Food: Grilled Tuna, Double-Baked Mashed Potatoes & Grilled Asparagus with Fresh Fruit

Recipe: Double Baked Mashed Potatoes (sans bacon)

Food: White Bean and Avocado Enchiladas

On Sunday evening we had White Bean and Avocado Enchiladas. I'd love to link to the original recipe, but it appears the link is no longer working! Good thing I have a great memory. (:

These enchiladas are simple to make and leave you feeling satisfied but not overly stuffed (something I can appreciate). Also, they reheat wonderfully, something we both can attest to as we had them for lunch today!

One thing I will have to say about this recipe is that it makes a lot of servings -- estimated around 12 servings based on the original recipe, but probably about 6-8 with the way I made them. The original recipe didn't specify what size tortillas, so I think we 8" taco flour shells, it makes about 12-servings, but with the 10" ones I used, makes the 6- or 8-servings. Decide based on what you need! Or cut the recipe in half if you don't want a lot of leftovers.

 
White Bean and Avocado Enchiladas
Ingredients

• 2 14.5oz cans of Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
• 16oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 1 avocado, ripened
• 3 4oz cans of green chilis
• 1/4 C Parsley
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1 Tbs Chili powder
• two bundles of green onions
• twelve 8" or eight 10" flour tortillas

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 375F
• Heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook about 7-minutes, until translucent but not browned
• In a food processor, blend avocado, cans of green chili, and green onions; set aside
• In the saucepan, add beans, tomatoes, Parsley, salt & pepper, and chili powder; heat for about 10-minutes
• Spread avocado sauce at the bottom of a 13x9 pan
• Begin making enchiladas by placing a spoonful of the bean mixture and a small handful of shredded cheese in the center of tortilla and wrap up burrito-style; place in pan
• After all enchiladas are wrapped, spread rest of avocado sauce over enchiladas, and sprinkle cheese on top
• Bake approximately 20-minutes. Enjoy!

Food: Fancy Grilled Cheese II

Last week we happily enjoyed our Fancy Grilled Cheese dinner with our friends, J. & D. Little did we know before planning the dinner that the day we would consume these delicacies would also be National Grilled Cheese Day! Boy did we celebrate (and so did Louise the next day, apparently).

Like last time, we simply used chunks of mozzarella, caramelized onions, sauteed spinach, and bacon for these sandwiches. Note to self: use thinly sliced, non-mapley bacon for future sandwiches.

Delicious!

For sides, we had a mix of fruit and pre-made waffle cut sweet potato fries. I wanted to make a dipping sauce for them and found a simple recipe online somewhere (forgot to bookmark it). It consisted of three ingredients: fat-free sour cream, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. I kind of estimated the amounts, but probably used 1C sour cream, 1/4C brown sugar, and 2 tsp vanilla extract.

I'd say our First Annual National Grilled Cheese Day Celebration was a success!

Food: Sage-Walnut Pesto Pasta with Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

Unexpectedly, I was able to leave work a few hours early today, so after finishing some homework, I started on dinner. We deviated a little bit this week from our original menu plan due to some slow-to-ripen avocados, but really it all worked out great! I prepared this meal while JP installed new brakes on my car. I don't care how chauvinist the image may seem, but nothing is sexier than seeing your husband with grease on his hands, sweat on his brow, laboring to serve you. He didn't know it, but I kept peeking outside to see how he was trucking along. {-:

This dinner was exceptionally fun to make! I had never really cooked with such a great quantity of herbs, and it really enjoyable to see what natural greens can become. I left the door open while in the kitchen -- it's so breezy out with the incoming cool front -- and Gilly happily went in and out, seeing what everybody was up to. We decided to eat outside, just can't get over this wonderful weather!

While J. finished with the brakes, I walked to the back of our yard to examine the newly-blooming bushes/trees. Please tell me you know the name of these flowers! I found several that might meet the description, but I am just not certain. Help?!

