Black Bean and Bacon Quesadillas

This is a guest post/recipe from my sister Jessica, who is awesome.

Black Bean and Bacon Quesadillas

I love recipes, which is odd because I hardly ever cook. But I am constantly on the lookout for new recipes. In my perusing the other day, I found a recipe for a bacon quesadilla and one for a black bean quesadilla and I thought, why not combine the two? So I took a little of this and a little of that from each recipe and added something of my own and VOILA! Bacon and Black Bean Quesadillas. These were seriously delicious. Alek, Josh and I all devoured them. They’re especially tasty with Josh’s Famous Guacamole, the recipe of which Jen will post later. The other thing is – they’re super easy, which I am a big fan of. I love, love, love Mexican food and could eat these every night.

Bacon and Black Bean Quesadillas

4 strips of cooked bacon (we used maple-flavored, which was awesome; also, when I say 4 strips, I guess that’s not right. I used two long strips, which I cut in half and then cooked.)

1 can of black beans, drained

1 can of corn, drained

1 small can of diced green chilies, drained (or dice your own green chilies – make sure you take out the seeds!)

1 green bell pepper

4-cheese Mexican cheese blend, grated (or any kind of cheese you like)

4 large flour tortillas

Open your cans of ingredients and drain them all in a strainer to get as much moisture out as you can. Dice the green bell pepper and add it to the strainer. Once drained, transfer the ingredients to a mixing bowl. Crumble the strips of bacon and add to the other ingredients. Mix well.

Warm a pan to medium heat and spray a generous coat of cooking spray on it (or spritz olive oil, if you have one of those cool spritzer things – you know what I mean).

Lay a tortilla flat in the pan.

Sprinkle a light layer of cheese on the tortilla – just enough to help everything stick together.

Spoon in about a fourth of the mixture onto one half of the tortilla. Sprinkle a little more cheese on the top and, using tongs fold the other side of the tortilla on top of the side with the filling. Cook on one side until the tortilla is browned (a few minutes) then flip over (carefully, the filling will want to escape) and brown on the other side. Once browned on both sides, the filling should be plenty warm.

Serve with your favorite salsa, sour cream and/or guacamole.

Makes 4 quesadillas.

Notes:

• I didn’t use a lot of cheese in these quesadillas (so perhaps I need to rename them!) and they were still awesomely delicious. If you finely grate your cheese (or purchase finely grated cheese), a little can go a long way. Of course, you can use as much cheese as you want, but just know that it’s not necessary to use a lot.

• I have recently begun cooking my bacon in the oven, which is so much better than cooking bacon on the stovetop. You can cook a lot more bacon at one time and you don’t have to stand over the stove and have hot grease fly up and hit you in the face. I cook my bacon at 350 for about 20-25 minutes and it gets pretty crispy, which is how I like it.

• I didn’t use any seasonings or spices when I cooked these, but would recommend one or both of the following:

  • Garlic salt (go easy on this, though, because the bacon is already salty) or garlic powder

  • Chipotle powder (But not if you eat the quesadilla with Josh’s Famous Guacamole, because that already has chipotle powder in it and a little of that can go a long way)

• You could also add some sautéed red onion to the filling, but we didn’t because Josh’s Famous Guacamole has red onion in it.

-Jessica

I Love Coconut and That's Okay!

This is a post from my awesome, healthy sister Heather:

I have been eating a lot of coconut products lately. A few months ago I gave up dairy in hopes that would help my baby's reflux issues. So coconut is a great alternative. Years ago when the "low fat" diet was the craze coconut got a bad rap and I know I for one stayed away from it. But coconut is actually really good for you. here is some info from greensmothie girl:

"Coconut oil is 64% medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which burn as energy quickly rather storing in the body as fat (especially belly fat) like the long-chains. MCFAs are quite rare in foods and have massive positive implications for your health, although the processed vegetable oil industry tried to malign the tropical oils years ago and many consumers have no idea what great nutrition they are missing out on. Coconut oil is anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-parasite, and anti-fungal. It prevents heart disease, linked by recent research to lingering infections in the blood and tissues that coconut oil kills. It has been documented to inhibit carcinogenic agents that cause colon cancer and breast tumors in animals."

read more here: http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/robyn-recommendations

So I have been baking with coconut oil, instead of butter:

Here is a simple cookie recipe that even my non-sugar eating husband will eat because they aren't too sweet:

1 cup oat flour ( blend regular oats in blender)

1 cup wheat flour

1/4 cup honey

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 egg

chopped walnuts

mix all ingredients and bake at 350 F for 10 mins. or until lightly browned.

