Whole Wheat Tortilla Chips

It's so easy to make your own healthy tortilla chips. No frying needed. You bake lightly oiled tortillas in a hot oven and you have crunchy, crispy healthy chips. Best of all, you can flavor them any way you want.

Some whole wheat tortillas are thick. These don't work as well for chips. I like the ones made for wraps. I found The Ole brand of Extreme Wellness High Fiber-Low Carb Tortilla Wraps work really well because they are very thin. All those "health" words in there are not necessary. Find a brand that is thin and whole wheat. That's what is important.

The seasoning is up to you:

• Really simple: just salt
• Simple and sweet: cinnamon-sugar. Equal parts ground cinnamon and sugar
• Savory: any ground spice and salt. Blends like chili powder work well. I used a blend called Mapuche seasoning from the Savory Spicy Shop. It's based on a Chilean spice blend, and contains cumin, coriander, smoked sweet paprika and chile.

The method: heat your oven or toaster oven to 400°F. Brush or spray the tortilla with oil. Sprinkle lightly with seasonings. Cut into wedges. Place on a rack and bake for about 5 minutes. Turn them over and continue baking until crispy. Watch at the end of baking because they can burn at the edges. Store in an airtight container to keep them crisp.

Roasted Chicken with Fennel

I'm participating in the VegOut! campaign from Recipe for Success. It's a positive way to say "Eat Your Veggies!" Try a bunch of different vegetables - the goal is 30 veggies in 30 days - and see how you like them. Find some new ones you may not have known you liked and just eat more of them. Americans don't eat a lot of vegetables. Research shows that eating them is good for your health. You may be surprised to learn that you don't need to eat a lot of them - a meta-analysis showed that 4 servings a day is the sweet spot. Less than 4 is sub-optimal but more than 4 didn't seem to confer any greater health. So, get to 4. It's not that hard to eat that many. Stick to ones you like, nothing wrong with that. But, eat more of them!

This recipe uses a somewhat unusual vegetable: fennel. Fennel has a subtle licorice taste. You can eat it cooked or raw. It's used a lot in Italian cuisine where it goes by the charming name of Finocchio.

Note: This dish needs to marinate overnight for the full development of flavor.

Chicken Roasted with Ginger, Fennel, and Tomatoes
(serves 4-6)

Rub
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoons grated ginger
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, lightly crushed (see Note)
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

4 - 6 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on (about 2 pounds)
1 head of garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 head of fennel, cored and sliced thinly
1 large onion, thickly sliced
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup dry white wine or vermouth
2 Tablespoons olive oil
salt and black pepper

Combine all the rub ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the chicken thighs with this, making sure you get most of it between the skin and the flesh of each thigh. Place the thighs in a large (big enough to hold the chicken and all the vegetables which you'll add later) glass or ceramic baking and marinate, covered, in the fridge overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Scatter the garlic, fennel, onion, and tomatoes around the chicken. Pour in the wine, drizzle the oil on the veggies, and season the whole thing with more salt and black pepper. Cover with foil. Bake for 1 ½ hours until chicken is completely cooked. Remove the foil and increase the oven temperature to 450°F. Put the chicken back in the oven and roast at this higher temperature until the skin gets browned and crispy. Serve over rice or roasted potatoes.

Note: To crush fennel seeds, smash them with the flat bottom of a skillet.

Meatless Monday: Cauliflower Marranca

It's not particularly photogenic, but it tastes really good!

A recipe from the original Moosewood Cookbook. Made a few changes - added tomatoes, used quinoa, measured the added fat, and added the crunchy topping. I'm not against fat but it does carry a heavy caloric punch. You need some to carry flavor and give richness but I see no point in gilding the lily, as my mom would say. The original gave no amounts for the fat (butter in the original) at all.

This is a good recipe to use up bits of cheese. Two cups is enough, but you can add a bit more, if you want to use up what you've got.

Cauliflower Marranca
(serves 6-8)

non-stick cooking spray
1 pound mushrooms, chopped or sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
3 ½ Tablespoons oil, divided
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
½ teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets and core cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
black pepper
1 Tablespoon fresh or frozen chopped basil
3 cups cooked quinoa or brown rice
2 - 2 ¾ cups grated cheese (jack, mozzarella, cheddar, manchego)
¼ cup dry bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Heat 1 ½ Tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and onion. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice, and the oregano. Cook until most of the liquid evaporates. Add ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Pour all this into a large bowl.

