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Category: Recipes

  • Roasted Green Chile Meatloaf

    This is a fast, fun and delicious take on a traditional dish. You can use any ground meat or ground meat substitute to make this.

    I got the original recipe here, my changes are in parentheses.

    -1 ½ pound ground meat or meat substitute (I used ground turkey and turkey sausage)
    – 1 whole finely chopped onion
    – 1 cup finely roasted chopped green chile (I used 1 pound of roasted chopped poblanos)
    – 2 eggs (I used one egg)
    – ½ cup Italian bread crumbs
    – 2 tablespoons of Filtered Honey (I used agave)
    – 1 can Rotel with green chile (I didn’t use this)
    – 1 finely chopped bell pepper (I didn’t use this)
    – 1-8 oz. can of tomato sauce (I used salsa)

    Instructions:

    1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
    2. Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl until well incorporated.
    3. Place mixed ingredients into a glass baking dish 9×13 (I used a loaf pan)
    4. Bake for 45 minutes.
    5. Top with ketchup to taste (optional) and bake for 15 more minutes. (I mixed salsa and brown sugar! Yum!)
    6. Serve hot or cold!

     

  • Roasted Green Chile Tomatillo Pozole

    This is a great meal using either roasted poblano or Anaheim chiles. Pozole is a traditional Mexican stew made with homily, red or green chiles, some sort of protein-traditionally pork but chicken or beans are easily substituted. Topping pozole with fresh ingredients like cabbage and radishes make this a festive meal great for holidays but easy enough for weeknight meals.

    Homily is an ingredient you might not be familiar with. You can find dried or canned homily in the Mexican food section of any grocery store. I used dried homily (follow cooking directions on the package) canned is fine to use too.

    I based this dish using this recipe, the original recipe is VERY detailed. I’ll post my modified/simplified version but do check out the original recipe if you want to take a deep dive into pozole.

    Green Chile Tomatillo Pozole you can double or triple this. Leftovers are great.

    • 4-5 cups stock, I used chicken but vegetable is fine
    • 1 pound boneless chicken breasts, pork or 2 cans drained beans
    • 1 pound tomatillos husks removed and washed (if you can’t find fresh tomatillos canned are fine, they are in the same isle as refried beans and enchilada sauce.)
    • 1 large onion chopped
    • 1 pound of roasted green chiles skins and seeds removed chopped
    • 2 or three cloves of garlic
    • 1 teaspoon each of cumin and oregano-salt and pepper!
    • 2 or 3 cups of cooked homily, drained
    • garnishes like cabbage, avocado, radishes, lime, cilantro, onion slices

    Cook the chicken, if using, in a large heavy-bottomed pot, bring the stock and spices to a boil. Add the chicken breasts, cover and simmer gently over low heat until  tender and cooked through, about 25 minutes. Transfer the chicken breasts to a plate and shred and return the chicken back to the stock.

    Make the green chile sauce. In a blender add tomatillos, onion, garlic, roasted chiles and garlic. Blend until smooth, scraping down sides if necessary.

    Pour the green chile sauce into the chicken soup pot. Add the the hominy and bring to a gentle simmer over moderate heat. It will turn dark green and thicken up add water or more broth if it is too thick. Taste the soup.  Season with salt, pepper and maybe a squeeze of lime.

    Serve with whatever garnishes you like.

  • Green Chile Black Bean Burger

    I love vegetable burgers. Not the mass produced fake meat type, but homemade with lots of actual vegetables and grains! I don’t usually eat them on a bun, but you of course can! I like them along side lots of fresh salad like vegetables and crunchy pickles and onions.

    There are roasted chilies in the patty. I put more on top with some cheese. This is vegan if you leave off the cheese or use a vegan alternative cheese.

    Green Chile Black Bean Burger-makes 6 big burgers. This looks like a long list but you probably have everything in your pantry except the corn and chilies.

    1 can black beans, rinsed and drained and mashed
    ¼ cup onion, diced
    1 cup cooked brown rice
    1 cup panko or bread-crumbs
    2 roasted green chilies diced (=1/4 to 1/2 cup), more if you want to top your burger with chilies
    ½ cup corn. I used raw cut off the cob
    2 tablespoons salsa (helps to hold everything together, use more if your burger isn’t easy to form into a patty)
    2 teaspoon cumin
    1 teaspoon garlic granules
    1 teaspoon, chili powder
    1 teaspoon onion granules
    1 teaspoon salt
    ¼ teaspoon pepper

    Gather your ingredients.

