Week 2 (Jenni): Spiced Lentil Tacos

Week Two of this challenge was much better than Week One! This recipe is great, and I have been excited about it since it arrived in my inbox two weeks ago. Yes, I got this recipe in my inbox, from SELF magazine.

After a full day of playing housewife - no seriously, I sat and waited for the plumber to fix our hot water, I re-potted some plants, did the dishes, made 2 dozen cupcakes - I cooked dinner and had it ready mostly in time for my hungry family to return from a hard day at work. I also re-wrote a section of my grant application. Spread the word - I'm quite a catch!

But, back to the Recipe Challenge. This was relatively easy, and also my first time cooking with lentils. I think I should have simmered them longer, but I forgot to set a timer (the cupcakes needed attention and the plumber needed to be paid at the same time the lentils began simmering, and I became momentarily overwhelmed!) I was unable to mash them as described in the recipe, so we just left them whole. Rave reviews from the whole lot of us as we had our "family dinner" on the couch in front of Grey's Anatomy. Somehow I think Ryan and Chelsea might be enjoying this challenge more than anyone!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup dried brown lentils, rinsed
• 1 package (2.25 oz) taco seasoning
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped (use half for less heat)**
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce**
• 8 taco shells
• 1 1/4 cups shredded lettuce
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat (2 percent) cheddar

Preparation

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion, garlic and salt until onion begins to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add lentils and taco seasoning. Cook until spices are fragrant and lentils are dry, about 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Mix sour cream, chile and adobo sauce in a bowl. Uncover lentils and cook until mixture thickens, 6 to 8 minutes. Mash with a rubber spatula. Spoon 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell. Top with 2 heaping tsp sour cream mixture, lettuce, tomato and cheese.

**I did not use a chipotle chile and adobo sauce, instead I used regular salsa and mixed that with the sour cream. It was an ingredient we had, and pretty darn tasty if you ask me!

something out of nothing

One of the best things that has come from moving into a house with two great roommates, is the company to eat dinner with. Most nights we eat together. Sometimes not the same thing, but we eat at the same time, and it's fun! A few nights a week we'll either all cook something, or one of us cooks something for everyone.

A special bonus is that one of my roommates in particular is always quite pleased to just throw whatever random ingredients we have into a pot and hope it comes out delicious. On Sunday, we had some guacamole and pineapple salsa left over from a study session I hosted, and so it appeared that Mexican was on the docket for the evening. She suggested quesadillas, and who was I to protest? Quesadillas it was - but with what vegetables? We had...yellow squash. So, yellow squash quesadillas with guacamole and pineapple salsa it was. And, they were delicious.

Similarly, last night I had some peppers that needed to be used - best way to deal with that, stuffed peppers. I used to stuff them with ground turkey, but in my less meaty phase I've also stuffed them with white beans, tomatoes and lemon peel. I had none of that last night. So, we did up some brown rice, black beans, taco seasonings, chopped grape tomatoes and topped each one off with some shredded mozzerella.

I must say, using whatever we have on hand has been working out quite nicely for us!

This however, does not count as my Recipe Challenge 2009 - stay tuned for that adventure tonight.

Quesadilla

My lunch this afternoon was a creation made out of desperation - a desperate need to go grocery shopping that is. I opened my fridge and decided what few things I had in there needed to be eaten before they went bad. Things I had to choose from: colby jack shredded cheese, chicken I had cooked a few days ago, half an avocado, strawberry jelly, cream cheese, tortillas, frozen peas, 5 frozen bananas (waiting to become muffins, bread, smoothie...something), brown rice and black beans in the cupboard. The options seemed slim, but the choice obvious. I chopped up the chicken - which I had marinaded and cooked with some Stubb's marinade that I was given at Christmas. I sprinkled the cheese and black beans on one tortilla on my griddle. Threw on the chopped chicken, slapped another tortilla on top. And waited. Then I tried to flip it. This wasn't as disastrous as I had imagined, but it wasn't totally clean either.

The result, a totally yummy and quick lunch! Not too bad for a lazy Saturday.

B is for Burrito

Are you sitting down?  I cooked something tonight!  Granted it was just a simple burrito (or two....or three....) but damn if it wasn't good.  And as I cooked it I thought, you know who should hear about this??  M and M!

My burritos are pretty simple, but I swear there are two secrets that make them all the better.  First I cook some rice, usually brown boil-in-bag rice.  When that's done I put it in a pot with a can of black beans, mix it up and leave it on a low burner.  In a skillet I grill up some veggies, tonight I used a red and green pepper, yellow squash and eggplant.  Here is secret number 1, I cut the veggies rather large to grill them.  Tonight I used some avocado oil instead of evoo (because I had it) and then I sprinkle on some store bought Burrito seasoning.  Once the veggies are grilled, I scoop some out onto a cutting board and then I chop them up small.  I find that grilling them bigger keeps in some more flavors, and then chopping them small helps make them fit in the burrito.  

I take my tortilla and put on some sliced cheese, tonight it was colby jack.  Then a scoop of rice-bean mix, and some chopped veggies on top.  Here the key is to pile things up right along the center of the tortilla.  Now to roll it, followed by secret number 2.  First I fold in two ends, say the right and left sides, only a little.  Now I start to roll from bottom to top - be forceful, get all that filling inside, and keep watching the ends making sure they are tucked inside.  Secret number 2 is to immediately wrap it in aluminum foil and pop that sucker into a pre-heated 300 degree oven.  This allows the cheese to melt, everything to get warm and toasty, and the burrito is less likely to come unrolled when you go to eat it.  Totally simple, totally delish!  

Let's go Red Sox!

true confessions of a late-twenties drama queen

About a year and a half ago I started making guacamole. Last summer it was my staple bring-this-to-cookout food. I made it a few times, and people liked it. Some people requested it. I then also began to make Mango Salsa with it. So, Guacamole and Mango Salsa went with me to every party, BBQ, what-have-you. Then I moved to Texas. Where we have cookouts and BBQs year round, where Guacamole and Mango Salsa fits in to every conceivable meal plan. And, I've become "famous" for my guacamole. I joke that my friend Ryan would stop being friends with me if I showed up without guacamole - and while I've showed up empty handed a few times, I do wonder if it's just the hope of more that keeps him around. Yesterday I showed up at a pool party, with Guac and Mango Salsa in tow, and was greeted with shouts of "Oh, give me some of that sweet, sweet guacamole" and "Quick, I'm going to tear that thing open and have my way with it" - all this from people who have eaten it once! When I was packing up ready to leave people were huddled around the left over mango salsa (the guac had disappeared hours ago) and I had to fight them for my bowl back - agreeing to stay a few extra minutes while they all but licked the bowl. And today, I've received two emails telling me how good it was.

All these compliments, I try to be modest and just smile and say thank you - all the while hiding my fraud-status. I do not lace this with intoxicating drugs, and these people have not been hypnotized, and I do not know what they think is so amazing about this stuff. But, for you, I'm going to FINALLY share my secret. Here is how I make Guacamole and Mango Salsa.

*about 5 or 6 avocados
*one large, or two small mangoes
*two containers of mild pico de gallo (fresh from the grocery store, usually in the produce section. I used to use this, but in TX I use a different brand)
*one container of medium pico de gallo
*one small lime
*fresh mint, if I feel like it.

In one bowl I combine all the containers of pico de gallo, this is to let it sit together and the flavors to have more time to marry. (ohh, good word!) Also, this is in case my company shows up before I'm done - and the first thing in the trash is any evidence of store bought ingredients! Then I slice the avocados in half and squeeze the guts into a bowl. Using a potato masher I smash them up. Now I add in about half of the pico de gallo, slowly, until it looks like about the right combination of green and red. Squeeze the juice from half a lime into it, cover it up, and put it in the fridge. Then I cube up the mangoes. I've not yet figured these out - there is no pit, but something hard is in the center. I end up just slicing weird shapes off the sides until I can't go anymore, and I often feel like I am wasting a lot of mango. Once it's all cubed, I throw that in the bowl with the rest of the pico de gallo. Squeeze in the juice of the other lime half, and chop up some fresh mint (if i feel like it) and throw it on top. This gets covered and put in the fridge too, right up until you're ready to go!

And there you have it, my "world" famous, to die for, there must be drugs in this, guacamole and mango salsa. Hey, if Sandra Lee can do it, so can I!

Cinco de Mayo. . . but not.

Last week, I had a lovely dinner with an old friend at the Border Cafe. I had only been there once before, back in high school, so I was interested in trying it out again. One word: YUM! The only problem with going to the Border Cafe was that it left me craving MORE Mexican food. So the very next night, I decided to make my own.

I've never made quesadillas, but you know, cheese and tortillas. . . not that difficult. Looking to make it more interesting, I made black bean and corn quesadillas, with monterey jack and cheddar cheese. They took all of about five minutes. I made them as I cooked them, right on my electric griddle, with just a little canola oil. I flipped them only once, and as soon as I did, added a little more cheese on top while it was warm. I then covered them lightly with foil just to keep the heat in and melt the cheese on top. I served them with salsa, guacamole, and tortilla chips -- all care of Whole Foods.

For an easy side dish, I made Rice a Roni (yes. . .) Spanish Rice. You can either make it with a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes or a 16 ounce jar of salsa. I went with the salsa. Talk about semi-homemade. . .

What's a Mexican meal without a good margarita? Now this whole meal was a little spur-of-the-moment. I was thinking about it while I was at work, and actually bought what I thought I might need on my way home. I thought in my head that I had some frozen limeade concentrate from the last time I made margaritas. I was wrong. What I did have was some Mango Tango. . . for Scott. Luckily, at the time I needed something to mix with my tequila and triple sec, Scott had merely tasted the Mango Tango. He thankfully decided it was giving him a stomach ache. So I had a Mango Tango Margarita. . . and a very good evening.