Marvelous Refried Beans



I learned to make these beans from my friend and neighbor, Lori. She insisted when I called here that the way of preparing them was too simple to even be called a recipe. I always feel like I'm getting away with something when I serve these, because they are so incredibly easy and yet they taste incredibly good. And they come off looking like you slaved over them for hours.

All you'll need is a couple of cans of pinto beans. The number of cans you need depends on the number of people you're serving. Lori recommends one can per three people. We have been known to stretch it a little beyond that, say one can per four or five people. But use your judgment based on the appetites you're feeding. Drain about half of the liquid off of the beans, until the liquid that is running off is cloudy rather than clear.

I like to sautee a little onion and garlic in a little vegetable oil before I add the beans to the sauce pan. Once they are clear (but not necessarily brown), add the beans. Cook them until they are warmed through. Then smash them with a potato masher until they are not completely broken down (you want a few whole or partially whole beans for effect). Then add salsa to taste; I usually stir in 1/3 to 1/2 cup.

Keep the beans on a low simmer until you're ready to serve them. I usually stir in a bit of grated cheese and then top it with cheese in the serving bowl.

Chile Verde

I know that those of you who are still hanging around thought I was gone for good. But I'm back. At least for a minute.

This recipe was so easy that I didn't think there was any way it could taste good. I found it on Food.com when I was looking for a way to use a pork loin roast in my freezer. I was taken in by the easiness of it and figured we would choke it down somehow. It had the very romantic name of Crock Pot Mexican Pork., promising that it's "a low-fat way to serve Mexican." Now if that doesn't entice you to make it, I don't know what will!

In the meantime, I should tell you that one of Bob's specialty dishes is called Chile Verde. He has spent years acquiring the recipe and adapting it to perfection; when he makes it, it seems like he slaves for hours. And the result is truly amazing. He often makes a very large batch because he knows we'll want more.

Back to my story. I am not kidding when I say that I made this dish in five minutes in the morning before I went to work. I was late. I had forgotten that it needed to be done. So I threw it all in the crock pot and wondered what else we could eat for dinner if it didn't turn out (but at least I wouldn't feel guilty about the unused roast in the freezer anymore).

When I came home after work that night, my daughter Sara said, "I didn't know you knew how to make chile verde." I quickly insisted that it was a different dish. But even I had to admit that it smelled an awful lot like Bob's chile verde. Later, we discovered that, except for not having any potatoes in it, it tasted an awful lot like chile verde. So I've named it after Bob's famous dish, even though we all recognize and accept that it's just Mom's emergency substitute.

Chile Verde
1 pound boneless pork loin roast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 20-ounce jar salsa (I used Pace mild)
4 ounces chopped green chiles,drained
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

In a 4-quart slow cooker, mix together the pork, salsa and green chiles. Cover and cook on low for six to eight hours or until pork is tender. The original recipe calls for 1 can of black beans, which you can add to the slow cooker, turning the stew up to high and heating for five to ten minutes. I didn't add the beans, because we as a family do not necessarily agree on which kind of beans we prefer.

The recipe also calls for sprinkling the stew with the cheese. We ate it with tortillas, with the cheese and a little squirt of sour cream on top. We ate it all, and we'll make it again!

Salsa with an Edge

There's snow on the top of our tallest local mountain tonight. We know that our warm fall won't last long, and the tomatoes will freeze any day now. Here's a recipe for one last gasp of good weather. I found it a few years ago in Cooking Light magazine. It's a fun combination of flavors, even if it does require remarkable amounts of chopping.

I've made this with any number of different fruits. Peaches are very tasty, but a little sloppy. Apples add a nice crunch and are oh-so-very tidy. This is a salsa with a little bit of everything--sweet, savory, hot, you name it. It's great with Fritos or tortilla chips.

Salsa With and Edge
2-3 chopped Roma tomatoes
1 cup chopped Granny Smith apples (or use mangoes, pears, peaches, or other fruit)
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 cup fresh corn kernals
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon chopped, seeded jalapeno pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients, stirring well to combine. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Makes 4 1/2 cups.

Breakfast Burritos

This is a family favorite breakfast that is also remarkably easy to prepare. We quite often make it on weekend mornings; it's also frequently requested for birthday breakfasts. I wasn't a breakfast burrito fan until I married Bob. He has told me about his breakfast burrito odyssey that started when McDonald's first introduced their product twenty years or so ago. For the record, ours are improved enough over the golden arches variety that Bob can't really stomach fast food burritos anymore (except for the Carl's Jr. offering, which is very good).

