past few

Indian Croquettes w. Lemon-Garlic Stringbeans and Broccoli

First I was going to make my favorite veggie burger then realized that I didn't have kidney beans after I already started cooking the food. All I had were chickpeas and I didn't want them in my veggie burger. The meal quickly took a turn to being Indian inspired. I sauteed butternut squash w. garlic and onions until soft then added the chickpeas and mashed it all together in a wooden spoon. Added some ready to be tossed cilantro, slivered almonds and just cooked quinoa and mashed some more. Too help hold it all together I added some vital wheat gluten. All this together made a perfect moist croquette after lightly frying them in some olive oil. Since this wasn't a planned meal I didn't have anything to make a nice little curryish sauce for it so I just topped it off with fresh cherry tomatoes. Turned out that was all that was needed. These were even good the next day out of the fridge cold and then later for lunch warmed over some mesclun with a lemon and olive oil dressing.





Last Minute Enchilada's

Last night was our last Wednesday Night Potluck for a few months. The weather is getting nice. The sun is staying out to at least 8:30 so we need to do other things besides eat and watch reality tv every Wednesday.

I had know idea what to bring this week. Friends were already bringing a potato dish and all I could think of making was Potato Pancakes which would make no sense because we would all be in a carb coma. 30 minutes before I was to leave I had an idea. I don't think I've ever made enchiladas before but that is what popped into my head. I had leftover Kabocha Squash that I roasted a few days before and have been feeding to Reno since then. She was getting sick of it as was I serving it to her so I used it in the Enchiladas.

I chopped up some garlic, onions and jalapeno which were then sauteed in olive oil. Then I added a can of drained and rinsed black beans and the leftover squash. I felt it needed something tomato-y so I added maybe 2 tablespoons of this hot salsa that we had leftover from the pizza party. (That salsa was HOT! Just the 2 tablespoons heated up the dish to incredible levels!) I stuffed it all inside some corn tortillas and topped it off with 1/2 a jar of Salsa Verde and baked, covered with foil, in the oven for about 20 minutes. Took it out and dumped the rest of the jar onto the tortillas and took it to my sisters and just kept it warm in her oven until dinner time.

I'm happy to say it all went over well except that it was just a little bit too spicy for some. I'm happy that one was left so that I can eat it for lunch today.



Pesto

Some homemade Parsley-Pinenut Pesto tossed into cute little pasta topped with string beans and zucchini sauteed with garlic. I for some reason love zucchini with pesto pasta dishes. I highly recommend that you give it a try.