Mexican Lasagna

I'm short on time today, so it's fitting to post this quick and easy recipe that you can make when you're short on time, too.

Back when we were meat-eaters, this was one of our favorite dinners. There wasn't a single time we made it for company (and we made it for company a lot) that they didn't ask for the recipe (and sometimes they'd call me to get the recipe again every time they made it...yes I'm looking at you, Rory).  It was one of the few meals we really missed when we stopped buying and cooking meat. And then, one day it hit me: I can just make it without the meat. And so it goes. And now our tummies are abundantly happy. 

Ingredients:

Corn tortillas (you need 9-12)

Taco seasoning

Two cans refried beans

1 can black beans

1/2 can corn (or do I like do and eyeball with a few handfuls of frozen corn)

Salsa dobs (any salsa works, but when I want it to be REALLY tasty, I get a mango salsa or a peach pineapple - something like that)

Sour cream dobs

Grated colby jack cheese (I usually use cheddar because that's what I have on hand)

Directions:

In a 9x13 pan, layer tortillas (you can cut them in half and go 3 by 3, or if you are really short on time just lay them down whole - 2 rows of 3), refried beans, taco seasoning, black beans, corn, salsa dobs, sour cream dobs, cheese. REPEAT. Bake 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees to warm through. Let stand 5 minutes.

*I've never tried freezing this, but I assume it would freeze well.

*This is a great option for taking dinner to a neighbor who just had a baby or something. You can prepare it ahead of time and just leave a note for them to pop it in the oven for 20 minutes whenever they are ready to eat it. That is exactly what I did today.

***(If you really want to try it with the meat, cook a pound of ground turkey or ground beef on the stove and add the taco seasoning then. You would layer it right after the refried beans. Now that I omit the meat, I just sprinkle the taco seasoning between the refried bean and black bean layers.)

Spinach Enchiladas

Once upon a time, in 2011, it was Mother's Day, and I was pregnant with my first (and thus far, only) child.

Yes, go right ahead. "You glowed!" "So radiant!" I'll take it. I have not glowed or radiated since, and I suspect I won't glow or radiate through any subsequent pregnancy, because I will have a little person (or persons) I have get to take care of, whilst pregnant. 

That first pregnancy is where it's at.

So what I'm trying to say is, my sweet husband, Ryan, cooked for me that Mother's Day, and it was delicious, so without further ado:

Spinach Enchiladas

(This is the first thing that pops up when you google "spinach enchiladas." They'd go to the ends of the earth for you, they say...and then they only get as far as the top of the search results list.)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spinach-enchiladas/

Ingredients:

1 tbs butter

1/2 cup sliced green onions 

(If you don't have enough green onions, it doesn't matter.)

2 cloves garlic, minced 

(Does anyone ever really stick to the recommended garlic amount? Can you really have too much garlic?)

Spinach 

(Recipe calls for 10oz frozen, thawed, drained and squeezed dry, but we have only ever used fresh spinach, and it's delicious. As I've said before, you weren't going to get through that Costco bag in time anyway. And we always add more than we think we'll need. Just chop up a bunch of fresh spinach, and then you don't have to squeeze it dry or anything.)

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

 (Or whatever you have. I think we used cheddar last time. A friend once told me: cheese is cheese. I have found that in most recipes, you can just use whatever cheese you have on hand.)

10 (6-inch) corn tortillas

1 19oz can enchilada sauce 

(If your can is smaller, like the classic 15oz variety, that's fine, you don't need a whole 19oz.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).

2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; cook for a few minutes until fragrant, but not brown. Stir in spinach, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat, and mix in ricotta cheese, sour cream, and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese (or whatever cheese you use). 

3. In a skillet over medium heat, warm tortillas one at a time until flexible, about 15 seconds. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the spinach mixture onto the center of each tortilla. Roll up, and place seam side down in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle with remaining cup of Monterey Jack.

4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until sauce is bubbling and cheese is lightly browned at the edges.

If you want a yummy side dish to go with it, we always have Near East Mediterranean Curry Couscous when we have this dish.

Yes, you might think that "Mediterranean curry" and "enchilada" don't belong on the same table spread. Totally different ethnic flavors. But it works. Or maybe I just think it does, because that's what hubby made for me that Mother's Day, and sometimes food becomes sentimental. Regardless of the why, we only ever eat these enchiladas with a side of this particular couscous. And it works. And we love it. And I've never actually cooked these enchiladas. It's sort of a tradition now that when we have them, Ryan makes them. Which makes them taste that much more delicious. 

I posted this recipe because we just had it this week. It literally just struck me this very moment that Mother's Day is this weekend. So maybe pass this recipe along to your hubby with a wink and a nudge.

