Meatless Monday - Black Bean Tostada

So, I was reading a food blog a few days back and came across this whole website dedicated to meatless Monday meals. I feel like I am living under a rock because I am sure most of you have heard of this concept but I had not. The idea is to just take out one of your meat meals a week for health reasons and animal rights reasons. I have stated before that I am a meat girl, married to a meat man and we have meat babies. The idea of no meat sort of throws everyone off around here! I could be a vegetarian if it were not for bacon. I can't live without it. But, I love most veggies....the rest of my family, not so much! So, this past week I was throwing together some creamy chicken taquitos and had a few corn tortillas left. I hate it when that happens, it is like the nasty lasties (9/29/10 for reference if you have not made that chicken!) What do you do with 3 tortillas? Well, I decided to fry those babies up and make tostada's, and they were delicious! This is the perfect quick fix meal if you are in a meatless Monday mood. Keep in mind, I am the ONLY ONE who ate these in my house since there was not meat on them but you could easily add shredded chicken or taco meat. I took some pictures but realized that my usb cord was left out of the box so pictures will be posted soon, cross my heart!!

Black Bean Tostada's
2 corn tortilla's per person
1/4 cup veggie oil

In a small saute pan that is at least as big a round as the tortilla, warm up your oil to 350 degrees on medium heat. You can test the oil to see if it is ready by dipping the edge of the tortilla in the oil. When you dip it in the oil and it begins to sizzle and bubble you can drop that baby in the oil. I use a flat spatula and lightly press down on the tortilla as it is cooking to help keep it flat. Lightly fry on one side for around 1-2 minutes minutes until brown then flip it over and do the same. Remove from the pan and place on a paper towel lined plate and immediately sprinkle with salt. Repeat until all of your tortilla's are cooked.

Toppings:
1-2 cup of shredded cheddar jack or pepper jack cheese
1 cup of cooked black beans (9/14/10 - Frijoles Negros posting will help!)
Shredded lettuce
sliced avocado
Sour cream
Salsa
Sliced Jalapenos
Fresh cilantro
Black Olives

On a foil lined cookie sheet, spread out your cooked tortillas. Sprinkle each with around 3 Tbsp of cheese and broil on high for about 30 seconds until the cheese is bubbly.
Remove from the oven and place on serving plates. Top with beans and whatever toppings you have on hand. Eat quickly so that your tostada doesn't get all soggy and gross.

Enjoy Y'all!

The Perfect Pair- Gorgonzola Dip

In keeping with the dip theme, I ran across a recipe I made up a few years ago for a girls party. My neighbor was throwing a get together for all of the girls in the class and at the last minute we realized that she needed some more food to serve and fast! I ran home, which was two doors down from her, and told her I would come back with something. I didn't have much to pick from but I had a big bag of potatoes and some random odd and ins. I threw together some roasted Parmesan crusted potatoes and served them with this dip. It was delicious and every bite was gobbled up! This dip is amazing with anything from potatoes, chips, grilled chicken to fresh veggies. I mean, it has bacon in it!! What can be wrong about that? When you are needed a last minute save, try this on for size. I don't think you will be disappointed!

1/2 cup good mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
5 slices cooked and crumbled bacon
2 garlic cloves
4 oz Gorgonzola cheese
1 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper and some dashes of salt

Throw all into a food processor and pulse until thoroughly combined. This will keep for three days in the fridge.

Enjoy Y'all!

Quick Trip Dip

I am really a big fan of dips. I could probably survive on dips alone as long as the chips were free flowing! I make dips all the time and love changing things up a bit as well as sticking to some old stand buys. On New Years Eve we had family in town and since we had been in town less than 24 hours from our trip to OK I was slightly low on food in the house. I remembered a dip that a friend made a while back and decided to put my own spin on things with what I had in the pantry. Quick Trip, for those of you who are not native Texans, is the local gas station in town. I named this Quick Trip Dip because most of these items you will either, 1) have on hand or 2)be able to get at any local gas station in Tejas. You can change it as you please to fit your taste and based on whatever pantry goods you have but this one was pretty good. It is sort of a revised warm version of a 7 Layer dip.

