Tag Archives: Vegetarian

Spinach, Corn & Black Bean Enchiladas

5 Aug

OMG I want to eat these for dinner every night. They were good the first time, and they were just as good reheated. The BF had some and we decided they are restaurant good (though I’m sure, much healthier). These are excellent for serving to dinner guests — they can be completely finished and in the oven, so you have time to clean the kitchen before they arrive and then enjoy a glass of wine with your guests. And, if you’re looking for recipes to introduce skeptics to vegetarian dishes, this is it. It’s so delicious and filling, they won’t miss the meat at all. I very slightly edited the original recipe from Sweet Happy Life, just small things for the sake of convenience.

I actually only made the sauce at first. I spooned a little on top of lunchtime veggie & rice bowls for a few days. It wasn’t until later in the week that I got around to making the enchiladas. So fyi — make a ton, freeze it, and then you can use it for enchiladas (the best option) or to add a little flavor to pretty much any Mexican-style dish.

Enchilada Sauce

FYI, I think the enchilada sauce on its own is kinda spicy, but is not spicy at all when baked on top of the enchiladas. I guess the bread and cheese and veggies balance it out. If you’d like a bit more heat, just add the whole chipotle chili instead of the half, and add another teaspoon of adobo sauce.

The original recipe also said to use an immersion blender to puree the sauce. I thought that was totally unnecessary and therefore a waste of my time (especially since I don’t have an immersion blender, which would mean using my food processor, which is a pain to clean, and the BF wasn’t home to clean it for me). But, you know, to each her own.

These make EXCELLENT freezer meals. I doubled the sauce, and after using what I needed for dinner that night, froze the rest in a couple ice cube trays. (After they froze completely, I dumped them out of the tray to store in a large zipper bag.) For the tortilla rolls, I rolled individual enchiladas up in foil and then froze them in a large zipper bag. For lunch, I grab one foil-wrapped roll, a few sauce cubes, and I’m good to go. I sit my lunch box on my desk so it thaws throughout the morning, then unwrap and heat it up in the microwave. Presto lunch-o.

Enchilada sauce (adapted from Sweet Happy Life)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 an onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon oregano (I used Wildtree Hearty Spaghetti Sauce Blend ’cause that’s what I had)
1 cup cooking sherry
1/2 diced chipotle chili
1 teaspoon adobo sauce
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 cup vegetable (or chicken or beef) stock

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic for 4-5 minutes.

Add brown sugar, cumin, and oregano. Stir and cook for 1 minute.

Add sherry, chili, adobo sauce, tomatoes, and stock. Mix well and reduce heat to low. Simmer until desired consistency (20-25 minutes if you plan to pour it over the enchiladas and bake, where it will thicken; 40-45 minutes if you plan to use it as a condiment.)

BONUS RECIPE!

For dinner that night, I stir-friend some extra firm tofu, about 5-6 minutes on each side in olive oil, added some zucchini slices and corn sliced off the cob. I cooked up some brown rice, mixed all that together in a bowl, and topped it with a little of the sauce and some cheddar cheese. Delicious and easy.

Rice & Veggie Enchilada Bowl

A couple nights later, I invited a couple friends over for dinner, and decided to make the full recipe. I had been craving enchiladas since I had made the sauce.

Assembling the Enchiladas

Enchiladas (adapted from Sweet Happy Life)

1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5-oz can corn, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper
1 package tortillas (I used 8-10 whole wheat flour tortillas)
Shredded cheese of your choice (I used a combo of cheddar and monterey jack)

Make sure your spinach is well drained. Squeeze out excess water. Mix well in a large bowl with the beans and corn. Add cumin, a dash of salt, and a dash of pepper, and mix well.

Spoon a little enchilada sauce on the bottom of a greased baking dish.

On each tortilla, spread a few spoonfuls of the filling, and add shredded cheese on top. Roll tightly, tucking the ends in, and lay seam-down in the pan.

Add more sauce on top of all the enchiladas. Cover with foil and baked at 350 F for about 35 minutes.

Enchilada Dinner

Enjoy!

Really, these were so good. Just writing this makes me want to make more. We spent lunch today discussing what other things we could put inside these enchiladas. We decided we can’t wait till fall to try sweet potatoes and black beans… Mmm.

I know I didn’t get too detailed on the amounts when I talked about assembly, but all that is really up to you and your personal preference. This made about 8 enchiladas. I would guess that kids and people with light appetites such as myself would eat just one, but adults with normal to hearty appetites would probably eat two. I served these with brown rice, salsa, and guacamole. Chips and queso wouldn’t hurt either.