Wipe out the pan, add 1 ½ Tablespoon oil, and heat over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, cook for 30 seconds, then add the cauliflower and 2 Tablespoons water. Cover tightly and reduce the heat to medium. Steam cauliflower until tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into bowl with mushrooms. Add chopped basil, cooked quinoa/rice, and cheese. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, if needed.

Pour into the prepared dish, cover, and bake for 25 minutes (35 minutes if the grain is cold). Combine the bread crumbs with ½ Tablespoon oil and mix until all the crumbs are moistened. Raise the temperature of the oven to 425°F. Sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over the top of the casserole. Return to the oven, uncovered, to bake until top is browned and crunchy, about 10 minutes.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes. It is very hot right out of the oven and it's easier to serve if allowed to set up.

Best if reheated in the oven to keep the topping crunchy but it reheats OK in the microwave too.

Adapted from Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen, Ten Speed Press, 1977.

Meatless Monday: Spinach Lasagne

Previously, I posted a recipe for meatless Spinach Lasagne that is "baked" in the microwave. Here's a similar recipe that is cooked in the oven and it uses no-boil noodles. This makes the recipe easier, though the time is about the same. You have to give the noodles time to cook once it's assembled but you don't have to deal with cooking the noodles ahead.

Oven-Baked Spinach Lasagne
(serves 6-8)

9 no-boil lasagne noodles (2" wide by 10" long)
non-stick cooking spray
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 ½ cups water
1 Tablespoon vegetable stock concentrate or dry vegetable soup mix
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon black pepper
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
12 ounces frozen spinach, thawed but not drained
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese, a 16 ounce container
2 eggs
8 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (2 cups)
½ cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a 9"x 11" baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Sauté onion for 4 minutes. Add garlic, cook for another minute. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, vegetable soup mix, salt, sugar, basil, oregano, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Keep warm while you mix up the filling.

Combine the spinach, cottage cheese and eggs in a medium bowl.

To assemble, lay 3 noodles in dish  Ladle on ⅓ of the sauce, ½ the spinach mixture, then sprinkle on ¾ cup of mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, finishing with another 3 noodles covered by the remainder of the sauce, making sure that the noodles are completely covered. Cover tightly with foil.

Bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and sprinkle on the last ½ cup mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Bake for 10 more minutes. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving to allow cheese to set up which makes lasagne easier to cut.

Freezes well.

Maple Apple Crisp

Here's a dessert recipe that uses our low sugar granola. Any of the variations will do, but don't use granola that contains dried fruit. The fruit will dry out too much during baking. I don't mix in the dried fruit until I eat my granola for breakfast, a suggestion from my dear friend Deb of Kiger Family Vineyard. If you mix as you go, you always have fruit-free granola on hand. I used my latest seasonal granola recipe, pumpkin pie spice granola, and it was delicious!

I like to mix up the apples in my crisp. Some varieties stay crunchy, some soften when baked. Some are tart, some sweet. If you mix them up, I think the texture and flavor is better, but use what you have. Here's a handy guide to apples to help you select apples you'll like.

Maple Apple Crisp
(serves 8)

non-stick cooking spray
1 cup granola without dried fruit
½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
⅓ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into about 16 chunks
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 medium apples
⅓ cup real maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 9"x9"x2"  baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the granola, oats, brown sugar, nuts, and ground cinnamon. With your fingers, crumble the butter into the dry ingredients until there are no big chunks.

Put the lemon juice in a large bowl. Peel, core, and slice each apple and place in the bowl. Toss with lemon juice to prevent browning. When all the apples are sliced, pour over maple syrup and stir to coat apple slices with syrup. Pour it into the prepared dish. Spread the granola mix on top, covering the apples completely. Bake for 45 minutes until apples are tender when pierced with a knife.

Adapted from a recipe in Apple Cookbook by Olwen Woodier, Storey Publishing, 2001.

