Vegetarian "beef" and bean enchiladas

Vegetarian faux beef and bean enchiladas
In a pan over medium heat, mix up half a can of low fat black beans with half a package of Quorn soy crumbles. Add a small amount of low sodium tomato sauce, taco seasoning, and homemade salsa.

Warm corn shells in the oven, fill with bean mixture, roll up and place in glass dish. Cover with enchiladas sauce and a sprinkling of shredded cheese. Cover and bake at 350 until bubbly. Remove foil and broil for the last couple minutes.

Homemade bread

Dh and I have been making fresh bread all week with the book: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day So far we've made baguettes for bruschetta and roasted vegetable sandwiches. Olive bread which we had with salmon, garlic green beans, and salad ( I had Quorns breaded faux chicken instead of the fish, it's pretty darn yummy for soy). We made pizza dough with the olive oil bread recipe yesterday and tonight we're making calzones with the leftovers.

Turns out making bread is pretty easy! At least with the no starter method used in the book. It doesn't exactly take 5 minutes, more like 15 minutes for the initial dough and then another 15 minutes on baking day. After you mix up the flour, water, and yeast, you just leave your dough in a plastic tub in the fridge until you need it. They say you can leave it for up to 10 days... or more? But we usually go through it in about 3. The longer you leave it in the fridge the more sour dough it will become.

The breads we've made have been tasty but they lack the depth of a fine bakery. The quick method is a great starting point though and I think we will begin moving into more complicated traditional methods once we're done with this book.

The only problem we've had, is that our bread stone broke in half, already!

Have you ever made bread?

French bistro

Tonight brings me back to our cafe dinners in Paris

Roasted eggplant, roasted red pepper, goat cheese, and arugula on a home baked baguette. Veggie side salad with berries and a balsamic vinegar dressing.

Creme brulee, surprisingly easy using Alton recipe. I subbed vanilla extract for the bean and just used regular sugar

Recipe: Bruschetta

This one is Dh's recipe and it is tdf

This recipe uses 3 or 4 olives per slice of bread. For 10 slices...


Ingredients:
40 Kalamata olives
Sweet roasted red peppers
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Garlic
1/2 teaspoon Red pepper flake
3 Basil leaves. 2 for pepper mixture and 1 for garnish, more if your using small leaves
Goat cheese
Olive Oil
Thinnish loaf of bread, like a baguette

Note on ingredients: Buy your olives from an olive bar if you can. They are much better than those in a jar. If you do need to buy jarred, look for Kalamata with a K, not with a C. The Calamata seem to be even more vinegary. For any jarred olive: pit, rinse, and let the olives sit in a strainer to try and remove some of the excess vinegar
We do use jarred roasted red peppers and jarred minced garlic in this recipe.

Dice olives and set aside. Dice an equal amount of roasted peppers. Add garlic, red pepper flake, and basil to peppers.

Heat up your broiler. Cut your bread into 1/2 slices. Butter one side and broil until brown around the edges. Flip, butter, and broil the other side.

Spread goat cheese on each slice of bread. Top with olives, then pepper mixture. Drizzle with a little olive oil and garnish with remaining basil.

For dinner we serve the bruschetta with cheese ravioli and marinara.

Recipe: Hummus & Greek feast night

Hummus:
Add all the following to your blender or small food processor
1 15oz can Garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
3 Tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice from half a lemon
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
ground black pepper

Blend and add 1 1/2 to 3 Tablespoons of water as needed to achieve a thick dip consistency.
Chill. Garnish with parsley and paprika
Serve with pita bread, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, red onion, cucumbers, and whatever else you can think of.

Dd and I have this for lunch all the time. When we have hummus for dinner, we make it a feast. Dh has Chicken with feta and spinach, recipe HERE

I have a Quorn breaded faux chicken and we all have couscous with zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, and red bell pepper.

For the Kitchen: Plates

My kitchen is in a sad state. If I'm going to be serious about eating well, I need something pretty to put that lovely food on. First up, plates! I don't want a large matching set, seems old fashion. I am going to start collecting singles or small sets that catch my eye.

Anthropologie Zinnia plates

Justnoey S is for sushi plate

Vesselsandwares' Azure dessert plates

Anthropologie Francophile plate

Justnoey Post-a-plate Wish you were here

Recipe: Vegetarian chili with corn bread

This recipe uses the Quorn faux hamburger crumbles again. You could of course substitute ground beef, sausage, ground turkey, or whatever else you fancy. But again, if your going the veggie route, stay away from the Morning Star hamburger, yuck.

I highly recommend the no salt added tomato sauce. I used regular once and it was way too salty.

Chili Ingredients:
1 onion
1 bell pepper
2 jalapenos

1 anaheim pepper

1 package, 12oz Quorn frozen crumbles aka soy hamburger
1 15oz can of kidney beans
1 15oz can black beans
1 15oz can pinto beans
2 15oz cans no salt added tomato sauce
1 15oz can corn
1 1/2 cup low sodium veggie broth
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
cheddar cheese
sour cream

Spices:
1 teaspoon garlic, fresh or jarred
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 -1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (add near the end to taste)
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
fresh ground pepper

Recommended: Disposable latex gloves for chili handling.

Put one jalapeno and the anaheim pepper in the oven under the broiler. Roast until skins are black, then cover with foil or in a bowl.

Heat oil over medium high heat in a large pot. Add diced onion, diced bell pepper, and "hamburger". Cook hamburger through. Add all beans, 2/3 can of corn, and both cans of tomato sauce. Add veggie broth, all spices, and tomato paste. Turn heat down to medium low and cover.

Put gloves on. Peel and seed your broiled peppers under cold water. Dice and add to the chili. Dice the fresh jalapeno and add to pot. Leave chili covered or partially covered on medium low heat while you make the corn bread.

Corn Bread Muffins
 This one is straight from the back of the corn meal box ;) Makes 5-6 large muffins
Pre-heat oven to 350

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn meal
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons melted butter

Add it all to a bowl and mix it up. Pour into greased large muffin tin. Bake for 18-20 minutes

When muffins are done, taste test your chili. You may want more salt, I keep it low for dh. Sometimes I add extra cumin or chili powder.
Serve chili with grated cheese and sour cream.