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This is actually based on a recipe with an Italian flair.
I had planned to make this last night but didn't squeeze it in so tonight I had part of a zucchini that needed to be used up as well as an avocado that needed to be used. I decided the Italian flavours of the original recipe wouldn't work very well with my tomato-cilantro-avocado soup but I could manage switching this up a bit to make it work. Hey, I may be English but I've lived in San Diego for the best part of 20 years. I know Mexican food flavours. :)
Here's the result of my recipe tweaking. It worked out really well and made a nice accompaniment to the soup. The only disappointment was that the big flavours of the cilantro and jalapeno overpowered the mild tomato and zucchini. But, I suppose if you have someone who turns their nose up at tomato and/or zucchini, this may just work out OK for you. ;)
**If you leave off the panko, this is gluten-free.**
Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced into rounds
1/2 tsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp. black olives
1/8 cup chopped cilantro
Small amount of jalapeno pepper, chopped (about 1/2 tsp.)
1/8 cup panko
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/8 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
1/8 cup mozzarella, shredded
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the zucchini until golden.
Mix the panko and oregano in a small bowl then mix in the cheeses.
2. Layer half of the tomato and zucchini slices in a baking pan. Top with half of the garlic, olives, cilantro, jalapeno, and panko mixture. Season with black pepper. Repeat with the remaining tomato and zucchini slices and then the remaining garlic, olives, cilantro, jalapeno, and panko-cheese mix. Add more black pepper if desired. Cover with foil and bake 10 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Reference:
Based on Zucchini-Tomato Gratin from the July /August 2009 issue of Vegetarian Times.
My Changes:
*Used cilantro in place of basil.
*Added jalapeno, panko, oregano.
*Used cheddar and mozzarella mixture in place of Parmesan.
*Used black olives in place of kalamata olives.
*Skipped the step involving salting the tomatoes and zucchini (worked out fine without doing this).
This is a lovely light soup. Perfect for a summer evening.
It goes together very quickly once the broth has been prepared (and even that doesn't take long).
The shorter-grained rice and avocado give this soup a nice creaminess without making it heavy.
I actually made this a while ago and paired it with avocado bruschetta. Tonight, I had it with zucchini-tomato gratin. Both meal combinations worked really well together.
Serves 6
Ingredients: Broth
1 tbsp. olive oil
3/4 cup onion, finely chopped
2 cloves, garlic, crushed
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 tbsp. grated lime zest
Juice of 2 limes, squeezed
1 tsp. dried oregano
3 cups water
Soup
1/4 cup short- or medium-grain rice
1 cup tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels
1 avocado, diced (approx. 1 cup)
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Method:
1. Make the broth first. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 5-7 minutes. Add in the garlic and continue to saute for another minute. Add the veggie broth, zest, lime juice, oregano, and water. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Allow the broth to simmer for 10 minutes then strain it, discarding the solids and returning the liquid to the pan.
2. Add the rice to the broth and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cover the pan and allow the rice to simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and corn and add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer an additional 10 minutes.
3. Pour the soup into serving bowls and garnish with the avocado, green onions, and cilantro.
Reference:
Based on Mexican Rice Soup from the September 2008 issue of Vegetarian Times.
My Changes:
*I actually used 1/2 avocado for 1 serving. :) What can I say? I love the stuff. I placed part of it on the bottom of the bowl before pouring the soup in and then added the rest on the top.
*Added the lime juice.
*Skipped the tortilla strips. I thought about breaking up tortilla chips but couldn't get the effect I wanted. (The original recipe called for 1 tortilla to be cut into thin strips, baked, and then used to garnish the soup).
This is the sauce I make for DH’s enchiladas (and for mine when I don’t feel like making two different sauces!) It’s far better than the stuff you get in cans from the grocery store and really doesn’t take a lot of time or effort. You will need either an immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor to make this, though.
The sauce itself is vegan so, even though I throw it on DH's chicken enchiladas, it's great to use with any veggie enchiladas, too.
Enough for 4-6 servings
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
2 tsp. chili powder
1-1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1 (28-oz) can tomatoes, diced (make sure to add the juice, too!)
1 tsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. sea salt
Method:
1. Saute the onions over medium heat until they are softened. Add all the other ingredients and let the mixture come to a simmer then remove the pan from the heat.
2. Let the sauce cool for a little while then puree in a blender, food processor, or with an immersion blender.
Reference:
Based on the "Enchilada Chile Sauce" that is part of the recipe "Potato and Kale Enchiladas with Roasted Chile Sauce" from Veganomicon.
