Beans and Greens Tacos with Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

3T extra virgin olive oil
2 red onions, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 pound swiss chard, stems and ribs removed, leaves washed well, and coarsely chopped
1 cup canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (I used a full can)
1/2 c veggie stock
salt and pepper
corn tortillas
1/3 c soft goat cheese, crumbled (I used cotija cheese)
cilantro sprigs

Directions:

Heat oil in a large high-sided skillet over medium heat. Cook onions until soft, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in chard, beans, and stock. Cook until greens are wilted and beans are warmed throug, aboiut 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat tortillas. Spoon filling into tortillas and top with cheese and cilantro.

Martha Stewart Living, May 2011

Veggie Tacos

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
3/4 pounds zucchini, trimmed and diced
3 scallions, trimmed and diced
2 t chili powder
1/4 t ground cumin
1/4 t dried oregano
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 can (14/5 ounces) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 3/4 ounces) corn, drained and rinsed
2 c baby spinach, chopped
3/4 c salsa verde
1 package hard taco shells
2/3 c crumbled cotija cheese (or queso blanco)
lime wedges

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add zucchini and scallions and cook 5 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook 1 minute.

2. Stir in beans, corn, spinach, and salsa. Cook 3-4 minutes or until spinach is wilted.

3. Meanwhile, heat taco shells per package instructions. Spoon about 1/3 cub veggie mixture into taco shell and sprinkle with a little cheese. Add a squeeze of lime and serve.

A Moveable Fiesta

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, my friend Jill and I attended a Mexican cooking class last weekend hosted at Ceiba in downtown D.C. It was two hours of learning, drinking, eating, and more drinking... a great way to spend lunch!

The main course of our meal blew my mind -- it was a red snapper baked Oaxacan style in an almond-chipotle cream sauce, served with arroz verde (green rice) and a crunchy, tangy radish salsita. Of all the recipes we got from the day, these were the ones I would be sure to try at home!

Our local grocery stores in Northern Virginia have a great selection of ingredients for Mexican cuisine, my favorite being the Shoppers Food Warehouse at the Seven Corners Shopping Center in Falls Church -- their ethnic food section is larger than some entire markets, and their prices are very reasonable. There you can find the Mexican crema and chipotles in adobo needed to make the sauce for the fish, as well as the poblano peppers for the arroz verde. Sadly, they didn't have red snapper when I went yesterday, so I bought some swai fillets instead and was pleased with the results.

This is a great meal for entertaining, as the arroz verde and the almond and chipotle sauce can be made in advance, and the salsita is a snap. Together, they are a whole lot of flavor for fairly little effort.

Baked Red Snapper with Almond and Chipotle Sauce

Ingredients:

(8) 4-6 oz. red snapper or sea bass fillets
4 T. lime juice, freshly squeezed
2 T. Kosher or sea salt
1 c. Mexican style cream, creme fraiche, or heavy cream
1/2 c. almonds, blanched or slivered
1 T. Mexican Manchego, Parmigiano Reggiano, or Romano cheese, grated
1 T. chipotle peppers with adobo sauce
1 T. butter
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse red snapper fillets under a thin stream of cold water, drain, and pat dry. Place in a container and drizzle with lime juice, salt, and pepper. Marinate for 1 to 2 hours in the refrigerator.

2. In a blender, blend the Mexican cream, almonds, cheese, salt, and chipotles until fully combined; set aside. You may refrigerate the sauce for up to a week.

3. Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter the bottom of a baking dish and place the red snapper fillets on top. Cover each fillet with 1-2 heaping tablespoons of the chipotle almond cream.

4. Bake for 15-18 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Garnish with toasted slivered almonds and serve.


Arroz Verde

Ingredients:

2 c. long or extra-long grain white rice
5 Poblano chiles (seeds and veins removed), cut into pieces
1/2 c. cilantro leaves
1/2 c. water
3 T. safflower or corn oil
4 T. white onion, finely chopped
2.5 c. chicken stock (or to measure -- and of course vegetable stock can be substituted)
1 T. lime juice, freshly squeezed
1 T. Kosher or sea salt

Directions:

1. Parboil the rice: place in a bowl and cover with very hot water; let soak for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again thoroughly.

2. Place the Poblano chiles in a blender with the cilantro leaves and water, and puree until smooth. Pass this through a fine colander and reserve in a measuring cup. Measure how much Poblano liquid you have, as you will need to use enough chicken stock to amount to 4 total cups of liquid. Save that pulp, though, because you will throw it back into the rice later.

3. Heat oil in a heavy saucepan and fry the rice over high heat. Stir softly for 1-2 minutes. Add onion and stir. Saute until rice changes color to milky white, 4-5 minutes.

4. Add Poblano liquid (and pulp) and let it cook and season for 4-5 minutes, until the green color has darkened and the liquid has thickened and is almost absorbed.

5. Add in chicken stock, lime juice, and salt, and stir. When the liquid comes to a rapid boil, cover the pot, lower heat to low and continue cooking for about another 20 minutes, or until rice is cooked through and liquid has been mostly absorbed. If rice diesn't seem soft and cooked through, add a bit more chicken stock or water and let cook for another 5 minutes or so.

6. Turn heat off and let sit covered for another 5-10 minutes. FLuff with a fork and serve.

Green rice can be made ahead and reheated later the same day. Before reheating, add 1 tablespoon of water and heat covered over the lowest possible heat.

Once it has cooled down, it can be kept in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.