Deliciousness

Halfway through (approximately 15 seconds after beginning).

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Citrus-Fennel Quinoa with Chickpeas

15 May

I made the healthiest dinner last night, and with all the citrus in there, it must have been jam-packed with vitamin C. And good thing – the BF was sick 2 weeks ago, then I was sick, and now he’s sick again. We apparently could both use a vitamin boost. As with most of my dinners, I found this original recipe online from thekitchn.com, and then I edited based on my own tastes. And also based on what I had on hand and what was cheapest at the grocery store. Instead of the original couscous, I swapped quinoa, since I already had some of that. And instead of lemon and orange, I went with lemon and lime, because those were on sale at the store. I made a couple other small edits here and there.

I started off with one lime and one lemon. I used a microplane to zest each of them and added that into a medium sauce pan. Then I juiced the lemon and one half of the lime into a large measuring cup. If you don’t have one, try this handy citrus press from Pampered Chef – it’s amazing. If you don’t have anything fancy to really get all the juice out, you may want to add another lime or lemon. I topped off the juices with enough water to make 1 1/2 cups liquid and added that to the sauce pan. I finished it with 1 tablespoon olive oil and about 1/2 teaspoon salt and cooked over high heat. Once it started boiling, I poured in 1 cup quinoa, covered the pan, and reduced the heat to a simmer. Keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn’t dry out.

I heated 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. I added 2 cloves minced garlic and 1 fennel bulb, cut into matchsticks (about 1 inch long, 1/4 inch thick). I cooked those about 10-15 minutes. Then I added 1 can (15 oz) drained chickpeas and the juice of half a lime. The original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, but I didn’t have any, so instead I added about 1/4 teaspoon “French herb blend” and 1/4 teaspoon lemon garlic blend. But just add whatever you have that sounds good. Last, I finished it off with a couple handfuls of baby spinach. As soon as the spinach cooks down, it’s ready!

What did the Garbanzo say to the waiter? "Chick, peas."

Similar to rice, the quinoa is ready when the water is absorbed. If you’re ready to serve and there’s too much water, let it cook for a few minutes with the lid off. I served the chickpea/fennel blend overtop the quinoa and it was subtly delicious. If you’re looking for a kick-in-the-mouth flavor, go somewhere else. But if you want to appreciate subtle flavors delicately balanced throughout your meal, this is it. Also, this is super healthy, unlike the block of cheddar cheese I’m currently snacking on.

Dinner time!

We enjoyed some tzatziki sauce and pita bread as a little side dish. As a side note, I figured out a super easy way to enjoy this Greek yogurt dip whenever I feel like it. I ordered tzatziki seasoning blend from Wildtree, a company that sells all-natural foods through a Pampered Chef-style set up. You only have to use a little at a time, so it lasts forever – well worth the price. Then I buy individual servings of plain Greek yogurt, like Oikos or Chobani, which is a perfect size for just two people. Before I start dinner, I cut up half a cucumber in tiny teeny pieces, mix it into the yogurt with a teaspoon or two of the seasoning blend, and then it’s ready. It’s delicious and it’s the perfect amount. A lot of the pre-made or store-bought versions are too big, and I usually don’t finish them before they go bad.

Gotta get some Vitamin C up in here

Anyway, the meal was great. I will probably add it to my list of stand-by meals. I thought it was pretty easy to whip up on a weeknight. Bon appetit!

Citrus-Fennel Quinoa with Chickpeas adapted from theKitchn

zest and juice of 2 limes, divided
zest and juice of 1 lemon
olive oil, divided
1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 fennel bulb, cut into matchsticks (~ 1″ long, 1/4″ thick)
1 can (15oz) chickpeas, drained
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 handfuls baby spinach

Add the lime zest, lemon zest, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a medium sauce pot. In a large measuring cup, combine the juice of 1 lemon and the juice of 1 lime. Add enough water to make 2 cups total liquid. Pour the liquid into the pot and cook over high heat. Once boiling, add 1 cup quinoa, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook about 20 minutes; fluff with a fork and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and fennel; cook 10-15 minutes.

Add chickpeas, the juice of one lime, and coriander. Stir well. Add the spinach and cover, stirring occasionally. Cook 5-10 minutes, or until spinach is wilted.

Serve over quinoa.

