Erin's Easy Eats

Enchiladas, Mommy style

January 30th, 2008 by Erin

These are lazy, not-really-enchilada enchiladas. But they are delicious. My mom used to make them a lot, (she still might, who knows?) and I’ve modified the recipe slightly by using different beans and adding corn. The recipe is quite versitile - add or remove what you like to make it your own. My mom (a diabetic) cuts back on the rice, and uses black beans. I like pinto beans a lot, so I use those instead.

This makes a LOT of food, so have some hungry folks around to help you devour it. (Back in my single days, I’d freeze them too, but those days are gone from me now, and Mexican food disappears with a speed I previously thought inhuman and impossible.) Hi mom!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken, cooked and shredded (or chopped)
• 1 c. cooked rice
• 1 can pinto beans, drained
• 1 can mexicorn, drained (or plain corn, your choice)
• 1 can Rotel chillies
• 2 cups Mexican cheese blend
• 2 small cans enchilada sauce (or one big one)
• 1 package burrito sized tortillas

Mix chicken, beans, corn, rice, chillies, half the cheese and one can (or half of a big one) of enchilada sauce in a big bowl.

This delicious mess is about to become better. (That’s my purple spatula on the right.)

Spray a 13×9 pan with cooking spray. Roll up tortillas with a little less than 1 cup of mixture in each (fold as you like, it’s always an experiment with me to see what technique works the best.) Top with the other can of sauce (spread it around,) the cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, let stand 5 before food carnage begins.

Posted in chicken, dinner, mexican, recipes || 1 Comment

Tofu with Red Peppers

January 27th, 2008 by Erin

Back when I was a vegetarian (maybe more on that another time) this was one of my favorite dishes. It’s easy, and it is full of flavor. I love to serve it with some Pad Thai from a box (or from the freezer) because I’m too lazy to make real Pad Thai. I really should invest some time in finding a good recipe to cut back on the sodium involved in the boxed stuff. Another day, another day.

Anyway! Like I said, this one cooks up very quickly, has tofu, and still has really good flavor. This recipe is inspired by a recipe from Cooking Light.

Ingredients:

• 1 12 oz package firm/extra firm (not silk) tofu
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 1 Tbs garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Tbs peeled fresh ginger, or 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• pinch red pepper flakes (a healthy pinch)
• 2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbs dry sherry
• 1/3 c. chopped green onions
• 1 - 2 Tbs. black bean paste (it is salty and strong. Taste test! I like more.)
• 2 Tbs. soy sauce

Set tofu on a layer of paper towels, cover with additional paper towels, and allow to drain for 30 minutes, pressing occasionally. Cut into 1″ cubes, set aside. Warm pan to medium-high. Add garlic, chili flakes, and ginger. Cook for 1 minute. Add bell peppers, continue cooking (and stirring a lot!) for 2-3 minutes. Stir in tofu and sherry, cook 2 minutes. Stir in onions, soy sauce, and black bean paste. Remove from heat.

Posted in dinner, fast, recipes, vegetarian || 3 Comments

Feeds

January 27th, 2008 by Erin

An appropriate title for the food blog, no?  But this particular entry has nothing to do with food…

Bob has done wonderful things here with me the last few days. To make your lives easier, you can now subscribe to the feed of your choice :)   There is also an LJ feed available.  Subscribe here.

Thanks to everyone for taking a look! I feel so popular!

Posted in Uncategorized || No Comments

Chicken Salad with Cooked Dressing

January 26th, 2008 by Erin

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m dreadfully picky about my chicken salad. If it’s too sweet, no thanks. If it just tastes like mayonnaise and chicken, I’m out. If you have raisins, grapes, or nuts, you can give it to someone else. (Why would anyone defile chicken with grapes and raisins? I just don’t get it. Enjoy it if you do, that’s more for you anyway.) So, I was thrilled to find this recipe in my “Frugal Gourmet Cooks American” cookbook. I got this cookbook at one of those “fill a box for $3″ sales one time, and this recipe has been well worth the $3 for the box.

Also, how do you like the new home? I think it looks pretty good!

Ingredients:

• Cooked Dressing
  • 1/4 c. cream
  • 1/4 c. chicken stock (or broth)
  • 1/2 cider vinegar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 Tbs. flour
  • 2 Tbs. sugar
  • 1 Tbs. dry mustard
  • Salt and pepper to taste

  Mix flour, sugar, and mustard in a small saucepan. Stir until clumps are gone. Add remaining ingredients. Cook over medium-low heat until mixture thickens. (There will be a “double” thickening. Don’t stop the first time it gets sort of thick. It will get even thicker after another minute or two.)

• Chicken Salad
  • Finely chopped celery and red onion to taste
  • Cooked, shredded (or chopped) chicken (I like to poach mine because it’s easy)
  • 1/2 portion dressing with 1/2 portion mayonnaise
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all to taste. Serve chilled. I like mine on toast. Which, for this recipe alone, I figured out how to cook without a toaster, because we don’t have one. My recommended method: Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking oil (like Pam) and put as many pieces of bread down as you want. Keep a “nose on it” and check it to see when it’s reached the desired level of doneness. Repeat on other side of bread. Toast! (Who needs a toaster, anyway?)

