Crock Pot Freezer Meals Part 3

Here are a few more of my favorite crock pot freezer meals (click here for Part 1 and Part 2)

QUINOA CHILI

In crock pot or zip lock:
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 can rotel
- 4 (16 oz) cans black beans
- 16 oz frozen corn
- 1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder (can use fresh minced)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- OPTIONAL: 2 large chicken breasts

(I eyeball the spices and adjust to the taste buds of my family)

Day of cooking:
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups chicken broth

Cook time: 6 to 8 hours LOW

(if used chicken, shred it before serving)

Serving suggestion: cheese, sour cream, favorite chili toppings.


BLACK BEAN AND CHICKEN TACOS

In crock pot or zip lock:

-  1 lb skinless chicken tenders or breasts
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can rotel
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Cook time: 4 to 8 hours LOW

Serving suggestions: Shred chicken and serve with corn taco shells and favorite taco toppings and/or slaw.

For slaw:
- 1 1/3 cups shredded red cabbage
- OPTIONAL: 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or lime juice
- salt and pepper to taste


KOREAN BEEF TACOS

In crock pot or zip lock:
- 10 cloves garlic, minced
- OPTIONAL: 3 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup + 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3/4 cup rice vinegar (also called rice wine vinegar)
- 4 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Mix well then add:
- 6 pounds beef

Cook time: 6 to 10 hours LOW  (remove sauce and thicken on stove.  Replace sauce to serve)

Serving suggestion: soft corn or flour tortillas, sour cream, and slaw (also good if you fry the soft corn tortillas)

For slaw:
- 4 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- couple pinches of salt
- - pinch red pepper flakes
-2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- OPTIONAL: 1 handful of cilantro, chopped
- OPTIONAL: 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely minced
- 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 large carrots, peeled and shredded
- 1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

To toast sesame seeds, heat a small pan over medium heat.  Add the sesame seeds and stir for about 4 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic.  Remove immediately and set aside.  In a small bowl, mix vinegar, sugar, and salt.  Add onions, mix and let stand about 15 minutes.  Combine remaining ingredients, reserving sesame seeds until just before serving.  Can be made a few hours ahead and kept in fridge, sans sesame seeds.

Black bean chili

1/4 c. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, diced (the original recipe calls for red and green. I usually get at least two colors.)
1.5 tbs minced garlic
2tbs paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/3 tsp salt
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, very finely chopped
1 tbs cumin seed
1 tbs dried leaf oregano
2 cups cooked black beans
1.5 cups canned chopped tomatoes in puree

Heat oil in large saucepan. Add onion, bell peppers, garlic, paprika, cayenne, salt, and jalapeno peppers. Saute until onions are soft.
Add cumin, oregano, beans, and tomatoes.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook slowly for an hour.

We eat this over rice with cheddar cheese, sour cream and sometimes avocados.
I usually use 2 cans of beans to one can of tomatoes, and I don't think I get them in puree. I think they're just chopped, and if I have the option, I will buy the ones with mexican spices, or chilis or whatever already in them, but not always. If it's cheaper to buy beans fresh cook them yourself.. that's a good option too.

The girl who gave us the recipe puts hers in the blender and purees it, but we like the texture of the chili instead of soup.

Plus, it freezes great!

Quinoa Black Bean Salad - Combined

When I was planning my menu this week, I knew I wanted to make Quinoa Black Bean Salad.  But I discovered that there were two yummy looking recipes on the blog to choose from.  So I took a little from one and a little from the other - and this is what I got!

mine didn't look exactly like this...but you get the idea

INGREDIENTS

1 cup quinoa, washed and drained
1 ¾ cups water
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 2 fresh limes
1 teaspoon cumin

1 clove garlic, minced
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half (optional - I didn't use any this time because fresh tomatoes are on "baby no like" list since I've been pregnant)
1 red bell pepper (I like it cut small)
1 avocado cut into chunks
5 green onions, finely chopped
Salt (pepper – optional) to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1 Wash and rinse quinoa. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Once hot, add the rinsed quinoa and toast for a minute or two.  Add water, stir once, cover and simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes.  Watch it though and turn it off as soon as the liquid is absorbed!

 2 In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, cumin, salt, and garlic.

3 Combine cooked quinoa, beans, red pepper, tomatoes, and green onions in a large bowl.

4 Drizzle dressing over salad.  Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.  Can also add cilantro and/or red pepper flakes.


