Ensalada de frijoles con Maiz Asado/ Bean & Corn Salad

Serves 8 Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 5 min

Ingredients:

2 T vegetable oil
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
¾ C chopped onion
1 C frozen corn or a 15 oz can, drained
1 tsp ground cumin
2 C black beans (cooked) – I used about 1/3 cup of cooked lentils & reduced the black beans
1 T mayonnaise (about) (guess where I got the recipe, yup, online, but 1/2 C! is not necessary.)
2 plum tomatoes seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper – I used a sweet- hot yellow pepper, chopped fine, (for kids, just use pepper)
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Squeeze over ¼ of a lemon or 1/2 lime
¼ tsp salt or to taste

Cook the garlic, onion and stir until turning transparent, add the corn and cumin and continue 2-3 minutes or until onion is tender, stir in remaining ingredients. Serve warm or chill.

I served on corn tortillas with a sprinkle of parmesan and grated jack cheese. Put under broiler til just melted. This would be great over hot or cold rice, or served on lettuce as a salad chilled.

It’s a definite pleaser. VERY FAST!

(Even if you cook your own beans, just start them with the lentils after lunch, bring to a boil, boil 5 minutes, let stand an hour, drain and recover with water and bring to a boil, cook on low – they’ll be just right around 4-5pm, have everything else ready and add the beans, then lemon and mayo.)

Zesty Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

I just discovered this linked from someone's blog to someone else's blog. I love that you can put the chicken in still frozen and there's only a few ingredients.

INGREDIENTS:

6 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
12oz bottle barbecue sauce
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.

Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

Shred chicken and eat on buns or baked potato.

Note: this can be frozen in ziplock baggies and later thawed in the fridge over night. Reheat in the microwave or in a skillet.

Super Quick Black Bean Soup

I found this recipe on another blog a long time ago and HAD to try it because it just sounded too quick and too easy. It really is good though and with chips and cheese, it's surprisingly filling.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cans black beans, undrained (i’d like to dry draining and rinsing sometime to get rid of 40% of the salt.)
1/2 c salsa
1 T Chili powder
1 c broth (I used chicken)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Dump everything into a pot and bring to boil
2. When it has simmered a little (not much), blend it with your stick blender, or pour into a blender to puree.
3. Serve with avocado slices, cheese and tortilla chips!

Eggplant, anyone? Elder D thought we were having hamburgers! Nope, eggplant patties. He brought home an eggplant from the ferria (because it was cheap) and it was beautiful. Never fixed it before, so went online to look. Remembered the method and ingredients and put together my own thing.

Peel the eggplant, and cut into a 1" dice, seeds and all. Boil to soften and then mash. (This can be done ahead). Add salt and pepper, I used basil and marjoram, onion and garlic and fresh cilantro. Then add broken crackers (til it will lightly hold together). Then mold into patties and fry in a little oil - be sure the oil is hot before putting them in the fry pan. This is MUY good, satisfying and filling! Served with mashed potatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes with lemon and olive oil and chicken strips sauteed in the same pan I used for the patties. Watermelon for dessert. Mmmm.

Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie

I got this recipe from a Rachael Ray magazine a few years ago. Very yummy with or without bacon.

INGREDIENTS:

4 large Idaho potatoes (2 1/2 to 3 pounds), peeled and cut into chunks
Salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 slices bacon, chopped
2 pounds ground turkey (I only use 1 lb.)
Freshly ground pepper
2 onions, chopped (I only use 1 large)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning (I used chicken boullion)
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 teaspoon paprika

DIRECTIONS

1. Place potatoes in a small, deep pot, cover with water and bring to a boil, covered, over high heat. Salt the water and cook until tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

2. Heat the oil in a deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, about 3 minutes, then add the turkey and break it up with a spoon. Season with salt and pepper and cook until browned, about 5 minutes; push it to the side and add the onion and carrots to the center. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, then mix everything together. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and poultry seasoning. Lower the heat to medium and cover the pan with a foil tent to keep in some of the moisture. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes.