My Changes:
*I use jalapenos for the "large green chiles." Mine are not roasted.
*I use both marjoram and Mexican oregano instead of one of the other.
That's it, really.. not a whole lot to change in that recipe. :)
I actually managed to improve on the already fantastic avocado enchiladas! If you read my original avocado enchilada post, I mentioned wanting to try them with mole sauce. Well... it really works! I had actually been at a great local Mexican restaurant on Monday and they had avocado enchiladas on the menu. I was offered mole sauce with them so I was not about to pass that up! They were good (but I have to say my filling was more interesting!) - at least I knew the mole-avocado combination wouldn't be weird!
One of my friends hosted a "healthy food event" last night so I decided to make these (as well as the vegan chocolate cupcakes). I found local avocados for 33 cents each so that helped seal my decision to make this recipe.
Both items were a hit and my home-made mole turned out great!
Here's the updated avocado enchilada recipe that I used yesterday, including the mole sauce. Other than the mole, I also changed them by adding more tomato and some black beans for protein.
Yield - Makes 4 enchiladas (since we had a variety of other stuff, we cut them in half; normally this would serve 4).
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp. garlic, minced (I actually think I just used 5 cloves)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/4 tbsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
4 ripe avocados, halved and seeded (yes, 1 whole avocado per enchilada!)
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped roughly
Juice of 1 lime
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 tsp. cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed (I might actually add more next time)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. For the mole sauce, heat 1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.
2. Add the onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, and cinnamon to the hot oil. Cover and cook until onion is almost tender (about 10 minutes). Stir occasionally during the cooking process.
3. Mix in the chili powder and flour. Stir three minutes.
4. Gradually mix in the broth and increase the heat to medium-high. Boil until reduced (it took mine about 15 or 16 minutes). Stir occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate.
5. While the mole sauce reduces, prepare the enchilada filling. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray. Smush up the avocado in a glass bowl. Add the onion, garlic, cilantro, cumin, tomatoes, jalapeno, lime juice, black beans, and salt and pepper. Mix together to create a guacamole.
6. Spoon the avocado mixture into the tortillas and roll them up. Place tortillas in the prepared baking dish and cover with mole sauce. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes.
Reference:
Based, rather loosely, on Deena Kastor's Avocado Enchilada recipe.
I found the mole sauce recipe on RecipeZaar. My only change was to add a little extra chocolate after tasting it. Oh, I also changed the chicken broth to vegetable broth!
heh :) These are really good! Someone, wish I could remember who, had posted this recipe on the Nest a couple weeks ago and I immediately copied and pasted it so I could save it! I will go for anything with avocados - food of the gods, I'm telling ya!
Anyway, I got some wonderful local avocados for free last week and have been waiting for them to ripen up so I could make these. In the meantime, this meal got so hyped up in my head that when I went to actually make it last night, I was a bit nervous it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as I had made it out to be! Well, all that was for no reason - these were everything I was hoping for and then some!
I am planning on doing them a bit differently next time - I think they would be even more wonderful with some black beans worked in and I'd really love to make the sauce that was included in the original recipe! :)
OMG, I just had a thought - I love mole sauce (chicken mole enchiladas were one of my favourite things). I wonder how well mole would work with the avocado... hmmm! I sense an experiment ;)
By the way, this is a super-fast, easy dinner - great for weeknights! Plus, it's packed with nutrient-dense superfoods!
Here's my version (my additions/changes in purple):
This made 2 enchiladas
Ingredients:
2 ripe avocados (slice 'em down the middle lengthwise/along their Prime Meridian - lol - and then use a knife to carefully pop the seed out. Scoop the flesh out with a spoon) - superfood!
1/8 red onion, finely chopped (superfood!)
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
Lime juice (I actually realized I had no lime so I used lemon... oops!)
1/4 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (superfood!)
1/2 tomato, seeded and diced (superfood!)
1 clove garlic, crushed (superfood!)
1/4 tsp. cumin
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 flour tortillas
Enchilada sauce (ugh, I used the stuff in a can... so lame! I'm making my own next time!)
A little grated sharp Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
Additional cilantro leaves
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray. Smush up the avocado in a glass bowl. Add the onion, garlic, cilantro, cumin, tomatoes, jalapeno, lime/lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Mix together as you would if you were making guacamole (um, this really is a guacamole!)
2. Spoon the avocado mixture into the tortillas and roll them up. Place tortillas in the prepared baking dish and cover with enchilada sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with additional cilantro just before serving.
Reference:
This is based on marathon-runner Deena Kastor's Avocado Enchiladas recipe.
