Lots of Tasty Goodness

Wow, so there has been a lot going on around here lately. I won't bore you all with the details, but I will say it has been work-related - though not my being busy with work. Other than that, Brett and I have been doing just dandy. I have been cooking up a storm as I haven't been working so have had plenty of time to make more involved meals.

I have been having a lot of fun in the kitchen, though I admit, it looks like a disaster area much of the time. :-) It seems that just as I finish one pile of dishes, it is time to eat again. And, while cooking at home is certainly more nourishing and even cost-effective, and well, damn better tasting, it does mean that there will be yet more dishes. I think that dishes and aphids in my garden are going to be my lifelong "Newman" to use a Seinfeld colloquialism.

Anywho, enough of my complaining and onto the goods!


My mom bought us a juicer for Christmas a few years ago, and for whatever reason, we used it once or twice and then it was relegated to the top of the cabinet that I like to refer to as the "Land of Misfit Appliances". Well, I have been wanting to incorporate more raw fruit and veg into my diet, because, well, I like them, and I decided to bust it out again. It has been making up for lost time! We use it all the time now.

One of my favorite juices is nothing special and something I'm sure most of you are already familiar with: Carrot Apple Juice. It is so simple. I just juice 6 apples (my favorite to use are Pink Lady or Honeycrisp, they are tart but also still plenty sweet) and about 8-10 peeled carrots. Stir it up and you are set. Brett even likes these and I got to tell you, there is no way in hell I would get Brett to eat 8-10 raw carrots, but I learned he will drink them. :-)


Wanting something a little different, I came up with this lovely algae looking concoction. I made the Carrot Apple Juice as described above. I them transferred the juice to a blender where I added two bananas, 1 tbsp. spirulina powder, and about 12 ice cubes. Then I just whirred it up! It makes enough for three meal-sized glasses. I know it doesn't look that good, but it certainly doesn't taste how it looks.


There is a blog I really enjoy called Herbivoracious. The author provides mostly authentic Latin/Mexican recipes that have been "vegetarianized". I find that I go there and not only want to try some of his recipes, but I get ideas for my own. You should seriously check out his blog, it is really cool.


I saw a recipe on his blog awhile back for Bocoles. Bocoles are bean and corn masa patties that are then fried. They are a popular Latin street food and don't they look damn tasty? Well they are. I adapted his recipe a little bit using refried pinto beans instead of black and using carrots instead of sweet potatoes for the spicy topping.

I also made a nice spicy table chile sauce to go with it. It is really spicy so use sparingly.

de Arbol-New Mexico Table Sauce
6 de arbol chiles, wiped clean
4 New Mexico chiles, wiped clean
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup boiling water
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
salt (to taste)

Heat up a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Toast the chiles on both sides being careful not to burn them. This should take less than 20-30 seconds on each side. You can often see the color being intensified and this is a good sign that they are ready to be flipped.

Once the chiles are toasted, let cool for a few minutes. Then remove stem, seeds and ribs. Transfer to a blender or bowl and pour the boiling water over the chiles and cover. Let the chiles reconstitute for about 15-20 minutes.

Then add the garlic, citrus juice, and salt and blend.

Now you have yourself a basic table chile sauce. You can use whatever dried chiles you want for this recipe. Making a basic table sauce is also a good way to get to know the different flavors and subtleties of each chile.


I had lots of refried beans left over from the Bocoles, so I decided to turn the remaining beans into a nice soup. And it sure was tasty!

Refried Bean Bisque
2-4 tbsp safflower oil
2 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
2 pimento sweet peppers, seeded and chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 cup refried pinto beans
4-6 cups water
salt to taste

In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat, as though you were stir-frying veggies.

Add the potatoes, chiles, and onion, and fry for about 10 minutes until they start to get a little color. By caramelizing the veg, we will get a much deeper array of flavors than if you simply boiled them.

Add the garlic and fry for about 5 minutes, until the garlic begins to get fragrant.

Add the refried beans and water and simmer, covered, for about an hour or until all the veggies are nice and soft.

Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.

