Mexi-Salad with Homemade Tortilla Strips

Looking for a way to pack a meal full of super foods and amazing flavors?  With quinoa, black beans, avocado, and much more, this is it.  Mexi-Salad is an ever evolving meal at our house; I never make it the same way twice, but every time it turns out amazing.  Below is the recipe for how I cooked it last night. 

Quinoa (pronounced "keen-wa") is one of the most nutritious of all whole grains.  It is high in fiber, iron, and has eight essential amino acids.  It comes in both white (or light tan) and red and is versatile and easy to cook - and provides a source of protein as well. I buy the Bob's Red Mill brand.  They rinse it before packaging.  If the brand you buy doesn't prerinse, do so in a cheese cloth.  It takes away any bitter flavoring. 

Mexi-Salad



1 cup quinoa (either color - I used white)
2 T. lime juice
3 tsp. cumin, divided, or more to taste
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1-2 cups fresh salsa
1 T. olive oil
spinach
tomatoes (pictured are both yellow and red cherry tomatoes)
1/2  red pepper, sliced
1/2 orange pepper, sliced
1 can sliced olives
2 cups frozen corn, heated
1-2 avocados, cubed
shredded cheese
4 tortillas
sea salt
olive oil or cooking spray for tortillas

Instructions:

In a one-cup measuring cup, add 2 T. lime juice and fill remainder with water.  Pour lime water and additional 1 c. water into a pan with 1-2 tsp. cumin (depending on taste).  Bring to a boil and add 1 c. quinoa.  Return to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 12 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand additional 10-15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray tortillas with olive oil or cooking spray and sprinkle with sea salt.  flip and repeat on other side.  Cut the tortillas into strips and lay out in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy and light brown.  Stir once while cooking. 

In a skillet, heat 1 Tbls. olive oil and add the black beans, 1-2 tsp. cumin, and salt and pepper to taste.  Saute over medium heat until beans are hot.  Add approx. 1/2 c. fresh salsa and continue cooking until mixture is warm.

Assemble the salad - start with a bed of spinach, add a scoop of the quinoa mixture and a scoop of the beans on top of that.  From there, add veggies to your taste preference (peppers, tomatoes, corn, olives, avocado, cheese, etc.).  Top with additional salsa if it needs additional sauce, and serve with warm tortilla strips.

Food for Thought:

I have never tried doing this as a freezer meal.  However, if I try, I would make the quinoa mixture and freeze in one container.  When reheating the quinoa, you might need additional moisture.  Also, the black bean mixture could be made ahead of time and frozen.  On cooking day, it would be just reheating those two items and serving over the fresh ingredients.  I may try that next time. 

This meal was great with my 2 year old as a way to encourage eating the rainbow.  He was able to pick out all the read, orange, yellow, and green foods and even ate a little bit of each!  Add some fresh blueberries and blackberries on the side, you have your whole rainbow for the day covered!

Gnocchi Alla Romana

These Roman-style gnocchi aren't the usual potato, ricotta, or squash kind. This recipe is for flat semolina gnocchi that is baked and served with a red sauce.  With a glass of red wine, delicious!

Gnocchi Alla Romana

Recipe from: Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson

5 ½ cups milk

¾ c. finely chopped dry packed sun-dried tomatoes

3 cups semolina flour

½ cup unsalted butter

1 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping

6 egg yolks

1 ½ tsp. fine grain sea salt

3 c. bright red tomato sauce (see below)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, clear a lot of counter space, and slather 2 9x13 baking dishes with butter.

Combine the milk and sun dried tomatoes in a large saucepan over medium heat, bring to a simmer, and simmer gently for 1 to 2 minutes, until the tomatoes have softened and rehydrated a bit.  Gradually stir in the semolina flour, mixing until it begins to pull away from the side of the pan; this takes a minute or so.  Remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in ¼ cup of the butter, ¾ c. of the parmesan, the egg yolks, and the salt.  If you let the yolks sit in the hot dough, they will cook and set up so work them in quickly.  Let cool for 5-10 minutes.