Breathtaking, right?

The Gilly Monster scampering away

Unintentionally, we ate this when it was more on the cool side and it still tasted delicious. As some of my friends know, I am not a ricotta fan and was tempted to substitute it with goat cheese, but in a last-minute decision, stayed as true to the recipe as I could, plus we already had the ricotta from a previous dinner. There's such a small amount used, and the pesto is the more dominant flavor, so I really didn't mind it at all. Plus, it all mixes together rather nicely. And those tomatoes? To die for. I can see this becoming a classic in our household.

Also served with the pasta, we have toasted Parmesan Ciabatta bread -- which is exactly as it sounds -- and a mix of fruit: strawberry, kiwi, clementine, black grape, and plum. We opened a bottle of Biltmore Estate Riesling (from our first wedding anniversary trip) and enjoyed a small glass with dinner. What a great evening together!

Sage-Walnut Pesto Pasta with Oven-Roasted Tomatoes
Ingredients

• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 2 Tbs thyme
• salt & pepper
• 1 C parsley
• 1/2 C sage
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 oz Parmesan cheese, broken into a few pieces
• 3/4 C walnuts, toasted and cooled
• 1/2 C olive oil
• 16 oz linguine
• 1/2 C ricotta

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400F. In small 8x8 baking dish, place tomatoes, olive oil, thyme, and salt/pepper. Roast 30-minutes until skins are wrinkled.
• Begin boiling a pot of water for pasta noodles
• In a food processor, combine parsley, sage, garlic and Parmesan. Pulse until everything is finely chopped. Add the toasted walnuts and pulse until combined. With the processor running, slowly pour in the olive oil until desired consistency. Season with salt & pepper.
• Prepare pasta according to directions. Drain, reserving 1 C of pasta cooking water. Return pasta to pot and mix in ricotta. Add 1/2 of pesto and stir to combine. Add the pasta water as needed to loosen sauce until desired consistency. Taste and add more pesto. Serve with roasted tomatoes on top.

SOURCE

Food: Smoked Salmon, Baked Mashed Potatoes & Asparagus

For Christmas, J.'s parents gifted us with a smoker (probably because we always demand, err, request smoked salmon when we visit). Well we finally got around to using it this weekend, and my oh my, we will be using it again. Friday we stocked up on salmon fillets (and strawberries, oh my gosh... strawberries) so we'd be ready to cook the next day.

The process itself isn't too lengthy after you've prepared the smoker for the first time. I think it took about two hours to cook. The salmon was mighty fine (forgive my grammar, we've been watching The Wire this week). MMhmmm.



To accompany the salmon, we agreed potatoes would be best. Feeling inspired by our friends Jessie & Daron, I sought to make twice baked mashed potatoes. Courtesy of allrecipes.com I combined a few things together and created h-e-a-v-e-n. Or at least I think so. Add that with J.'s famous asparagus and you've got yourself a fiiiiine meal. Oh, did I mention that we made smoke salmon dip for an appetizer?

We were blessed to have our friends S. and R. over on Saturday night to share in this deliciousness.



What was for dessert, you ask? Homemade strawberry ice cream. Mmm. (That'll be a later post, though.)

Baked Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
4 large potatoes
2/3C fat-free sour cream
3oz softened cream cheese
1C sharp cheddar cheese
2 Tbs chopped chives
1 small yellow onion, chopped
4-6 slices of turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 Tbs crushed red pepper
pinch of salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp paprika

Directions
- Peel and dice potatoes into 1-2" cubes
- Boil in large saucepan until tender (about 20-30min)
- Drain and mash (do not add milk or butter) in original saucepan
- Add 3/4C cheddar cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, bacon, yellow and green onion, black and red pepper and salt and mix with hand-mixer until smooth
- Place in 9x9" buttered pan. Top with remaining 1/4C cheddar cheese and paprika.
- Bake @ 350F for 20-30min

(recipe adapted from here and here)