Pico De Gallo & Bean Enchiladas

In case you can't tell, I LOVE mexican food!  And my favorite thing to make are these enchiladas, which are vegetarian, and filled with refried beans and homemade pico de gallo.  Doesn't this look amazing?

First, I could do a whole entry on making pico de gallo, but I don't have a picture if just that, so I won't.  It's super easy though, and you should always do your own.  I make the pico, then save a little to mash avocados in and - bam - perfect guacamole.  For the pico, you need:

2-3 tomatoes
A red onion
Fresh cilantro
A jalapeno
Fresh lime juice
Salt

You really just chop up the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno in a proportion you like, and add everything else to taste.  So easy!  So good!  It's also an absolutely perfect guacamole base.  So, you're making two things at once.

I suggest refrigerating the pico at least overnight before you eat it or use it in these enchiladas, as it gets better as the flavors mingle.

For the enchiladas, you need:

Pico De Gallo
Soft Corn Tortillas
1 Can of Your Favorite Refried Beans
2 Cans Enchiladas Sauce
2 cups Cheese
Avocado (Optional - Mash with extra Pico for gauc)
Sour Cream (Optional)

These are my favorite beans to use:

I put the beans in the tortillas, then the pico, and about half the cheese.  Then I roll them up:

Top with sauce and the rest of the cheese, and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes:

This obviously isn't a fancy recipe where I make everything from scratch, but it's a fantastic combination that's quick and easy.  It's also a great vegetarian alternative to "cheese and onion" enchiladas (boring).  I like to serve them with rice and a Corona!

Making Sushi & Spicy Veggie Rolls

If you're going to make sushi, I highly suggest you get Sushi For Dummies.  My sister got me the book last year for Christmas, and when I followed the directions exactly, the rice and everything else came out PERFECT.  Though it is an involved process (do it when you're in the mood to make a big production in the kitchen), it was actually easier than I thought it would be.

First, I bought everything I needed.  As far as equipment goes, you only need a rolling mat, which I got at the grocery store next to the nori for like $2.  I used a shallow dish for turning the rice and a piece of cardboard for a cooling paddle.  (Nothing fancy.)  You need nori (seaweed sheets), short or medium grain rice, and unseasoned rice vinegar (definitely not the seasoned kind, the book says you need to season your own), among other things:

I was amazed that the rice turned out perfectly.  I just followed the directions exactly.  You are supposed to toast the nori in the oven for 30 seconds first, so I did that too.  Then you put the rice on, and like magic, it sticks!  You can even then turn the whole thing over to make inside-out rolls, and somehow the rice doesn't fall off when you do.  I made a few types of rolls, including california rolls and rolls with shrimp.  My favorite, though, is just a veggie roll with spicy mayo:

Then you just roll it tight:

And slice it into pieces:

In this picture below, I have some inside out rolls.  They actually turned out to have a high rice ratio, but were still good:

I just make the nori-on-the-outside kind now because they are just as good and one step easier.

If you are wondering about making your own, you should!  It is a lot of fun and deciding what to put inside and trying different combinations lets you be a little creative.  Here's what I put in my favorite spicy veggie rolls:

Avocado

Red Pepper

Tomato (Optional)

Cilantro (A Must-Have)

Green Onion

Spicy Mayo (Mayo, Siracha, and a little Soy Sauce)

Silver Christmas Tree

So my Button Ornaments are creating much more of a buzz than I expected.  I have several requests for them, and my mom's friends are trying to pay me for them, lol.  It's too bad I can't find enough buttons!  Jo Ann's is sold out of most of their selection.  But anyway, speaking of Christmas, can I show you a spliced-together picture of my Christmas tree?  Okay.  Great!

I'm so excited.  I wasn't going to have a tree this year, but I picked this one up at Hobby Lobby for $65.  It's 6 feet tall, though skinny.  I found the mini tree skirt at Target today.  I got the silver tree in part because this is the first Christmas I've had my own place, so no stupid boys can tell me it's tacky.  It's a super girly tree and I love it!  Perfect.

Dessert Wins! Raspberry Almond Cupcakes, Key Lime Bars, & Red Velvet Brownies

I am a dessert person.

Addict.

Fiend.

I love sugar more than anything, and I love baking.  I have so many great wonderful awesome desserts I’ve made that I would love to blog about, but if I haven’t changed anything about the original recipe, it isn’t really mine to blog.  I will share a couple photos of my favorites, however:

Key Lime Bars, courtesy of Martha Stewart.

Red Velvet Brownies (oven pic), found through Pinterest on this awesome blog.

And, then, one of my mother’s favorites, these amazing Raspberry Filled Almond Cupcakes.  So, so good.  And they turned out perfect.  They are most moist, tasty cupcakes ever.  I know I mentioned in my Amaretto Cheesecake Truffle post that I love anything Almond, then there’s raspberry.  And cream cheese frosting.  Come on.  Come on.

