Black Bean Quesadillas

Holy moly, these Black Bean Quesadillas are simply AMAZING!!!!  No joke, I have had them three times in the last three weeks.  They are THAT good.  And crazy easy to make too!  And it's super healthy, and vegetarian too so that was a yummy perk :-)  It doesn't make very much, I had to double it just to have enough for our family of four, but it was still easy to make.  Thanks to Pinterest and http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2010/12/07/black-bean-quesadillas/ for the recipe!

Black Bean Quesadillas

Servings: 2 folded 8-inch quesadillas

Ingredients

1/3 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

2 teaspoons vegetable oil, plus more for brushing the tortillas

1/3 cup minced red onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/3 cup black beans (canned)

2 teaspoons lime juice

Kosher salt

2 plain flour tortillas, 8-inch - I used the raw tortillas that you have to cook, but I'm sure regular tortillas would be yummy too

2/3 cup Pepper Jack cheese, in pieces or shredded

Instructions

1. Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot, about 2 minutes.

2. Add the corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until kernels begin to brown and pop, 3 to 5 minutes; transfer corn to medium bowl.

3. Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering; add red onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.

4. Add garlic and chili powder and cook until fragrant, about 1 minutes; stir in beans and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

5. Return corn to skillet and toss to combine; gently press mixture with spatula to lightly crush black beans.

6. Transfer mixture to now-empty bowl, stir in lime juice, and season to taste with salt.

7. Wipe out the skillet with paper towels and return pan to medium heat until hot, about 2 minutes.

8. Place 1 tortilla in skillet and toast until soft and puffed slightly at edges, about 2 minutes.

9. Flip tortilla and toast until puffed and slightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes longer.

10.Slip tortilla onto cutting board.

11. Repeat to toast second tortilla while assembling first quesadilla.

12. Sprinkle 1/3 cup cheese, half the corn and bean mixture over half of tortilla, leaving 1/2-inch border around edge.

13. Fold tortilla in half and press to flatten.

14. Brush surface generously with oil, sprinkle lightly with salt, and set aside.

15. Repeat to form second quesadilla.

16. Place both quesadillas in skillet, oiled sides down; cook over medium heat until crisp and well browned, 1 to 2 minutes.

17. Brush surfaces with oil and sprinkle lightly with salt.

18. Flip quesadillas and cook until second sides are crisp and browned, 1 to 2 minutes longer.

19. Transfer quesadillas to cutting board; cool about 3 minutes, halve each quesadilla, and serve.

Baked Donuts!

I am a definite donut fan, but I do not have a deep fryer so I don't make them very often.  But then I found this baked donut recipe and boy was it good!  And not too bad for you either since it's not deep fried.  Mmm!  Thanks to pinterest and http://www.krissys-creations.com for the recipe!

For the Dough

3/4 cups Warm Milk

1 packet Active Dry Yeast

1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter

1/3 cup Sugar

1 Egg

2 ½ cup All Purpose Flour

Pinch of Nutmeg

½ tsp. Salt

For the Glaze

* Enough to glaze all the doughnuts

¼ cup Milk

1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

2 cups Confectioners Sugar

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping

*Enough to cover all of the doughnuts

½ cup Unsalted Butter

1 cup Sugar

1 tbsp. Cinnamon

To make the dough, place ¼ cups of the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Sprinkle the yeast over the milk.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup of milk with the sugar and butter.  Add it to the yeast mixture.  Stir to combine.  Add the egg and stir until incorporated.  Add the flour, nutmeg, and salt and stir until the dough starts to form.  Change to the dough hook and knead for until the dough starts to become smooth.  If the dough is too sticky, slowly add more flour until it is no longer sticky. 

Transfer to the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and has formed a ball.  Place the dough ball in a large lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.  Let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size. 

Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until ½ thick.  Using a doughnut cutter (if you don’t have a doughnut cutter, you can use 2 biscuit cutters – 1 that is about 3 inches, and the other that is about 2 inches for the inner circle) cut out the doughnuts until you have no dough left.  If desired you can gather up the scraps into a ball and roll it out and cut out more doughnuts.  I prefer not too because I feel the dough becomes too tough.

Place the doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, about 2 inches apart.  Cover with a clean towel and let sit for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven 375 degrees F. 

Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, until lightly golden brown.  Be careful to not overbake these.  You want them to be light and doughy inside.  Let the doughnuts cool for about 5 minutes until ready to top with either the glaze or cinnamon sugar topping

While the doughnuts are cooling make the glaze and/or cinnamon sugar glaze.  Each recipe makes enough to cover all the doughnuts.  I made a half recipe of each and topped half of the doughnuts with each topping.  Or you can choose to just do one of topping for all the doughnuts. 

