Black Bean Tacos with Corn Salsa

As I was planning out my menu this week, I realized I was meat-heavy, and thought I would give this recipe a whirl, taking advantage of all the yummy summer produce.  As you know, Matt is always weary of a dish without meat, but I didn't think this would be an issue because of the protein-packed black beans.  As an extra incentive, I promised we could walk to Rita's and get water ice after.
These turned out super yummy and definitely fulfilled my taco craving.  They were filling without being too heavy and there's even a little leftover, so I can have tacos for lunch tomorrow!  Yum!
Also, don't mind that the picture is basically entirely avocado, I promise there's some beans and corn in there too!

Black Bean Tacos with Corn Salsa

Black Bean Tacos with Corn Salsa

Ingredients:
5 small round corn tortillas
1 large avocado, sliced into thin strips
Optional garnishes: pickled onions, hot sauce

Bean Filling
1 can black beans, drained
1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 Tbsp. cumin
2 Tbsp. water
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Corn Salsa
1 cup corn (thawed if using frozen)
2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
2 red radishes, sliced into thin strips
1/2 lime, juiced
1/8 tsp, salt
1/4 cup feta

Preparation:
Corn Salad: Place the corn into a medium-sized mixing bowl and add the chopped cilantro, radishes, lime juice, and sea salt. Mix well. Stir in feta.  Set the bowl aside to marinate while your prepare the beans.
Black Beans: Warm the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot and a sprinkle of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots have softened and turn translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add the cumin and cook for about 30 seconds while stirring. Pour in the beans and water. Stir and cover.   Cook for 5 more minutes, remove from heat and then remove the lid and use the back of a fork to mash up about at least half of the beans. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and cover until you’re ready to serve.
To Serve: Spread black beans down the middle of each tortilla. Top the beans with corn salad. Place a slice of avocado in the taco and serve with optional pickled onions or hot sauce.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Cookie and Kate

Chicken Enchilada Pie

With the weather cooling down, I can finally turn on my oven at dinner (though I did intend to make this yesterday when it was rainy and in the 60s, but Matt wanted to order pizza, so what can you do?).  This, with some tweaks from the original recipe, turned into a great meal... Matt even had thirds!
If you wanted to, you could make this vegetarian by using a can of black beans instead of the chicken on top and it would still be great!

Chicken Enchilada Pie

Chicken Enchilada Pie

Ingredients:
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 Tbsp. taco seasoning, divided
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 (14 3/4 ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8.5 ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Jiffy)
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
1 (10 ounce) can red enchilada sauce
2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or diced
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Optional Toppings: 
1 scallion, sliced
2 radishes, sliced thin
cilantro, to taste,
1/4 cotija or feta cheese

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine the first 7 ingredients (milk through green chiles), using just 1/2 tablespoon of the taco seasoning, in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a round, 9'' pie plate, coated with cooking spray.
Bake for 20-30 minutes. While corn is baking, toss the chicken in the remaining 1/2 tablespoon taco seasoning. When cornbread is done – it will be just barely set and golden brown – pierce entire surface liberally with a fork (it might stick a little bit to the fork).
Pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese melts.
Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes.
Sprinkle with toppings.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Lindsay at Pinch of Yum.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Muffins

Matt wanted muffins since Friday, so today I decided to bake some instead of buying them at the store.  I found this recipe for gluten free cinnamon muffins and I didn't need to buy any ingredients to make them (which is good, because it's Sunday and I didn't want to change out of my pajamas).  These were super easy to make and turned out very delicious!  Though the texture is changed from a regular muffin because of the almond flour, they are still yummy and I would definitely make them again.
Full disclaimer: I thought I had enough almond flour to make these, but I was short about 3 tablespoons, whoops!  So, there's about 1 tablespoon of regular flour in the muffins and the whole topping is regular flour.
These all happen to be dairy free, so all of you with lactose issues can eat them too!  Pair them with some cold brew coffee for a great breakfast!

Gluten Free Cinnamon Muffins

Gluten Free Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients:

Batter
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted coconut oil, cooled
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Cinnamon Swirl
3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil, cooled
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. almond flour

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
In a large bowl, make the batter by whisking together the eggs, coconut oil, water, honey and vanilla.
Mix in the almond flour, salt and baking soda.
Fill each paper liner about 3/4 full.
Next make the Cinnamon Swirl by mixing the coconut oil, honey, cinnamon and almond flour.
Spoon the topping on top of each muffin then use a toothpick or the tip of a sharp knife to swirl the cinnamon mixture into the muffins.
Bake 15-20 minutes and let cool.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Almond Flour

Cold Brew Coffee

Though it's the end of summer, it's not cooling down enough for hot coffee yet, which means cold brew is my go-to in the morning.  Though I love Dunkin and Starbucks, I do not love the price tag that comes with cold brew there.  If you make your own, it's much more economical and just as delicious!
I think this is easiest in a French press, but if you don't have a French press you can strain the coffee grounds out using a coffee filter instead of plunging the press down.