Put a layer of cold water on the countertop – more of a glaze than a puddle.  With wet hands, turn the gnocchi dough out onto the damp counter and spread into a ¾ inch thick slab.  Cut the dough into 1 ½ inch circles with a cookie cutter.  Gather up the scraps and press them out again until all the dough is used up.  If the dough is too tacky to stamp, let it cool for another 10 to 20 minutes.  Use a spatula to lift each gnocchi into the prepared baking dish, slightly overlapping each circle on the previous one – similar to a fanned deck of cards.  (Spread between 2 pans - the original recipe called for putting it in one dish but I found that it made way more than our family could eat and cooked a little better when split in two.)

Melt the remaining ¼ c. butter and drizzle it over the gnocchi.  Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan and bake covered for 25 minutes then uncovered for another 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. (Or, cover with plastic wrap and then foil, and then freeze.  Thaw in fridge and follow baking instructions above, remembering to remove plastic wrap before baking.)

About 5 minutes before the end of the baking time, warm the tomato sauce.  Dust the hot gnocchi with a little more parmesan, cut into individual portions, ladle tomato sauce over each, and serve piping hot.

Bright red tomato sauce

2 tbls. Extra virgin olive oil

1 ½ tsp. red pepper flakes

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. fine grain sea salt

1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes

Combine the olive oil, pepper flakes, garlic and salt in a sauce pan.  Over medium high heat, sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the garlic begins to take on the slightest bit of color.  Stir in the tomatoes, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and season with more salt to taste.

Enjoy right away or freeze in a freezer bag for later use.  When reheating, simply thaw in the fridge and heat in a sauce pan.

Food for Thought:

I added a pound of spicy turkey Italian sausage with the red sauce, simply because my family enjoys it.  Heidi Swanson is my latest favorite cook/blogger.  She writes the blog 101 Cookbooks.  Her cookbook, Super Natural Cooking, is part of my latest adventure into the world of more organic, whole grain cooking. She offers a lot of practical advice and tips on substituting more natural ingredients for highly processed ones.  I am really excited to try more of her recipes. 

Ground Turkey, Beans, and Corn Quesadillas

Ground Turkey, Beans, and Corn Quesadillas

1 lb. ground turkey
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 c. frozen corn
1 carrot, diced finely
1 c. salsa, plus more for serving
1 tsp. cumin (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp. dried chipotle chile
2 c. shredded cheese
10 tortillas
sour cream, avocado, and tomato (optional)

Instructions:

Brown ground turkey in a skillet over medium high heat.  Add carrot when about half cooked.  Add corn, black beans, salsa, cumin, and chipotle chile.  Simmer 5-10 minutes or until thickened.

On a skillet over medium heat, place one tortilla, some shredded cheese (approx. 2 tbls.), and a scoop of the turkey mixture.  Add a small amount of shredded cheese on top and then another tortilla.  Cook about 3-5 minutes and then flip when bottom side is crispy and golden.  Cook another 3-5 minutes on other side until hot and melted inside and outside is crispy and golden.  Continue process for remaining filling/tortillas.

Serve with avocado, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream.

Freezer cookers - you can freeze this in one of two ways.  You could make the filling and freeze that in a ziploc baggie, then thaw and cook quesadillas as directed above.  That is how I prefer to do it.  Another way would be to fully cook quesadillas, let cool, wrap in plastic wrap, and then in tin foil and freeze.  Then, either microwave or reheat in a pan.  However, they aren't as crispy as fresh made but a lot quicker... 

Food for Thought:
This is another recipe that is so easy to adapt to your family's needs.  We do chicken quesadillas, vegetarian ones, etc. based on what we have in the house or what everyone is in the mood for.  It's an easy go to meal for lunch too, when we have some tortillas, shredded cheese, and black beans in the house.  The boys like them and I know they are getting some good food in them.  :)

Black Bean and Beef Taquitos with Red Pepper

Black Bean and Beef Taquitos with Red Pepper

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 tsp. cumin
1 can diced tomatoes
1 red pepper diced
2 cups shredded taco cheese
8-10 whole wheat tortillas

Optional: tomatoes, avocado, salsa, sour cream

Instructions:
Cook beef, garlic, and onion until fulled browned.  Add black beans, corn, taco seasoning, cumin, and diced tomatoes.  Heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, wrap tortillas in damp paper towel and warm in microwave for 30-60 seconds. 

Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In each tortilla, add a scoop of beef mixture, some red pepper and shredded cheese.  Roll and place on cookie sheet.

After rolling each tortilla, spray all of them with cooking spray on top.

Bake taquitos for approximately 10-12 minutes, flip and bake additional 10-12 minutes until crisp.

Serve with optional ingredients.

If freezer cooking, freeze after filling tortillas.  Wrap each tortilla in wax paper and store in ziploc baggie.  Thaw on sprayed cookie sheet and then bake as described above.

Easy Pot Roast with Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Easy Pot Roast with Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Pot Roast Ingredients:
1 1/2 - 2 lb. beef roast
6 carrots, peeled
2-3 large baked potatoes, peeled and cut up
1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into quarters
1 package au jus seasoning

Brussel Sprouts Ingredients:
25-30 fresh brussel sprouts
approx. 1 tbls. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine roast, carrots, potatoes, onion, and au jus seasoning in slow cooker.  Add enough water to cover roast.

Set slow cooker on low for 8-10 hours

For brussel sprouts, cut ends off brussel sprouts and remove any yellow leaves. 

Place brussel sprouts in a ziploc bag with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Seal bag and shake to coat sprouts.

Spread brussel sprouts in single layer on baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 30-40 minutes.  Stir every 10 minutes to ensure even baking.  They are done when tender with some brown leaves.

Asian Chicken Stir Fry

Asian Chicken Stir Fry

4 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 c. soy sauce

1/4 c. canola oil

3 T. brown sugar

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 T. peanut butter

1/2 T. fresh ginger

Your choice stir fry veggies (pictured are carrots, broccoli, red pepper, and asparagus)

rice or Asian noodles

Instructions: (see freezer cooking instructions below)

Combine first 7 ingredients in Ziploc baggie.
Mix together and marinate for at least 1 hour before cooking.

Heat oil in a wok over medium high heat. 

Cook chicken, in marinade, for 3-5 minutes, until cooked through and juices run clear.

Set chicken aside.

Add veggies to wok with approx. 2 Tbls. water.  Cover and cook until veggies are tender-crisp, stirring occasionally for approximately 7-10 minutes.    Add chicken and sauce back to wok. 

If it needs additional sauce, combine same marinade ingredients (approximately 1/2 to 1/3 of original amounts), whisk together and pour over stir fry.

Serve over Asian noodles or rice.

Makes about 4-6 servings

For freezer cooking:

Combine chicken and marinade in one Ziploc baggie.  Cut all veggies and store in a separate bag.  Thaw chicken before cooking but keep veggies frozen until you cook them to maintain their crispness. 

Food for Thought:

Stir fry is one of the easiest ways to make a healthy meal at our house.  This marinade works well for pork, too.  I usually just throw together any veggies we have on hand for it or whatever sounds good.  My goal is usually a broad variety of colors when it comes to the veggies for a broader variety of nutrients!  To add a little kick to this rrecipe, add some chili paste or sambal oelek to taste.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Any meal that is complimented by my two-year-old is considered a winner at our house.  Why is it that his praise ranks higher than all others?  :) 

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Recipe from: Sarah Metzger

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 slice of ham for each breast
1 slice of Swiss cheese for each breast
2 large egg whites
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 TBSP Dijon mustard
2/3 cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Butterfly each chicken breast and open as a book. Lay a slice of ham and slice of cheese on each breast. Leave 1/2” of edge uncovered and close each piece using toothpicks.

In bowl, combine egg whites, buttermilk and mustard. Blend until creamy.

In a shallow bowl, combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Gently dip each piece of chicken in egg mixture, then into crumb mix.

If freezer cooking, freeze at this point and follow directions below after thawing chicken.

Set on backing rack or in baking dish with cooking spray and bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes.