Rigatoni with Squash (and prawns)

I know, I know, can you believe I'm posting?? Did you think I was gone forever? That I had gone the way of all mamas who move (frozen pizzas, Taco Bell, even the dreaded...Chicken Nuggets!!)? Well, we may have lived off of freezer meals for awhile, and then been on vacation for awhile, and then I may have had morning sickness for awhile (yep, I'm pregnant)...but we've recovered and I've been cooking for a solid 3 weeks now! I didn't have the energy to look up new recipes fo

r awhile, so I took a walk down memory lane, I made Blue Cheese Scallion Biscuits, Escarole Calzones (with Kale, again), and Shakshuka (something I just craved those first coup

le of months, such a comfort food), and of course, Emerill's Salmon! I have

to say, they were all better than I remembered! Especially the calzones.

Anyway, so yesterday I kicked off winter cookin' with some butternut squash. Now, if you know me, you know that I could live off of butternut squash. In fact, I turned my oldest son so orange one year because I fed him so much of it that after having a number of people tell me I should have him checked for jaundice or liver malfunction, I took him to the doctor. Nope, no jaundice. No liver problems. Just lay off the butternut.

Anyway, so I've made a lot of butternut-purees-over-pasta before, but this was hands down my favorite one yet (not to be confused with my butternut squash curry recipe, that's different in my mind, and still to this day, cannot be topped).

I ended up throwing out my prawns, I'm not overly picky, but something went horribly wrong with them, they were so gross. Maybe I'm just used to fresh, I dunno, it was probably my fault. But it was still a delicious, round meal with pasta, bread, and a green salad. I

f you wanted, you could easily substitute chicken, nuts, or just skip the protein portion of the meal altogether.

Would you believe that my 1 year old loved the butternut squash puree so much that he took to yanking on the pockets of my pants while wailing "biiiiiiiite!!" until I would walk back over to the blender, scoop him out a bite, and shovel it in his mouth? He l.o.v.e.d. it! Always a plus. I actually thought it was good enough just to be a butternut squash bisque, I may do that in the future as well.

Oh, and fresh basil made a huge difference in this meal, I don't think it would have been the same without it.

Oh, and and you must meet my new love (obviously my new cast iron pan)!! I'm kind of obsessed with it right now. My old pan was rusting and I decided to take the plunge. Let's just say that food at our house just got a whole lot better, I don't know how I ever cooked without it before! I just might build a house out of cast iron someday. Not really. But I LOVE my pan.

5 stars. And without further ado, recipe is here and below.

Rigatoni with Squash and Prawns

This is from the kitchen of Giada DeLaurentis. I LOOVE her Italian foods. She does awesome work and is usually pretty reasonable with her time and ingredients list.

Anyway, this is a great one for fall with the squash and garlic! mmmm..

Ingredients

* 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons
* 1 pound butternut squash, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 teaspoon salt, plus 1 teaspoon
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/2 teaspoon
* 1 cup vegetable stock
* 1 pound rigatoni
* 1 pound prawns, peeled and deveined
* 3/4 to 1 cup whole milk
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

Warm 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butternut squash, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Saute until the squash is golden and tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the squash is very soft, another 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the squash mixture to a blender or food processor and puree.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

Meanwhile, warm the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the prawns with the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Add the prawns to the pan and cook until just pink, about 3 minutes.

In a large pot over low heat combine the cooked pasta, pureed squash mixture, and 3/4 cup milk. Stir to combine. Add the remaining 1/4 cup milk if the sauce needs to be moistened. Add the cooked prawns, basil, and cheese. Stir until warm and serve.

Mushroom Sauce with Noodles

I have a lot of friends who are good cooks. So when my friend gave me this recipe all the while raving, I knew I had to try it. And it was delicious! It reminded me of a mix between a stroganoff and a bourguignon. Mmmmm. Very easy, too! A wonderful comfort meal for a cozy day.

I used portabella caps and baby bella mushrooms. You know, whatever you've got, you use.

Oh, and I was a little skeptical of using 2 whole cups of cream in a dish that I knew I would be eating the majority of (since my husband wouldn't be eating lunch at home the next day). So I used whole milk. It worked like a charm.I also felt that it was a little tart, so I threw in some salt to taste. Yum. Broil up some asparagus with oil and salt and you've got a hearty, delicious, easy meal!

