Weekend with my Mommy!

My mom came to visit me this past weekend and we had a fun few days full of food (cooking and eating out), gardening, Farmers Market shopping, visiting the Denver Botanical Gardens, and relaxing! Here are some pictures of our weekend!

Pork Tenderloin, Yams, and Potatoes that we made!

 

Margaritas!

 

Corn Fritters at Tahona

 

Planting 2010

 

Cedar Plank Salmon

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

 

Pancake Man!

 

Veggie Garden at the Denver Botanical Gardens

 

Thomas Moore Sculpture at the Denver Botanical Gardens

 

Flowers at the Denver Botanical Gardens

 

Japanese Gardens at the Denver Botanical Gardens

 

Thomas Moore Sculpture at the Denver Botanical Gardens

 

Denver Botanical Gardens

 

Mommy at the Boulder Farmers Market

 

Herbs at the Boulder Farmers Market

 

Flowers at the Boulder Farmers Market

 

Out to Brunch!

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Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Can you tell I am on a stuffed foods kick? I wonder what I will make next! I don’t know why, but I have been in the mood to create new yummy vegetarian recipes this week. I was talking to my boyfriend’s sister about stuffed peppers and since I have never made them, I thought I would try them and see if they were good! And they were amazing. Even my boyfriend liked them, and he does not love meals that are all vegetarian. I do think that these would be great with ground beef next time though, so I will try that next time for a change!

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 2 green peppers, cut in half and stems and insides removed
• 1 roma tomato, diced
• 1 can mexicorn mix (with black beans, onions, and red peppers)
• 1 box Spanish rice
• Mexican cheese 
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Cook rice according to package directions (depending on what kind you buy, it can take anyway from 10-30 minutes). When rice is done cooking, add in the mexicorn and diced tomatoes and mix in gently. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of a small baking dish.
4. Place green pepper halves open side up.
5. Fill green pepper halves with a scoop of the rice filling, then sprinkle cheese in, then another scoop of filling (or until the pepper is completely stuffed with the filling).
6. Place in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, until green pepper starts to lightly brown.
7. Sprinkle more cheese on top of each green pepper halve and cook until it melts, about 5 minutes.
8. Serve with more of the rice mixture on the side if desired. 

Appetizer suggestion- guacamole with yellow corn chips

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Goat Cheese and Roasted Corn Quesadillas

I found this recipe in this month’s Cooking Light magazine and it looked so delicious that I absolutely had to post it. I love quesadillas because they are easy to prepare, quick to cook, and yummy to eat. This would be a great meal idea for a main course, or even could be served appetizer style. I can’t wait to try this recipe soon!

The recipe is as follows…

Ingredient Shopping List:

• 1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 1 large ear)
• 2/3 cup (5 oz) goat cheese, softened
• 8 (6 inch) corn tortillas
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions (about 1 green onion)
• 10 tbsp bottled salsa verde, divided
• Cooking spray

Preparation:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn; sauté 2 minutes or until browned. Place corn in a small bowl. Add goat cheese to corn; stir until well blended. Divide corn mixture evenly among 4 tortillas; spread to within 1/4 inch of sides. Sprinkle each tortilla with 1 tbsp green onion. Drizzle each with 1 1/2 tsp salsa; top with remaining 4 tortillas.

Heat pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Place 2 quesadillas in pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove from pan, keep warm. Wipe pan clean with paper towels; re-coat with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining quesadillas. Cut each quesadilla into 4 wedges. Serve with remaining 8 tbsp salsa.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 223

Fat: 8.9g

Protein: 9.9g

Carbs: 28.6g

Fiber: 3.2g

Cholesterol: 16mg

Iron: 1mg

Sodium: 226mg

Calcium: 75mg

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Baked Jalapeno Bean Dip

This is a family favorite recipe that I love love love! It’s great to serve when entertaining or if you need to bring something to a party. If you are bringing it somewhere, it’s best to bake it there so that it can be eaten fresh right out of the oven!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz block cream cheese (softened)
• 8 oz container sour cream
• 10.5 oz can jalapeno bean dip or 10.5 oz can of plain refried beans
• 1.5 oz package taco seasoning mix
• 6 green onions, sliced
• 1 cup grated mexican cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine softened cream cheese and sour cream with a hand mixer
3. Stir in green onions by hand
4. Add bean dip, taco seasoning mix, and a few dashes of tabasco
5. Place in shallow baking dish
6. Top with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until cheese starts to brown and bubble.