We make these with Tortilla Land uncooked flour tortillas, so they need to be prepared before you roll up the finished product. We usually prepare all of the ingredients and then lay them out buffet-style on the island in our kitchen. Everyone makes their own, although the little ones usually need a little help with burrito rolling. The burrito featured in this photo actually ended up being more of an oversized taco because I stuffed it too full to roll it.

One of the great things about this recipe is that you can scale it larger or smaller very easily. It's not at all unusual for Bob to make himself a burrito for breakfast with leftover sausage, bacon, or ham.

Breakfast Burritos
Serves about 8 people
8 cooked tortillas (if you are using pre-cooked tortillas, you might want to warm them in the microwave for a few seconds)
1/4 to 1/2 pound of bulk breakfast sausage (a little goes a long way)
8 eggs (or one egg per person, if you're changing the number of servings)
1-2 cups frozen hash browns, fried until golden brown (this is another ingredient that is easily modified; we've used leftover breakfast potatoes or left the potatoes out all together. It makes a good filler, but the burritos work just fine without them).
1-2 roma tomatoes, diced in about 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 medium-sized yellow onion, diced small
1 cup grated cheddar or jack cheese (we usually prefer a mix)
Salsa to taste (use the salsa of your choice; we've used everything from Pace to fresh pico de gallo).

Brown and drain the sausage. Combine the eggs in a large bowl; break the yolks, but don't whisk the eggs together; you don't want them fully scrambled. Cook the eggs in a large skillet, breaking them into small pieces as you stir them.

Place the ingredients in the order listed. Laying a tortilla flat on a large plate, add filling ingredients until you have about 1/3 cup. Add a teaspoon or so of salsa at the end; this binds the other ingredients together and keeps the burrito from falling apart. Roll the tortilla, folding the ends in and continuting to roll after about the second length-wise fold. Enjoy!

Carne Asada Salad

As with many salads, this is more of a salad idea than a recipe.

Another favorite family meal is carne asada burritos. This meal has been made possible by the proliferation of Mexican markets in our area. It is also enabled at our house by my Spanish-speaking husband, who has thoroughly interviewed each of the butchers at the three stores nearest our home. But never fear. I don't speak Spanish and have successfully ordered the meat from the aforementioned butchers on numerous occasions with no problem. It does help to have the advance information, though.

We made carne asada burritos for our dinner group last weekend. I'll post a photo with instructions as soon as I get a good photo to post with it. A couple of days later, Bob and I used the leftover meat to make carne asada salads for lunch.

The easiest way to make carne asada is to buy the pre-seasoned meat at the market. Then you just have to grill it. We've used both diez millo preparada and ranchera preparada. Diez millo is less expensive; ranchera is a much nicer cut of meat (Bob suspects that it is very thinly sliced ribeye steak). But the diez millo is also quite tasty. Both cuts of meat are also sold without seasoning (simply diez millo or ranchera), which we use for beef teriyaki.

Carne Asada Salad
1 head romaine lettuce, cut in bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup carne asada, heated
1-2 Tablespoons green enchilada sauce
diced tomatoes or pico de gallo
Sliced avocados or guacamole
Fresh ranch dressing

Arrange salad ingredients in the order they are given. Top with ranch dressing. A word about the green enchilada sauce: we also used leftovers for this particular salad. After searching high and low for the perfect enchilada sauce, we've actually found that we like the store brands the best (Western Family, Kroger, etc.) If you look for sales, you can usually buy it for about 50 cents per can.

White Chili with Chicken

This year I was asked to be a judge for our local high school's faculty cook off. Like many organizations, the school found itself short on Christmas party budget and turned the potluck into a fun event by making it a contest. Teachers and administrators were invited to bring chili and pies. I should note that I got the job because of the volunteer work I do at the school, not because of my culinary expertise.

One of the other judges told me that white chilis are especially good. Two different pots were entered in the contest, and they were both excellent. I liked them enough that I searched out a recipe to try it at home. This one isn't exactly like my favorite at the party, but it was very good and was a big hit with the kids. I started with a recipe from Betty Crocker's More Slow Cooker Recipes and adapted based on some online versions.