I don't know where she got the recipe, unfortunately, so for now, here is the recipe below.
4 stars.

WILD MUSHROOM SAUCE WITH PASTA

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 lbs mix of wild mushrooms (shiitake, portabella, baby bellas, porcini)

2 cups tomato sauce

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups heavy cream or whole milk or non-fat evaporated milk

¼ cup white vinegar

1/2 cup fresh parsley

2 TBSP minced garlic

4 TBSP butter

Sautee mushrooms in butter for 5 minutes, add garlic and parsley. Combine tomato sauce,balsamic vinegar, broth, and white vinegar. Add to mushrooms. Cook for about 45 minutes until the sauce has reduced and is pretty thick. Warm the cream or milk and add to sauce. Bring to a low simmer for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, boil fresh pasta and serve.

Vegetable Paella

Sometimes I tend to hold on to things for a little too long - I just get attached and I don't know when an appropriate time to say 'goodbye' is. So, the other day I was chopping vegetables on my cutting board and when I chopped straight through the cutting board and onto my counter top I took that as the signal that it was time to splurge on a new cutting board.

Behold the new cutting board. She even folds in half so that I can easily slide my chopped goodness straight into the pot. Isn't she beautiful?
But I digress. This post is about a delicious little rice-based dish we like to call "Paella". I recently came across the Cafe Zupa blog and promptly found this Vegetable Paella and couldn't wait to try it. I loved that it had a lot of flavors mixed together but had familiar ingredients. Plus, I loved that it had Swiss Chard in it. Anytime I can mix up our normal vegetables with other ones, I get excited.
Well, some of my excitement ended when I found out that the warehouse that provides my grocery store with produce is currently on strike! So, I settled for collared greens instead, which I thought were delicious in spite of themselves. I also found myself just going crazy for the edamame in the dish as well. They were the perfect amount of crunchy. Edamame are just soy beans. Don't be scared of them. If you buy them frozen and shelled at your grocery store, they're just as easy to use as lima beans (only WAY tastier). There's nothing intimidating about them - go out on a limb, just try them!The consensus about this recipe was that in and of itself, it was delicious. One of my favorite rice-based dishes. However, I couldn't eat it every single day. For what it is, it's a 5 star flavor - but it would get a little heavy after a couple of days. So there you have it - it's a great dish - and healthy, too for a treat every now and again.

Oh, and I served it with Naan bread and a spritz of lime as recommended: perfection.

Here were my substitutions:
1) My grocery store didn't have any saffron threads in stock, so I used Turmeric (an orange spice, found in the regular spice section) as advised by a grocery store associate. Worked like a charm. And much cheaper (I already had it at home). If you don't want to spend the money - just skip it - it's as much for the color as for the taste.
2) I just used some short-grain rice I had in the cupboard
3) Again, I used Collared Greens instead of Swiss Chard. I just used the top 50% of the leaf, before you get to the thicker part of the stalk.
4) I skipped the chili oil altogether.
5) I used black beans (the recipe says to use whatever you want).

5 stars (with the caveat...) =)

Recipe below and here.

Vegetable Paella

adapted from healthy eating

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads (optional)
1/2 cup water
olive oil
3 large shallots, diced
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/4 cup arborio rice, rinsed
1 Tablespoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon curry powder
3 cups vegetable stock
4 roma tomatoes, chopped
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 bunch swiss chard leaves, shredded
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and cute in quarters
1 can beans (any variety)
cilantro leaves
chili oil
a few limes

Fry the saffron threads on medium to low heat (do not use oil) until darkened. Remove from heat and when cool, crumble into a small bowl and pour 1/2 cup warm water on top, let sit.

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large saute pan. Add onion and red pepper, cooking until the onion softens then add garlic. After a minute add in the rice, paprika and curry powder, mixing to coat. Pour in the saffron and water, stock (add 1/2 cup if omitting the saffron), tomatoes, and tomato paste; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for twenty minutes.

Uncover, stir in shelled edamame, chard, artichoke hearts, and beans. Cook uncovered until heated through.

Serve with coriander, a drizzle of chili oil and a small spritz of fresh lime juice.

This is delicious with garlic naan or another flatbread.

