Black Bean and Quinoa Enchilada Bake

I don't often do casseroles because my husband doesn't like them.  But every so often I sneak one in.  He had no problem eating it.  I made the sauce from scratch and enjoyed it enough that the next week I made the sauce again for actual enchiladas.  But you can go store bought, it will be easier.

Source: http://www.feastie.com/recipe/two-peas-their-pod/black-bean-and-quinoa-enchilada-bake

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water or chicken broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, seeds and ribs removed,diced (omit this if you don't want to give it to your kids)
1 red pepper, seeds removed, diced
1 orange pepper, seeds removed, diced
1 can corn kernels
Juice of 1 small lime
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups red enchilada sauce (homemade recipe below)
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese (or just whatever you have on hand)
Toppings: Sliced green onions, avocado slices, sour cream, optional

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Add quinoa and water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Cover quinoa and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeño. Sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in the peppers. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Add the lime juice, cumin, chili powder, and cilantro. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

In a large bowl, add the cooked quinoa and black beans and corn. Add the sautéed vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Pour in the enchilada sauce and stir. Add 1/2 cup shredded cheese.

Pour the black bean and quinoa mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining shredded cheese. Cover the pan with foil. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove foil. Bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and edges are bubbling. Remove from the oven, and let cool for 10 minutes. Garnish with toppings, if desired. Serve warm.

Note-this recipe freezes well!

Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe
-yields 2-3 cups

Ingredients:


1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp minced onion
1/2 tsp oregano
4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 cup salsa
1 can tomato paste
2-3 cups homemade chicken broth or watered down chicken broth from a box

Directions:

Sauce oil, garlic, onion and spices together.  Then add salsa, tomato paste and 1 1/2 cups broth.  Blend till smooth in blender and then return to pot.  Bring up to a boil then reduce to gentle simmer and let it go for a couple hours, stirring every so often and adding the rest of the broth slowly to keep a smooth consistency.  After a couple hours, taste and adjust seasoning- possible add more water if it's still too concentrated from tomato paste.  I double the recipe when making enchiladas and then just freeze whatever is left.

Creamy Dijon Chicken

Another great chicken recipe.  Easily bump up the flavour to a boring chicken dinner.  Great recipe for families with kids- very approachable flavours.  Lots of sauce leftover so a great dinner to serve with plain rice.

Source: http://simply-delicious-food.com/2011/03/11/creamy-dijon-chicken/
(I changed the recipe a bit)

Ingredients:

4-6 chicken pieces (bone-in is fine, but take off the skin)
2 large leeks, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup cream
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
juice of 1 lemon
salt & pepper to taste
fresh Parsley to sprinkle on top (about 2-4 tbsp)
oil for frying

Directions:

Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan and sear chicken on both sides until nice and brown.

Remove chicken to an oven safe dish.

Gently saute leeks and garlic until fragrant and softened (about five mins).

Add cream, mustards and and allow to simmer and reduce for 3 minutes.

Add lemon juice and then pour sauce over chicken.

Bake at 350 for 15-40 minutes depending on size of chicken and whether it's bone-in.  Use a meat thermometer and keep and eye on it. 

When chicken is done, sprinkle fresh parsley over whole dish.  Serve along side plain rice with all that delicious sauce.

Parmesan and Spinach Orzo

This is simply delicious.  I tried it out when I had half a bag of spinach that I needed to use quick before it went bad.  So next time you have leftover spinach (or next time you just want more spinach), pull out this recipe.

Source: http://damndelicious.net/2014/02/10/parmesan-spinach-orzo/

Ingredients:
1 cup orzo pasta
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1- 1 1/4 cup milk (original recipe calls for 1, I needed an extra 1/4 cup)
1 1/2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste


Ingredients:

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.

Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes.

Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in Parmesan until melted, about 1 minute. Add orzo and gently toss to combine; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve immediately.

Old Fashioned Homemade Chocolate Pudding

This recipe is great in a pinch when you want pudding but don't have good quality dark chocolate in the house.  This recipe uses cocoa.  I've tried another recipe for homemade pudding that used dark chocolate and it was divine- but it's much more expensive (find it HERE).  This is a great alternative, cheaper and good when you only have eggs, cocoa and milk in the house anyways.  Much better than the stuff that comes out of the box.

Source: http://greenbabyguide.com/2010/01/14/old-fashioned-homemade-chocolate-pudding/

Ingredients:
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 large egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cocoa in a saucepan. Stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Boil and stir one minute.