Serve with blue or yellow corn chips.

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Quesadillas with Spanish Rice, Black Beans, and Corn

I was so impressed with these quesadillas that my boyfriend just made that I had to snap a picture and post the recipe on here. My boyfriend is famous for putting together pretty much anything in the fridge and making a yummy meal (well almost always). These quesadillas are no exception. I had made Mexican Casserole last week and we had some leftover black beans, corn, and spanish rice, but no more casserole! Only he would put all of the leftover ingredients in between flour tortillas with cheese and make a fabulously delicious quesadilla!

Here is the recipe…

Ingredients:

• 2 flour tortillas
• Sweet golden corn
• Black Beans
• Spanish Rice
• Mexican cheese (or cheddar)

Directions:

1. Place desired amount of cheese, rice, beans, and corn in between two flour tortillas. 
2. Place in the microwave and cook for 30-40 seconds, until cheese starts to melt and all ingredients are sticking together- do not overcook though since you don’t want the cheese to spill out of the tortillas.
3. Place quesadilla on a large frying pan and cook on medium heat, about 2-3 minutes on each side until quesadilla starts to turn golden brown. Set on a plate and cut into triangular pieces.

Note: if you have cilantro, add it in! We have tons in our herb garden and it was a perfect complement to the quesadilla!

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Mexican Corn Dip

This is a fabulous recipe from a family friend, Beryl Moir! My mom (and Auntie Joan I’m sure) have been making this for many years and last night my mom and I made it together! It is so delicious and is a wonderfully refreshing summer appetizer dip recipe. Eat it with veggies or tortilla chips or even crackers. It’s so good that you could eat it with anything! I can’t wait to dig into the leftovers later this afternoon! 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 8 oz container sour cream
• 1 cup grated cheddar or mexican cheese
• 1 can drained “Mexicorn” niblets
• 1 small can diced green chiles
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder (more if desired)

Directions:

This is super easy. Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir together. Taste and then season more if needed. Enjoy!

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Barefoot Contessa’s Guacamole Salad

Barefoot Contessa is one of my favorite celebrity chefs and I tivo all of her shows on the Food Network so that I never miss any of them! I saw her make this Guacamole Salad a few weeks ago and it looked fabulous. After my mom made it and sent me pictures from a recent BBQ that they had, I knew it would only be a matter of time before I made it too! We had it tonight with grilled tuna and spanish rice. It was super easy to put together, light, delicious, and a great summertime recipe. I can’t wait to make it again- I know all of my friends will love it!

Ingredients:

• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and 1/2-inch diced
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup small diced red onion
• 2 tablespoons minced jalapeno peppers, seeded (2 peppers)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled, and 1/2-inch diced

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directions:

1. Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeno peppers, and lime zest in a large bowl. 
2. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables.
3. Toss well.
4. Just before you’re ready to serve the salad, fold the avocados into the salad. Check the seasoning and serve at room temperature.

Note: I added a can of sweet golden corn since I love corn and it was a fabulous addition!

Dinner- tuna steaks, guacamole salad, and spanish rice!

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Quick Fish Tacos

Today since it was 75 degrees in Colorado, all I could think about doing this afternoon was sitting on a patio somewhere, drinking margaritas, and eating yummy Mexican food. However, since we had lots of leftover food in the fridge, we decided to stay in and see what we could make. Sticking with the Mexican theme, we decided to make Fish Tacos, which is my favorite thing to order when I go out for Mexican food. They are also surprisingly easy to make and you can cary your toppings, which keeps it fun and interesting. We used the leftover barramundi fish from dinner the other night to make these since we had exactly 2 pieces! Tacos are a great way to use leftover fish and we just threw in some veggies that we had in the fridge- red pepper, orange pepper, and avocado, but you could put in whatever you have in your fridge or whatever sounds good to you. Other things I can think of to add in would be lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, corn, beans, rice, etc! 