1 can refried beans
1 block cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp garlic garlic
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp cumin
1 jar chunky salsa
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar
Toppings: sliced black olives, fresh cilantro, cubed avocado

In a pie pan or 7x11 pan, spread the beans evenly across the bottom. In a medium bowl, blend together the cream cheese, sour cream, and 4 spices. Spread on top of the bean mixture. Next, layer in your chunky salsa and top off with the cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes until golden bubbly. Top with whatever toppings you have on hand and serve warm with tortilla chips.

Enjoy Ya'll!

A Southern Lady's Crack - Homemade Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad has got to be one of the most versatile dishes in America, next to a hamburger. When I think of chicken salad, I think of tea parties and small sandwiches and white crust-less bread and the Puffy Muffin. The PM is a staple restaurant here in Nashville that has made a killing on their chicken salad. The restaurant is always booming with big haired southern women in sports jackets with broaches, all enjoying a plate of chicken salad with a side of bean sprouts (who really eats those anyway?). Their chicken salad is nothing original, nothing fancy, but it is a staple in this city right next to country music and jack's bbq. I love chicken salad. I love the creamy crunchy texture of it and the sweetness of the grapes. I am more of a traditionalist when it comes to chicken salad so I keep mine pretty basic. I have had everything from walnuts to Mandarin oranges in it but I like to keep it simple. You need a few basic things to make a good chicken salad and you can't really screw it up, thank goodness. I love chicken salad on cranberry walnut bread, but since that is hardly in my house I will eat it just with a fork. This is my take on it, not saying it is right, but a this chicken salad paired with a glass of sweet iced tea will have you singing, "Dixie Land" in no time!

2 cups rotisserie chicken diced (I do not like mine to become a mush, I like to have texture to my chicken)
1/2-3/4 cup fresh celery with leaves, finely diced
1/2-3/4 cup, fresh crunchy red grapes cut in half (this helps it maintain some crunch)
1/2 cup raw sliced almonds (need this for some super crunchy texture)
1/2-3/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 cup GOOD mayo, like Duke's

Combine all in a bowl. I like to use it right away but it will keep up to three days in your fridge. Serve over salad, on bread, with crackers, whatever makes you happy!

Enjoy Ya'll!

Comfort and Joy - Toasted Orzo and Chicken Soup

I hope you guys had a lovely holiday season! I have been off line and busy cooking since we last spoke. We made the long road trip to OK to be with my family for the Christmas holiday. Throughout the week there were 17 people that I helped feed in and out of my mom's kitchen. It was total madness and lovely and I am glad to be back home to feed my family of four. I made many of our traditional dishes over the weekend like Christmas morning casserole, Italian Beef, cheesy potatoes and marinated shrimp cocktail. It was a week full of good food and fun family time.
Since we arrived home I have been caught up in a whirlwind of cleaning and un-christmas decorating and organizing. The temperature finally dropped yesterday so I thought a big bowl of soup would be the perfect thing to help sooth my soul and hopefully help the last of the sniffles go away. This is just my own spin on chicken and rice soup. I love the added splash of parsley, Parmesan and black pepper right at the end. I hope this will bring a little comfort the the end of a very joyous season!

2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (or roasted)
1/2 medium onion diced
2 celery stalks with leafs diced
1 cup carrots
2 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
6 cups chicken stock
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 fresh lemon
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley chopped
Parmesan

1 cup orzo


In a small saute pan on medium heat, warm 2 tsp olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter with your orzo. Cook, stirring frequently, until your orzo has toasted, approx 8  minutes. Watch carefully as the orzo can burn quickly. It will change from the natural almond color to a brown rice color. Once it has toasted, set aside.
In a large dutch oven, warm 1 tbsp of olive oil and saute the onions, celery and carrots until translucent, around 10 minutes. Throw in the cooked orzo an garlic, chicken, stock, salt and pepper. Cover and allow the soup to simmer on medium/low heat for 25 minutes, until veggies are tender. Just before serving, squeeze in the lemon and parsley and add an additional sprinkle of black pepper, just to be safe.
Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve with a warm baguette and Caesar salad.


