Vegetable Tacos

Super easy, super delicious:

2 cans pinto beans (rinsed, drained)
3-4 medium zucchini’s, chopped and grilled
2 cups corn
guacamole
salsa
tortillas

Ta-da.

Sweet Potato, Corn and Black Bean Tacos with Honey and Lime

One of those recipes that every single person enjoyed. YAY!

 

• 1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled if desired and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 1/8 – 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small yellow onion, diced (1 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5) oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup frozen yellow corn, thawed and drained
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• Corn or flour tortillas
• Romain lettuce or purple cabbage, cotija or feta cheese (monterrey or manchengo would also be good), diced avocados, fresh salsa or pico de gallo

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil then place sweet potatoes on foil. Drizzle with 3 Tbsp olive oil and toss to evenly coat. Sprinkle evenly with cumin, paprika, coriander, cayenne pepper and season lightly with salt and pepper to taste then toss to evenly coat. Bake in preheated oven 15 – 20 minutes until tender, removing from oven and tossing once halfway through baking.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot add onion and saute until caramelized (golden brown on edges and tender), about 5 – 6 minutes, adding in garlic during last 30 seconds of sauteing. Reduce heat to medium-low, add in drained black beans, corn, honey and lime juice. Heat until warmed through. Toss in roasted sweet potatoes and cilantro. Serve over warm tortillas with desired toppings.
• Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Quinoa Enchilada Casserole

• 
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 (10-ounce) can mild enchilada sauce
• 1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
• 1/2 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
• 1/2 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
• 1 Roma tomato, diced

• In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions; set aside.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8×8 or 2 quart baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
• In a large bowl, combine quinoa, enchilada sauce, green chiles, corn, black beans, cilantro, cumin and chili powder; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.
• Spread quinoa mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining cheeses. Place into oven and bake until bubbly and cheeses have melted, about 15 minutes.
• Serve immediately, garnished with avocado and tomato, if desired.

*Seriously you’ll want to double this, it’s SO GOOD

Recipe and photo from Damn Delicious

Empanadas

Makes 12, in about an hour

1.5 c AP flour
.5 cup masa harina, fine cornmeal flour or more AP flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 cup plus 2 T solid shortening, lard or vegetable oil
2 1/2 c cooked and well seasoned beans
2 c grated or crumbled queso fresco, Monterey Jack or cotija cheese
up to 1/2 c milk

Preheat oven to 450. Mix together masa harina, flour, baking powder and salt. Add 1/2 c shortening. Preferable to do in food processor, but I used kitchen aid. Then add 1/2 c cold water, just enough for dough to form ball. Dough will be dry-ish. Knead for a minute or so until smooth.

Divide dough into 12 pieces, roll into balls, and cover with damp towel to rest for 20 miutes. (you can refrig dough overnight, but let come to room temperature before using) Roll each ball into 6″ circle, adding flour if necessary.

Place a couple tablespoons beans in center of each circle, then sprinkle cheese before folding each circle over. Seal seam with a few drops of water and press with tines of fork to close. Put on ungreased baking sheet and brush lightly with milk (optional). Bake about 20 minutes, until dough is golden and hot. Serve hot or at room temp.

VARIATIONS:
Corn and cheese: use corn, lightly mashed, instead of beans
Roasted Red peppers and cheese: sub beans with roasted red peppers
Veggie: use 3 cups any thick or rich vegetable dish to fill.

Taco Stuffed Shells

This is my picture:

Based on it, you might think…hmmm…maybe, maybe not.

Here is her picture:

That should do a better job of showing you how yummy these are.

1lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
1 4 once package cream cheese
12 large pasta shells
1 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 cup Monterey jack cheese (shredded)
1 ½ cups tortilla chips (crushed)
3 green onions (chopped)
1 cup sour cream

Step 1: In a fry pan cook ground beef and add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Add cream cheese cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and allow to fully cool. While burger is cooking cook the pasta shells, drain and toss well with butter.
Step 2:  Pour salsa in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
Step 3: Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place the stuffed shells in the baking dish and cover the tops of the shells with taco sauce.
Step 4: Cover and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Step 5: After 30 minutes, uncover, and sprinkle crushed chips and shredded cheddar and Monterey jack cheeses on top.  Cook for about 15 more minutes. Serve with sour cream, additional salsa, black olives or whatever you think goes good with tacos!

Bubble Up Enchiladas

I saw this on pinterest this afternoon, and what good timing – we were running so long with house projects today. This came together super quick, and we had everything already.  In fact, make your own biscuits or rolls and this is 100% food storage friendly.

image via

This is also lower calorie, so yeah for that.  The original recipe used ground turkey, but we used one can of chicken since we’ve been buying it for food storage and I am looking for ways to disguise it. :)

1 – 12.5 oz can chicken
1 – 10 oz can enchilada sauce
1 – 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 can buttermilk biscuits
1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine meat, enchilada sauce, tomato sauce. Cut each biscuit into 8 pieces and stir in. Add 3/4 c cheese and stir in.
Bake for 25 minutes. Add the rest of the cheese to the top and bake 10 more minutes.

Adapted from the original I saw on pinterest, at chef-n-training.

chicken tamale casserole / dinner tonight 3.23.11

It cracks me up to post a really bad picture (again!) but a few months ago I did our “what we ate for dinner” calendar as we went and did a picture each night – super nice to go back and get dinner ideas from pictures.

There’s a better picture at Cooking Light, where I got the recipe.

Dinner: chicken tamale casserole/yellow saffron rice/(not fancy black beans because we ran out of cans!! whoops)

– – – – –

Cooking Light’s Chicken Tamale Casserole (we LOVED this)

• 1  cup  (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
• 1/3  cup  fat-free milk
• 1/4  cup  egg substitute
• 1  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground red pepper
• 1  (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
• 1  (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
• 1  (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
• Cooking spray
• 1  (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
• 2  cups  shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1/2  cup  fat-free sour cream

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

354 (36% from fat)

Fat:

14.1g (sat 7.1g,mono 3.3g,poly 1.2g)

Protein:

18.9g

Carbohydrate:

36.3g

Fiber:

2.5g