Chickpea Tacos

Besides ground beef tacos with the usual fixings, these are my favorite tacos. They are seriously so delicious. They’re simple tacos with only a few ingredients….chickpeas coated and baked with a taco seasoning, an avocado and garlic puree, and some chopped tomato, onion, and cilantro. Sooo tasty, very healthy, and also a great vegetarian meal. We usually eat about 3 vegetarian meals a week, and I have to say that this is a great example of the many really wonderful and flavorful vegetarian meals that are out there. The seasoning on the chickpeas tastes amazing, and the avocado is so garlicy and delicious. We’ve eaten this meal several times, and every time I’m always amazed at how good it is.

Chickpea Tacos
Source: Adapted from: Veggie Terrain

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce)
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon oregano
crunchy blue corn taco shells (I could only find these at Whole Foods. Yellow corn shells will work, too)
2 roma tomatoes, diced
2 green onions, chopped
A handful of cilantro, chopped
1 avocado
2 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Spray a small cooking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

3. In a bowl, whisk the tamari, lime juice, and taco seasoning (chili powder through oregano) together.

4. Add the chickpeas to the bowl, and toss until well coated.

5. Place the chickpeas in the cooking dish in an even layer, and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

6. While the chickpeas are cooking, combine the tomato, green onions, and cilantro in a small bowl. Peel and pit the avocado and place it in another bowl with the minced garlic and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Mash the avocado together with the garlic and salt until a puree forms.

7. Serve the tacos with the avocado puree and the tomato mixture. Place the avocado puree in the shell first, to prevent the chickpeas from rolling out of the shell.

Banana Bread

I love making quick breads during this time of the year. There’s something about having a few pieces of bread for breakfast with a glass of milk that is just so comforting. This banana bread is another recipe from my Mom, and it’s fabulous. The outside gets almost crispy from the butter, and the inside of the bread is so amazingly soft and moist. More so, I think, than any other bread that I’ve had. And if you use really overripe bananas, the banana flavor is awesome. I love to eat this bread plain, but I’ve also tried it heated up in the microwave for a few seconds and spread with some peanut butter. That is really delicious, too. My house smelled so completely sweet and wonderful while this was baking. Just thinking of it makes me so excited to have another piece :)

Banana Bread
Source: Mom

1 2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter
1 1/4 cup bananas (3)
2/3 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1. Cream together the sugar, butter, and bananas.

2. Add the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla, and mix until combined.

3. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder until well blended.

4. Bake at 350 degrees in two greased loaf pans. Cool for 20-30 minutes in the pans, and then turn out onto wire racks to continue cooling.

Chicken Chilaquiles

Wow. This is the best main dish that I’ve made in weeks. B and I both LOVED it and devoured it. I’ve wanted to try chilaquiles for a long time, but I really didn’t think that they would be that different from enchiladas, because they’re basically like enchiladas but in lasagna form. A layer of tortilla, a layer of filling, a layer of tortilla, and so on…topped with a sauce and cheese. So I came into this meal thinking that it would be much like an enchilada, but I was definitely wrong. The tortillas end up with a surprising and amazing texture, almost like the texture of dumplings. And since there are several layers of tortillas, you get a lot of that dumpling-like texture in every bite. Amazing. And I want to note that the green sauce in this recipe is the best green sauce that I’ve ever made, and I’ve tried many different recipes for enchiladas verdes. This is going to become my stock green sauce recipe. I really can’t rave enough about this entire recipe…it was so delicious that I think I might even prefer chilaquiles to enchiladas now. We devoured the whole pan in two nights. Oops.

Chicken Chilaquiles
Source: The Crepes of Wrath

2 cups boneless, skinless chicken breasts, shredded
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
3/4 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 (11-ounce) can tomatillos, drained
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
12 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas
Cooking spray

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook your chicken, if needed, by boiling it in a pot of water for 20-30 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle. Shred the chicken with two forks.

2. Combine the chicken, green onions, 1/4 cup pepper jack cheese, Parmesan, chili powder, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Put the milk, cilantro, tomatillos, and green chiles in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

3. Pour 1/3 cup of the tomatillo mixture into the bottom of an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 tortillas in the dish, and top them with half of the chicken mixture. Add another layer of tortillas, followed by the other half of the chicken. Add the final layer of tortillas.