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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

20 Jun

What up, homeslice?Before I headed to my Grandma’s for Memorial Day weekend, I baked a couple loaves of chocolate chip zucchini bread. I toted them all the way to Asheville while we lunched and shopped downtown and the bread waited in the stifling hot car, and then the rest of the way to Hendersonville where the BF and I joined my family. By “my family,” by the way, I mean about 17 people. I just knew Grandma and my dad would love this bread, and I was so pleased to have thought about bringing such a delicious gift with me. As we left on Monday, I noticed my chocolate chip zucchini bread, on the counter, still whole and wrapped in my tasteful packaging of tin foil and a Ziploc bag. And damn if I was going to leave that loaf behind for a bunch of ungrateful relatives — none of those 17 people could even bother to taste my bread? Psh. So I took it home with me and enjoyed it myself for the rest of the week.

That afternoon I got a call from my mother, who got a call from Grandma, because she was upset. She knew no one else had tasted that bread, and apparently she was planning on enjoying it herself for the rest of the week, starting that day when she returned home from church. Too bad, Grandma. I got it.

Because I am a wonderful granddaughter, when she returned this weekend for my nephew’s 4th birthday party, I prepared another batch. I brought a mini loaf for her and a mini loaf for my dad. Both of them were so excited they each tried to keep both loaves for themselves. I intervened and decreed they each receive just one loaf. That was only Saturday, so I’ll give them a couple more days, but when I call, they better have enjoyed them.

Make this, and find out for yourself why people will fight over it. This batch will make 2 regular loaves or, in my case, 3 mini loaves plus 3 muffins.

First I set the oven to 325 F and greased and floured the pans: two loaf pans or 3 mini pans and a few paper-lined muffins. Then I set up the food processor and grated 2 1/2 zucchinis, until I got 2 cups grated zucchini. 

Zucchini is GRATE for you.

In a large bowl, I beat 3 eggs with the hand mixer until they were a light yellow color and frothy. Then I mixed in 1 cup vegetable oil and 2 cups sugar. I stirred in the grated zucchini and  2 teaspoons vanilla. 

Zucchini in the batter

In another bowl, I whisked to combine 3 cups all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and about 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips. Once they were well mixed, I slowly stirred the flour mixture into the egg mixture.

Zucchini Bread Batter

I evenly divided the batter into the two prepared loaf pans, and then I baked them for about an hour.

Into the oven!

Gorgeous, delicious, and easy.

Just loafin' around

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Fresh Strawberry-Lemon Bars

11 Jun

I was joking in my last post about how I don’t really like strawberries, but I actually do. I was just joshin’, y’all. They’re just not my fave. But if I thought I didn’t like strawberries, this dessert would totally change my mind. It took a bit of time but was way worth it. I found the original recipe in an issue of Better Homes & Gardens, and it actually called for raspberries. But I thought, Hey, strawberries are in season, and they will probably work just as well. And damn was I right! These are good!

I started off by preheating the oven to 350 F and preparing my baking pan. I lined a 13×9 inch pan with aluminum foil, making sure I had enough to hang over the edges to make handles for later.

I threw 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted organic butter into a large bowl, and then beat them with my hand mixer on medium about 30 seconds. Naturally, maybe because I forgot to cut them into chunks first, the butter got all stuck in the mixer and I had to push it all back into the bowl.

Then I added 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. I mixed that on low speed for another 30 seconds.

I added 2 cups all-purpose flour and beat on low speed until incorporated. Then I increased the speed to medium and continued mixing until it formed a dough. For a long time, it stayed really crumbly and seemed like it wasn’t going to form into a dough. I turned off the mixer and scraped the mixer and sides of the bowl. When I started mixing again, it came right together into the dough. I don’t know if it needed a break or if I just needed to keep going or what, but it worked. Since you want a bar crust and not just a crumble bottom, it’s better to over-mix then under-mix, so don’t stop too early.

Now there's a dough

Once I had a dough, I dropped it in chunks into the foil-lined baking pan. This made it easier to smooth it out into an even dough. I popped it in the oven for 20 minutes, which was the perfect amount of time to clean up and then chop 1 pint strawberries into quarters.

Dough chunksDough layer
Once the dough finished its 20 minutes, I let it cool for 5 minutes and then brushed the exposed foil with butter. Then I spread a small jar (10 oz? I don’t remember) strawberry jam evenly over the crust.

Jam layer

For the next layer, I spread the quartered strawberries evenly.

Strawberry layer

Now for the custard filling. In another large bowl, I mixed 4 oz. (1/2 package) cream cheese and 4 oz. goat cheese with a hand mixer on high for about 30 seconds. Then I added in  1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, the zest of one lemon, the juice of one lemon, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Of course when I tried to get just the egg yolk, I accidentally poured the whole egg down the drain. But take two worked just fine. And then I beat the whole mixture on medium until smooth, about one minute.