To make the glaze, combine the milk and the vanilla in a small saucepan.  Heat over low heat until just warmed.  Slowly add in the confectioners sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth.  Remove the glaze from the heat and place over a bowl of warm water.

To glaze the doughnuts, dip them halfway into the glaze and place on a draining/cooling rack set over a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired.  Let set for about 10 minutes.

To make the cinnamon sugar topping, melt the butter in a saucepan or a microwave, and place in a small bowl.  Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl. 

To top the doughnuts with cinnamon sugar, dip the halfway into the melted butter.  Then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Set on a draining/cooling rack to set, about 5 minutes.

Chicken Parmesan

One of Ben's favorite dishes is Chicken Parmesan.  If you serve this with a nice side salad, then the tomato sauce and the salad makes for a very liver friendly meal!

• 4 (8 oz) chicken breast halves, sliced in half
• 3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs (I used 4C whole wheat)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 3/4 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese (I used Sargento)
• 1 cup marinara or Filetto di Pomodoro
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450°. Spray a large baking sheet lightly with spray.


Combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in a bowl. Melt the butter in another bowl. Lightly brush the butter onto the chicken, then dip into breadcrumb mixture. Place on baking sheet and repeat with the remaining chicken.


Lightly spray a little more cooking oil on top and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.Turn chicken over, bake another 5 minutes. Remove from oven, spoon sauce over chicken and top with shredded cheese. Bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

Mmm!  Now this one is definitely on of my favorite dishes!  SOOO good!  (in fact, I am making it again tonight!)  Thanks pinterest and http://sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com for the recipe.

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 {4 oz.} can diced green chiles

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

2 {10 oz.} cans green chili enchilada sauce

2/3 cups red enchilada sauce

2 cups shredded cheese {I used colby & monterrey jack}

1 cup sour cream

Penne pasta

Optional toppings:

Avocado

Green Onions

Black Olives

Tomatoes

Sour Cream

Cook chicken, drain, and shred.  Meanwhile boil pasta according to package and chop the veggies.  The most time consuming part of this recipe is the time spent chopping the veggies.

Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet and cook onions for about 3-5 minutes.  Add garlic & red pepper and cook for another 3-5 minutes.  

Add cooked chicken, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt, & enchilada sauces.  Let sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes.

Add cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and heated through.  Now toss in the sour cream, but whatever you do, DO NOT bring to a boil!  Cook on low heat or the sour cream will curdle. Stir until sour cream is well mixed and heated through.

Drain pasta & return to pot.  Pour sauce over pasta and mix well.  Serve and garnish with avocado, tomato, green onion, and a dollop of sour cream.

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

Found this recipe on pinterest (http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com)as well.  Ben loves sweet and sour chicken, and I am not a fan of his mom's recipe, so I wanted to find a new one.  This one turned out really well.  Ben says it tastes more like orange chicken than sweet and sour, but either way, it was yummy.  And makes GREAT leftovers!

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

The chicken coating:

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

salt + pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

       Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.  

I served this over cooked Royal Balsmati (sp?) rice and it was wonderful!

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

This one has quickly become a family favorite.  SO good, and really fast/easy!  Credit for this one goes to http://www.melskitchencafe.com, via pinterest.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 red or green pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (or a couple tablespoons of parsley)
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups shredded cheese

6 - 8 burrito-sized flour tortillas (I LOVE the raw flour tortillas, but regular precooked ones work just as well)

DIRECTIONS:
Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla.  Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open. Spray the tortillas all over with cooking spray.

The original instructions say to fry these, but I put them all in a baking sheet and bake them at 350 for about 10 minutes, then turn the oven to broil and broil the tops, flip them over, and broil the bottoms, until they are golden brown.  

Serve and enjoy!

Swedish Baked Potato

This one is definitely a side dish.  I discovered this one on pinterest and had to try it.  It just looked so...fun!  And it was pretty good, considering it was a potato :-) lol

Ingredients


6 Medium Size Potatoes
2 - 3 Cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
30 g Butter
Maldon Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper


Method


Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Put the potato on a chopping board, flat side down. Start from one end of the potato, cut almost all the way through, very thinly spaced.


Arrange the potatoes in a baking tray and insert the garlic in between the slits. Scatter some butter on top of each potato. Then drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.


Bake the potatoes for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes turn crispy and the flesh is soft.