Homemade Pizza! (That doesn't taste "homemade.")

I figured you were getting tired of beans. I mean, not that beans aren't fun...they are the musical fruit, after all. And yes, for my sixth grade science fair, my partners and I titled our project, "Beans, Beans, the Musical Fruit" and actually measured which bean produces the most gas. We put balloons on top of test tubes filled with beans and hydrochloric acid (stomach), then baked them in the oven at the temperature of the stomach, and measured how much the balloons blew up. As an intervening variable, we added Beano to some of the test tubes. Mock all you want, but science was painful for me and this, at least, is a good science-related memory, as well as a good story to tell, and now I know useful things, like that black beans give you the most gas and lima beans the least. But I have a feeling that this news does not shock you in the least. Life experience has probably given you what test tubes and balloons gave me. Which leads me to my real point here, which is...pizza.

I thought we'd fun it up, since the fun times are beginning to roll now that the weather is getting warm and wondrous. And homemade pizza is undeniably fun. Allow my sister and my son to demonstrate:

But have you ever noticed that when you make pizza, it's good and all, but to really enjoy it you have to keep it in a whole separate category from the pizza you would order from a pizza place? "Oh, this pizza is really good...for homemade pizza."

Well, for a couple years, I gave out a homemade pizza recipe that was all right, and I take it back. If I gave it to you, throw it away, because Our Best Bites has the best one, hands down. It might take a couple times making it to get it just how you want with the crust and all, but it's worth it!

Here are all the links you need:

Dough

(The best thing about this dough is it's versatile and, like they say in the book, it has magical powers.) My son begs for these breadsticks on a regular basis. You can use the dough for pizza, breadsticks, stromboli, stuffed pizza rolls, etc.)

Garlic Bread Seasoning

(You will need this for your sauce. But I have a tip: always, always have a batch of this is in your fridge, to sprinkle over your breadsticks, or to sprinkle over fish, grilled veggies, some people like it over chicken, etc. I go through a batch of this quickly, and you will, too.)

Pizza Sauce

(This sauce takes seconds to make, and tastes super fancy. Don't bother with all those work-intensive pizza sauces. You've got this recipe now.)

Make the Pizza

(I don't have a pizza stone or a french rolling pin, but mine still turn out great, so don't fret if you don't have all the stuff they mention. And listen to them when they tell you to brush the crust with olive oil and then sprinkle garlic salt. It truly does crisp it and keep it from getting soggy. And it tastes like delivery. This is the best pizza-making tip I've seen yet.)

(So I have created some weird traditions, it's cool. Also, it may not look that pretty, but I don't care about how pretty it looks - just how pretty it tastes.)

In my experience, if you don't want your dough too fluffy, you need to roll it out as thin as possible, thinner even than you think. I don't like thick, fluffy crust, except on the edges, so this took me a couple times to get down. Also, make sure and pinch up the edges so you have a nice thick crust on the edges there - like you ordered from Dominos or something.

If tomato sauce isn't your thing, their Guiltless Alfredo Sauce is excellent.

And if you're feeling extra fun, you can make Stuffed Pizza Rolls, a fun way to incorporate all of these individual recipes into one fun whole. Good for little hands, too. :-)

(I promise I'm not endorsed by Our Best Bites. I just think they're the best.)

Quinoa Chili & Vegetarian Chili (both slow cooker)

I intended to post this Tuesday. Twofer Tuesday. Tuesday got busy. Sorry. (I know you don't care when I post, I'm mostly just apologizing to myself for my little play on words not working out.)

I wanted to get my two favorite chili recipes up pronto because the weather is turning and I tend to think of chili as a cold-weather meal. (How could you not? It's pronounced the same as "chilly.")

I realize I've posted a lot of meals involving beans lately. But this is a meat-free blog, so you probably expected that. I'll work on it, though.

Quinoa Chili

First: 

1. This is adapted from Six Sisters Stuff (link here) by my friend Liz. Her M.O. is to add lots of spices to meatless meals to make things more interesting. I love her adaptations and only make it her way.

2. If you don't like quinoa, but still want to incorporate this superfood into your diet, this recipe is for you. All the flavors drown out the nutty taste. The nutty taste doesn't do it for me, either, but I love the texture of the quinoa in this chili.

3. This will make you dinner for three days. Perfect for company, or for a week you don't want to cook much. The leftovers are awesome as vegetarian taco fillers in a whole wheat tortilla with sour cream and cheese.

(The first time my toddler climbed into his chair and buckled it himself was when we were going to eat this. Coincidence? Doubtful.)

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes with Italian spices (undrained)
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (undrained)
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can corn, drained (or use the empty bean can to measure out frozen corn, that's what I do)
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups of chicken stock or broth (I will use chicken or vegetable broth - whatever I have on hand - but the only veggie broth I love is the Pacific stuff. It's the best).

