Making A Home And Family

We tried this new recipe last week, and it was easy, yummy, and perfect served with tortilla chips.  Who can really go wrong with quinoa, corn, black beans, and picante sauce?  This was published in Vegetarian Times.

Tex Mex Quinoa Recipe

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 t cumin seeds
• 1 cup prepared black bean soup (I used a can of Amy’s)
• 1 cup picante sauce
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans or 1 can
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1-2 T chopped pickled jalapenos (I omitted this)

1. Heat oil in wok over medium heat.  Add cumin, cook 2 minutes until lightly toasted.  Stir often.  Add soup, 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 cup picante sauce.  Add quinoa and bring to a boil.  Reduce to medium heat, cover, and cook 10-12 minutes.
2. Stir in beans and corn, and cook covered for 7-10 minutes.  Remove from heat, and stir in remaining 1/2 cup picante sauce, green onions, and jalapenos.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy as a side with tacos, eat on top of tortilla chips, and serve a margarita to sip.

I am attempted my family recipe of cabbage rolls a few days ago, and I was worried about it coming out alright since the recipe requires “dashes” of this and “a little bit” of thats.  Measurements are a hard thing to find in a family recipe, aren’t there?

But I tried anyway.  And they were DELICIOUS!

Since they were so good, I will share what I did.  Since this is actually measured, it’s not really the family recipe (but it’s close and it tastes just as good).

Cabbage roll recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds hamburger
• 3/4 cup instant rice (I used organic brown and just pre-cooked it)
• 3 1/2 cups tomato juice
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes (although my mom recommends stewed tomatoes)
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• Large head of cabbage
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Mix hamburger, rice, 1 1/2 cups tomato juice, tomatoes, ketchup, and salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Boil a big pot of water.  Put the cabbage in until you can cut leaves off of the head.
3. Roll some meat mix into a cabbage leave and put into cake pan or casserole dish.
4. When the rolls are complete, add another 2 cups of tomato juice to the top.  Cover and bake at 350*-375* for about 2 hours.

Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE S’MORE PIE RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 7oz. bar of 60% cacao bitter sweet chocolate bar (I used chips instead)
• 1 cup soy creamer
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 t. vanilla
• 1 9″ graham cracker crust
• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*.  Place chocolate into a heat-proof bowl.  Simmer soy creamer in a medium sauce pan, and then pour soy creamer over chocolate.  Whisk together until the chocolate is mixed.  Let stand 30 seconds before mixing in the egg, vanilla, and a pinch of salt.

Pour the mixture into the crust.  Cover crust edges with foil and bake for 25 minutes.  Cool 1 hour.

Preheat broiler.  Spread marshmallow creme on the pie, and broil 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the top is golden brown.