I have been making smoothies with coconut milk:

Here is an awesomely easy recipe:

2-3 cups coconut milk

4 frozen bananas

1 can frozen pineapple (pineapples in their own juice, I put the pineapple in a Tupperware and froze them the day before)

Unsweetened coconut flakes or powder

Blend the first three in the blender and pour into cups. Top with unsweetened coconut.

And I have ever once in a while been splurging on coconut ice cream, when I am feeling particularly deprived:


We have also made blueberry/banana coconut pancakes:

1 cup wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tblsp coconut shreds

1/4 cup flax seed meal

1 tblsp honey (optional)

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 cup almond or coconut milk

2 tblsp coconut oil

blueberries or sliced bananas

Mix wet ingredients in medium bowl. Mix dry ingredients in a larger bowl. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix well until consistency is smooth.

Pour a scoop of batter (1/4 cup) onto preheated pan at medium heat. Sprinkle with blueberries or sliced bananas on top. Flip over when batter begins to bubble.


Sorry no pictures but these were awesome. We eat them for our traditional Sunday night breakfast with scrambled eggs and green smoothies. Yum!!


So don't worry. I now give you permission to love coconut again. Go get some virgin coconut oil and use it any time a recipe calls for butter. You can also use it for sautéing. I have even used it to "butter" the bread on grilled cheese sandwiches.-Heather

I Fell in Love With France

This is a post from my friend Shauna’s blog, reposted here with her permission. I thought it was too perfect, except I am really envious. -Jen

Let me tell you about how I finally understood Doug + food, the main source of bafflement for me for 25 years.

When we arrived in Angers from Marseille we were met at the train station by Mme. P and her daughter, Anne-Solenne. It was a joyous meeting for me and a reuniting for Doug. I immediately felt loved and welcomed.

Every meal we had with the P’s was an event. The food was real. It was tasty. We ate in courses. And there was always bread. And cheese.

But this is what I went nuts over…

The tarts.

Mme. P made a rhubarb tart. Another day she made a fig tart…

And still another morning I found her in the kitchen putting together a pear tart. She was using her hands to measure the sugar and eye-balling the amount of cream she poured in. I laughed with delight! She wasn’t following a written recipe, she was creating with la joie de la cuisson.

This pear tart sat by the window for a bit,

and later it became this:

I cannot tell you how GOOD this tart was. Oh my. I still think about how good that tart was.

And I’m sure that the reason it was so good is because only a short time before it became a tart, it was doing this in the yard:

And the fig tart? Me? Eating a fig tart? Well, yes. And it was delicious, too. And before those figs became a tart they were also hanging out in the yard:

Ahhhh…the secret to food that tastes good might be that it is REAL food, plucked from its source. *sigh* I wish I had a greener thumb.

On Friday night Mme. P had the two Elders over for dinner which was a lot of fun because Doug was the missionary who taught the P. family twenty-some-odd years ago.

Elder Scotty S. from Scotland:

and Elder Dylan H. from New York:

Notice how everyone is holding a knife? We must have been in the bread and cheese part of the meal.

It was a fun dinner even though I didn’t understand a lot of what was said. Elder S. was very funny and he translated a lot for me.

And Mme. P was a gracious hostess

and it was a very pleasant evening.

On Saturday Mme. P gave us her car so we could go exploring. She also packed us a picnic. I have no words for her generosity and love.

We had our picnic at the Chateau Saumur in the Loire Valley. We had quiche! I know!quiche! in France! at a castle!

It was just too cool.

And more pear tart.

This is what made an impact on me: Meals are an event. Even when the food is simple (which it always was) it was a special time. It was a time to gather and to talk and to sit and relax. Our meals took an hour, or more. We ate in courses. We ate a plate of tomatoes in vinegar with some bread.

Then a plate of meats would be brought out. Or the quiche.

The tray of cheeses always came out.

And always there was bread. Usually a few different kinds.

It was so simple, and it was tasty and filling and artfully arranged

with flowers from the garden at each place setting.

And there were jams and honey and preserves to choose from.

On our last day with the P’s, before we left for Paris, Sis. P had a special cake for us celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary (which was the reason for the trip).

This was from the bakery

and Mme.P lit the candle for us!

And it was soooooo good!

(But I actually liked the pear tart even better. That is how good it was.)

