J&B's Random Eats of Late

As you can probably imagine, while I was still cooking before the wedding, blogging about cooking or trying many new, complicated things wasn't really on my agenda. I did, however, photograph some of the food - just random things I threw together or things I am playing with for Selina and I's cookbook, so I thought I'd share 'em.


My take on Wasabi-Tempura Asparagus (and button mushrooms!) from Vegetarian Planet. I served it with a sweet and spicy peach-soy-chile sauce.


A radish salad inspired by a recipe from the awesome Callina.


Simple and tasty corn and tomato salad.


A new and improved recipe for Pico de Gallo.


A black bean and rice stuffed omelette with tomatoes, onions, garlic, chiles, and cilantro.


Brett's bowl of goodness (eaten with tortilla chips) - cilantro-lime rice, black beans, cheese, guacamole, radish salad, and corn salad.


Drunken beans Take 1!


This was really easy, and Brett simply adored it: sliced portobellow mushrooms, black olives, spinach, cumin, salt, pepper, a splash of lime and Mexican pepper cheese.

I got some pictures of the container garden today, and some market pictures from yesterday I will post at some point, after I post the CoMo honeymoon pictures. Whew!

There is a lot of stuff to post about!

'Til next time.

Yummy Pinto Bean Wrap Pictures and J's "Guilty Pleasure"

I had forgotten to take a picture of the Yummy Pinto Bean Wraps when we had them last week. They were so good, we had them again on Monday, and I made sure to snap pictures of the wraps, so check it out:















Here is mine served with baby salad greens, simple guacamole, and local tomatoes.















Here is Brett's plate, the wrap was served with baby salad greens, simple guacamole, local tomatoes, and organic sour cream.

So, some of you may be wondering about this "guilty pleasure" I mentioned in the title of this post. It is nothing lewd or illegal (although I do have an illegal pleasure, I don't feel guilty about it - come to think of it, I don't feel guilty about this one either...), but I was always a little embarrassed because I consider myself an intelligent person and not at all a girlie-girl. So my guilty pleasure is....chick lit.

I honestly don't know why I like it other than it lets me escape to a very different world than my own. In all honesty, I usually really dislike the characters, their lifestyles, and would never want to be friends with any of them, but yet they are light, airy, and fun to read. When you read the type of non-fiction I spend my nights reading, this is a nice change up. And I decided I didn't need to be embarrassed about it any more, so there you go. I am going to update my Books J's Read list to include the chick lit titles I have read this year. You know though, sometimes I am surprised and the books are actually good, they have substance and good characters - not many, but some. You will notice that I am quite hard on the chick lit when it comes to my "rating scale", this is because most of it, well, it simply isn't good - a "beach read" and nothing more. Anyways, you can check that out if you'd like, and feel free to make fun of me all you want.

Now I will say, I DO NOT read bodice-ripping romance novels - no siree, no thank you, I laugh out loud at some of the covers. If there is a Fabio-looking guy on the cover, J isn't interested. :-)

Well, I had an excellent weekend in St. Louis. I surprised myself by really having fun. I can't think my (step) Mom Stacey for all her help, we would NOT have been able to get nearly as much done already without her help.

I've picked out, tried on, bought, and scheduled and alterations appointment for my dress (!!!!!!), I actually decided on my own to wear a veil (it looks really nice) - but it will be clipped to the back of my hair and not over my face or around my shoulders, we have a location, the location has been secured, we have a dinner place, a rehearsal dinner place, flowers, invitations, Selina picked out her dress (she is going to look DAMN good by the way), Brett picked out he and the Best Man's tux, Dad got his tie and "pocket silk" (I had to ask what a "pocket silk" was, apparently it is a fancy handkerchief that men wear in suit pockets), we are working on the ceremony schedule, WHEW. But we still have lots left to do and it has, and I assume will continue to be, lots of fun. Tomorrow we are doing one of the really fun parts. We decided to go with a local jeweler instead of Etsy (to keep it as local as possible) and we are taking a picture of the rings we want in to see if he can make them there.

There is something in mathematics called a mobius strip. It is a one-sided strip that has no true surface and is continuous. It shows a cycle that begins where it ends and ends where it begins - if that makes any sense at all. Brett, being a math nerd, and me, loving the symbolism, decided that we are going to have our rings shaped into mobius bands. Super cool, eh?

Check this out too:


















Thank you for the image Wikipedia.

This is one very famous example of a mobius strip.

Maybe I am a bit of a math nerd too, I remember how excited I was when I learned that the St. Louis Gateway Arch is a catenary curve.

I have probably embarrassed myself enough for one day. :-)

'Til next time!

Yummy Pinto Bean Wraps and a Trip to the Lou!

I made some really flippin' tasty Pinto Bean Wraps the other night, but sadly, I forgot to take a picture of them. I usually end up not blogging about things I forget to photograph - that is, at least until I make it again and can get a picture, but these, they were super tasty, and I just had to share this simple, super easy recipe, picture or not.

This is one of those dinners that can be put together in about 10 minutes, and I love those kinds of meals. The ingredients used can also be made in quantity as they are very versatile and can be used for burritos, taco salads, quesadillas, bowls, etc., with just a few other ingredients.

Without further fanfare, here is the recipe.

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

Yummy Pinto Bean Wraps

Bean Mixture:
2 cups pinto beans, cooked ****
1 cup sweet corn, cooked
4 tbsp Salsa Diablo (or other super, super spicy salsa)
dash salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Cilantro-Lime Rice:
2 cups long grain brown rice, cooked ****
1-2 tbsp dried cilantro flakes +
1 tbsp lime juice
dash of cumin
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate for about an hour to allow the flavors to blend.

Fixin's:
Cheese
Sour Cream (tofu or regular, Brett used organic sour cream)
diced tomatoes + (the first local ones of the year!)

Layer rice and bean mixtures in warmed tortillas, adding any fixin's you desire. Roll up and fry.