Ingredients:

• 1-2 large filets of white fish (cod, halibut, mahi, barramundi, etc)
• Corn or flour tortillas
• Veggies of your choice
• Cheese of your choice
• Salsa/Guacamole
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Fish Prep-

If not using leftover fish:

1. Prepare fish by seasoning on both sides with salt and pepper and additional seasonings, if desired. 
2. Pour about 1-2 tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan and make sure it is distributed evenly throughout the frying pan and is heated before placing the fish in it. Carefully place fish in the frying pan and turn after about 2-3 minutes (longer if it is a thick cut of fish). Fish will brown on both sides when it is finished cooking. When fish is finished cooking, chop into small bite size pieces.
3. Warm tortillas in toaster or microwave. Set on a plate and add fish, veggies, and other desired toppings.

Prepped Fish

Pan-fried fish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If using leftover fish:

1. Take cooked fish out of the refrigerator and chop filets into small bite size pieces and place in a medium frying pan. Add just a bit of olive oil and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, just warming up the fish, since it’s already cooked. Depending what time of veggies you are including, you may want to toss them in to season. Since we used red and orange peppers, I tossed them in with the fish and added a bit more salt and pepper.
2. Warm tortillas in toaster or microwave. Set on a plate and add fish, veggies, and other desired toppings.

Warming up the leftover fish and veggies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serve with salsa and/or guacamole, chips and salsa, Coronas, and Margaritas.

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A cooking kind of day…

Work has been quite hectic for me lately, and over the past few days I’ve  had some creative projects that have required a great deal of focus from me….something that I was having a hard time conjuring.  When I get anxious, bored, or I’m upset, cooking, baking specifically, helps to me to refocus and put me in a better mood. 

Jacky, one of my best girlfriends, loves to poke around in the kitchen when I'm cooking. She looked on as I mixed the cookie dough, in awe that I was making it from scratch, and helped by chopping the tomatoes and putting together the last few layers of our main dish. We've decided that we will start having "cooking with Erin" lessons once a week, so good food and good stories are sure to come.

My day turned around at lunch yesterday, when I was starving and completely indecisive about what I wanted to eat.  My great and dependable buddy Ryan suggested that I try Nico’s – a gourmet plate lunch place across the highway from our office, and right alongside the water.  I took a look at their menu http://www.nicospier38.com, and decided that it was exactly what I was craving, and that the ambiance was just what I needed.  One furikake crusted Ahi plate later (and a gigantic chocolate chip cookie that I should not have eaten) I was feeling better already.  With a burning desire to spend some quality time in my kitchen, I called a few friends and invited them over for dinner.  On the menu was chicken enchilada lasagna and cranberry orange cookies.  The company was wonderful as usual, the food was delicious, and I feel like I am right back on track with everything.

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Chicken Enchilada Lasagna

This is such an easy recipe; super yummy, warm and comforting, it makes a ton of food, and is perfect for leftovers.  Serve it with a salad and margaritas for the perfect meal! 

Lots of yummy leftovers!

Prep time: 15 minutes

Bake time: 30-40 minutes

Oven temp: 375 degrees

 

Ingredients:

• 1 can Old El Paso (or any brand) enchilada sauce, 10 oz.
• 1/2  c. Thick and Chunky Salsa (jar) (I use more)
• 1 deli rotisserie chicken, cubed
• 1/2 sour cream (I use more)
• 1/2 c. sliced green onions
• 2 T. taco seasoning mix (from a package)
• 8 corn tortillas, cut in half
• 2 c. Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
• 2 c. tortilla chips
• 2 T. sliced olives (I use a med size can)
• Fresh cilantro (if desired)
• 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

 

Instructions

In small bowl, mix enchilada sauce, salsa – put 1/4 cup of this mixture aside.

In larger bowl, mix above sauce, chicken, sour cream, green onion and taco seasoning. Add more salsa and/or sour cream if you want it a bit creamier.

In 9 x 13″ pan, spread the 1/4 cup reserved sauce to lightly coat bottom. Layer half the corn tortillas, half the chicken mixture, 2/3 of the cheese.

Repeat layers of tortillas, chicken mixture and 2/3 c. cheese.

Bake at 375 for about 30 to 40 minutes. Take out, spread top with tortilla chips, chopped tomatoes, olives and remaining cheese. Bake additional 5 minutes.

I serve it with extra salsa and sliced avocado if I have it.

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