Transfer to a food processor and blend until very smooth.

Using a wire mesh strainer, begin to strain the soup over the soup pot in batches.

Once done, heat thoroughly and add salt to taste.

Side Note: If you have a vermicomposting system as we do (a worm farm), the left over veggie pulp from both soup making and juice making is the perfect food for a hungry worm. This also means that there is absolutely no waste. That I dig. Pun intended. ;-)


I don't know how everyone else feels about this, but I think that soup on it's own is just not going to cut it. I needs bread to make it a complete and satisfying meal.

Now, I will be the first to admit that breadmaking is not my forte. I am more of a punk in the kitchen, I like to let things happen organically and with breadmaking, you can't really do that. Let's just say I have had a lot of messy failures in my attempts at breadmaking.

This was one of my more successful attempts and I even managed to "punk it up" a little.

I used this recipe for Whole Wheat Rolls, but instead of the herbs used in the recipe, I kneaded in ten jalapenos, ten cloves of minced garlic, 1 tbsp cumin, and 1 tbsp Mexican oregano. Instead of making small rolls, I made six large-ish loaves. After they were baked, I brushed the tops with butter and sliced them into breadsticks, which we dipped in that tasty soup.


And finally, though it doesn't look like much, this is the gem of this post. This is the best soup I have ever made/had. It was an idea I had when I wanted to be lazy, but still have something tasty and healthy and I never imagined it to be as amazing as it really is.

This is like the Mexican equivalent to Chicken Noodle Soup, except without the icky meat. It is comforting like you wouldn't believe and it has perhaps the most amazing smell I have ever had the pleasure of smelling. And it is EASY TO MAKE.

I am not one to toot my own horn but this really is an amazing soup. I encourage you all to try this and let me know what you think. Maybe I'm just crazy, but it seems like the perfect comfort food to me.

Black Bean-Tomatillo Soup
1 onion, chopped
4 jalapenos, seeded and minced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can tomatillos, chopped
2 cups black beans, cooked
4-6 cups water
a couple dashes of cumin
salt to taste
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped fine

In a large soup pot, combine all the ingredients except the cilantro. Simmer, covered for 2-3 hours or until the veggies are soft.

Right before serving, stir in cilantro.

Serve with saltine crackers and enjoy!

That really is all you do. It is such a clear soup, it tastes and smells so clean. The cilantro added at the end gives it the crisp brightness and the tomatillos add an almost lime like flavor.

Brett and I were talking and thought that if you removed the beans, added cucumber, and pureed the whole mess that it would also make a nice cold soup for summer. Very refreshing.

Well, that's all for now.

'Til next time!

Simple Roasted Veggie Quesadillas

I believe I promised to post about these a week or two ago, but alas, I suck and am have been a bad blogger, but hey - better late than never right?

I am a self-taught cook, and have also "developed" my own palette, and one thing I continually discover is that the simplest things are not only often the best, but in a strange way they are also the hardest. It is because with fewer ingredients there is less room for error, you can't cover up an overcooked tomato if tomato is one of three ingredients in the dish. Anyway, there were no mishaps in this little simplistic kitchen adventure, but I have had my fair share. This isn't really anything special, but it is a great combination of flavors and textures that really showcase all the abundance that is available at this time of year.


The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Simple Roasted Veggie Quesadillas:
1 yellow summer squash, ends removed **
1 red bell pepper, washed **
2 tomatillos, husked and washed ***
2 serranos, seeded and minced ***
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, sliced thin *
4-6 tbsp. canola oil, divided evenly
salt
pepper
flour tortillas
queso fresco or non-dairy "cheese"
salsa *

Preheat oven to 400.

Drizzle half the canola oil over squash, bell pepper, and tomatillos. Season with salt and pepper.

Roast in oven for about 30 minutes, turning the veggies about half way through to get even cooking.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a skillet. Add the serranos, garlic, and onions, and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.

When veggies come out of the oven, allow the veggies to cool. Once cool enough to handle, chop the stem off the bell pepper, peel it (the skin should slide off easily), remove the seeds, and slice. Slice the squash and tomatillos.