This evening, I am off for a trip, all by my lonesome to good 'ol St. Louis, Missouri for a weekend of wedding planning. Brett, lucky for still being in school, is inundated with homework, and I know how it is trying to do homework and traveling, so we decided it would be best for him to stay home. I am really going to miss him though, in the entire six and a half years we have been together, we have only spent a night or two apart, and that was when Brett went to Illinois for something a few years ago. Sigh. But I have left him well prepared, I've made him pinto beans, cilantro lime rice, I seasoned up some lentils for him, defrosted some Super Beany Chili for him, made sure he had tortillas, local colby cheese with hot peppers in it, sour cream, and I baked him two dozen chocolate chip cookies, and a tray of granola bars. Whew! At least we know he will be fed. It is hard to believe Brett is thin, but he is.

Anyway, you may wonder why I am going to St. Louis for wedding planning since we are supposedly having the wedding here in Columbia... Well, plans changed. I don't want to get into all of it, but we are now going to be having our wedding in some garden in St. Louis proper, and selected family members will be invited. From my side, we are inviting my Dad, step-mom Stacey, step-brothers Josh, Zac, and Jordan, my step-grandmother Barb, and my grandparents from my Dad's side (they are coming up from Houston!). Brett will be inviting his Mom, Dad, brother (and his wife and kids I guess), his sister (and her husband and kids I guess), and both his grandmothers. Everyone is a lot happier with this arrangement but it does mean a lot more planning. We are going to try to get our good friend Neil to officiate the ceremony, and now Selina and Matt (Brett's brother) have to be "real" Matron's of Honor/Best Men, including, sadly, a dress which I hope Selina doesn't spend the rest of her days resenting me making her look like some sort of green puff ball (S, this is why I put picking out the gown in you and Stace's hands, I can't be the target of your later resentment. :-))

I feel horrible for poor Selina, she is such a rockin' friend and I don't know what I would do without her, but she has had to field all of my crazy questions including, I kid you not, asking her what a "boudanear" was (yes, I didn't know what it was and I also didn't know how to spell it - but she can be thankful that she wasn't Brett trying to explain to me what a "garter" was, I found out it is some sort of belt that has some really silly symbolism). I never thought about weddings until Brett proposed - ever. I'm also not much of a "girlie girl" flowers, hair, shoes (aside from sneakers, I like sneakers), invitations, all that is beyond me.

I am also thankful for Stacey; she has been Super Mom to me in all this planning. Let me tell you, planning even a small wedding in two months is a lot of work and she has taken the lead. Since I never really imagined a wedding or planned the things I want, all I had to go on are the things I knew I didn't want - Brett has taken to calling me Dr. No after I called my Dad with a list of no's not limited to, but including the following: No Dancing, No Singing, No Speeches, No Flowers (I have been overridden on that one), No Veil (I may be overridden on that one too, but I WILL NOT wear one over my face), No Bachelorette Parties (Brett doesn't want a Bachelor Party either), No Toasts, No Vows (too personal and private), No Pink (at least on me), No Standing Up When Bride Reluctantly (because people will be looking at me) Walks Down the Aisle (the eyes on me is enough as it is, what the hell is the standing up for? It's not like I brought about World Peace.), No Arbor or any weird Arch Type Thing, No St. Charles County (too many "Mom Memories"), and finally No High Heels. I may add to this list as we go along, but surprisingly the things I don't want aren't all that important of details. Stacey has also been very attentive over the years to what I like and who I am, so she has made sure to have Brett and I's personalities and styles in mind when she has been doing to work that I should be doing, or at least paying her to be doing. :-)

So anyways, we will see how I survive this weekend that will include: hair appointments, looking at flowers, looking at invitations, looking at places to hold the wedding, perhaps looking at shoes and undergarments, and who knows what else. Oh, and my Dad's birthday was yesterday, so we will be celebrating that sometime as well. WHEW!

That is the latest, I suppose. I think the biggest "next step" since I found the dress I want is to get Brett a tux (I am SO excited to see him in a tux, I bet he will look really good), is to pick a location, and then a time so we can send out invitations.

Selina, if you are reading this, I may be "blowing up your phone" this weekend, so watch out. You may need a vacation when all this is over, but I love you for it, and will happily begin paying you in mailed baked goods if necessary.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I hope I survive without having a panic attack over the difference between "Fern Green" and "Clover Green".

'Til next time.

Random Eats of Late

I have been cooking lately - mostly variations on favorite tried and true recipes, but I have been lazy and too overwhelmed to blog - well not anymore! Not only will I share these variations of tried and true recipe, I hope to post the new chili recipe Brett and I made sometime this week. A new recipe! Wahoo!















First off, our Everything Granola Bars. We have worked with the ratios and nut/seed combinations and I think we have them how we want them. I highly recommend trying these and playing around with the recipe until you find the way you like 'em best. We found a combination so tasty that we have eaten these for breakfast (and even snacks) for a couple of months now. Oh, and check out our "newsed" new plates. A little brightly colored for my taste, but I love the swirly and Southwestern feel to the plates (cups, bowls, etc). My Dad and step-mom Stacey got some new dishes and split the set between Brett and I and my step-brother Zac. We certainly didn't need a whole set when half of the set included four place settings of each. Wahoo for hand-me-downs!

Next up: J. Finally. Baked. Bread. !!!!!















Check out these two gorgeous ciabattas! I followed the recipe provided by the super cool Jessy from Happy Vegan Face, I used all purpose flour for the "sponge" and local, Missouri-grown whole wheat pastry flour for the rest of the recipe.















Check out the air pockets! We had this delicious bread with some pasta and St. Louis-made Zia's pasta sauce.

The verdict on the breadmaking? Why the hell did I wait this long?! This wasn't hard at all and I don't even have a stand mixer, so I just used my hands. Brett and I have agreed that flour tortillas should be the next mission.

I do have to thank Selina (from Vegans Rock!!!) for helpfully dealing with my frantic text message inquiring as to whether my dough should have been as sticky as it was. Selina, you should change the name of your blog to Selina Rocks!!!

And now on to one of our favorite Asian meals in our "rotation", Veggie and Egg Fried Rice.















We originally got this recipe from Leng over at A Fat Cat Who Created A Vegetarian, and have since made it our own.

I love fried rice since you can throw in whatever veggies you have on hand.