4. Pour the tomatillo mixture over the tortillas, and then sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of pepper jack cheese, or more if you like. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Mexican Rice

This recipe is perfect. It’s from B’s mom, and she always makes it with her delicious enchiladas….one of my very favorite meals that she cooks. I remember eating and loving that meal way back seven years ago when B and I first started dating. And we’ve had it on many other memorable occasions since then. Nostalgia. Anyway, this rice is the only recipe for Mexican rice that I’ve ever made that has the right consistency. Grains that don’t stick together and a flavor that isn’t overwhelmingly tomato….finally! I’ve tried many different recipes for Mexican rice, but all of the rest always turn out as clumpy messes that just don’t taste the same as the Mexican rice that you get in restaurants. This, though, is by far the best Mexican rice that I’ve ever had.  As I said, the consistency is just right, and the flavor is perfect, too…just a little tomato, some onion, a little spicy…and really heavy on cumin, which is my favorite thing.  This is so delicious.

Mexican Rice
Source: B’s Mom

Extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups Uncle Ben’s converted rice or other parboiled rice (don’t use white rice!! It will = clumpy mess)
1 tomato
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
chili powder
cumin

1. Heat  the olive oil in a large pan. Add the rice and cook until brown.

2. Meanwhile, dunk a tomato in boiling water for one minute. Remove the tomato from the water and peel the skin. Quarter the tomato and place it in a food processor with the onion and garlic. Process until smooth, and then add the mixture to the rice.

3. Add the water and the chicken bouillon cubes to the rice. Add chili powder and cumin to cover the top of the water. Stir and cover, cooking on medium heat until the water is absorbed.

Mapo Tofu over White Rice

I’ve never had mapo tofu before, and I’ve never even heard of it until I stumbled upon this recipe that I wanted to try. From what I’ve seen in the recipe that I used for this meal and in others, I think that mapo tofu is usually served by itself in a heavier sauce. I wanted to serve my meal over white rice, though, so I definitely think that what I ended up with here is somewhat different than your traditional mapo tofu. Regardless, B and I both really loved this recipe. I really enjoyed having both ground pork and tofu in the same meal, and the sauce had the perfect amount of spice. The chopped green onions also added a lot of flavor and a bit of crunch. This meal came together very quickly, which was just perfect for a night when I didn’t feel too much like spending a ton of time on dinner. I’ll definitely be making this again. And as an aside, if you cook white rice frequently but don’t have a rice cooker, I’d definitely think about getting one. It’s a huge time saver, and it guarantees a perfectly cooked batch of rice every time. Just pour in your rice and water, set it to cook, and don’t worry about it again until you’re ready to eat. Awesome product.

Mapo Tofu over White Rice
Source: Adapted from Closet Cooking

1/2 lb ground pork
1 lb extra firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup white rice
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1 tablespoon black bean sauce
1 tablespoon chili sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons chicken stock
1 bunch green onions, chopped

1. Cook the white rice according to package instructions.

2. Meanwhile, brown the ground pork in a saute pan, and drain any excess fat.

3. Add the garlic and the ginger, and continue cooking for one minute.

4. Add the black bean paste, chili sauce, soy sauce, and chicken stock, and stir to combine.

5. Add the tofu, and cook until the tofu is warmed through. Stir gently in order to avoid breaking the tofu.

6. Serve over white rice, garnished with green onion.

Spanakopita

I made a quick spanakopita using puff pastry a couple of months ago, and this time I tried my hand at a much more authentic version using phyllo dough. I have to say that I’ve come to the conclusion that I love spanakopita in all of its forms. The spinach, onion, and feta cheese filling is so good, and it’s healthy too. And using phyllo dough to make the spanakopita wasn’t nearly as time consuming or difficult as I thought it would be. In fact, it was pretty easy. I’m used to working with phyllo dough now, and I’ve learned not to be too careful with it or care if it tears, falls apart, etc. You can be pretty sloppy with it, really, and the meal will still turn out great. Next time I will use a lot more to make a much thicker crust, but other than that, this meal was great.

Spanakopita
Source: I used this recipe, but changed it around a bit and adapted it for phyllo dough.

Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 sliced onion
Fresh dill, to taste
Fresh parsley, minced and to taste
1 box frozen spinach
2 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1 egg
salt and pepper, to taste
10 sheets phyllo dough (next time I’d probably double this)

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Cook the spinach according to package instructions.

3. In a large skillet, heat a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Add the onions and saute until tender. Stir in the cooked and drained spinach, and then turn off the heat.

