar, pre-shredded cheese and fresh pasta

that barely requires cooking. You still need to heat

and assemble though! }

 

 

Ok, here're the instructions:

 

Put the beans in a deep saucepan with water to cover

to twice their volume. {If canned, rinse and set

aside.} Bring the water to a boil, cover, and let

simmer for 1 hour. Let cool, then drain.

 

In a food processor or blender, process the red,

yellow, and jalapeno peppers, red onion, garlic and

cilantro leaves to finely dice. Take care not to

over-process into a paste.

 

Place the tomatoes in a large skillet and heat gently,

stirring to break them down. Add the pepper mixture

and stir to blend. Sprinkle with lemon rind, Mexican

seasoning (or chili powder and oregano), cumin and

cayenne. Mix well. Cover and let simmer over low heat

for 15 minutes. {If you use (cold) canned beans and

corn, add them before simmering.}

 

Transfer the tomato mixture into a deep saucepan or

Dutch oven, and stir in the corn and beans. Cover and

let simmer 5 minutes. In a medium bowl {ok, this

required what I consider a large bowl, just to warn

you.}, combine the cottage, Cheddar and Monterey Jack

cheeses. Add the yogurt and stir to blend. {I used

lowfat.} Prepare the lasagna noodles according to

package directions. {I did this while the tomatoes

etc. were simmering.} Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

F.

 

Spoon one-fourth of the black bean mixture over the

bottom of a 12x8x3-inch baking pan. Cover with a layer

of lasagna noodles. Spoon another fourth of the bean

mixture on top and cover with a layer of the cheese

mixture. Sprinkle with a third of the Parmesan cheese

and cover with another layer of noodles. Repeat. Cover

with a final layer of noodles. Top with the remaining

bean mixture and sprinkle with the last of the

Parmesan. {I used a 13x9x2 pan, and ended up with one

bean layer, topped by noodles then cheese, then

another bean layer and the Parmesan. If you have it,

try to use the deeper pan - you'll end up with

leftover parts if you don't.} Cover with foil and bake

50 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking 7

minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and brown. Let sit

5 minutes before serving.

 

8 - 10 servings. (Generous servings!)

 

From " Vegetarian Entertaining " , by Diana Shaw, Harmony

Books, 1991.

 

Note that 2 cups dry beans will probably end up as 4 -

6 cups hydrated and cooked. This time I had jalapeno

flakes in a jar and used those instead of fresh

jalapeno, plus I usually add more beans than called

for (probably the equivalent of four cans?). Canned

corn works too, maybe 1 1/2 cans. When making it just

for me, I'll often not bother with as much of the

cheese part, and I'll make it with regular noodles,

like elbow or mafalda (mini-lasagna - these work

great!), so it ends up more like goulash (for the

convenience, 'cause I always have those on hand! :-),

and I add some nutritional yeast for B12. If you're

making it in the lasagna form, I have recently

discovered " bake ready " or " oven ready " lasagna

noodles -- they're wonderful! You don't have to cook

them before assembling the lasagna, and I highly

recommend them for ease. Also, add as much extra

garlic as you like - the dish loves it and I usually

use about twice as much as called for... I also

probably add a bit more cumin than listed. In any

case, it's pretty versatile, so play with it, and

enjoy! :-)

 

Oh, yeah, to roast peppers, you slice them in half,

cut the seeds out, and place them cut-side down in a

preheated broiler. Leave them for 10 minutes or so,

but check every once in a while. The skin should be

completely charred, at which point you pop them into a

paper bag, roll the top closed, and place in the

freezer for a few minutes. After that, peel the char

off and you have wonderfully sweet peppers! For

peeling tomatoes, bring a deep pan of water to a

rolling boil. Drop the tomatoes in for a few seconds

to a minute; when the skins split, remove and

carefully (they're very hot) pull off the skin. It's

best to do this one or two at a time.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Amy - I do a recipe much like this, only I tear tortillas into strips

instead of using pasta!

 

m

[Guest guest]

, " melissa_hopp "

<hoppmel@c...> wrote:

> Amy - I do a recipe much like this, only I tear tortillas into strips

> instead of using pasta!

 

 

I'll have to remember that next time I'm out of pasta! :-)