Salsa

This post marks Mr. Surly’s cooking debut. Are you as excited as I am? I'm always happy when he makes food. And this time I was able to photo document it, though I don't think he was too happy to have me hovering around with a camera, even though I tried to stay out of the way.

This salsa is so good and so simple; it's his family's recipe.

Homemade Refried Beans

I finally made dinner this week, nothing special, we just had taco night. I did decide to make my own refried beans. I don't like the kind from a can, to me they have a tinny taste to them, like most canned foods. Thank goodness making my own refried beans is super easy.

Have you ever made your own refried beans? Once you make them you are unable to go back the canned kind. They are easy to make in a pressure cooker. I don't really use an exact recipe. I just throw the stuff in my pressure cooker, cook and season to taste. One cup of dry beans would be good for serving about 4-6 people. I make one cup for both of us because Mr. Surly likes to have a lot of beans in his tacos. And we always have left over beans for the next couple days. These beans are good on their on with a little bit of cheese and a dollop of greek yogurt (or sour cream). I'm sure you could make them in pot if you don't have a pressure cooker; they would just take longer to make and you'd probably need to soak the beans overnight.

Spicy Mexican Pulled Chicken and Vegetables

I love this chicken so much I made myself sick eating too much of it. Since my stomach has trouble emptying I have to eat my meals spaced out. Because a few bites of anything causes my stomach to blow up like a balloon, my nutritionist suggested spacing out each part of my meals. I eat the vegetable, wait an hour or so, then eat the meat/protein, wait an hour or so and eat the potato/grain, etc. It’s frustrating, but I’m getting used to it. However, when it came to taco night I couldn’t help myself, I ate 3 tacos, knowing I should only have had two. I should have waited an hour before eating that third one, but it was so tasty I couldn’t wait. My stomach was painfully distended, but it was so worth it.

For lunch the next day I made nachos covered in the chicken and topped with homemade salsa. You can use this chicken as a topping for nachos, a filling for burritos, tacos, or just eat it as is. Less chipotle chiles can be used if you don’t want too much spice. It also freezes well. I usually just freeze it as is, but you could add the filling to some burritos and make frozen burritos. Unfortunately, this was gone in 2 days, with no leftovers to for me to freeze. Speaking of tacos, have you ever tried the Trader Joe’s organic hard taco shells? They are to-die-for. I will never buy the supermarket ones again. The flavor is unbelievable. If you find yourself at TJ’s, do yourself a favor and get a box.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I love a good chicken tortilla soup. When I lived up north I often would go to Max and Erma’s and get a bowl of their chicken tortilla soup to go. Mmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about that soup, Max and Erma’s serves the tastiest chicken tortilla soup I’ve ever had; it’s one of their most popular menu items. I’ve never tried to make it myself because most recipes have a long list of ingredients and being the lazy person I am, just never felt like putting forth the effort. Lucky for me I came across this recipe while browsing on Food Network. It got great reviews, looked fairly simple, and had a relatively simple list of ingredients. It ended up being really good; great flavor. However, I would have liked a bit more of a spicy kick to it. Maybe next time I make it I’ll add a serrano pepper or some adobo sauce. I made this as part of our cinco de mayo fiesta, so the chicken breast I used was seasoned with cumin, ancho chile, salt and pepper, since I was also making chicken enchiladas. I think the chicken could also be omitted without sacrificing any flavor.

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Casseroles aren’t normally thought of as healthy, usually due to condensed soup, which this version doesn’t have. I know the picture doesn’t make it look appetizing, but this is so freaking good. It was also quick and easy, which is a plus for me.

Next time I think I may add some cumin to season the chicken. The recipe says it feeds two, but we only ate half of it. I think it could serve 3-4 depending on the portion size. I’m definitely going to be making this again, hopefully, next time I’ll get a better picture.

Black Bean Soup with Cumin Crema

I love black beans. So healthy, so tasty, so economical, what’s not to love? I’m always on the lookout for new ways to incorporate them into my diet. I like things spicy, if spice isn’t your thing just decrease the amount of chipotle pepper and adobo sauce. I wouldn’t eliminate them all together because they provide a nice smoky flavor. I normally add red wine and lime, but I didn’t have them on hand this time, and I didn’t feel like running out to the store. It still tasted great, you really couldn’t tell that they were missing. Serve with tortilla chips or some bread (pita or naan). And of course, sour cream can be used instead of greek yogurt. This could be used as a healthy black bean dip. I’d just add some more tomato paste to thicken it up, or simmer uncovered to reduce the liquid. To make it vegan either omit the yogurt or use a dairy-free substitute. Yummy.

Black Beans and Brown Rice

I’m sure everyone has some version of a recipe for black beans and rice. It’s so easy to make, the ingredients are inexpensive, the dish is filling, healthy and, most importantly, delicious. 

 

This recipe is based off a dish my aunt made for a family reunion years ago, after some members of the family became vegetarian. My sister used to make this for me during the two years we spent attending the same college, and it has always been a food staple for me. 

 

I make sure to have the basic ingredients on hand all the time because this is such a quick, easy dinner. Mr.Surly has never been a fan of this dish until last night. He declared it to be the best black beans and rice I have ever made; therefore, I had to record what I did so I will remember it in the future.