Sweet Potato, Black Bean, and Green Chile Enchiladas

My friend, said that if she were on death row (I wonder what got here there??), these enchiladas might be her last meal.  Yep, they are good.  But I'd say they are a little too healthy to be my LAST meal....I'd probably choose something with way more cheese and fat.  Anyway, this is a great recipe for the leftover Slow Cooker Black Beans from last night.  The kids had just beans and a cheese quesadilla instead, because I wasn't sure they'd go for the salsa verde (you know they immediately start making gagging noises at the sight of something green these days).

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas (from here)

2 large sweet potatoes
2 cups leftover Slow Cooker Black Beans
1 cup diced green chilies (2 small cans)
About 2 cups salsa verde
8 oz. Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
10 flour tortillas
Salt and pepper
Sour cream, one lime, and fresh cilantro, to garnish

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Peel and dice the sweet potato. Place in a pot and cover with water; add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, around 12 to 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked sweet potato, black beans, diced green chilies, salt and pepper. Mix to combine.
In a large baking dish, spread 1 cup of the salsa verde.  Fill each tortilla with a scoop of the filling, add a handful of cheese, and roll it up. Place the enchilada seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat for the remaining tortillas. When all enchiladas are in the dish, top with the remaining cup of salsa verde and the remaining cheese.

Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Serve, garnished with sour cream (mixed with the juice of a lime to loosen it) and chopped cilantro.

Slow Cooker Black Beans with Cilantro Lime Rice

I love a slow cooker recipe that doesn't require much prep or pre-cooking.  And how can you beat a dinner that ends up costing less than $5 to feed a family of 5 (with leftovers!)?  Beans are where it's at, folks. 

I found this recipe here, but I changed a bunch of stuff.  Here's my recipe:

Slow Cooker Black Beans

1 pound dry black beans
4 cups beef stock, plus water to cover beans
1/2 an onion whole, so you can remove it later (I used leftover red onion from yesterday)
1/2 red bell pepper, whole with seeds removed (also from yesterday)
3 large cloves garlic, whole
1 can tomato paste
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon red pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper

Rinse beans and check for rocks.  Cover beans with water and soak overnight.  In the morning, rinse the beans and place in the slow cooker.  Cover with beef stock/water and add the onion, garlic cloves, red bell pepper, and a large pinch of salt and pepper.  Cook for 6-8 hours on low in the slow cooker.  About an hour before serving, add the tomato paste, vinegar, brown sugar, red pepper, and cumin.  Stir and then taste for salt and add more if necessary.  Cook for another hour on low.  Remove onion, garlic, and red pepper.  Serve over cilantro lime rice.

Cilantro Lime Rice (2 half cup servings)
1 cup prepared rice, white or brown
juice of one lime
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cilantro

Prepare rice (I like to use the Uncle Ben's Ready Rice that heats in 90 seconds for this; it's just rice no extra spices).  Mix with cilantro, lime, and salt.  

Easy Mexican Layer Dip

This is just a throw-together dip, and everything was store bought, but you can do a little number with the sour cream to make it really Halloween-y and festive.  I took it to a Halloween party, and it was all gone by the end of the evening!  I'm still a little worried that someone ate the plastic spiders....

 Easy Mexican Layer Dip (from Pioneer Woman)

1 can refried beans
Tabasco Sauce, to taste
1 can diced green chilies
taco seasoning, to taste
3/4 cups grated cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup guacamole (homemade is better, but I used store bought for this)
1 cup pico de gallo (again, from the deli, but homemade is better)

Heat the refried beans in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add several dashes of Tabasco sauce and a small can of (undrained) diced green chilies. Stir well. Next, sprinkle a little bit of taco seasoning.
Spread the beans on the bottom of a serving dish.  Next, add the grated cheese.  Add the pico de gallo around the edge.  The next layer is the guacamole. To make the last layer like a spider web, pipe the sour cream in a swirl patter using a plastic bag (put the sour cream in a Ziploc and cut off the corner).  Run a toothpick or end of a fork from the center out to make the spider web.  Add some plastic spiders. Make sure nobody eats the spiders (I should have done that!).  Serve with tortilla chips.

Crock Pot Pinto Beans

These beans cook for 20 hours:  overnight and through the day until dinnertime.   It's a long time, but the prep time is less than 5 minutes.  Can't beat that, right?  They are so good this way; the beans are creamy but not mushy, and you can really taste the smokiness of the ham. 

