If you were with me yesterday and you reserved some of the taco filling, then skip the filling recipe and go straight to the chili recipe.

Vegetarian Chorizo Taco Filling

* 2 TB olive oil
* 1 onion, diced, about 1 cup
* 4 oz can diced green chilis
* 1 package Soy Chorizo
* 16 oz can of Kidney beans, can substitute black or pinto beans
* 1/2 cup water

1. Heat olive over medium high heat.
2. Add onions and saute for 3 minutes.
3. Add canned green chili to pan, stir.
4. Open chorizo and add to the pan. Break it up with a wooden spoon.
5. Add the water and stir.
6. When water is cooked off, the filling is ready.

Soy Chorizo Vegetarian Chili

* 2-4 cups of Soy Chorizo Taco filling (using 4 cups gives you a “meatier” chili)
* 32 oz can chopped tomatoes in tomato puree, or one 16 can each of chopped tomato and tomato sauce
* 1 Tablespoon Cumin
* 1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1. Put all ingredients into a slow cooker, stir.
2. Put the lid on and cook on low setting for 4-5 hours.

Serve topped with grated cheese, sour cream, chopped black olives, and chopped green onion.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

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Soy Chorizo Slow Cooker Chili

I picked up some Soy Chorizo from Trader Joes today with the idea to turn it into two different dishes – a taco filling and a vegetarian chili. Here’s my recipe for the taco filling, which I turned into a taco salad. If you are interested in making the chili, then reserve half of the filling and keep it in the refrigerator until tomorrow. I’ll give you that recipe tomorrow. It’s easy and simmers in the crockpot all day.

Vegetarian Chorizo Taco Filling

* 2 TB olive oil
* 1 onion, diced, about 1 cup
* 4 oz can diced green chilis
* 1 package Soy Chorizo
* 16 oz can of Kidney beans, can substitute black or pinto beans
* 1/2 cup water

1. Heat olive over medium high heat.
2. Add onions and saute for 3 minutes.
3. Add canned green chili to pan, stir.
4. Open chorizo and add to the pan. Break it up with a wooden spoon.
5. Add the water and stir.
6. When water is cooked off, the filling is ready.

Serve as a taco or burrito filling. Also makes a great taco salad.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

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Soy Chorizo Taco Filling

This is the second recipe of Diane’s that I’ve shared with you readers. Last month she let me use her Miso Salad, which is a cabbage salad tht is also made with cilantro.  I do love that cilantro.  Thanks, Diane!

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Ingredients:

*8 ears of husked corn

For the cilantro pesto:

*1/2 cup cilantro leaves, large stems removed
*2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
*1 garlic clove, peeled, and grated on a Microplane grater
*1 teaspoon kosher salt
*1 teaspoon finely ground fresh black pepper
*1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
*1/4 extra virgin olive oil
4 limes, each cut into 4 to 6 wedges
*chili powder
*salt as needed
*16 tablespoons (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pats (I didn’t have any butter, so I used olive oil mayo It was a great substitute!)

Procedure:

1. Remove the husks from the corn.
2. Preheat one grate of a charcoal or gas grill to medium-high and another to high.
3. Place the cilantro, lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a small food processor or in a blender and pulse to combine. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the oils. Alternately the pesto can be combined by hand. Set aside.
4. Place the corn on the medium high grate. Cook for 3 minutes, turn to the other side, and cook for 3 minutes. Then turn to all sides between medium and high as needed for 5 to 7 minutes total.
5. Remove the corn from the grill and brush generously with the pesto. Squeeze lime over the ears and sprinkle with chili powder and salt. Serve with any remaining lime and pats of butter on the side.

Image credit: Sxc.hu

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Grilled Corn with Cilantro Pesto

I made my first batch about a week ago and it was an instant hit. We like it sprinkled over our yogurt best. Yum. Make sure that you are baking your granola in a pan that allows you to spread it wide and shallow. Stir periodically and go by color.A nice, light, toastiness is what you are looking for.

Michelle’s Granola

Preheat oven to 300F

2 cups of oats
2/3 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (can also substitute almonds, pecans, peanuts, etc)
1/2 sunflower seeds
1/4 flax seeds
1/4 sesame seeds
1/2 cup honey
1/4 maple syrup
1/3 canola oil

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet ingredients. Add wet to dry, stirring well. Spread on a cooking sheet that is oiled or covered with parchment paper. Keep the layer as thin as possible, to ensure even browning.

Place in oven and set timer for 15 minutes. At that point you need to give the mixture a good mixing around -flip it over, stir it, just get it rearranged to help with he even browning. Set the time for 10 more minutes. Pull it out, mix it around, then try an additional 5 minutes.

If it looks good, then pull it out and turn it onto a foil-covered surface to cool. If it looks like it could use more time, stir and put it back into the oven for 5 minutes.

*If you like a fruity granola, you can stir in raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, chopped dried apricots, or dates at this point.

