Vegetable Tamale Pies

Colleen's take: "I have been having Pinterest themed parties a lot lately & I tried out this recipe that I pinned some time back. Since then I have made it 3 times and it's a super easy, low budget, make ahead vegetarian meal. I have used both dried beans & once canned beans (I forgot to soak my beans) I enjoy the texture of the dried beans more (I cooked on the stove at a simmer for 2 hours too), but my husband enjoyed the canned black beans that I used once. So next time I am thinking of getting dried black beans and trying this with them."

Vegetable Tamale Pies Serves 6

What You Need 6 au gratin or small oven proof dishes (or one 9 x 9 baking dish)
1 cup cornmeal for polenta (or prepared polenta, about two 18 ounce tubes)
3 cups pinto beans, cooked (or canned)
1 cup frozen corn
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups salsa
2 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend (or a mix of Monterrey jack and cheddar)
Sour cream to serve

Note: If you have time, we recommend cooking the beans from dry beans – it greatly enhances the flavor and texture!

What To Do

1  Make the polenta. When it is done, spread a layer evenly in the bottom of each dish. You can prepare it in advance and refrigerate until baking.

2  Preheat the oven to 350°F.

3  Chop the cilantro. Drain the can of diced tomatoes and 1/2 cups salsa to remove excess liquid. If using canned beans, drain and rinse the beans.

4  In large bowl, coarsely mash the beans with a fork. Add 1 cup corn, tomatoes, salsa, 2 teaspoonscumin, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 cup cilantro. Mix to combine.

5  Spoon the bean mixture on top of the polenta. Top each dish with cheese and remaining cilantro.

6  Bake for 20 minutes until heated through. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream to serve.

Original Recipe sourced from a couple cooks blog

Tilapia Tostadas with Roasted Corn Relish

Colleen's Take: "I loved this recipe, I think I am really taking a new liking to Cooking Light Magazine, I might just have to get a subscription (I've been using old ones that I stole from my mom). First of all this recipe cost me 470 calories for two tacos, uhhhh score!! Second it was delish. My husband loved the chipotle sour cream. I loved the crunchy fish (can you tell I never fry anything?) & the corn relish, it was wonderful. This one did enter into our favorites/repeaters!)"

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1/4 cup green salsa (I used chipotle salsa)
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup yellow corn kernels (I used frozen)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper (I used green, didn't have red) 
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion (I used yellow) 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced seeded jalapeño pepper (I used pickled) 
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 cup diced peeled avocado
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I used chipotle chili powder)
• 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
• 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1 cup packaged angel hair slaw
• Lime wedges (optional)

Preparation

1. Combine sour cream and salsa.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add corn, bell pepper, onion, jalapeño, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to pan; sauté 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove mixture from pan; wipe pan clean with paper towels. Combine avocado and juice; toss gently. Stir avocado mixture into corn mixture.

3. Preheat broiler.

4. Sprinkle fish evenly with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Place cornmeal in a shallow dish; dredge fish in cornmeal. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add half of fish to pan; cook 3 minutes. Carefully turn fish over; cook 2 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and fish.

5. Coat both sides of tortillas with cooking spray. Arrange tortillas in a single layer on baking sheets; broil 2 minutes on each side or until crisp. Place 2 tortillas on each of the 4 plates. Arrange 2 tablespoons slaw on each tortilla. Divide fish evenly among tortillas; top each serving with about 3 tablespoons corn relish and about 1 1/2 tablespoons sour cream mixture. Serve with lime wedges, if desired.

Original source Cooking Light Magazine  

Lazy Stir Fry and Product Review

Lazy Stir Fry and Product Review {Annah}

This is a recipe I always go to when I come home tired from work. It is ready in about 30 minutes depending now how long it takes your oven and stove to warm up. I will call this meal semi-homemade, because I am adding ingredients to store bought products. I took the stir fry sauce mix from Rachel Ray's Cashew Vegetables recipe from her Veggie Meals cook book. The veggies in this recipe are similar to the ones in this bag. I would say mine is a time and money saving spin on her recipe.

I enjoy this birds eye stir fry bag the best because it has thin noddles in it, broccoli, water chestnuts, green beans, red peppers and carrots. The stir fry does not come with any flavor packets. For Tyler and I it makes about 3 servings, I usually eat a lot because the veggies don't fill me up. This goes well with brown or white rice, I use whatever I have on hand.

The Ling Ling spring rolls I purchase at our wholesale store BJ's. They are vegetarian and come with a delicious sweet chili sauce. They can be made in the microwave which I don't recommend because they come out soggy or in the oven and they will come out crispy. Since the veggies from the stir fry don't fill me up I like that the spring rolls add substance probably not the healthiest thing. They always say everything in moderation though right!