Crock Pot Pintos

1 pound of dried pinto beans
1 ham hock/bone (from leftover ham from Tuesday)
1/2 onion, as a chunk so you can remove it later
2 whole cloves of garlic
8 cups of water
8 beef bouillon cubes (you could also use beef broth if you have a thing against bouillon)

Rinse the dry beans (check for rocks) in the morning the day before you want to eat them, cover with water, and let them soak throughout the day.  That night, rinse them again and put them in the crock pot with the remaining ingredients.  Make sure the water covers the beans by a couple of inches.  Cook on low all night and through the next day (about 20 hours).  Remove and discard the ham hock, onion and garlic.  Serve with shredded cheese, avocado, and a little fresh lime juice (sour cream, tomatoes, and green onions are all good on top, too).

Purple Hull Peas

If you are from the south, you've no doubt eaten purple hull peas (a cousin to black eyed peas) at some point in your life. I've never particularly cared for them; I've always thought they were mushy and tasted like dirt.

Purple hull peas come in a pea pod that is purple, hence the name, and you have to shell them before cooking which also make them unappealing to me.   My blog friend, Lyndi (@nwafoodie) blogged about them today too, coincidentally, and she has some good pictures of what they look like before they are shelled.

This morning I stopped by a farmstand (local friends, you know that one in Johnson?) on a tip from a neighbor, and the gentleman there said his wife had shelled these peas this morning. I knew I had to give them a try.

While researching how to cook them, I learned that a city in Arkansas actually has a purple hull pea festival in June every year complete with a pea cook off, and this recipe was the grand prize winner a few years back. I see why. The peas aren't mushy, and they don't taste a bit like dirt. I did a couple of things differently, based on other recipes I had seen, but I didn't want to mess with a blue ribbon winner too much.... My kids ate every bit, too!




Purple Hull Peas

5-6 cups shelled purple hull peas

6 oz. centercut smokey bacon

half a yellow onion, root left intact so you can remove it

1 quart of chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Cut bacon into inch size pieces and lightly brown in a dutch oven. Do not drain bacon grease. Add washed peas and stock plus water to cover plus one inch. Add 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Boil over medium heat until tender (about 45 minutes). Remove onion before serving.

Crock Pot Pinto Beans

John wasn't home for dinner, so I made the kids their favorite meal: beans.  I know, my children are weird; they could eat these pinto beans for every meal. 

1 pound of dried pinto beans
1 ham hock/bone (I often leave this out if I don't have it)
1/4 onion, as a chunk
2 whole cloves of garlic
8 cups of water
8 beef bouillon cubes (you could also use beef broth if you have a thing against bouillon)

Rinse the dry beans (check for rocks) in the morning the day before you want to eat them, cover with water, and let them soak throughout the day.  That night, rinse them again and put them in the crock pot the with the remaining ingredients.  Make sure the water covers the beans by a couple of inches.  Cook on low all night and through the next day (about 20 hours).  Remove and discard the ham hock, onion and garlic.  Serve with shredded cheese, avocado, and a little fresh lime juice (sour cream, tomatoes, and green onions are all good on top, too).

Tortilla Soup

It feels like winter here today instead of spring, so it was the perfect evening for Tortilla Soup, which is my favorite homemade soup.  I've used so many different recipes for Tortilla Soup in the past, that I've kind of made up my own recipe. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 whole carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red bell pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 can Rotel
1 can diced tomatoes
32 oz chicken stock
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 can black beans
2 whole chicken breasts, shredded (I used a deli rotisserie chicken)
3 corn tortillas, sliced into strips
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper
toppings: avocado, grated cheese, sour cream, cilantro, fresh lime, tortilla chips

Saute carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and red bell pepper in a tablespoon of olive oil until soft.  Add a tablespoon of tomato paste and stir until combined.  Cook for 3 minutes and then add chicken stock, Rotel, tomatoes, coriander, cumin, salt n pepa, and black beans.  Cook at least 10 minutes, but if you want to let it simmer longer, just let it go as long as you want on low heat, adding more stock if necessary.  Add the corn tortillas, most of the cilantro, saving some for garnish.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and then simmer for 20 minutes.  The tortillas break down and thicken the soup.  Serve in a large bowl (you need lots of room for toppings!) with avocado, grated cheese, sour cream, cilantro, fresh lime wedges, and crushed tortillas chips.

