Reese's Sour Cream & Green Chile Enchiladas

This is a very old recipe. Okay, I guess the term "old" is pretty relative... I came up with it when I first started cooking for myself. I think I was probably 19... so this recipe is legally old enough to get it's driver's license.

I was looking for the actual recipe today and can't seem to find it, so this will be mostly from memory (oooh scary!).

The "secret ingredient" is Taco Bell mild sauce - not from the grocery store, but actual sauce packets from the fast food restaurant. Now that we are sauce makers ourselves, I will probably try to replicate the flavor with other items, but this is an attempt at the original version of my recipe.

You will notice pretty quick that these are not particularly healthy. But boy are they tasty! :) I particularly enjoy them with some guacamole on top, but that's true of most things.

Reese's Sour Cream & Green Chile Enchiladas

Sauce

• 1 15oz can tomato sauce
• 30-40 packets of Taco Bell Mild Sauce
• 1/2 packet taco seasoning
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 8oz (1 bottle) Ortega green taco sauce
• 1-2 cups water
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp chili powder

Filling

• 2 7oz cans diced green chilis
• 1 16oz container sour cream (as high or low-fat as you like)
• Approx 1lb shredded cheese (I usually use a blend of cheddar and jack, or a "Mexican" blend)
• Remaining 1/2 packet of taco seasoning
• 1/2 onion, diced (optional)
• 1 can sliced black olives (optional)
• 24 Corn tortillas (try to pick a brand that is pliable)

Assembly

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Combine sauce ingredients in a small mixing bowl
• Combine filling ingredients in a medium bowl
• In a microwavable container with a lid, microwave about 10 tortillas at a time with a few drops of water for 45 seconds. They will be HOT - do not burn your fingers!
• Pour about 1 cup of sauce into the bottom of a large baking dish (9x12).
• Spoon a heaping soup spoon of filling into warmed tortilla, wrap and place in baking dish with folded side down to help keep it wrapped up.
• Fill baking dish with enchiladas, pour another 1/2 cup to cup of sauce over the top and sprinkle about 1 cup of filling over the whole dish.
• Bake at 350F until cheese is bubbly (about 30 minutes)

This recipe was usually eyeballed, and would usually NOT come out even in terms of sauce to filling to tortillas. But it would freeze nicely and I would use the filling for something else sometime (makes a lovely quesadilla).

Leftover Roasted Veggie Soup

I make the Cumin Roasted Carrots and Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic recipes somewhat frequently, periodically we end up with leftovers.


I currently have leftovers of both (just a little bit) and decided to experiment with a soup. There is no salt added to this recipe because both of the roasted veggie recipes have salt.


This made two large mugs worth of soup. Also very good with a little Homeward Bound Hot Sauce added! (any flavor would be good - specifically PunJab or SparkPlug)




Leftover Roasted Veggie Soup


1 tbs olive oil
1/2 white onion, minced
1 stick celery, minced


2 cups water
1 pkg George Washington Broth


1 cup (approx) Cumin Roasted Carrots
1/2 cup (approx) Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic

• In a medium saucepan over low/medium heat, saute onion and celery salt in olive oil.
• In a small microwave-safe cup or bowl, heat 2 cups of water.
• Add broth package contents to heated water and stir to dissolve.
• Once onion starts to soften, add broth and bring to a boil. 
• Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
• Put leftover roasted veggies into a blender or food processor and add broth and onion mixture. 
• Blend until creamy, add Homeward Bound Hot Sauce of your choice
• Serve.

Easy Granola

We've been eating a lot of granola around here this summer. The main thing I've discovered besides that it is very filling, is that it is very EXPENSIVE to purchase already made. 


I remember my Grandma making granola in her kitchen when I was a little kid, and the smell that filled the house always made me hungry.


Since I've been tackling other things lately, I decided that if Grandma could do it, I surely can, too! I did a google search for low-sugar granola recipes, and while I'm not convinced that the original recipe I based my version on is very low in sugar at all, I've made some adjustments that should cut down significantly on the sugar but not sacrifice any flavor.


I intend to use UN-sweetened coconut next time, but sweetened is what I had on hand.

Reese's Nutty Granola


2 cups Bob's Red Mill rolled oats 
3/4 cup whole unsalted almonds, roughly chopped (approximately into half)
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup raw cashews, roughly chopped 
1 tbs ground flax seed
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground cinnamon


1/4 cup (1/2 stick) Smart Balance Buttery Stick
2 tbs honey
1 tbs vanilla


1 1/2 cup dates, pitted and cut into approximately 1/4 inch pieces

• Preheat oven to 300F
• Combine oats, nuts, coconut, flax seed and spices in a medium mixing bowl.
• In a small microwavable bowl or cup, melt butter and honey together (about 25 seconds at a time, stirring well in between)
• Add vanilla to butter/honey mixture
• Pour butter/honey/vanilla mixture over oat/nut mixture and toss well to combine.
• Spread mixture on baking sheet.
• Bake 20 minutes, stirring about every five minutes.
• Add dates, stir and break up large clumps
• Bake an additional 15 minutes, stirring every five minutes.
• Cool and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Reese's Butternut Squash Soup

We have had a butternut squash hanging out in the kitchen for awhile. I was worried it would go bad soon, and we're low on groceries, so it's time to make amazing things out of what's left!


I also discovered a neat trick for getting the squash out of it's shell in the process.


To give credit where it is due, I started with this recipe, and following is my version, adapted since I am a vegetarian, and I didn't have any ginger.




