Double corn tortilla casserole

The double dose of corn comes from corn tortilla and whole kernel corn. Serve this tangy home-style dish with your favorite salsa.

Ingredients:

• 8 corn tortillas
• 1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
• 1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
• 4 green onions sliced
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk or milk
• 1 4-ounce can diced green chili peppers

Directions:

Grease a 2-quart square baking dish. Tear tortillas into bite size pieces. Arrange half of the tortillas in baking dish. Top with half of the cheese, half of the corn, and half of the green onions.

Repeat layering with remaining tortillas, cheese, corn, and onions.

Stir together eggs, buttermilk, and chili peppers. Gently pour over tortilla mixture. 

Bake, uncovered, at 325F oven about 30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Makes: 4 servings

Enjoy!

I found this excellent recipe in a Whole Grains cookbook. There is a wide variety of scones. This particular recipe will fill you up because of the high fiber content.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter (lightly melted)
  
• grated zest of one orange
• 1/3 cup dried 
• 1/3 golden raisins or additional cranberries
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, plus more for brushing the scones

Directions:

Preheat the oven at 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

In a food processor grind the rolled oats until looks slightly flour. Transfer to a large bowl. Blend in whole flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.

Add butter and mix. Stir in the grated orange zest, cranberries and raisins.

Whisk the egg into the buttermilk in a small bowl. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients. Fold the ingredients until they are moistened. Do not overmix.

Turn the dough out into a floured  surface. Gently knead 4 to 5 times. The dough should be lightly moist. Shape the dough into two rounds. Cut each round into 6-8 wedges.

Brush the top of the scones with buttermilk.

Makes 12 medium or 16 small scones.

Enjoy!

Caponata (Eggplant appetizer)

Caponata is a Sicilian aubergine (eggplant) dish. It is a cooked salad that you can also eat it warm.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium eggplant
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
• 1 can crushed Italian tomatoes
• 4 tbsp drained capers
• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp sugar

Directions:

Peel the skin of the eggplant. Cut it in small cubes. Put the eggplant in a coriander and sprinkle with salt. Let it for about 20-30 minutes to draw out moisture and bitterness. Rinse with cold water to remove some of the salt.

Put the olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the onions and celery until translucent and soft. Pat dry the eggplant with paper towels, then add to the skillet and sauté for about 20-25 minutes until the eggplant is cooked but not mushy.

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Serves: 4

Enjoy!

Orange chickpea salad

This delicious salad is perfect for a summer hot day. It is simple and satisfying.

Ingredients:

• 1/8 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 clove finely chopped garlic
• pepper to taste
• 1/2 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 small red onion (about 4 ounces), peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
• 3 cups romaine lettuce leaves, washed, dried, and torn

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together orange juice, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and pepper. Add chickpeas and onion. Toss well to combine. Let stand for 15 minutes at room temperature to allow the flavors to blend. Toss again.

Divide lettuce among two salad plates. Spoon chickpeas mixture evenly over lettuce and serve at room temperature.

Serves:2

Enjoy!

Stuffed tomatoes

Another way to eat raw tomatoes with a filling that will give you fullness...

I prepared half package of Medley Rice from Trader Joe's with brown rice (See Rice Salad posting) adding mayonnaise, sun-dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and chopped roasted peppers.

After having the rice ready, I carved large tomatoes keeping the pulp for another dish. And the rest... just stuffed the tomatoes with the ingredients mentioned above serving them over green leaf lettuce to add a color contrast effect.

Enjoy!

Mojo Rojo (Canary Island Red Pepper Sauce)

From the book Jose Andres Made in Spain, I made this delicious sauce to dress baked potatoes. 

Instead of using a big amount of olive oil, I sprayed it just on the bottom of the pan. I placed small creamy red potatoes cut in four pieces each one and baked them for about one hour at 350F.

Be aware that the cook time depends on the size of your potatoes and oven.

Sauce ingredients:

• 6 peeled garlic cloves   
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp sweet pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika)
• 3 dried guindilla peppers of your favorite dried chile pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp sherry vinegar

Directions:

Use a mortar and pestle to mash the garlic to a smooth paste. Rotate the mortar as you mash, scraping down the garlic from the sides with the pestle. Add the cumin, pimenton, and chile pepper. Keep mashing until the ingredients are well combined.

Slow drizzle in the olive oil as you continue to mash the paste making sure the olive oil is absorbed. Drizzle the sherry vinegar and continue mashing the sauce.

Keep the sauce at room temperature until ready to use.

Tip: I used pasilla peppers soaking them overnight. I peeled them before adding to the paste.

Enjoy! 