To make this version of Veggie Fried Rice, we sautéed about a third of a head of red cabbage (not local, but purchased from the Root Cellar), 2 carrots peeled and chopped, one yellow onion, sliced thick (not local, but purchased from the Root Cellar), 1 head of broccoli florets, chopped, edamame, and green peas in canola oil in a very large skillet over high heat until the veggies begin to char. Then whisk together 2-4 tbsp shoyu (or other soy sauce), 2 tbsp of hot or sweet chili sauce (we use sweet chili sauce), and a pinch of black pepper. Add half to the veggies and stir constantly for about one minute. Add about 3 cups of day old, cooked long grain brown rice and the remainder of the sauce. Mix well.

We also added 2 local eggs to our veggie fried rice for some extra protein and brain food. To add the egg, scooch the rice and veggies to one side of the pan. Crack the eggs and scramble. Cook thoroughly and then combine the eggs, rice, and veggies.

It is a quick, yummy, one pan dish!















This is my bowl with the requisite big 'ol squirt of sriracha.

And for our lunches, we have been digging on lots of homemade hummus and falafel.















My favorite plain old garlicky hummus. The only thing that makes this better is a good couple of dashes of cayenne on top. I would rather have sumac, but I haven't found any in CoMo yet.















A yummy plate of baked falafel. I experimented a little this time and used dried cilantro flakes in place of the ground coriander and added a tablespoon of raw sesame seeds to the mixture. They turned out really, really well this time.

Well, Brett and I are taking a much needed night off together to do something we rarely do - sit in front of the "boob tube" all night. Seriously, I don't think there is anything that Brett and I need more right now than some serious snuggle time. We picked up some "reinforcements" for our evening: a locally made Uprise Bakery baguette, some garlic and herb Boursin cheese for Brett, some local Goatsbeard Farm herbed goat cheese for Brett, some super spicy cracked chili hummus for yours truly, and some olive tapenade for us to share. We've also got massive quantities of fruit waiting to be washed and cut. No dinner for us, just a night of munching - though our choice in snacks wasn't too bad.

We'll probably also work on making newspaper pots while we watch. Nothing likely double-duty, eh?

Tomorrow? Wednesday night is for the worms! We will be starting another working tray for them. We'll also (hopefully) be planting our second round of seeds! We've gathered all the needed materials, what has been missing of late is the time to actually do it. When we start more seeds, we'll also take pictures so I can do a garden update.

I apologize for the sporadic nature of my blog posts and comments on others' blogs, I've been really lazy with the computer lately, it has been the last thing on my mind.

Song of the Day:
Golden Pond - Chris Thile

'Til next time.

Weekly Local Booty 11/23-11/29/08 & A Local Veg*n Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving. I enjoyed seeing my family - and the weather was beautiful and fairly warm, but we're happy to be back home. I will talk a little more in depth about our Thanksgiving (and will include recipes!) at the end of this post.

Brett is loaded down with homework this weekend - the professors didn't give any leniency for the holidays and so, due to our being out of town, he has close to a week's worth of homework to get done by Monday. Needless to say, I want to make sure he is well fed and as comfortable as possible - I've been there, and it is no fun, especially when there are important term papers in the mix. I will likely go to graduate school in a few years, but have really enjoyed not having to do homework all the time, Brett still being in school reminds me why I decided to take a few years off and work full-time before going back.

Anywho, The Root Cellar made it easy for me to plan some tasty meals. We were there earlier in the week to get produce for our Thanksgiving meal and noticed a lot of really good looking options for when we came back to get stuff for our weekly meals, so I already had some ideas in mind.

We didn't get anything from our garden this week. The outdoor container plants are really struggling, and the pepper plants started indoors just aren't big enough to produce yet. The greens are moving along, some better than others. I will discuss this more in the monthly garden update - I should be able to get that up by Tuesday.

Here is this week's haul from The Root Cellar. This ran us $48.















Starting from the bottom right: spinach, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, 2 Herbal Oats granola bars, 5 ripe serranos, small yellow potatoes, leeks (!!!!!), an orange bell pepper, a green bell pepper, 2 pears, a container of firm tofu* (not local), a jar of dairy-free pasta sauce made in St. Louis, 4 tomatoes, fair trade organic chocolate chips (dairy-free and not local), and a spaghetti squash.

* I have mentioned on this blog a few times that I dislike tofu. Both Brett and I do. And we have tried to like it more than we do, but there are things about it that neither of us can get past. But there are at least two things we like tofu in: one is tofu sour cream (only in moderation and not very often), and the other are our Tofu and Potato Burritos. It has been a really long time since we've had the burritos, so I decided to get a block since we had everything else on hand that we needed.

Here is this week's loot from Uprise Bakery:















Of course, a loaf of ciabatta, and this week we also picked up a granola bar.

I have the rest of the cookie posts scheduled to go up later in the week. This week's menu is compromised of many favorites including, of course, the Tofu and Potato Burritos, Smashed Yam, Black Bean, and Spinach Quesadillas, and Leek and Potato Soup (for soup and bread night).

We will be trying spaghetti squash served with the local pasta sauce pictured above, and I have something up my sleeve to use some of the peach jam in. So there won't not be as many non-sweets food posts this week because things fell into place for us to enjoy some of our old favorites!

My Nanny, an excellent canner and cook, sent us home with a nice treat that I plan on putting to use this week:















A jar of peach jam! The peaches came from my mom and aunt's yards, and they are even from within our 200 mile foodshed!

Onto our veg*n Thanksgiving. I am sorry to report that I didn't get many pictures - in fact, only one picture of the food I made for Thanksgiving (the other picture is from the trial run of the soup I made for the dinner). Things were really hectic in the kitchen and my initial prep schedule didn't pan out because my mom - I love her but she is such a clean freak I could scream sometimes - tried to renege on my being able to cook in her kitchen (because I could make a mess, what is a kitchen for anyway?!), I was finally able to convince her that I could make the soup and bread at her house without making too much of a mess, and that I would finish at my Nanny's house the next day.

The menu ended up being as follows:

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup with Uprise Bakery Ciabatta (of course)
Black Bean, Brown Rice, and Local Veggie Stuffed Portobellos
Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Shiitake Mushroom Gravy
Pumpkin-Walnut Bread

I spent a lot of time trying to come up with something at least quasi-traditional, that I thought my family would actually eat. Sadly, I was wrong on those counts, well except perhaps the traditional part. After many hours in the kitchen, a lot of thought and planning, the only things my family ate were the ciabatta from Uprise Bakery, the Pumpkin-Walnut Bread, and I think someone beyond Brett and I had a stuffed mushroom. It all turned out really well, I just don't think I will put in as much effort or make as much food next time.

