Deux repas super faciles...

Sadly the next two meals have no pictures, but they are easy to imagine- and cook.

"Nachos"
Really these "nachos" are rainbow bean dip, but my mom always called them "nachos," anyway all you need is:

1. 1 can refried beans
2. 1 can black beans
3. 1 packet nacho, fajita or enchilada flavoring (next to the pesto and gravy mixes at the supermarket)
4. 1 red pepper, chopped
5. a handful of frozen corn, thawed and drained
6. a handful of sliced black olives
7. a handful of chopped green onions
8. a handful of fresh cilantro
9. a chopped tomato or two
10. maybe some guacamole
11. a handful of cooked wheatberries

Ok, I usually cook this in a bread pan, but you can use a small casserole or a cast iron skillet if you want. First, empty the can of refried beans in the pan and pour in the nacho flavoring packet and the wheatberries and mix it all up and spread it flat in the bottom. Then pour the can of black beans over the refried layer and spread them flat. Then put all the other veggies in a pretty pattern on top of the black bean layer (for example, I usually put the corn around the outer edge, then a ring of red pepper, then the olives, then the guacamole in the center and the onions and cilantro all over on top). Then bake it all for 15-20 minutes or until the onions and cilantro are looking toasty, and eat it with salsa and Tostitos Scoops or sometimes I cut up a real tortilla into triangle pieces and put them in the oven for about 8 minutes until they're crisp- but it's really hard not to burn them. Anyway, this is a good snack or meal and it gets better with time in the fridge. It also freezes well, except for the onion and cilantro which are better fresh. Sorry no picture, it's actually a very aesthetic dish.

Stuffed Peppers

There are probably a lot of delicious recipes for stuffed peppers out there. For this one, all you need is:

1. 1 cup of cooked brown whole grain rice (cooked in stock preferably)
2. 2 red or green peppers (or one of each) cut in half with the seeds scooped out
3. the same Mexican spice mix from above or a similar one
4. 1 tiny (4oz) can of tomato paste, or an 80z can of diced tomatoes drained
5. a handful (1/2 cup) frozen peas or frozen corn or a mixture of both
6. green onions, cilantro or fresh parsley for on top
7. a handful of cooked wheatberries (I use a lot of wheatberries in my recipes so I usually cook a big pot of them once in a while and then freeze them in handful size containers, i.e. plastic bags, old plastic containers, tiny Tupperware etc. and then thaw a handful at a time when I need it.)

Ok, once you have all this stuff, mix it all together (except for the peppers and onions/cilantro/parsley of course) while you steam the peppers above boiling water for about 10 minutes (or until the skin starts looking dull). Then put the peppers in a casserole, and fill them with the rice mix, top them with the onions/cilantro/parsley (whatever you picked), then bake them for about 15-20 minutes, or again, until the onions start looking like they are "toasty") and then eat them with another person, (or eat 2 halves now and 2 halves later).

Finally, Garth says, "remember to keep it real."

Oh- I found that I did take a picture of the peppers after all, but these have fresh tomatoes on top with the onions.

Phyllo Strudel

Phyllo dough is in the frozen desserts or frozen pastery section at Safeway where I bought the one I used for this recipe. I had never used it before but it was not hard and it made me feel gormet. The thing with phyllo is that you have to have a really big (15X30 in) counter space open, which isn't a big deal, but heads up anyway. Basically with phyllo, you just put a sheet of dough down, brush melted "butter" on it, and then put another sheet down on top of it, "butter" and repeat about 8 times. Then cover the whole sheet with filling, fold the edges over one inch on all sides and then roll the whole thing like a jelly roll and bake it for 20 minutes or until it turns brown. Mine here is kind of blotchy but I was really proud of it. For filling I used:

• one 8oz can of diced beets
• two butternut squash chopped and cooked
• a portobello mushroom, chopped and cooked (in the microwave) with the squash
• about 1.5 cups frozen vegetable medley thawed
• a handfull of cooked wheatberries
• random spices including seasoning salt
• parsley flakes for spreading on top of the pastry

but you can basically use anything you want for filling. Someday I will do a dessert phyllo and let you all know how it goes. After mixing the filling, spread it out evenly on the layered phyllo sheets, then roll it up (see above) and cut 5-7 vents in the top with a sharp knife. Bake it until it's golden, let it sit for 5 minutes and then eat it (all- that is, I don't know how it refridgerates). Have fun!

Mushroom Risotto

This recipe isn't special because it is particularly fast or easy, (although it is not particularly difficult or time consuming either). It's just good, that is, it completely makes up for in taste what it lacks in convenience or ease. It's a good weekend dish if you don't cook everyday- or double it and freeze half.


Serves: 2 people for dinner and 1 lunch the next day

Ingredients:

• one small bag of dried mushrooms (i.e. shittake or porcini) like about 12 oz (can you have too many mushrooms?)
• 3/4 cup fresh mushrooms of any type (portobello, or the little blue box kind, or whatever)
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 3 tablespoons Smart Balance Buttery Spread
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
• 1 teaspoon basil
• a little bit of pepper
• 1/2 cup short grain rice
• 1/2 cup long grain or brown rice (I used the Trader Joe's Brown Rice Medley and it was pretty good)

1. First you have to soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water according to the packaging (somewhere between 15 to 30 minutes) so just put them in a bowl, go do something else and then come back- I don't count that as cooking time. By the way, you can buy these mushrooms somewhere in the grocery store I'm sure, but I always buy them at Asian grocery stores in the dried mushroom section, so I don't know where they are in Safeway.
2. Boil the vegetable broth in one saucepan while melting the "butter" in another (I know, 2 pans!)
3. Chop the mushrooms and onions and cook them with the spices in the "butter" for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the rice to the mushroom/onion/spice/butter mix and cook until the rice is coated with "butter."
5. Add half the stock to the mix and let it boil off (maybe less than 10 minutes-just watch it in between emails or something), then add the rest of the stock and let that boil off until the rice is a normal consistency, stirring occasionally.
6. Eat it right away, or put it in the fridge, but make sure it's really hot when you do eat it because that is just really tasty.

This was a winner, plus it was fun to try using the dried mushrooms.

A small circle...

A few people have asked me to share some recipes, but email is the last thing on my mind (right after blogging) when I'm cooking. Hopefully this blog will be a convenient reference for all 3 people who read it. Some disclaimers:

• The recipes in this blog will respect copyright laws by only representing my own interpretation of other people's ideas.
• The content of this blog may not be restricted to recipes.
• This blog will not borrow from anything produced by Rachel Ray (because I cannot guarantee anything I do will take less than 30 minutes) or Martha Stewart although some charisma and creativity may outshine the medium.
• Most of the recipes I share will have something very significant in common, but there is a slight chance that something else delicious that is "not like the others" may show up accidentally- but that's not very likely.

Ok, I'm just going to get started. I will do my best to categorize the stuff I put up here, by labeling each recipe, and posting a list of labels so you can easily find recipes with a common label (i.e. really easy dishes, really really easy dishes, etc. ) And I will have tried all the recipes I post, so you can email me with questions (if you think it will help) at adria dot tingey at gmail dot com. Shoutout to all my friends and sisters!