Friday, November 30, 2007

Smoky Black Bean Enchiladas

I don't have a photo of the enchiladas. We ate them too fast. Instead, a little pic of Abby holding hands with daddy while we sing our pre-dinner gratitude song. I tried doing little readings before dinner, but Abby being the musical sort wanted to sing. So, I dug deep into the recesses of my mind and pulled up the old grace songs we sang at camp. Songs like: "In back of the bread is the flour. . . ", "Johnny Appleseed", "Thank you earth." She really likes doing it and I like pausing before we eat.So, even though this is not a picture of the enchiladas, the scene before we ate them was similar.
I love these enchiladas. I don't bother doing two pans and just throw them all into one pan. Sometimes I'll halve the recipe and put it in a brownie pan if it's just the 3 of us. Yum!

Smoky Black Bean Enchiladas
6 Servings
Beans
Mexican
Vegetarian Meatless Bake Main Dish

-- THE FILLING --
1 Chipotle chile in adobo sauce minced
1 tablespoon Olive oil plus extra for greasing
1 medium Onion minced
3 cans (14.5 oz) Black beans drained and rinsed
3/4 cup Orange juice

-- THE SAUCE --
1 cup Salsa (mild or medium)
1 cup Tomato sauce
1 teaspoon Dried oregano
1 teaspoon Ground cumin
12 Corn tortillas
6 ounces Neufchatel (or other light cream cheese) cut into 12 slices
2 cups Monterey jack cheese grated

1. Heat the oil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion and chipotle pepper until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the beans and orange juice, and simmer 10 minutes. Using the back of a large spoon, mash half the beans by pressing them against the sides of the pan. Cook the beans a few more minutes, or until the texture of mashed potatoes. Let the beans cool.

2. To make the sauce, combine the salsa, tomato sauce, oregano, and cumin in a bowl.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

4. Wrap the tortillas in foil and bake 10 minutes. This will soften them and prevent them from splitting when rolled. Let cool slightly. Keep the oven on.

5. To assemble the enchiladas, lightly oil 2 shallow 2-quart baking dishes, such as 12x2x7-inch Pyrex dishes (you don't want to crowd the enchiladas). Pour a thin film of sauce on the bottom of each dish. Divide the filling in half. Lay six tortillas on a work surface and place 6 spoonfuls of the filling on half of each tortilla. Top with a slice of cream cheese. Roll the enchiladas and place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining 6 tortillas and remaining half of the filling. Pour the sauce all over the enchiladas and sprinkle on the grated cheese. Cover the dishes with foil (the enchiladas can be prepared to this point and refrigerated up to 4 hours in advance; bring to room temperature before baking).

6. Bake, covered, for 25 minutes, or just until hot throughout. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Tip: Because the tortillas will absorb a lot of the sauce and become very soft, it's best not to assemble the enchiladas more than 4 hours in advance. If you want to do more advance preparation, prepare all the components separately (up to 2 days in advance) and put the enchiladas together a few hours before cooking.

From Vegetarian Classics by Jeanne Lemlin

Monday, November 26, 2007

It's winter. . . I'm allowed to eat take-out and not take pictures of it

A few items:
1. The newest Barbara Kingsolver book is phenomenal. It will make you want to go out and make cheese. I do. There is a website with all of the recipes from the book and other inspirational bits of info. Check it out here.

2. Comments were left many weeks ago and I wanted to get back to them.
Jess B. said:
Yum, we will try the filling but not the crust -- any ideas about substitutes for all the butter? We haven't made pie crusts or pastry for a long time because of the white flour-butter issue. But we do have two tips for helping kids embrace "grow" food (our version of strong food): #1) we grow kale and peas in the yard and tell the kids the dinosaurs ate similar food. It worked on them as toddlers, and it works now. They eat it like animals. #2) once our kids found out that beets turn your pee pink, they started eating grated beets and/or steamed beets in quantity. #3) "harvest muffins" made with carrots, zucchini, raisins, etc. Love, Jess B.

Jess is referring to the Pot Pie recipe in the post that she commented on. I have to say that I've heard that Whole Wheat Pastry Flour is a great substitute for white flour. My friend Shannon, over at Pietown has had really great luck just substituting it in cookies and other pastries. I just got some and will experiment with it too. And, well, butter. I suppose it depends on why you want to keep it out of your food and what you are using it for. If it's a dairy thing: you could use a vegan margarine or vegetable shortening. . .the good, non-hydrogenated kind. You might get away with using olive oil in some things. If it's a fat issue, you could try using applesauce to substitute for the fat in cookies and brownies. In the case of the pot pie, I'd offer up the idea of topping it with mashed potatoes and turn it into a shepard's pie of sorts.

And, as soon as Abby heard that kale is "dinosaur food", she ate it all up! Great tips Jess, thanks!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Last minute Thanksgiving ideas!

Here are some great links for good recipes.
Vegetarian Thanksgiving ideas.
More Thanksgiving Ideas
And, the root/squash recipe I'll be making for our family.
Harvest Vegetable Medley

Serving Size : 8

1 pound small brussels sprouts, trimmed
1 butternut squash -- halved, cut into chunks
1 head cauliflower -- separated into 2-inch florets
1 pound fingerling potatoes -- halved
4 medium leeks -- whites only, trimmed and quartered lengthwise
1/2 pound baby carrots -- trimmed
1/2 pound baby parsnips -- peeled and trimmed
24 cloves garlic -- peeled and halved
3 cloves garlic -- minced and divided
4 Tablespoons olive oil -- divided
1 tablespoon fresh sage -- chopped
24 whole sage leaves
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 small red bell peppers -- quartered

Adjust oven rack to lowest position. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Bring saucepan of water to a boil. Add Brusseles sprouts and cook 3 minutes, or until bright green. Drain, rinse under cold water, then pat dry.

Toss squash, cauliflower, potatoes, leeks, carrots, parsnips, garlic cloves, 3 TBS olive oil, chopped sage, sage leaves, and rosemary in a large roasting pan. Season with salt and pepper, and spread into a single layer. Roast 25 minutes, tossing vegetables twice.

Add bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, minced garlic, and remaining 1 TBS oil. Roast 15 minutes more, or until vegetables are browned on edges and tender. Season with salt and pepper and serve over Chestnut-and-Apple Stuffing. Vegetarian Times Nov./Dec. 2007

Next year when I host, I'll most likely make this:

Chestnut and Apple Stuffing

Serving Size : 12

10 slices whole wheat bread -- cubed
10 slices hearty white bread -- cubed
1 14 oz tube soy "sausage" -- crumbled
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large white onion -- chopped
5 ribs celery -- sliced (1 1/2 cups)
4 cloves garlic -- minced
2 tart apples -- peeled and diced
1 cup peeled and ready to eat roasted shestnuts -- halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage
1 1/2 cups no-chicken broth

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Spread bread cubes in roasting pan, and bake 10 to 15 minutes, or until toasted.

Coat nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add soy sausage, and cook 5 minutes, or until browned. Toss sausage with bread cubes in bowl.

Heat oil in same skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic, and saute 1 minute. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 7 minutes more. Stir in apples, chestnuts, and sage. Cover, and cook 5 minutes, or until apples are crisp-tender. Add to bread mixture. Stuffing can be prepared up to this point , sealed in a food storage bag, and refrigerated up to 2 days.

Increase oven heat to 350ºF. Coat 13 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Toss stuffing mixture with broth, and season with salt and pepper. Spoon into prepared baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes more, or until top is browned and crisp.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Pumpkin inspiration and a cranberry crumble

Edit: I'm adding a picture and putting in my 2 cents worth about a stuffed winter squash. I didn't have the stuff to make Shannon's stuffed pumpkin. Instead, I cut off the top of the squash, smooshed some butter and salt and pepper around in the cavity and chucked a little bit of broth inside, covered it and baked it at 400degrees until it started to get soft-ish. I threw in a mixture of cooked brown rice, raisins and chopped cashews and baked it until the squash was done and the stuffing warm. . ooo my tasty! And it looks so pretty to serve!
No pictures from me today. Shannon over at Pietown made this amazing stuffed pumpkin. I can't wait to try it out, as we have some winter squash sitting around that I can't bring myself to chop and peel to make soup out of. I'm excited.

And, last night, I took a kick butt apple cranberry crumble to our local soup night. A quick word about soup night. Here in a small town, us hippie eater have got to stick together. We're a tight knit, yet very welcoming group. My dear friend Suzanne makes huge vats of soup once a month and everyone gathers there with bread or salad or wine in hand to make a great feast. Last night, I was inspired by another blogger and took over a tree of gratitude. We all made leaves and wrote what we're thankful for on them and decorated the tree until it was full and bright and made me feel good.

So, the cranberry crumble. Abby ate cranberries raw, puckered up her lips and ate another, and another and another until her whole face was red and her fingers stained!
I didn't bother to peel the apples, put it in a pretty pie plate, omitted the nuts and lowered the sugar significantly in both the fruit and the crumble. It was beautiful and I'm sad I didn't get a picture.

Apple Cranberry Crumble Recipe

This recipe is from the Taste of Home Holidays & Celebrations Cookbook.

6
servings
time to make 1¼ hours 15 min prep
3 cups chopped peeled apples
2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup oats (old-fashioned or quick-cooking)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
  1. In a greased 8-in. square baking dish, combine apples and cranberries; sprinkle with sugar.
  2. In another bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, flour and butter; sprinkle over cranberry mixture. (Top with pecans if desired.).
  3. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 55-60 minutes or until browned and bubbly.
  4. Best served warm.


Saturday, November 03, 2007

Oh the humanity!

