Monday, December 23, 2013

Peasant's Veggie Chilaquiles

Ingredients:

One casserole dish
Olive oil
One large onion, sliced in thin quarters
Three small leeks, in thin slices
Two summer squash (yellow, zucchini or Mexican), diced
One large handful of Swiss chard or other greens
Six large cloves of garlic, minced
Salt
Half of a lime
Sixteen corn tortillas
One 16 ounce can of green enchilada sauce
10 ounces of  grated or crumbled cheese of your choice (today I used Cremosa a fresh, soft Mexican farmer's cheese)

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

In a cast iron pan, drizzle olive oil and saute onions and leeks over medium-high heat until translucent, about 6 minutes.
While the onions are cooking, wash your chard and chop coarsely.
First, add your chopped squash and let brown slightly in the pan. Then add your chopped chard, and garlic and cover on medium heat, until slightly wilted.
Add salt and lime juice into the veggie mix to your taste preference. Take off of heat and cover.

In your casserole dish, slightly oil with a basting brush (or your finger) eight tortillas and line the bottom.
Cover your tortillas with your now cooked veggies and half of the grated or crumbled cheese you have.
Cover with the remainder of tortillas, again slightly coating them in oil. 
(If you had more layers you would like to add or other ingredients, this can be a multi-layer dish similar to a lasagne). Pour your enchilada sauce evenly over the top of the tortillas and scatter the remainder of the cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Eat warm! If you end up with leftovers to enjoy over the following days, fry and egg and eat it with day-old chilaquiles for breakfast.

XO!





Groceries and Produce

Though I am very lucky to be marrying a farmer...
who brings me home all kinds of ridiculous organic produce all season long, I realize the two of you don't have that privilege (though I try to share!!)-- I DO** however grocery shop sometimes. So allow me to lay down how I attack groceries



When at the grocer the first questions I attend to are:
1.) Is it in season? 2.) Is it organic? 3.) Does it matter?

Though it is always better to support organic agriculture (vote with your dollars!!) there are somethings you can buy conventional, namely produce with thick skins (avocados, citrus, mangoes, kiwi, bananas).
AJ and I do not consume much tropical produce, but we are avocado fiends.

**Also, I realize buying seasonal means you can't have apples in the summer and you'll miss tomatoes in the winter. This is a bummer, I know, but once you get over the general spoiled state of our Whole-Foods-everything-in-abundance-all-of-the-time-culture, you'll realize not only are  you making a conscious choice, but it is cheaper AND it keeps you out of cooking-ruts. It is exciting to cook beets when they are in-season, but then you get sick of them! Same with everything, consuming this way keeps the flare in your food so that you are never saying "Don't we always have kale?!?"

-What I buy at the grocery store-

Since you have already begun stocking your cupboard with the previous posting, you know that I it is is always smart to keep carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, lemons, limes and seasonal fresh herbs on-hand about 100% percent of the time in my kitchen.

Beyond that, in terms of fresh produce, I always buy seasonal greens, seasonal veggies and seasonal fruit.

Do you know when things are in season???

Spring
Spring onions
Turnips
Radishes
Micro-greens
Artichokes
Chard
Rhubarb
Asparagus
Sorrel
Spinach

Summer
Tomatoes
Basil
Beets 
Peppers
Summer squash
Soybeans
Eggplant
Green beans
Lettuce
Corn

Fall Into Winter
Kale
Pumpkin
Acorn Squash
Butternut squash
Brussel sprouts
Beets


Winter ( and Year Round)
Broccoli
Cabbage
Asian greens
Parsnips
Mushrooms
Potatoes
Leeks
Celeriac
Onions



Buy a few things that are in season in addition to your staples.

Also, milk (almond milk) cheese (I either get Daiya vegan "cheeze" or a mild Mexican farmer's cheese, unless I know something specific I am making or want, yogurt and butter.

Eggs. Eggs. Eggs. 


Also bread, cereal (there will be future recipes for granola and hot cereal) and other necessary oddities you may like.

I always keep a variety of fermented things in my fridge including kimchi, sauerkraut, pickles, pickled hot peppers-- these are good when you for when you are making a simple salad or korean dish and need that extra zing to make your meal hit a home run. 

And that's it!! And then I go home for less than 100 dollars every week and eat like royalty. Find your groove and you'll figure out what you like to have around to feel like you can whip up anything anytime.

Stocking Your Pantry

Dear Sisters,

I am creating this blog so that both of you may be inspired to create more food in your home for yourselves and hubbies. I cook for AJ so often and somehow keep him satisfied with a variety of delicious things without that much effort on my part or that much money spent. We are mostly vegetarian at home, which helps with costs, but we also maximize organic vegetables that are in season, whole grains, and jam-pack exciting flavors and texture. This blog is going to follow what we have for dinner (and other meals) as much as possible so there will be a range of mostly vegetarian, gluten free meals with the occasional meaty or vegan-y meal as well.


I would say that **the most important part of guaranteeing simple, fast, delicious dinner starts with what is in your cupboards.

I always have in dry storage:

Olive oil
Coconut oil
Grapeseed oil
Balsamic vinegar
Rice vinegar
Red Wine vinegar
Sesame oil

Dry: Lentils, black beans, (etc. beans) long grain rice, short grain rice, quinoa, polenta, oats

Masa arepa
Flour (a variety including wheat, all purpose gluten-free, rice flour)

Sugar
Brown sugar
Honey
Dried fruit(s)
Maple syrup

Vanilla extract


Onions, potatoes, garlic (and sometimes yams)

Coconut Milk
Broth
Canned Tomato paste and whole peeled tomatoes

Almond butter and/or peanut butter

Tamari

Tahini

Hot sauce(s)

Dijon mustard

Rice noodles
Bean threads
GF pasta

Refrigerated things: Almond milk, lemons, limes, carrots, eggs, butter, cheese, tortillas

Spices (in descending order of necessity): Pink salt, other flavored salts, pepper, cumin, whole cumin seed, marjoram, basil, dill seed, oregano, cayenne, whole chiles, cinnamon, turmeric, a variety of curries and garam masala, clove, thyme, dill, coriander, nutmeg etc.

**I try to always use fresh herbs when possible, they taste better, but having salt, pepper, cumin and some other aromatics will make all of the difference in the flavor-power of your kitchen!


If you do your best to keep these basics in your pantry all of the time, I promise you you're never going to go hungry or spend another night eating a whole bag of Goldfish ever again.