OK, I will probably never eat veggie fajitas at a restaurant ever again! lol :) I've actually only ever had them a couple times and they were just mediocre... these knocked the socks off them (but home cooking is always better!)
I had been planning veggie fajitas for this weekend and was pulling veggies out of the fridge and realized I hadn't picked up any small mushrooms yesterday. I did have two portobello caps, though and will only need one for the portobello Parm later this week so I chopped the other one up for these. Yum! Who needs meat?! :) I'm really excited about the packaging for these 'shrooms! They are organic mushroom caps that come in totally compostable packaging! yeay :) The tray will definitely be composted!
These would be vegan but I like some sour cream on mine!
Perfect with rice and black beans and a big margarita on the side ;)
I apologize for the lack of a photo - they tasted far better than they looked! The uncooked veggies looked great - I should have taken a quick picture of those.. next time. :)
Serves 2 (or 1 hungry person) ;)
Ingredients:
1 portobello mushroom cap
1/4 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 each red, yellow, and green bell peppers
1/2 medium tomato, seeded and chopped (superfood!)
1/2 zucchini, sliced
1/2 yellow squash, sliced (I cut my slices in half)
1/8 cup + 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil (olive oil is a superfood!)
1/8 cup lime juice
1/8 cup tequila
1 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (superfood!)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. salt (I used sea salt)
Pepper
4-6 tortillas
Optional: fresh salsa or pico de gallo, guacamole or avocado slices, sour cream
Method:
1. Clean the mushroom cap by wiping it with a damp paper towel and then scooping out the "fins" (I really don't know what else to call those) with a spoon. Slice off the stem. Slice the mushroom into smaller pieces. Wash and slice/chop the other veggies.
2. Place the veggies in a large zipper bag or re-usable container with a lid. In a bowl, mix together the tequila, 1/8 cup veg. oil, cumin, lime juice, salt, pepper, and 1/2 tbsp. cilantro (I never measure - use as much or as little as you like!)
3. Pour the tequila marinade in the bag or container with the vegetable mix. Seal the container and marinate for 1 1/2-3 hours.
4. After marinating, preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add 1/2 tbsp. oil. Add vegetables to hot oil and cook and stir until tender. They don't take long at all - I think mine had somewhere between 5 and 7 minutes. Sprinkle with additional fresh cilantro just before serving.
Serve with warm tortillas, rice, black beans, and any condiments you like.
Not sure I have a reference for these! I just made them up as I went but based the tequila-lime marinade on the chicken fajitas I've made in the past (and made for DH tonight).
I love enchiladas and usually make them with chicken but since I gave up meat for Lent, I decided to try throwing together a vegetarian version. These were really good! I might just make these for myself from now on. :)
Makes 2-3 large enchiladas (depending on how much you stuff in the tortillas! They make good left-overs!)
**I didn't take a photo because, from the outside, they looked exactly like the chicken ones I made DH! (ooh, actually, these ones didn't have the cilantro on the top... other than that, they look exactly like the linked ones ;)
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup onion, chopped (red or white)
1 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/8 cup sour cream
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
3/8 tsp. dried parsley
1/8 tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 of a fresh tomato, seeded and chopped
1/4 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup black beans (I used the canned ones - drain and rinse)
1/4 cup corn kernels (I used frozen - just dump them in!)
1/8 cup black olives, sliced
1/8 cup bell peppers, diced
4 button mushrooms, chopped
3/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
2-3 flour tortillas
1 tbsp. water
Method:
1. Heat oven the 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook until tender. Add the cream cheese, sour cream, 1/4 cup of cheese, parsley, oregano, and black pepper. Stir until the cheese melts. Stir in canned and fresh tomato, black beans, bell peppers, olives, mushrooms, corn, jalapeno, water, and chili powder.
3. Roll even amounts of the mixture into the tortillas. Arrange in a baking dish. Cover enchiladas with enchilada sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
Cool 5-10 minutes before serving.
Told you my menu for this week would change :) We ended up having "taco night" tonight instead of burgers or whatever it was supposed to be! So... I decided to make this yummy Mexican rice I found in Amber's blog a while back (I think she found it on AllRecipes.com). Here's my slightly (hardly at all!) modified version - very yummy!
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 cup onion, chopped finely
1/4 cup tomato sauce (I usually just make my own - mix 1 1/2 tbsp. tomato paste with 2 tbsp. water)
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth (obviously will only be vegetarian if you use the veggie broth!)
1/4 cup fresh salsa (ie: not the kind that you find on a shelf in a glass jar.. ick!) Pico de gallo would also work well
Method:
1. Heat the oil over medium heat and add the rice. Cook the rice, stirring constantly until it becomes puffy and golden. Sprinkle with salt and cumin.