White Chili

I have to admit that I'm not a big chili person. It really has to be just right for me to really get into it. I love a good taco soup, but just plain old chili is not my favorite.
Until now.
My friend shared this recipe with me and when I saw cannelloni beans I was sold because I had a good 2 cups sitting in my freezer from another recipe that I needed to use up.
This was one of those recipes where I got half-way through and thought, "Really? That's it? This is going to be a disappointment..." But I was riding on my friend's raving recommendation, so I held out hope. Boy am I glad I did!This recipe just might have it all: it's healthy, it's flavorful, it's delicious...and get this: My 3 year-old asked for a SECOND BOWL!
I served it with avocados, cheese, and whole fat plain greek yogurt, to get some extra fat in my kids. I will be adding this to my regular rotation - and you know that means this recipe is good!
Oh, and my grocery store was out of tomatillos, so I used chunky salsa verde. My spices also seemed to have formed a pact and decided to run out all at the same time on me. I've had to buy so many of those expensive little things over the last month that I just couldn't justify coriander seed when I already had ground coriander in my cupboard. It turned out great just the same.

5 stars. Easily.

Unfortunately, I don't know whom to credit for this recipe, so here it is below:

White Chili

Cooking Spray
1 TBSP Vegetable Oil
1 LB. Skinned, boned chicken breast halves, chopped
½ cup chopped shallots
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5 oz.) can tomatoes, undrained, whole or diced
16 oz chicken broth
1 (11 oz) can tomatillos, drained and coarsely chopped-OR 7 oz. can salsa verde
1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chiles, undrained
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp coriander seeds, crushed
¼ tsp ground cumin
1 (16 oz) cans cannelloni beans or other whilte beans-drained (or about 2 cups cooker beans)
3 tsp lime juice
¼ tsp pepper
9 tbsp (about 4 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray. Add oil; place over medium-hiigh heat until hot. Add chicken; sauté 3 minutes or until done. Rmove chicken from pan; set aside. Add shallots and garlic to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until tender. Stir in tomatoes and next 6 ingredients (tomatoes through cumin). Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Add chicken and beans; cook 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in lime juice and pepper. Ladle into bowls; top with cheese. Serves 4.

Wild Mushroom Quesadillas with Warm Black Bean Salsa

Loved these. It was one of those recipes that looked so yummy on paper and then as I was making it I was thinking "hmmmm...not so sure about this". I mean mushrooms, black beans, and barbecue sauce? Trust me, it's delicious for a low-key, comfort-foody, casual meal.
I reduced the barbecue sauce to about 3 tablespoons because I don't love a lot of store-bought sauces in my cooking. Goodness knows I salt things enough as it is...I don't need an extra 1000mg of sodium from the ingredients themselves! I thought it had the perfect taste. Something about that salsa had me begging for me the whole night! I kept eating it by the spoonful.
I had some extra zucchini sitting in my fridge, so I chopped those up and threw them in with the mushrooms as well. My toddler will eat anything in a tortilla (he thinks it's "just like pizza!"), so I figured it'd get a few more veggies in him.
I didn't have room in my budget for crimini and shiitake mushrooms, so I did crimini and plain old white button mushrooms. Again - deliciousness!

Recipe below and here.

4 stars - definitely will make it again!

Wild Mushroom Quesadillas with Warm Black Bean Salsa

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, plus some for drizzling
• 16 crimini mushroom caps, baby portobellos, with stems, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 12 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced, stems discarded
• Coarse black pepper and salt
• 1 tablespoon (a few sprigs) fresh thyme leaves, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 4 large flour tortillas, 12 inches in diameter
• 2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar

Salsa:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
• 1/2 cup smoky barbecue sauce
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and the sliced mushrooms to the hot skillet. Season mushrooms with black pepper, salt and thyme. Saute the mushrooms 10 minutes or, until dark and tender, then remove from heat. Transfer the mushrooms to a dish and return the skillet to the stove over medium heat.

Add another turn of extra-virgin olive oil to the skillet and add the onions, garlic and jalapeno pepper; saute for 2 or 3 minutes, then add beans and corn to the pan. Stir in chopped tomatoes and barbecue sauce, then season salsa with salt and pepper. Transfer warm salsa to a serving dish.

