Weekly Meals, Lovin’ the beans

The week before the week that I went of town (confused yet..., it was a while back) I made my two weekly dinners, and both were not only delicious, they were bean filled.

I was so excited when doing my shopping to find this three pack.  One recipe called for a red and yellow pepper, and the other called for a green pepper, so this was perfect.

 

My first recipe was a Tuscan bean stew.  Since I am headed to Tuscany at the end of the month, this seemed perfect.

I was thankful for the helpful tip on this recipe for using the broiler to roast the peppers.  I have only done it holding them over the gas stove flame, so this seemed much safer for me.  I placed a piece of foil on the shelf of the broiler, and let them get charred.

Then I placed them for 10 minutes in a plastic bag and when the time was up, I was ready to peel them easily.

Then I sliced them up and put them aside.

The next step was starting on the base.  I started with onions.  Probably more than needed, but I am now really into onions.

Then came some veggie broth and the beans.

At the end of the 20 minute simmering period, I tossed in the roasted peppers.

We loved it!  In fact, I sent the recipe to my sister because she thought it looked so good, and Ryan even requested this be made again.

My next recipe came from the same Today's Dietitian cookbook I picked up at FNCE and used the week before.  This was a honey mustard fish over black beans.  I liked this recipe because it used the broiler again.  Can I just say, I love the broiler now!  I had never used it before this week.  Why on earth did I not know about this?!?!?

 

I used these canned products.

 

Here is where it got tricky.  I did not have many options when it came to honey mustard sauce, so I bought honey mustard.

 

I started cooking my onions and peppers.

 

Then I added tomatoes and black beans.

While that was cooking on low heat, I started on the tilapia.  I put some mustard right on the fish and spread it around with a spoon.

  

When the fish was done, I placed the beans down on the plate first.  You can see the fish blackened a little.  I think this is because of the sugar in the honey mustard in the direct heat.  It really didn't effect the taste too much.

This was another awesome dish.  I am so pleased with my sticking to this goal of cooking twice weekly, and doing it almost entirely from scratch (but not as from scratch as From Scratch Weekends).  I am comfortable with this being simple homemade meals that do not take too long and pack in a lot of colors and corresponding nutrition.  The longest I spend on dinner would be 1 hour and this is because of long prep times (I am getting better and more organized, YAY!) or baking times.

QUESTIONS:  Do you use the broiler?  What is the longest amount of time you spend on dinner for a weeknight?