 

Blue cheese grape salad with honey vinagrette

This is a delicious salad for summertime. It contains leafy greens, fruit, nuts, and a touch of cheese.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1/4 lb. seedless green grapes + 1/4 lb. fresh apricots, plums or nectarines (or the fruit you like)
• 2 to 4 ounces Camembert, brie, or blue cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped pecan or walnuts 

Combine honey, vinegar, oil and orange juice in a container. Mix well

Arrange clusters of grapes, fruit, cheese wedges and nuts on salad greens.

Drizzle dressing over the salad. Refrigerate any reminding dressing.
 
Serves: 2
 
Enjoy!

 

Arroz Verde (Green Rice)

I wanted to make this dish for long time. Browsing recipes online, I found many interesting ones. My friend gave some spicy peppers from her friend's backyard and had to use them or will be rotten soon. One raw paid my attention but didn't have any pepper. So I decided to make a combination of a couple I found online.

So this is my first try from different recipes:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 fresh poblano chilies, stems and seeds removed, and roughly chopped
• 12 sprigs cilantro, plus extra for garnish
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups rice, preferably medium grain (I used short brown rice)
• 1 small white onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
•  5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

In a medium saucepan, combine broth and chilies, bring to a broil, then partially cover and simmer gently over medium to medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the chilies are very soft.

Pour the chili mixture into a food processor, add the cilantro (stems and all) and process to a smooth puree. Add spinach and continue processing.

Wipe the pan clean, add the oil and heat over medium. Add the rice and onion, and cook, stirring regularly, until the rice is chalky looking and the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook a minute longer.

Add the warm (or reheated) chili liquid to the hot rice pan, stir once, scrape down any rice kernels clinging to the side of the pan, cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes (remember brown rice takes more time to cook).

Uncover and check a grain of rice: It should be nearly cooked through. If the rice is just about ready, turn off the heat, re-cover and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes longer to complete the cooking (depending on the rice). 

If the rice seems far from done, continue cooking for 5 minutes or so, retest, then turn off the heat and let stand a few minutes longer. Fluff with a fork, scoop into a warm serving dish, decorate with cilantro sprigs and it's ready to serve.

Serves: 3

Enjoy!

 

Oat bran broom bread

From Whole Grain Breads book:

All whole grain breads are high in fiber, but this one is a super-fiber loaf, loaded with both water soluble fiber (from the oat bran and flax) and insoluble fiber (from the wheat bran), as well as healthful omega-3 fatty acids from the flaxseeds. 

It is called “broom bread” because it really cleans out the colon as it works its way through your system. As with all high-fiber foods, be sure to drink plenty of water to keep it moving and to get full health value from it.

This is my version and super high fiber bread:

Soaker

• 1/2 cup Whole wheat flour, fine grind
• 1/2 cup  Oat bran
• 1/2 cup  Flaxseed meal
• 1/2 cup Warm water
  

1.    Mix all of the soaker ingredients together in a bowl for about 1 minute, until all the flour is hydrated and the ingredients form a ball of dough.

2.    Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature.
 
Biga

• 2 cup Whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tbsp Instant yeast
• 1 cup filtered or spring water at room temperature.

1.    Mix all biga ingredients together in a bowl to form a ball of dough. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, and then knead it again with wet hands for 1 minute. 

2.    Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover with a kitchen towel or cloth and let it rise.

3. Prepare the final dough:

Final Dough

• Use all Soaker
• Use all Biga
• 1/2 cup Whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tbsp Instant yeast

Mix all pieces until getting a smooth dough. With a knife, cut soaker, biga and final dough in small pieces. 

From left to right: soaker (dark pieces), final dough (small dough) and biga (big one).

 

Mix them with the final dough until it is well blended. 

Spray a 9x5 in loaf pan with oil and let the dough rise at least 1 1/2 of its volume at room temperature covered with a kitchen towel or cloth.

Bake for 40 minutes at 300F, rotate 180 degrees and bake another 40 minutes more.

Photos from previous try with small breads:

Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Olive Bread

I just came up with this healthy olive bread recipe. It was my first attempt and ended up perfect!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of warm water
• 1/2 tbsp yeast
• 2 tbsp ground golden flaxseed 
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 16 chopped Kalamata pitted olives 

Directions:

Let the yeast to rise mixed with warm water at room temperature. In the meantime, mix flaxseed with flour and chopped olives. Add bubbled yeast to flour mix and knead the dough until smooth adjusting flour & water. 

Let the dough rise to at least 1 1/2 its volume and knead again for a few more minutes in a floured surface. 
Spray a 5.75 in x 3 in loaf pan with oil and let rise the dough once more. 

Bake at 300°F for about 20 minutes rotating it 180° and continue for another 20 more minutes.

Enjoy!