Vegetarian Pastitsio

Here's a great tip for the vegetarians out there for adapting the traditional Pastitsio recipe I posted earlier this week. Instead of using 1 pound of ground meat, substitute 1 ½ pounds chopped mushrooms. Mushrooms have a savory flavor and substantial texture, making them a great meat substitute. You won't need to pour off any fat because mushrooms have next to none. In fact, I would increase the olive oil to 4 Tablespoons to make them a bit richer. The rest of the recipe stays the same.

Photo credit: By wikioticsIan (Mushrooms (cremini)) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Spinach and Rice Casserole

Another recipe for my Greek class. It draws from the very popular Spanakopita which is a Greek spinach pie. Spanakopita is made with phyllo dough but that's not the easiest thing to deal with for beginning cooks. Here, we make it easier by mixing the spinach filling with some brown rice. This is a stick-to-your-ribs vegetarian entree.

Frozen spinach comes in packages ranging from 10 oz to 16 oz. Use whatever you can find. You do need to thaw it and drain it, but no need to squeeze out the water, as is usually done with spinach filling recipes.

Spinach and Rice Casserole
(serves 6-8)

about 5 cups cooked brown rice*

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

4 eggs
1 cup low fat or whole milk
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, about 4 oz.
1 cup crumbled feta cheese, about 4 oz.
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons chopped dill
1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
½ teaspoon black pepper

non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and spinach. Cook for a few minutes until heated through. Remove from the heat, transfer to a large bowl, and allow to cool for a few minutes, so you don't scramble the eggs when you mix them into the spinach. Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Beat the milk into the eggs. Add this and the remaining ingredients into the spinach and stir to combine. Spread into the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature; refrigerate any leftovers.

*Cook 1 ¾ cups raw brown rice in 3 ¼ cups water to yield 5 cups of rice. Depending on the rice, they take 40-50 minutes to cook. If you cooked the rice ahead and it is cold, zap it for a minute to warm it up. Precooked brown rice cooks up in less time than white rice and is a good option if you want this dish in under an hour. Check the box for how much rice you need to cook because the yield is different than for raw brown rice.

Pastitsio - Greek Baked Pasta

This is a Greek version of lasagna. It is similar to many Italian versions except:

• It is not made with flat noodles. It's always made with elbow macaroni.
• The red meat sauce, usually lamb but could be beef,  is flavored with cinnamon.
• It isn't heavy on cheese. The richness comes from a cheaters* béchamel, a white sauce made with milk and enriched with eggs.

It is familiar, and yet not. The cinnamon is the secret flavor which makes it totally unlike any Italian lasagna.

This recipe makes a lot. It's rather a production, so that's a good thing. You can freeze it or you can share it with your friends. You can eat it for breakfast, if you like. I have!

Because there are a number of components and steps, it's important to read through the whole recipe to understand what happens when. You want to wait until you are ready to assemble the casserole to cook the pasta. Otherwise, it will be over-cooked and mushy.

Pastitisio

(serves 8-10)

Meat Sauce

½ Tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground beef or ground lamb, or a combination of the two

1 large onion, chopped

½ cup dry red wine

½ cup tomato sauce

3 Tablespoons tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon dried oregano

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained

1 pound elbow macaroni

salt for pasta cooking water

White Sauce

2 Tablespoons butter

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

½ cup cold water

3 cups whole milk

¾ teaspoon salt

4 eggs, beaten in a medium bowl

2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

ground cinnamon for garnish

non-stick cooking spray

Spray a 9"x13" lasagne pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground meat and cook until starting to brown. Drain off the fat to leave about 1 Tablespoon. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, under softened. Add the remaining meat sauce ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the remaining components are complete. Make sure to taste it for salt. If the sauce is bland, the casserole will be bland, so season well.

While the sauce is simmering, bring a pot of salted water to boil. 

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Dissolve the cornstarch in water. Add the milk, cornstarch, water, and salt to the saucepan. Cook until the sauce starts to thicken, stirring to prevent sticking and scorching. The sauce will not thicken until the milk comes to a boil. Remove the sauce from the heat and pour about 1 cup of it into the beaten eggs, stirring to combine. Then add the rest of the sauce to the eggs, mixing well. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cook the macaroni until just under-done, about 7-8 minutes. Drain well. Place ½ the macaroni in the lasagne pan. Pour the meat sauce evenly over the macaroni. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the grated cheese. Spread on the rest of the macaroni. Pour the white sauce over the pasta, spreading it evenly. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and  ground cinnamon. Bake for 45 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes before trying to cut.