  

            Directions

• Basically just follow the instructions on the back of the packages
• The spring rolls go into the oven for about 10 minutes
• The stir fry goes into a saute pan for I think 8 minutes
• The rice is made in a sauce pan, boil water pour in the rice simmer for 20 minutes
• Once the veggies are cooked add
• 1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce for every
• 2 tablespoons of sweet and sour or duck sauce
• Let the two sauces combine with the veggies at medium to low heat for about 4 minutes
• Then serve the veggies over top of your rice
• Sit down and enjoy a kind of healthy quick to make meal

Pastel Azteca "Tortilla Casserole" {Annah}

Sorry I have been MIA, I did not cook basically the week of my birthday, and then I was in Texas visiting family.I am back now though and ready to cook!

I saw this recipe on the Today show from MarcellaValladoild, she has her own show on Food Network that I used to love to watch when we had cable. I did not have all the ingredients for this recipe and I wanted a little more spice so I tailored the recipe slightly.

Overall Tyler and I really enjoyed the recipe. It is pretty healthy and of course vegetarian. It did not have a lot of steps, although you do have to use three large saute pans. However, I was able to clean up the pans while the casserole was in the oven. Tyler thought that chicken would have tasted good in this, and I think that black beans would also taste good with the other ingredients. The thing that stood out the most for me was the sweet corn with the spiciness of the tomato mixture. I didn't have time to boil tomatoes or char poblano chiles, you will see my changes to the right of the recipe. I will be making this again probably with black beans, and if Tyler is lucky I will let him add chicken to his side!

Ingredients

• 12 corn tortillas
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 chopped garlic cloves
• 1 chopped small onion (used 1/2)
• 2 cups roma tomato, boiled 30 seconds, peeled, and pureed (Used a10 oz can of enchilada sauce, 8 oz can of tomatoes, and 2 left over tomato sauce packets from a taco kit) 
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 1/2 cups chopped zucchini
• 1 1/2 cup fresh corn off the cob or 3 fresh corns (one can of sweet corn)
• 3 poblano chiles charred, seeded, deviened, and cut in strips. (4.25 oz  can chopped green chiles)
• Salt and pepper to taste (Skipped this who needs more salt!)
• Non stick cooking spray
• 3/4 cup mexican crema (sour cream)
• 3 cups shredded Oaxaca cheese (cheddar cheese and a little mozzarella)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large heavy saute pan, add enough oil to fry 12 tortillas. Heat oil on medium-high heat. When hot, working in batches, quickly fry tortillas. Simply fry for 10 seconds on each side. Remove tortillas from heat and drain in paper towel.

In a medium saute pan on medium heat, heat oil and add garlic and onion. Saute for about 3 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Add tomato puree. Cook for 10 minutes and turn heat off.

In a separate large saute pan on medium heat, melt butter. Add zucchini and corn. Cook for 2 minutes and add the poblano. Add 1/2 cup of water to mixture and cook for 4 more minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non stick cooking spray. Cover the bottom with tortillas, about 4 tortillas. Add 1/2 cup of tomato mixture on top of tortillas. Top with 1 1/2 cups of zucchini mixture. Add 1 cup of cheese. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of mexican crema. Season the first layer with salt and pepper. Start on the second layer with tortillas, then tomato, zucchini, cheese, and with mexican crema. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Do it again for a third time, to finish off with a third layer, making sure to season with salt and pepper.

Bake uncovered until cheese begins to melt, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Makes 8 servings

Meatless Meatball Heros

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup (2 oz.) slivered almonds
• 1 can (19 oz.) chickpeas, rinsed
• 2 eggs
• 1 lemon, zested
• Salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
• EVOO, for drizzling


• 2 cups jarred roasted garlic pasta sauce
• 1 large whole grain baguette
• 1 1/2 cups baby spinach

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Using a food processor, grind the almonds to the texture of fine breadcrumbs.
2. In a medium bowl, using a potato masher, coarsely mash the chickpeas with the eggs, lemon zest, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Stir in the mozzarella and almonds.
3. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment; coat lightly with EVOO. Form the mixture into 12 golf-ball-size meatballs and place on the baking sheet. Drizzle with a little EVOO. Bake until golden and firm, 25 to 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the pasta sauce until warmed through. Cut the baguette crosswise into 4 pieces. Split the pieces lengthwise and scoop out a little bread. Brush the baguette lightly with EVOO; toast.
5. To serve, line the bottom pieces of the bread with the spinach. Spoon on a little bit of the warmed sauce; top with the meatballs and remaining sauce.

"I enjoyed the meatless meatball hero's. I have not had meatballs in years, so I can not compare how close these actually tasted to real meatballs. I think it was more the combo of all the ingredients then the actual meatballs themselves that I really enjoyed. I thought the meatballs had a "meaty" flavor coming from a vegetarian, saying that I would not eat these on there own. I think that I will try some of the leftover "meatballs" with spaghetti and see what that is like. I thought that the meal was very filling and satisfying. I would recommend this to a vegetarian that is looking to spicy up their menu, but probably not to a meat eater (I couldn't get the husband to try them)!" ~Annah

"I LOVED these, I was actually talking to Annah on the phone while I started to make them and couldn't keep my hands out of the raw meatless meatball batter (a few raw eggs never hurt anyone, oh wait.. they did?) I didn't follow the directions to well and just threw all the ingredients into the food processor and ground it all up at once, which left my batter a little runny, so I added a cup of mozzarella cheese. By the time I got it out of the oven and piled in on my po-boy roll with a bunch of pizza sauce, it was true vegetarian love!" ~Colleen 

"This is by far the best vegetarian meal that we have ever had." ~my meat-loving husband  

Chipotle Bean Burritos

Colleen's Take: "I enjoyed this dish immensely, I felt it was fulfilling vegetarian option & it made me feel like I was eating out at a mexican restaurant (without the added cost & fat). My husband was once again begging for some meat but I just ignored him. I did end up making 3 avocados and used my own little guacamole recipe."

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 (15-ounce) can organic black beans, drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, drained
• 3 tablespoons refrigerated fresh salsa
• 6 (10-inch) reduced-fat flour tortillas (such as Mission)
• 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese
• 1 1/2 cups chopped plum tomato (about 3)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
• 6 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
• 6 tablespoons light sour cream

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in chile powder and salt; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/3 cup water and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in salsa. Partially mash bean mixture with a fork.

2. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/3 cup bean mixture into center of each tortilla. Top each serving with about 2 1/2 tablespoons cheese, 1/4 cup tomato, 1/4 cup lettuce, 1 tablespoon onions, and 1 tablespoon sour cream; roll up.

Original recipe sourced from Cooking Light Magazine  

Pea Risotto with Squashy Soufflé

• 1 stick  (4 oz.) butter
• 2 1/2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
• 1 1/4 cups arborio rice
• 1 lemon, finely zested
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 1/2 cups frated parmesan
• 1 cup frozen petite peas, thawed
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 2 packages  (10 oz. each) frozen pureed winter squash, thawed
• 4 eggs, separated

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the broth and 2 1/2 cups water to a low simmer; cover.
2. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish. In a saucepan, melt 2 tbsp. butter over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until softened, 3 minutes Stir in the rice and 1/2 cup of the broth mixture, stirring constantly until the liquid is mostly absorbed. Continue adding the broth in 1/2-cup increments, stirring until nearly absorbed before adding more, and adjusting the heat to maintain a simmer, for about 20 minutes total. Stir in the lemon zest and 1 tsp. thyme. If the rice is still firm, stir in more broth and cook longer.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in 2 tbsp. butter, 1/2 cup cheese and the peas; season with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish, then refrigerate until cold (up to 1 day).
4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees . In a medium saucepan, melt the remaining 4 tbsp. butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour for 2 minutes. Whisk in half of the milk until smooth, then gradually whisk in the rest to make a thick sauce; cook, stirring, for 1 minutes. Whisk in half of the squash puree and remove from the heat.
5. Whisk the egg yolks into the remaining squash puree, then stir into the sauce with the remaining 1 tsp. thyme, 2 cups cheese and 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper.
6. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt just until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whites into the squash mixture until no white streaks remain; spread evenly onto the cold risotto. Bake until the top is golden-brown and the souffle is cooked through, 45 minutes. Let sit loosely covered with foil for 15 minutes before serving.

Annah's Take: "There were a lot of first with this recipe.It was my first time for making risotto and a souffle. I was really excited that I was actually able to make these two dishes without them being really disgusting. I would say this recipe is for an intermediate cook and someone that has time to be in the kitchen for two days. I was tasting the recipe as I went and I would say that the risotto right off the stove was delicious. The first day I made the risotto and it sat in the fridge overnight as the recipe called for, and the next day I made the souffle and assembled the dish. The souffle puffed up a little, but not as much as it should have. The first night we had it the recipe was very strong in lemon flavor. So much so the husband said, "I feel like I am eating lemon meringue pie with rice". Needless to say he did not like it and has refused to eat anymore of it. I would say that I have enjoyed it more after it has sat in the fridge for a couple of days. The lemon flavor is not as over powering and I like the creaminess of the souffle on top of the risotto. This won't be added to my monthly recipes, but I might try it again with a little less lemon and when I am having company over. After having the chance to make this risotto it has made me not so scared of the dish and I think I will try more in the future."

Colleen's Take: "It might be the mood I am in lately, but this recipe really pissed me off. First off I couldn't find the squash, I went to 3 different stores talked to the frozen produce employees who all informed me that they, 'no longer sell that product'. I ended up buying a butternut squash and microwaving it for 20 minutes until it was soft & then I tupperwared it until it was time to make. I was also incredibly annoyed that it took two days to cook. I don't have two days to cook one meal. 

this picture was obviously take before I ate it.. 

On that note this was also my first time cooking with risotto and it's not as 'easy' as the tv chefs always make it sound. It was very time consuming and with my infant on the ground growling at me didn'thelp much. BUT the only redeeming quality to this meal was the risotto, it was delish. UNTIL it got covered in that squashy mess that 'had' to go on top. I give this recipe two big thumbs down!"

 (now what do I do with all the leftovers?)