Fiesta Dinner

Karen made this for dinner this week. Wow, are the flavors wonderful together!

Enchilada Casserole

1 dried chili pepper
2 dried peppers
1 c. dried beans
1. c. rice
1 c. canned, diced tomatoes (home canned preferred!)
1 T. Italian seasoning
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 medium onions, sliced
1 jar canned, diced tomatoes (home canned preferred)
1 small can tomato paste (home canned preferred)
2 tsp. hot sauce
4 corn tortillas, cut in fourths

Reconstitute three dried peppers in water for 24 hours. Place dried beans in a bowl and cover with water. Soak for 24 hours.

Discard water from beans. Place beans in a pressure cooker with 8 cups water. Seal pressure cooker. Turn heat to high. When steam is pouring out, turn beans down to low and simmer for 45 minutes (ensuring steam is at a steady level). After 45 minutes, carefully open pressure cooker over sink, pointing away from face. Drain beans.

Cook rice in rice cooker according to appliance directions along with 1 c. canned, diced tomatoes. (the standard ratio is 1 c. rice, 2 c. liquid using 1:2 ratio. Cover. Turn on.)

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add onions and sauté until translucent. Add rice and beans. Stir to combine. Season to taste. Set aside.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine large jar diced tomatoes, reconstituted peppers (stems and seeds removed) and tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer over low heat until thick. Remove from heat. Puree until smooth. Return to heat. Add hot sauce. Season to taste.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8x8" baking pan with cooking spray or coat with olive oil. Ladle enough enchilada sauce to cover the bottom of the 8x8" pan. Place five tortilla pieces on sauce. Scoop half of beans and rice on top of tortillas. Ladle enough enchilada sauce to cover. Repeat layers. Bake covered for 25 minutes. Remove cover, bake 5-10 remaining minutes or until done.

Monday Goodies Recipes

I can feel the excitement of spring coming. I hear people talking about what seeds they are buying and what they will be doing once it warms up a little. But, for now we have to look longingly out the window with a great cup of soup.
Enjoy this recipes to warm you up this week.


Mediterranean Lentil Soup

1 onion
1 carrot
2 T. olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 c. brown lentils
2 cloves garlic
2 dried chili peppers
2 qts. water
1/2 tsp. cumin seed
1 tsp. fennel seed
1 c. diced, canned tomatoes
1 c. cooked rice
Lemon juice or red wine vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
Minced parsley

Place chili peppers in water to reconstitute. Peel the onion and carrot and cut into small dice. Sauté them in the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat, seasoned with salt and pepper, cooking until they are tender. Meanwhile, carefully pick through the lentils, removing any small stones or debris. Rinse the lentils thoroughly in cold water.

Wrap garlic and reconstituted chili peppers in a cheesecloth sack, add it to the soup pot. Add the lentils and the water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the brown lentils are very soft, 45 minutes to one hour.

While the soup is cooking, toast the cumin and fennel seeds in a skillet over high heat for a minute or two, until their aroma is released. Pound them in a mortar. Chop parsley leaves (or pull some from your freezer from last summer's garden!).

When the soup is done, take out the cheesecloth sack and squeeze any broth back into the soup. Stir in tomatoes and rice (I just stole some rice from my Spanish concoction above). Add the ground spices and taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper, if necessary, and a dash of lemon juice or red wine vinegar. Serve garnished with a dribble of extra-virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of the chopped parsley.

*Food sources: Parsley (what we grew and froze last summer), Tomatoes (what we canned and traded for from the summer), Onion/carrot (Winter Farmers' Market), Chili peppers (Dried from summer), Brown Lentils (From Slow Food Ark of Taste, purchased at Terra Madre in October).





Mangia! Mangia! Pasta

12 oz. dried pasta
Salt
Olive Oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. Fresh mushrooms (can find shitake mushrooms right now), sliced
12 oz. Green Beans, sliced
Parmesan Style Cheese

Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Pour a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Sauté garlic in olive oil for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add green beans and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Finally, add mushrooms and sauté mixture until mushrooms are soft.

Add pasta to skillet, and sauté mixture together until pasta is hot. Adjust seasonings. Serve immediately with grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

*Food Sources: Pasta (DeCio Pasta from Farmers' Market in Scottsdale, AZ), Mushrooms (Winter Farmers' Market), Garlic (purchased from a farm in Orange County i August and have hanging in the basement), Green Beans (you already know these are frozen from our CSA this summer), Cheese (Traders' Point Creamery)

Wired on the good stuff!

My question to both of you that read our blog is, "Did you try making the potato soup?" We are still finishing the last few bowls of that delicious concoction that seemed to mate and multiply each time we closed the refrigerator door. It was amazingly well timed with us hosting a luncheon Friday in which we produced about 8x the amount of mashed potatoes needed, so we are living in starch heaven! I would like to tell you we are putting those carbs to good use by running a marathon today, but, as usual, we're just cooking........and, eating. Seriously. You know us. Do we look like marathon runners?

At the luncheon yesterday, we received lots of compliments about our coffee. Neither of us have taken up part-time barista employment (though that's not a bad idea), which means it must have been the coffee beans we purchased at the Indy Winter Farmers' Market from Harvest Cafe Coffee Roasters. If you miss them at the Farmers' Market, they do offer private appointments! I'm enjoying a cup now so that I can embrace the day! Helloooooooooooooooooooo, world!

The question of the day is, "If I sprinkle this coffee on the laundry, will it fold itself?" One could only hope.

For those of you carefully tracking our green bean saga, I would like to reinforce that everything you need to know about life you learned in elementary school. I have one of those particularly finicky mothers who packed fruits and vegetables in our lunch (occasionally along with riddles, yes, riddles); all the while we longed for any "Hostess" product. We struggled with the lunchroom trade for two reasons: we once attended a school so strict that talking was not allowed during lunch and because NO ONE WANTED TO TRADE CUCUMBERS FOR A HOSTESS CUPCAKE! However, we have found new application of this age old principle by trading some of our carefully frozen green beans for beautifully canned tomatoes. Thank you, Kellie! You have saved us from certain green bean death!

While I look at our growing compost pile through the window, I'm wondering what else I'll add to it today. It will certainly contain scraps from these tasty meals.....

Black Bean Tamales - I have to admit I cheated here and bought these from "The Tamale Guy" at the Farmers' Market. They need to be steamed for about 50 minutes. With them, I'll be serving salsa (frozen this summer) and Spanish rice (organic rice cooked in the rice cooker with a bit of saffron and tomato juice stirred in). To give the rice an extra nutritional boost, I will be adding wheat berries to the concoction in the rice cooker. The ones we have were grown locally at Agape Farms. They can be purchased at the Trader's Point Winter Farmers' Market.

Mediterranean Extravaganza - I love this cuisine! So, today, I pulled eggplant from the freezer that I charred on the grill, removed the peel and pureed this summer. When it thaws, I will add salt and pepper and serve it with warm pita bread from Al-Basha in Fishers, IN. It will be a great complement to Mediterranean Lentil Soup (recipe will be posted tomorrow).

Mangia! Mangia! Pasta - This is the quickest "slow food" I could concoct (and still use some of those blessed green beans). See recipe below. I used pasta that we purchased during a trip to a Farmers' Market in Scottsdale, AZ. The company is called DeCio Pasta, and they make delicious products! For the recipe below, I used the spinach, basil and garlic pasta. You can substitute any pasta you like.