Chili Con Carne

MM this was good. I severely burnt my mouth however because I was super excited and it was really really hot. So be careful. This is basically just chili... but with a little bit of mexican influence and on a whole other level.

Ingredients:
2 cloves of garlic
2-3 medium carrots
2-3 stick of celery
2 red peppers
olive oil
1 heaped tsp chili powder
1 heaped tsp ground cumin
1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon
salt & pepper
1 can of chickpeas
1 can of red kidney beans
1 can of tomatoes
1 lb ground beef
1 small bunch fresh coriander
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Serve with basmati rice, yogurt, guacamole & lime wedge

Directions:
1. Peel and chop onions, garlic, carrots and celery into very small pieces. The original instructions said "finely chop", but that seemed like a lot of work so I just cut them all very small. No need to be exact, just chop away.
2. Halve red peppers, remove seeds and stock. Roughly chop into bite site pieces.
3. Heat a pot (or deep dish pan) on medium-high heat. Add in about 1 tbs of olive oil and all the chopped veggies. Stir occasionally. When the vegetable begin to soften (5 or so minutes), add chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir every 30 seconds or so for a few more minutes.
4. Once the vegetables have softened and gained a little bit of color, add the drained chickpeas, drained kidney beans and tomatoes and mix. (At this point I was ready to eat it because it looked and smelled delicious).
5. Add in the raw ground beef and break any larger chunks up with a wooden spoon. Mix around. Fill the empty can of tomatoes half full of water. Add to pot. Mix. Add finely chopped coriander stocks, and put leaves aside.
6. Add balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer with a lid slightly askew for an hour. Stirring occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot.
7. Serve a top Basmati rice, with a dollop of plain greek yogurt, guacamole and coriander leaves.

Guacamole
Don't know how to make guacamole? SUPER easy. I find guacamole is different (but the same) almost anywhere you try it. It is almost always the same ingredients, but they change up the amount they use. Some places it super lime-y, some places it spicy, some places its garlicy. It is really all about taste. What you'll need:

ripe avocado
lime juice
salt & pepper
purple onion, chopped
hot sauce (Valentina, tabasco, sriracha - whatever you like... but preferably mexican) -
garlic powder (or real garlic chopped... but I was lazy)

Halve avocado, carefully remove the pit from one side. Scoop out the insides of both halves into a bowl. Begin to mush with a fork (or masher). If the avocado is ripe enough, a fork should be just fine. Add lime juice. Continue to mash or stir. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix. Tada!

As I mentioned, it is completely what you prefer which determines how much to put in. I like mine lime-y and garlic-y with a liiiiittle bit of a kick. Tonight I used 1/2 lime, 1/4 purple onion, 1/4 tsp Valentina hot sauce, 1/8th tsp garlic powder. Pinch of salt and pepper.

Black Bean and Quinoa Enchilada Bake

Oh boy, this was delicious.  Besides the two cups of cheese this is relatively good for you. It will be a new addition to my mexican meal rotation! 

Ingredients (serves 5-6 people)
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water (or chicken stock, or a combination of the two)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, seeds and ribs removed,diced
1 red pepper, seeds removed, diced
1 orange pepper, seeds removed, diced
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (approximately 1 and 1/2 cups) red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cheese (mexican cheese or cheddar mozzarella combo)
1 yellow pepper, seeds removed, diced
1 cup corn frozen kernels

Topped with avocado slices, chopped tomato and fresh cilantro! 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray (or a little vegetable oil) and set aside.

2. Add quinoa and water/stock to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over.  Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15-25 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Cover quinoa and set aside.

3. In a large skillet, heat the tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeño. Sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in the peppers and corn. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Add the lime juice, cumin, chili powder, and cilantro. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

4. In a large bowl, add the cooked quinoa and black beans. Add the sautéed vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Pour in the enchilada sauce and stir. Add 1 cup shredded cheese.

At this point I just wanted to eat it.... but I decided I'd continue to follow the recipe and let it bake. 