Custard

A tip or two about lemon… To zest a lemon, use a flat grater to grate the lemon peel directly into the bowl. Grate the yellow, but stop when you see white — you don’t want to use that part. To juice a lemon, roll it around on the counter under your palm, putting a bit of weight into it. This will loosen up the juices a bit. Then cut it in half and squeeze each half directly into the bowl. If you have trouble keeping seeds out of your bowl, wrap a paper towel around the lemon and squeeze the juice through it. The paper towel will hold back the seeds and any pulp.

Custard Layer

I poured the lemon custard batter evenly over the strawberries and then baked it for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, I pulled them out and let them cool for about 10 minutes. I asked the BF to help me remove them from the pan — we each took an end of the foil and lifted it out, pulling it tight so it wouldn’t slide in on itself. Since I wanted to serve them for dessert and dinner was already halfway through, I stuffed them in the fridge to cool a little faster.

Strawberry Lemon Bars

When I was ready to serve, I cut them into bars and served a little piece to everyone, and omigod they were soooo good. Lots of strawberry, very lemony, really rich, and oh so sweet. But even though the goat cheese and cream cheese made it rich, the lemon also made for a pretty light, summery flavor. Deelish.

Strawberry Lemon Bar

Notes:

  • Wow, these are good. I am actually kind of surprised how much I like them considering they don’t have any chocolate.
  • I was a little skeptical that these would hold up as bars. I’m guessing I didn’t chill them long enough because they were a little runny at first. But when I chilled them again and sliced the other half the next day, they held up really well. And I figured that even if they didn’t, this would make just as delicious and satisfying a dessert if it were called a cobbler, crumble, or custard. Try them the first day with a spoonful warm out of the oven and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Then refrigerate the rest, and after they’ve chilled, try them the next day as a firm, chilled bar. Both are pretty delicious!
  • This recipe could be made the exact same way but with a variety of fruits. I’d love to try raspberries, blueberries, peaches, anything really. Maybe I’ll try this again with other seasonal produce.

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Broccoli Brownies

20 May

Sounds disgusting, right? But much like the spinach cupcakes, they were actually pretty good! Since I committed to creating one meal and one dessert for each seasonal crop in North Carolina this year, I was again at a bit of a loss for broccoli. I Googled “broccoli dessert” and had very little success with fitting results. A search for “Broccoli cake” turned out a little better. My favorite result was this Broccoli Forest Cake, which I may have to try out one day. But from reading the recipes, I wasn’t quite convinced that any of my findings would be sweet enough if I truly focused on the broccoli.  So instead I decided to pull another Jessica Seinfeld and just hide that broccoli in a delicious dessert. Brownies it is.

Fresh Broccoli

I started off by pureeing fresh broccoli florets in my food processor (best kitchen purchase EVER). It resulted in a consistency kind of between powder and sand. I pureed enough to make 3/4 to 1 cup broccoli and set it aside. I preheated the oven to 350 F and got to work on my batter.

About to get processed

In a large bowl, I whisked together the dry ingredients: 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Dry Ingredients

In a separate bowl, I combined 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. I stirred it by hand till it was just blended.

Ew, Wet Ingredients

Then I slowly added the wet mixture to the dry mixture, stirring by hand till it was just blended. Last, I stirred in the chopped broccoli and 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips.

Broccoli & Chocolate

Broccoli Brownie Batter

I greased an 8×8 pan and poured the batter in evenly. I baked the brownies for about 25-30 minutes. When you poke it, the brownies should indent just slightly. I let it cool in the pan before I cut it into slices.

Broccoli Brownies

How Sue Sees It:

  • Since the broccoli was pureed super fine, these look like normal brownies. You can’t see any green at all, just chocolate. Perfect!
  • Everyone who actually tasted them really liked them. I’d say about half of my tasters thought they were good and didn’t have any comment at all. The other half thought they were good, but did ask something like, “Hmm… this is good, but what is that?” They couldn’t quite place what they were tasting, but they did like them.
  • For a couple people, including my 16-year-old drama queen of a sister, the thought of broccoli was too much of a barrier. She ate the first half of it just fine and told me it was delicious, but when I told her there was broccoli in there, she refused to eat the rest. My brother was a similar story. I think they were being babies, but it was a good lesson: just don’t mention the broccoli at all.
  • Definitely take the time to completely puree the broccoli. If you don’t have a food processor, go get one. I got mine at Walmart for 30 bucks. The broccoli is pureed so small that you can’t taste or see it. It barely alters the flavor, and it doesn’t affect the texture at all.
  • I thought they were very tasty, especially with the chocolate chips added in for good measure. I just tasted chocolate. But similar to the spinach cupcakes, though they tasted relatively normal, they did have a bit of a funky smell to them. Store them in an airtight container to keep them moist, but open the container and let them air out a bit for a few minutes before you serve them. If someone gets a whiff of these as soon as you open the container, they may not be willing to taste them.
  • A perfect dessert for picky kids and spouses who aren’t getting enough vegetables in their diet!
  • If you would rather incorporate zucchini instead of broccoli, follow the same method, but increase the amount of flour to 1 cup to balance out the extra water content.