Layer veggies and cheese in a warmed flour tortilla and fry if desired. Serve with salsa - the hotter the better.

'Til next time.

Black Bean and Butternut Enchiladas with Spicy Tomatillo Green Enchilada Sauce

Happy New Years! All of us who spent the last 8 years wondering, "is it 2008 yet?" can start to let out that sigh of tentative relief. Everyone's favorite president only has a few weeks left to try to ruin anything left unbroken and we have someone with a modicum of intelligence and character getting ready to move in to that famed White House. This is not going to be an easy year - or likely few years - we have a lot of struggles to face, but for the first time in awhile, there is a small degree of hope. I am going to get all "John Ikerd" on you guys for a second and caveat that by hope I do not mean that I think things are going to work out and everything will be puppies and daisies - hope is rather the feeling that it could work out, that better decisions can be made, and that a more equitable, sustainable, and meaningful life are possible. I do not think a president can or should give us that, but it helps to have leadership that doesn't encourage all the worst aspects of human nature, a leader that will inspire us to serve, to give, to sacrifice. Those are things we all need. Again, I have no naive hope that Obama will save the planet and bring about world peace - quite the contrary - with all the people he has picked for his cabinet, I imagine More of the Same a la Clinton (which is better than what we've had), but I think we stand a chance with Obama. Under this administration things like "sacrifice", "service", "helping others", "making due", "doing right by the planet" will not be seen as bad words or get you put on some sort of list that keeps you from being able to fly.

Enough of my political tirade. We will see what this year brings; we know it will certainly be a lot different from the last few years. We can only hope that it is more pleasant this time around - even if it does mean sacrifice and doing with less, I think that would be good for most of us.

Whew! After all that, I still have food to post about!

It has been awhile since I have made enchiladas and it was about damn time! I love making my own enchilada sauce as I get to experiment and make things more to our tastes, so this recipe features a homemade sauce as well. Sadly, I had to use canned tomatillos, but I felt better about purchasing the canned than fresh at this time of year. I hope that next year, I will be able to can some homegrown tomatillos! I was able to get quite a few local goodies in this meal though, I have finally been busting into our frozen stash of local goodies from summer and I am so happy to have them.

A few of the ingredients in this meal are not only local, but things that Brett and I grew ourselves. I feel a rush of pride each time I pull out a butternut squash Brett and I grew in our community garden, or a container of salsa/sauce we preserved over summer, or a bag of peppers frozen from our container plants. Homegrown will always be better no matter what, and I think that sense of pride has a lot to do with it.

Well, here she be!




























(I wish I was eating a plate of these right now, don't you just want to reach into your computer screen and grab this plate?! I know I do!)

The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Black Bean and Butternut Enchiladas with Spicy Tomatillo Green Enchilada Sauce

Spicy Tomatillo Green Enchilada Sauce
2 cans of tomatillos, drained
3 hot Hungarian wax peppers, stems removed *** (frozen from summer)
3 jalapenos, stems removed *** (frozen from summer)
4 cloves of garlic, peeled +
1 yellow onion, halved +
4 cups water
1 veggie bouillon cube
2 tbsp dried cilantro + (not sure if this is local)
1 tbsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
dash black pepper

Combine tomatillos, peppers, garlic, water, and veggie bouillon in a large pot and simmer for about 35-40 minutes. Allow mixture to cool for a few minutes.

Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. Add seasonings to taste.

Return sauce to pot on the stove and simmer on low for about an hour to an hour an a half until mixture has thickened.

Black Bean and Butternut Enchiladas
2 cups black beans, cooked ****
1 small butternut squash, peeled and diced small (about 1 1/2 cup of butternut) ***
2 tbsp safflower oil
dash pepper
dash salt
corn tortillas
Spicy Tomatillo Green Enchilada Sauce

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat safflower oil over medium heat in a large-ish skillet. Add the butternut, salt, and pepper and cook for about 15 minutes.

Add the black beans and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Spread a layer of Tomatillo Green Enchilada Sauce in the bottom of a pan.