Because I couldn’t do much (any) talking it gave me time to observe and think about things. Here’s what I observed:

1) the food is simple

2) the lifestyle is simple

3) people in France really do have French doors in their house, in the house and leading to the outside

4) everything is small, and that isn’t a problem. The P’s kitchen is smaller than most people’s bathrooms in the US, and yet the best food I’ve ever had came from that kitchen. Realizing that made me feel a little bit embarrassed at how much we supersize things in our culture (cars, houses, kitchens, bathrooms, meals, number of shoes/purses/coats/jewelry). Even our regular houses are much bigger than their regular houses. Its like we are ALL from Texas!

Now I understand Doug + food.

I really do get it.

2 Comments

1. Ed
   Posted April 9, 2010 at 6:06 pm

   Makes me want to go to France.

2. heathermommy
   Posted April 10, 2010 at 3:35 pm

   I miss France – especially the bread and chocolate. I have this recurring nightmare that we are in France and I keep going to different bakeries and no one has pain au chocolat. It is very disturbing.

   The one thing that was very hard for me in France was their love of pork. Yuck.

   Quiche and tarts are what is all about – just no pork in the quiche!!

Curried Cauliflower

This is a post/recipe from my friend. I give you one of the Heather's:

I’ve been working with curry since my mother taught us my Guyanese step-father’s recipe for curried chicken. His recipe is pretty straight forward and benefits from generous additions of pickled mango. When I lived in Houston, my friend Mira, whose family had been missionaries in India for a generation or so, taught me how to make daal, which includes not curry, but the general attitude toward spice in South Indian cuisine—cook it first. and for a long time. and don’t be afraid of ketchup.

This recipe for curried cauliflower emerges from that history.

1 head of cauliflower, chopped in bite-size pieces
1 onion, diced
1 bag frozen peas

1 cup rice or couscous

1 TBS tumeric
1 TBS ground garlic
2 TBS paprika
1 TBS cumin
1 TBS coriander
1 TBS black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground anise or fennel seed

or 1/4 cup curry powder

1. Start rice, if you’re using it. If you’re using couscous, you can start that last as it only takes 5 minutes.

2. Heat 3 TBS olive oil in large frying pan over low heat. In a small bowl whisk your spice together with 1/4 cup water (or chicken broth) til smooth. Add spice to pan and simmer for as long as you can take it. This is the step that provides the flavor, so the longer you simmer down, add more water, simmer down again, the better everything will taste.

Usually I do this once because I don’t have the time, and it takes about 1o minutes.

3. Add your onion and cauliflower to the pan, and increase heat to medium. For more gravy add more broth or water. Cook until tender. Add peas, stir to combine, and then remove from heat.

If you’d like a sweeter taste, you can add up to 1/2 can of coconut milk at this point. That will add more complexity to the overall taste, and take some of the fire out of the spice.

4. Serve over rice or couscous.

Like most recipes from friends and family, these are all guestimates and depend totally on who you’re cooking for. Someone loves the heat? Add more cayenne. Someone loves the sweet and gravy? Add more coconut milk. Cooking for vegetarians? Leave out the broth. It’s the kind of recipe that can also be expanded as a main dish or be served as a side.

You can serve this with a simple lime and cucumber salad to contrast all that spice.

29.651634 -82.324826

One Comment

1. Jen
   Posted March 31, 2010 at 6:55 pm

   My husband is not a picky eater but he hates cauliflower. I am betting anything he would love this however. It sounds like it is right up his alley. I am going to have to make it.

   I tried your mac and cheese last week and loved it!

I Did That on Purpose....Really

Here is a guest post from my friend Heather. Take it away...

One of the most important rules of entertaining is to only serve food you’re confident about preparing. This makes life easier on you as you’re experienced with the dishes and won’t be stressing over whether that roast pork tenderloin is supposed to look like that, or if the white sauce has the right consistency, what have you.

Sunday evening we had a few friends over for dinner, one of whom really likes cheesecake. This means Saturday afternoon I went shopping for ingredients and then set out to make a version of the Barefoot Contessa’s Rasperry Cheesecake. I have made this cheesecake probably 8-10 times in the last year. I feel pretty happy with it and like serving it.

But I do have this one problem with cheesecake, which is that the butter from the cookie crust inevitably melts and drips into the bottom of the oven and then smokes there while the cake is baking. And I know this is going to happen, and yet I never never do more than put a piece of tin foil under the cake.

And so on Sunday I served what I like to call Fire Roasted Cheesecake. Here’s what happened. I bet you can see it coming.