Tastes even better reheated the next day.

*It's a cheaters version because a classic béchamel is thickened with a roux, a mix of butter and flour. This one uses cornstarch, which also helps to stabilize the proteins in the eggs, keeping them from scrambling in the hot sauce.

Chicken Potato Enchiladas

Another class tonight at CU. We're cooking easy Mexican. The menu is Guacamole, Salsa Fresca, Chicken-Potato Enchildadas, and Rice with Beans & Salsa. We made Cheesy Chicken Enchildadas during our first year of classes back in 2011. Since I am incapable of making the same recipe twice (just kidding, though it's very rare), I had to mix it up. This recipe has less cheese, potatoes, and the sauce is chunkier. I tested this recipe with frozen green chiles. In many places, there are no frozen green chiles, but here in Colorado we have a choice and I would pick frozen every time. Use what you can find and use the heat level that you prefer. I have found that the canned mild chiles are milder than the mild frozen. If you don't like spicy, stick to mild canned chiles.

Chicken-Potato Enchiladas

(serves 4)

Green Chile Sauce

2 Tablespoons oil

2 Tablespoons flour or masa harina (see Note)

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup thawed frozen green chiles or 8 oz. canned diced chiles

1 Tablespoons dried minced onion

1 cup water or chicken stock

¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour or masa and stir. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add cumin, onion, and chiles, stir, and cook for another minute. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir. Bring to a boil, reduce to heat to low, and simmer for at least 10 minutes.

Enchiladas

2 cups frozen O'Brien potatoes (cubed potatoes with onions and peppers)

½ teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

8 corn tortillas

rest of a 13 oz. container of frozen green chiles or 4 oz. canned diced chiles

1 ½ cup cooked chicken

1 cup shredded jack cheese (about 4 oz.)

Warm up tortillas so you can roll them: Heat oven to 250°F. Wrap tortillas in aluminum foil. Heat for 20 minutes. Keep wrapped until ready to roll enchiladas.

Increase oven temperature to 350°F. Place potatoes in a microwaveable bowl, cover, and cook on HIGH for 1 ½ minutes. Stir in oil and cumin. Cook for another minute. Transfer to a large bowl. Add salt, pepper, green chiles, cooked chicken, and ½ cup cheese. Mix to combine.

Spread ½ cup sauce in the bottom of a rectangular (8"x10" or 9"x11") baking dish. Lay a tortilla flat on a cutting board. Place about ½ cup of the filling on tortilla along the diameter. Roll up and place in baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with the rest of tortillas. Pour the rest of the sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle on remaining cheese. Bake until hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes. If you want the cheese to brown, increase temperature to 400°F at the end and bake until cheese has browned, another 5 minutes. You can also put it under the broiler for a minute or two to brown if you have used a baking dish that can go under the broiler.

Note: Masa harina is the corn flour used to make corn tortillas and tamales. If you are avoiding gluten, it makes a great thickener here. It also adds a special flavor because masa has a distinctive taste that is singularly Mexican.

Meatless Monday: Apricot Baked Tofu

This one is really easy. It's better if you plan ahead and freeze the tofu. That improves the texture of the tofu a lot by getting rid of more water. You can skip the freezing and just press slices of tofu between layers of toweling to remove some of the water, but it's worth it to think ahead a little and freeze it.

The flavor is a little tart, and a little sweet. The fruit is delicious with the tofu, and the mayo adds richness.