As a note - this is great as a side dish to a meal (one of the boys declared it tasted like guacamole), but also keeps well in the fridge for a healthy, protein packed lunch or snack. 

Quinoa Lettuce Wraps

 

Found this recipe over on The Naked Kitchen. Delish.  I pretty much followed the original recipe, but I also added bean sprouts.  The flavor of this recipe was my favorite part.  They were messy, they weren't Rory's favorite ... but quinoa never is ... and they didn't look all that great.  But the flavor ... the flavor was GREAT !  Here's what I did ...

3 cups cooked quinoa
1 can black beans
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 can sliced water chestnuts, roughly chopped
2 carrots, julienned

a handful of bean sprouts, chopped

1/2 cup reduced sodium tamari or soy sauce
2 tbsp  sesame oil 

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp minced ginger
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp honey 

 

1 head of bibb lettuce (called butter lettuce in australia), to serve

Mix together first six ingredients and set aside.

Add the next six ingredients to a jar and shake until combined. 

Pour liquid over the quinoa mixture and stir to combine.

Scoop mixture into lettuce leaves to eat ...

Quinoa Black Bean Burritos

I saw this recipe for Quinoa Black Bean Burrito Bowls and just had to try it.
I didn't change much about the recipe .... but here's what I did.

1 cup quinoa
1/2 a small red onion, minced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 cans of black beans
1 big bunch fresh coriander (cilantro)
1/4 tsp chili powder
juice of one lime
iceberg lettuce, to shred

salt

tasty (white cheddar) cheese, grated
greek yoghurt

guacamole or avocado

tomatoes, chopped

flour tortillas

Rinse quinoa and then add to a saucepan with 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, then simmer on low.  Cover and let simmer for 15/20 minutes til becomes tender and liquid is all absorbed.  Don't let it burn!

In a frying pan, heat a blub of olive oil over med heat.  Saute onion.  Add garlic.  Saute.  Add black beans and 1/2 cup water and a handful of chopped, fresh coriander.  Add the chili powder to taste.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med low and let simmer til liquid is mostly gone.  Squeeze in the juice of 1/2 your lime.  Season with salt to taste.

When quinoa is cooked, mix in about 1/2 a handful of chopped, fresh coriander and squeeze in the juice of the other 1/2 of your lime.  Season with salt to taste.

We served ours in bowls and had flour tortillas on the side to scoop it up with.  For lunch the next day, I put it into the tortilla and made an actual burrito.  Both ways were delicious.  I would even eat this without the tortilla!  The flavors were great!

Chicken and Beans on Rice

This was delicious.  Easy too.  I found the recipe here.  I did what she did with minor alterations like, one less chicken breast because I always find these sorts of chicken dishes have to much chicken. I also added rice and toppings.  Oh, and I mixed all the stuff together before adding to crock pot ...

Anyway, here's my way ...

3 raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (400g/15oz) can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 (400g/15oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 (400g/15oz) cans of diced tomatoes
frozen corn, I didn't measure ...
1 (340g/12oz) jar of salsa

to serve ...
avocado, chopped
grated cheese, i used a mexican blend
rice or tortillas or corn chips
sour cream or greek yoghurt (didn't have any in the house this time but will use next time)

Put chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker (crock pot).

In a separate bowl, mix other ingredients.  I just added the corn til it seemed a reasonable amount. Pour over chicken.  Cook on low for 5-7 hours.  I did the full 7 hours then turned it on 'keep warm' til we were ready to eat a few hours later.  When I stirred the mixture up when we were ready to eat, the chicken just broke into pieces! 

Serve on top of rice, or in a tortilla or with corn chips.  Top with avocado, grated cheese and sour cream ...

This was a BIG HIT with the whole family ! And it made lots.  Our family of four ate it for diner one night & everyone had seconds.  Two of us are having it for lunch today.  And there is still enough for lunch tomorrow!

Southwest Chicken Soup

A friend gave me a recipe for Southwestern Turkey Soup ... she had discovered it in one of her Cooking Light cookbooks and LOVED it.  I love a good soup so decided to try it.  I followed her modifications, like substituting chicken for the turkey (turkey costs a FORTUNE in Australia) and made a few modifications of my own.  Here's what I did.