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Dee Dee’s Broccoli Casserole

8 May

My mom is affectionately known as Aunt Dee Dee or just Dee Dee to all of her nieces and nephews. She is the fun, crazy aunt who not only lets you throw a ball in the house, but is often the one to initiate and participate in said indoors throwing game. I was jealous of my cousins as a teenager because at that age, I thought my mom was a way cooler aunt than mom. But now I have a little more perspective (and a little less attitude), and I more remember all the fun and crazy projects my mom cooked up over the years, which now loom much larger than the fights and arguments we were having when I was in high school. For example, my Double Dare birthday party was the coolest party of the 4th grade, complete with pie-throwing contests, tricycle races, and a relay race that involved massive amounts of butter, popcorn, Jell-o, and a Slip ‘N’ Slide.

My mom is also a pretty amazing chef, and it’s humbling to think back over the years at how she taught herself new skills in the kitchen. When my siblings were very young (before I was around) and our family didn’t have a lot of money, they ate a lot of casseroles, soups, and one-pot meals. They were classic, homey meals that were cheap and easy to put together, perfect for a mom working crazy hours with 2 small kids. But by the time I came along, my parents were a little more settled. My mom left work to stay at home with us, and our meals became more complex, fresh, and nutritious. By the time my little sisters were in the picture, the family was eating ethnic foods like Indian and Japanese, and our meals had a lot more fresh produce and a lot less cream of mushroom soup.

I think this trend is very interesting from a sociological standpoint, but I also think that from a personal view, I became very used to learning about food and trying new things. Now my mom and I swap ideas for new foods, new recipes, and how to use the massive quantities of rosemary she gets from the rosemary bush in her backyard big enough to hide two toddlers in (speaking from experience). I regularly call her for advice (“Mom, 10 people are showing up for dinner in 20 minutes, and I ran out of ___. What should I do!?” or “Mom, this chicken I just cooked is, like, gray… If I eat it, will it kill me?”), and I give her tips I pick up from health food nuts and farmers’ markets in my more liberal small town. My goal one day is to be able to take a quick glance into a pantry or refrigerator and put together a dinner plan, just like I’ve seen her do a million times. I’m not that comfortable or familiar yet with food, ingredients, and recipes, but I think I’m getting there.

When I was staring at the broccoli – this month’s seasonal produce – and trying to figure out what to do with it, I could not stop thinking about broccoli casserole. This is a huge throwback dish, something my mom made relatively regularly when I was a kid. I loved it so much, I think I even requested it as part of my birthday dinner one year. But as I explained above, our family has trended over time toward more nutritious foods, so this is a dish that my mom no longer makes or eats. It’s very unhealthy, especially since I only want it if she agrees to my request for extra cheese. Every year at Thanksgiving she proposes leaving it out, and every year my siblings, cousins, and I demand that we have it. It’s a Thanksgiving staple that I generally only have once a year. So she agrees to its presence at our Thanksgiving table, but one of us has to make it ourselves. It’s a very simple recipe that can be made in 15 minutes or less. So here it is… Dee Dee’s Broccoli Casserole.

Start with 1 bag frozen broccoli. Thaw it completely (on the counter or in the microwave) and chop it into bite-sized pieces. Spread it in the bottom of a glass casserole dish. Top with a layer of grated extra sharp cheddar cheese.

Broccoli and cheeseSpread a layer of cream of mushroom soup over top the cheese.

Cream of Mushroom SoupAnd now spread another layer of grated extra sharp cheddar cheese. Cover with plastic wrap, cut a slit in the center, and cook it in the microwave on high for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the broccoli is cooked.

More CheeseI hadn’t made this in a long time, but I knew the cheese was the most important part, so I just kept adding some. I wasn’t sure how much was necessary. When I pulled it out of the microwave, it really just looked like a dish of cheese with a few broccoli bumps. I realized I went a little overboard, but obviously it was good because I tried to take a picture a few minutes later, but people were already digging in!

Broccoli Casserole

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

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