I took the last of the apples from our tree and made one glorious quart of apple sauce. I took it outside to photograph it and :
Oh no! Luckily, the farmer's market has apples, so I can buy them up and make more.
This meal doesn't look nearly as good as it was. I'm putting it here so I remember later.
Put some chicken thighs in a cast iron skillet, cook them with some oil for a while.
Add a whole mess (like 1/3 cup) of grated ginger, a few cloves of sliced garlic, a bunch of soy sauce and water and poach until the chicken is mostly done. Add carrot slices, cooked brown rice and chopped greens. Keep cooking until everything comes together nicely, the carrots are tender and the greens have shrunk down to size. Serve with soy sauce at the table. Even Abby ate it.
And, this is a winter cobbler. All manner of roots and tomatoes and lentils in the bottom and biscuits on top. I cut them out with a star cookie cutter hoping that Abby would be excited to eat it with the stars. This picture makes it look like some sort of sea star mass murder. . . it was tasty. I put two recipes together-ish, substituted 1 cup whole wheat flour in the biscuits and used all of the roots I had on hand: potatoes, turnips, carrots, parsnips, onion, garlic. You could put celery root or rutabaga in here. . .yum.
Martha Stewart's recipe is here.

Winter Vegetable Cobbler

From: Classic Vegetarian Recipes

Serves 4

1 T. olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

8 small onions, halved

2 celery stalks, sliced

9 ounces rutabaga, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

½ small cauliflower, broken into florets

9 ounces mushrooms, sliced

14 ounce can chopped tomatoes

¼ cup red lentils

2 T cornstarch

3-4 T water

1 ¼ cups vegetable stock

2 t Tabasco

2 t chopped fresh oregano or parsley

Sprigs of oregano to garnish

Cobbler Topping:

2 cups self-rising flour

¼ cup butter

1 cup grated cheddar

2 t chopped fresh oregano or parsley

1 egg, beaten

2/3 cup skimmed milk

Salt

  1. fry onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Add celery, rutabaga, carrots and cauliflower and fry 2-3 more min.
  2. Remove pan from heat and add, mushrooms, tomatoes and lentils. Mix the cornstarch with water and add to the pan with stock, Tabasco, oregano. Bring to a boil stirring until thickened. Transfer to a casserole pan and bake at 350 F. for 20 minutes.
  3. To make topping, sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Rub in the butter, then stir in most of the cheese and herbs. Beat the egg and mix and add enough to the dry ingredients to make a dough. Knead and roll to ½ inch thick. Cut into 2 inch rounds. Remove casserole from oven and increase the temp to 400 degrees. Arrange the rounds around the edge of the dish, brush with the egg and milk and sprinkle with cheese. Cook 10-12 min. Garnish and serve.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Turn, Turn, Turn


"To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose. . . "
And so, another season is over. Daylight savings ends this weekend. It's time to warm up some of those soups that you all froze earlier in the season and enjoy our last share from our wonderful community sponsored agriculture farm! A big thanks to Farmers Doug, Lee and Hannah and all of the great farm members, interns and volunteers for our wonderful food.
There were some great comments on the blog on last week's entry. Thanks to all who spent the time to share your thoughts. I did a very random drawing and pulled Jess B's name out of the hat. So, Jess. . .you won the big fat vegetarian cookbook. I'll leave it at the drop site for you!

And now, how will we fare over the winter without our beloved farm shares? Remember to go to the farmer's market on Saturdays, clean out your freezers and check back here to find yummy recipes.
Winter Squash ideas: If you're like me, you have a stash of winter squash and roots around. Winter squash are great for roasting with your roots. There's a great roasted root soup recipe here. You can make soups by following this recipe and substituting other winter squashes for the butternut or maybe pear for the apple. This is a favorite soup in our house that marks autumn for us. I cut it out of a neighborhood newspaper in Seattle years ago, so I don't have the author to credit.
Have a wonderful winter!

Butternut Squash and Curried Apple Soup

4 Tbl. Butter
2 cups chopped sweet onion
1 Tbl. curry
1 butternut squash (~ 1.5 lbs or more for a thicker soup) peeled, seeded and chopped
2 tart green apples, peeled, seeded and chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
1.5 tsp. hot pepper sauce (tabasco)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. each marjoram, rosemary
1 cup apple juice (or to taste)
salt and pepper

sour cream and apple slices for garnish

1 Melt butter in stockpot, add onions and curry. Cover and cook over low until onions are tender, about 20 min.

2 Add squash, apples, broth, hot pepper sauce, salt, marjoram, and rosemary. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until squash and apple are tender, about 25 min.

3 Using a potato masher, mash soup to the consistency that you’d like. Alternatively, blend soup in batches in a food processor or blender and return soup to stock pot.

4 Add apple juice and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and garnish with a dollop of sour cream and apple slices if desired.

Makes about 6 servings