Chili Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.

     I just felt good after eating this vegetarian meal. It was filling and light. This was a real basic chili that complimented the sweetness of the sweet potato. I found this simple recipe on a wonderful website called The Sprouted Kitchen. There are so many great recipes on that blog. You can link to them on my sidebar. I had someone email me what vegetarian cookbook I would recommend and being that I can't find that email to respond (seems to be my theme right now), I will tell you all....I don't really buy cookbooks anymore. Why, When you can google everything under the sun? I simply type in whatever I am interested in cooking or a general "vegetarian recipe" search and millions pop up. I look for sites that have reviews so I can see what others are saying about the recipe. If they get good reviews, I will try it out. All Recipes is a great site. They get lots of feedback. Read the reviews because other cooks tell what they did to change the recipe.  I have a binder with plastic sheets and I print them, put them in the sheets and they are all in catergories. It is the best cookbook I have! I don't keep them if they aren't winners. 

There you go.

     Try out this recipe. You can change it up anyway you want but I liked that it was really basic. Sometimes I just like to taste simple ingredients not overpowered by spice.

 Chili Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

4 medium sweet potatoes

1/2 lb dried pinto beans or beans of choice, soaked overnight

2 tsp. Olive oil

1 yellow onion

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T. chili powder

1 t. cumin

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 t. salt, or more as desired

28  oz, crushed or diced tomatoes

Cilantro, onion, avocado, sour cream, etc. as desired

I doubled this but this recipe above serves about 4.

Preheat oven to 400. Pierce sweet potato and bake for about 40-45 minutes or until tender.Be careful to not overcook! I did. Mine were smaller and were done in 30 minutes.

Cook soaked beans according to directions. Soaked beans will usually cook in under an hour or about 20 in a pressure cooker. You can also used canned beans. 

Slice onion thinly. Over medium heat, warm the olive oil and add the onions and garlic until softened. Add the spices and tomatoes. If the tomatoes are diced or whole, smash them up or blend them. Bring to a simmer and reduce for about 20 minutes. When the beans are done, drain and add to the tomato mixture. Taste for salt and spices to see if you need more flavor. Adjust accordingly. Let simmer another 10-20 minutes for beans to soak in flavor.

Split sweet potato down the middle and fill with chili. Top with optional ingredients. 

***To make things go quicker in my house, I cook beans in bulk and freeze in 2 cup increments. This is a huge time saver since I don't want canned beans. If you are as lucky as I am, you got your fresh dried pinto beans from The Backyard Farmer! Totally spoiled!

Chimichanga; Unfried, Uncheesed.

This was half eaten before I remembered to take a picture for you all. Not so pretty but quite tasty. I have been struggling to come up with some good Mexican food without cheese. Not all of us are completely dairy free at  my house but I have been trying to keep meals dairy free for a good handful of my household members. Now when you are also trying to do meat only a couple of the meals a week, the laying off of cheese is even more tricky. The thing I have been missing is the occasional enchilada or chimichanga. In desperation to make it seem like we were eating a chimichanga, I put this dinner together with a little inspiration from a recipe from Miss Molly's cookbook. It passed the food critic's in the house. I did put a little tiny bit of cheese in a couple and honestly, I didn't taste much difference in the non cheese ones. You could really go as low fat and healthy as you want with this dish.

Here is how it assembled, to the best of my recollection:

Baked Chimichangas

Flour tortillas, whole wheat or white

Butter or Olive Oil to brush tops of tortillas

1 cup cooked and shredded chicken (optional)

2 cups black beans

1cup corn corn

1 medium diced onion

1/2 cup diced red, yellow or orange bell pepper

1 cup pureed type salsa

1 -2 tsp.Cumin 

salt

pepper

Cheese if desired

Saute onions and peppers in olive oil or butter until limp. Add cumin then all other ingredients but tortillas. Season to taste with extra cumin, salt and pepper. Add enough salsa to make mixture a little moist, not overly wet.

Fill tortillas with mixture and cheese if desired and roll with both ends closed. Brush tops with olive oil or butter and put in a pan. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

Top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes , cilantro, avacado's and whatever else you want to throw on it.

Rice and Bean salad

Bad photo but great meal. Thanks to Linda for sending me this recipe off of Mel's Kitchen Cafe blog. I changed it up to make it vegetarian and to give it a little more kick but it had a real good dressing and was easy as pie.