Enjoy Ya'll!

Happy Chicken - Peanut Chicken Casserole

I am always up for a chicken casserole recipe. I don't know if I have met too many casseroles that I didn't like. When I came home from the hospital with my first son a friend of mine brought me this chicken casserole. I loved it. I had never had anything like it before and begged her for the recipe. She is not a cook herself so she laughed and laughed that I loved it so much since she didn't think it was anything special. But it was, and it still is. I know this may not seem like anything out of the ordinary for a chicken casserole but I am telling you, it is. If you don't have the things to make this today, then go to the store today. Your family will love this. I know it doesn't exactly fit into the healthy casserole box, but what casserole does? This is perfect with a big spinach salad with my house dressing. You will love this recipe. So, this one is for you, my dear friend named after the paper craft. Never underestimate your amazing cooking skills girlfriend!

Peanut Chicken Casserole
4 cups roasted or rotisserie shredded or cubed chicken
1 box of Uncle Ben's wild rice
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tsp parsley flakes (I never put this in it so you don't need to stress about this one)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1/3  c chopped peanuts

Cook the rice according to the package directions. In a small saucepan on medium low heat, combine the butter, brown sugar and peanuts. Stir and cook until sugar has dissolved. around 7 minutes. Mix softened cream cheese, mustard and parsley. Stir in cooked chicken. In a a 9x9 dish, spread out the rice then spread the cream cheese mixture on top. Drizzle the brown sugar mixture on top. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Enjoy Y'all!

What's in a name? - Yummy Meat Loaf

Meat loaf just sounds gross. I hated it growing up. One bad experience with stuffed bell peppers in fifth grade scarred me for life so I have always hated anything with ground beef and peppers. Most loafs tend to be dry, have green bell peppers or other large veggies, are tasteless or are just plain old weird. At one point in my life the thought of them really could bring me to tears. I remember traveling to see a family friend and they served meatloaf with big spicy chunks of peppers and onions for dinner one night. I had a stare down with it at the table but coming from a "clean plate club" family, it won. And I felt terrible that night.
When I was pregnant I suddenly craved meatloaf. I called my sister, who was also pregnant at the time to tell her I was craving meatloaf and she laughed since she had just finished making one for her dinner that night. I tried a Paula Dean recipe and loved it. I have since made many in those short five years and have come to love it's hearty and salty but sweet taste. If made right, meatloaf is a lovely dish that is moist and flavorful. I like it because I can tuck a bunch of veggies inside of it and my whole family will eat it. My husband always asks, "what did you put in here" when I ask him if he likes it, then smirk. This is a great way to use up some veggies that are hanging around. I happened to have a left over veggie tray so I put it to use. This is sort of a plain meatloaf 101 so feel free and add whatever else you would like seasoning wise. Hopefully, this will help change your outlook on the dish.

1 Lb ground beef (I use sirloin)
1 egg
1/2 cup crushed cracker crumbs
1/2 c milk
1/2 tsp salt
1.4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp steak sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 of a small onion sliced, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 cup celery (place all in a food processor and pulse until they are finely diced.
In a small saucepan, pour 2 Tbs of olive oil and pour in the diced onion, carrots and celery. Saute for 8 minutes until mixtures is tender and onions are translucent.

Glaze
1/2 cup ketchup
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

In a large bowl combine the meat and the remaning ingredients, including the sauted veggies.Gently mix it all together. Meat loaf is like pancake batter, a few lumps are okay. Just make sure it is mixed but don't kill it. 
Line a cookie sheet with foil. Next, like a cookie cooling rack with foil and poke holes through the center section of it with a knife. Place the cooling rack on the cookie sheet. This will allow for any fat to drip out of the meat while cooking and will not dirty up your pans.
Pour out your meat loaf mixture onto the foil covered cooling rack. Form a meat loaf measuring around 1 1/2 inches high and around 5 inches wide. Combine the glaze ingredients together then spread it on top of the meatloaf. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, then lower the oven to 350 and bake for 20 more.

Enjoy Y'all!