Spicy Black Bean Salad

I love black bean salads of all kinds, but this may be my fave. It's crunchy, cold, spicy, sweet and super filling. Sometimes, I'll leave out the sweet potatoes and instead stuff the bean salad into a baked sweet potato. So good! It's perfect for barbecues and picnics!

Here's how to make it:

Spicy Black Bean Salad
(serves 8-10 generously)

4 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 28-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sweet onion, diced
4-5 roasted peppers, chopped
2 bell peppers, seeded and diced
3-4 tomatoes, diced

(dressing)
1/4 c. olive or safflower oil
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1-2 tsp. chipotle powder
juice and zest of 1 lime
2 tsp. cumin
A few shakes of hot sauce- optional (We use Trader Joe's jalapeno hot sauce)
salt and pepper to taste

Boil sweet potatoes until just tender. Drain and rinse under cool water. Allow to cool while you assemble the dressing. Shake the dressing in a jar or blend thoroughly. Add dressing and all other veggies and toss. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

*I had to rush out right after making this so I don't have a photo of the finished product. :( Bad blogger.

Menu Plan Monday!

Happy Monday, everyone! We're facing a long and rainy week here in Boston- great if you're a duck. Not so much if you're a person. I am thinking we'll want to have a weeks worth of comforting and simple dinners, so here's what is on the menu (oh and always, we're linking up with the awesome and inspiring Orgjunkie.com) 

Monday: Marinated steak tacos, homemade pico de gallo, spicy slaw

Tuesday: Turkey meatloaf, mashed cauliflower, garlic green beans

Wednesday: Slow cooker pulled pork, cherry tomato couscous

Thursday: Spice rubbed pork tenderloin, goat cheese polenta, spicy spinach

Friday: Honey-dijon chicken, barley risotto with butternut squash

I think Grayfeet has the right idea this morning...

Freschetta Simply Inspired-Tiny Wallet Dinner!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of FRESCHETTA®. All opinions are 100% mine.
Hey Tiny Wallet Stylers! In the midst of preparing to host a big Mother's Day lunch at our casa, we were completely wiped out. You can imagine how excited we were to have the chance to try one of Freschetta's new Simply Inspired pizzas for dinner!

We picked up the Classic Bruschetta and immediately noticed the lack of bulky cardboard box! It comes in this cool packaging which the Freschetta people call Fresch--Taste Seal. They earn points for getting rid of the annoying box by thinking...outside of the box. It uses 30% less packaging while locking in flavor. A win-win!
The first thing we noticed is that the tomatoes actually look like tomatoes- a good sign. We're used to frozen pizza toppings looking like something that was whipped up in a chemistry lab, so we're all for fresh-tasting ingredients

. 

So...how did it taste? Really good, actually. I was a little put-off by the ultra-thin crust, but it added a really nice crunch to each bite. The tomatoes were juicy, but a bit watery and the cheeses were a great combination.

I do think that the thin-ness of the pizzas would make them awesome as appetizers. What an easy thing to set out when you have friends over for game night and a glass of wine! I love it.

Oh, and the best part? The lovely folks at Freschetta are going to give you a little help for your next Tiny Wallet party- a coupon for any one of the 8 varieties of Simply Inspired pizza and a cute bamboo cutting board. All you have to do is leave a comment!

• For an extra chance to win: Become a Tiny Wallet Style follower or follow us on Twitter @tinywalletstyle! Just leave another comment letting us know you're a new follower!!!
• You can enter up until midnight on Thursday- I'll pick a winner on Friday, May 13th!

Want to learn more about FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™? Follow them on Twitter @freschettasi or you can "like" them on Facebook to enter giveaways and print out coupons!

Maple Bacon Chicken

I have expressed my undying love for the slow cooker here many times. I can't get over the simplicity of tossing a bunch of stuff in there and then coming home to a fully cooked meal! It feels almost luxurious, like having a chef...except not.

Photo via

Okay. Now that we've got that out of the way, here's a super tasty recipe that you can throw together in a few minutes. And it has bacon. Mmmmm. 

Maple Bacon Chicken

1-2 lbs. chicken, preferably skinless (we used drumsticks and thighs)

3 cups chopped veggies (butternut squash and carrots, potatoes would be good, too!)

1 c. white wine

3 tsp. dijon mustard

3 tsp. maple syrup

2 cloves garlic, minced or grated

3 slices bacon, chopped

1 c. water or chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

To make: 

Rinse chicken well under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper. Wash your hands, yo. Salmonella ain't a fun thing to mess around with!!! 

If you have time, heat a heavy bottomed pan over high and crisp up your bacon. Remove bacon to bottom of slow cooker. Add in your chicken and brown for a few minutes per side. Remove to slow cooker. 

If not, just season the chicken well- add bacon and chicken to slow cooker. 

Chop up your various vegetables and add to the slow cooker. Try to layer the chicken with the vegetables, if possible. 

In a small bowl, combine mustard, maple syrup, garlic, salt and pepper (a pinch of each) with the water and wine. Mix well and pour over chicken and vegetables. 

Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours, or until chicken and vegetables are tender! 

If you have extra time, strain out the juice into a sauce pan and reduce over low for 15-20 minutes, or until thickened. You can also whisk in a little cornstarch to speed up the process. Serve over the chicken and vegetables. 

Quickie Dinner- Red Pepper Pasta

This dinner was so good. Quick and delicious. Versatile, adaptable and chock full of springy goodness. And it took 15 minutes to make! 

Red Pepper Pasta

1/2- 1 lb. pasta (we used oricchette)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1- 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1- 8 oz. jar roasted peppers, drained (or 2 fresh peppers-roasted, peeled and seeded)
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
3 oz. goat cheese (optional) or 1/4 c. cream or half and half (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt (to taste)
fresh cracked pepper (to taste)
1 cup cooked veggies (we used peas and asparagus)


Cook pasta according to package. Drain and set aside.

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, add oil and heat over medium. Saute onion and garlic for a few minutes, until they begin to soften.

Add in tomatoes and turn down heat to simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until tomatoes are hot. 

Add in drained peppers and red pepper flakes. Stir to break up peppers. 

When the sauce is hot and well-combined, stir in goat cheese until it melts (or add in cream). Season to taste. 

Stir in veggies and pasta and serve hot.

Mmmm. This was awesome as leftovers, too! Oh, and it ran us about $3 to make! Score. 

Quickie Dinner- Perfect Tomato Sauce

In honor of our recent monthly meal planning post, we decided to share with you the most versatile and delicious recipe in our cooking arsenal: tomato sauce. We use it for EVERYTHING. Pasta, obviously. Pizza sauce. A base for quick chili or minestrone soup. A simmer sauce for meatballs. It's so good I could eat it every night. We plan to make a huge batch and can it to give away as Christmas gifts along with some fresh pasta. Enjoy!