I also hadn't prepared myself for the disappointment that I wouldn't be eating the other food prepared. Comments like, "It's just chicken broth" and "You can have just a taste can't you?" I don't blame them for not understanding and I don't expect them to accommodate, I mean, my great grandma is 86 years old, but I've been a vegetarian for awhile, they all knew this. They didn't prod or harass me about it too much, but I could tell it was more of an issue than I thought it was going to be.

Anyways, Brett told me he really enjoyed the stuffed mushrooms, and he and I ate a huge bowl of the mashed potatoes and gravy later on while watching a football game. I ended up leaving all the pumpkin bread with my grandparents and mom.

On to the recipes, don't let my family’s aversion to vegetarian food or anything non-traditional deter you from trying these recipes, they really were good.

The mashed potatoes we made were based on our Garlicky Mashed Potatoes recipe, we used red potatoes instead of russet (reds are so much better), hempmilk instead of soy, and I added a little dried basil and oregano to the mixture (the potatoes and garlic were local and the hempmilk was purchased from a local store). The shiitake mushroom gravy was essentially Veganomicon's Mushroom Gravy with shiitakes subbed in and maybe a few other modifications, but to be honest, I made it on the fly, so I can't really remember (I do know that I used local shiitakes, garlic, and onions).















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

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed (5-6 cups) ***
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped (I used local Gala apples) +
1 carrot, peeled and sliced into thick rounds +
1 yellow onion, chopped +
1 tbsp Earth Balance
5 cups water
1 veggie bouillon cube
1-2 tbsp maple syrup
nutmeg
cinnamon
salt
pepper

Melt Earth Balance in a large soup pot. Add the carrot and onion and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the squash, apples, water, and bouillon.

Simmer for 40-45 minutes or until veggies very soft. Let cool for a few minutes.

Blend in a food processor until very smooth, add a little more water if needed to get desired consistency. Add maple syrup and spices to taste.

Serve with warm crusty bread.

Black Bean, Brown Rice and Local Veggie Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Makes 12 stuffed mushrooms

12 medium portobello mushrooms, stems removed and cleaned
1/2 cup black beans, cooked ****
1/2 cup brown rice, cooked ****
1 carrot, peeled and chopped +
1 green bell pepper, seeded and minced +
4 cloves of garlic, minced +
1/2 yellow onion, minced +
1-2 tbsp safflower oil
basil
oregano
thyme
black pepper
salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat oil in a small skillet. Add the carrot, bell pepper, garlic, and onion. Cook for about 10 minutes or until veggies are soft and starting to caramelize a little bit.

Combine veggies with black beans, brown rice, and seasonings to taste.

Spray a baking sheet with oil.

Stuff a tablespoon or so of the filling in to each prepared mushroom.

Roast for about 30 minutes.















Whole Grain Spelt Pumpkin-Walnut Bread
Recipe adapted from here.

1 1/2 cups whole grain spelt flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup organic raw sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup pumpkin puree +
1/2 cup safflower oil
2 eggs (or replacer) ++ (local)
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped +

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray a bread pan with oil.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, water, and spices in a small bowl.

Slowly combine the wet and dry ingredients in the large bowl.

Stir in the walnuts.

Spread batter into a prepared bread pan and bake for 60 minutes or until a knife or toothpick in the center comes out clean.

The Pumpkin-Walnut bread is really, really good. We didn't get to bring any home with us, so I am going to be making a loaf this weekend, sans walnuts (Brett doesn't like nuts), so Brett and I can enjoy some of it.

Well, I'm off to enjoy a relaxing night of reading, soup making, and perhaps some cookie baking. Those Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies were really good and didn't last long around here. I also thought that reading a textbook might not seem as bad if you had a yummy cookie to go along with it.

'Til next time.

Black Bean and Cilantro Lime Rice Tacos

I don't think it had, but it seemed like it had been awhile since Brett and I had a taco night, and when looking through the cabinets to inventory anything that needed to be used up, I found some blue corn taco shells. With that discovery, a taco night was in order - this time, rather than creating something completely novel (at least to us), I decided to try (again) to recreate cilantro-lime rice.

I know Chipotle has cilantro-lime rice, but the first place I had it was at a Mexican restaurant when Brett and I visited Washington, D.C. a couple of years ago. Not long after our trip, I tried to recreate it, and it was horrible. Well since then, I've had cilantro-lime rice a couple more times, and decided to try again. This time the rice turned out great and our taco night was a huge hit.

I've been avoiding buying fresh limes unless they are grown within the US (and even then doing it sparingly). After some thinking, I decided that using bottled lime juice might be the best way to go in terms of food miles (not sure if this is faulty logic or not, but until it is pointed out that this is the case, I am going to roll with this logic). So we bought a bottle of organic lime juice awhile back and I finally decided to break into it. I decided to make this meal a really special treat, so we got an organic avocado (from California) and made guacamole to go with our tacos. Since we had so many tomatoes lying around, I decided to chop up one of the small ones and throw it in there as well.

Now that I know how to make cilantro-lime rice, my head is spinning with all sorts of complimentary burrito and taco salad fillings to pair with it. Don't you just love when you make something and then realize how versatile it is? I still feel that way about the Green Chile Taco Sauce - I think calling it a "taco sauce" was a bit of a misnomer, as the sauce can be used for much more than that.

Note: I had to buy the cilantro for this from the "regular" store. With the farmer's market season quickly coming to an end here in Mid-Missouri, the market last week was pretty short on vendors, including the one who normally has plenty of cilantro. So we bought some organic cilantro from the store that appears to have been grown in California. The COOL labels (country of origin labels) now required on most fresh produce in the US (and some other items) are not always the easiest things to comprehend.

A side note about the COOL labels: When Brett and I were at the "regular" grocery store the other day, we scoped out the first of the clementines we've seen for the year, to see if they were from California, and thus within our self-imposed winter eating local guidlines, and the package listed the USA and Canada as the country of origin. I doubt that clementines are grown in Canada, unless in a greenhouse, but because of the confusion, we decided to pass on the clementines until we could find some that were more clear about where they came from. Argh. Is it too much to ask to be able to know where our food comes from? It's hard to claim that this is a free country sometimes, especially when something so basic as where our food comes from is treated in such a secretive and "need to know" manner.

