Barley, Black Bean, & Corn Burrito Recipe

A new-found favorite!

Ingredients:
1 can (15 ounce) black beans, rinsed and drained (or 1 cup dry and prepared)
1 can (10 ounce) diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
1 cup uncooked fine barley
2 cups fat-free, less-sodiumchicken or vegetable broth
3/4 cup frozen whole-kernal corn
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
16 totillas (6 1/2 inch)
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese,
2 tablespoons shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
8 cups thinly sliced curly leaf lettuce
2 1/4 cups salsa1
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons sour cream

Place first 11 ingredients in a 3-1/2- to 4-quart electric slow cooker; stir well. Cover with lid; cook on low-heat setting 4 to 5 hours or until barley is tender and liquid is absorbed. Stir in cilantro. Heat tortillas according to package directions. Spoon 1/3 cup barley mixture down center of each tortilla; sprinkle each with 1 Tablespoon cheese. Roll up. Place 1 cup lettuce on each of 8 plates; top each with 2 burritos. Spoon 1/4 cup salsa and 2 Tablespoons sour cream over each serving.

Bible Sandwiches

Whole Wheat Pitas
1 Head Cabbage, Shredded
4 Avacados, Smashed
Mayonaise to Taste
Sprouts
Sunflower Seeds
Tomatoes, Sliced
Monterey Jack Cheese
Spike Seasoning

Shred the cabbage or chop finely. Smash avacodos and mix into cabbage. Dab in some mayonaise to taste. GENEROUSLY flavor with Spike seasoning (key ingredient). Mix thoroughly. In pita pocket layer LIBERAL amounts of cabbage mix, sunflowers seeds, cheese, tomatoes, and sprouts. Enjoy!!! Definitely my favorite sandwich.

Olive Garden Soup Recipe--YUMMY!

Tried and True! Quick and easy!

2 T olive oil
1 c diced onion
2 ribs diced celery
2 c chopped italian plum tomatoes with juice
6 c chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 t oregano
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans with juice
1 15 oz can white northern beans with juice
1 c ditalini or small pasta

In large stockpot, heat oil. Add onion and celery; cook for 2 minutes on low until soft. Add garlic; cook 1 minute. Add all ingredients but pasta. Simmer 30 minutes, add pasta and cook 10 more minutes. Taste for seasoning. Remove bay leaves before serving and top with 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup fresh parsley.

my new obsession: roasted vegetables

it's true. I'm completely obsessed with roasted vegetables. I started down this road with this recipe for Orzo with Roasted Vegetables out of my Barefoot Contessa Parties! cookbook, also available at the Food Network's website (click on the recipe name to get there). Anyway you get there, though, it's seriously delicious. But then I ran out of orzo. And feta. And basil. And scallions. So I left those out, and mixed it with brown rice and it was still delicious. And then I didn't feel like making the dressing, so I just tossed the roasted vegetables with brown rice and ate it plain and guess what? still delicious. And also delicious with rice and a little sweet teriyaki sauce. Can you tell I've been eating this a lot lately?

And the more I eat it, the more I just adapt based on what I have in my fridge. My basic recipe for roasted vegetables follows the recipe above, but with more variety. so:

any variety of roasted vegetables, chopped into ~ 1 inch pieces. (I love to use eggplant, red/yellow/orange bell peppers, asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini, red onion...)

toss lightly with olive oil (basically just enough to coat the veg), and a little salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Could be longer depending on how big or small you cut your veg. I try to remember to toss them / flip them over about half way through the cooking time. I don't always remember. And I try to flip them over right when they come out of the oven again so they don't stick to the pan.

yummy.

I've also started cooking broccoli this way and I'm telling you, it's changed my life. I would eat broccoli before, but usually out of duty - like it seemed the right thing to do or something. folic acid and whatnot. but I wouldn't say I loved broccoli. those days are gone, though! I have become converted to broccoli now that I've started...yes, roasting them! sounds weird, I know. I heard about it a while ago, but took a while to try it. my loss. In addition to the olive oil and salt/pepper, I add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic, and I'm telling you, I can't wait to eat it. I just want to snack on it all the time. it's so good! my favorite is when they get a little crispified, so don't be afraid if that happens. just dig in.

Are you achin...for some bacon?

Well, this post has nothing to do with bacon. But it does have to do with a delicious salmon dish and some salmon bedding a la Rachael Ray. Here goes.

Lime-and-Honey Glazed Salmon with Warm Black Bean and Corn Salad

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (medium heat to extra spicy)
1 teaspoon ground cumin (1/3 palmful)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 2 limes
3 tablespoons honey (3 gobs)
1 teaspoon chili powder (1/3 palmful)
4 6-ounce salmon fillets
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
1 10-ounce box frozen corn kernels, defrosted
1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves (a handful), chopped
6 cups baby spinach

Preheat a medium skillet over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil (twice around the pan). Add the onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, preheat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. In a shallow dish, combine the juice of 1 lime, honey, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Add the salmon fillets to the lime-honey mixture and toss to coat thoroughly. Add the seasoned salmon to the hot skillet and cook until just cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

To the cooked onions, add the bell peppers and corn kernels and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Add the black beans and cook until the beans are just heated through. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the juice of the second lime, the cilantro, and spinach. Toss to wilt the spinach and then taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the lime-and-honey-glazed salmon on top of the warm black bean and corn salad.

If you don't want to go all out with the salmon, or if you're just not feeling fishy, the black bean/corn bedding is delicious on its own as a side or a salsa with chips. YUM.

Butternut Squash Pear Soup

This is actually a recipe that originated with Jennie Jane, but Aunt Robyn emailed it out, and for any of you who didn't get it, or lost it or forgot about it, it's worth revisiting! I think it was maybe the most delicious butternut squash soup I've had. I loved the pear and the fresh rosemary in it. I doubled it because the squash I had was a 2 pounder, and I loved having leftovers for a few days. I added a tablespoon of fresh chopped ginger, because I had some, and I used rice milk and it tasted great.

enjoy!

Butternut Squash & Pear Soup

2 Tbsp ghee, butter, or olive oil
1 small onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
2 c. vegetable or chicken broth
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch cubes (Fresh is best, but for a faster soup you can sometimes find it already peeled and cubed in the frozen section)
2 medium pears, peeled and sliced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup soy milk (or fresh milk)
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans, for garnish
medium pear, sliced for garnish

Melt ghee/butter/oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and stir occasionally until onions are tender. Stir in broth, two sliced pears, rosemary, ginger and remaining spices. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes or until squash is fork tender. Puree soup in batches in food processor or blender (or use immersion blender). Return pureed soup to pot. Stir in milk. Reheat, stirring frequently, until hot. Do not boil. Garnish with pecan and sliced pear.

From Delicious Living e-news

Banana Bread

As you can see from Jim's post, we were on vacation, which explains why after not eating much meat for weeks and then having tuna for dinner, bacon and eggs for breakfast, a cheeseburger for lunch and then KFC for dinner, I was SICK. I was hunched over my stomach for hours and even felt a little sick the following morning. Enough said, I had a vegan dinner last night. I've always made fun of those crazy vegans, but I'm really coming around!
On to what this post is really about: banana bread. I had 4 brown bananas on my table when we came home from said vacation, so I decided to make banana bread and use the non-dairy subs just to see how it turned out. That's not my bread there, but they all look the same, right? It was really good, pretty much just as good as any banana bread you've all eaten a million times, nothing too different. I was just excited that my substitutions didn't change it one bit.

1 cube Earth Balance butter sub.
1 1/2 c flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
4 ripe bananas
3/4 c sugar
2 large eggs + one yolk (who knows why?)
1 t. vanilla
1/4 c Tofutti sour cream sub.

Bake: 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

I admit, I still don't love soy milk, or any other milk substitute, but I'm doing it. But as to the butter, I think this Earth's Balance stuff is yummy, I have both the spread and the cube version and it tastes great. I don't miss butter a bit. The Tofutti sour cream is pretty good, but you can tell it's not the real thing if you are paying attention. However, I need to say that Tofutti makes a killer cream cheese (among a string of other products). I dream of clam dip...I'll never feel guilty again for eating the whole bowl!

*One more thing, since it took coming back to this three or four times to finish, I had a tasty treat that I'll share as well. Pita bread (the thick soft kind that doesn't make pockets) heated in the oven on bake, rip it in half, then spread hummus on both pieces. Add some black beans, sliced tomato & mixed greens and you have your tasty little sandwich. Just arugula would have made it really good, or it could have been beefed up for a full meal.