Our family of 5

Our family of 5

Monday, February 14, 2011

Recipe Mondays: Black Bean Tacos and Dorothy Lane Market-style Killer Brownies

I love recipe Mondays. I also love getting back to writing a blog post. I took a couple of days off over the weekend, which was nice, but I also realized how much I enjoy being able to share with others, get connected with new people, and learn new things.  To kick off my recipe Monday post, here is the first recipe for black bean tacos and mexican yogurt dip:

www.cookingquinoa.net/black-bean-tacos/

You also need to have a cute firefighter with you when making these, as pictured below:

Last week, I made black bean tacos for the first time. We have had other variations with meat in them, but I wanted to try something new because they seemed healthy and cost efficient. Considering I enjoy baking and eating sweets, I figured that I need to cook very healthy as often as I can. The black beans tacos were a huge success in my opinion, but I am not sure if the rest of my household would agree. The Mexican yogurt dip turned out to be pretty spicy, and I even held back on the chipotle pepper seasoning a little bit. I love spice, but the kids haven't completely taken a liking to strong spices yet. Here is a picture of Kate's reaction.


I feel a little guilty that I posted this, but her reaction was classic, so I had to capture it. She tries to have a good attitude with food, but some things she just can't handle.  :)

I believe my husband would have loved the tacos also, but he had actually had Chipotle for lunch that day and I didn't know. I felt bad once the meal was all done. He was so sweet though, and he never complained, all while eating every single bite with a smile on his face. :)

I was delighted to enjoy a leftover taco for lunch the next day and I thought it was fresh and just as delicious the second day. I loved the crisp taste and the twist of the Mexican yogurt dip. I am usually a fan of sour cream, but this seems like it would be a much healthier option. I will definitely make these tacos again, but maybe only for my husband and I.(and I will check with him what he is eating for lunch first).

My next exciting recipe to share is a rendition of Dorothy Lane Market's Killer Brownies. I believe the real recipe from Dorothy Lane Market is a secret, but someone came up with this very close version and posted it on the Internet. I wanted to surprise my husband for Valentine's, because these are his favorite dessert from DLM. A friend, Nikki, graciously shared the recipe with me last week, so I can't even take credit for finding it. She shared some very helpful tips, which I will also share with you. First of all, this recipe recommends using a German Chocolate Icing, but that is really hard to imagine on these brownies.  It just seems like it would make them way too heavy and rich.  Nikki's suggestion was to use a light dusting of confectioner's sugar and I also did the same thing.  Another tip was that she doubled the whole recipe and put it in a 9 X 13 pan.  Her best tip was that for the top layer, she laid it out on wax paper and smoothed it out before putting it on top of the caramel/chocolate chip layer.  That was a very helpful tip, because as I made it, I realized how tough it would have been to spread that top layer.   Here is the recipe:

www.community.tasteofhome.com/forums/t/15267.aspx

And here is a picture of how these brownies turned out. 



I am excited to serve them after dinner tonight, not only to my hard working husband, but to my little sister and her husband!!  They are coming for a visit today and I am very excited.  They are going to have their first baby sometime next month, so it will be great to see them.  Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!

3 comments:

  1. They were....I had to get them out of my house quickly though.. :):). I will definitely make them again :):)

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