Anywho, rant over. On to the food!

















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

Cilantro-Lime Rice:
1/2 cup raw long grain brown rice, rinsed ****
1 cup water
pinch of salt for water
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped finely
1 tbsp lime juice
more salt, to taste

Combine rice, water, and salt. Bring water to a boil.

Simmer on low for 40 minutes, or until all water is absorbed.

While rice is still warm stir in cilantro and lime. Taste. Add more salt if necessary.

Beans:
2 cups of black beans, cooked ****
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and minced *
1/2 red onion, minced +
2 cloves of garlic, minced +
adobo seasoning (we use Goya brand with cumin)

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet.

Add the pepper, onion, and garlic and cook for 10-15 minutes or until veggies are soft. Drain any excess water.

In a small bowl, combine veggies, beans, and adobo seasoning to taste.

"Fixin's":
blue corn taco shells
2 medium tomatoes, chopped ***
simple guacamole (with a small chopped tomato stirred in for an extra treat) (garlic in guacamole = +; tomato = ***)
local salsa (though not necessary) *

Layer rice and bean mixture in warmed taco shells. Serve with fresh tomatoes and guacamole.

Yum!

We ate these while we watched the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles game on Sunday Night Football. Wahoo and WAHOO. Sadly it looks like we got whipped in our fantasy football game this weekend.

'Til next time!

Black Bean, Brown Rice, and Red Chile-Sweet Potato Burritos

Happy Election Day! I hope all our readers from the US go out and cast their votes today!

I thought some of the readers of this blog might be starting to wonder where all the Mexican food was. Don't worry, we've been having plenty of it, we've just been having some of our "tried and true" meals lately while some of the yummies of the growing season are still around. I have all sorts of ideas on how to "Mexicanize" a lot of the local food we put up for winter - I'm pretty excited about that.

This meal was really good, albeit, with the sauce, it is a little involved, so this probably isn't a weeknight meal (unless the sauce is already made, then this would be a 45 minutes or less meal). The sauce that I used for the potatoes, Chile Colorado, is often also used as an enchilada sauce. I really like the way the semi-spiciness of the sauce complemented the sweet potatoes, and they managed to get a nice glaze too.

The sauce isn't really all that spicy, at least not to me. New Mexican Chiles are very mild, so if you don't like things spicy, omit the cayennes and just use the New Mexican Chiles. The pepper and onion studded beans, some plain brown rice, and Chile Colorado smothered roasted sweet potatoes came together to make one of those meals where there isn't a whole lot of talkin' just a lot of shoveling food into one's face. Not a pretty sight I'm sure, but it lets you know that we really liked this.

The local booty legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = The Root Cellar
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms















Chile Colorado
Makes about 3 cups.
Adapted from this recipe at Pepper Fool.

3 oz. dried New Mexican Chiles, washed, stems removed and seeds discarded (I saved them to plant next year, it is how I got the seeds for the plant we had this year)
3-5 dried long red cayenne peppers, washed, stems removed and seeds discarded ***
3 cups of boiling water
1 vidalia onion, cut in half *
2 cloves of garlic, peeled *
a few dashes of Mexican oregano
a few dashes of cumin
a pinch of salt

Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer on low for about an hour. Make sure to add water if needed throughout the process to keep the chiles covered.

Remove from heat and let cool.

Puree in a food processor until well blended.

Some people will then strain the sauce for a smooth sauce, but we don't mind a little chunkiness so we just ate it as is.

Black Bean, Rice, and Red Chile-Sweet Potato Burritos
2 cups of black beans, cooked ****
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked ****
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced *
1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced *
2 cloves of garlic, minced *
1 small yellow onion, minced **
cumin
ground coriander
black pepper
salt

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

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Red Chile Potatoes:
safflower (or other) oil in a mister
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed *
1 cup Chile Colorado * and ***

Preheat oven to 425.

Spray a baking dish with oil.

Combine all ingredients, cover with foil, and roast for 30-35 minutes or until potatoes soft.

Layer potatoes, beans, and rice in warmed tortillas. Fry if desired.

Oh my Mexican yumminess - so, so good. Thankfully, I have 2 cups of Chile Colorado frozen now, so we'll be able to enjoy this over winter as well. Wahoo.

'Til next time!

J&B's Huevos Rancheros (vegetarian)

I don't eat eggs very often, but will on occasion as I don't really consume all that many enriched products, nor do I take supplements, and this is a great way to have them. It could easily be made vegan by simply omitting the eggs and spicing up the beans, or using tofu and doing whatever it is that you do to make tofu taste good. I also made a vegan version awhile back.

I will not vouch for the authenticity of this meal, I actually don't think it was very authentic at all, but it was really, really good. Brett recently had Huevos Rancheros at a local restaurant called Cafe Berlin. He really liked the dish and we had what we needed on hand to make it at home. Now I didn't taste the dish as it was loaded down with cheese and I don't do cheese, so I only have what Brett told me about it and my own interpretations to go on. Oh, and I added roasted potatoes to the dish because roasted potatoes make everything better.

Just a reminder of the local booty legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms















J&B's Huevos Rancheros
Makes enough for 3 large servings (I took some to work for lunch the next day).

The 'Taters:
2 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed *
1 tbsp safflower oil
chili powder (ancho would seriously rock)
ground cumin
ground coriander
cayenne pepper
black pepper
salt

Preheat oven to 450.

Toss potatoes with oil and spices. Cover with foil* and roast for 35-45 minutes stirring a few times throughout cook time.

*If the foil doesn't get any food on it, it can be reused a few times.

The Eggs:
4 eggs *
1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced *
2 ripe serrano peppers, seeded and minced *
1 small yellow onion, minced *
4 cloves of garlic, minced *
black pepper
pinch of salt

Heat 1 tbsp of water in a medium skillet. Add the peppers, onion, and garlic. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until soft. Drain any excess liquid. Add the eggs and scramble. Make sure they fully cooked. Season with pepper and salt.