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced red capsicum (bell pepper)

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

500g chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

2 tablespoons no added salt tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 cups low sodium chicken stock

2 bay leaves

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1 can green chillies

To Serve:

fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped

spring onion, chopped

avocado

lime wedges

corn chips

Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pan over medium-high heat.  Add onion, capsicum, and garlic.  Saute a few minutes or until tender.  

Coat chicken with flour.  Add chicken to pan and cook until browned on all sides. 

Add tomato paste & spices.  Stir. 

Add chicken stock.  I added a little and loosened all the yummy crusty bits that had browned on the bottom of the pan, then added the rest.  Add bay leaves, tomatoes, beans, corn and green chillies.  Bring to the boil. 

Reduce heat to medium and simmer 15 minutes.  Remove bay leaves and serve.  Squeeze lime over individual bowls and then top with fresh coriander, spring onion, avocado & corn chips.

This is delicious. Try it !

***

Just for our records ... One serve is 1 and 1/3 cup soup, 1/4 cup corn chips, 2 tablespoons avocado and 1 lime wedge .... 287 calories.

***

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

This is a yummy recipe I got from my friend Emily, who got it from Pinterest. This is my second time making it. It is so versatile, as long as you like Mexican food. Put it on any taco type food. Or dip chips in it. Or eat it with a spoon. Whatever you do with it, you're going to love it. The original recipe comes from here, but here is how I made it.


1 cup quinoa (I used red quinoa this time)

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups chicken broth (I used chicken bullion in boiling water and it was still tasty)

1/2 cup diced bell pepper, any color you wish.

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1/2 cup diced red onion

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1 cup corn (if you use a can, drain it, then use all the corn... it's over a cup, but tasty)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 large tomato, diced
Juice of 3 limes, or to taste
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon adobo seasoning (If you can't buy adobo, you can find a recipe for it here)
salt and black pepper to taste

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly under cold water, and drain. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, and cook and stir the quinoa until the water has evaporated and the quinoa is lightly toasted. The original recipe says this should take about 3 minutes, but I have found it to take much longer every time. Pour in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the quinoa has absorbed all the broth, about 10 minutes. Cool quinoa in refrigerator at least 10 minutes.

Mix together green pepper, red onion, corn, black beans, cilantro, tomato, lime juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and adobo seasoning, in a large salad bowl. Lightly stir in the quinoa, and season with salt, pepper, and additional lime juice to taste, if desired. Chill the salad at least 30 minutes before serving; serve cold.

Black Bean Stack

I saw this recipe on pinterest and had to try it. 

I made a couple of changes ... here's how I did mine.

4 flour tortillas (as close to the same size as your springform pan as possible)
a blub of canola oil
1 large onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced (I took out the seeds and ribs)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper
2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
12 ounces of beer (I used Little Creatures Pale Ale)
2 cups frozen corn
3/4 cup spring onions, thinly sliced
2 & 1/2 cups tasty (or cheddar) cheese, shredded

So, if your tortillas are bigger than your springform pan, use the bottom of the pan as a guide, and trip them to the right size. Set aside. Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan over medium heat. Add onion, jalapeno, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper. Stir and cook til soft ... maybe 5 minutes. Throw in your beans and beer. Increase heat and bring to the boil. (About now you should turn your oven on to 400F/200C.) Reduce heat back to medium and simmer, about 10 minutes or until most of the been has evaporated. Add corn and spring onions. Simmer a bit longer to reduce liquid just a bit more. Maybe only another minute or two. Layer like this ... tortilla, beans, cheese. Use 1/2 cup cheese for the first three layers and then finish the top layer with 1 cup cheese. Bake about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove side of springform pan and voila ... black bean stack ! I had a bit of cilantro left from the carrots I made as a side dish, so sprinkled that one top !  Served with a bit of Greek yoghurt too.  Delish.  I had this for lunch the next day and it was just as good leftover !! 

Chicken & Black Bean Tostada Bowl

When we were in the States I bought some Tortilla Bakers for making individual tostada bowls. I used them for the first time (with tortiallas) the other night.

I followed the instructions on the box for making the bowls.

Lightly spray your little bakers with non stick spray.

Between damp paper towls, microwave your tortillas for about 15/20 seconds. Fit it into the baker. Bake in 350F/170C oven for 5-8 minutes. (I will do ours longer next time. I was worried they would burn but the bottom and sides weren't really crispy like the top ~ as you can see in the photos !)

