2 Q's: favorite blender, & favorite way to serve black beans

[CloudBee]

Unrelated questions.

Blender - 
I want a new blender as we've been using the same clunky one for over 15 yrs. It's heavy, only has a fast and slow setting, and needs new gaskets. I make a lot of smoothies and use a mini smoothie blender for that. It's starting to die. I would love something that's $200 or less that can also be used as a food processor. I have a huge food processor that I keep in the top of my cabinets, and I hate having to pull it down to chop tomatoes for sauce, etc. Our blender lives on the counter. It would be fantastic if I could use my new blender for basic food prep.

Black Beans -
I love meat, but have been craving more vegetarian dishes lately. I could always replace black beans in Mexican dishes and be happy. Today I smashed black beans with spices, a small amount of salsa, and lime juice, then sautéed for a few minutes. I served it in a tortilla with a little shredded cheese. It was perfect. I think I could eat black beans every day and not miss meat.

Any other ideas on how I can replace meat with black or kidney beans? (I don't like chickpeas.) Throw suggestions or recipes my way.

Thanks!

[mich1]

I have a Vitamix. I know it’s not in your price range, but it is a total game changer. I do cook quite a bit, and regularly use my blender, food processor and immersion blender,

Have you tried lentils or navy beans? I’m with you, I don’t particularly care for chickpeas, unless they are in hummus (and actually, white beans make a really good hummus too), but there are a lot of other ones you can try out.

[gt7301b]

I made these last week and they were really good:

www.theguardian.com/science/2020/oct/21/nasa-osiris-rex-spacecraft-lands-on-asteroid-bennu-in-mission-to-collect-dust

I also make chili with black beans, sweet potatoes, and ground turkey, but obviously you could leave out the turkey

[VillainV]

I have a Ninja blender and like it, but don’t use it a ton. It’s good for smoothies and shakes though.

I also like black beans. Black bean soup is amazing, enchiladas/tacos, black bean burgers (I get Morningstar Farms patties, but it’s probably not too hard to make your own) and use the patties in sandwiches, wraps, bowls...

[thelurkylulu]

We have had a Ninja for about 2-3 years and I use it daily for smoothies. It’s awesome and I highly recommend. Mine came with the smoothie cups/blender lid and it’s life changing. Seriously, saves me so much time in the morning to just be able to dump everything in the blender cup, blend, then switch lids.

ETA- Ours is also always on our counter and I don’t feel like it takes up too much room.

[gerberdaisy]

What do people use food processors for? We have a nutibullet blender for smoothies (which works really well btw) and an immersion blender that we use for sauces and soups. I think I bought a food processor a few years ago, but have no idea what I would use it for. I'm sure there's something obvious that I'm missing, but don't think I've used it in 2+ years.

We use black beans mainly in soup, chili and Mexican dishes. I love lentil soup and could eat chick peas every day (but I know you don't like those). Smitten kitchen has some good bean recipes too.

[orangello]

Black bean soup and black bean veggie burgers! Tons of recipes online.

[emilyinchile]

Oct 22, 2020 12:29:59 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

I made these last week and they were really good:

www.theguardian.com/science/2020/oct/21/nasa-osiris-rex-spacecraft-lands-on-asteroid-bennu-in-mission-to-collect-dust

I also make chili with black beans, sweet potatoes, and ground turkey, but obviously you could leave out the turkey

This is maaaaaybe not the link you were going for 

[wowhead]

Cuban black bean soup! I always make a huge batch, portion it, and freeze it.

maysville-online.com/uncategorized/160081/chef-luciano-sean-morals-cuban-black-bean-soup

[CloudBee]

Oct 22, 2020 12:28:14 GMT -5 mich1 said:

I have a Vitamix. I know it’s not in your price range, but it is a total game changer. I do cook quite a bit, and regularly use my blender, food processor and immersion blender,

Have you tried lentils or navy beans? I’m with you, I don’t particularly care for chickpeas, unless they are in hummus (and actually, white beans make a really good hummus too), but there are a lot of other ones you can try out.

I love lentils and navy beans! I never think to cook with them often. I love balsamic lentils, which we first had in France. So good.

