Black Bean Nachos

 

Happy Monday guys!  Let me tell you how mine started.  Well, if you're friends with me on Facebook, you probably already know.   But I'll tell you again because, frankly, I just need to vent. 

Before I left for work, I went to take the dogs for a walk.  As I'm walking, a biker is coming up towards us, and happens to have a dog along with him.  One of our dogs (Mocha), decides to book-it towards the dog and gets undone from her collar - this is one of those "oh sh*t" moments.  So after some sniffing in some inappropriate spots, I get Mocha away from the other dog (all while still handling our other dog, Zappa).  So I tell Mocha to "sit" and she does, but as soon as I come up to her to put her collar back on, she shoots off in another direction.  So this goes on for a good 10 minutes (maybe it was only 2 or 3, but my patience was getting thin and it seemed like an eternity) until I finally get her collar back on her.  So yeah, not the kind of Monday morning I thought I'd be having.

Anyway, we had our engagement picture session on Saturday and we had so much fun in the park!  I can't wait to see the final results and share them with you all - so stay tuned!

We made these nachos for dinner last week and they're just loaded with good stuff!  They're meatless, so even better for my vegetarian readers!  Although, I think we may try this next time with some chorizo!

Ingredients:

Tortilla chips
15 oz. can seasoned black beans, drained
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 & 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, plus more for topping
1/2 cup chipotle cheddar cheese (or regular cheddar cheese, but a friend of mine brought me this from Wisconsin a few days ago!)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
Sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil under medium high heat.  Add onions and both bell peppers.  Saute until softened, about 6-8 minutes.  Stir in black beans and cook until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and top with tortilla chips (I used about 3/4 of a bag).  Top with bean and pepper mixture.  Then add mozzarella and cheddar cheeses.

Baking in oven for about 10 minutes, or until cheeses are melted and slightly browned.

Top with additional cheese and sour cream, if desired. 

This was such a filling dinner that we didn't even miss the meat!  I'm loving easy dinners like this nowadays because it seems like our (work) days are getting longer, so it's nice to have a quick meal planned like this!  Feel free to vary on the toppings - jalapenos would be a nice spicy addition to this too!

How do you like your nachos?

See you all tomorrow!

Apple, Fennel, & Red Onion Marmalade

Happy Friday guys!  There's two exciting things I've got to share with you all - number one being that I made Foodbuzz's Top 9 for the Andes Mint Cupcakes!  Apparently you guys thought they were just as good as we did!  So thanks to all of you!

And exciting thing number two - we're finally doing our engagement pictures tomorrow afternoon!  After a couple months of getting pushed back (due to horrible weather and busy schedules), we're finally getting them done!  So we'll be heading out to Central Park in downtown Louisville for a little picnic engagement session.  And possibly a food fight, hehe.  I'm excited and I can't wait to share them with you all!

Anyway, I purchased a case of mason jars a few months ago and never ended up using them for anything but drinks.  So I thought it was about time I did some sort of food concoction with them.  Marmalade seemed easy enough, so I decided to try my hand at it!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Emerald + Ella's recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and julienned
1 tea fresh rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
black pepper, to taste

In a medium skillet under medium high heat, add olive oil and heat until shimmering.

Add onions, fennel, apples, rosemary, and salt.  Saute for about 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables and apple start softening.

Stir in brown sugar, vinegar, and black pepper, to taste.  Cook for an additional 15 minutes or until onions start to carmelize.

Cool slightly and spoon into Mason jars for storage.  Serve with crackers and cream cheese for a tasty snack!

I can't wait to use this marmalade in other things too - possibly a savory and sweet pizza in the works?  Yeah, most definitely!

Anyway, hope you all have a great weekend and I will definitely let you know how our engagement pictures turned out on Monday!

CSA Week #10

Hey guys!  I know it's a tad late, but it's Thursday which means it's CSA day!  So check out what we got!

• Potatoes
• Red Cabbage
• Beets
• Turnips
• Apples
• Tomatoes
• Carrots
• Kale
• Basil

Definitely excited about the apples and those beautiful carrots!

Now let's check out what others got this week:

Lyn from Life Lyn Style sent in these beauties...