Cool for 5 minutes before removing from baker. Then place on rack to cool completely.

We filled these ones with ....

Chicken, diced and cooked with a mexican spice mix

Black beans, straight out of the can, drained

Tomatoes, diced

Spring Onion, chopped

Cheddar Cheese, grated

Greek Yoghurt, dolloped (you could use sour cream but we didn't have any)

Avocado, chopped

Lettuce, chopped small

Bell Peppers Stuffed with Salsa, Rice & Beans (Crockpot)

4 large bell peppers
2 ½ cups cooked brown rice
15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup tomato salsa
3 scallions, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
15 oz. can crushed tomatoes
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon sugar

Cut the tops off the bell peppers, save for later use, and remove and discard the seeds and membranes. Arrange the peppers upright in a 5 ½ - 6 quart slow cooker.
(My Crock Pot is only 4 quarts and they turned out fine.)
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the rice, beans, salsa, and scallions and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
Fill the prepared peppers evenly with rice mixture, packing it lightly. Replace the pepper tops. In the same mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, cumin, oregano and sugar and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Pour over and around the peppers in the slow cooker.
Cover and cook on Low for 4 hours, until peppers are fork-tender but still hold their shape.
Serve hot.

Note: Adapted from a recipe from the book titled: Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker

Burrito Bowl

This is such an easy meal ... I love it.

We just throw everything on the table, or on the kitchen counter, and everyone

makes their own bowl to their own liking.

Here's what we have in ours, but you can do whatever you like, that' s the beauty of the burrito bowl !

Brown Basmati Rice, cooked and mixed with lime juice and fresh coriander (cilantro)
Black Beans
Grated Cheese
Spring Onions, Sliced
Black Olives
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Salsa (optional)
Jalapenos (optional)

That's it ... then just fill your bowl with whatever combination takes your fancy ...



My bowl.



Rory's bowl.

**

yum

Chicken Taco Salad a la Bon-Chan

I wanted to make taco salad but taco beef often gives me indigestion. Not fun. So ... I wanted to try it with chicken. I love chicken soft tacos from taco bell. Gasp. I don't know that I could eat one now, knowing what I know about fast food, but I do love that flavor. Well, I don't need to anymore because this chicken totally did it for me. I don't know that it's a taco bell replica but it doesn't need to be because it was delicious and totally filled that taco bell spot.

The salad itself was really simple. I made individual plates (and made lunches straight into tupperware containers at the same time) for each of us !

chopped lettuce leaves
a spoonful of black beans
sliced avocado
sour cream
a chunk of lime
corn chips
simple homemade salsa
chicken

for the salsa
chopped tomatoes
chopped cilantro (coriander leaves)
finely diced red onion
crushed garlic
lime juice
salt and pepper

mix the above to taste

for the chicken
300g chicken ( I'll do more next time )
1/2 Tablespoon paprika
1/2 Tablespoon cumin
1/2 Tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 Tablespoon onion flakes
1/2 Tablespoon sea salt

mix spices.
add to chicken when frying in olive oil.
i didn't use all of the spice mix ... saved about 1/2 for next time !

Other things I might also add to the salad but didn't this time ...
black olives
grated cheddar cheese
cilantro lime rice

Slow Cooker Brownies

(would you like some brownie with that cream ??)

I got this recipe here ... I made a couple of changes that I will post here ...

You need to find a dish (I used an oval pyrex dish) that will fit into your slow cooker. DO THIS NOW !

Prep time: 20 minutes
Set time: overnight ~ so start these the day BEFORE you want to eat them !
Cooking Time: 6 – 8 hours

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 extra ripe bananas ~ I just thawed a couple out of my freezer
3 Tb apple sauce ~ I peeled and chopped a couple apples, added a tablespoon or so of water, microwaved a couple minutes, pureed in stick blender and INSTANT apple sauce ! I fed the leftovers to the kids with dinner !!

4 Tb honey
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 tsp ground chili
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

The night before: Process the rolled oats in a food processor ~ til they are sort of like a flour. Put in a big bowl and add walnuts. Add all the other ingredients to the food processor and process until smooth. Add this mixture to the oats and mix thoroughly.