I'm like you. I love hummus, but I don't really like chickpeas in any other dish. Too gritty.

[CloudBee]

Oct 22, 2020 12:39:45 GMT -5 gerberdaisy said:

What do people use food processors for? We have a nutibullet blender for smoothies (which works really well btw) and an immersion blender that we use for sauces and soups. I think I bought a food processor a few years ago, but have no idea what I would use it for. I'm sure there's something obvious that I'm missing, but don't think I've used it in 2+ years.

We use black beans mainly in soup, chili and Mexican dishes. I love lentil soup and could eat chick peas every day (but I know you don't like those). Smitten kitchen has some good bean recipes too.

I'm mostly looking to dice root veggies or puree tomatoes into marinara or salsa. I think a GOOD blender could dice. Might need a wider bottom like a Vitamin, though.

[CloudBee]

Black bean burgers! I've only ever made those with turkey, but I should try with just black beans for the protein base. Great idea! I love black bean burgers that are store bought.

Black beans make me feel like I'm getting exactly what I need when I'm craving protein, which is why I want to include them more in my diet. I think that some of my whole food cravings must relate to what my body is telling me I need nutrient wise.

[picksthemusic]

I have a Vitamix as well, but we really don't use it to its full capacity, and we cook a ton and are foodies. So if you don't need/want all the bells and whistles, you can probably get by with a Hamilton Beach or Cuisinart, two brands we trust. Or you can look at America's Test Kitchen to see what they recommend in your price range.

I love black beans in a taco blend with ground beef or turkey, corn, salsa, and sprinkle the black beans in there too. YUM.

[thoseareradishes]

Cooks Illustrated has a black bean burger recipe that is really tasty and not a giant pain in the ass to make (unlike many of their recipes!).

[akayf]

I make basically a can dump soup with black beans. I do a carton of chicken broth(or veggie), can of black beans, can of corn and can of rotel diced tomatoes. I add chili powder and cumin to taste and top my bowl with crushed tortilla chips and a little sour cream.

[noodleoo]

Oct 22, 2020 12:50:12 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

Black bean burgers! I've only ever made those with turkey, but I should try with just black beans for the protein base. Great idea! I love black bean burgers that are store bought.

Black beans make me feel like I'm getting exactly what I need when I'm craving protein, which is why I want to include them more in my diet. I think that some of my whole food cravings must relate to what my body is telling me I need nutrient wise.

This recipe is really good for black bean burgers.  They are delicious.  One tip: the mixture is very wet and so I can't mold the patties by hand like it says to.  I line a sheet pan with wax paper and then spoon it into patties, then press flat with the spoon.  Then freeze.  After freezing, you can peel off the wax paper and store in a ziploc bag in the freezer.  I double the batch and freeze a bunch and it is a great easy dinner.  

www.skinnytaste.com/spicy-black-bean-burgers-with-chipotle/

And to bring it full circle, this recipe is one of the only 2 recipes I use my food processor for, LOL. The other is pesto.  I make these 2 things enough that I love my food processor.  And I use it more than my kitchen aid mixer for sure.

[loira]

I loved the black beans I ate in Brazil. Not as part of feijoada, although that is amazing too (but definitely contains a ton of meat), but just as feijão. So good! I don't have a recipe and have never tried to recreate, but now I'm thinking I should investigate some!

[mcppalmbeach]

Oct 22, 2020 12:16:17 GMT -5 mofongo said:

So I have found blenders to be fairly useless. We don’t have one anymore and use our large food processor for anything that would call for a blender.

My H even bought a Ninja that we barely used. I gave it to my housekeeper.

Skinnytaste has a great black bean burger recipe. We would sometimes double the recipe and freeze.

My blender started smoking when I was using it 3ish years ago and I stopped using it in favor of my food processor. will say I love a good milkshake and the food processor for whatever reason gave me not great results.

[mcppalmbeach]

I love black beans too. I love black bean burgers, sweet potato and black bean Chili, black bean enchiladas.

[CloudBee]

I'm inspired. I'm about to make a smoothie in my large food processor before pulling the trigger on a new blender. I will report back.