    Mash your beans and cut up your vegetable and put everything a a bowl big enough to mix everything together. 

    Not looking too yummy yet :-(

    Shape this mix into 6 patties. Heat a heavy skillet to medium and film it with oil and brown them for about 4-5 minutes and carefully flip them over. You can add more chilies and or cheese now, if you want.

    You can make the patties shaped but uncooked, a day or two ahead of when you want them. They freeze really well too, shaped and -cooked or uncooked, if you can’t eat them all in a week or so. I like to use leftovers like taco meat, in nachos or a burrito-or TACOS!

    If you try these let me know how you liked them.

    Mo

     

  • Freezing Whole Tomatoes and Tomatillos

    Just a quick post to let you know that you you don’t have to make sauce or peel and prepare tomatoes or tomatillos for later use. You can easily freeze pop your whole tomatoes or tomatillos and it couldn’t be simpler.

    Just put your washed and dried tomatoes or tomatillos in the freezer on a tray until they are frozen hard.

    When they are completely frozen move them to a plastic bag for long storage and to take up less room. Return them to the freezer, use them in 6-9 months.

    When you’re ready to use your frozen tomatoes or tomatillos, just let them thaw at room temperature. Once they’ve defrosted, the tomato skins peel right off! Use the tomatillos without peeling.

  • Storing Shredded or Spiralized Zucchini

    It recently dawned on me that I can shred or make ‘zucchini noodles’ (like they sell at Whole Foods) at home, at a fraction of the price, and store it for at least a week in containers in the refrigerator.

    I find (and Whole Foods knows) if I have food prepared and ready to use I am more apt to make things like zucchini bread, quesadillas or zucchini pancakes. Once the zucchini is shredded, making other at a later date isn’t overwhelming and literally takes a few minutes and there is almost no clean up.

    Shred your zucchini with a box grater or your food processor or if you have a spiralizer use that. Pop the prepared zucchini in the container and cover it until you are ready to use it.

    This zucchini has been stored for 8 days and still looks great. I put a paper towel in the bottom of the container and I think it balanced the dampness of the vegetables. I think for baking and cooking the spiralized noodles I like the stored zucchini better than freshly grated. 

    I am positive that carrots and winter squash will store just as well like this. I’ve never frozen zucchini but I think I’ll try it and I’ll report back. If you have luck freezing zucchini let me know how you do it. Until then I’m off to make some zucchini bread!

  • Herb Packed Cucumber (or Zucchini) Salad

    This is a great summer salad when cucumbers and zucchini are crisp and tender and herbs are abundant.

    You can use either zucchini or cucumbers here and any soft herbs-mint, basil, tarragon, parsley, chives, dill, cilantro. I like to mix and match what I have.

    Herb Packed Cucumber Salad

    • 1 pound of cucumbers or zucchini sliced thin. I love my mandoline for this but you can use a knife
    • 1 small onion sliced thin
    • juice of one lime
    • 1/2 teaspoon honey, agave or sugar
    • 1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt, you can use any dairy free options too if you like
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil (I forgot this in the photo)
    • 1/2 -1 cup chopped soft herbs. I had chives, mint and parsley today

    Place cucumber (or zucchini) in a colander with a pinch of salt and leave it to drain for about 1/2 hour. Put the sliced onion, lime juice, agave and a pinch of salt in a bowl to marinate while the cucumbers drain.

    After 1/2 hour put everything (add herbs, sour cream and a little olive oil) in a serving dish and mix it up really well. 

    Taste and see if it needs more salt, sweetener (for balance) or lime and enjoy!

     

     

     

     

  • Chard Smoothie

    I love making green smoothies. Kids love making green smoothies too. It’s kind of magical turning vegetables into something so seemingly decadent.

    The amounts of greens and add in ingredients are infinitely adaptable to seasons and dietary preferences.

    All you need is something green, a liquid for easy blending and for me bananas are a must ingredient and the rest is up to you.