Onions, radishes, green onions, cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, rhubarb, kohlrabi, collard greens, lettuce, & snow peas

She even made a trip to her local farmer's market also: Whole wheat pastry flour, sausage, bison hot dogs, grass-fed cheese, honey, kale, apples

Mindy from The World In My Kitchen is back from her 2 week European vacation (I'm definitely jealous!) with her CSA:

kale, carrots, onions, beets, fingerling potatoes. tomatoes, basil, okra, beans

And finally, Lori over at Fake Food Free sent over her Farmer's Market goodies (check out that watermelon!) - and you definitely want to check out her post for the Filipino-style pork kebabs - being Filipino, I definitely know I'll be trying this very soon!

kolhrabi, candy onions, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, watermelon and potatoes from the Boyle Co Farmer's Market

 

 

We had a record of 3 submissions for this week's CSA round-up!  Thanks for Lyn, Mindy, and Lori for taking part in this - you guys are awesome!  Let's strive for 4 next week, maybe? 

***If you guys received a CSA this week, what did you end up getting?  I'd love to have a weekly round-up of your CSA goodies (if you participate in one), or even if you made a weekly visit to your Farmer's market (or even just picked from your own garden!) - I'd love to see the local produce everyone gets!  So feel free to e-mail a snapshot of your goods (as well as your name and blog title (and don't worry if you don't have a blog, your name will be just fine!) as well as a link to your blog) at mtlabor85 (at) yahoo (dot) com and I'll post them in next Thursday's CSA post!  
See you all tomorrow - I'm off to roast some chicken with some root veggies!

Andes Mint Cupcakes

Okay, so these weren't the winner of last Friday's poll... but seriously.  I just had to make them.  I mean, Andy.  Andes Mint.  They were meant to be.  Right?  So don't fret, the winner of the poll was something "bourbon-flavored" - and it will come soon enough.  But right now, we're talking about these cupcakes.

They were so good.  They flew like hot cakes.  Andy probably ate 6 in the matter of two days.  Which he probably shouldn't have since he has a tux-fitting coming up this Saturday... but I digress.

Anyway, it's late, so I won't jibber-jabber any longer.  Plus, I have to get up early, so I should be heading to bed!  So without further ado...

Ingredients:
Adapted from Your Cup of Cake's recipe

Cupcake:


1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
Devil's Food Cake mix


Chocolate FIlling:

1/3 cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
5 Andes mints, chopped


Buttercream Frosting:


8 oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
neon green food coloring

Andes mints, optional - about 5 chopped and 18 whole

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with liners.

For the cupcakes: In a medium bowl, mix sour cream, oil and vanilla extract together.  Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well in between each addition.  

3.    Alternate adding the cake mix and liquids (buttermilk and water), starting and ending with the cake mix.  

 

4.    Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Place on a cooling rack to cool slightly.

5.    Chocolate Mint Filling:  Melt chocolate chips, 5 Andes mints, and heavy cream together in the microwave in 30 second intervals.  Mine melted quickly, no more than 1 minute.  

 

6.   Place filling in a squeeze bottle and insert into middle of cupcakes, filling with desired amount (about 1-2 teaspoons per cupcake).

     Green Buttercream:  Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.  Add powdered sugar, heavy cream beat well.  Add a few drops of green food coloring (I think I did about 8-10) and stir well.

 

8.   Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes and top with extra Chocolate Mint Filling and an Andes Mint.

So silly me couldn't find any peppermint extract anywhere this weekend.  So I kind of improvised on this one - I'm sure it would have been extra special with the added mint flavor, but we didn't seem to mind =)  I mean, seriously - look how happy Andy is!

Have a great (what's left of) Wednesday guys!  And don't forget that the CSA round up is tomorrow, so there's still time to send me your local produce pictures @ mtlabor85@yahoo.com!  I'll post it sometime tomorrow afternoon (maybe evening because I have a softball game at 6:30).  See you guys tomorrow!

 

Chicken Egg Foo Young

So after a recent trip to Happy China - just your run-of-the-mill take-out Chinese place, I decided to stray from the ordinary, and delve into some Egg Foo Young.

This was my first experience with Egg Foo Young, so I really had no idea what to expect.  After getting the take-out home, I discovered that it was pretty much just an amped-up omelette with a special "gravy".  It was tasty though, a little greasy, but maybe it was supposed to be that way?  I don't know.

Anyway, for breakfast/brunch yesterday, I decided to tackle Egg Foo Young at home.  The result was something much less greasy, and with tons more flavor!

Ingredients:

Egg Mixture:


3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
4 green onions, chopped
2 cups mung bean sprouts
1 cup sliced portobello mushrooms
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sliced
salt and pepper, to taste
6 eggs, slightly beaten

Sauce:

1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water

In a large skillet under medium high heat, add vegetable oil and heat until shimmering.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet.  Cook until white throughout, about 5-7 minutes.  Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside in a large bowl.

Adding more oil if necessary, add ginger, green onions, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and green peppers to skillet.  Saute for about 6-8 minutes, or until vegetables start to soften.  Season with salt and pepper. 
Add vegetables to large bowl with the chicken.