Heat a griddle pan or large nonstick skillet over medium to medium high heat. Add a drizzle of oil to the pan and 1 flour tortilla. Cook tortilla 1 minute, then turn it over. Sprinkle 1/2 cup sharp cheddar over 1/2 of the flour tortilla. Cover the cheese with 1/4 of the cooked sliced mushrooms. Fold the plain 1/2 of the tortilla over top of the filling and gently press down with a spatula. Cook the filled quesadilla 30 seconds to a minute longer on each side to lightly brown and crisp the quesadilla and melt the cheese. Remove the quesadilla to a large cutting board or transfer to a warm oven to hold, then repeat with remaining quesadilla ingredients.

Cut each quesadilla into wedges and serve with warm salsa for topping.

Tomato and Mozzarella Quesadillas with Basil

If Heaven is a place where we sit around all day and eat fresh basil all day, then sign me up! I absolutely love this easy recipe. These little bites of deliciousness are something we make around here for a fast, easy, comfort food-y kind of meal. The ingredients are deceptively common, but don't be fooled. Something about the mozzarella and basil, mixed with pine nuts (provided there aren't allergies in your home), and a healthy dose of pepper (and a little salt) create an amazing flavor that is more than the sum of its parts. Fresh mozzarella obviously is best, but for some nights (like the other night), when I'm in a pinch, I just use the frozen mozzarella I keep in the freezer for just such occasions.I really think you can't over-do it on the basil, and I do think fresh, not dried, basil is key to the deliciousness. Just heat up the pan with a little spray or oil, throw a tortilla on, add some fixings, fold it over and then flip it, cook a little more, and serve! Mmmmm...just talking about it makes me hungry!

Are you kidding me? 5 stars, for sure.

Recipe below and here. Oh, and I know I make them a little differently than they do, but I like my way just a little better. =)

Serves 4 Hands-On Time: 15m Total Time: 20m

Tomato and Mozzarella Quesadillas with Basil

Ingredients:
8 8-inch flour tortillas
12 ounces grated or sliced mozzarella
2 tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1/2 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch fresh basil, leaves picked
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat grill to medium. Arrange 4 of the tortillas on a cutting board. Arrange the mozzarella and tomatoes on the tortillas, leaving a 1-inch border empty. Season with ½ teaspoon of the salt and the pepper and top with the remaining tortillas.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the basil, pine nuts, oil, and the remaining salt; set aside.
3. Cook the quesadillas around the perimeter of the grill until the cheese melts and the tortillas are crisp and golden, about 2 minutes per side.
4. Immediately cut the quesadillas into wedges and serve with the basil salad.
   

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Tacos: Day 4 Slow Cooker Chicken Menu

Whew! And that's a wrap! That (unbelievably cheap) whole chicken successfully fed my family for 4 meals! There is just something very satisfying about feeling like you used the whole chicken.

Ok, drum roll please. I am about to introduce you to the easiest recipe you've ever seen...and so, so very delicious.

For Day 4 (and I call it "day 4" because it was the 4th meal made with the chicken, but we didn't eat chicken 4 days in a row. I rationed it over a week, so in case you are thinking "ugh, I just couldn't stomach that chicken so many days in a row!", no need to fear. You can space it out.) we had Sweet and Spicy Chicken Tacos. This recipe actually came at me unexpectedly. I was at a friend's house who made this a few nights ago and it was so delicious that I knew I had to use my already-cooked chicken to complete this, the world's easiest meal ever!

This meal isn't by any means fancy, but it is delicious and super easy and I am giving it 5 stars!So, without further ado, I give you:

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Tacos
(at least, that's what I'm calling them because I have no idea what else to call them!)

Ingredients:
2 Cups (about 1/2 pound - more or less to your liking)
1 Cup brown sugar
2 10 oz cans Enchilada Sauce (I used Mild, but you can use whatever you like)
Fixings for tacos: corn or flour tortillas, cheese, quacamole, sour cream, tomatoes, olives...etc...)

Directions:
Mix the sugar and enchilada sauce together. Place chicken in a slow cooker or a sauce pan large enough to hold all ingredients. Pour sauce over chicken. Stir. Cook on low in a slow cooker for approximately 2 hours or until ready. Alternatively, you can also cook it in a sauce pan for 30 minutes over medium heat as well. Serve according to your taste.
I used this quacamole recipe... mmmmmm!

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken: Day 1 Slow Cooker Whole Chicken Menu

This post could also be appropriately titled: "Slow Cooker Whole Chicken: I'm the Last to Know", because apparently I am the last person on earth to discover that you can cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker. However, although I'm late to jump on this bandwagon, I certainly am not going to withhold a post about it because maybe - just maybe - there's one other person out there who is unaware, as I was, and I want to change that person's life the way mine was changed the other day.

