Hummus

This recipe is from the Joy of Cooking. It has a lemony light flavor. I really enjoyed it. I sent it with the kids for school lunch as a break from sandwiches.

Cover in water and let soak overnight:

3/4 cup dried chickpeas

Drain and place in a pan. Cover chickpeas by 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for about 2 hours. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid. Transfer the chickpeas to a food processor and blend along with:

1/3 cup lemon juice
3 T tahini (I couldn't find this, so I added 2 T sesame seeds)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp cumin
dash of salt

Black beans and rice

I have really been into the Mexican flavors lately, especially corn tortillas! This meal is so quick and easy, and CHEAP!

Place 6 corn tortillas on a cookie sheet and warm in the oven at about 200 degrees. While that warms you can be working on the rest of the meal.

Cook about 1 cup rice according to directions.

Saute for 5 minutes in 2 T oil:

1 celery stalk

1 pepper

2 garlic clove, chopped

1/4 cup onion

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

dash of chili pepper

dash of cumin

Then add and heat through:

1 can black beans, drained

Serve over hot rice

Top with chopped cilantro

Baked Southwestern Burritos

This recipe has been floating around pinterest as an egg roll recipe. I had a lot of tortillas I needed to get rid of, so I tried the recipe as a burrito instead. They were gooood!

Mix:


2 cups corn
1 can black beans, drained
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed, drained
2 cups mexican mix cheese
4 oz. diced green chiles
4 green onion
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne

Fold burrito around 1/4 cup mixture.

Spray sheet and spray tortillas, then salt.

Bake 425 for 15 minutes. Serve with warm salsa and sour cream.

Crispy Southwest Quesadillas with Guacamole dip

Life has gotten busy now that school is in session. I thought music practice ended when I was done with school. Now that I have children in music classes I find that I log about 1 1/2 hours a day practicing along side them. I hope I can at least post one recipe a month. I'll try!

This recipe came from this website http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/  ... I like to make quesadillas instead of wraps. I also replaced and edited a few ingredients. These are super yummy and very filling. If you want to use more legumes and less meat this is a good place to start!

The filling makes a lot! I use half for dinner and then store the other half for another dinner. You could also freeze the filling.

Cook:

1/2 cup rice (makes up 1, 1/2 cups when done)

Add to the cooked rice:

1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 can black beans, drained
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced

spread on tortilla with shredded cheddar cheese. Fold in half and grill on pancake griddle.

Guacamole

Blend:

2 avocados
1/4 cup cilantro
small tomato
1/2 tsp salt
1 lime, juiced

Gallo Pinto

This is a Costa Rican dish. Super easy and versatile. There are hundreds of ways to cook this. I found this one was very easy. I start the rice first so that it is ready to go. For 3 cups of rice you will use 3 cups of water and 1, 1/2 cups uncooked long grain rice. If I had celery on hand I probably would have thrown that in, too.

*What to do with the left overs? I added a large dollop of sour cream and 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. This filling makes great toquitos!! Place a couple tablespoons of filling on a flour tortilla and roll up tight. Place the rolled tortilla seem side down on a foil lined cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Dip in sour cream. My kids loved these!

Heat:

3 T oil

Add to hot oil and saute for 7 minutes:

1 small onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

After 7 minutes add and mix well:

1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ginger
2 T worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups cooked rice

Now add and mix well:

2 cans black beans, drained
hand full of cilantro, chopped fine

Toquitos

This is a good meal if you are cooking for a vegetarian. It's a good way to use up your beans. If you have a little left over rice you could also throw that into this mix. The toquitos are a lot better than they look in the picture. Super crunchy on the outside and creamy mexican taste on the inside. You could also substitute left over chicken for the black beans.

Mix in bowl:

1/3 cup cream cheese (3 oz)
1/4 cup green salsa
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 garlic, pressed
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T green onions
2 cups black beans or red beans
1 cup cheddar cheese

Spread about 3 T of filling onto a flour tortilla. Roll the tortilla up tight and place seam side down on a greased cookie sheet. I got about 11 tortillas filled.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes uncovered.

Dip in sour cream!

Spinach Lentil Saute

Ok, now I'm not promising that your children will eat this. But hubby and I enjoy it! Plus it is really good every now and then to eat a meal that is nutritionally rich and free from sugar. If I still haven't convinced you to try it, hubby says it tastes like the topping off a vegie pizza.

In a large pot bring to boil:

4 cups water

Add:

1/2 cup lentils, rinsed
1/2 cup rice, rinsed

simmer the lentils and rice for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally

In a pan saute for 3 minutes:

4 T butter
1 cup onion
1 garlic clove

Stir into onion saute and cook for 10-15 minutes:

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
10 oz frozen spinach, defrosted and juices squeezed
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne (I used red pepper for more heat)

Stir drained lentils and rice in with vegies. Garnish with shredded Swiss cheese

Red Beans and Rice

Red Beans and Rice

I love this pantry staple! It is super cheap and healthy and delicious! You can make it two different ways - with a pressure cooker or on the stove top. I will include both!

Stove top Red Beans and Rice
step one- dump 1 cup of red beans in 8 cups of cold in a large pot before you go to bed.

step two- drain the water (I do this at about 3 in the afternoon) and fill with 7 cups chicken broth. Bring to a simmer for one and a half hours (90 minutes). Check every now and then to be sure there is enough water. You don't want to burn the beans on the bottom of a dry pan.

step three- Add:

1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1, 1/2 cups celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp salt
step four- simmer another 30 minutes.

step five- serve over hot rice. Top with grated cheddar cheese.


Electric Pressure Cooker Red Beans and Rice
step one- dump:

1 cup red beans, (no need to soak the beans overnight)

4 cups chicken broth,

2 garlic cloves chopped,

1 onion chopped into the pressure cooker.

step two- Set pressure cooker to high pressure for 35 minutes.

step three- when pressure cooker is done, take lid off and add:
1 green pepper chopped
1, 1/2 cups celery chopped

step four- Put lid back onto pressure cooker. Set pressure to low for 5 minutes

step five- serve over hot rice. Top with cheddar cheese!