Line dish that you've already decided you'd use with baking paper paper and pour your brownie mix in. Cover and put then in the fridge until morning

In the morning: Get some aluminium foil and roll it into a ring to place under the dish in the slow cooker. Then put the baking dish on top of the foil ring. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

These have a very 'dark chocolate' feel to them, hence the big blob of whipped cream we put on top !!

Mexican Chicken ~ with Unprocessed Modifications

I discovered and first cooked this recipe over a year ago. I was wanting to cook it again but the salsa doesn't fit with our unprocessed specifications. Lots of preservatives in store bought salsa ! The other night, I decided to experiment with it and it was a huge success !! I neglected to take a photo so am going to repost this old one with both recipes in it ...

All I did the other night was change a few ingredients, the rest is the same.

So ... Instead of the jar of salsa ... I added ...
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can diced green chilies
and a few dried onion and garlic flakes.

I cooked the chicken for 6 hours. Turned it off for a couple hours. Turned it back on 30 minutes before we wanted to eat to throw in the cream cheese ... but ... see instructions below for all those details ...

I found this amazing recipe over at 'from Mommy's kitchen'.
Made it the other day and we loved it.
Kids loved it.
I loved it.
Rory loved it.
Rory even loved it for lunch the next day !
And I have another full meals worth frozen to eat in the next week or two !!
Love that !
Lots of love involved with this meal !

Here's the recipe ...

4-5 boneless chicken breasts, frozen
1 can black beans (15 ounce)
2 cups corn, fresh or frozen
3 limes, juiced
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced (optional) - I didn't have any fresh so I used dried.
1 jar of medium salsa (16 ounce)
1 package low fat cream cheese (8 ounce)

Place the frozen chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the cream cheese.

Cook on high heat for 5-6 hours , until chicken is fully cooked and falling apart. A half an hour before serving, stir to break up the chicken and add the cream cheese, let melt, mix it in just before serving.

Serve over rice.

PS .. Next time we have it we are going to try serving it in ................ drum roll please ............ yep, you guessed it ........... flour tortillas !!!!!!!!

Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas ~ Bread Maker Edition

I'm reposting this because it had an error. These never turned out right after the first time I made them and I couldn't figure out why !! Then a friend tried them and questioned the amount of water, then today I made them today and they were WAY too wet so I went back to the source and for some reason, I had the wrong amount of water. DOUBLE the amount, in fact. So ... I've changed the recipe here to be correct. It is in fact only 1.5 cups of boiling water ... not three !!! I had to add another couple of cups of flour to salvage the ones I made today ... I'm off now to cook them and pop them into the freezer for easy use during the week !!! Sorry if you all have tried these without success. Try them again !!! But ... with the right amount of water !!!

***

I've been wanting to try making flour tortillas for a long time. The thing that always stops me though is making the dough. I'm just not a lover of kneading ! NOT. AT. ALL ! I found this recipe and for some reason that is not obvious to me now, I thought I could do it in the bread maker. I did and it worked so well !! HUGE SUCCESS !! I'm so excited about it !!

I read through a whole bunch of the reviews of this recipe and found a few changes that I thought would be good and therefore almost completely changed the recipe ! Here's the way I did it.

Add the following to your bread maker ...

5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 cups boiling water

After you stop wondering if it's going to bubble over, shut the lid, and turn your bread maker on to the 'dough' cycle. I did mine last night before I went to bed. When I woke up this morning, it looked great. I left it for an hour or two or three til I was ready for the next step. When you're ready, roll them into golf ball size balls and put them on a tray. I used a meatloaf pan. When you've rolled them all, cover it. I used press and seal because I was planning to leave them all day and I didn't want them to dry out. And then I left them ... all day, til dinner. One of the reviews said the longer they sit, the easier they are to roll out. So ... when you are ready to cook them ... roll them out, one at a time. (while one is cooking, roll out the next one) I found the ones I had rolled weren't big enough so I combined one and a half balls each time and rolled that out. I just used a rolling pin and I didn't flour the surface because I hate the feeling of flour on my fingers. But ... it was sticky so you might want to if you don't have my same flour foible. Heat your griddle or large frying pan over high heat. I put some olive oil in the bottom of mine. Fry your tortillas one at a time. I'm not exactly sure how long to cook it ... some people talked about bubbles. Some of mine bubbled, some of them didn't. But ... you do both sides. Doesn't take long. I just chopped off a piece of the first couple to see when they tasted done and went from there !!