5.Pour the black bean and quinoa mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining shredded cheese. Cover the pan with foil. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove foil. Bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and edges are bubbling. I even tossed it under the broiler for a few minutes. Remove from the oven, and let cool for 10 minutes. Garnish with toppings, if desired. Serve warm.

Beef and Bean Burritos

Happy Cinco de Mayo! We had burritos planned for Tuesday until I realized today was Cinco de Mayo and thought it be more appropriate today. These were muy delicioso!! I was full after one but craving more and my brother helped himself to a second one.

Recipe below makes 4-5 burritos.

1 lb lean ground beef
1 white onion, chopped
1 can (246 ml) red enchilada sauce
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 can refried beans
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (plus extra for sprinkling)
1 package mexican rice (its a thing... from old el paso)
1 avocado (either made into guacamole or chopped if not ready for guac)
Shredded (chopped) lettuce
Source cream
Cilantro
Flour tortillas

Start the rice and follow the instructions on the box. The rice takes approximately 20 minutes to cook. Brown the beef in a frying pan over medium high heat. Once the meat begins to brown, add chopped onions. Cook for a few minutes and then add the cumin, oregano, chili and garlic powder. Cook for a minute. Add 1/2 the can of sauce. Reduce heat to low. Heat up refried beans in a pot. Add 1/3 of the cheese to the beans. Prepare your burrito... I did mine in this order: refried beans, rice, beef, cheese, avocado, lettuce. Fold the burrito closed and place in a baking pan, seam side down. Once you've prepared the 4-5 burritos, pour the remained on the enchilada sauce over top and sprinkle the remaining cheese. Cook under the broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Top with sour cream and cilantro.

Spicy Black Bean Chicken Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sour Cream Sauce

Well my sister and I made Spicy Black Bean Chicken Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sour Cream Sauce  (what a mouthful!) tonight instead of going to the gym. Whoops. Do I regret it? Not one bit. These were heavenly. I'm not sure how my dad did it, but he had 2 and a 1/2 helpings. He just liked it that much. I on the other hand was full after my one. That could have been due to eating the filling while making it...

Pumpkin in chicken enchiladas? But that's madness! Nope. Pure genius. It gave it that je ne said quoi.

The pumpkin sour cream sauce ingredients were followed. We just mixed them in a bowl instead of a good processor.

Instead of using a rotisserie chicken, we baked some chicken breasts and then shredded them with forks. Chicken was seasoned with some random delicious seasoning I can't remember right now.

We didn't spray the pan. Just put some of the pumpkin sauce on the bottom. We put the chicken into the black bean-onion mixture, as well as a big dollop of the pumpkin sauce, a handful or two of shredded cheese and some chopped cilantro. We thought this was a better way to get a mixture of everything in each bite instead of putting them in separately. After we put the enchiladas into the pan, we covered with the remaining pumpkin sauce and sprinkled with cheese.

We collectively decided this will be something we will be making again and again in our house!

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

I've been bookmarking taquito recipes since forever. I think they're the most delish little taco-like things. I finally got around to following through on making one of the booked marked recipes! I only had 2 tortillas left over however, so they're more just like rolled up tacos instead of skinny taquitos. I've recently found a website called chef-in-training which has a lot of yummy looking things on it. This is where I found the taquito recipe I made today! 

It may seem like a lot of work for a lunch dish, but I had defrosted chicken the night before which I didn't end up using, so I just marinated it with some chili powder, olive oil, lemon, garlic, salt and pepper and then tossed it in the oven. When it was done I shredded it with a fork.

I cut the recipe in half because I knew I only had two tortillas... probably should have cut it down a little more so my taquitos weren't so thick, but oh well! As for following the recipe:

• I didn't have green salsa, so I just used some 'regular' salsa that I had in the fridge. 
• I didn't have any cilantro and didn't feel like going to get any so I just skipped that. 
• I didn't have any Mexican flavoured cheese, so I just used regular cheddar! 

They're delicious. But definitely let them cool first as I just aggressively burned myself.