Layer filling in warmed corn tortillas. Roll up.

Spread remaining enchilada sauce over the tops of the enchiladas.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Oh man. This was one of the best new Mexican meals I have made for awhile and it is quite simple. I loved how the enchilada sauce was spicy but not overly so. Brett said that it was something he would happily feed to others even though we've only made it once. We usually make something quite a few times before we deem it "company appropriate". And for once, I didn't make it so spicy that Brett complained. :-) I have been getting better at toning the spice level down for him - besides, that is what ground cayenne pepper, crushed habanero flakes, and sriracha hot sauce are for right?

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and a wonderful weekend!

'Til next time.

Mushroom and Asparagus Burritos with Roasted Salsa Verde

I was initially very wary of using veggies like asparagus in Mexican food as it didn't seem very 'authentic'. Well, I've quickly gotten over that because many ingredients, whether authentic or not, can be turned into yummy Mexican-inspired meals with the right flavor combination.

Wanting to enjoy the abundance of fresh, local, organic asparagus we've been getting from our CSA, I came up with these burritos. They were really good, and as my first Mexican meal without avocados or guacamole, I must say, this was fantastic!

I made a roasted salsa verde to go with the meal. The burritos and the salsa paired wonderfully. The salsa is spicy, flavorful, and very easy to make.

Roasted veggies out of the oven.

Everything in the food processor.

The finished product, so good!

Roasted Salsa Verde

Makes 1 1/2 to 2 cups of salsa.

1 lb tomatillos (about 10), husked and washed

4 serrano chiles

1/4 yellow onion

4 cloves of garlic, unpeeled

1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

juice of one lime

cumin

salt

1 1/2 cups veggie broth

Preheat broiler.

Layer tomatillos, serrano chiles, onion and garlic on a baking sheet. Drizzle with cocout oil and salt.

Roast in the oven for about 3-5 minutes on each side.

Once veggies are roasted, allow to cool for a few minutes, then remove the stem and peel the peppers. (Remove the seeds if you don't want a spicy salsa.)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until very smooth.

Transfer salsa to a sauce pan. Add the veggie broth and simmer on low for about 2 hours or until the salsa is very thick.

This sauce will last about a week in the refrigerator and freezes well.

Mushroom and Asparagus Burritos

2 cups cooked black beans

1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends discarded, roasted, and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 red bell pepper, roasted and sliced

1 package white button mushrooms, minced

1 package baby portobello mushrooms, minced

2-3 hot peppers, seeded and minced

1/4 red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

cumin

chili powder

paprika

ground coriander

cayenne pepper

salt

tortillas

Roasted Salsa Verde

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the mushrooms, peppers, onion, and garlic. Cook for 10-15 minutes of until veggies are soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Layer filling in warmed tortillas. Roll up and fry if desired.

Serve with Roasted Salsa Verde.

'Til next time.

Black Bean and Asparagus Enchiladas with Green Enchilada Sauce

This recipe is dedicated to the Vegan Cow Girl.

Her love for all things asparagus inspired me to try to come up with a way to use it in a Mexican inspired dish.

I have to be completely honest with you, both Brett and I were a little skeptical at first, but these turned out really good. I cleaned my plate and Brett ate so much he almost made himself sick.

And I must state for the record, roasted asparagus seriously rocks. Seriously. :-)

Green Enchilada Sauce

Makes enough for a large dish of enchiladas.

1 lb tomatillos, husked and cored

1 cup cold water

1/4 cup veggie broth

4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

1 habanero, seeded and minced

1/2 yellow onion, minced

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 cup of cilantro, washed and shredded

juice of one lime

cinnamon

dash nutmeg

dash cocoa powder

cumin

paprika

dash white pepper

salt

1 tbsp good canola oil

Soak husked and cleaned tomatillos in cold water to 10-15 minutes.

While tomatillos are soaking, heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and onion and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.

Blend tomatillos and water in a food processor.

Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until very smooth.

Place sauce in a pan and simmer, covered for about 40 minutes.

Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to blend.

This sauce should last in the fridge about 2 weeks, it also freezes well.

The enchilada filling. So very good. I took the leftover filling into work the next day and ate it by itself for lunch! It was really good.

Black Bean and Asparagus Enchiladas

1 cup black beans, cooked

1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends discarded, roasted and sliced into bite sized pieces

2 small zucchini, roasted and sliced

1/2 bell pepper, roasted and sliced

1 poblano, roasted and sliced

1/4 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

cumin

chipotle chili powder

Mexican oregano

paprika

salt

vegan jack (optional)

Green Enchilada Sauce

corn tortillas (we used white corn)

sliced black olives

guacamole

When veggies are done roasting, reduce oven heat to 350.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the onion, garlic and serrano peppers. Cook for about 10 minutes or until soft. Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Spread enchilada sauce in the bottom of a baking dish.

Layer filling and a little bit of vegan jack (if desired) in warmed corn tortillas. Roll up and place in the pan. Top with a little more enchilada sauce.

Bake, uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until everything is bubbly and tortillas are getting crisp.

Top with olives and bake for another 2-3 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Serve with guacamole.

Yum!

So, a bit of sad garden news to end this post. I did some research, and it looks like we started our pepper seeds a bit late this year. This means we are going to start picking up starts over the course of this week to transplant into pots this weekend. We did, however, learn a lot, and will know to start them much sooner next year. We are going to keep the New Mexican Chile start going, as they seem to be taking off and I've never seen a start of this pepper. We're hoping to at least get one or two peppers off of it so we can save their seeds.

Anyways.... I'll leave you with a couple of cute kitty pictures.

We've created a monster. Brett thought it was cute that Nermal was getting interested in the sink one day not too long ago. She then discovered that she could drink the running water out of the sink. Now she will only drink the running water out of the sink. And she demands it, by loudly and constantly meowing when she's thirsty. I don't think she's drank out of her water bowl for a month. Let's just say it used to be cute and now we're stuck doing it! :-)

Gabby never misses an opportunity to get in a bag.

'Til next time!

Spicy Chipotle Black Bean and Pineapple Tacos with Green Chile Taco Sauce

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

This meal was a slightly more 'experimental' idea that I had, but it turned out wonderfully. Both Brett and I weren't sure on our first bite, but in less than 10 minutes, the meal was gone!

And we both agreed, this taco sauce just plain rocks! Don't be turned off by the icky color, this stuff is fantastic.

Veggies for taco sauce.

Taco sauce simmering.

Green Chile Taco Sauce

8-10 Anaheim peppers

4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

2 large tomatoes, chopped

2-4 tomatillos, husked and chopped

1/2 red onion, minced

5 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 cup white distilled vinegar

Preheat oven to 400.

Place whole Anaheim chilies on a baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes, until peppers soft and blistered, turning a few times through cooking.

Place chilies in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam, for about 15 minutes, this will loosen the skins for easy removal.

Remove stems and skins and chop.

Combine all ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring a couple of times through cooking.

Transfer to a food processor and blend until very smooth.

This sauce will last about 2-3 weeks in the fridge and freezes well.

FOR: Tacos, Tostadas and Taco Salads

Spicy chipotle black bean filling.

Yum!

I thought this picture looked a little like a face. :-)

Spicy Chipotle Black Bean and Pineapple Tacos

1 cup black beans, cooked and warmed

1/4 red onion, diced

1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced

1 habanero, seeded and minced

2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

2 chipotle chilies in adobo, miced

1 tsp sauce from chilies in adobo

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp unseasoned brown rice vinegar

1 tbsp agave

cumin

ground coriander

Mexican oregano

salt

canned pineapple tid bits, drained.

hard taco shells

baby spinach

sliced avocado

Green Chile Taco Sauce

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the onion, peppers and garlic and cook for 10 minutes or until veggies soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine all the bean filling ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Layer spinach, bean filling and pineapple in warmed taco shells. Serve with sliced avocado and Green Chile Taco Sauce.

So yummy.