Cold Brew Coffee

Cold Brew Coffee

Ingredients:
1/2 cup ground coffee
Water
Ice
Cream, optional
Sugar, optional

Preparation:
Put coffee in French press.
Fill with water to the bottom of where the lid would go, about 2 1/2 cups.
Stir. (DON'T press the coffee down yet).
Place in fridge and wait. (I usually do 8 hours, but you can go up to 24 if you like the strong stuff).
Pour into a cup with ice and add cream, sugar, or whatever you like.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Farm Fresh to You

Caramelized Onion and Arugula Goat Cheese Pizza

Today I needed to make a vegetarian meal because my friend Kevin was over. I knew I wanted to make pizza and I had some arugula to use up and plenty of onions.  I looked at a bunch of recipes for different kinds of pizza, many had figs on them (which my grocery store doesn't carry) or meat (not today!).  I settled on a recipe and loosely followed it, cutting the cheese by over half, I promise, you won't miss it if I am telling you it would have been way way too much.  (Matt calls me the cheese queen).
This turned out delicious!  I served a salad on the side and it was a great meal!  The only problem was that there weren't any leftovers!  Well, there were, but after a few glasses of wine, we finished the last pieces right up!

Caramelized Onion and Arugula Goat Cheese Pizza

Caramelized Onion and Arugula Goat Cheese Pizza

Ingredients:
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 pound pizza dough, either homemade or store bought
2 medium onions, sliced thin
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp.  olive oil
2 oz. arugula
Cornmeal, optional
2 oz goat cheese, crumbled
Balsamic reduction, to taste

Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 425F.
In a large skillet over medium low heat, melt butter.  Add onions and cook stirring occasionally until the onions are caramelized. This will take about 25-30 minutes. (I did this while waiting for my dough to rise).
Meanwhile, on a flat surface, like your kitchen counter, place some flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Roll out your pizza dough with a rolling pin.  Sprinkle cornmeal on the baking sheet.  Place the pizza dough onto a baking sheet.
Spread oil all over the dough, as you would sauce.  It might not seem like enough, but you don't want too much in one place, so really spread it around.
Add mozzarella, goat cheese, and onions on top of pizza.
Bake the pizza in the preheated oven for 20-22 minutes. Take out and let cool for 5 minutes.  Add arugula and drizzle balsamic on top.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Miryam at Eat Good 4 Life.

Spaghetti Carbonara

I'm getting back to my Italian roots today with some spaghetti carbonara.  This dish is great when you have a limited pantry and you need to make a quick dinner.  I used bacon in place of pancetta in order to skip a trip to the grocery store and it turned out delicious!  

The most important step is to make sure to continuously whisk the egg mixture when adding the hot reserved pasta water or else you will end up with scrambled eggs and dry spaghetti.  

This is a dish with high cholesterol and fat levels so make sure to serve with a nice side salad!

Spaghetti Carbonara 

Spaghetti Carbonara

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

5 oz. bacon (or pancetta) cut into 1/2 inch strips

1⁄3 cup white wine

1/2 lb. dried spaghetti

1/3 cup shaved parmesan 

2 Tbsp. shredded mozzarella

1 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley

1 egg

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Remove and discard garlic. Add bacon, and cook until edges are crisp and the fat is rendered, about 8 minutes. (At this point I took out about 2 spoonfuls of bacon grease because the bacon I used was super oily, you can choose what you want to do).  Add wine, and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti, and cook until al dente, according to box directions. Drain, reserving 1⁄4 cup pasta water. In a large bowl, whisk together parmesan, parsley, and eggs; while whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in reserved pasta water until smooth. Add spaghetti along with reserved pancetta mixture. Season with salt and a generous amount of pepper. Toss to combine, and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Cuban Sandwich

My obsession with Cubans started when I watched the movie Chef. (It's really good!)  If you haven't seen it, a chef decides to open a food truck that sells Cubans.  They looked so delicious that I decided to try my hand at them.  I have made this recipe a few times, but this one was the best.  The key is to make sure you have really fresh bread.  I stopped at the grocery store this morning and picked up a baguette.
The other thing that started my quest to make a great Cuban was that while we were in London, Matt ordered a Cuban at a burger restaurant we went to.  It was terrible!  I told him that I would try to erase the memory of that terrible sandwich and I think I delivered!  These turned out great!
It is important to mention that Cubans are supposed to be pressed.  If you get a real Cuban, they use a machine, kind of like a panini press.  I don't have that so I used a cast iron pan.  I then pressed down on the pan (using pot holders so you don't burn your hands) and got them pretty flat.
I understand that you're supposed to use roasted pork on these, but I didn't have any so I improvised and got thin cut pork chops which I cooked for 3 minutes on one side and 2 on the other and seasoned with adobo seasoning.  If you have roast pork, feel free to use that instead!