I mean, let's talk a little about simplicity, elegance, and budget here. It doesn't get easier than rubbing some salt on a bird and walking away. It doesn't get more classic than a whole bird on a platter at the dinner table. And it doesn't get more budget friendly than a whole chicken (mine were 2 for $7.50) that will feed a family of 4 for 3 meals.
Just how easy is this whole thing? Let me tell you - I don't think I own one single easier recipe. Since I did this so early in the day, I chopped up some veggies, covered their roasting dish with foil (because just the other day I broke the lid...so very sad) to go with the chicken and then popped them in the oven to roast at 400 degrees just an hour before dinner. I also made a salad that morning (more on that salad later) and I felt like I was cheating because for the rest of the day I had nothing culinary to think about, all the work was done. I walked in the door for an outing with my kids at 5:55pm to the smell of roasted vegetables and slow cooker chicken, threw the salad, chicken, and veggies on the table and my husband walked in the door and thought I slaved away all day! Amazing.

Here is the recipe:
1 Whole Chicken (one that will fit in whatever size slow cooker you have)
Kosher Salt (or normal salt)
Herbs (dried or fresh, optional)

Remove giblets from chicken. Rinse chicken, pat dry. Rub salt all over outside and inside of chicken. Sprinkle with herbs. Place in slow cooker on low heat for 4-6 hours or until juices run clear and the middle of the thigh is registering 180 degrees (Fahrenheit).

It tends to fall apart easily, so carefully remove it from the slow cooker and enjoy! I actually found this part nice because since it would literally fall off the bone, I didn't have to figure out where to cut things, I just pulled a little and this or that part would fall off, so I figured we could eat it!

Told you.
That easy. That cheap. That elegant! Stay tuned for what to do with the juices and the left overs!

Feta Spinach Quiche

Ok, let's talk Quiche. They're all delicious, right? I mean, you really can't go wrong with eggs, cheese, and a flaky, bready crust, right?
But what about a quiche that can stand alone even without a crust... now that is a quiche worth talking about! And let me tell you, the one I am about to introduce you to is every bit worthy of that.I was first introduced to this quiche when my first son was born. A sweet friend of mine stopped by and brought it to me for dinner. As most quiches do, it had a crust. It was delicious and it was gone in seconds flat.

Let's move forward a few years. I was still making this quiche (which says a lot) when another friend of mine brought the same quiche to a party...but without a crust. She had simply not had time to make/buy one. I loved it even more - which works out nicely because aside from flavor, the crust isn't adding much but inches on my hips.

And so a tradition was born. I now bake this in a pie dish as usual, but just leave the crust out. This last time I made it, I threw a few Panko bread crumbs on the top during the last 20 minutes of baking along with some cheese for good measure and I thought they added a fun crunch!

Lastly - it gets even better - I have made this quiche a hundred times and it is extremely forgiving as far as cheese type and vegetable combinations go. I usually have feta on hand, but many times I've swapped in swiss, mozzerella, cheddar, asiago, or whatever is around to go along with it. As long as it uses at least 2 different types of cheeses and a portion of one of those is feta, it should come out great. I also have used fresh spinach, asparagus, etc. The base is really great, if you wander a little bit with some of the other ingredients you really can't go wrong!
...As evidenced by the fact that my under-one-year-old son devoured 1/4 of the quiche by himself!

One final tip - quiches are nice because while you are making one, you might as well make two and cook them together and then freeze one of them for in a few weeks when you're in a pinch! Then, just cook as usual straight from the freezer. I just love easy meals!