Reese's Butternut Squash Soup


1 medium butternut squash
olive oil (I use an olive oil sprayer)
1/2 large white onion, finely chopped
4 tbs Smart Balance Buttery Sticks w/ EVOO
3 cups water
1 1/2 cubes Not Chik'n boullion 
2 cups water
1 tbs Homeward Bound Hot Sauce SparkPlug
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Light Sour Cream for garnish

• Preheat oven to 450F
• Cut squash in half, lengthwise and scoop out seeds.
• Spray bottom of large baking dish with olive oil, lay squash cut side down
• Roast for 10 minutes at 450, reduce heat to 350 and continue to roast for another 30 minutes.
• While squash is roasting, melt butter in a medium saucepan and add onion, saute over low/medium heat until slightly soft.
• Add 3 cups water and Not Chik'n boullion cubes. Stir to dissolve cubes, raise heat to medium and simmer, covered for about 10 minutes and reduce heat to low.

• When squash is done baking, remove baking dish from oven and cool for a few minutes, until you can touch the skin of the squash without it burning you. You SHOULD be able to pinch the skin and pull it away from the squash in one piece. Cut pulp into chunks to cool faster.
• Allow squash chunks to cool about 10 minutes (should be around the time the broth & onion is simmering).
• Add slightly cooled squash pulp to onion & broth mixture, stirring to break down squash further.
• Transfer mixture to blender or food processor, and puree until smooth (I was able to get all of it into our Ninja blender).
• Add remaining 2 cups water, SparkPlug, about 1 tsp salt and a few grinds of pepper (you may need to add more and blend again depending on taste preference)
• Blend to combine and pour into bowls to serve.
• Add a dollop of sour cream.

Goat Mac - No Goat, No Mac

I bought some goat cheese the other day, and wanted to make something interesting and new (to me) with it.  I've also been craving baked macaroni and cheese.


As is usually the case, I don't have all the ingredients for something, so I get out what we DO have and go from there.


Here's what I came up with - a macaroni and cheese kind of thing, without any macaroni. 

Goat Mac
24oz Penne pasta (I used 1 & 1/2 16oz boxes)
4 tbs butter (we use Smart Balance with olive oil)
4 tbs flour
1/2 a head of garlic, peeled and minced fine
2 cups milk (I used skim)
11oz log of goat cheese (with or without herbs - mine was without this time)
1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, finely diced
1 tbs butter, melted

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add noodles and cook as directed (about 11-12 minutes). Drain, rinse with cold water and transfer to large mixing bowl.
• Preheat oven to 350F
• In a medium/large saucepan on low/med heat, melt the 4tbs of butter/margarine. 
• Slowly whisk in the flour, one tbs at a time. 
• Add minced garlic and continue to stir regularly.  
• Add milk and raise to medium heat, stirring constantly.  
• Gradually add goat cheese in 1/4 inch chunks, stirring and whisking to melt. 
• Gradually add 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese (reserve 1/2 cup for topping).  
• Gradually stir in freshly ground black pepper.
• Pour cheese mixture over noodles and stir/toss gently to coat.
• Pour noodle and cheese mixture into large baking dish (9"x11").
• In a small mixing bowl, combine Panko, basil, and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.
• Stir in 1 tbs melted butter.
• Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over noodles.
• Bake approximately 30 minutes, until bubbly and topping is lightly browned.

We served it tonight with the Cumin-roasted carrots.

Scott (of course) anointed his with some hot sauce. I recommend Homeward Bound's SparkPlug.

Caramelized Cumin-Roasted Carrots

This recipe was given to us by Reese's Mom, who got it from a Culinary workshop, and they claim to have gotten it from Bon Apetit magazine.

Here's what we use, and it's a GREAT way to get in some vitamin C and fiber!  We eat them with the Tahini-Yogurt dip.

Caramelized Cumin-Roasted Carrots

Yield: 6 servings

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

12 medium carrots, peeled, cut on diagonal into ½-inch thick pieces

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1.      Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a full-sized baking sheet with nonstick spray.

2.      Combine carrots and all remaining ingredients in a large bowl, and toss to coat. Spread in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Roast carrots until tender and lightly caramelized, turning carrots over once, 35 to 40 minutes.

Cheater Ratatouille with Rice

Tonight I wanted to make something reasonably quick and healthy.

I enjoy Ratatouille very much and didn't have the time or all of the ingredients, so this is an approximation that came out VERY well.

Cheater Ratatouille and Brown Basmati Rice

1 cup brown Basmati rice (we get ours at Trader Joes)
2 cups water

1 tbs olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg fresh button mushrooms, sliced
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 medium zucchini, sliced
4 small yellow squash, sliced
12 oz (half a jar) of Newman's Own "Sockarooni" style marinara sauce
1 tsp kosher salt or smoked sea salt, freshly ground
1 tsp paprika
1 tbs dried basil (I would have used fresh if I had it)
1/2 tbs dried oregano (same with the fresh)
a few twists of fresh black pepper


In a small saucepan, bring the 2 cups of water to a boil. Add rice, cover and simmer on low for about 20-25 minutes. Rice should be fluffy when fully cooked.

Meanwhile, in a large, deep frying/sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium/low heat. Add garlic and saute for a minute or two. Add mushrooms and balsamic vinegar. Once mushrooms are mostly cooked, add zucchini and squash, salt, pepper and spices. Saute until veggies are starting to be pretty limp. Add marinara sauce, stir and heat through.

Serve veggies/sauce over rice.

This made enough sauce/veggies for four people and enough rice for probably three.