Apricot Baked Tofu
(serves 4, costs $3.60)

14-16 oz. firm tofu
4 Tablespoon mayonnaise (regular or low-fat)
2 Tablespoon ketchup
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon vinegar (white, cider vinegar, or rice)
½ teaspoon salt or seasoned salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
3 Tablespoon apricot or peach jam or preserves
non-stick cooking spray
1 peach or nectarine, sliced into 12 slices or ½ mango, sliced

Slice the tofu into 6 slices, each about ¾" thick. Place on a small cookie sheet and freeze. It takes about 2 hours to freeze, but you can freeze it overnight if that is more convenient. Remove from the freezer and allow to thaw about 30 minutes. Lay 3 layers of paper towels on a rack, place the tofu on top, and cover with another 3 layers of paper towels. Cover with a plate and put something heavy like a bag of flour or a big can of tomatoes on the plate. Place the whole thing in the sink or on a plate to let the water drip off. Let sit for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, ketchup, garlic powder, vinegar, salt, pepper, and apricot preserves.

Spray a small cookie sheet (you can use the one you froze the tofu on; just wipe it dry) with non-stick cooking spray. Place the tofu slices in one layer and very close together on the cookie sheet. Spread ¾ of the mayo mixture on top. Spread the fruit slices on top in one layer. Spread on the rest of the mayo mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve over rice.

Baked Meaty Pasta

Don't you love recipes where you dump the pasta in with everything else, and it magically cooks just right? I do! I used ground bison, you could use any ground meat: beef, lamb, turkey, chicken, even vegetarian "meat." This is extremely simple and extremely satisfying, with a layer of gooey cheese on top. Gets even better on reheating.

This recipe uses homemade creamed spinach, which is easy to make. You make a Bechamel sauce (a milk sauce thickened with butter and flour, one of the classic French sauces) and mix in chopped spinach. You could use a package of frozen creamed spinach, but it's so easy to make your own, why not make it from scratch? Tastes a lot fresher too.

Baked Meaty Pasta
(serves 6-8, costs $9.50, though the cost will vary depending on meat used)

non-stick cooking spray
1 pound ground meat
about 1 teaspoon salt
about ½ teaspoon black pepper
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons dried minced onion
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 cups water
8 ounces dry penne, regular or whole-wheat
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon flour
1 cup milk (skim, low-fat or whole)
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (see Note)
4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese, about 1 cup

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 3 quart baking casserole dish with non-stick baking spray and set aside.

Spray non-stick cooking spray on a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the ground meat and brown. Break up the big chunks into small pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Add in the tomatoes, garlic powder, dried onion, oregano, basil, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and water. Stir to combine and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Spoon enough sauce into the baking dish to cover the bottom. Add the penne. Spoon the rest of the sauce over the penne.

In the same skillet that you cooked the sauce in (no need to clean it out), melt the butter. Add the flour and stir to combine. Add the milk, stirring to smooth out the lumps. Cook until the milk thickens. Add the spinach, stirring to combine. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour spinach over sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes until the casserole is hot and bubbly. Sprinkle on the cheese and return to the oven, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.

Note: Instead of frozen spinach, you can use a 10 ounce package of fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped, or 2 cups cooked broccoli. You can even use a combination, which is what I used.

Simple Cinco de Mayo Chicken

This is a delicious and unbelievably simple way to cook chicken. The recipe is inspired by one from Rick Bayless. He uses a tomatillo sauce but it works just as well with a spicy tomato-green chile sauce. Serve this over rice or pasta to soak up the sauce. There is a lot of sauce, but that is not a problem. It is delicious and rich. You can use the leftover sauce in something else, like our chilaquiles, or mix in some cooked beans and serve over pasta to stretch in into a whole other meal.

Roasted Chicken in Spicy Chicken Sauce
(serves 6, costs $11)

1 recipe of Spicy Tomato Sauce - the Mexican version, heated
3 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken parts, whatever kind you like
salt and pepper
½ cup heavy cream
8 - 10 sprigs cilantro, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Pour the hot tomato sauce in a baking dish or large skillet. Lay the chicken pieces in the sauce, skin side up. You don't want to submerge the chicken because you want it to roast, not braise. Season the chicken with salt and black pepper. Place in the hot oven, uncovered and roast for 25-35 minutes, until cooked through. Make a cut into the thickest part of a piece of chicken to make sure it's done all the way through - the juices should run clear and there should be no pink.

When the chicken is done, remove the chicken from the pan to a clean plate. Stir in the heavy cream. Taste for salt; add more if the sauce needs more. Return the chicken to the pan, sprinkle with cilantro, if desired, and serve.

