Tag: Mexican

Maria’s Refried Beans

We had the distinct honor of cooking with Maria, a co-worker of Mexican descent, who is a FANTASTIC cook. The menu included chicken, pork, and cheese and jalapeno tamales, refried bean tostadas, red salsa and green salsa. Oh and sweet tamales – which Maria and Chad are preparing in the photo!

UCooking with Mariapon arriving at her house, she already had a pot of refried beans ready to be enjoyed. And you know that we enjoyed them!

Expecting a difficult and lengthy recipe, it was great to find out that her refried beans recipe was simple and yields fantastically delicious beans. All without having to soak the beans overnight. It’s the soaking that always gets me… because I forget and then can’t cook the beans because they’re too hard. So, this recipe is fantastically easy and delicious. Yessss!

 

Maria’s Refried Bean Recipe (well, she doesn’t have a recipe written down, but this is what we were able to gather from our cooking with her and it works great. Not bad for a couple of gringos!):

Ingredients:

2 cups dry Peruvian beans (also known as Mayo Coba)

2 whole cloves of garlic

1.5 teaspoon salt

Water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

 

Directions:

  1. Using crock pot, place all ingredients and cover with water, about 5″ over the top of the beans so that there is enough water for the beans to absorb and cook long enough without having to add water while cooking.
  2. Cook on low for 8 hours. We usually start these right before going to sleep so that the beans are ready to finish the next morning.
  3. Preheat large skillet on medium heat, add vegetable oil.
  4. Using slotted spoon, strain and beans and add to the skillet. Don’t include the garlic.
  5. Using potato masher, mash up the beans to a consistency that you enjoy. Add small amounts of the left over bean water to the beans if needed for thinning out.

These beans are great for leftovers, so you can double the recipe if you want to have a bunch of beans on hand for tostadas, side dishes, burritos, etc. If the bean mixture is too thick, you can add a little water to thin it out before serving.

I’ll see you a la mesa (at the table)!

 

Avocados

avocadosI love avocados. LOVE might be a better way to express my deep infatuation with this delicious and nutrient rich food. Thank you, God, for creating this fruit!

A few of my favorite ways to enjoy avocado:
1. Spread slices on lightly toasted bread.
2. Garnish on every Mexican dish you can think of!
3. Add to mashed black beans and wrap up in lettuce leaves.

Any way you slice, mash or cube it, enjoy some avocado today!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Thanks to Tasty for lots of good recipe ideas. Here’s their Stuffed Bell Peppers recipe, with some modifications of my own.

Ingredients:
6-8 Medium/Large Bell Peppers – ensure they have a flat base so they will stand up when cooking
1 lb Ground Beef (or 2 cups cooked quinoa)
1 Medium Yellow Onion – Diced
1 Can Black Beans – Drained
1 Cup Cooked Brown Rice
1 Cup Frozen Corn
1 Jar Medium Chunky Salsa
1 Packet (about 2 Tbsp.) of Taco Seasoning Mix*
1 1/2 – 2 Cups Grated Cheddar/Mexican Blend Cheese

Optional: Guacamole and Sour Cream to finish

*To make your own Taco Seasoning at home: (note: makes more than needed for this recipe)
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Corn Starch
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/4 tsp Oregano

Directions:
Cut off the top and remove the seeds from each pepper. Place in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 350˚F (175˚C).

While the Peppers are roasting – heat oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Add ground beef and season with entire taco seasoning packet. Allow beef to brown on all sides. Add diced onion – continuing to cook until softened. Reduce heat to Medium. Mix in the black beans, brown rice, corn, and salsa. Add in 1 cup of cheese and stir until incorporated and the cheese has melted. Remove from heat.

Remove peppers from oven and fill each with the taco mixture. Top with additional cheese and return to the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese has melted. Top each pepper with a generous scoop of guacamole and sour cream. Enjoy!

Salsa Chicken and Rice Bake

I love easy to prepare dishes that are full of flavor. In our house, anything Mexican is pretty popular, so this dish was and easy success.

Original recipe from TipHero.
Serves 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients:
– 1 cup uncooked basmati rice, rinsed
– 1 can corn kernels, drained
– 1-15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed (Jen’s Note: Omit if your breast feeding and beans don’t work well with baby)
– 1-16-ounce jar salsa
– 1 cup chicken broth
– 1-½ teaspoons ground cayenne pepper (Jen’s Note: Omit for less spice)
– 1 teaspoon oregano
– ½ teaspoon salt
– ¼ teaspoon black pepper
– 2 large chicken breasts (about 1-1/2 pounds), thawed (Jen’s Note: Cut in half length wise)
– 1 cup shredded cheese blend
– 2 green onions, sliced

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. In an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish, add the rice, black beans, corn, salsa, chicken broth, chili powder and oregano. Stir to combine. (Jen’s Note: Or, use a 8×11″ dish and you can add a third chicken breast)
  3. Cut the chicken breasts into 2 pieces and submerge into the liquid in the baking dish as far as possible.
  4. Cover the casserole dish tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour, until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.
  5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with cheese. Return to the oven and bake just until the cheese has melted.
  6. Top with green onions and serve.

Jen’s Note: We like to have garnishes like sour cream, cilantro, lime, hot sauce, so have those on hand to enhance the dish. Serve with green salad for a great, easy, week day meal!

I’ll see you at the table!

Mexican Chicken and Beans Crock Pot Recipe

I love the crock pot! It makes my life a little bit easier when I can put together a yummy dish and have less “standing in the kitchen” time. I originally found this recipe on about.com, but in my typical fashion I’ve added additional things to the recipe.

Serves 4
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 5.5-6.5 hours

Ingredients:

  • 1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts
  • 1 can (12 to 15 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
  • 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained
  • 1 can (4 ounces) mild chopped green chile pepper (omit for less spice)
  • 1/2 white onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1-14 oz can chipotle fire roasted tomatoes (or 1 cup chunky salsa)
  • 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin

Directions:

  1. Add all ingredients to the crock pot. Stir to blend ingredients.
  2. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours, or until chicken is tender.

Serve with warmed tortillas and your favorite Mexican garnishes; such as, chopped cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, lime, guacamole and salsa. We eat a lot of salad at our house, so this goes well with salad. You may even want to serve with a Spanish Rice dish too. It is a great dish by itself as well. Either way, I’m sure you’ll enjoy!

I’ll see you at the table!

Restaurant Review: Picante – California

picanteI love Mexican restaurants that have friendly staff, clean facilities, lots of tortilla chips and salsas. And the big 5 gallon bucket of pickled jalapenos and carrots just make my heart sing! But I really love Mexican restaurants that have vegan dishes on the menu. Picante’s Veggie Butternut Squash #burrito is flavorful with right amount of spice and plentiful! Totally ordering this dish again. Butternutsquash, rice, pinto beans, pico de gallo salsa, grilled bellpeppers and onions wrapped up in a tomato tortilla… Delish! I’ll see you at the table!

Restaurant Review: Baja Cactus – California

 

bajacactus

Restaurant review: One of my favorite Mexican dishes is tortilla soup. This might have been the best I’ve ever enjoyed! This one had right amount of veggies and fresh tortilla strips and the best broth ever. Other guests devoured their mole chicken enchiladas, verde enchiladas, Sonoran grilled steak. Awesome chips and salsa and virgin margaritas! Next time I’m back in Temecula, I’m totally going back!

Restaurant Review: Taco Janes – California

taco-janes-san-anselmoTaco Janes in San Anselmo!

I’ve heard great things about Taco Janes in San Anselmo for years, so I was pleased to join my mom her long time BFFs for dinner. While the menu sports plenty of meat lover Mexican dishes, I was delighted to find several veggie based dishes too. I enjoyed the veggie burrito (with optional wheat tortilla). Easy to request no cheese or sour cream for vegan dish. chips and salsa was rockin’ good! Other ladies really enjoyed the salmon on salad and fish tacos. Looked great! This is a great place for family dinner, date night, gathering of friends. If you have opportunity to meet the restaurant owner Matthew, take the chance to ask him about his photography on the walls – he has an eye for capturing Cuban culture in photography.

Recipe: Mexican Couscous Salad

mexican couscousFamily picnic dinner in the canyon, so wanted to take something easy to eat and flavorful yet I needed it quickly. Thank God above for giving us couscous. This quick and easy to make semolina grain is versatile and delicious!

Serves 12-15

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups couscous, prepared to directions on the box. Let cool on the stove top.
4 cups carrot chopped
4 cups celery small dice
1 cup cilantro chopped
1 tablespoon Mexican seasoning
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
1 can Rotel original
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoon no-salt seasoning
Juice of 2 limes

DIRECTIONS:
Cook couscous per package instructions. While couscous is cooling, chop and prepare the veggies. Add all the veggies to a large mixing bowl. For the sauce, blend the Rotel and Rice Vinegar in a high-powered blender. Add the cooled couscous to the large bowl and all the remaining ingredients. Add additional seasonings if desired. You really can’t go wrong. Mix thoroughly and put into a sealed container. Refrigerate until ready to serve.