Hope everyone has a great Cinco de Mayo!

'Til next time.

Marinated Mushroom, Pepper and Corn Flautas with Smooth Roasted Tomatillo-Garlic Salsa

As anyone who reads my blog knows, I love Mexican food (and I also dig on their music, especially instrumental guitar). It truly borders on obsession, but that's fine by me (and Brett). :-) If you all could only see my flash drive and the literally dozens (perhaps bordering on 100) of Mexican sauce, entree and brunch recipes I've created (and yet to try), you'd either be scared or impressed. The only problem with my insane quantity of recipes is that I forget about some of them or don't know where to begin when I go to plan my meals out for the week. Well, I've come up with a new organizational method (separating recipes by type, such as 'burritos and burros', 'enchiladas', 'flautas', 'empanadas', 'fajitas', etc) so now they are more readily accessible and I'm not faced with a HUGE folder full of recipes to choose from.

A couple of nights ago, I pulled out this flauta recipe that I was really excited about when I created it, but soon forgot about.

These did not fail to please at all. And, they only took about 20 minutes to prepare (I made the salsa over the weekend so that the meal would be quick), and then baked for about the same amount of time. A perfect meal after a long day at work!

Enough of my yammering, onto the pictures and the recipes!















Roasted tomatillos and garlic fresh from the oven. They look very appetizing, I know, but trust me, roasted tomatillos are amazing.















Roasted Tomatillo and Garlic Salsa

Makes about 3 cups.

Note: This is a very mild salsa.

1lb tomatillos, husked
1 head of garlic, 1/4 inch of the top sliced off
4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1/4 red onion, minced
1 cup of cilantro, shredded
1/2 cup (or more) water
cumin
Mexican oregano
paprika
dash sugar
salt

Preheat the broiler.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and onion and cook about 10 minutes.

Drizzle a little melted coconut oil and a pinch of salt over the tomatillos and garlic.

Roast for about 3-5 minutes, and turn. Roast another 3-5 minutes until tomatillos begin to blister.

The garlic should be removed as soon as it begins to brown and get fragrant.

Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing the skins from the garlic and transferring everything to a food processor.

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until well blended.

Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to blend.

This sauce will keep for 1-2 weeks in the fridge and freezes well.

FOR: Tacos, Tostadas, Taco Salads, Burritos and Burros, Quesadillas, Enchiladas, Bowls, Tamales, Fajitas, Empanadas, Flautas, Taquitos

Marinated Mushrooms:
juice of one lime
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp shoyu (or other soy sauce)
1 tbsp stone ground mustard
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
cayenne pepper
salt

1 small pack of button mushrooms, diced

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the mushrooms, stir, cover with plastic wrap and marinate for about 8 hours. (I made the marinade the night before and put the mushrooms in to marinate before I went to work in the morning.)

Marinated Mushroom, Pepper and Corn Flautas

1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked

1/2 cup corn, cooked

1/4 red onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

juice of half a lime

chipotle chili powder

ground coriander

cumin

Mexican oregano

paprika

salt

small flour tortillas

guacamole

Smooth Roasted Tomatillo and Garlic Salsa

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers, onion and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes or until veggies are soft. Drain any excess water and transfer to a bowl and combine with cooked rice, corn and spices.

Using the same skillet, add the marinated mushrooms and a bit of the marinade to the skillet. Cook for about 10-15 minutes or until mushrooms are soft. Drain any excess liquid and transfer to the bowl with the rest of the filling.

Layer filling in warmed tortillas and roll up, securing at each end with a tooth pick.

Bake, uncovered for about 15-20 minutes, or until tortillas are crisp. Remove the tooth picks and the flautas should stay together on their own.

Serve with guacamole and Roasted Tomatillo and Garlic Salsa.

Flautas have to be the ideal finger food. Both Brett and I thought these were awesome and I definitely see more flautas in our future, so long as I don't forget about the recipes, which my new organizational system should help with.

Anywho, that's all for now.

'Til next time!

