Sunday, March 15, 2009

Wednesday Night Dinners: Mexican



I stuffed my burrito a little too full so it didn't fold very well, but it was still very tasty. We prepared a huge feast of food, with homemade pico de gallo, sauteed chicken and veggies, black bean, cilantro lime rice, and guacamole. Next week, more Mexican food.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Vegetable Quesadillas



One of my favorite fast, easy and healthy meals are vegetable quesadillas. It's a simple, tasty meal that just can't go wrong. And they're quite tasty with this homemade salsa.

Recipe:
flour tortillas
shredded cheese
sliced brown mushrooms
sliced yellow onions
sliced bell peppers
black beans
olive oil
salt & pepper

Heat olive oil in skillet to saute veggies. Warm can of black beans in small saucepot on stove. Toss onions first, then bell peppers, then mushrooms till veggies are tender in skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Take off heat and set aside.

Keep skillet on low to medium heat to warm tortilla. Add veggies, black beans, and cheese on half of tortilla, being careful to not overstuff. Fold tortilla over filling and lightly press with spatula. The goal is to get the tortilla just crispy with light golden brown spots on each side and melt the cheese.

Serve by cutting into fourths with optional sides of salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.

Salsa or pico de gallo



I'm a big fan of Mexican food. How can I not be living in Tucson? But I've never made my own salsa. It's not that it's hard or complicated, but I just never have. But my friend Helene is visiting from Chicago, and when planning our weekend menu, we decided to make our own salsa to go with our veggie quesadillas, which I'll be posting after this salsa entry. The salsa was delicious, and a lot fresher than the jarred stuff. I think I might have to start making my own salsa from now on.

Recipe:
diced tomatoes
diced yellow onions
minced garlic
jalapenos, to taste
cilantro
salt, optional
lime juice, optional

Blend together and season to taste.

Wednesday Night Dinners: Sushi

I apologize for the lack of updates. Sometimes, you just don't feel like cooking. Or I've cooked, but it's not anything special. But I feel bad about not updating so here we go. I am at least going to attempt to start posting my Wednesday Night Dinners. Sometimes there will be a recipe, sometimes just a photo of what we made and a quick commentary. But I thought that would add a fun element and then you'll hear from me at least once a week.

To introduce, Wednesday Night Dinners started a few weeks ago. A couple friends and I gathered for dinner one Wednesday night, then another Wednesday night, and then we realized we could do this every Wednesday. It's a pretty consistent cast of characters now. The photo below is from two weeks ago when we attempted to make our own sushi. Pretty amateur, but pretty fun.



For more detailed sushi instructions, try The Pioneer Woman's sushi how-tos.