Enchiladas with Ramps and Fiddlehead Ferns

Sundays we tend to do some cooking for the week. Hubs made a meat pasta sauce and I made my enchilada bake. I had purchased some dried chilies and wanted to use them so I made up my own enchilada sauce for it.

Making enchilada sauce. Red onion, garlic, dried Guajillo and Pasilla chiles and the water they soaked in, jalapeño, parsley, cilantro, tomato, tomato paste, shot of vinegar, cumin, salt, and pepper. I made the enchilada recipe with ground beef instead of chicken but you can find the recipe here.

I served the enchilada with spring goodies found at Whole Foods - fiddleheads and ramps.

Enchilada casserole topped with sour cream and avocado, served with fiddlehead ferns and ramps sautéed in garlic butter.

Sour Cream Belgian Waffles

Woke up too early for a Saturday morning, with a sick puppy. After dealing with the drama, cleaning up, and enjoying some coffee, I decided we deserved a nice breakfast. Our weekends have been busy and we've been doing simple cereal, toast, etc. I knew there was some sour cream in the fridge to use up so, I investigated the interwebs for a recipe to try. I landed on a slightly adapted version from The Joy of Cooking. It's absolutely delicious and will now be my go-to for waffles. Give it a try.

Sour Cream Waffles

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup flour (all-purpose or cake flour)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1-2 tsp. of vanilla extract
• Dash of salt
• 3 eggs, separated
• 2 cups sour cream
• Dash of milk (if needed for consistency of batter)

1) Preheat waffle iron.
2) In medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and baking soda.
3) In a small bowl, mix egg yolks, sour cream and vanilla until smooth, then whisk into dry ingredients.
5) Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Stir about 1/3 of the egg whites into sour cream mixture at a time, gently folding to combine.
6) Bake according to waffle iron directions. Serve immediately; they will soften as they stand. You can also keep them warm in a 170F oven. Top with maple syrup, roasted & chopped nuts, berries, etc. Makes 4 Belgian waffles.

Asparagus, Pea, and Cannelloni Bean Pasta

I love creamy pasta sauces, but they're not the healthiest. Plus, they can be very rich to boot.

After watching a few cooking shows recently that featured pureed beans, I was inspired to try using them to create a thick, rich, and creamy sauce to use on pasta.

Last night I decided to see if my idea would work out as I hoped. I debated between mashing the beans and whizzing them up in the food processor with the garlic and cheese. I ended up opting for mashing, but next time I might try whizzing, just to see what the difference will be.

The good news is that the result was amazingly delicious. And, it is a good source of protein and minerals. Bonus!

It's a quick, simple recipe to put together. It also can be enjoyed without the pasta. I was originally going to add chicken but our vegetarian cousin was visiting so it got left out. You definitely could add it in, but you certainly do not need it.

Asparagus, Pea, and Cannelloni Bean Pasta

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 oz. peas (fresh or frozen)
• 1 bunch asparagus, diced into bite sized pieces (close in size to peas)
• 1 onion, diced
• 4-6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 15.5 oz. can of cannelloni/white beans, roughly mashed with fork
• 1 package spaghetti or linguine
• 1 cup reserved pasta water
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 4 TBSP butter (more or less)
• 1 TBSP dried oregano
• 1 TBSP fresh basil (can also use dried)
• pinch red pepper flakes
• salt & pepper to taste
• OPTIONAL: <a href="http://www.fullmeasureofhappiness.com/2011/10/12/oven-roasted-tomatoes/">oven-dried tomatoes</a>, diced to garnish

METHOD:
1) In saute pan, add 1 TBSP of butter and let it melt. Once melted and starting to foam, add diced onion and saute on medium or medium high heat until softened and starting to get some good brown color - about 10 minutes.
2) Heat water in pot for pasta and bring to boil. Once boiling, follow package instructions. Be sure to salt your water.
3) Add diced asparagus and peas. Stir well.
4) Add oregano, basil, pepper flakes.
5) Add mashed beans 3 TBSP of butter, stir, then add garlic.
6) Add mozzarella and Romano or Parmesan cheeses. Stir well until incorporated evenly.
7) Slowly add pasta water bit by bit to thin out bean/cheese mixture to a consistency that will coat pasta. You might not need all 1 cup of it. Do this to your preference. Just go slow. You can always add more water, but you can't take it away.
8) Add salt and pepper to taste.
9) Serve over cooked pasta or eat it by itself.

Sadly there's not plated photo for you to see because we were hungry and devoured it before I got the chance. Oops. Maybe next time I make it I'll try to remember to snap a pic.

Tacos & Taco Baked Sweet Potato

The other night we, well I, made tacos for dinner. After getting two dinners out of it, there was just a little bit left over. So today for lunch I whipped up this Taco Baked Sweet Potato for lunch before going out and attempting to tackle the inches of snow.

Taco Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb (+/-) Ground beef, turkey, pork, or chicken (note: if using poultry, you'll want to up the seasoning a little as they tend to be less flavorful)
• 1 medium sized green bell pepper
• 1 medium-sized red bell pepper
• 1 jalapeño or poblano chile - if you want it more mild, remove seeds and any white on the inside.
• 1 medium or large onion (white/sweet/red - all are good), diced
• 3-6 garlic cloves, minced (add as much or as little as you like, I like a lot)
• 2 TBSP oil (of your choosing, I usually use veg or olive)
• 1 packet Goya culantro y achiote - OPTIONAL. You can also read up on ways to make a substitute seasoning in this thread

SEASONINGS

• 2 TBSP chili powder
• 2 TBSP ground cumin
• 1 TBSP garlic powder
• 1 TBSP onion powder
• 1/2 TBSP dried oregano
• 1-2 bay leaves
• Salt & pepper to taste

FOR SERVING

• Chopped lettuce (for serving)
• Chopped tomato (for serving)
• Avocado slices (for serving)
• Tortillas - corn or flour, slightly warmed (for serving)
• Shredded cheese (for serving)
• Sour cream (for serving)

1) Heat pan with oil. Add onion, stir to coat with oil. Add all of the seasonings. Stir to make sure all onion is coated evenly.
2) Add bell peppers and hot pepper. Stir. Let cook 5 minutes until vegetables are softened.
3) Add meat and garlic. Mix well with veggies, so that they are all well combined. This will help flavor your meat.
4) Once meat is cooked through, taste to check for seasoning.
5) Warm tortillas. If you have a gas stove, you can just set them on the burner to toast - BUT KEEP YOUR EYE ON THEM. Should only take about 1 minute per side.
6) Fill up your tortilla how you like it and enjoy!

Taco Baked Sweet Potato

1) Poke sweet potato with fork.
2) Place sweet potato in microwave. Zap until cooked through. Let rest.
3) Reheat leftover taco meat.
4) Cut a slit in sweet potato. Using a fork, smash and fluff the center.
5) Top with taco meat, a little shredded cheese.
6) Microwave until cheese is melted.
7) Top with your favorite fixin's.