Sweet Potato Burritos

A very different, and quite filling, vegetarian take on burritos. This recipe will make 6ish burritos.

Mats
2 sweet potatoes
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp yellow mustard
2/3c water
Burrito shells

Set your oven to 375 degrees
Scrub the sweet potatoes and prick with a fork all over. This will let them vent as you bake them
Put the potatoes in the oven and bake them until their insides are completely soft when pierced with a knife. Mine took 70 minutes.
Once they're cooked, scoop the soft potato flesh into a bowl and mash with a fork until you form a smooth paste.
In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Measure 1 1/2 cups of mashed sweet potato and add to the pan.
Add the rinsed kidney beans and stir into the sweet potato
Add the water, cumin, mustard and soy sauce. Stir well
Let cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Spoon filling into burrito shells and serve.

Tapas: Deviled Eggs, Garlicky Mushrooms, Tomato Toast Rounds

Tonight I experimented with a tapas-style dinner. Tapas is a style of Spanish cuisine that consists of a variety of tasty mini-dishes. It's almost like an entire meal made of appetizers. I made three different dishes because I was only cooking for two people, but tapas are great for parties.

Deviled Eggs (Huevos Rellenos de Atun)
Mats:
12 eggs
2 cans of tuna, packed in oil
1/4c light mayonnaise
1 tsp salt
Paprika - for garnish

Place the eggs in the bottom of a deep pot. Single layer - don't stack them. Fill the pot with water to a depth of 2 inches over the tops of the eggs.
Put the pot on the stove over high heat, bring to a boil, then boil for 10 minutes.
Remove the hard-boiled eggs from the water with a slotted spoon. Put them on a plate and let them cool. It'll take about a half-hour, or shorter if you stick them in the freezer.
Peel the shells off the eggs. It's a bit easier to do under cold running water.
Slice the eggs in half from top to bottom
Remove the yolks from the eggs and put them in a bowl.
Drain the tuna and add it to the egg yolks
Add the mayonnaise and salt.
Mush the yolks, tuna and mayo together with a fork. You want to combine it into a paste.
Grab a bit of the yolk paste and form it into a ball about the size of the yolk-hole in the whites. Place the ball back into the white.
Sprinkle a pinch of the paprika over the eggs.

Garlicky Mushrooms (Seta y ajo)
Mats:
2 Tbsp olive oil
10 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
8 oz white mushrooms, sliced
2c white wine
2 Tb fresh parsley
Polenta rounds - for serving

Heat the olive oil in a small pan over low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute
Add the mushrooms and cook on low for 10 minutes without stirring.
Add the white wine and bring to a boil. Boil until all the liquid has evaporated (stirring occasionally); it took me about 25 minutes to cook it all off.
Snip or chop the parsley very fine, add it to the mushrooms and stir. Cook for 2 minutes.
Serve on top of cooked polenta rounds or just spear the mushrooms with toothpicks.

Tomato Toast Rounds (Pan tostado y tomate)
Mats - makes 6 rounds:
2 large slicing tomatos
6 slices bread - sandwich bread is fine, but little crostinis or baguette is good.

2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
6 leaves of fresh basil
dried oregano
olive oil

If you're using sandwich bread, cut out circles in the bread. Easiest way is to find a glass with about the same circumference as your tomatoes and press it into the bread, then pull away the excess.
Brush the bread rounds with olive oil on one side, then sprinkle a pinch (about 1/8 tsp) of oregano on each.
Toast the rounds either in a toaster oven or on a sheet pan in the oven at 350 for 3 minutes.
Trim the tomatoes, discard the stem side, and slice into rounds about 1/2 inch thick.
Top each toast slice with a slice of tomato
Sprinkle the tomato with a bit of cheese

Tropical Chicken Casserole

I was really cautious making this dish - the ingredient list is... unique. It came out surprising well; my husband decided that he really liked it.

Mats:
1 1/2c wild rice mix (the Uncle Ben's Original seasoning mix, if you're going pre-packaged)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 8oz can artichoke hearts, drained and cut in half
1 10.5 oz mandarin oranges, drained
5 dried apricots, cut in half
1/2c dried pineapple
1/4c dried dates
1 Tb red curry powder
1c heavy cream
2 Tb dijon mustard

Cook wild rice according to package directions. If you're using the packaged kind, toss the seasoning pack in there too.
Chop the chicken breasts into 1-inch chunks and cook in 1 Tbsp olive oil. They'll take about 7 minutes to be done.
In a large, oven-safe pan, combine the cooked wild rice, cooked chicken, chopped artichoke hearts, mandarin oranges and the dried fruits.
In a measuring cup, combine the curry powder, heavy cream and dijon mustard. Stir well, but not too energetically or else you'll turn the heavy cream into butter!
Pour the milk mixture into the rice and chicken mixture and stir well
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Bowtie pasta with Broccoli Pesto

I *may* be on a bit of a pesto kick this week. It's not my fault! I have to do something with my overgrown herb garden!