[felicity]

Pasta e fagioli with white beans is easy and tasty.

[lovetx]

I’m not a huge fan of meat so I eat a lot of vegetarian meals. One of my favorite www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/tasty-lentil-tacos/

[klingklang77]

I have a ninja food processor. That’s good enough for me. I see no point in getting a real blender.

I love these black bean burgers:

www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/03/the-best-black-bean-burger-recipe.html

It takes it a step further and bakes the black beans beforehand, so it doesn’t have such a wet texture. I highly suggest doing this with any black bean burger recipe you make.

[freshsqueezed]

Oct 22, 2020 12:39:45 GMT -5 gerberdaisy said:

What do people use food processors for? We have a nutibullet blender for smoothies (which works really well btw) and an immersion blender that we use for sauces and soups. I think I bought a food processor a few years ago, but have no idea what I would use it for. I'm sure there's something obvious that I'm missing, but don't think I've used it in 2+ years.

We use black beans mainly in soup, chili and Mexican dishes. I love lentil soup and could eat chick peas every day (but I know you don't like those). Smitten kitchen has some good bean recipes too.

I use my food processor a lot with the disks that go with it to do things like shred cheese.

I also have a Vitamix

[mich1]

Oct 22, 2020 12:39:45 GMT -5 gerberdaisy said:

What do people use food processors for? We have a nutibullet blender for smoothies (which works really well btw) and an immersion blender that we use for sauces and soups. I think I bought a food processor a few years ago, but have no idea what I would use it for. I'm sure there's something obvious that I'm missing, but don't think I've used it in 2+ years.

We use black beans mainly in soup, chili and Mexican dishes. I love lentil soup and could eat chick peas every day (but I know you don't like those). Smitten kitchen has some good bean recipes too.

Pie crusts, biscuits, making bread crumbs, making toum, the gingerbread cookies I made earlier this week were all made in my food processor.  Pesto and hummus I make in my food processor too.  I grind up shrimp in a food processor to use as a binding agent for crab cakes too.  

[rubytue]

If you like lentils, I’ve been seeing a lot of recipes that sub lentils for ground beef in Mexican food (tacos, enchilada, etc). I’ve been meaning to try one, but since I like black beans with any sort of taco “meat”, it might fit the bill.

[CloudBee]

No! The Cuisinart food processor we own (7 cup) does not work for smoothies! OMG! Thwre are no rubber gaskets where the lid attaches. Raspberry banana smoothie went all over our white cabinets and my face. I had a handful of raspberries, a banana, and some almond milk in there. First time using the food processor with liquid. Never again.

[isabel]

These are SO good!

www.myrecipes.com/recipe/mexican-style-grilled-vegetable-sandwich?amp=true

Tips: use jarred roasted red peppers to cut down on prep time. Don’t use bread. Instead, fold everything up in a whole wheat flour tortilla, and grill like you would a quesadilla (seam side down first).

[isabel]

IMO, a blender is not a replacement for a food processer and vice versa. I only use my blender for smoothies, pastes, and to get a finely puréed sauce or broth. The food processor is for anything that needs to retain texture (tomatoes, salsa, to finely chop a mixture of things without fully pureeing it, pesto, etc.). I also use my food processor for pie dough (seasonal).

I have a vitamix blender (I got an older model at Costco for under $300) and a cuisinart food processor. I honestly have a hard time seeing needing to replace either. I’ve had both for many years and they’re both workhorses.

[lemoncupcake]

Oct 22, 2020 17:30:59 GMT -5 isabel said:

IMO, a blender is not a replacement for a food processer and vice versa. I only use my blender for smoothies, pastes, and to get a finely puréed sauce or broth. The food processor is for anything that needs to retain texture (tomatoes, salsa, to finely chop a mixture of things without fully pureeing it, pesto, etc.). I also use my food processor for pie dough (seasonal).

I have a vitamix blender (I got an older model at Costco for under $300) and a cuisinart food processor. I honestly have a hard time seeing needing to replace either. I’ve had both for many years and they’re both workhorses.

I agree - I also use my food processor when I need to shred a lot of stuff (carrots, zucchini, cheese, etc).