Here were the cupcakes before frosted:

And the finished product:

After being in the refrigerator overnight, the gel firmed up some:

I’ve made some pretty bad desserts as well, but that’s the fun of Pinterest, finding the gems.  I highly recommend any of these three, as well as my new favorite, Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, which I’ll be baking and blogging about this weekend.  (But here's a sneak peak pic from my last batch:)

Falafel with Cucumber Sauce

There's this amazing Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain in downtown Chicago called Roti.  Every time my boyfriend and I are downtown we have to stop by for some falafel and falafel wrap sandwiches.  But since we don't live downtown, and we can't have Roti all the time, I decided to make my own falafel.  I started with this recipe for Sean's Falafel and Cucumber Sauce.  Now, I don't know who Sean is, but I thank you!  This is now one of my boyfriend's and my favorite meals.  The only thing I do differently than the original recipe is use a combination of parsley and cilantro instead of just parsley.  This takes a bit of time to make, but it's very worth it.

Ingredients:

15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
pinch of cyanine
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs
oil for frying

And for the Sauce:

12 oz plain yogurt
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
2 tsp dried dill weed
2 tbsp mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

Serve with (Optional):

Pitas
Shredded lettuce
Tomatoes

First, mix together all the sauce ingredients and chill for at least 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, mash up the garbanzos with a fork until they're smooth.  (The original recipe says don't use a blender, so I never have.  This is most tedious part.)  Then, in a food processor, chop up the parsley, garlic, cilantro, and onion.  Stir it into the beans.  

In a small bowl, combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir it into the bean mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together.  Add more or less bread crumbs as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties.

Heat an inch or so of oil in a skillet.  Fry each patty until golden brown on both sides.  Set aside on a paper towel to dry.

Serve them up in the pita with the sauce and fixings.  

Enjoy!

Chili Two Ways (Vegetarian or with Turkey)

Everyone thinks they have the best chili, right?  So I'm not going to claim that.  However, I am going to claim that my chili is way way way good.  And I'm also going to claim that any beef lovers out there would have no idea this chili has ground turkey in it instead of beef if you didn't tell them.  (In fact, I haven't always told, and when I do, people are shocked.)

Though the original recipe was designed around ground turkey, when I became (mostly) vegetarian a couple years ago I started making a vegetarian 3-bean chili version, which is also amazing.  All you have to do is add a third kind of bean, like black beans, instead of the turkey.  

The thing about this chili is that is tastes fresh and spicy and flavorful.  In addition, it only has 260 calories per serving!  What?!  That's insane.  I dare you to make it.  Really.

Bren’s Turkey Chili

1 pkg ground turkey (or add a third bean, like black beans)

1 cup onion

½ jalapeno (optional)

1 cup green pepper

2 cloves garlic

½ tsp olive oil

1 28 oz can crushed tomato

1 14.5 oz kidney beans – drained and rinsed

1 14.5 oz can spicy pinto chili beans

(All spice can be adjusted to taste, start with these and add more as necessary.)

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cyanine pepper

1 ½ tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

dash of oregano

dash of pepper

Cook green pepper, jalapeno, onion, and garlic cloves in oil for 5-10 minutes.  Add turkey and cook until the pink is gone.  Then, add everything else and simmer for at least 45 minutes to an hour.

Top with fresh onion to serve.  Makes 8 servings.

Turkey Tetrazzini

So, even though I usually don't eat (let alone cook with) meat, Thanksgiving just having passed, I found myself with turkey on hand.  Not having a go-to turkey recipe, I thought back to high school, when I worked in the kitchen at a nursing home.  Most of the food there was what you would expect from a nursing home cafeteria, but sometimes some stuff was really good.  One of those good things was turkey tetrazzini.  I set out to create the dish just a couple days ago, combining tips and tricks from several different recipes, and I must say, the end result was fantastic!

Now, Turkey Tetrazzini is not a pretty thing.  So excuse the not-so-great picture.  It looks good to me, but that's because I know what it tastes like:

Ingredients:

3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 cup flour
1/8-1/4 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup milk
6 oz cooked pasta
1 cup diced cooked turkey
salt to taste
cheddar cheese
bread crumbs

Cook the onions, pepper, and garlic in the butter in a skillet.  Once soft, add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes.  Add the flour, mixing until you have a roux.  Add the wine, stock, milk, and pepper, bring it to a boil, and stir until it starts to thicken up.  Simmer 15 minutes.  Add the pasta and turkey and salt to taste.  Add to a greased casserole dish and mix in about 1/4 cup cheddar.  Top with more cheddar and breadcrumbs.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes covered, then remove cover and cook 10 minutes more to brown.

Happy leftovering!