Posted in chicken, recipes || No Comments

Shrimp Scampi (bonus bread recipe!)

January 23rd, 2008 by Erin

The husband used to make this in mass quantities when he worked at the old-folks home, but he wasn’t allowed to use wine. I certainly like our combined version with a little spice and some alcohol to boot. Shrimp, in any form, can never be bad. I <3 shrimp. Plus, I made great rosemary bread in the bread machine the other day and it tastes great with the scampi sauce.

Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp, tails and peels removed
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1/4 c. white wine
3/4 c. chicken broth (or veggie would work, too, or even water in a pinch but not my 1st choice)
4 Tbs butter
1 red bell pepper, chopped *very* fine (well, not food processor fine, but small)
pinch red pepper flakes

Melt butter in non-stick pan. Add red pepper flakes, garlic, and shrimp. Stir until shrimp is mostly cooked through. Add wine and allow to mostly cook off. Add red pepper and broth, stir to combine, continue cooking 3-5 minutes to allow flavors to combine. Serve over your pasta of choice (we like angel hair or thin spaghetti.) Tonight, we added some chopped chives for color (ooooh, pretty.) Leftovers might need some salt as the noodles tend to absorb that.

Bonus rosemary bread recipe:
This tastes a lot like the bread you get at Macaroni Grill. Serve it up with some olive oil. I’m sure you could also make it “the old fashioned way” but I love my (Bob’s) bread machine.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Add ingredients in order directed by machine manufacturer. Set to 1 1/2 lb. white loaf. Start ‘er up.

Posted in pasta, recipes, shrimp || 3 Comments

Kofta Curry

January 21st, 2008 by Erin

I got this recipe from my high school friend Maria, who upon my begging for new things to do with ground turkey, sent this. It is delicious and simple. We serve it with couscous or rice, and sometimes some pita wedges. On a different note, I love those bowl plate things, but they are so not photo friendly. They are Erin friendly, because they are super colorful, but pink and green and blue plates do not make for pretty food photos.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons chopped onion
1½ pounds ground turkey (or lamb, or beef, or venison)
2½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup thinly sliced onion (separate from the chopped onion)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 cup water
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine the chopped onion, turkey, 1½ teaspoons of the salt, the cinnamon, cloves and beaten egg. Shape into eighteen meatballs and set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Brown the onion slices in it. Add the turmeric and cook for two or three minutes. Remove the onion slices from the pan and reserve them.
Add the remaining oil to the pan and heat it. Add the meatballs and cook them until browned on all sides.
Mix the browned onions, water, tomato paste, remaining salt, the coriander, cumin and cayenne and add to the pan. Cover and cook over moderate heat for 20 minutes.

Posted in dinner, recipes, turkey || 2 Comments

One Dish Chicken and Stuffing Bake

January 20th, 2008 by Erin

This one won’t win any awards for being photogenic. Or complicated. Or even refined. But damn, chicken and stuffing sure does taste good. Especially when it’s really cold outside (21 degrees but it feels like 7 with the wind chill) and you get to snuggle and watch X-Files. Once again, a stolen picture, from Campbell’s website this time. I’d say that I serve this with vegetables, but I don’t. I imagine for those of you wanting to actually eat vegetables (not including chopped parsley or soup-version mushrooms) that a box of those mixed vegetables would be just lovely. But we’re forgoing that tonight, and having chicken and stuffing. Also, there is enough salt in this dish to pickle someone. Mmm, salt. No one said this blog would include healthy recipes.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 c. boiling water
4 Tbs butter, melted
4 c. stuffing mix (I think this is 10 oz. dry, but I had to buy two boxes of 6 oz. each)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about a pound, Dolly Parton chickens.)
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (get the lower sodium stuff or else!)
1/3 c. milk
1 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped, or 1 tsp dried
Paprika (omit-able, only there for pretty)

Mix together water and butter. Add to stuffing, stir to combine. Place stuffing in the bottom of a 3 qt. shallow casserole. Halve chicken breasts (the recipe actually calls for 6, but I find that halving two makes for more than enough chicken. Yowza. 6 whole breasts might feed an army.) Combine soup, milk, and parsley. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle with paprika. Cover, and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Posted in chicken, recipes || No Comments

Pumpkin Pasta with Sausage and Wild Mushrooms

January 14th, 2008 by Erin

I cannot claim ownership of this photo - I gakked it because my camera is dead. So there’s my disclaimer
Anyway, this is another Rachael Ray dish. You can’t go wrong with sausage and pasta! We thought maybe that it would be too similar to the other sausage dish I’ve posted, but it ended up being very different and quite wonderful.
Although this recipe called for mushrooms, we’ve decided they could easily be omitted as they sort of just blended in and didn’t really add much to the finished dish. There are a lot of ingredients in this one, but most of them I had lying around anyway, so it’s not a whole lot when you check your cupboard for the basics (pasta, onions, stock, garlic, wine, cheese, spices, etc. I all had on hand.) The pumpkin really lends a richness to this sauce that was unexpected (although I’m sure the cream helped too.) It’s full of simple goodness and is quite healthy. This is the first time we’ve tried this dish, but it certainly won’t be the last.