Crunchy Radish Salsita

Ingredients:

8-10 radishes
2 T. lime juice, freshly squeezed (or to taste)
1 tsp. Kosher or sea salt (or to taste)
1 T. cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
1 serrano chile (seeding is optional), finely chopped
4 T. safflower or corn oil

Directions:
1. Rinse the radishes, cut them in half lengthwise, and slice them thin. (I just snip off the root and run them whole over my mandoline.) Set them aside.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the lime juice, salt, cilantro, and Serrano chile. Slowly whisk in the oil.

3. Pour mixture over radishes, mix, and let macerate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

The salsita may be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.
Fresh, easy, yummy!

Easy Veggie Enchiladas

I used to have an enchilada recipe that was delicious, but a huge bear to prepare (it involved frying the tortillas, pre-cooking the veggies, etc.). I rarely made it since it was so much work and required so much space - something my postage stamp size kitchen doesn't allow. This is a scaled down weeknight version that Jake and I think is nearly as good.

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
2 zuchinis, choppped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1-2 cups shredded cheese
10 tortillas
1 jar enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 350.
Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
Pour 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce into bottom of pan.
Mix onion, zuchini, red pepper, black beans, and most of cheese in a large bowl.
Put 1/2 cup or so of the veggie mixture into the center of each tortilla, roll up, and place in pan.
Once all the enchiladas are in the pan, pour remaining sauce on top, and top with remaining cheese.
Cook uncovered for about 30 minutes or until heated through.

Black Bean Chili

This is one of my go to recipes on a cold day like we've been having. It is easy, requires few ingredients, and leftovers are great on nachos. (I even mixed some leftover chili with half a jar of Tostitos queso to make a delicious bean dip for the Superbowl that got rave reviews!)

Ingredients:
2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cans diced tomatoes (with juices)
1 can chopped mild green chiles (drained)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 2 cubes of frozen garlic from Trader Joes - love it!)
1 red pepper, chopped
2 T chili powder
1 T ground cumin

Saute the onion, garlic, and red pepper until soft. Add beans, tomatoes, chiles, and spices, and stir. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Note: This recipe is very flexible, so feel free to add extra veggies if you want something more hardy. Last time, towards the end of the cooking time, I added a cup or so of Trader Joe's frozen roasted corn, and it was a hit.

Mexican Calabacitas

This is another healthy (and tasty) Mexican side dish.

5 medium size zucchini or yellow squash (or a mix), peeled and diced
1 can sweet corn, drained
1 onion, chopped
1 can ro-tel tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
olive oil

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, zucchini, and onions. Cook until the onion is tender, and then add the corn and tomatoes. Cover the skillet, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

Potato Chimichangas

This recipe is from my neighbor Mary. She's made them for us a few times, and Jake and I both love them! The recipe is not exact, but very flexible. (Really, how can you go wrong with tortillas, potatoes and cheese?)

Chimis
3 russet potatoes
1 green pepper (chopped)
1 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (pressed)
goya adobo seasoning
tortillas
sour cream
shredded cheese

Boil the potatoes until you can easily stick a fork in. (Tip: do this early, and then stick in fridge to cool so that they will be easy to peel.) Peel skins from potatoes, and cut into cubes. Saute the pepper and onions in olive oil. Add the cubed potatoes to the peppers and onions. Sprinkle with adobo (liberally, to taste) and add the garlic.

In each tortilla, put the potato mixture, a spoonful of sour cream, and a little cheese. Wrap and roll. At this point you can either put them in the fridge overnight or cook immediately. Heat slowly either on the grill or on the stove.

Serve with salsa. You can slice these to serve as appetizers, or serve them whole as a main course.

Mexican Layer Salad

I don't usually associate "healthy" with Mexican food (mainly because I love cheese). But after the queso and bean dip, I knew I needed to find something light if we were ever going to make it to dessert. I drew inspiration from a number of similar recipes I found on the web, and this what I came up with.

Of course I forgot to grab my camera until we had already dug in, but you can see the idea.



Mexican Layer Salad

For the salad:
2-3 hearts of romaine chopped
1 medium red onion cut in half and finely sliced
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
1 can corn drained
1 can green chiles drained (mix the corn and green chiles together)
4 plum totaoes, seeded and sliced
1 avocado, sliced
lemon juice (to keep avocado fresh)
shredded cheese

For the dressing:
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup salsa
2 T fresh cilantro
2 t fresh lime juice
(whisk all dressing ingredients together)

In large glass bowl, layer half the lettuce and follow with half of each of the other ingredients ending with half of the dressing. Repeat with other half. Cover tightly overnight. Before serving, top with shredded cheese. (I'm pretty sure I forgot to top our's with cheese.)

Mmmm... dip!

Bean Dip
This is my aunt Holly's specialty, and we always devour it at family functions.

1 - 8oz brick of cream cheese (softened)
1 - 8oz tub of sour cream (cover your eyes, Emily!)
1 can vegetarian refried beans (refried black beans are particularly delicious)
1/2 package of enchilada seasoning or taco seasoning
1 - 16oz jar of salsa
1 - 8 oz bag of shredded cheese (I usually use the Mexcican blend)

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, beans, and seasoning together. Spread the mixture in two 8" pie pans. Top with salsa and cover with cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350. Serve with tortilla chips.


Queso

1 can of Ro-tel tomatoes (undrained)
1 small block of velveeta

Cube up the velveeta and mix in tomatoes. Microwave for 5 minutes or until melted, stirring once in the middle. Serve with tortilla chips. (So easy, but so good!)