Mats:
1 lb bowtie (farfalle) pasta
2c broccoli, chopped into bite-sized pieces
3/4c fresh parsley
3/4c fresh basil
4 cloves garlic, peeled
4 Tb lemon juice
1 1/2tsp capers
1/4c olive oil
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, and place in a large bowl

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the broccoli to the water and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Add the capers, parsley and basil to a food processor and turn it on.

While the processor is running, add the 4 cloves of garlic. Stop the processor, scrape down the sides back into the bowl of the processor.

Turn the processor back on. While the processor is running, add the broccoli through the chute.

Add the lemon juice, continue processing.

Scrape down the sides of the processor again, then turn it back on... again. Now add the oil in a steady stream. Let the processor run for another minute or two to finish up the pesto.

Pour the pesto over the hot pasta and stir really well. Dish into bowls and top with cheese, if you'd like.

Chicken Involtini

An elegant dish for company, this one is well worth the time invested.

Mats:
6 thin-cut chicken cutlets
2 roasted red peppers
12 leaves of fresh basil
6 oz fresh mozzarella
1/4c Nicoise olives
skewers. I use bamboo skewers, you can also use metal shish-kebab skewers or even chopsticks

Lay a sheet of wax paper down on top of a cutting board. Place a chicken cutlet on the wax paper, then put another sheet of wax paper over the chicken. Gently pound the chicken flat(ter) using a rolling pin. Start from the center and work outwards, being careful to not make it so thin it tears. Repeat for all the cutlets.

In another corner of your cutting board, take the roasted red peppers and slice them into 1 inch thick strips.

Take one of your flattened chickens, and lay a pepper strip on top of it.

Cut a 1 oz round of mozzarella and place on top of the pepper

Place 2 basil leaves on top of the cheese.

Now the tricky part: Rolling. Starting from the narrowest part of the chicken cutlet roll the cutlet down to the base. You'll end up making a tube of chicken with the pepper, cheese and basil rolled up in it. It'll kinda look like a cinnamon bun. Secure with a skewer by piercing the chicken breast all the way through and out the other end.

Heat a grill to 350, or a medium temperature if you're using a real grill. I use my panini press. Use about 1/2 tsp olive oil to coat the exterior chicken, then season with salt and pepper.

Grill for 4 minutes (I close my panini lid to squish them and cook both sides at once), then rotate and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

Transfer to a plate, remove the skewers and serve.

I matched this dish with a spinach and arugula salad, fresh tomatoes, a bit of my leftover mozzarella and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

To easily remove skewers without wrecking your involtini, rotate them in place first. When they spin freely in their holes, push them through the roll.

Pan-seared salmon with citrus glaze. Also orange green beans

When I cooked this a few nights ago, I hit the jackpot on fish done-ness! Absolute perfection. I hope I can duplicate it in the future.

Fish mats:
2 6oz salmon fillets, skin and pin bones removed
3/4c dry white wine
1/4c balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp orange juice
2 Tbsp brown sugar (I actually used agave nectar, since I have a hard time keeping brown sugar fresh)
2 tsp lemon juice

Green Bean mats:
1/2 lb green beans, ends snapped off and snapped into bite-sized pieces
1 naval orange, peel removed but retained!

For the glaze:
Combine wine and vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.
Bring to a boil, then reduce by half. It should take about 4 minutes.
Add the orange juice, sugar and lemon juice and return to a boil. Turn the heat down to super-low and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. The glaze will turn syrupy - you want to be very careful not to burn it. If you're nervous, just turn the heat off and let it sit in the hot pan.

For the fish:
Heat a saucepan on high heat. You want the pan really, really hot.
Brush all sides of the salmon fillets with olive oil. Just a thin coating, use maybe a teaspoon per side.
Sprinkle the top of the fish with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
Place the fish salt-side down in the hot pan.
Season the now-top of the fish with an additional 1/4 tsp salt and pepper.
Sear the salmon for 4 minutes, then flip the fish over and cook the other side for an additional 3 minutes.
Remove from the pan to the plate immediately and let sit for at least 3 minutes (this lets the fish's interior finish cooking from the residual heat without burning the outside)

For the beans:
Take a sharp knife and scrape the white pith off the orange peel. It's somewhat bitter, so try to get as much as you can.
Fill a medium saucepan with 1/2 inch of water, then add the pith-less orange peel to the water. Bring to a boil.
Add the green beans, cover the saucepan and boil for 3 minutes. I like my green beans fairly close to raw; if you prefer yours more cooked, extend the cooking time to 4 or 5 minutes.
Drain the water, remove the green beans to a bowl and discard the orange peels.
Take about half the orange sections and squeeze their juices over the green beans, then toss the juiced husks.
Take the other half of the orange sections, cut them in half horizontally and toss them on top of the beans, stirring well.

I finished off this dinner with a half-cup of wild rice, plated the salmon on top of the rice and drizzled the glaze over top the whole shebang.