Find the recipe below or here (although the recipe I am displaying below is just slightly different as I don't use a crust and I use less butter. I also lower the amount of cheese used at well)

Feta Spinach Quiche:

INGREDIENTS:

2 Tbs-1/2 C butter depending on how rich you want it (or you can use a combination of butter and olive oil)

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

About 10 button mushrooms or regular mushrooms, chopped medium small

1 (6 oz) feta (any kind), crumbled

6 oz shredded Cheddar cheese or any cheese on hand

salt and pepper to taste

1 (9”) unbaked deep dish pie crust (optional)

4 eggs, beaten

1 C milk

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375°F (190 degrees C). In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion in butter until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in spinach, mushrooms, feta and 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into pie crust.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into the pastry shell, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with spinach mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle top with remaining Cheddar cheese, and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until set in center. Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

Creamy Enchiladas

Now, these can't really be classified as true enchiladas - a more appropriate name would be "tortilla-wrapped deliciousness". These are one of those guilty pleasures - and we all have them every now and again - that we have around out house once in a while. Actually, we only have them once in a very great while - maybe 2 times a year at the most...so let's just scratch the "guilty" and call them "pleasures"!
I'm going to give them 4 stars with a caveat - while they are delicious and you will want to keep eating and eating and eating them...they really aren't super healthy, so I guess the taste factor would be a 5, but I couldn't actually live off of them (the criteria for a 5 star dish) because I would probably have a heart attack at age 35. So, they get a 4. Still, well worth it every now and again - they are just scrumptious!

Recipe below:

LUKE’S CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

INGREDIENTS:
1 lbs chicken
2 C grated cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you have on hand)
2 cans of cream of chicken soup (or 1 lg family can)
1 small can of diced green chilis
8 oz sour cream
5-8 flour tortillas.
Any veggies you want to add (tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, olives)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cube, cut into smaller pieces, or shred the chicken and either boil or cook in olive oil till done. Meanwhile, mix the soup, sour cream, green chilis, and two handfuls of cheese into a 2 qt. together. Once the chicken is done, mix it into the soup mixture. Take 1 tortilla and place a pinch or two of cheese, and 1-2 spoonfuls of the chicken mixture on the tortilla and roll or fold in the four sides make small squares out of the tortilla. Place each one in a 9x13 pan. Once through with the 5-8 tortillas, gently smear the rest of the soup mixture on top of the enchiladas in a 9x13 pan until all are covered. Lastly, cover with remaining cheese. Finally, place pan of deliciousness into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is bubbling softly.

Black Bean Soup + Toasted Cumin Seed Crema

I finally found it. I finally found a black bean soup that I LOVE! I don't know how many black bean disasters we've gone through in this house. They are just always so bland...over-cooked, under-spiced. But this, this was absolutely delicious!Just look at all that vegetable goodness, you know you want some! And who knew you could cook beans in your crock pot so quickly and easily?
As she mentions in the recipe, this really is made by the toasted cumin seed crema. I did go out and buy cumin seeds and ground them in my pepper grinder myself (are you kidding me? I certainly don't have a mortar and pestle!), which I thought gave a delicious taste. However, I don't think you need to necessarily do so if you are in a pinch. Just use ground cumin and salt for a decently good taste. I also used sour cream. I'm on a student budget, so I have to stick to basic ingredients most days, especially since I splurged on those heavenly cumin seeds!
My beans were done in 3 1/2 hours, she mentions that there is some variability with cooking times, so that's where mine felt.
I definitely think this recipe depends on good toppings - I even added a little cheese, but it's to date my favorite black bean soup. It's healthy. It's delicious. It's easy. We at it for left-overs for days on end without any complaints. What more can you ask for?
4 stars.

Black Bean Soup with Chipotle and Toasted Cumin Seed Crème Fraîche
Adapted from Bon Appetit

We finished this soup, by the way. Every last serving. We never do that. It’s magic, I tell you.

A big note about cooking times: The original recipe says 6 hours. Mine were done at 2 hours 45 minutes. Do black beans vary wildly in cooking time? Do slow cookers vary wildly in cooking time? These are all pressing questions. Check your beans at 3 hours, and holler at me in the comments if your cooking time ends up being much longer.

Yields 6 main course servings

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium-size red onions, chopped
1 medium-size red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium-size green bell pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 teaspoons ground cumin
1 16-ounce package dried black beans
1 tablespoon chopped chipotle chiles from a can (this gives it a solid kick, dial back if you are wary)
7 cups hot water (I just used very hot tap water)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and both bell peppers and sauté until beginning to brown, about eight minutes. Add garlic and cumin; stir one minute. Transfer mixture to 6-quart slow cooker. Add beans and chipotles, then 7 cups hot water. Cover and cook on high until beans are very tender, about 3 hours. [See note up top.]

Transfer two cups bean mixture to blender; puree until smooth. Return puree to remaining soup in slow cooker. Stir in lime juice, salt, and pepper. Adjust seasonings to taste; we found we needed more salt. Ladle soup into bowls. Spoon dollop of toasted cumin seed cream (below) over each bowl and serve.