Crock Pot Pintos

It's crazy how much my kids love these beans.   We like them, too!

Crock Pot Pintos

1 pound of dried pinto beans
1 ham hock/bone (I often leave this out if I don't have it)
1/4 onion, as a chunk
2 whole cloves of garlic
8 cups of water
8 beef bouillon cubes (you could also use beef broth if you have a thing against bouillon)

Rinse the dry beans (check for rocks) in the morning the day before you want to eat them, cover with water, and let them soak throughout the day.  That night, rinse them again and put them in the crock pot the with the remaining ingredients.  Make sure the water covers the beans by a couple of inches.  Cook on low all night and through the next day (about 20 hours).  Remove and discard the ham hock, onion and garlic.  Serve with shredded cheese, avocado, and a little fresh lime juice (sour cream, tomatoes, and green onions are all good on top, too).

Freezer Turkey Chili with White Beans

I had to spend the majority of the day steam cleaning the sofa (go-gurts don't just wipe off of upholstery come to find out), so I was so happy to have White Bean Turkey Chili in the freezer for dinner tonight.  I just thawed it in the microwave, then put it on the stove to simmer until we were ready to eat.  We added some shredded sharp cheddar cheese, sour cream, and a little cilantro to the serving bowls.

Red Beans and Rice

adapted from Southern Living

1  pound  dried red beans
3/4  pound  smoked sausage, thinly sliced
3  celery ribs, chopped
1  red bell pepper, chopped
1  onion, chopped
3  garlic cloves, minced
1-2  tablespoons Creole seasoning (gotta put some Tony's in it! Laissez les bon temps roulez, y'all!)
chicken stock and water
Hot cooked  rice

Soak the beans overnight.  Rinse beans and put them in the crock pot with everything else.  Add one box of chicken stock and water to cover.  Cook on low for 10 hours or more.  Serve over cooked rice.

I put some cheese on it for the kids and they just gobbled it up.  We barely have enough leftover for my lunch tomorrow!

Oh,  and I picked the sausage out of my bowl because, well, I don't eat sausage.  I have a mental scar from reading Upton Sinclar's The Jungle in the 11th grade. Anyway....

I actually did all the chopping after dinner the night before while the kitchen was already a mess from that night's dinner, and put the veggies in the fridge overnight.  Then in the morning, I just rinsed the beans and added the liquid and spices.   Easy.  I don't enjoy chopping onions while I'm having coffee in the morning!

White Bean Turkey Chili

There are a lot of recipes out there for Turkey Chili, so I combined a few I've tried in the past to make my own version of White Bean Turkey Chili using ground extra lean all white meat turkey. 

1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound extra lean ground turkey
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cans cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)
chicken broth to cover,  5-6 cups
cilantro to taste

In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic and ground turkey and saute for 10 minutes, or until turkey is cooked through. Add all the spices, stir to combine, and then add the beans and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes or longer. Add cilantro and taste for salt and pepper before serving.  Top with shredded cheese and sour cream.    


This recipe makes a lot, so you can share with a neighbor or freeze the leftovers for another day.

Refried Bean Quesadillas

You can make the leftover pinto beans into tacos, burritos, or quesadillas and it's really all the same.  Mash up the beans, add some cheese, and put it on a tortilla.  Dinner is served in about 5 minutes.  Perfect for a busy night!

Slow Cooker Pinto Beans

My friend who used to live in New Mexico served us these beans a few years ago, and they instantly became a favorite in our house.  My kids could alternate between pinto beans and pizza for dinner and be happy forever.  Read the directions carefully because you really have to plan ahead for this one!  You'll be glad you did, though.

New Mexico Style Pinto Beans

1 pound of dried pinto beans
1 ham hock/bone (I often leave this out if I don't have it)
1/4 onion, as a chunk
2 whole cloves of garlic
8 cups of water
8 beef bouillon cubes (you could also use beef broth if you have a thing against bouillon)

Rinse the dry beans (check for rocks) in the morning the day before you want to eat them, cover with water, and let them soak throughout the day.  That night, rinse them again and put them in the crock pot the with the remaining ingredients.  Make sure the water covers the beans by a couple of inches.  Cook on low all night and through the next day (about 20 hours).  Remove and discard the ham hock, onion and garlic.  Serve with shredded cheese, avocado, and a little fresh lime juice (sour cream, tomatoes, and green onions are all good on top, too).