A little red bell pepper, chopped
Some baby carrots, chopped
A half or one minced onion
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp chili powder
Throw in a handful of spinach. Why not? Adds more color and you can never get through that Costco bag in time, anyway.

Directions:

Place everything in a 6-quart slow cooker and cook 5-7 hours on low. Keep warm until ready to serve. Garnish with cheese and/or sour cream.

*The nice thing about the quinoa chili is if you use veggie broth, you get to pretend you're vegan for a few minutes...until you load in the sour cream and cheese.


Vegetarian Chili 

(Adapted from this recipe, but really, do it my way. And that photo doesn't even look like it.)

Ingredients:

1 can (about 15 oz) Amy's Organic Black Bean and Vegetable Soup
1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can vegetarian baked beans (do NOT drain...and I vote you get Busch's. I really like their vegetarian beans.)
1 14.5 oz can chopped or diced tomatoes in puree
Frozen corn, eyeball it
Half an onion, chopped
Some green bell pepper, chopped (eyeball it)
2 stalks celery, chopped (optional, just as good without)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder, or to taste
Dried parsley
Dried oregano
Dried basil (it calls for a tablespoon of each spice, but that's waaaay too much. Eyeball it. Maybe half a tbs? Really. Eyeball it. I trust you.)

Directions:

Combine all in crockpot, and cook 3 or 4 hours on high. The original recipe says 2 hours, but your vegetables will still be crunchy if you only do 2. So don't listen to those allrecipes powers that be. Listen to me. It's delicious with cornbread, too. Tastes even better as leftovers.

Taco Soup (easiest recipe ever)

This is one of my go-to recipes. It's easy, quick, healthier, freezes beautifully, I always have the ingredients on hand, and everyone likes it. It's one of my safe bets when I am taking someone dinner or have guests. Toddler-approved, as well. And it's versatile. Throw in whatever you want. I have a friend who throws in a packet of ranch seasoning, another who adds green chilies. It's pretty foolproof.

Taco Soup

-Tomato juice (I either do a 59 oz can from Winco's store brand or the 64 oz plastic container in the juice aisle of any store)
-3 cans any beans (I invariably do 1 black and 1 kidney, and then I do 1 light bean such as pinto or great northern)
-Corn (eyeball it)
-Taco seasoning (about a packet's worth, if you have a container it's about 3 heaping tablespoons)

Throw it all in the crockpot for 5 hours.

(Or heat it on the stove, which takes about a half hour. I prefer crockpot, because who doesn't?)

Top with cheese, or whatever you choose! Some people like it with chips or sour cream.

I make some meals that call for, say, 6 oz tomato juice, leaving me with a lot of tomato juice left over. When that happens, I just grab a freezer bag and dump the remaining tomato juice into it along with the other ingredients for taco soup. Then I freeze it and when the time comes to eat it, I throw it in the crockpot for about 8 hours. It freezes exceptionally well. I always have a bag or two of it in the freezer as a backup meal for a crazy day, or if I'm asked to bring dinner to a neighbor who is sick or just had a baby. Sometimes I divvy it up into small containers or freezer bags so I can pull one out for my toddler's lunch.

*If you're a meat-eater, you can throw in half a pound to a pound of ground turkey or ground beef, but cook it on the stove first. The first time I served it to someone without meat, though, they said it was good enough that they didn't even notice the lack of meat. *Fist pump.*

Vegetarian Skillet Nachos (Easy, easy, easy)

This quick and easy dinner is perfect when you're craving The Junk but still want a healthy twist.

Make it once and you'll never forget how. It's simple.

And it takes mere minutes to make.

This is a recipe of eyeballing. No exact amounts. Just eyeball it. And don't roll your eyeballs at me. It'll turn out yummy, I promise.

*Chop up some zucchini and green pepper, saute in a tbs olive oil. Add one can chili beans (don't drain) and half cup any salsa. Let it simmer a little, then pour it all into a bowl, wipe out the pan, put tortilla chips in the pan, pour mixture back in over the chips, add sliced or diced olives and cheese, cover just until cheese melts. Serve with extra chips on the side.

Done!

You can even save time by skipping the part where you dump out the mixture and wipe out the pan. I call it the fancy way (chips in) and the un-fancy way (chips out). Those tiny veggies are hidden well from picky toddler eyes, too.

(If eyeballing is nacho thing: I usually do one zucchini, maybe half a green pepper. You can throw in some yellow squash, too, if you want.)