Put the cooled granola into an air-tight container. Consume within 2 weeks. I suggest trying it on the yogurt.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

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Michelle’s Homemade Granola

GREEK TOMATO PIE
Crust and Custard Filling:
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
5 red onions, cut in eighths. Leave roots on but carefully trim them
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 egg yolks
5/8 cup heavy whipping cream
6 oz. crumbled goat cheese
Salt to taste
Tomato Relish:
2 yellow tomatoes, finely chopped
2 red tomatoes, finely chopped
6 basil leaves, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
12 Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in halves
1 pinch good Maldon salt if available
1 T. olive oil   

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Line a deep dish pie pan with pastry.
Chill for 15 minutes. Cover with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and weights, and bake for another 5 minutes.
3. Put onions on a baking sheet and drizzle over the 2 T. of olive oil. Season with salt. Roast covered with foil for 10 minutes. Roast uncovered for another 20- 30 minutes. Set aside to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F.
4. Beat together egg yolks and cream. Season with salt. Arrange the red onions over baked pie crust. Pour cream mixture over onions. Sprinkle the goat cheese over the top.
5. Bake for 400 minutes, or until custard has just set.
6. Mix all relish ingredients together and strain through cheesecloth to eliminate excess liquid. Spread on baked and cooled pie just before serving.
 
Image credit: SXC.hu
Recipe credit: Glen-Ella Springs Inn and BnBfinder.com

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Greek Tomato Pie

My family enjoys trying new products.  For example, some dried fruit snacks that I will write about later. The kids asked if we had anything new to snack on and I said let me go check…….dried pineapple with lime. Oh man, was that good!

Speaking of my family…….the kids are all off school on a week-long break. That’s 3 teenagers and one pre-teen. I usually have them make their own breakfast on weekdays, but yesterday I treated them to a puffed pancake.  Have you ever made one of those?  Very simple and funny looking, but tasty.  You bake it in the oven, in either a heavy cast iron pan or you can use an aluminum-type cake pan (one of the long rectangular pans) that you’ve covered (on the outside) in an additional layer of aluminum foil. This keeps it from browning too much on the bottom. 

Here’s the recipe. It’s vegetarian, but not vegan:

Puffed Pancake

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

6 eggs

2 Tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 400. 

Mix dry ingredients, then set aside. Beat eggs with milk, then add to dry ingredients, mixing until smooth. Divide the butter and put a square of it into each of the pans. Put the pans in the hot oven to melt the butter, then pull the pans back out. Divide mixture in half and pour into to pans (described above). Bake for 25 minutes.

Cut the pancake into slices, then top with more melted butter, powdered sugar, and a squeeze of lemon.

This recipe fed my entire family, except for Max, because he eats a liquid diet (related to his Cerebral Palsy).

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Vegetarian Recipe: Puffed Pancake

Put the two together and you’ve got the beginning of a great pasta dish.  This is a quick and easy recipe – perfect for a busy evening.  I use corkscrews, because they are Sarah’s favorite shape of pasta, but a longer spaghetti or fettucine would work well, too.  Preparing the dish with tomatoes helps the body to more easily absorb the iron found in the spinach.

Spinach and Tomato Corkscrews 

1 lb of corkscrew pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup diced purple onions
1 tsp finely diced garlic
6 cups fresh Spinach
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
salt
pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan (optional)

As pasta cooks, start the sauce. Saute onions in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic, then spinach. As spinach wilts, add in tomatoes, then salt and pepper as needed. Pasta should be ready right around this point. Take out one cup of hot pasta water, set aside, then drain pasta. Dump pasta into sauce pan. Use tongs to turn the pasta over and over, to move the spinach and tomato throughout the pasta. Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water, continue turning over. This makes the vegetables saucier. Add the rest of the water, then sprinkle the cheese and work it through.

image credit – Michelle

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Quick and Easy Pasta with Spinach

Here’s a stuffing recipe for you low-carbers out there. It arrived in my email from South Beat Diet.com. I’m posting it with a couple of substitutions – vegetable broth and we aren’t going to be cooking it inside of anything. This recipe is full of lots of healthy fruits, nuts, vegetables, texture, and flavor.

Another serving idea is to prepare the stuffing, then serve it “stuffed” into the top of grilled portabella mushrooms.  For tips on portabella grilling look here.  My daughter, Sarah, recently discovered mushrooms. Thank goodness, because I like to throw them in everything.  Hopefully, we can get her older sister to give them a try.

Wild Rice, Dried Cranberry, and Walnut Stuffing (Phase 2)

Makes 8 servings

Description
Although we call it stuffing, this colorful dish is almost too pretty to hide inside the bird. Be sure to use cranberries without added sugar, available at natural-food stores.

Tip: Leeks can be gritty. The easiest way to clean them is to trim off the root end, then thinly slice. Put slices in a colander and run cold water over them, separating layers with your fingers to wash away any hidden dirt.

Ingredients
*4 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
2 cups wild rice, rinsed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium leeks, trimmed, thinly sliced and cleaned
2 large celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup (4 ounces) dried cranberries (unsweetened)
5 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
Salt and black pepper

Instructions
Place broth in a medium-size saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in rice; cover and reduce heat to low. Cook 45 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid has absorbed.

Meanwhile, warm oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and celery; cook 10 minutes, until softened, stirring. Transfer to large bowl.

Stir rice into bowl with vegetables. Add walnuts, cranberries, sage, salt, and pepper.

Coat a large casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray; add stuffing and an additional 1/4 cup broth. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for about 20 minutes.

Make-ahead tip: Just cover and refrigerate bowl after adding walnuts, cranberries, sage, salt, and pepper. Keeps for 1 day in refrigerator. Let come to room temperature before continuing with recipe.

Nutritional information
336 calories
13 g total fat (1 g sat)
86 mg cholesterol
48 g carbohydrate
11 g protein
5 g fiber
13 mg sodium

*substitution to original recipe

Image credit – Michelle

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Tasty, Low Carb Wild Rice “Stuffing”