Enchilada Lovah

Last night I made perhaps the most delicious enchiladas of my life. I was cooking at 8pm just so we would have something to take to work today so, of course, I didn't snap any pics. But that doesn't mean I can't tell you all about it so you can pick up groceries on the way home and make these tonight!

Veggie Enchiladas with Cilantro Pesto

Ingredients

• 6 whole wheat tortillas
• Cilantro pesto (recipe below)
• 1/2 carton of sliced mushrooms
• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup red salsa of your choice
• salt and pepper, to taste 
• salsa verde of your choice
• shredded cheese (I used the 4-cheese Mexican blend)

Method

1. Heat your oven to 350.
2. Pour a small amount of salsa verde into a 9x13" baking dish, just enough to thinly coat the bottom of the dish.
3. Mix mushrooms, kidney beans, corn and red salsa in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Spread about 1T cilantro pesto down the center of a tortilla. Top with a spoonful of the mushroom mixture.
5. Roll tortilla and place seam-side down in the baking dish.
6. Repeat with 5 more tortillas.
7. Pour salsa verde over the top, enough to coat all of the exposed tortillas (this is so you don't get any dried out tortilla corners - I hate that!). Top with cheese and bake for about 25 minutes, until the cheese begins to bubble and brown.

I've made these before, based loosely off Caitlin's recipe, but the addition of the cilantro pesto really put these over the top. I made it last week when I had a surplus of cilantro from our CSA box and didn't want it to go to waste. It couldn't be easier.

Cilantro Pesto
from AllRecipes

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch cilantro
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1T white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2t cayenne pepper (I forgot this!)
• 1/2 cup walnuts or almonds
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Method:

1. Blend cilantro, garlic, vinegar, Parmesan, cayenne, nuts, and salt in a food processor or blender. Stream in 1/4 cup of the olive oil. Add more until the pesto reaches your desired consistency (I used about 1/3 cup).

Even without the cayenne, this stuff is super-tasty. I'm glad I thought to use it in the enchiladas - it gives them a nice fresh burst of flavor with all the beans and veggies. It would also be delicious mixed with rice or on top of pasta instead of a traditional pesto. Oooh, or in a quesadilla! I have a feeling this stuff won't last long...

I heart polenta

Thanks for all your sweet comments on my Marie Claire drama response. It is so heartwarming and exciting to know that there are so many other great ladies (and gentlemen!) out there who share a lot of the same ideas. I hope we can all move forward with honesty!

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It is officially FALL out here in California (totally crazy, since just last week it was almost 100 degrees)! It's currently a blustery 62 degrees with rain on the forecast for Wednesday! I decided to make a quick and filling Ellis favorite for dinner tonight: Parmesan Polenta with Eggs and Roasted Mushrooms.

I don't know why I don't make this more often; it is so good and literally takes 20 minutes, including prep! It's even faster if you buy your mushrooms already sliced, like I did this week because I was totally lazy.

 Mmmmm.... mushrooms!

 Even better - ROASTED mushrooms!

This is one of those meals that, when I tell B I am going to make it, he goes "Yesssss!" and runs around the room like my students when they get an A on a test.

 Parmesan + Polenta

Parmesan Polenta with Eggs and Roasted Mushrooms
from The Kitchn

Ingredients

• 1 lb mushrooms
• 2T olive oil
• 1/4 tsp pepper flakes (we like our food spicy, so I use a heaping 1/4 tsp)
• 1/4 tsp coarse salt
• 1/2 c polenta
• 1 c milk
• 1 c water
• pinch salt
• 1/2 c shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 3 eggs
• chives for garnish (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Chop mushrooms (if necessary!)
3. Toss mushrooms with oil, pepper flakes, and salt on a baking sheet.
4. Spread in single layer and roast until browned, about 10 mins.
5. Meanwhile, whisk polenta, milk, water, and salt together in saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, covered.
6. After reaching a boil, turn heat to low and let sit with lid cracked for 5 minutes, or until thickened.
7. While polenta is cooking, heat nonstick skillet over medium heat and crack the eggs so that they are sunny side up. 
8. Cook about a minute and then add a few tablespoons of water to the skillet. Water will sizzle - cover so the yolks steam and set to your liking.
9. Mix Parmesan into polenta, plate on a dish, spoon mushrooms over and top with egg. Garnish with snipped chives (I've never done this, but it sure sounds good!)

Oh, and in case you were wondering - here are the remains of the carrot cake I ate as "pre-workout fuel." It got me through my 40-minute spin session wonderfully.