If I had more ingredients, I would have added some bell peppers and avocados. Next time.

Southwest Rice and Beans

5 cups cooked brown rice, cooled slightly
2 tsp. sea salt
4 cups beans of choice, either home cooked or canned
2 cups fresh or frozen white corn, cooked
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
3 roma tomatoes
avocados, peppers, chicken, etc.

**Mix all together and toss with dressing:

Dressing:

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 T. red wine vinegar
2 T. sucanat or brown sugar
2/3 c. expeller pressed grape seed oil
6-8 pickled jalapeno pepper rounds from jar or fresh jalapeno
2 t. chili powder
1 t. cumin
1/2 t. salt

Combine all ingredients and put in a blender until smooth.
Toss over rice and bean salad mixture and add more salt and pepper as desired. May also kick it up a bit with extra chili powder or chipotle seasoning. Serve on whole grain tortilla with a little melted cheese if desired or on a toasted corn tortilla or lettuce greens. Add salsa and sour cream to your liking. This is totally gluten free if the wheat tortilla is omitted. Check your vinegar first!

Yum.

Mexican Wednesdays

I bring dinner to my grandparents on Wednesday. I realized last week after I delivered the food to their kitchen that I seem to always be bringing them Mexican food. I then pondered it. I make Mexican food on Wednesday. I didn't realize this. It was subconscious. It only dawned on me since I started to deliver my meals on the same day of the week. There was variety. It wasn't like I was making bean burritos each Wednesday but it was ALWAYS Mexican food. Weird.

When did this start and why did I not take notice of this? I was the one cooking. I did plan the meals. It must have been born out of necessity and the fact that I must eat Mexican food at least once a week.

Using some deductive reasoning, I figured out why my brain chose Mexican Wednesdays. Wednesdays are my busiest. I run too many places and have little time for preparation. Mexican food is fresh and fast. I soak my beans in the morning or the night before and when I get home in the evening, I can put them in the pressure cooker for under 15 minutes. I can make the rest of the meal in no time and you can make all sorts of variations to the dish. It never looks the same but is always a crowd pleaser. Enchiladas can be put together in the morning and there always seems to be some left over salsa or veggies of some sort to add to the dish. It was all about time. It was just so amusing to me that I didn't put it all together until my grandfather commented on my burritos.

Having realized that last week, it took me by total surprise when tonight I served up the above dish. It wasn't until I plated it up that I realized that once again, Mexican Wednesday was not planned. It was nonetheless delicious and done in under 20 minutes. One of my families favorites.

If you would like to jump aboard the Mexican train, here is what this tasty dish consisted of:

Let's call it White Bean Tomatillo Wrap

I soaked my white beans in the morning. I covered them in water, about 3 cups of water per cup of beans. I always make extra to freeze for later. I just used my white beans from the cannery. White beans seem to soak the tomatillo flavor up well but I often use Anasazi beans with this dish. Heat the water to just about boiling then promptly turn it off and let it soak overnight or most of the day.

When ready, wash and rinse the beans then cook in a pot or a pressure cooker. I cooked them for 10 minutes on the second ring and let them natural release. I imagine it would take around 45 minutes on the stove if not using a pressure cooker but not sure; haven't done that since 2000. Salt when done.

Cook up your tortillas. Make homemade or at least use the fresh Costco variety. NO stale store tortillas. It will ruin it.

Chop up your veggies. I used tender cucumbers cut into small pieces, spinach and fresh garden tomatoes.

Shred cheese. I think pepper jack makes the dish.

Toss the drained beans in tomatillo salsa. Make it yourself (see recipe below) or for a cheat, use the jarred versions. Glass is best but the canned Herdez tomatillo salsa is great also. Just hate the fact that most cans contain BPA. But, nonetheless, it is in my food storage.

Salt the beans if needed after adding to the salsa. Let it absorb the sauce for a minute.

Heat the oven to broil. Sprinkle some cheese down the center of the tortilla and broil until melted and the edges of the tortilla is browned. When done, add some beans down the center, careful not too get to much sauce and top with veggies. fold up and enjoy with some fresh fruit.

Muy, Muy bueno. So simple it hardly deserves a recipe at all.

