Category: Recipe Tutorials

Appetizers, Breakfast, Main Dishes, Recipe Tutorials

Black Bean Empanada – Puerto Rican Style

by Mariela4 Comments on Black Bean Empanada – Puerto Rican Style
Black Bean Empanada – Puerto Rican Style

Empanadas are usually filled with ground beef or other different fillings. These empanadas are my vegan version. You can enjoy them as an appetizer, main dish or main course. They go well with my easy guacamole recipe.

Hello, my beautiful friends! Here’s my Puerto Rican Black Beans Empanadas. You can make your own dough or buy store-bought at your local supermarket in the Hispanic or international frozen aisle. They are easy to make and you can add other ingredients if you want. Empanadas are great for breakfast, brunch, or as a main dish. In Puerto Rico, we called them “empanadillas” or depending on the dough “pastelillos”. They sell them around the island almost everywhere.

This recipe was featured in the New Hampshire magazine March issue

I hope you try this recipe and like it as much as much as I do! If you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #thehungrydragonfly on Instagram! I love seeing your creations!

HERE’S THE RECIPE VIDEO:

Vegan Black Beans Empanadas

printable-black-bean-empanadas-puerto-rican-styleDownload

Yield: 24 empanadas

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

½ teaspoon Minced Garlic

¼ cup Green Pepper, chopped

¼ cup Yellow Onion, chopped

1 bag Vegan Beefy Crumbles

1 cup Marinara Sauce

1 teaspoon Nutritional Yeast or Adobo

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 Sweet Plantain, chopped

1 can Black Beans

1 small can Whole Kernel Corn

Salt & Pepper to taste

Cayenne Pepper to taste if desired

1 cup Vegan Shredded Cheese or regular for vegetarian

1 Package Goya Dough Turnover Pastries **see notes

Instructions:

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
  2. Sauté garlic, green peppers and onions for 2 minutes.
  3. Add beefy crumbles and cook for about 4 minutes. Stir in marinara sauce, nutritional yeast and garlic powder. Cook for about 3 minutes.
  4. Lower heat to medium-low, add sweet plantains and fold until well incorporated.
  5. Add black beans, corn, salt & pepper, cayenne pepper if using, cook for another 3 minutes.
  6. Fold ingredients in cheese, turn stove off and set aside.
  7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  8. On a lightly floured work surface, using a rolling pin, roll out discos until ½” larger in diameter. Spoon about 1 tbsp. mixture into middle, fold in half to form a half moon; seal with a fork.
  9. You can also deep fry but I prefer to bake them for about 15 minutes, flip over and bake for another 10 minutes or until they have a light golden color.
  10. Let if cool for about 10 minutes, serve with salsa or guacamole.

For my Easy Guacamole:

Ingredients:

2-3 Avocado Hass

¼ cup red onion, chopped,

Salt & Pepper to taste

½ fresh squeezed lime

Instructions:

Mix all ingredient and stir together until well incorporated.

**Notes: You can find the empanada dough at your local supermarket in the Hispanic or International food aisle. I also use sofrito as a seasoning, you can find the recipe on my blog.

SHARE THE LOVE ON PINTEREST

Appetizers, Main Dishes, Recipe Tutorials

Kale, Spinach & Cashew Pesto

by Mariela1 Comment on Kale, Spinach & Cashew Pesto
Kale, Spinach & Cashew Pesto

This easy pesto is ready in less than 10 minutes and it has so many uses. Pour over your favorite pasta, eat with crackers or veggies.

Use it on your pizza, wraps, sandwich even as a base when making savory meals. This pesto is similar to my sofrito recipe, but it uses different ingredients and purposes. I use cashews instead of pine nuts because we had allergy reactions with pine nuts. Also, I find that cashews give the pesto more consistency and a nutty flavor that I love.

Enjoy this pesto with your favorite pasta.

When making the pesto you can adjust the ingredients depending on your taste. I love making a big jar and have it available all the time. I adjust the amount I’m using depending on the recipe that I’m making. For example, if I’m using it on a pasta, I add a little bit more of olive oil. But if I’m using it on pizzas, bread or as a dip, I add more cashews or greens.

RECIPE VIDEO:

I hope you try this recipe and like it as much as much as I do! If you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #thehungrydragonfly on Instagram! I love seeing your creations!

HERES THE RECIPE:

Kale, Spinach & Cashew Pesto

printable-recipe-kale-spinach-cashew-pestoDownload

Yield about: 1 ½ cups

Preparation Time: 8 minutes

Cooking Time: 8

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups Kale, ribs removed
  • 1 cup spinach, washed and rinsed
  • 1 cup olive oil or more to taste
  • 1 lemon, squeezed
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • ½ cup cashews, soaked overnight
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • ½ tsp salt or more to taste
  • ¼ cup water
  • ¼ cup parmesan cheese or vegan alternative. (Optional)

Instructions:

  1. Add kale, spinach and olive oil to a blender. Blend until well combined.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until well combined.
  3. Add more water if needed.
  4. Feel free to add more seasonings depending on your taste and uses.

SHARE THE LOVE ON PINTEREST