Black smoke was wafting gently from the oven vent when I went into the kitchen to check on the cake. I then opened the oven door to get a better look. The influx of oxygen fed the heat, and flames! flames erupted in the bottom of the oven.

I closed the oven door and thought, Gee, what do I do? Seriously, the first thing in my brain was, I spent $15 on ingredients. I had one hand on the unbleached flour, ready to dump into the oven, but I thought, what if I just wait a teensy weensy bit more?

The flames died. No flour spilt. Lots of air venting and open windowing. The cake finished its tenure in the oven.

Fast forward to Sunday when my guests noted a complex earthiness contrasting with the vanilla and lemon. Ahem.

So I’d love to hear your mixups and accidents and oh nos! in the kitchen, too. Just to make me feel better about mine.

2 Comments

1. Rachel
   Posted March 23, 2010 at 11:08 am

   Mishaps in the kitchen? Like I ever mess up when I cook! J/K Recently I accidently put worcestire sauce in our chinese food instead of soy sauce. It was very gross. I do stuff like that. I feel like I am a pretty good cook, but my brain is also scattered a lot so I do screw up recipes at least every once and a while!

2. Jessica
   Posted March 23, 2010 at 10:47 pm

   There was the time I accidentally set the paper towel roll on fire when I was making dinner for the missionaries. Also, every time I cook it takes at least twice as long as I think it’s going to. Uh . . . I am absolutely certain I have had a ton more food mishaps, but I can’t remember any of them right now.

Potato Soup

This is a post/recipe from my sister Heather:

I originally got this recipe from my sister-in-law but my kids wouldn’t eat it because of the chunks. They only do Purreed soups so they can’t see all the veggies they are eating. So I tweaked it to this. It was very yummy.

1/2 cup carrots sliced

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

salt and pepper

Saute veggies in pot with some butter or olive oil (not extra virgin - that doesn’t do well at high heat. Or try grapeseed oil or coconut oil.)

When veggies are soft add :

2 cups broth (Whatever kind you like)

1 cup water

Turn on high and when boiling add:

2 cups chopped potatoes – about 3

Turn down heat, cover and simmer till potatoes are soft.

Then puree soup in a blender.

Transfer back to the pot and add:

1 can of corn (drained)

1 cup cheese (the sharper the better!!)

1/2 cup to 1 1/2 cup milk (depending on the desired consistency)

Season with salt and pepper.

Heat on low heat till corn is warm and serve.

My kids ate it all up but my “picky” one left all the corn untouched at the bottom of her bowl!

2 Comments

1. Jessica
   Posted March 19, 2010 at 4:20 pm

   This sounds delicious, but I like chunks. If I skip the pureeing step, will it come out okay?

2. heathermommy
   Posted March 19, 2010 at 5:06 pm

   yes – just don’t puree it. You might want to do less on the milk so it won’t be too thin

Baked Spaghetti

Here is a post/recipe from my sister Heather who is really the one who should have a food blog. Go Heather!

This is a standard at our house. Rick and I always eat too much because it tastes so yummy. This is supper fast and everyone I have made it for has loved it. I always make this to take to sick neighbors or new moms.

16oz package of whole wheat spaghetti (if you haven’t switched to whole wheat, now is the time. Just don’t tell the kids. I swear they won’t notice in this recipe. I think it also helps to use angel hair pasta when first getting used to wheat pasta)

2 eggs

4-5 tblsp of Parmesan cheese (the kind you shake out of a plastic jar)

about 8 oz of sour cream or plain yogurt (Sour cream is richer, yogurt is healthier and it still tastes yummy)

1 jar of spaghetti sauce ( you can make your own, we buy Ragu Light because there is no added sugar, just tomatoes, olive oil, basil, etc…)

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Boil the noodles, drain, put in a 9×13 pan.

Crack in 2 eggs and add Parmesan cheese – mix up with the noodles.

Spread layer of yogurt or sour cream on top of noodles (don’t mix in – just layer on top).

Pour on spaghetti sauce (again don’t mix in, just layer on top). Sprinkle cheese on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 3o minutes.

Can serve this with garlic bread (best if it’s wheat!!) and a nice spinach or other green salad.

One Comment

1. Tracey
   Posted March 29, 2010 at 4:24 pm

   I add some sauteed veggies to the spaghetti before I bake it. The vegetbales I add vary on what I have in the refrigerator. Some that I’ve added are onions, carrots, zuchini, and spinach.