Do ahead: This soup keeps great in the fridge, and even thickens a bit. In a good way!

Toasted Cumin Seed Crème Fraîche
Hacked from Bobby Flay

1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds
1 cup crema or crème fraîche (or make your own crema, make your own crème fraîche, or swap sour cream or yogurt, for a close-enough taste)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Place the cumin in a small sauté pan over medium heat. Toast until lightly golden brown. Place in spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind until coarse. Stir it into the creme and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Mushroom Bourguignon

There are three reasons I have always stayed away from anything called a "bourguignon".
1) Isn't it obvious? The name is so intimidating, who would want to make it?
2) One of the main ingredients is wine...and I typically don't cook with wine.
3) It's traditionally a meat dish. We don't love lots of meat in our house, so I don't experiment as much as I should with it.
SO, this all added up to three bourguignon-free decades. They were happy decades, I might add. I didn't know what I was missing...until I found this. And this.
Oh. my.

It's official: I am smitten with Smitten Kitchen. I love the ingredients, I love the experimentation with food, I love the food. My goodness, this dish was simply amazing!It was a little more time intensive than I like to get on any given day, so I just made it a project with my son - we took turns dumping things into the pot together and and stirring, etc. We had a lot of fun together and it kept his attention for quite some time. It ended up taking probably 45 minutes total and it was worth it. Simply amazing. A beautiful blend of flavors, and I loved that it was a meat-free dish that didn't feel meat-free. I will definitely be serving this for years and years to come. A new staple in the house. My husband even thought that it was better than a beef bourguignon...now that is saying something.I looked up a few different substitutes for red wine and decided to go with red grape juice mixed with just a couple tablespoons of vinegar (I used rice vinegar, but I think because you reduce it so much that white vinegar would do the trick). I just filled it mostly full (as you can see in the picture) with the juice and then added the vinegar. I thought it tasted divine...it worked beautifully. What a pleasant surprise! I did simmer it a little long, to try and reduce some of the extra flavor and get a stronger flavor from the juice/vinegar mixture, and it was just heavenly.Here is a picture of reducing the grape juice - reducing is simply a technique where you let it steam off the liquid for a few minutes until you have a more concentrated form of the flavor from whatever liquid you started with. It's just a fancy word for "cooking off ".
Here's where you can find the recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/mushroom-bourguignon/.
I'll be making this again soon, I was just absolutely craving it the next day!
Oh, and my grocery store was out of thyme, so I used rosemary and I thought it worked out just fine.
What a relief to know that you can make an alcohol-meat-free bourguignon and just love it - just LOVE it!
Bon Apetite, if you will.
My very first 5-star dish.

Squash and Chickpea Moroccan Stew

Have you been introduced to Smitten Kitchen? I just recently was, and I'm sort of wondering how I ever culinarily survived without it. Wow. Love the commentary, love the experimentation with various foods, love the healthiness...just love it. I've tried a few recipes from their site - stay tuned for more reviews!I recently tried their Squash and Chickpea Moroccan Stew.
It was healthy! It was delicious! It was...easy. No really, I bet you have many of the ingredients on hand. I find Moroccan food to be a very delicate balance of sweet and savory at the same time and most places I've eaten it don't seem to achieve that balance perfectly. However, this recipe balanced the flavors beautifully. The crunchy chickpeas (I left out the almonds), the savory potatoes, the sweet butternut squash (which I bought pre-peeled - awesome!), the cinnamon and cumin together...it all added up to perfection.
I was skeptical of the green olives, but if you make this, you must put them in. I bought a cheap brand, so they don't need to be anything special, but they really made the dish in a serious way. Even if you don't like green olives, humor me. They really are perfect in the dish. With a dollop of yogurt (or sour cream if you're like me and you meant to buy plain yogurt, but you inadvertently bought vanilla...hate when that happens) it was just delicious, hearty and healthy. This dish is one I'll make over and over again!Mmmm...
4 Stars

Roman Chicken

Ok, anyone who hasn't tried this recipe needs to. It's delicious, it's easy, it has 5 stars and 655 ratings on the foodnetwork.com...and it's dairy free, which I know is helpful for many of us!

Roman Chicken

Enjoy!