Meatless Monday: Chickpeas and Cauliflower in a Spicy Tomato Sauce

This is my yummy Indian breakfast

This is an easy East Indian-like baked dish. Chickpeas and Cauliflower are very common Indian ingredients. This can be as spicy as you like. It's flavorful without the chile so you can leave it out, if you don't like spicy.

Chickpeas and garbanzos are the same thing. Sometimes they are labeled one, sometimes the other. You can buy dried ones (they are even cheaper than canned) and cook them yourself, but you'll need to plan ahead. They take quite a while to soak and cook. See the note at the end of the recipe if you want to use dried chickpeas.

The recipe for the tomato sauce is here. It comes together in about 15 minutes, cooking in the microwave. You can make it ahead but reheat it before using it in this recipe.

Queso Fresco is a fresh Mexican cheese. We used it as a substitute for paneer in our recipe for Saag. It's very mild. You can make this without the cheese. It's still very good but you may need to add a bit more salt since the cheese adds salt.

Chickpeas and Cauliflower in a Spicy Tomato Sauce
(serves 6, costs $12.25)

1 recipe Spicy Tomato Sauce - Indian version, heated
non-stick cooking spray, oil or butter for greasing baking dish
4 cups raw cauliflower florests (about 1 small head or ½ a large head)
2 15 oz. cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained (about 3 ¾ cups)
½ pound queso fresco, cubed + plus more for garnish
½ teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley (about 6 large sprigs)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a large, deep casserole dish (about 3 quarts). Pour in tomato sauce. Mix in cauliflower, garbanzos, and queso fresco. Bake for 30-40 minutes, uncovered. The sauce will be all bubbly and the cauliflower will be crisp-tender. Sprinkle with melted butter, chopped herbs, and additional cheese, if desired.

Inspired by recipes from Moghul Microwave by Julie Sahni and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.

Note: If you want to start with dried chickpeas, here are instructions for cooking them. I try to use home-cooked beans because they have a better texture and are really, really inexpensive.

For this recipe, you will need 1 ½ cups dried chickpeas. Place them in a large pot and add water until they are covered by at least an inch of water. Let sit overnight. You can do a quick soak but I find chickpeas cook better with a long overnight soak. Drain completely. Add fresh water to cover chickpeas by at least a water. If you want to add some flavoring, add a couple of bay leaves and dozen whole peppercorns. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cover partially and simmer for 45 minutes. Try a few chickpeas. If they are tender, drain, pick out the bay leaves and peppercorn, and you are ready to proceed with the recipe. If they still have a little crunch, cook 5-10 minutes more and try again.

Sunday Night Dinner: Salmon with a Potato Topping

Looking for something a little special for Sunday night dinner? Here's a delicious idea. The salmon is covered with some mashed potatoes and baked. There are a few steps, but it's all easy. It's also a foolproof way of cooking an expensive piece of fish.

These days, you usually get salmon fillets with the skin still on. Get the person at the fish counter to remove it for you. This will save you a bit of trouble when you get home.

Baked Salmon with Scallion-Potato Topping
(serves 4, costs $15, highly variable depending in the cost of salmon)

¾ pound russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
¼ cup milk
½ Tablespoon butter
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil for greasing baking dish
1 ¼ pounds salmon fillet
salt and pepper for seasoning salmon
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Boil the potatoes in enough water to cover them until they are soft, about 20 minutes. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the vegetable oil in a small skillet and saute the scallions and garlic until the scallions are wilted. Set aside.

Heat oven to 425 F°.

Drain the potatoes and mash with a fork. Add in milk, butter, ¼ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon pepper, and scallion-garlic mixture. Mash to combine.

Oil an 8x8" baking dish. Place the salmon fillet in the dish and season with salt and pepper. Evenly spread the mashed potatoes oven the salmon fillet. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

Bake the fish for 18-20 minutes. Cut into 4 pieces and serve.

Adapted from Jane Brody's Good Seafood Book, W.W. Norton & Company, 1994.

Jalapeno-Glazed Chicken

Next week, we have another class at CU. The theme is chicken, requested by the students. Chicken is quick, easy, versatile, and reasonably priced. That makes it a popular choice with time-strapped students on a budget. We'll be posting the recipes we are cooking next week right after the class, but we'll get things started with a very easy but intensely flavored dish.