Tomatillo Salsa

1 jalapeno

1 1/2 bunches of cilantro, no stems

12-15 fresh tomatillos, about 1 1/2 to 2 inch size, use less if larger

juice of 1 lime

1-3 teaspoons of sugar, or other sweetener

salt to taste

Boil the jalapeno in water; just place in water in microwave and cook on high for 3 minutes. Cut off stem and throw the whole thing in blender with all other ingredients. Make sure you have husked and cleaned the tomatillos first. Blend until almost smooth. Chill.

Super Lentils

If you haven't become a friend with the lentil, I will give you a little info on why you really should be. You see, the lentil is exactly the kind of friend you want in your kitchen. Nearly perfect in every way. A powerhouse.

The lentil has been around forever. It has been found in ancient Egyptian tombs so who knows really when they all began. They are in the legume family but small and disk shaped. You can store these little gems forever. You don't really need to seal them. They may loose a little color overtime but not really loose the taste. I just bought a big 25 pound bag from Azure that will last me a long time without having to can it at all. Easy Peasy.

The biggest draw in my book about the lentil is the amount of Folic acid they contain. One cup cooked lentils gives you about 90% of the daily RDA of folic acid. It has more folic acid than any other natural food. If you are pregnant, folic acid is extremely important in the growth of the baby so cook up a bowl today! Besides the folic acid, lentils are rich in iron and eaten with other foods high in vitamin C help the absorption rate of the iron increase. Lentils contain every amino acid except one; methionine. If you eat it with another nut, seed, eggs or meat, you will have a complete protein. Great for vegetarians.

Soluble fiber is also an important attribute of lentils. Soluble fiber helps clean out the digestive tract, decrease cholesterol and serum glucose. Most people don't get nearly enough of this in their diet.

Lentils are about the best thing to sprout also. When you sprout, the nutrients become "alive" and intensify. They are great on salads, in breads or in soups.

There are several varieties of lentils but for sprouting, you want to stick with green lentils. The other varieties are usually hulled.




I have added this soup recipe to 90 day supply because it is so tasty and uses ingredients I can keep on hand. You can also make this vegetarian but I like to use about 1 T of bacon for flavor. While I eat almost all vegetarian except once a week, at most; I don't really count 1 T. of bacon in a whole pot of soup. It adds to the flavor tremendously. My whole family loves this soup and in a pressure cooker it takes less than 10 minutes to have on the table. It is great with a big hunk of homemade brown bread or corn bread.

Lentil Bacon Soup

6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled ( I use 1 T. or more of bacon pieces)
2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, cut into half moon shapes
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. tomato paste
1 1/2 C. lentils, picked over and rinsed
1/2 t. dried thyme
32 oz chicken broth
1 T. red wine vinegar (opt)
salt and pepper to taste
dash of red peppers if desired

In a large pot, add olive oil and heat on medium high heat. Add carrots and onion and cook until softened. Stir in garlic and bacon and cook about 30 seconds. stir in tomato paste and cook another minute. Don't let it burn or scorch.

Add the lentils, thyme, broth and 1 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil; reduce to simmer. Cover and cook until the lentils and veggies are tender, about 30-45 min. Add more water if needed during cooking.

Stir in vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

***If going gluten free, make sure the vinegar and broth are gluten free.

For the pressure cooker:

Saute onion for about a minute. Add in carrots, tomato paste, lentils, thyme , broth and water. Bring to second ring and pressure for about 3 minutes. Reduce pressure and add bacon pieces.Simmer until lentils are tender. Add in salt, pepper , vinegar and red pepper flakes if desired. If you find your beans are still pretty crunchy, you can return to pressure but you don't want the carrots to get mushy. Leave carrots in bigger chunks. Simmer lentils until the right texture. They don't take long.

Spicy Black Bean Cakes with Lime Sour Cream

I hesitate to post a picture of this meal because they really don't do it justice. I even questioned after making them that my children would even fall for it. But, they did and they were quite tasty. They are sort of mexican hashbrownish type food. Lime sour cream is a must go with these little patties. They are made with shredded sweet potato and black beans so they are a perfect portion of protein and nutrition. They taste great and made a great meal with a big salad and fresh fruit of the season.

Spicy Black Bean Cakes

Martha Stewart Recipe

2 T. olive oil

4 scallions, thinly sliced

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 to 2 jalapeno chiles, finely chopped

1 T. ground cumin

2 cans black beans or home cooked, drained and rinsed

salt and pepper

1 large sweet potato, peeled and coarsely grated ( 2 cups )

1 large egg

1/2 C. plain dried bread crumbs (use planko crumbs for gluten free)

Heat broiler. In small skillet over medium heat, warm olive oil and cook scallions until softened, about 1 min. Add garlic, jalapeno and cumin. Cook about 30 seconds, don't burn! Transfer to a large bowl.

Add beans to the bowl; mash with a fork or potato masher, leaving about 1/4 of the beans whole. Season generously with salt and pepper. Fold in the sweet potato, egg and bread crumbs. Divide into 8 balls of equal size; flatten into patties.

Brush a baking sheet with olive oil; place patties on the sheet. Drizzle with a little oil on top of each pattie. Broil 4 inches from heat until golden; 8 -10 minutes. With a spatula, flip over and broil until crisp. Serve with lime sour cream.

Lime Sour Cream

1/2 cup sour cream

2 t. fresh lime juice

1 small jalapeno, minced

salt

Mix all and serve on the side for dipping. I doubled this.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Are all the presents bought? Pinatas stuffed? Fresh tortillas made?If so, you get extra points. For me, I am not quite sure what one does for Cinco de Mayo except eat Mexican food. In honor of this celebration, we have eaten Mexican food for the past two days. We may sit today out but if you are stuck with not a Mexican dish to prepare, let me suggest a couple from my new favorite cookbook:

This is a cookbook from Martha Stewart that is mouthwatering. My SIL recommended this to me and I immediately sat down and read it like a novel. Each recipe has a photo and every recipe is worthy of a chance at my dinner table. I can't wait to make them all.

I have made two in a row and they were simply delicious. The Tortilla and Black Bean Pie and the Beef Tacos with Radish and Avocado Salsa. My children upon hearing what was being prepared made the gestures of dissatisfaction but all plates were cleared. They were sure that the avocado and radish salsa was going to ruin a perfectly good steak taco but they loved it. They were surprised. So was I since none of them like avocados. They are now converts. This food is all so colorful and fresh. I wish I had photos to share but it was devoured too quickly. Try them out. Go pick yourself up a copy of the cookbook to tie you over until mine comes out!

Happy Cinco de Mayo and try one of these out!

Beef Tacos with Radish and Avocado Salsa

1 avocado, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

6 large red radishes, ends trimmed, halved and thinly sliced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 T. chopped pickled jalapeno chili

2 t. fresh lime juice, plus 1 lime cut into 8 wedges

1 t. olive oil

coarse salt and pepper

1 pound skirt steak

1 T. ground cumin

8 corn tortillas

Heat broiler with rack 4 inches from heat. Line a cooking pan with aluminum foil. In bowl, stir together the avocado , radishes, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice and oil. Season with salt. Cover with plastic wrap pressing it directly to surface to prevent discoloring. Chill.

Arrange stead on baking sheet. Rub both sides with cumin. Season with salt and pepper generously. Broil without turning until well browned, 6-8 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes under foil.

While steak is broiling, stack and wrap tortillas in a dampened kitchen towel; microwave until hot and pliable , 1 - 2 minutes. You can then stack them in foil to keep warm. Cut steak into strips on the diagonal. Place on tortillas and top with salsa.

**I doubled this recipe. I also used sirloin and only used half as many radishes. I squeezed lime juice on the beef before serving.

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

4 10 inch flour tortillas

1 T canola oil

1 Large onion, diced

1 jalapeno Chile, minded

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 t. ground cumin

coarse salt and pepper

2 cans 15 oz each black beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 cups water

1 10 oz package frozen white corn

4 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish

2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Using a paring knife, trim the tortillas to fit a 9 inch springform pan, using the bottom of the pan as a guide. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cumin. Season with slat and pepper. Cook , stirring occasionally until onion is softened, 5-7 minutes. Add the beans and water and baring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until liquid has almost evaporated, 8-10 minutes. Stir in corn and scallions and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Fit a trimmed tortilla in the bottom of the springform pan; layer with one quarter of the beans and 1/2 cup cheese. Repeat three times, using 1 cup cheese on the tops layer. Bake until hot and cheese is melted; 20-25 minutes. Unmold the pie; sprinkle with scallions. Slice into wedges and serve.

** I used Monterrey jack cheese

Sorry no pictures. Have a great day celebrating the 5th of May. What does one do for the 6th of May? In case you were wondering , my vacation was fun and I will tell about all I learned later, come visit me again.