The Rest of the Stuff:
1 cup cranberry beans (or pinto), cooked ****
1 cup black beans, cooked ****
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked ****
salt

Season the beans with a little bit of salt.

really spicy salsa
tortillas (flour or corn would work)

Eating Huevos Rancheros can really be approached in two ways. You can layer all these components in a large tortilla and make a mondo burrito, or you can serve it family style with smaller tortillas.

Yum!

I am quickly getting a cold, I hope it goes away soon. I'll make sure to get lots of orange produce at the farmer's market tomorrow, and may even get some citrus from the regular grocery store if there is USA grown organic available.

'Til next time.

Quesadillas de Frijoles Negros, Batata, y Seta (Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Mushroom Quesadillas)

Wahoo for sweet potatoes being in season! Sweet potatoes, like mushrooms and olives, are a food that I have only enjoyed since going vegetarian - Brett has always loved them. Do we ever enjoy them now though! They are incredibly versatile, easy to work with, and have I mentioned delicious?

I don't know about anyone else, but we love sweet potatoes in Mexican food. I can't speak for Brett on this one, but I also love sweet potatoes in spicy Mexican food. They work great in quesadillas, who needs cheese? In fact, both Brett and I agree that putting cheese and sweet potatoes together just sounds plain gross any way. So I guess this, and most of the other things I try to pass off as a "quesadilla" aren't really since there is no cheese in most of them - real or fake. I just don't know what else to call a folded over stuffed tortilla - so alas, my poor attempts at a Spanish translation and the misnomer "quesadilla" is what you all have to settle for.

But you guys do get a picture and a yummy recipe, so perhaps my minor indiscretions aren't so bad after all, eh? ;-)

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden















Quesadillas de Frijoles Negros, Batata, y Seta
1 large sweet potato, roasted *
chipotle chili powder
cinnamon

1 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked
2 cups white button mushrooms, sliced
1 bell pepper, seeded and minced **
1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced *
1 spicy mystery pepper from our CSA, seeded and minced (jalapeno, serranos, or another habanero would work just fine) **
4 cloves of garlic, minced *
1/2 a yellow onion, minced *
1 large tomato, chopped **
1/4 cup salsa
cumin
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
white pepper
salt

tortillas
Green Chile Taco Sauce (*, **, and ***)

After sweet potato is baked, remove flesh from the skin and mash with chipotle chili powder and cinnamon. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a large skillet. Add the mushrooms, peppers, garlic, and onion and cook for 10-15 minutes.

Add the beans, rice, tomatoes, salsa and spices and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Layer sweet potatoes and bean/rice/veggie mixture in warmed tortillas and fry if desired.

Serve with Green Chile Taco Sauce (or other spicy thin salsa).

Yummy, local, healthy, and veg*n. Wahoo!

'Til next time!

Chiles Rellenos (Stuffed Chile Peppers)

Oh my Mexican goodness these were yum! To be more specific about the title of this recipe, these were Anasazi bean and rice stuffed poblano peppers. Honestly, I just went with the easy translation as I was having trouble figuring out how to "properly" translate that longer title (I don't know that I did this one correctly either), so Stuffed Chile Peppers is what you get!

Anyways, thankfully, we were able to get these bad boys made before our oven decided to go kaput. Looks like the maintenance people are going to try to come down and replace the heating element in the bottom of our oven today (he said he thought he had an element in the shop), but at the very least, we know that so long as someone is there to keep an eye on it, we can use the stovetop without fear of the place burning down. So at least we will be able to eat, but how I love my oven! Let's just say some of my excitement about the arrival of sweet potatoes at the farmer's market has been stymied by the recent "kitchen events".

But anyways, enough of that, onto the stuffed peppers! These were awesome and super easy to make. I was a little tentative about trying them as Brett has never really been a fan of peppers unless they are over done. He likes the flavor of peppers; I think it is something about their texture. However, he loved these and is actually coming around to the texture of peppers. He said the other day, when we were eating some of the salsa I canned last weekend (that lasted long, eh?) that he actually liked some of the still crisp onions and peppers, wahoo!

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden

So check out these bad boys:















A picture of my plate of yummy peppers. I topped these with a little picante sauce.















Here is a picture of Brett's plate. I topped his with a little "Mexican blend" cheese.















A nice little close-up.

Chiles Rellenos
6 poblano peppers, washed and halved, veins and seeds removed *

Filling:
1 cup of Anasazi beans, cooked
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked
1 cup of white button mushrooms, minced
1 yellow summer squash, minced ***
2 tomatoes, chopped ***
1 bell pepper, seeded and minced ***
1 Black Hungarian pepper, seeded and minced *
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced ***
1/2 yellow onion, minced *
4 cloves of garlic, minced *
small (8 oz.) can of tomato sauce
juice of one lime
chili powder
ground coriander
cumin
black pepper
salt

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a medium skillet. Add the mushrooms, squash, tomatoes, peppers, onion and garlic and cook for 10-15 minutes or until veggies are soft. Drain any excess liquid.

Add the beans, rice, tomato sauce, lime juice, and spices and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Stuff filling into the chiles and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

We will be having these again very soon.

'Til next time!

J's Spicy Stuffed Mushrooms

Yum! This meal was far easier than I thought it would be and man was it tasty. I must admit, I was a little nervous about making a "Mexican-ish" stuffed mushroom, but it turned out far better than I could have even imagined, and did I mention it was easy? The meal prep took about 15 minutes (I already had the beans and rice cooked, we always have cooked beans and rice on hand), and then another 20 minutes to bake, during which, I did other things. I love easy meals as I work full-time and though I love cooking, I don't want to spend hours in the kitchen after a long "hard" day at work.

Oh, and we love Peruvian Yellow peppers, they are very spicy, but not so much that Brett won't eat them, and they have an amazing flavor, similar to habaneros, but the spice level isn't quite there. Yay for me and yay for Brett! We saved the seeds out of these bad boys in hopes of growing some next year. Too bad the pasilla seeds didn't work out though, the pepper wasn't mature (which they have to be in order to get seeds that will actually grow) and they just rotted and turned brown. I really want to grow pasillas (and cascabels) so I will likely be buying seeds for those online next year (blech!), but I will keep the seeds from the mature fruits, so it should (hopefully) only be a one-time thing.