It's a Mexican-inspired recipe that takes advantage of the sweet and spicy flavors of jalapeno jelly. Jalapeno jelly is not terribly hot but it is very flavorful. You can use green or red jalapeno jelly. The red version is less grassy and herbal tasting than the green. If you don't like cilantro, substitute parsley.

Jalapeno-Glazed Chicken Breasts
(serves 4)

⅔ cup jalapeno jelly, about 7 ounces
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 chicken breasts halves, preferably with skin (about 1 pound total)
salt and black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine jalapeno jelly, cilantro, and vinegar in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring, until jelly is dissolved. Keep warm.

Place chicken in a 8x5" baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Bake, skin side up, for 25 minutes. Spoon glaze over chicken and bake for another 5 minutes. Serve with remaining glaze.

Baked Rice

Here at School of Eating Good, we want to give you information that makes cooking easy. Like how to make rice, which isn't quite as easy to prefect as most people think. We previously posted an article on cooking rice in the microwave. It's pretty solid, but because microwaves have different power ratings, you need to watch it the first time and possibly tweak it. That makes it imperfect in our mind but if all you have is a microwave, it's great.

Most folks have an conventional oven, however. And baked rice is literally foolproof. You start it just like rice on the stove-top but you finish it in a very hot oven.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

For 1 cup of rice, bring 1 ½ cups water (or stock, if you prefer) to a boil in an ovenproof medium saucepan. Add the rice and stir. Cover and place in the oven. Bake for 17 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. It will keep warm for another 15 minutes.

Chilaquiles for Cinco de Mayo

Saturday is Cinco de Mayo and I thought I would share one of my favorite Mexican dishes: chilaquiles. In Mexico, chilaquiles are a breakfast item designed to use up stale corn tortillas. When I vacationed in Mexico, I ate it every single day for breakfast. It's a delicious combination of corn tortillas, chiles, tomatoes, and cheese, though, the recipe is pretty adaptable to what you have on hand. This recipe could be a breakfast dish, but it's more like a Mexican lasagna, which makes it a hearty dinner dish. It is a great way to use up stale corn tortillas, or tortilla chips. If you don't have stale tortillas, it's easy to toughen up fresh ones by baking them at 350°F for 10 minutes. You want them dried out so they soak up the tomato sauce.

Chilaquiles
(serves 4, total cost is $5.35)

1 ½ Tablespoons oil
½ medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 10 to 16 oz. can Mexican tomatoes (tomatoes with green chiles, such as Ro-tel brand)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
6 stale tortillas, torn into bite-sized pieces
½ cup sour cream (lite or regular)
4 oz. colby or jack cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent and golden. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add pinto beans, Mexican tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Cook for 10 minutes, then remove from heat.

Grease a 8x8x2 inch baking dish with a little bit of oil. Spread ½ of the tortilla pieces in the bottom of the dish. Spread with ½ the tomato-bean sauce. Put on ½ the sour cream in 4 blobs and spread over tomato sauce. Sprinkle on ½ the cheese. Repeat the layers. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until hot, bubbly, and starting to brown. Serve.

Avocados or guacamole are a delicious garnish for this dish.

Muffins for Two

Having gotten pretty excited about coming up with a recipe for only 6 cookies, I decided to use the same concept to make only a couple muffins. I decided that the first muffin recipe to perfect is one that can be used as a base for many flavors, such as blueberry or chocolate chip. I must say that this was definitely an exercise in the scientific method. I’d modify my base recipe by decreasing the oven temperature and the next day I’d use the leftover egg (even covered and refrigerated, an egg is only good for about 24 hours after it’s cracked open) and change the amount of sugar. Maybe later that day I’d work on the right amount of baking powder. After several days of this, my husband commented one morning “Another day, another muffin!”.

It definitely was worth the effort. This recipe makes 2 reasonably sized muffins; not the ginormous ones that you feel sick and guilty about after eating, and not so small that you gobble up the only other one. Try it out. In less than a half hour you can have a wonderful homemade treat. And, you won't be eating the same muffins for days!