Spicy Lentil Burritos with Chipotle Tomatillo-Serrano Sauce

These burritos were really good, and easy to make too. Brett, who wasn't sure he liked lentils, has now warmed up to at least the green variety. No longer does he cringe when he hears I want to try something with lentils.....

I don't have any pictures of the burrito itself. I didn't end up with a good picture of the filling, they all came out blurry. And then I forgot to take a picture of it once I had wrapped it up and slathered it with (big surprise) guacamole. But if you've seen one burrito, you've seen 'em all right? I'll make sure to get a decent picture of the filling next time I make this, but suffice to say, picture or not, this meal was filling, spicy, tasty, all sorts of good things.

I also think this might be my favorite sauce I've made so far. It's smoky, spicy but not overly so, and flavorful. And I did get a picture of the sauce!

Ole!















Chipotle Tomatillo-Serrano Sauce
Makes 3 cups.

1 lb tomatillos, husked and diced
6 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
1/4 red onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 chipotle chilies en adobo, chopped
juice of one lime
1 cup fresh cilantro, shredded
cumin
dash dried basil
salt
2 tbsp seasoned brown rice vinegar
1/2 cup water

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and onion and cook for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 5 more minutes.

Transfer everything to a food processor and blend until very smooth, this is a thin sauce. Add the liquid in batches.

This sauce will last about a week in the fridge and it freezes well.

Spicy Lentil Burritos
1 cup green lentils, cooked
1 seasoned roasted yam
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped fine
4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and minced
2 small yellow crookneck squash, cubed
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 red onion, minced
cumin
Mexican oregano
ground coriander
paprika
salt

tortillas
Chipotle Tomatillo-Serrano Sauce
Guacamole

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a medium sauce pan. Add the peppers, onion, garlic and squash and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until veggies are soft, adding more water if necessary along the way. Once cooked, drain any additional water and transfer to a large bowl.

Combine lentils, veggies and spices in the bowl.

Layer lentil mixture, seasoned roasted yams and chipotle tomatillo-serrano sauce in a warmed tortillas. Roll up and fry if desired.

Top with guacamole.

Lentils are really good in Mexican, it's a nice change up from beans.

'Til next time.

Whole Wheat Black Bean, Mushroom and Olive Empanadas

These were really good, but they do take a fair amount of time. I spaced it all throughout the day, so it didn't seem like much, but the meal does take a couple hours in total. The time is well worth it.

The dough is a work in progress, but it was very tasty for my first attempt.

These are the basic ingredients in Empanada Sauce.

A picture of the New Mexican chilies toasted.

Empanada Sauce simmering.

The finished product. This sauce is really good.

Empanada Sauce

Makes about 1 1/2 cup.

Note: This is not a spicy sauce. It would also go well with tacos, tostadas and taco salads.

4 dried red New Mexican chilies

5 dried Chiles Japones

4 cloves garlic, unpeeled

6 tomatillos, husks removed and quartered

1/4 red onion, minced

1 cup water

juice of half a lime

cumin

salt

Heat a griddle on medium heat for about 2 minutes.

Place chilies and unpeeled garlic on the griddle and toast until slightly black on each side, about 3 minutes on each side. Let the garlic cool just a bit and peel, remove stems from chilies and halve.

Simmer all the ingredients in a sauce pan until tomatillos are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

Remove the chilies from the sauce.

Transfer the rest of the ingredients to a food processor and pulse until very smooth.

If the sauce needs to be spicier, add bits of the chile at a time. (I left one of the chiles in.)

This sauce lasts about a week in the fridge and freezes well.

Black bean, mushroom, olive and veggie filling.

Empanada ready to be folded up.

Baked and ready to eat.

Mini empanadas.

Whole Wheat Black Bean, Mushroom and Olive Empanadas

I made two large empanadas for our dinner and then used a cookie cutter to make mini empanadas for snacks as there wasn't really enough worth freezing.

Dough:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup corn meal

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp Earth Balance (I use the non-hydrogenated organic kind)

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 cup warm water

cumin

chipotle chili powder

cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and spices.

Using a knife, cut the Earth Balance into the flour.