4. Add the parsley, dill, and salt and pepper to the spinach mixture. Beat one egg and add it into the mixture.

5. Unwrap your phyllo dough and cover it with a moist towel. Remove one sheet of phyllo dough, keeping the rest covered, and brush it lightly with olive oil. Place the dough in a greased baking dish, cutting or tearing it to fit into the dish you are using. My dough covered the bottom of the dish and curved up along the sides of the dish.

6. Remove another sheet of phyllo dough, brush it with olive oil, and place it on top of the first sheet. Repeat this step until the crust is as thick as you would like it to be.

7. Spoon approximately half of the spinach mixture onto the phyllo dough. Add the feta cheese, and then add the rest of the spinach.

8. Remove another sheet of phyllo dough, brush it with olive oil, and place it on top of the spinach mixture. Repeat this step until the top crust is as thick as you would like it to be.

9. Brush the top of the last sheet of phyllo dough with olive oil. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the pie into serving pieces, cutting all the way through the bottom.

10. Bake the pie at 350 for approximately 30 minutes, or until the top of the crust is browned.

Chicken stuffed with Pesto and Mushrooms

I love browning chicken breasts in a saute pan before letting them finish cooking in the oven. It always gives the chicken much more flavor and color than just baking it, and it’s super easy and painless, as long as you don’t try to grab the handle of your fresh-from-the-oven saute pan with a bare hand when you’re getting ready to plate your chicken. Seriously, don’t do that. I’m just glad that the chicken didn’t end up on the floor and that my hand has finally stopped throbbing. Anyway, this chicken was a nice and healthy weeknight meal, and B and I both really liked the flavor of the filling. It’s a simple mixture of onions, mushrooms, and pesto, and like nearly everything else that I’ve tried to combine with chicken breasts, it worked really well. While I was eating this, I thought that the flavors would also go great on a pizza….pesto sauce, diced chicken, sauteed mushrooms. I’m definitely going to make that pizza soon.

Chicken stuffed with Pesto and Mushrooms
Source: Original Recipe

2 chicken breasts, butterflied
1/2 small onion, diced
Approximately 4 mushrooms, diced (I used button mushrooms, but I think baby portabellas would work much better, since they have so much more flavor)
2 tablespoons pesto
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Add a drizzle of olive oil to a saute pan, and heat the pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until tender, then add the mushrooms and saute until they are cooked through and browned.

3. Pour the mushroom mixture into a small bowl. Add the pesto and stir to combine.

4. Scoop half of the mushroom mixture onto one side of each of the butterflied chicken breasts. Fold the other side of the chicken breasts back over the mixture, and then season the chicken with salt and pepper.

5. In the same pan that you used to saute the mushrooms, add another drizzle of olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add the chicken breasts to the pan, and saute until browned, about 2-3 minutes on each side.

6. Place the saute pan in the oven and cook until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside, approximately 25 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, flip the chicken to ensure even browning on both sides.

Pumpkin Bread

This bread is legendary in my family as being one of the most important parts of Thanksgiving day. It’s my Mom’s recipe, and for my entire life she has always made a million loaves on the day before Thanksgiving for the big meal. We all pile it right on the dinner plate, alongside the turkey and stuffing and gravy and everything else that is so delicious. As a kid, we’d eat it for days after Thanksgiving for breakfast or for dessert with whipped cream on top. These days, B and I usually eat Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house and then move on to another Thanksgiving dinner at his parents’ house before heading back home, so I usually only eat maybe a half of a slice. It’s just not right. So, last year, I started a little tradition of making a couple loaves of this bread a few weeks before Thanksgiving. I love doing this so much and have been counting down to it for weeks now :) I can’t do it too early, because it’s like my own official little start to the holiday season. As soon as I smell that bread cooking, it just feels like happy, and in my mind the holidays are here. I’ll be splurging on this for breakfast up until Thanksgiving, alongside a nice glass of cold milk. It’s the little things :)

So that’s my little story. About the bread itself, though, it really is as good as I make it seem to be. It’s incredibly moist and soooo flavorful. It tastes like cinnamon and cloves and everything that Thanksgiving time should be. My favorite part is that little section on the top of the bread (you can see it in this photo) where the crust breaks apart while cooking. After cooling and sitting wrapped up for a day, it gets super soft and gooey right there. I always save that bite for last with every piece that I eat :)

Thought: I want to make a sandwich with leftover turkey and cranberry sauce and use this bread. And gravy. Why have I not done this??