Anyways, sorry for the aside. Onto the food!

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden

















J's Spicy Stuffed Mushrooms
large mushrooms for stuffing, cleaned and stems removed (we used "Portobellinis" which are portobellos in between "regular" and "baby" sized)

Filling:
1/2 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup long grain brown rice
3-4 Roma tomatoes, diced ***
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and minced ***
1 Peruvian yellow pepper, seeded and minced *
1 pasilla pepper, seeded and minced *
1/2 small yellow or red onion, minced *
2 cloves of garlic, minced *
chili powder
cumin
paprika
Mexican oregano
black pepper
salt

vegan jack (optional)
or
"Mexican blend" cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

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

Combine the rest of the filling ingredients and season to taste.

Stuff mushrooms with the filling and bake for about 20 minutes.

Turn on the broiler.

Remove the mushrooms from the oven and top with a little vegan jack or dairy cheese.

Place under broiler, watching very carefully, until melted.

This made 6 stuffed mushrooms and enough filling for me to take in a burrito for lunch the next day at work.

These were so good and so easy that we will definitely be having these again. We might play around with different types of mushrooms to stuff too.

Brett will be posting the final challenge check-in for the Quit Now Challenge, so any Quitters out there beware!

'Til next time!

Tacos de Frijoles Negro y Setas Shiitake (Black Bean and Shiitake Mushroom Tacos)

Again, I made another attempt to translate my title for this recipe into Spanish. Alice, who hails from Spain, has always been a big help in teaching me how to do this right. I think in many ways I am starting to at least learn how the title should be constructed. I'm not sure if I got this one quite right, but I actually remembered that you are supposed to put the "taco" (or quesadilla, burrito, fajita, etc.) in front of the rest of the title. This was a difficult concept for me to grasp as an American as English sentences are structured very differently than many other languages. I hope I got this right, and if anyone out there would be willing to correct my poor Spanish, it would be much appreciated. I really owe Alice for helping me everytime I've tried to do this - thanks Alice, you seriously rock! I hope to eventually go back and re-title all of my recipes in Spanish, this could take awhile, and I'd need a lot of help, but anyone who would be willing help would be the happy recipient of some lovely Mexican yummies from yours truly - sauces, dried or pickled peppers, that kind of thing, it has to be something that travels well, but I am taking offers... ;-)

Anyways, you may notice that I used shiitake mushrooms in this meal - not a very traditionally Mexican mushroom, but I am all about bucking tradition, and dammit, they are good in Mexican food. Let's just say it is my inner rebel shining through.

These were really good and they will be making their way into our regular dinner routine. I love tacos as they are really tasty, and super easy to make, and they are the perfect place to let the lovely local booty we've been rolling in shine through.

We made these last week - I've been a bit behind in my food posting due to Brett's What is Food series and the Quit Now Challenge, but I am starting to get caught up.

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden

















The "finished product" photo is of Brett's tacos, he really liked the addition of a little bit of cheese.

Tacos de Frijol Negro y Setas Shiitake
2 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked
1-2 cups shiitake mushrooms, minced *
1 Super Chile, seeded and minced (or other hot pepper: serrano, jalapeno, etc) ***
1 cherry bomb pepper (or other sweetish pepper: banana, poblano, etc) *
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and minced **
2 cloves of garlic, minced *
1/2 yellow onion, minced **
juice of half a lime
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
paprika
white pepper
salt

taco shells
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes **

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Add mushrooms, peppers, garlic and onion.

Cook for 10-15 minutes or until soft.

Add the beans, rice, corn and seasonings. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Layer filling, lettuce, and tomatoes in warmed taco shells.

I wish I could have one of these right now!

'Til next time!

Quesadillas de Frijoles de Anasazi, Arroz Integral y Verdura (Anasazi Bean, Brown Rice, and Vegetable Quesadillas)

This was one of the best new meals we have tried this summer. We both really like Anasazi beans, but they are often forgotten with the traditional black beans, pinto beans, and kidney beans we usually use in our Mexican food. If you can get your hands on some Anasazi beans, I highly recommend them. They have an oddly "poultry-ish" quality and also a smoky flavor. Anasazi beans are also incredibly filling, it's crazy! We made quesadillas last night, no bigger than we normally do, and neither of us could eat the whole thing - we don't often have that problem.

This was also an excellent application for yellow summer squash. As I'm sure you've noticed if you've been reading this blog for any length of time, we are "beans and rice folks" (neither of us like tofu beyond tofu sour cream, we don't like seitan, and we most definitely do not like tempeh), and we are also quite obsessed with Mexican food. So it has been a fun challenge trying to figure out how to create "authentic" Mexican meals that utilize ingredients such as zucchini and summer squash that grow so well here in the Midwest. I can tell you from experience, the zucchini is harder to make "work" than the summer squash, we've had a few "hits" with zucchini, but also some "misses", things that were edible, but that weren't "blog-worthy" nor worth making again, so I was happy to find a meal that used squash that worked out really well. I can say though, with a little creativity and patience, almost anything can be used in Mexican food and it still taste "authentic", you just have to get familiar with the flavors and textures used in traditional Mexican cuisine.

Anyways, I've also gotten a few comments asking what, if any, produce used in our meals comes from our gardens. This excites me to no end that people enjoy the garden updates and our local food, so for the rest of the summer I will use a "legend" to show which fruits and veg came from our gardens, our CSA, the farmer's market, or the "regular" store.

The legend is:
no asterisk = from the grocery store
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden

Without further ado, here are the pictures and the recipe.

















NOTE: I am going to try to start "titling" my recipes in Spanish, since it is pretty much just Mexican food. Not only do I think this is neat, but I learn a little bit of Spanish along the way. Now, with that said, I am coming up with these translations via online Spanish to English dictionaries and translators, and they aren't always accurate. So if you know Spanish, and know I am wrong with my translation, please correct me, it will help me learn!

Quesadillas de Frijoles de Anasazi, Arroz Integral y Verdura (Anasazi Bean, Brown Rice, and Vegetable Quesadillas)
1 cup anasazi beans, cooked
1 cup long grain brown rice, cooked
2 tomatoes, diced ***
1 yellow summer squash, diced ***
1/2 onion, diced **
1/2 bell pepper, seeded and minced ***
1 hot banana pepper, seeded and minced ***
1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced ***
2 cloves of garlic, minced *
ground coriander
chipotle chili powder
cumin
salt

tortillas
salsa

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add squash, onion, peppers, and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes. Drain any excess water.

