Layered "enchiladas"

After a week or two of trying to get into a routine, I think I am finally getting somewhere. This week, I have successfully made a few real meals, and, through planning ahead and shopping for just what is on my list, I have successfully cut down on a lot of wasted time, leaving me time to relax, get my studying done, and even clean the house a bit(on the one day I felt so inclined).

Two months ago, I decided to stop eating meat. To be honest, it was a rash decision and I had very little logic behind the decision, but thus far, I have been happy with it. No meat has, however, created some new challenges, trying to come up with new recipes, looking for ways to change recipes to not include meat, and convincing my husband that a meal doesn't need meat (possibly the biggest challenge of them all). When I am feeling less inspired, or just looking for something I know we will both love, I tend to lean toward Mexican fare. I find beans to be so filling, and that it is so easy to leave out meat when it is something you already love (and my husband DEFINATELY loves Mexican food). This recipe is one of those types, easy, Mexican-inspired, not at all lacking in flavor or texture, and great without needing meat. Since the dish is layered, rather than rolled like traditional enchiladas, it is quick to throw together, and much less fragile. I only made two (since there are only two of us), but definitely had enough filling for 2, or maybe even 3 more.

Layered Veggie Enchiladas
Ingredients :
1/2 cup diced onion
1 jalapeño pepper
1 bag (12 oz) frozen corn, thawed
1 pepper (I used a Hungarian pepper, but a bell pepper would work well too)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 Tablespoon Chili powder, divided
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
1-2 cups fresh baby spinach
Corn tortillas 1/2 - 1 cup shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large pot, heat oil until shimmering. Add onion and peppers and sauté for about 5 minutes, until onion is softened.
2. Add 1 tablespoon chili powder, tomatoes with liquid (reserve about 2 tablespoons of liquid), corn, and spinach and cook over medium heat until the liquid is almost evaporated, about 10 minutes.
3. In a medium sized bowl, mash beans with 2 tablespoons cilantro, remaining chili powder, and reserved liquid from tomatoes. 4. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread 1/4 of bean mixture evenly on a tortilla. Top with about 1/2 cup veggie mixture, a sprinkling of cheese, and another tortilla. Top with about another 1/4 cup or the veggie mixture and desired amount of cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas until you run out of filling.
5. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Garnish with remaining cilantro, and any additional toppings desired (such as guacamole or sour cream).

Source: Adapted from Whole foods

Black Bean Soup

Confession: I ate 3 Klondike bars on Sunday. Confession 2: I may have eaten 2 on Monday also. We are now out of Klondike bars.

After eating all of my delicious ice cream, the weather has cooled down and it has started to feel like fall. I love fall, so this is a welcome feeling to me. To welcome in the new fall weather, I decided to make soup, delicious, hearty, black bean soup. It was a quick meal, and went perfect with my leftover bread(in the form of a grilled cheese), and a nice pumpkin beer. I suggest making this immediately if you too are hoping to welcome in the fall weather.

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups Black beans*
2 cups veggie broth
1 tablespoon oil
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt**

1: In a large stock pot, heat oil. Add onion, garlic, pepper, and spices to heated oil and cook about 5 minutes, until pepper and onion are softened.
2: Add beans and broth, mix well, and simmer for about 10 minutes, uncovered.
3: Stir and cover. Simmer about 10-15 more minutes, until beans are soft.
4: Using and immersion blender, or a regular blender, blend soup to preferred consistency. Serve, topped with cheese, sour cream, or other garnish.

*I cook dried beans, rather than using cans, but 2 1/2 cups would be about 1 1/2 cans, in general.
**If using canned beans, salt can be ommitted, since the canned beans will contain salt.

Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Balls.

I love making desserts, but in the summer, when I don't feel like turning on the oven, I always have trouble coming up with ideas. Well, after finding this dessert, I will no longer have a problem! These peanut butter balls were quite simple to throw together, and only took a few minutes of active time, though it does require a bit of cooling time. I took these to a picnic this past weekend, and they were devoured almost instantly. As a group, we decided they taste a lot like Tagalongs (the Girl Scout cookie), except better, since of late, Tagalongs have been too much cookie and not enough peanut butter. If you have never made any sort of chocolate covered balls (buckeye balls, truffles, etc) it may take a bit of practice to get them coated smoothly, but overall the process is quite simple.

Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Balls
aka Tagalong Truffles

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs(about 12 full sized graham crackers), plus extra for decoration
1 cup peanut butter
1 to 1 1/2 cups chocolate wafers(candy melts)*

1: Using a food processor, grind graham crackers into crumbs. Leave 1 1/2 cups of crumbs in the food processor, and set any remaining crumbs aside.
2: Add peanut butter to food processor, and mix until well combined. If the mixture seems too moist and sticky, add more crumbs.
3: Chill peanut butter mixture for about 30 minutes.
4: Cover a baking sheet with wax paper. Roll peanut butter mixture into 24-30 equal sized balls and place on the baking sheet. Place in freezer for at least an hour.
5: Using a double boiler, melt chocolate wafers(This can also be done in a glass bowl in the microwave, but make sure to only microwave 30 seconds at a time, so as not to burn the chocolate). Coat each peanut butter ball in chocolate, place back on wax paper, and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. Repeat with remaining balls, and place the baking sheet in fridge or freezer until firm.


*I would recommend using Merckens milk chocolate, because it stays smooth and shiny and has given me the best results. I did not use Merckens because I had run out, but know the overall appearance of the dessert would have been better if I had.

Source: Baby Gizmo Blog

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Last week, I tried to make homemade tortillas. They turned out ok, and tasted pretty good, so I posted the recipe, and just assumed my problem was in rolling the dough, but when I tried the recipe again, I still had the same issues. I could not get the tortillas to stay thin and soft so, although they tasted good, they weren't really usable as tortillas.
This new recipe has completely changed that. Though it is not a low fat recipe like the other one, they are not horrible for you, and no worse nutrition wise than store bought tortillas. These tortillas turned out soft and pliable, and were delicious to use for everything from chocolate quesadillas to bean burritos, and so easy to make. These are so easy, in fact, that I actually made them while I was home sick, because I was hungry and low on food. Everyone should try making these; you will not be disappointed.

Flour Tortillas

Makes 12 8 inch tortillas

Ingredients
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly softened
3/4 to 1 cup warm water

1: Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in mixer bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter or 2 forks, until mixture is crumbly.
2: Using mixer with dough hook*, slowly add water while mixing until dough becomes a cohesive ball.
3: Kneed for about 30 more seconds until dough is tacky, but not sticky. If dough is too sticky, add flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
4: Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Cover with a clean damp kitchen towel and let rest for about 10 minutes.
5: Heat a large, heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Working with one dough piece at a time, roll the dough into an 8 inch circle.
6: Carefully transfer the rolled dough to the heated skillet and heat for about 20 seconds on each side, until bubbles form and tortilla is lightly browned. Do not overcook.
7: Repeat with remaining dough pieces. Store finished tortillas in airtight container in fridge for about a week, or freeze for longer.


*This recipe can easily be done without a mixer and dough hook. Start slowly adding water while mixing by hand, then kneed until it becomes a smooth, cohesive ball.

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats

Mexican Pizza

This week, my husband told me I wasn't allowed to go grocery shopping until we cleared out some food from the pantry and freezer. To some, this would be an annoyance, but to me, it was a challenge. After finding a can of refried beans and a bag of pizza dough, I knew exactly what I wanted, Mexican Pizza! I found a similar recipe here, but decided to change it up a bit to fit the ingredients I had.

Overall, I think the pizza turned out great. It had just enough spice, and was plenty filling without the addition of meat. The whole meal was pretty easy to put together, and was ready in under an hour, with even less active time(most of the time was for the oven and stone to preheat).

Ingredients

Pizza dough*
1 cup refried beans
1 small can diced tomatoes with green chilis(Rotel)
2 green onions (chopped)
1/4 large yellow onion(sliced)
1 cup shredded cheese

1: Preheat oven and pizza stone to 500 degrees.
2: Drain tomatoes and reserve the liquid.
3: In a small bowl, mix refried beans and about 1/4 cup of liquid from tomatoes. Heat in microwave about 25 seconds.
4: Roll out pizza dough to about a 12 inch circle(this may be different depending on your dough). Brush the perimeter with olive oil.
5: Spread bean mixture onto shaped crust.
6: Sprinkle tomatoes and yellow onion slices.
7: Sprinkle cheese evenly across the pizza. Top with green onions.
8: Move to preheated stone and bake 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

*I use Annie's Eats' pizza dough recipe, which can be found here.

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats.