Bean and Rice Enchiladas

I don't understand people who don't like Mexican food. Seriously? You don't like MEXICAN? If you are one of these people:
A. I think you are weird and out of your mind
B. Disregard this recipe

Now, for those of you who are as obsessed with Mexican food as I am read on. Enchiladas are one of those meals that pretty much everyone has made before. It's hard to mess them up, and even if something goes wrong you can usually rectify them by smothering them in sauce and cheese. They are usually made with flour tortillas and either red or white sauce. I love them. But since flour tortillas shall never again enter our household I switched to corn tortillas, thinking that there wouldn't be a big difference. I was wrong. My first attempt at these a few months ago didn't go very well. No amount of sauce or cheese could disguise the fact that my little enchiladas were dry and falling apart. Since then I get my enchiladas from Tijuana Flats.

But a couple nights ago I was feeling brave and wanted to try them again. This time I did my research and came up with a really great recipe that resulted in delicious and not even slightly dry enchiladas. This is based on 2 different recipes and some of my own experimentation. I hope you enjoy them!

What you need (makes 10 enchiladas)

For the sauce:
- 1 T canola oil
- 1 T tapioca flour
- 2 cans (10 oz each) enchilada sauce
- 1/2 C chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 T chopped cilantro
For the filling:
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
- 1 C black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 C pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can Rotel
- 1 C cooked brown rice
- 1 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese


Directions


- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

- In a medium saucepan, heat the canola oil and tapioca flour over medium heat. Whisk until it forms a paste, about 1 minute

- Add the canned enchilada sauce, salt, pepper and chicken broth. Reduce heat and simmer while you prepare the filling.

- In a large skillet or dutch oven heat a bit of olive or coconut oil over medium heat

- Add the onions and jalapenos and let cook 5-7 minutes

- Add the beans and Rotel

- Add the cooked rice and stir together well

- At this point, taste your filling and season with salt and pepper. I also used a bit of cumin and garlic powder.

- Remove filling from heat, cover and set aside

- Stir in the cilantro to your simmering enchilada sauce

- In a medium skillet, heat some canola oil over medium heat. You want about an inch of oil.

- Add the corn tortillas one at a time and cook for about 30 seconds on each side

- Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain

- Repeat with remaining tortillas

- Once your tortillas are finished it's time to fill 'em up!

- Dip each tortilla into the warm enchilada sauce

- Fill with about 1 1/2 T of the filling

- Add some cheddar cheese

- Roll and place in your baking dish, seam side down

- Repeat with remaining tortillas

- Top with more sauce

- And more cheese

- Bake for 20 minutes and serve

- The husband likes his enchiladas plain, but I added sour cream, green onion, and olives to mine

- The husband approves!

*NOTE: You could easily add ground beef or shredded chicken to these if you don't like the meatless option. I will say though, the husband didn't even notice that there wasn't meat in these until I pointed it out to him. He didn't miss it at all!

Arugula Pasta Salad

I don't know about you but I rarely eat a big breakfast or lunch, especially if I'm by myself. It just seems pointless to me to spend a lot of time and effort on a meal that only I will be eating...especially when I usually have other things I would rather spend that time and effort on! Because of this attitude I sometimes skip breakfast and lunch all together which I know is NOT healthy so don't start yelling at me :-) I'm trying to do better at coming up with different things to eat for these 2 meals so that I don't skip them and saw this recipe over on skinnytaste.com the other day (a GREAT blog by the way!) I changed it up a little and it made a fantastic lunch that was both fast and easy. Definitely a keeper!

What you need

- 1 C gluten free penne pasta
- 3 big handfuls arugula
- 1 C canned garbanzo beans
- 2 stalks celery. sliced
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 10 cucumber slices
- 1/4 C chopped sun dried tomatoes
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 2 T balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
- A few shavings of parmesan cheese





Directions


- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and rinse with COLD water to stop the cooking process

This is the penne pasta I used. I think it holds up really well and the texture is perfect!