    The basics for two smoothies are;

    • one bunch of chard leaves (stems removed) about 4 cups
    • 2 bananas, some people like to freeze their bananas, I don’t. I like smoothies not too frozen
    • 1 cup liquid like almond milk, coconut milk, orange or pineapple juice
    • 2 or 3 Tbsp. seeds or nuts. I love cashews or hemp seeds, almonds are good too.
    • optional ingredients, more fruit or vegetables, I added a couple clementines, cucumbers are great in smoothies, apples, celtuce, herbs like mint or basil, ice if you like it thicker. Dates are good if you like a sweeter smoothie.

    Put everything in a blender and let it rip. I try to always make enough for two smoothies, one for today and one for tomorrow.

  • Sauteed Greens

    Here is a super basic prep for when you are wondering what to do with your bunches of kale, collards or chard. After a quick sauté you can serve your greens hot, at room temperature, or you can refrigerate the greens and store them for up to 7 days and eat as a cold “salad” or add them to a grain or egg dish, pasta or my favorite-added to my morning oatmeal! After cooking the greens are much easier to store-Bonus!

    Sauteed Greens Serves 4

    • 1 bunch of greens, washed and chopped
    • 1-2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
    • 1-2 Tbsp. minced garlic or onion (optional)
    • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    • Vinegar or lemon juice, optional for seasoning

    Shake the rinsed greens in a colander to remove the excess water, but the leaves don’t have to be completely dry. Remove the tough stems and chop the leaves.

    Heat a large skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add the olive oil followed by the garlic or onion if using and cook for a few seconds until it is light brown. Be careful not to let your oil smoke or burn the garlic. Add a couple of handfuls of greens and toss with tongs, incorporating the garlic so it doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining greens all at once, or in batches if your pan isn’t large enough to hold it all at once.

    Toss constantly so the greens wilt evenly.

    When wilted, taste first, then season with salt and pepper. Sometimes greens have a natural saltiness so you don’t want to over salt. Continue cooking over high heat, tossing often, until the excess liquid evaporates.

    Turn greens out into a bowl and season with vinegar or lemon juice.  Here is a photo to show how much the greens reduce down for easier consumption and storage. That is two bunches of greens sauteed to fit in a smallish container.

  • Simple Asparagus Ideas

    These two asparagus preparations don’t warrant  recipes, just a couple photos to spark meal ideas.

    Here I washed and trimmed my asparagus and  pan roasted it in olive oil and salt. I added my Hazel Dell mushrooms, you can obviously leave those out, or add something like walking onions or leeks. The point is, compare and contrast textures and flavors. Use what you have and love.

    Sautee the asparagus and whatever else you like in a medium hot pan for about 8 minutes and finished it with a good squeeze of lemon and pepper. Oh boy was this a treat.

    Speaking of treat. Bacon wrapped asparagus bundles are fun to make and eat. Kids love to help make these. You can use any kind of bacon. Turkey, pork, vegan…it all cooks about the same time. You might need to add extra oil if you are using vegan or turkey but just a little.

    Preheat your oven to 400F and toss your asparagus in a little oil and salt and pepper. Wrap two or three spears in bacon and cook for 25 to 30 minutes turning them carefully once or twice until the bacon is done to your liking.

    The asparagus roasts perfectly wrapped in the bacon.

  • Hakurei Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

    Hakurei turnips are a perfect addition to any simple salad. Hakurei’s are juicy and sweet eaten raw. Cooked they become pleasantly soft and buttery.

    I made an old school Honey Poppyseed dressing here. I really like to have a few sauces and dressings in my refrigerator at the ready. This dressing is a great one to have on hand, it’s delicious and keeps for a long time and goes great with any seasonal green or chopped vegetable.

    Poppyseed dressing

    • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
    • 3 Tablespoons honey can substitute with agave or maple syrup if vegan
    • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
    • 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
    • pinch salt

    Put everything in a jar with a lid and shake it really well.

    For the salad wash and dry your greens and other salad ingredients, tear large leaves into bite size pieces and slice the Hakurei turnips as thinly as possible. A mandolin works great here. Toss the sliced turnips with a splash of dressing to coat and separate the slices.

    Toss everything together and enjoy!