Mushroom Pepper Soup
This is one of those “oh crap, what is left in my fridge that I can eat for lunch,” recipes.
I found:
A package of baby bella mushrooms
some cloves of garlic
1/4 cup chopped red onion
16 oz chick peas
I threw the red onion in a dry pan, turned up the heat.
roughly chopped the garlic, added to pan
drained chick peas, added to the mix
added roughly chopped mushrooms and a little olive oil
mixed up some vegetable stock from bouillon
I let that simmer a bit, added some kosher salt, pepper
It was a bit thin so I added a bit of flour to thicken
grabbed some parsley from my herb garden chopped, added last.
It’s quite yummy.
French Onion non-Casserole Casserole
1 lb. Green beans, fresh or frozen, not canned
8-12 oz. Cheese of choice. I used a smoked provologne, you could use Gruyre or something more punchy
3 cloves garlic
1-2 onions, 1 large or 2 medium, I used a red
2 oz olive oil
Fresh Thyme
Kosher Salt
Heat pan, oil
Chop your onions into rings, caramelize. Really, I mean it.
Chop garlic while those are cooking down. you want the garlic to be chunky, so cut into 1/4ths or 1/8ths depending on your cloves.
Toss in your beans and the garlic, toss with the onions, reduce heat.
I let it steam at this point, but I was using frozen beans. If fresh you’ll just want to sautee them on low until they are soft.
At this points your onions won’t really be looking much like onions any more. that’s ok.
Once the beans have softened remove from heat, sprinkle with your choice of cheese. Cover the top, bake long enough so the cheese begins to brown just slightly. Optionally sprinkle breadcrumbs with the cheese.
I do not know what to call this one
My dinner tonight followed an interesting path.
I sliced a large Avocado, set aside.
Chopped some Tomatoes, set aside.
Julienned Red Bell Pepper, thrown into hot dry pan to sear.
Chopped 3 small zuchini, tossed into pan with pepper, lowered heat.
Dusted with Paprika, Cumin, Chilli Pepper.
Chopped a Jalepeo, tossed in pan (still dry)
Added 1 can of chickpeas, drained.
Stirred a bit, added about 1.5 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
Chopped an extra large clove of garlic, tossed in.
Simmered a bit to mix the flavours.
Served hot mix topped with sour cream, some avocado, and some tomato from the earlier chopping.
It’s yummy.
Chipotle Tostadas
I’ve had this section for quite a while, and yet I never get around to putting anything into it. Well today that changes!
For those of you who don’t know me, I love to cook. I am a food network addict, my favourite shows being those with Alton Brown or Bobby Flay. I also enjoy Unwrapped and Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. I’ve been cooking since even before I left my parent’s place, and I’m one of those guys who never measures anything, and hardly ever makes the same dish the same way twice. So I decided I’d start throwing out the basic ideas here.
The other night I made some tostadas. Tostada really just means toasted, but I took the meaning that you’ll see in many tex-mex restaurants. That is, a small tortilla, toasted as the base of the dish.
What you’ll need:
Small tortillas, about 6″ diameter, often labeled as Fajita Style
1 Large Avocado
1 Large Onion
2 Small tomatoes (or one large, you pick)
1 Clove Garlic
1 Large chicken breast (boneless skinless)
1 can of Pinto Beans
1 Jalapeo
Juice of 1 lime
Some cheese of your choice
Olive Oil
Cumin
Chili Powder
Chipotle Pepper Flakes (you can substitute most any crushed dried pepper)
Salt
Pepper
Prep work:
Toast some tortillas for your base, you can do this on a grill, skillet, or in a broiler. Be careful with the broiler, as you could easily overcook or catch them on fire.
Finely dice the Jalapeo and garlic
Chop the Avocado, Onion, and Tomatoes
Cut your chicken into thin strips.
Cooking:
Mix the pinto beans and Jalapeo with some oil in a skillet, fry and mash into a good refried bean consistency. Set aside.
Mix and mash half of the onion, your avocado, one of your tomatos, the lime juice, and garlic into guacamole. Salt and pepper to taste, set aside.
Pre heat oven to 250.
Put a very small amount of oil in the skillet, heat until the oil just starts to smoke. Toss in your chicken strips. Immediately season with cumin, chili powder, chipotle pepper, and a bit of kosher salt. I stir fried these, but that’s not necessary. The end result will be similar, you can sear the outside, or just heat evenly. Turn the heat down and add the rest of the onions, let them simmer a bit till translucent.
Assembly:
Take your toasted tortillas, place them on a cookie sheet (or flat oven pan,) and spread some of the bean mix on them, a thin layer is all you need, make sure to cover but don’t heap it on.
Now evenly distribute the chicken strips among them, along with the cooked onions.
Sprinkle your cheese of choice onto these, put them in the oven. We only need to cook them long enough to melt the cheese, and help the bean set up a bit more firm, so you’ll just have to keep an eye on them.
Once cooked, top with the guacamole, and chopped tomato. You can use shredded lettuce or cabbage if you like, but I don’t think that really adds to the dish.
Enjoy!