Ingredients:
1 lb. sweet or hot sausage (we use turkey, always)
1/2 lb. cooked penne pasta (or whatever shape you like, not too small)
1 chopped yellow onion
3 chopped cloves garlic
14 oz. canned pumpkin
3/4 c. chicken stock
1/2 c. white wine
1 Tbs dried sage
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
pinch cinnamon
1 3oz. package shitake mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 c. half and half/cream/milk
Grated Parmesan
Chopped chives

Remove sausage from casing, cook until browned. Push to side of the pan. Add mushrooms, onions, and garlic. Cook until onions have started to soften and mushrooms have slightly browned. Stir together. Add white wine and let cook mostly off. Add chicken stock and simmer for one minute. Add pumpkin and stir (this will be thick!) Add cream, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sage, allow to simmer briefly. Add pasta and stir. Top with chives and cheese (Rick informs me that the “stinky cheese” is optional and the dish is still delicious. I am a girl who loves stinky cheese, so I piled it on.)

Posted in pasta, recipes, sausage || 6 Comments

Fish with SearedTomatoes and Brown Butter

January 13th, 2008 by Erin

I guess I’ve avoided posting a Rachael Ray recipe as long as I can muster. Normally, her recipes, although mostly delicious, are far from easy. Tonight’s was a different story. If I’d not decided to use Pillsbury-French-Loaf-in-a-can, this meal would have been done in 10 minutes. As it was, it only took half an hour, 20 of which consisted of driving to the 7-11 while the bread was in the oven.

The recipe calls for talapia, or any number of other fishes. We ended up using flounder, because it was at the grocery store and reasonably priced. A softer fish, rather than a firm one like swordfish or tuna, will work best for this recipe. (Also, ours cooked in about 3 minutes total because the fish was so thin.)

Ingredients:
1 pt. grape tomatoes
1/2 c. parsley, chopped
juice of one lemon (or a healthy squeeze from the squeezy lemon in the fridge)
2 fish fillets, about 4 oz. each
3 Tbs. cold, unsalted butter (although we used salted just fine)
Flour for dredging (about 1/4 cup)

Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a nonstick pan over high heat. Throw in the tomatoes and let sear for about 2 minutes, without stirring, until browned on one side. Stir, add salt and pepper to taste, and half of the parsley. Continue cooking for another 2 minutes, or until they start to pop. Remove from pan, set in serving dishes, and cover to keep warm.
Season fish with salt and pepper, and dredge in flour. Add another 2 Tbs of olive oil to the pan, and cook fish about 3 minutes on each side, or until browned and cooked through. Remove, and cover to keep warm. Wipe pan clean.
Return pan to stove and reduce heat to medium-high. Add butter, and brown (melt and then let continue cooking, without doing much except stirring until it is brown in color and smells slightly nutty.) Watch out, this happens fast and nothing tastes worse than burnt butter. (Mine took about 3 minutes to reach fully browned.) Add the rest of the parsley, and lemon juice. Stir to combine, pour over fish and tomatoes. Serve with crusty bread.
Tada!

Posted in fast, fish, recipes || 3 Comments

"Mexican Pie"

January 8th, 2008 by Erin

This was cut into and half devoured before I could even think of getting my camera out. Next time, folks!
This was inspired by a “Mexican fajita bake” or something equally weird sounding in the El Paso boxed section of the international foods aisle. Hubby reports this is better than the boxed stuff. He’s great. It’s sort of a Mexican take on lasagna. (Real lasagna tomorrow! Not an easy eat by any measure, but deeeeelicous.)
Also, does anyone read this? Comment if you do, I’m feeling sort of lonely and unappreciated here in food blog land.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey (or beef, if you prefer)
1 can Rotel tomatoes and chilies
1 c. salsa
1/4 c. nacho cheese (or a good hunk of Velveeta)
1 package taco seasoning
4 tortillas (fajita sized)
2 cups Mexican cheese blend
1 can beans (kidney or pinto work best), drained

Preheat oven to 350.
Brown the meat until fully cooked. Add 1/4 c. water and taco seasoning. Cook until slightly thickened. Add tomatoes/chilies, salsa, nacho cheese, and beans. Heat until warmed through (or until your Velveeta is all melty.)
Spray an 8×8 pan with cooking spray. Put in one tortilla. Put about 1/4 of the meat mixture on top, and sprinkle with cheese. Repeat layering until all of your meat mixture and tortillas are gone (you should end with cheese on top.)
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Serve with sour cream if you like.

Posted in mexican, recipes, turkey || 3 Comments