Pumpkin Bread
Source: Mom

2/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
16 oz can pumpkin
2/3 cup water
1 1 /2 teaspoon salt
3 1/3 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves

1. Cream the shortening and sugar together in a large bowl.

2. Mix in the eggs, pumpkin, and water.

3. Mix in the salt, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves.

4. Bake at 350 degrees in 2 greased loaf pans for approximately 60 minutes.

Bay Scallops with Avocado Puree and Jalapeno Pesto

This is a Bobby Flay recipe for a grilled appetizer that I made into a main course. What was interesting to me about the recipe was that there were two sauces….a really tart and smooth avocado sauce and a spicy pesto sauce. I was going to coat the bay scallops in a paprika/cumin spice mixture, too, but I thought that it might be overkill with all of the flavors, so I simply sauteed them up really quickly with a bit of black pepper. This is the second time that I’ve made this recipe…the first time, I used a seafood mixture of scallops, shrimp, and calamari, and that was just as good. The sauces are definitely what make the dish, though…they’re very unique, and they compliment each other really, really well. I love the green!

Bay Scallops with Avocado Puree and Jalapeno Pesto
Source: Adapted from Bobby Flay

I made a lot of changes to this recipe. Here’s the recipe as I made it.

Approximately 30 small bay scallops (This amount serves two. The sauce recipes make enough sauce to serve more, so you could up the amount of scallops for more people)
Extra virgin olive oil
Black pepper
Avocado puree (recipe follows)
Jalapeno pesto (recipe follows)

1. Heat a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a pan. Sprinkle the scallops with black pepper, and saute until they are cooked through. This should only take approximately 2 minutes.

2. Spread some of the avocado puree on a plate, top with the sauteed scallops, and then top the scallops with some of the pesto sauce. Serve immediately.

Avocado Puree

1 avocado, peeled and pitted
3 tablespoons chopped onion
2 small limes, juiced (this is about 1/4 cup of lime juice, and it results in a very tart sauce. Use less if desired.)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor, and process until smooth.

Jalapeno Pesto

1 cup cilantro leaves
2 jalapenos, seeded and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts
A pinch of salt
A pinch of black pepper
1/8 – 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Combine the cilantro, jalapeno, garlic, pine nuts, salt, and pepper in a food processor, and process until coarsely chopped.  Slowly add the oil, using as much as you need to make a smooth sauce.

Mushroom and Goat Cheese Strudel with Balsamic Reduction

B and I both thought that this recipe was awesome. And I think I’ve learned over the past few weeks that goat cheese + phyllo dough + balsamic reduction is one of my new favorite food combinations. This particular strudel is filled with goat cheese and sauteed baby portabellas, onions, and garlic, and it really is an excellent dinner. The mushrooms and goat cheese taste so delicious together, and the filling for the strudel is super hot the whole meal through. I loved the taste of this strudel on its own, and I also loved it dipped into the sweet balsamic syrup. I told B after one bite that I’d be making this again!

Mushroom and Goat Cheese Strudel with Balsamic Reduction

Source: Adapted from Closet Cooking

Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound mushrooms, chopped (I used baby portabellas)
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
8 fresh phyllo dough sheets
1/2 cup goat cheese, more or less to taste
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1. Saute the onions until they are tender. Add the garlic and saute for approximately one minute. Add the mushrooms and saute until the moisture released evaporates and the mushrooms start to brown, approximately 15 minutes.

2. Add the parsley to the mushroom mixture, season with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat.

3. Brush one sheet of phyllo dough with olive oil, and top it with a second sheet. Brush the second sheet with olive oil, and then top it with the third sheet. Brush the third sheet with olive oil, and then top it with the fourth sheet.

4. Sprinkle approximately 1/4 of the goat cheese along one of the long edges of the dough.

5. Spoon half of the mushroom mixture on top of the cheese, followed by another 1/4 of the cheese.

6. Fold the short edges of the phyllo dough over the filling and then roll the phyllo dough to form a long roll.

7. Repeat steps 3-6 for a second phyllo dough roll.

8. Place the two rolls seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Brush the tops of the rolls with olive oil.

9. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until golden brown (about 20 minutes for me).

10. While the strudels are baking, simmer the balsamic vinegar over medium low heat until it has reduced by half. Remove the pan from the heat, where it will continue to thicken as it cools.

11. Serve the strudels with the balsamic syrup for dipping.