Easy and Tasty Summer Sandwich

This is my take on my brother's creation - a simple mayo, tomato, and basil / lettuce sandwich!

Ingredients (makes one sandwich)

• Two slices, Purple Cherokee Heirloom tomato
• Some fresh basil leaves
• Some fresh green leaf lettuce (optional)
• Sea or Kosher salt, for sprinkling
• Some mayo
• Two slices, sourdough or a complementary bread (optionally toasted.) Shown below: Homemade sourdough with 60% commercial bread flour, 30% self-milled Kamut® wheat flour.

Instructions

• Lightly spread the mayo on both slices of the bread.
• Place a bed of basil on one of the slices.
• Place a tomato slice on each piece of bread.
• Sprinkle the tomato slices with a dash of salt.

Add the lettuce, if desired, and serve! Goes great with some dry white wine, too.

The finished result (yum!)

All About Mangoes!

I didn't acquire a taste for mangoes until well into my adult years - and only after sampling them more often with Indian cuisine. But I already knew there were special benefits from the mango fruit, which made it worthwhile getting to like. This article by Ocean Robbins, from Food Revolution Network, is a great overview of a fruit to come to know and enjoy!

Best Black Beans Yet

Sometimes ad-hoc recipes are the best. I brought this together without following a recipe and it was yummy! Makes enough to serve two people or for one person with left-overs.

Because the recipe starts with dried beans, it will take two days - hydrate the beans the first day and put the recipe together the second. If you want to speed it up, use canned black beans that are rinsed as a short-cut and reduce the cooking time.

Ingredients

Basics

• 1/2 cup dried organic black beans
• Juice of 1/2 fresh lemon
• 1 Tbs. butter
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (Pacific Foods brand works well, regular or low-salt)

Veggies

• 1 small carrot, peeled & chopped
• 1 shallot, chopped

Spices

• Six leaves fresh sage, chopped
• One tsp. fresh ginger, chopped
• The leaves from three fresh thyme sprigs
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/8 tsp ground allspice
• Salt & ground pepper to taste (approx. 1/4 tsp each)

Directions

Using a colander, rinse the dried beans with water. Place the beans in a medium-sized plastic container, cover with two cups water and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Let the beans hydrate over-night.

Next day, in a deep pan with the butter and olive oil over medium heat, sauté the chopped carrot, ginger, and shallot.

Drain the hydrated beans in a colander and rinse with fresh water. Add them to the pan.

Add the veggie broth and bring up the heat until the liquid is simmering (but not to a rolling boil.)

Add the spices, stir, and lightly simmer covered over low heat for 45 min to one hour. Stir the mixture occasionally, and watch that the pan doesn't dry out!

When the time is done, if the mixture is too watery, leave it simmer without the top on until the liquid is reduced to where you prefer. Watch that it doesn't dry out and burn!

That's it! Enjoy as a side dish, as the base for burritos or veggie tacos, or emulsify in a blender and thin with a little veggie broth if necessary to make a black bean soup.