Muffins for Two

 

Basic muffin batter:

½ cup flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 Tablespoon well-beaten egg (see Note)

2 Tablespoons milk

2 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

¼ teaspoon vanilla

Note: to measure the egg, beat it first to combine the white and yolk, then measure.

Preheat oven to 375°. Place two paper muffin cups in a muffin tin (not right next to each other) or butter two of the muffin cups. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugars. In another small bowl or measuring cup, put egg, milk, butter, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.  Stir in the flavoring ingredients. Spoon half of the batter into the muffin tins and bake until lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

Some flavoring ideas:

¼ cup chocolate chips and 2 Tablespoons chopped, toasted walnuts

¼ cup frozen blueberries and ½ teaspoon lemon zest

¼ cup chopped peaches, 2 Tablespoons toasted sweetened coconut, and 2 Tablespoons toasted slivered almonds

Easy Mac and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is one of our favorite comfort foods. Nowadays, most of it comes out of a box, which is a bit sad since it's unbelievably easy to make it yourself. This recipe isn't the saucy variety but it is delicious and cheesy. You have to wait longer for it because it's baked but the actual work takes about 5 minutes.

Easy Mac & Cheese
(serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a side dish; total cost is $4.10)

1 cup Elbow Macaroni
2 cups Shredded Jack, Colby Or Cheddar Cheese, about 8 oz
1 tsp Butter + some to grease the dish
½ cup Milk (skim, lowfat or whole milk; half & half or cream work too if you want it really rich)
1 large Egg , beaten
½ tsp Salt
1 pinch Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water for 8 minutes. Drain well. Place in a buttered 4 cup baking dish or glass measure.

Add butter and mix to melt butter. Add 1 ½ cups cheese to macaroni and mix. Combine milk, egg, salt and pepper. Pour over macaroni. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Place in preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes until milk is absorbed and cheese is gooey.

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Warm gooey cheesy enchiladas - what a great dish for a chilly fall day. Here's a basic chicken enchiladas recipe that is very easy and very tasty.

We've included a recipe for green chile sauce and, of course, we recommend you make your own, seeing as we are all about cooking from scratch. It's not difficult and takes about 15 minutes. Keep some in the freezer. It's also good on scrambled eggs, chicken, a burger. It lacks a lot of unnecessary processed "extras" that are added to canned green chile sauce. And, really, it tastes a whole lot better.

















Green Chile Sauce (makes about 2 cups)

2 tbl Vegetable Oil, or butter
2 tbl Flour
8 ounces Chopped Green Chiles, use hot or mild or a mix of both based on your heat tolerance
1⁄4 cup Chopped Onion
1 3⁄4 cups Water
1⁄2 tsp Salt
1⁄4 tsp Ground Cumin
1⁄4 tsp Dried Oregano
1⁄4 tsp Garlic Powder
1⁄4 tsp Black Pepper

Heat oil over medium heat. Add flour and stir to combine. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Note: you can use fresh roasted and peeled chiles, frozen and thawed chiles, or canned chiles. The flavor is best with fresh or frozen but canned chiles are acceptable and readily available.

Chicken Enchiladas
(serves 4; total cost is $6.00)

1 recipe Green Chile Sauce, heated
8 Corn Tortillas
1⁄2 tbl Vegetable Oil
4 ounces Chopped Green Chiles
1 small Onion, diced
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1⁄2 tsp Salt
1⁄4 tsp Black Pepper
1 1⁄2 cups Shredded Cooked Chicken, about 8 oz before cooking
6 ounces Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded (about 1 1⁄2 cups)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Wrap the stack of tortillas in foil and place in the oven.

Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onion and green chile. Saute for 5 minutes, until onions are soft.

Dump onions in a bowl. Add chicken, cumin, salt and pepper, and 1⁄2 the cheese. Take the tortillas out of the oven and turn the oven up to 400 degrees.

Put about 1 cup of enchilada sauce in a 9x9" baking dish and spread in bottom of dish.

Remove a tortilla from the foil. It should be soft enough to roll up. Place it on flat surface and place 1⁄8 of the chicken mixture across the center. Roll the tortilla up and place in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas. They will all fit if you squeeze them together.

Spread the rest of green chile sauce on top of enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes until cheese is bubbly.