Using a fork to combine ingredients, start adding the vinegar and water in batches. The mixture should be just combined and still lumpy.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead a time or two.

Put back into bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough in circles, the size is dependent on how large you want the empanadas.

Filling:

1 cup black beans, cooked

1/2 cup sweet corn, cooked

4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced

1/4 red onion, minced

5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small can chopped black olives, drained
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked

1 cup white mushrooms, finely minced

chipotle chili powder

cumin

1 tbsp dried cilantro

salt

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and onion and cook for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Drain any excess water.

Combine cooked veggies with beans and corn.

In the same skillet, heat a few more tablespoons of water. Add the mushrooms, season and cook until soft about 10 minutes.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Putting it all together:

Layer filling in empanada dough circle. Crimp edges with a fork to close. Mositen edges with a bit of water while crimping.

Bake for 15-20 (for large ones, about 10 for mini empanadas) minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with empanada sauce. Yum!

'Til next time.

Potato, Veggie and Wild Rice Burros with Jalapeno-Tomatillo Green Sauce and Tomatillo Guacamole

This might, at first, seem like a very strange combination of ingredients to use in Mexican food. But I've learned that so long as you get the seasoning right, you can pair all sorts of interesting things together and get a fairly 'authentic' taste.

Note: This sauce is quite spicy. I would suggest using it sparingly, and if you aren't into spice, perhaps skip this sauce. Also, we are going to try this using a mix of long grain brown and wild rice next time, I think it would be even better that way.

Jalapeno-Tomatillo Sauce















Makes 3 cups

3 tomatillos, husked and chopped
15 jalapenos, seeded and minced
1 habanero, seeded and minced
1/2 yellow onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup of cilantro, washed and shredded
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
cumin
white pepper
salt

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Add the peppers and onion and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the tomatillos and cook an additional 5 minutes. Transfer veggies to a food processor.

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until very smooth and fairly thin, adding the liquid in batches.

This will last about a week in the fridge and freezes well. I kept one cup out to use this week and froze two, one cup portions for later use.

FOR: Tacos, Tostadas, Taco Salads, Burritos and Burros, Quesadillas, Fajitas, Flautas, Nachos

Spicy Tomatillo Guacamole
1 avocado, peeled and mashed
1 clove garlic, minced
4 Chiles Japones, minced (or crushed red pepper)
chipotle chili powder
cumin
dash of cayenne (optional)
salt
juice of half a lime

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and chill for about a half hour to let the flavors blend.

Potato, Veggie and Wild Rice Burros

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
dash cinnamon
pinch unsweetened cocoa powder
salt
1 tsp coconut oil

Preheat oven to 425.

Melt coconut oil in a baking dish in the oven.

Combine the potatoes and spices and bake,covered with foil, for 30-35 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.

1/2 cup frozen green beans, cooked
1 zucchini, roasted and sliced
4 serrano peppers, minced
1 habanero, minced
1 poblano pepper, minced
1/4 yellow onion, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup cooked wild rice
salt

tortillas
spicy tomatillo guacamole
jalapeno-tomatillo green sauce

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet.

Add the peppers and onion and cook for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes. Drain any excess water and combine veggies in a small bowl and season with salt.

Layer rice, potatoes, veggies and some Jalapeno-Tomatillo sauce if you desire. Fry if you like andserve with spicy tomatillo guacamole.

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I used to be averse to the idea of buying fresh spices as I didn't know what to do with an entire bunch. Well, I am still fairly averse with most fresh spices, though I'm going to be getting some through our CSA, so I better get over that. However, I will buy cilantro. After I've used what I need, we wash the rest of the bunch and hang it upside to dry. Then we use it as a dried spice. It's really easy and works great on most herbs.

If you notice, there are two jalapenos back there too. I've slit them and am hanging them in a first attempt to dry peppers (in anticipation of having to preserve some of my hopefully abundant pepper yield). I've looked into it fairly extensively, and from what I've read, all you have to do is slit them, hang them in a non-humid area and wait. We'll see.

'Til next time.