sweet-and-spicy three-bean salad

We had some friends visiting from Seattle, and one of them is vegan. I love beans anyway, so I didn't mind cooking a bit differently for a few days.

This dish involves no cooking whatsoever, though, just some chopping and mixing. Grab some canned chickpeas and kidney beans (or your beans of choice--a mix of colors is pleasant), and some freshly cooked or frozen chopped green beans.

I used Okinawan "black sugar" for the sweetener, and a chopped dried chili pepper for the heat. Mmmm!

You'll need:

• 2 cans (about 400 g each) of different colored beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup chopped cooked green beans (can be frozen)
• 1/4 cup chopped onions (can be frozen)
• 1/4 cup diced sweet peppers (I used a combination of red and yellow)
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1/4 c. vinegar
• about 1-2 T. sugar
• about 1 t. salt
• about 1/4 t. pepper
• one dried chili pepper, deseeded and finely chopped

Do this:

Toss the beans, onions, chili pepper, and sweet peppers into a bowl. In a measuring cup, mix the liquid ingredients, sugar, salt, and pepper, then stir into the beans. Refrigerate all day or overnight.

The longer you let it soak in the cool tub, the better.

This was the first time I've added heat, and it was perfect. 

gluten-free blueberry-yuzu mug muffins

I honestly can't remember now where I got the idea to make mug muffins in the first place, but somewhere online--um, do you know? {Nobody knows.}

So anyway, I've been riffing on microwave mug muffins in my ovenless kitchen for many months now.

And yuzu fruit is my favorite lately--I use it on fish, in sauteed greens, in desserts. You name it, it's got yuzu in it. (My preciouses.)

You'll need:

• a greased mug
• a beaten egg
• 3 T. almond flour
• 1/4 t. each cinnamon and powdered ginger
• a dash of nutmeg
• 1 T. melted butter
• a spoon of honey and maybe a sprinkle of dehydrated 100% maple syrup flakes, if you have a Canadian friend who shares (luckily I do)
• a splash of vanilla extract
• a pinch each of salt and baking powder
• 1 t. yuzu juice
• 1/4 cup frozen blueberries

Do this:

Using a wire whisk, beat all the ingredients together, then stir in the blueberries at the end with a spoon. 

Microwave a couple of minutes, and presto! Pour on your favorite kind of milk (I use soy or almond), then spoon into your gob. Yummeroony. Blueberries and citrus just go crazy together.

miso potatoes

Leftover mashed taters? A dollop of miso mixed through is umami heaven.

crispy gluten-free yuzu salmon burgers

I'm always working on perfecting my salmon burgers, but I never use a recipe! This is a conjured crispy-outside-and-citrusy-salmony-inside burger.

There were three of us eating these, and I also made homemade sweet potato and white potato mash to eat alongside. This recipe is easily doubled or tripled as needed.

You'll need:

• 1 (180-g) can bone-in salmon (break up the salmon and crush the bones with your fingers)
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/4 - 1/2 C. almond flour, as needed for binding
• 1 T. yuzu juice
• 2 T. Japanese mayo (they use rice vinegar, which adds a nice tang)
• 1/2 t. onion powder
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 1/2 t. coarse salt
• 1/4 t. coarse black pepper
• 1 t. dried parsley
• 1/8 C. chopped green onion (can use frozen straight from the freezer)
• rice breadcrumbs or cornmeal for coating the burgers
• olive oil for frying

Do this:

Mix it all up nice and easy in a glass mixing bowl, or whatever you've got, then form into patties and roll in your rice breadcrumbs or your cornmeal. Fry over medium heat in a frying pan until crispy and brown on each side.

Enjoy with some ketchup and your two favorite Beans. Beware: they'll want seconds!