Cuban Sandwich

Cuban Sandwich

Ingredients:
2 tsp. canola oil
2 sandwich-sized piece of baguette (about 1/2 of baguette)
Yellow mustard
2 thin pork chops, cooked
4 slices deli ham
4 slices Swiss cheese
4 sliced dill pickles (the long ones)

Preparation:
Slice baguette open to assemble sandwiches.
Spread a liberal amount of mustard on one side of the bread per sandwich.  (You might think you used too much, but use a little bit more, it will be delicious, I promise!)
Top with Swiss cheese, ham, pork, pickles, and the other slice of cheese.  Close sandwich.
In the same pan you cooked the pork chop in, or a medium sized skillet over medium heat with 2 tsp. canola oil, place the sandwiches.
Top with a heavy pot and cook about 5 minutes.  Place pot holders inside of pot on top and press down in order to flatten the sandwiches.
Flip the sandwiches and cook, flattening, for another 4 minutes.
Remove from heat and serve with a simple arugula salad.
Enjoy!

Garlic Parsley Roasted Salmon

Salmon is my favorite fish and my favorite fish to cook.  I especially like it roasted.  It comes out perfect, every time.  (If you like roasted salmon, you could also try Cilantro Lime Salmon or Rosemary Roasted Salmon and Tomatoes).  The thing with roasted salmon however, is that you have to turn on the oven.  It's been so hot in Philly lately that I haven't wanted to turn on the oven, even with the air conditioning on.  Today it was much cooler and I thought I could afford to turn the oven on for a half hour.  It was worth it!
This salmon is simple with butter, garlic, and parsley and a touch of lemon.  How could you go wrong with those ingredients?  Yum!
I made tomato and arugula risotto as a side dish and it was a perfect meal!

Garlic Parsley Roasted Salmon

Garlic Parsley Roasted Salmon

Ingredients:
10 oz salmon fillet, cut into two pieces
2 Tbsp. melted butter
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley leaves, chopped
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. black pepper

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper and place salmon on baking sheet.
Combine butter, garlic, parsley, salt, lemon, and pepper in a small bowl.
Use the back of a spatula and spread the butter mixture onto the salmon.
Bake for 12 minutes.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Rasa Malaysia

Tomato and Arugula Risotto

Tonight was a rainy, gross day in Philly and I thought it would be a perfect day to make risotto because who wants to stand over a hot stove when it's hot?  Cherry tomatoes and arugula were both on sale this week so this was a no brainer.  Plus, it served as the perfect side to Garlic Parsley Roasted Salmon.
This was my first try at risotto, but it turned out great!  You could serve this as a side or a main dish.  A wonderful vegetarian dish!

Tomato and Arugula Risotto

Tomato and Arugula Risotto

Ingredients:
1 cup arborio rice
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 shallots, chopped
½ cup white wine
3 cups hot vegetable stock (plus 1 just in case)
2 cups arugula, washed and dried
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
Salt, to taste
Shaved parmesan, to serve

Preparation:
Start by setting your vegetable stock to simmer in a separate pot. It has to be hot by the time you add it to the rice.
In a large skillet, over medium high heat add the olive oil and once it's hot, add the shallots.
Once the shallots are translucent, add the rice and fry it so that all the rice is coated.
Reduce the heat to medium low.
Add the white wine and cook until it evaporates completely.
Add the first cup of vegetable stock and cook, stirring regularly until it is absorbed by the rice.
Repeat the process with the other 2 cups of stock, one at a time.
If your rice is still hard, add the stock, stirring the rice, until the stock is absorbed.
Turn the heat off and add the tomatoes and arugula.  Stir until everything is incorporated.
Add the mozzarella and stir gently.
Taste to check seasoning and add salt if necessary.
Serve immediately, top with the shaved parmesan.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Olivia at Olivia's Cuisine.

Pasta with Sausage, Swiss Chard, and Tomatoes

Phew!  What a long time since I've posted anything!  As I'm sure you know, I tend to start posting again in the summer when I'm not crazy with school; this summer has been nuts though!  Matt and I went back to upstate NY to work at the music camp we always work at and a week later left for our (very delayed) honeymoon.  We spent 10 days in Dublin and London and had a wonderful time.

Since I haven't really cooked in 2 months, I wanted to get back to my roots.  Last time I was in the grocery store I noticed that they started selling Swiss chard and was so excited to grab some!  I found sausage in the freezer and this recipe came right together.  It was super easy and very tasty!

This dish can easily be made gluten free by using GF pasta!
This dish only used 2 sausage links out of my package of 4, so I used the other 2 to make a half-batch of Zucchini Glop (don't let the name throw you off, it's really good).

Pasta with Sausage, Swiss Chard, and Tomatoes

Pasta with Sausage, Swiss Chard, and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

Kosher salt

8 ounces small shape pasta, I used rotini

2 hot or sweet Italian sausage links, casings removed (I used sweet)

1 small onion, chopped

1 bunch Swiss chard, roughly chopped (stems and leaves separated) 

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the label.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. (Don't worry if it's sticking to the bottom of the pan, when you add the chard and onions, you can scrape it off.)

Add the onion, garlic, and chard stems; cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 4 minutes. 

Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the tomatoes start blistering, about 5 minutes.  

Add the chard leaves to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start wilting, about 2 minutes. Lightly mash the tomatoes with the back of your spoon to create more of a sauce.

Add the pasta and cheese; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. 

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Food Network