- While the pasta is cooking, prepare your celery, cucumber, green onions, tomatoes and cheese

I used the sun-dried tomatoes packed with herbs in olive oil. I just rinsed them a little and dried them with a paper towel before I chopped them up.

- Drain and rinse the canned garbanzo beans. Refrigerate the leftover beans for a later use (hummus anyone?)

- In a large bowl, add the arugula, garbanzo beans and pasta

You don't have to use arugula but if you haven't tried it I highly recommend you do! It has a wonderful peppery flavor.

- Add all the veggies in

- Add the olive oil and balsamic vinegar

- Add a small palmful of salt and pepper

- Toss contents together gently


- Plate up and top with parmesan shavings

- Happy lunching! This salad is filling enough for a dinner meal as well and is packed with fiber.

*NOTE: You could easily add or take away things from this salad. A southwest version of this would be really good with black beans, corn and bell peppers!*

Broccoli Bacon Crustless Quiche

We do breakfast for dinner at least twice a month these days. The husband and I both really like breakfast food and honestly, what's easier than scrambled eggs? I also love love love quiche. I mean really love it. I used to make it with those wonderful ready-made pie crusts which of course are out of the question now. So...thanks to Martha Stewart and Pinterest I decided to try my hand at a crustless quiche instead. It worked wonderfully and the entire thing was eaten in 24 hours.

What you need

- 1 bag frozen broccoli florets (10 oz)
- 5 strips bacon, cooked and chopped
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 C half n half
- 1 C shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1 T dried onion
- 2 green onions, chopped

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the broccoli 1 minute. Drain, chop and set aside

- In a large bowl add the eggs, half n half, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Whisk together.

- Add the dried onion, bacon, broccoli, green onion and cheese and stir lightly

- Pour mixture into a greased pie pan

- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the eggs are set

- Let cool slightly before serving

- Enjoy!

Jambalaya

This recipe is one of the husband's favorites...and since it's one that I made up myself I can never remember the exact recipe! This time around I wrote everything down so that I could share it with you and the husband said it was the best version yet. Now, if you are looking for an authentic jambalaya recipe, I am pretty certain this isn't it. But...it's what I named it because I think it's close enough. You can easily adjust this recipe to include things that your family likes and can just as easily take out the things I use. I've substituted chicken for the sausage before and it turned out great and I usually only add shrimp if they are on sale. Hope you all enjoy!

What you need (serves 4)

- 1 T Cajun seasoning (recipe below)
- 1/2 lb sausage, sliced (I used turkey sausage)
- 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 small onions, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1/2 C green pepper, chopped
- 1/2 C red pepper, chopped
- 2 T chicken broth
- 1 T tomato paste
- 1 C cooked rice
- 2 green onions, sliced (optional)




Cajun Spice Recipe
You could certainly buy a cajun spice mix, but I had all these ingredients on hand anyway so I made my own. If you buy a spice mix, check the label for hidden gluten!

- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1 1/4 tsp thyme
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp chili powder

 Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until evenly blended. Store extra spice mix in an airtight container.

Directions


- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat a bit of oil over medium heat

- Add the sausage and start to brown

- Add 1/2 T of the cajun spice mixture and stir to coat the sausage pieces

- When the sausage is browned, remove to a plate and set aside

- In the same pot, add the white onion, celery and bell peppers. Cook 2-3 minutes

- Add 1/2 T of the cajun spice mixture and stir to coat

- Add in the shrimp and stir

- Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the shrimp start to turn pink. I put the lid on my pot so the steam could help them along.

- Add in 2 T chicken broth to deglaze the pot

- Add 1 T of tomato paste

- Add 1 C cooked rice (white or brown) and stir well. I like using white rice for this dish because it's easier to tell when the rice has soaked up all the flavor.

- Add in the cooked sausage and stir to combine

- Top with green onion (if using) and serve! This makes great leftovers too!

*NOTE: This is only mildly spicy. I can't take too much heat so the husband always adds hot sauce to his serving.

Happy Saturday everyone!