2. Stir in the onions and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in tomato sauce and broth; bring to a boil. Stir in the salsa and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed.
Great as a side dish for tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, etc.
I've been trying to come up with something tasty that I can make for the second round of the Platinum Chef Challenge. The ingredients we have to work with are great - corn, hot peppers, and cheese on the savoury side and blueberries and citrus on the sweet side. The sweets were easy and I knew I wanted to do something Mexican for the savoury recipes, I just couldn't think of what! I was going to do an enchilada thing - maybe use my basic chicken enchilada recipe and add some corn to it but that seemed not very challenging. I just found a recipe for some quesadillas which incorporated corn so I tweaked that to my liking and came up with the following... enjoy!
These are really tasty - the jalapeno adds a nice kick - and are relatively healthy since they have several different veggies and plenty of protein from the beans (great for vegetarians).
This recipe could be used as an appetizer or you could pair it with some rice and a crispy salad to be used as a light lunch or dinner. Additionally, you could add some grilled chicken or carne asada for some extra protein. However, rice and beans are complimentary proteins so if you serve this with some rice you really wouldn't need anything else.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 ear of corn or 4 servings of frozen corn (yes, I cheated and used the frozen corn! I am sure it's amazing with the "real" stuff... I'll try that next time)
1/2 (15-oz.) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup total red and white onion, chopped (you can just use one type of onion or you could sub green onions)
1 jalapeno pepper, minced and seeded1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1 tbsp. lime juice
1/4 tsp. salt
2 (10-inch) flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey-jack cheese
Method: 1. Heat the grill. Remove the silk from the corn but leave the husks intact. Place the corn on a gas grill over medium-high heat and grill for about 12 minutes until the corn is tender. Turn the corn frequently during grilling. Remove the corn from the grill and allow it to cool. If you use frozen corn, just cook the corn according to package directions.
2. Remove the husks from the corn and use a sharp knife to scrape off the kernels. Place the corn kernels in a medium bowl (do this if you use frozen or fresh corn).
3. Add the beans, onion, jalapeno, lime juice, and salt to the corn. Spread the corn mixture evenly over half of each tortilla and sprinkle each with 1/2 cup of the cheese. Fold the tortilla over the filling.
I think the filling, without cheese, would make a wonderful salsa!
4. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the quesadillas to the skillet and cook for 8 minutes, turning once.
Enjoy with rice. Other options are salsa, low-fat or fat-free sour cream, and guacamole; however, I think these have enough flavour that you don't need a lot of "extras."
Reference:
The inspiration for this recipe came from The Cooking Club of America's Cooking Pleasures Magazine.
I worked at a Mexican restaurant for a little while during college and remember having chilaquiles for the first time at a brunch we had there... wow! Mexican breakfast food is so wonderful! I recently found this recipe in my lovely "San Diego Restaurant Cookbook" and had to try it. The recipe is from the El Pollo Grill restaurants.
Chilaquiles in Red Sauce
Serves 6
Ingredients:
6 medium-sized tomatoes, I seeded mine then cut them into strips
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 serrano chili pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups water
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup oil
1 dozen corn tortillas, each cut into 8 pieces
4 eggs, beaten
Additional diced onions
Grated cotija cheese (or any Mexican cheese - asadero, Monterey jack, queso quesadilla. Good ol' cheddar makes a fine substitute if that's all you have. You could also do a mix of several cheeses).
Method:
Prepare Sauce:
1. In a blender, blend the tomatoes, tomato paste, chili, salt, and 1 cup of water.
2. In a medium skillet, saute the onions in some of the oil until the onions become translucent. Add the tomato mixture and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer while you start the chilaquiles.
Prepare Chilaquiles:
1. In a large skillet, heat the rest of the oil for about 10 minutes. Add the tortilla triangles and cook until they are crispy and medium-brown in colour (you want them to be crispy so they don't get too soggy later on). Do not let the tortillas burn. Remove the tortillas from the oil and place them on a paper towel.
2. Add the beaten eggs to the tomato sauce and raise the heat to bring the mixture to a boil. Add the fried tortillas and 2 cups of water. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with a garnish of diced raw onions and cotija cheese, if desired.
I didn't take any photos, because it really does not look all that appetizing! They do taste so good, though, and really that's all that matters! Enjoy!
Reference:
Croce, Ingrid (2005). The San Diego Restaurant Cookbook: Recipes from America's Finest City. Avalanche Records and Books: San Diego, CA.