White Chili with Chicken
1 pound boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, cut into strips
1 cup dried great northern beans, sorted and rinsed
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup
5 cups water
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (4.5 ounces) chopped green chiles, undrained
1/2 cup frozen corn

Mix chicken, beans, onion, garlic, oregano, salt, soup and water in 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 10 hours or until beans are tender and chicken is no longer pink in the center.

Just before serving, stir in cumin, chiles and corn. Serve with corn chips and top with grated colby jack cheese.

Cilantro Lime Rice

A year or so ago the host of our dinner group planned to serve fish tacos. She asked us to try to find an alternative to traditional Mexican rice to bring as a side dish, preferably a sweet or lime rice. We tried four or five different sweet rice recipes, all of which were miserable failures.

A few months ago my friend Amanda sent this recipe, which I've modified slightly and continue to make with never a bad batch. Tonight when I made it to go with Tacos de Machaca, the kids thought it was unusually good. This is a knock off of the rice recipes served at local fresh Mex restaurants like Cafe Rio.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lime zest
2 ½ cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

Melt butter or margarine in a large saucepan. Saute onion until translucent; add garlic for the last couple of minutes. Add rice and lime zest. Saute rice until it turns opaque. Add the chicken broth mixed with lime juice and bring to a boil. Cover and cook 25-30 minutes on the lowest heat setting until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro. Place a double layer of paper towel under the lid. Let it sit for five to ten minutes.

Taco Soup - The Easiest Soup I Know How to Make

This recipe came from a former neighbor who is a wonderful cook. I asked her for a copy of her bread recipe, and she printed off several pages of her personal cook book. This is a tasty soup; although it's not our family's favorite, it's a great quick meal that is done in minutes.

Taco Soup
1 pound ground beef, browned
1 large onion, chopped
3 Tablespoons taco seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 15-oz. cans of beans (pinto, kidney, etc.)
2 15- oz. cans of corn or three cups of frozen corn
1 small can green chilis
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes

Combine all ingredients and simmer 20-30 minutes or until flavors blend. Top with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and crumbled tortilla chips.

Guacamole

A few years ago, Bob and I were in New York City on the upper west side. We stopped for an afternoon snack at Rosa Mexicana, where our next door neighbor had told us we could have phenomenal guacamole made at our table. His report was accurate; we watched beautiful, perfectly ripe avocados mashed with other delicious ingredients right in front of our eyes. While the snack was a little pricey, they gave us a pre-printed copy of the recipe before we left.

We tried Rosa's recipe at home and felt that it wasn't as good as what we'd eaten at the restaurant. So I studied a number of other recipes and improvised a few times, and came up with the guacamole our family can't get enough of.



Guacamole
2-3 small or 1-2 large, ripe avocados
1 small tomato, diced very small
2-3 Tablespoons onion, diced very small (I like red, but yellow or white will also do)
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate for an hour or so before serving.

Pico de Gallo

The first time I remember tasting pico de gallo was about 25 years ago at a work party. One of my co-workers made it; he called it salsa. It was like no salsa I had ever seen before, and I loved it immediately. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how he did it. For a long time, pico de gallo was a special treat reserved for trips to Mexican restaurants.

When I married Bob, he introduced me to the joys of store-bought pico. It was expensive enough to be an occasional indulgence, usually when we were entertaining guests. Then one day I started thinking about how making it at home couldn't be that difficult. I did a little research on the internet, tried a couple of batches, and came up with a recipe that is cheap, easy and wonderful. We serve it with any Mexican dish, but it's especially good with carne asada tacos.

There's quite a lot of flexibility in the recipe. I often make it with any salsa-looking ingredients that I have on hand--I've put in bits of green bell pepper, chopped green onions or other goodies. It can even be dressed up as a topping for fish or chicken breasts by adding a little mango or pineapple. There aren't really any secrets to making it; just chop everything fine, and make it a few hours ahead so that the flavors can blend awhile as it sits in your fridge.

Pico de Gallo
2 Roma tomatoes, finely chopped
½ medium onion, finely chopped (red onion looks pretty in it; white onion tastes really good. I usually use yellow onion because that’s what we always have)
½ - 1 jalapeno, very finely diced
½ bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of ½ lime
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper

Mix ingredients together and refrigerate for at least an hour or two before serving.