Just being honest. :)

 P.S. One day, I will update my recipes page. Wouldn't that be nice?

Backing Up

I don't typically blog about a meal/event too far after it happened, but this Thursday's dinner was pretty incredible and I was super backed up with grading to write about it at the time. Also, I'm going to make you wait until this evening (possibly even tomorrow!) for a full update about our fun weekend!

When I went grocery shopping this week, I picked up a pound of gorgeous portobello mushrooms and knew right away I wanted to make burgers.

I found this recipe in Everyday Food's Fresh Flavor Fast. It's a keeper!

Portobello Burgers with Bell Pepper & Goat Cheese
 Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, quartered
• 1 lb portobello mushrooms, stems removed, camps wiped clean
• vegetable oil, for grill
• hamburger buns
• 5 oz fresh goat cheese, divided into 4 equal servings
• lettuce, for serving

 Method

1. In a small dish, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, garlic, 1t salt and 1/4t pepper. Add bell pepper and mushrooms, toss to coat. Let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes. (I tossed this all in a large ziplock)
2. Heat grill to medium (I used a grill pan on the stove top), lightly oil grates. Grill bell pepper (uncovered), skin side down, until blackened, about 10 minutes; remove from grill. When cool enough to handle, rub off skins.
3. Grill mushrooms, covered, until lightly charred and tender, 3-4 minutes per side.
4. Layer each bun with bell pepper, mushrooms, goat cheese, and lettuce (we also added some Dijon mustard and slicing tomatoes from the farm). 

Toppings!

Not beautiful, but totally delicious!

Not only did these make a great dinner, but the mushrooms and peppers were really delicious cold on a sandwich the next day!

I also really wanted to make (never home) maker's pumpkin mac and cheese. However, what with the lack of canned pumpkin, I decided to kind of wing it and see what happened, using canned sweet potatoes instead of pumpkin. At the last minute (like, after the pasta had boiled and it was time to add the cheese), I realized I had no cheddar. What I did have was jack and mozzarella. I'm going to keep working on this, because I think it really could be awesome. Like, maybe if I used pumpkin and cheddar.

That's not to say I haven't been eating the leftovers all weekend with Tapatio. Because I have. I mean, hello, carbs and cheese. 

I promise an exciting weekend update soon. But to keep you entertained, you could watch these Weekend Updates instead :)

[Source]

Meet Bob

Oh hey guys, meet Bob.

Bob is our Weber grill that we received almost a year ago as a wedding gift from a thoughtful friend who didn't know Brian has never grilled anything before and is terrified of setting our porch on fire.

Bob has been through a lot, sitting on our back porch unused for almost 12 months. Poor Bob.

Bob during rainy season

Now, something you have to understand is that I am a big BBQ fan. My family owns a grocery store and my dad is a butcher. I grew up with some serious BBQ going on. I was determined this week that not another summer day was going to go by without firing up the grill. I even made sure we had one of these:

But this is not just a post about inanimate objects around my apartment though. Oh no. This is a post about the best Teriyaki marinade of my life. And about how Brian finally conquered the BBQ.

That's my man!

Kebabs were on the menu. I started with 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts and this delicious marinade:

The Mighty Marinade
adapted from b*spoke

1/2 cup water
2T packed brown sugar
6T low sodium soy sauce (I used a little less)
2 T lemon juice
3T vegetable oil
1/4t coarsely ground pepper
1t garlic powder

1. Combine all ingredients in a shallow baking dish or large ziplock bag.
2. Cut your chicken (or beef, pork, shrimp, tofu, tempeh, etc) into 1-2 inch pieces
3. Add to marinade, making sure meat is completely covered
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour

Once my meat was good and marinaded (??), I skewered it with pineapple chunks, mushrooms, red onion, and red bell pepper (if you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes prior to assembling your kebabs!).

Then we threw those puppies on the grill, turning them 2-3 times for about 10 minutes total. In the meantime, I was whipping up Emily's yummy goat cheese and red potato salad (scroll down to the comments for her full recipe) and a green salad.

Nothing caught fire and the kebabs were deeeelish! Brian said it was the yummiest marinade in the world (he maybe exaggerates sometimes).

And, even better, B is now totally 100% on board for future grilling! Whoohoo!

What is your favorite thing to grill? Who does the grilling in your house?
Me? I like just about everything on the grill! And even though B and I don't necessarily follow typical gender roles around the house (he does the laundry, I declog shower drains), I prefer that he grills. It just seems... right.