This recipe says the tortillas can be refrigerated or frozen. I didn't cook them all tonight (there were 27 balls !!) and have refrigerated the leftover balls. Tomorrow, I'll cook up a few more. Freeze a few dough balls. Freeze a few cooked tortillas. You know ... experiment and see what works best !!

I served tonight's tortillas with :
black beans
avocado
tomato
spring onion
greek yogurt
cilantro lime rice

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY !

Mexican Cous Cous

I made this up.
It was delicious.

I'll make it again ... on purpose next time !

Whatcha Need :

1 carrot, shredded
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, roughly crushed and chopped
1 cob of corn ... corn cut off, cob disposed of
1/2 a tomato that has been sittin' in the fridge needing to be used, chopped
3/4 jar of medium salsa (again ... needing to be used !)
1 can of black beans, drained
1 and 1/4 cup veg stock
1 cup cous cous
Salt and Pepper

Whatcha Do :

Using your favorite big cast iron skillet, on a med/high heat ... sautee carrot, onion, garlic, corn and tomato (seasoned with S & P) til done to your liking. Add black beans. Move all this stuff to the outter edges of the pan and pour in the veg stock. Bring to the boil ... it takes like 30 seconds to get there ! Add the cous cous. Stir everything together. Cover. Cook for a few minutes then add the salsa. Stir it all together again and just let the juices cook off. Again ...doesn't take long.

I served it with a dollop of greek yoghurt and steamed asparagus !

YUM !!

Roasted Tomato and Black Bean Soup

Yay! Another fabulous BEAN recipe! I found the original recipe in the Reader's Digest, modified it extensively, and oh yum! It was just exactly what I wanted on a chilly rainy day. This is my version.

4 medium tomatoes, quartered (I used roma, 'cause they were on sale!)
3/4 of an onion, cut into large pieces (about 1")
1 small head of garlic (the original called for twice the beans and only 3 cloves of garlic! Ha!)
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
1 can chicken or vegetable broth
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 tsp cumin (I used curry powder, since I didn't have any cumin)
1 tsp chili powder
Splash of lime juice

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Cut the top off the head of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt (preferable sea salt), wrap in foil and stick in the oven. In a bowl, toss tomatoes and onion with some more olive oil, salt and pepper. Transfer to a baking sheet and roast until edges of onions have browned and the tomatoes have collapsed, 35 - 40 min. Stir once after 20 min.

2. Transfer roasted veggies to a large saucepan. Squeeze out the garlic cloves into the pan and add broth, beans, and spices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 min.

3. Remove from heat and blend to desired smoothness (I left mine just a touch chunky and really enjoyed the texture) using an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender.

4. Garnish with some Tabasco sauce (or, if you have none, substitute packets of Taco Bell hot sauce...seriously, it ain't easy cooking so deliciously in such an obviously deficient kitchen!), sour cream, and/or cilantro. It's also all kinds of spectacular with tortilla chips.

Turkey Tostadas

This is another recipe out of my delicious magazine.

Modified, like this ...

half a red onion
6 tomatoes
garlic, 2 or 3 cloves (to your liking)
bunch of coriander (cilantro)
4 cups shredded cooked turkey
can refried black beans
flour tortillas
shredded lettuce, avocado, sour cream and lime wedges to serve

Roast onion, tomato and garlic in 180C oven for about 20 minutes. Peel tomatoes and then process the three in the food processor til smooth. Add coriander. Season to taste. Heat beans. Warm tortillas. To serve ... put beans on tortilla, add turkey, sauce from food processor, lettuce, avocado, and sour cream. Season and garnish with lime and coriander sprigs.

{bonnie's black bean chili soup photos}

have you all tried my sister ellie's black bean chili soup ?
i had never made it before the other night
i had eaten it
cooked by ellie while we were in denver
but never cooked it myself

i decided to double the recipe so i'd have leftovers to freeze
and i'm glad because it was freakin' delicious !!!

here's the onion, red/green/yellow capsicum (bell peppers) all chopped up

and now with the garlic

oh man, my mouth is watering ...
good thing i'm having leftovers for lunch !

i didn't serve this on rice
just as is, with corn chips
and topped with avocado, homemade greek yogurt
and grated cheddar cheese

go get the recipe ... it's on this blog already ... and try it

try it ! try it !
and you may.
try it and you may, i say ...

like it that is
green eggs and ham ... if you haven't read it, you need to.