Pour eggs into bowl with vegetables and chicken, and combine.

Heat a non-stick skillet under medium high heat, adding about a tablespoon of oil.  Add about half of the egg mixture to the pan and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until eggs have solidified.  Carefully fold half of the mixture over (like an omelet) and cook for an additional minute or 2, or until cooked throughout.

Repeat with remaining egg mixture.

For the sauce, combine chicken broth, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring mixture to a boil.

Make a slurry with the cold water and cornstarch.  As soon as the chicken broth mixture is at a boil, at the cornstarch slurry.  Heat for about 1-2 minutes, or until mixture thickens.  Pour gravy over eggs.

This was definitely delicious.  We had 2 huge Egg Foo Youngs and we both only ate half of it.  Not that we didn't like it, but we were just so full!  These things seriously pack a lot of stuff in!  Feel free to vary up the toppings, just like an ordinary omelette - but it's really the sauce that makes these special!

Have a great Tuesday guys, and see you all tomorrow!

Spinach-Stuffed Chicken Breasts w/ Spicy Peas & Mushrooms

Happy 4th of July everybody! 

We've been enjoying our 3-day weekend by being lazy and relaxing!  I really don't want to go back to work tomorrow - but gotta pay those bills, right?

We'll be heading over to my parent's house today for some eats and apparently a Mario Party party - my sisters are addicted (and maybe we can be entertained by watching my mother try to play too, hehe!). 

Anyway, I made this dinner a couple weeks ago after our CSA included these amazing peas.  They're just beautiful, aren't they?  Enjoy your Monday guys!

Ingredients:

2 cups spinach 
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 large chicken breasts, pounded to about 1/2 inch thickness
salt and pepper, to taste
3 thai chiles, chopped
8 oz. package of sliced Portobello mushrooms
1 to 1 & 1/2 cups shelled peas
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Place spinach in a microwave-safe bowl and add about a tablespoon or two of water.  Place in microwave for about 2-3 minutes, or until wilted.  Let cool slightly.

Stir in sour cream, parmesan cheese, and about half of the minced garlic.

Lay the chicken breasts flat and spoon about half of the spinach mixture on top of each.  Either roll the chicken breasts or just fold up and tie with kitchen string to seal.  Place chicken breasts in a greased baking dish (seam side-down) and top with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Bake for about 35 minutes, or until chicken is white throughout and Parmesan on top is golden brown.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet under medium high heat and melt butter.  Add remaining minced garlic and thai chiles and saute for about a minute or so.  Add mushrooms and cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until mushrooms start to "sweat".  Add in peas and cook an additional 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve chicken breasts atop a big heaping of the mushroom and pea mixture.

This was definitely one of those weeknight meals that you say "wow" to.  The chicken was juicy and the mushroom & pea mixture complimented it perfectly with just the right amount of spicy kick!  If you're struggling to find a good weeknight meal that fresh, seasonal, and tasty - look no further! 

Happy 4th guys!

Strawberry Yogurt Parfait

 

Sometimes I wish I could make more time for breakfast.  It's one of the meals I happen to "skip" over.  I'm just not hungry in the morning - and by the time I am, it's already time for lunch.

But a few weeks ago, when strawberries were still in full swing, I couldn't help but make these parfaits over and over and over.  I wish I had decided to take pictures of them when we had an abundance of strawberries, but I got around to it when we only had a few (so the layers aren't as pronounced - but it was delicious, nonetheless!).

I just might have to switch over to blueberries since they're the fruit of choice in our CSA right now.  Feel free to improvise with whatever fruits and yogurts you have on hand!



And don't forget to vote in the treat poll - I need something to make for the 4th of July!  There's a little bit of everything, and no matter what gets picked, I'll try to give it a 4th of July twist!



Ingredients:

1 cup strawberry-flavored yogurt (I used Stonyfield Organic Strawberry)
1 cup strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
2 strawberry-flavored Nutri-Grain Bars, chopped

In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and sugar.  Let sit for 10 minutes.

In a mason jar (or bowl/cup/container) spoon about 1/3 of the yogurt for the base of the parfait.

Add your chopped strawberries.  Top with another 1/3 of yogurt.

Add chopped Nutri-Grain bar pieces (you could also sub in some granola here, but I had the bars, so that's what I used).  Top with remaining yogurt.

And you've got breakfast in about 10 minutes!  I couldn't stop eating this - I was definitely sad when strawberry season slowed down.  But like I said, I just may have to switch up the flavors and try this with the blueberries!

What's your favorite way to use yogurt and fruit?

Hope you all have a fantastic 4th of July weekend!