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

Layer a few tablespoons of filling in warmed tortillas. Fry if desired.

Yummy!

I wanted to end this post with a reminder about the Quit Now Challenge. It officially starts tomorrow and it is not too late to sign up. I will be posting a reminder tomorrow to all you quitters out there that the challenge has begun!

'Til next time.

Baked Black Bean and Veggie Flautas

Flautas are a great meal any time of year if you ask me. I love how they get crispy and are a Mexican finger food - and since most Mexican food is so messy, I relish flautas. Though traditionally fried, I baked them, as well, any time I have ever tried to deep fry something, we should have had the fire department or an ambulance on speed dial. Jennifer + Hot Oil = Disaster Waiting To Happen. I have stories that I will not share at this time, but let's just say I've had my oil incident, it wasn't fun, and that I've even had an exploding salsa incident - I was lucky that I didn't get hurt in either incident, but the kitchen didn't fare so well. I am one of those people who manage to hurt myself in ways I can't even explain. Just call me clumsy.

Anyways, flautas are also great as the oven only has to be on for a few minutes and they are great mediums for disposing of some of summer's abundance - we even got to use our first garden grown jalapeno and it was good.

These flautas got a big thumbs up from both Brett and I. The only thing I will do differently next time is not make so many, they are larger than they look!

Also, be forewarned, waiting to eat these things is torture. Flautas have some special insulation property that keeps them piping hot for a long time. So while you are starving, you have to stare down the steaming flautas hoping that your first bite won't involve scalding mouth.

Anyways....





















I made two variations on this flauta. I tried them with and without a thin "schmear" of refried beans since we had them on hand. It was good with the refrieds, but Brett and I thought the flautas stayed crispier and had a good zing without them.

Black Bean and Veggie Flautas
Makes enough filling for 10 small flautas.

1 cup black beans, cooked
1/8 cup traditional refried beans (optional)
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked
1 small tomato, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1/2 cup button mushrooms, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 hot banana pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 bell pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
juice of half a lime
ground coriander
chili powder
cumin
Mexican oregano
paprika
pepper
salt

small flour tortillas ("fajita sized")
salsa

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a skillet. Add zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, onion, and garlic, and cook for about 10 minutes. Drain any excess liquid.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Layer a few tablespoons of filling in each tortilla and secure each with a toothpick. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Yummy!

Midwestern Taco Salad

Both Brett and I are huge fans of taco salad. Not only are they tasty, they are also a snap to make and don't require you to heat up your home in order to have a good meal.

The seasoned black beans and traditional refried beans combined with the crispness of the cucumbers and lettuce, and the juiciness of the tomatoes complimented for a great texture as well as flavor.

This taco salad will be appearing on our dinner tables quite regularly this summer.















Midwestern Taco Salad
black beans
chili powder
ground coriander
cumin
Mexican oregano
salt

traditional refried beans, heated
long grain brown rice, heated
diced tomato
diced cucumber (pared)
shredded lettuce
small can black olives, drained
tortilla chips
salsa

Combine black beans with seasonings and heat up.

Layer tortilla chips, refried beans, black beans, rice, veggies, olives and salsa.

Enjoy!

'Til next time.

Lindsay's Tamale Pockets and Super Easy Tasty Taco Salad

Over the weekend, I was super lucky to be able to try out a tester recipe for Lindsay's (aka the Happy Herbivore) upcoming cookbook. These are her Tamale Pockets, and man were these tasty. The pictures above do not do this meal justice. I'm not sure what was up with our camera, both Brett and I took TONS of pictures of these and none of them really came out. Oh, and it didn't help that I overstuffed the pockets. :-)

The complimentary textures of the two crusts go perfectly with the seasoning of the filling. Oh my goodness, that filling was amazing. It could have it's own category of recipes dedicated to it! I can't say much more about it, you'll have to wait. But this picky Mexican food lover can happily say "I approve!", as did Brett, so try to be patient as you wait for her much anticipated cookbook to come out!

Anywho....

During the summer, our meals are pretty simple, which is why you will likely see much more ranting and posts about gardening. However, if all goes well, the end of the summer will be filled with posts on food preservation. Anyway, the reason for this is that I don't like to run the oven, stove, or anything if I don't have to when it's hot. So, for example, this weekend I made up a huge batch of traditional refried beans so we could have bean burritos, taco salad, and Local Veggie and Bean Wraps. I also made up some seasoned lentils so we could have Lentil and Potato Tacos, and also taco salad. You see, I like to be able to make up big batches of stuff for us to eat on during the week, but I don't like to eat the same thing all week either. That's the beauty of Mexican cooking, I can simply make up two big batches of beans and lentils and we have 4 different meals using many of the same ingredients. Who can beat that?

Now, this meal isn't really anything special, but it was damn tasty, and I thought I would explain the 'method to our madness' that is our summer eating habits. Eating like this also helps reduce waste, since, with a little bit of planning, you won't be scrambling to figure out what to do with the leftover seasoned lentils or brown rice you have on hand. I don't know about anybody else, but I hate waste. Don't even get me started on the folks who planted their Community Garden plots, never to return, all the while they have perfectly good food rotting on the vine when we are facing a global food crisis. It just gets to me, seriously.

Anyways, back to the taco salad.

















Brett made some tofu sour cream to go with this, and man, it was perfect! He's really getting the tofu sour cream thing down.

Super Easy Tasty Taco Salad
traditional refried beans
seasoned lentils
long grain brown rice, cooked
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes
tortilla chips
tofu sour cream
Green Chile Taco Sauce

All you gotta do is crush up some tortilla chips and layer 'em in the bottom of a bowl, layer on the beans, lentils, rice, lettuce and tomato, and then top it with tofu sour cream, Green Chile Taco Sauce (or picante) and enjoy!

Mmmm, I could eat this for dinner almost every night, taco salad is one of both mine and Brett's favorite foods, so easy, so tasty, and dare I say even healthy when the taco salad is vegan.

'Til next time.