Gradually add half of the hot mixture into the egg yolks, then stir that back into the saucepan. Boil and stir one minute, then remove from heat. Add vanilla.

Pour pudding into two to four dessert dishes (depending on how big or small you want the portions) and refrigerate.

Garnish (if you wish) with whipped cream and shaved chocolate.

ungarnished

garnished

Greek Marinated Chicken

Love this recipe- big flavours, little effort, impressive enough for guests even.  Love the yogurt.  I got it from Pinterest but it's one of those pins where the recipe is posted in the comment and the link doesn't really go anywhere.  So I don't have a source link to post.

Ingredients:

1 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp dried oregano (or a pre-mixed greek seasoning)
1 medium lemon (zested and juiced)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3 1/2-4 lbs chicken pieces

Directions:

Combine marinade.  Place pieces of chicken in a gallon ziplocks with marinade.  Marinate in fridge for a few hours.  Bake at 375 in a casserole dish for 40-60 minutes (less if they're not bone in).  Grilling is a great option, too.  Soo delicious!

we did a small batch- I think this was half of the recipe posted above

Cilantro Lime Rice

This rice is super flavourful, super easy and a great accompaniment to any southwest dish.  We love it in our burritos, or on the side of THESE amazing taquitos. 

Source: http://nikkisfixins.blogspot.ca/2012/01/cilantro-lime-rice.html

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 Cups Chicken Broth
1 Cup Jasmine Rice, Uncooked (or whatever white rice you'd like)
1 Large Lime, Zested and Juiced (or 2 small)
2 Cloves Garlic - minced or grated
2 TBS Butter, cut into small cubes
1 Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper
1 large handful of FRESH Cilantro, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook the rice with the chicken broth according to the directions on the bag.

While the rice is cooking, combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and set aside. After you've let your rice sit for the 5 minutes, pour the bowl over the rice and mix well.

Fish Tacos

After a week of spring cleaning, I was completely lazy on Friday and did next to nothing.  I felt like putting the girls to bed, having a nice in-home date night with my husband: ordering some food, watching our show we missed the night before.  Just relaxing.  But then I started looking at the different menus.  And the more I learn to cook, the less happy I am with take out food.  I was looking at Cactus Club, Earls, those kinds of places.  But as I added the prices in my head and anticipated the disappointing food...I changed my mind.  I decided to pick a recipe that was over a normal nightly dinner budget but still well under a take out amount.  One of my husband's favourite treats is fish tacos.  So that's what we did.  Unfortunately, the fish market was closed that day because it was moving.  And Thriftys only had Halibut fresh, everything else was frozen or previously frozen.  I was looking for Tilapia or cod- something cheaper than Halibut since it was going in a taco.  So here is a simple, lovely recipe for some fish tacos.  But I suggest using something cheaper than Halibut since it's being topped with salsa anyways.

Ingredients:

1 lb white fish
cajun seasoning (the recipe for my favourite is found HERE)
butter
small tortillas (6-8, depending on how much fish you put in each one)
shredded cabbage
Pico de Gallo
Sauce

Pico de Gallo
5 roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
handful of cilantro, chopped
half a jalapeno, finely diced (optional)
salt
1 lime, juiced

Sauce
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream (Greek yogurt is delicious as a substitute if you’re not a fan of sour cream)
1/2 cup reduced fat mayonnaise
1-2 limes, cut in half
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chili powder
1 hot pepper of your choice, seeded and minced (jalapeno is what I used).
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped


Directions:

Whisk sauce ingredients together; put in fridge for at least an hour.

Combine your pico de gallo ingredients.  Add salt and lime juice to taste.  Set aside till ready to assemble tacos.

Pat your fish dry, and make sure the skin is removed.  I cut mine into fillet strips- you could also cook your fish whole and then cut it.  I dusted mine with cajun seasoning- you could choose whatever you like.  Dip your fillets in melted butter and then place in a hot pan, over medium heat.  Let them cook for a 3-5 minutes per side depending on thickness.  Cut one in half to observe the doneness if you're unsure.  It should be moist and completely opaque white.  Taste it even, you'll know if it's done.  Don't over cook your fish.

Assemble tacos: take a tortilla, add fish, cabbage, sauce and salsa (pico de gallo).  Enjoy!
I served along side some lime cilantro rice, recipe found HERE.  I haven't uploaded it to my blog yet because I keep forgetting to take a picture.  It is delicious though!