Adios Amigas!

Black Beans, nutrition in a small little package

I have two giant pots of these cute little legumes simmering on my stove right now. I will warn anyone who stops by, my house stinks. I love the taste of these black beans but the aroma is nothing like the warm cider candle that I burn. I apologize. However smelly they may be, the nutritional content of these little guys make up for it. They truly are an amazing food and a basic staple in many South American countries. Just a little fun facts for you:

1.The Black Bean is exceptionally high in fiber, protein, calcium, iron, folic acid and potassium.

2.They contain 8 different flavonoids which are an antioxidant.

3.They also contain some Omega 3 Fatty Acids, 3 times as much as other beans.

4. They are inexpensive and go with so many dishes!

I love them and make a bunch in quantity to freeze for later dishes. They will last 3-4 days in the fridge but several months in the freezer. I usually cook them in my pressure cooker which takes less than an hour with no pre soaking time but have a huge quantity to make today for a church function tonight. I may be coming home with a huge pot if the crowd is low, no problem. I am prepared to use them in any number of delicious dishes. You can simmer them with garlic, onions, cilantro, etc. But I prefer to cook them plain, adding salt and pepper after so that they are a clean slate for a meal. I think it is so important that we add different sources of protein into our diet other than meat. Meat is hard to digest and we as a society overdue it. If you don't buy grass fed or organic meat, you are also running the risk of overloading your body with pesticides and hormones. You don't have to worry about hormones with beans. If you are needing a recipe to try out for those black beans you are now planning to cook up, here is a great one I will be putting together with those leftovers.(excuse me if I already posted this)

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

1 pound potatoes, sweet potatoes or russet, peeled and diced, 1/2 inch cubes

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 T. Ketchup

In a bowl, toss diced potatoes together with above ingredients and put on an oiled baking dish. Cook 25 min or until golden and tender at 400. I usually turn up the heat to crisp them up a bit at the end.

Combine:

1 can or about the equivalent of black beans, drained

1 4 oz can green chili's

1/4 cup chopped cilantro, or more as desired

Cooked potatoes

Next:

12 corn tortillas, heated in oil or sauce to soften

Large can green enchilada sauce

Mexican Cheese, as desired

Spread some sauce on bottom of 9X13 pan. Add about 1/4 cup bean mixture or more in softened tortillas and as much cheese as you want. Roll it up and place seem side down in pan. Repeat until all filled. Top with sauce and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake about 20 min or until hot and bubbly at 350. They are even better the next day!

**Just a quick Happy Birthday shout out to my exceptionally wonderful mother in law! Wish I could be pampering you today. You are amazing and the decorations for the party look beautiful! Thanks for the help...as always!

Featured Food of the Week

As resident family chefs, it is very easy for us homemakers to get stuck using the same ingredients over and over, not venturing out to try new things. I am hoping that with this weekly section, I will help introduce you to a new food that is nutritious and tasty for your family. I will tell you a bit about it then tell you how to cook it and give you a recipe. I hope that this will help broaden your recipe portfolio and help give you a little education about what foods there are out there.

This is my first week and I thought I would start with the PERUANO BEAN since I just listed a Mexican recipe. We all know that beans are high in protein and a great food source for us all. When beans are combined with corn, such as a corn tortilla, it becomes a complete protein.Most kids will eat them which also makes this a plus. I was introduced to this bean by my mother-in-law about a year ago and it quickly became my substitute for the regular pinto. It is a yellowish bean on the outside but cooks up to a lighter version of the pinto. It is very creamy and even a little sweet. It is great to use in any form just like the pinto. It absorbs flavors very easily so it is great in Mexican food. It comes from Mexico and has been there most popular bean since 2005.
Now, if you are not a "bean cooker", you need to get on it. Beans are so good for you and so easy to cook with. I cook beans regularly and use my pressure cooker as I can finish them in about 45 minutes unsoaked or about 20 mn presoaked. If you don't own a pressure cooker (Which you really need to consider), you can cook them just like a pinto:

SOAKED METHOD

Rinse beans, cover with twice as much water and

soak overnight. Dump water, rinse and cover again

with twice as much water. Bring to boil then simmer

until soft. About an hour. This just depends oh how

long they have soaked. Salt and pepper after you

cook them. Salting before will increase cooking time.

If you do not soak them, Rinse and cover then cook

as above but cooking time will be around 3 hours.