Black Bean Enchiladas

Looking for a quick semi homemade meal? Look no further! I was able to put this meal together in about 15 minutes and then leave it to cook later that day. Corn tortillas will break - but don't worry, you are covering them in sauce and cheese so any broken tortillas will blend in.

From the original recipe...what changes did I make?

• Reduce cheese from 24 ounces of cheese to 8 ounces of cheese because I'm a not a huge fan of cheese. You can easily add more if you prefer but I thought it was plenty cheesy.
• I used Wegmans organic black beans because they use less salt. 
• I couldn't find Wegmans enchilada sauce so I used a can of El Paso enchilada sauce.

According to reviewers if you don't have a Wegmans nearby you can use black bean soup and doctor it up with some Mexican inspired spices, onion, and peppers. 

I think adding chopped spinach to the black bean mix, topping with cilantro, or adding in shredded chicken would also make this quite tasty!

Black Bean Enchiladas

adapted from Wegmans
makes 12 enchiladas 

2 cans (15 oz each) Black Beans (I used organic to reduce the sodium)
16 oz container Wegmans Caribbean Black Bean Soup
2-3 cups of Shredded Mexican Cheese
10 oz can of Red Enchilada Sauce
1 bunch of green onions, thinly sliced

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
• Add 1 can beans to large bowl; mash into paste. Add remaining beans, soup, and 1/2 cheese; stir to combine. Set aside.
• Heat tortillas in microwave for 30 seconds so they are soft and pliable. 
• Spread 1/4 cup sauce on bottom of a 9x13-inch casserole dish. 
• Spread 1/4 cup bean mixture in the center of each tortilla. Gently roll up; place seam-side down in casserole dish. Arrange in 2 rows of 6 in each casserole dish. 
• Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining shredded cheese.
• Bake, covered with foil, 25 min; remove foil. 
• Bake 5-10 min until sauce bubbles. 
• Remove from oven; let rest 5-10 min before serving. Garnish with green onions.

Argentinian Beef Empanadas

Like all dumplings these are a labor of love! This took a while but the end product?! Flaky, light, and delish!!! I will be making these again. They freeze/reheat well too! I used the tomato sauce can with both ends cut off as my cookie cutter.

Argentinian Beef Empanadas

Adapted from: Turntable Kitchen
Makes approximately 16 5 inch empanadas

For the dough:
4 1/2 cups of flour
3 teaspoons of salt
2 stick of cold unsalted butter, diced
2 large egg
2/3 cup of ice water
2 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar

For the filling:
1 pound of lean ground beef
2 tablespoon of smoked paprika
2 tablespoon of ground cumin
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 large onion, finely chopped (or 6 tbsp dried onion minced)
4 tablespoon of capers
olive oil
2 hard-boiled egg, roughly chopped
1 cup of chopped, canned tomatoes (1 6oz can tomato paste)
salt and pepper, to taste

1 egg, gently beaten with a fork (for the egg wash)

1. Combine Butter, Salt, and Flour in the food processor until reaching a sandy texture.
2. In a separate small bowl, beat the egg, water and vinegar together with a fork. Pulse into the dry mix until just combined.
3. Place it on a lightly floured surface and use a light hand to knead it gently a few times before forming it into a flattened ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
4. To make the filling, heat approximately olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until it begins to soften. Add the pepper and continue cooking. Next, add the diced tomatoes with their juices and let cook for a few minutes.
5. Add the beef, use the spoon to crush it up in the frying pan. Stir in the spices and capers. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until the beef has browned. Stir, occasionally, so that the meat cooks evenly. Stir in the hard boiled egg and let it cool.
6. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out roughly 4 inch round circles in the dough then use your fingers to spread it to about a 5 or 6 inch circle. Place 3 heaping tablespoons of filling in the center and fold the circle into a half moon. Pinch and fold the edges to seal them and place onto a prepared baking sheet. Continue to do this with the remaining dough and filling.
7. Once you’ve formed all of your empanadas, brush them with the egg wash. Bake the empanadas for approximately 25 minutes (until golden brown). You can freeze formed empanadas in a freezer bag and also refrigerate uneaten empanadas.

Simple Chili Seasoning

Keep this chili seasoning on hand to add some kick to a regular meal or to whip up a warm chili dinner! I triple the recipe below and store with my regular spices.

Check out some of my other Chili Recipes!

• Hearty Slow Cooker Chili
• Spicy Chipotle Chicken Chili
• Turkey Chili
• Cheesecake Factory Knockoff White Chicken Chili

Simple Chili Seasoning
1 heaping tsp of chili powder, red pepper flakes, paprika, cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp black pepper

Combine above spices in a container with a top and then store in a cool dry place.

Use: Approx 1 tbsp per 1.5 pound of meat. Use more if you prefer it to be spicier. 

Chicken Fajitas

I was looking for ways to change up our regular grilled chicken and this is one of the new recipes that I tried!  This recipe is adapted from Simply Recipes.

It was nice that this whole meal could be prepared on the grill since it has been so hot outside! 

I made a couple substitutes based on what was available in the house. I used lemon juice instead of lime juice, garlic powder instead of garlic cloves, and red pepper flakes instead of jalapeno.

Yum!

Chicken Fajitas

Serves 4

1 pound of chicken breast

3 peppers, sliced into stripes

2 small onions, sliced into stripes

Marinade
2 tbsp lime juice or lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced or 1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder or 1/4 tsp of cayenne powder and 1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced or 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Butterfly the chicken breast. Put into a pie plate.

Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over chicken.

Marinade for 1 hour at room temperature or in the fridge for 4-6 hours.

While grill is preheating, put the veggies on a large piece of tinfoil, fold the foil in half. Fold the edges in to form an envelope/packet. Put on the grill for 10 minutes while grill continues to heat.

Grill the chicken for 3-6 minutes per side. Once cooked remove from heat and onto a plate to rest. 

Continue to cook peppers and onions until charred.

Slice chicken and serve on a tortilla.

Mild Taco Seasoning

This mild taco seasoning was adapted from The Daily Meal and was kid approved (at least this time!). It was determined to be not too spicy and not too bland. I did a heaping scoop for the cilantro and oregano but then to make it less green and more red I added a few more sprinkles of paprika until it looked like the packet stuff. 

Mild Taco Seasoning

for 1 pound of meat

1 tbsp chili powder (or 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper + 1/2 tsp paprika)
1 pinch of ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.

When our container is out here is our refill:
2 tsp cayenne
4 tsp paprika
8 pinches ground pepper
6 tsp oregano
2 tsp salt
4 tsp cumin
4 tsp garlic

Loaded Scrambled Eggs

A few random things in my fridge: eggs, scallions, carrots, roasted garlic... I wanted to see what I could make without having to go to the store. I searched online to find some options. I found some recipes for Chinese scallion pie, fried rice, garlic noodles, and omelets.

I settled on making an omelet for dinner. Easy light dinner in less than 15 minutes!

Heat the pan to medium heat, add roasted garlic (3 cloves), a 1/4 tsp of cumin, a tablespoon of diced up bacon, and several sliced baby carrots. Meanwhile, scramble 3 eggs with a splash of milk (little less than 1/4 cup) and some cracked black pepper. Once carrots are soften, about 5-7 minutes, and bacon is crispy, pour in the eggs and some scallion.

Theoretically, let the eggs cook then fold it into an omelet... however mine turn into scrambled eggs at this point. I had a griddled English muffin on the side.

Yum! I would add in more cumin next time since I liked the flavor.