3. Preheat the broiler to high. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot. Add 1/3 cup cream, salt, pepper, the egg, butter, and chives and smash until potatoes are almost smooth.

4. Remove the foil from the pan and stir in the peas and remaining cream. Scrape up any browned bits and turn off heat. Scrape the turkey mixture into a casserole dish and top with the potatoes. Broil until the top is golden. Sprinkle with paprika and serve.

Vegetarian Chili

2 cans (each 19 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained or 4 cups soaked, cooked and drained

1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes

2 medium carrots, diced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 can (28 oz) tomatoes, with juice

1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chilies, with liquid

3 Tablespoons chili powder (I used Penzey's)

1 cup vegetable or chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

for topping:

sour cream

more cilantro

In slow cooker, combine everything except the cilantro; stir it up.

Cover and cook on Low for 6-8 hours or High for 3-4 hours, until bubbling and hot, and somewhat darker than when it all went in. Add cilantro; cook another 20 minutes. Spoon into bowls and top with dollop of sour cream and additional chopped fresh cilantro.

The whole thing can be assembled up to 12 hours in advance and refrigerated in the cooker stoneware. Just slip the insert into the cooker the next morning and cook away. I find that this is better cooked and eaten the following day; flavors meld and deepen.

Coconut Panna Cotta

I made this for dessert on Christmas; we needed a light dessert after all the chocolate, egg nog, and gingerbread goodness that was being consumed. This is SUPER EASY!!! It originally came from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson.

We served it after a pretty rich dinner: crown of lamb, roasted garlic potatoes, Brussels sprouts with bacon and a green salad (arugula, blue cheese, walnuts). We served it with Asti spumante; Martinelli's would work well too. I made the crackers a week in advance and they kept nicely in a tupperware.

for the panna cotta:

1(14 ounce) can coconut milk

1 1/4 cups whole or 2% milk

1/3 cup natural cane sugar (I used 1/4 cup and it was fine)

1 1/2 Tablespoons Agar Agar flakes or 3/4 teaspoon agar powder (I used the flakes)

Lightly oil 6 ramekins and set aside. Place coconut milk, milk, sugar and agar flakes in a pan. Stir, then let rest for 10 minutes to allow the agar to soften and start to dissolve (this is critical or you get agar clumps, which are fine but the overall effect is more like tapioca than panna cotta). Very slowly, bring ingredients to a gentle simmer and simmer a few minutes until the agar is incorporated. If it doesn't completely dissolve, pour the mixture through a strainer, pushing the undissolved agar through as well. Pour into the ramekins and chill until set, about an hour.

for the coulis:
1/4 cup natural cane sugar (Florida Crystals or other light, organic whole cane sugar)
2 cups berries (I used frozen raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Combine the berries, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan, bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat. Mash the berries a little with the back of a spoon and chill.

for the cracker toppers:
1 package of 6-inch Wonton wrappers
1/4 cup natural cane sugar (Florida Crystals)
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger (Penzey's)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, fine-grained
1/4 cup assorted seeds (sesame, white and black, fennel, poppy, cracked cardamom, caraway)
1 egg
1 tiny splash heavy cream (or yogurt or milk)
cookie cutters, smallish, like 2-inch diameter

Preheat the oven to 350 F, position racks in the middle and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment or a silpat.

Combine sugar, ginger, and salt in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk egg and cream together. Cut the wonton wrappers into various shapes, pressing down hard and cleanly cutting. I used a soft towel under the surface of the wonton to get my lame plastic cookie cutters from like 1982 to work. Brush the wonton shapes with a thin glaze of the egg mixture. Sprinkle each with seeds, and a generous dusting of the sugar mixture. Keep it all sort of in the middle, so you can see the cookie edges a bit.

Move the wontons into a single layer on the baking sheets and bake until the wontons are golden and crisp, 5-8 minutes. They go from not done to burnt really fast, watch 'em.

For the presentation: just turn the ramekins over on a plate, pour a little coulis on top, and stick a few crackers in the panna cotta.