*If you have a chopper, this will be a cinch. If you don't have a chopper, it'll still be easy, but I feel bad for you. You need a chopper, in general. It's a must. I used to have a little human whining at me and tugging at my pant legs while I slaved away chopping vegetables for dinner and now it takes seconds...sometimes only one second since I now have an electric chopper (after my hand chopper was taken apart by a well-meaning husband who was trying to get it properly cleaned, a husband who is handsome enough and wonderful enough that we don't complain at him for such things). 

Creamy Potato & Leek Soup + Pear Pomegranate Salad with Sweet Red Wine Vinaigrette

This is one of our favorite dinners. The recipes come from Our Best Bites: Savoring the Seasons. We LOVE Our Best Bites. Their original cookbook is my favorite, but Savoring the Seasons is fun because it...goes by the seasons (spoiler alert). Winter is just about over, so I thought I'd throw in my favorites from the winter section of the book. The soup calls for ham but I omit and it works out wonderfully because the ham made it too salty anyway.

Potato & Leek Soup

4-5 medium leeks -It says you need about 2 cups chopped and my four leeks were WAY too much. I only used two. It depends on the size of the leek, but you can get an idea by knowing you'll only use the white part. Also, I LOVE LEEKS. They have a mild onion flavor, but I like them better than onions.

3 tbs butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes (about 2-3 medium), diced into 1/2 inch cubes. -You want to go with gold potatoes (if not Yukon, some other gold potato) because they add a really nice creamy texture to the soup and pair beautifully with the leeks.
4 cups chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried thyme

3/4 cup cream 

1-2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (I suppose you could substitute the dried stuff, but using the fresh stuff actually makes a difference in this particular recipe)

1. Slice ends off leeks just above the root and discard. Cut leeks in half lengthwise. Starting at the white end, slice the leeks crosswise (as you would slice a green onion) in 1/4 inch slices. Stop slicing when the leaves turn from pale green to dark green and discard the remaining part of the leek. Place sliced leeks (about 2 cups) in a bowl of cold water and stir with fingers to loosen layers and remove any dirt. Drain and set aside.

2. Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add leeks, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook about 3-5 minutes, stirring often, until leeks are wilted and fragrant. Add potatoes, broth, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a simmer and cover pot. Simmer on medium-low heat about 15 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender. Mash slightly with the back of a spoon to break them up. Add ham and simmer 5 more minutes. Add cream, parsley, and additional salt and pepper, to taste. Heat until warmed through. Remove bay leaves and serve.

Pear Pomegranate Salad

1/2 cup chopped pecans (we didn't do these)

1/4 cup sugar (also didn't do this)

1 head romaine lettuce

1 14 oz bag baby spinach

seeds from 1 pomegranate (about 1 cup)

2 ripe pears that are still a little firm

Juice of one lime (we just squirted some lime juice)

4 oz crumbled feta cheese

1. Spray sheet of aluminum foil with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. (didn't do this part.)

2. Combine pecans and sugar in a small nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar melts and coats the nuts (about 15 minutes). Place on the prepared foil and set aside. (didn't do this.)

3. Toss together lettuce, spinach, pomegranate seeds, pears, lime juice, and cheese, adding the candied pecans (didn't do them) right before serving. Drizzle sweet red wine vinaigrette over the salad and serve immediately.

Sweet Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1-2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (I just use the minced stuff in liquid)

1 teaspoon kosher salt (I just use regular salt)

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper (I just use regular pepper)

1/2 cup canola oil

Combine vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a blender and process on high. Lower speed, and while blender is running, add oil in a steady stream. Dressing may be stored in refrigerator about 2-3 weeks. Shake well before serving.

The soup is one of my favorites. It's not the same as Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden (that has kale and sausage) but I feel like they could be fraternal twins. Not the same, but the potato and leek soup will satisfy my Zuppa Toscana cravings when they're out of control.

The salad doesn't need to be high-maintenance. Generally we just throw together lettuce, spinach, pear, feta, lime juice, the vinaigrette, and if we have pomegranate we'll add that. If we don't have pear or pomegranate, chopped apple will do. Basically, the combination of the red wine vinaigrette with feta and some sort of fruit is so winning, you can't lose. When I have a batch of that dressing in my fridge, I will eat salad for every meal.

You can even make all of these separately. I just happen to like the soup and the salad together. If you have rolls or breadsticks to dip in the soup, even better. The first time I made this, we stuck to the recipes exactly (except for the sugared pecans) and we felt like we were eating at a restaurant. Enjoy!

(Sorry no photos this time.)

Ok fine. Since you pouted and all:

(One of those photos you keep around to bug people with because it's so obnoxious. And it's the only photo I can think of wherein I am cooking.)

(And sorry for the weird background stuff. I...don't really know how to blog prettily. But I can cook and spin a mean pun, so there's that.)