Posts Tagged ‘sidedish’

Ok, ok, technically they aren’t homemade because I didn’t make the corn tortillas, but that may be coming sooner rather than later.  I did however bake these and season them so deliciously that I will most likely never purchase a bag of tortilla chips again. Unless there is a “tortilla chip” emergency and well, I’m sure there would be worse things that could happen.

I’ve made these a few times and the only thing that will make a difference is the thickness of the tortilla itself.  This couldn’t be easier and you can make them a day or two ahead and store in an airtight baggie.

This batch was ONE package of corn tortillas which cost about $1.00. (plus the oil, salt and lime I already had)

Brush one corn tortilla with a small and I mean, small! amount of vegetable oil on both sides.  You don’t need a lot.

Layer another tortilla on that one and brush the top with oil. You don’t have to brush the bottom because the one below it will transfer the oil.

Continue laying another 3 or 4 tortillas. I use half the package , about 6 tortillas per cookie sheet.

First cut in half, and then in thirds or quarters if you want skinnier chips.  I love this part because they do not come out looking perfect. They are different sizes and sometimes (whoops!) even different shapes.

Spread them out on a cookie sheet, trying not to overlap them. I didn’t spray the cookie sheet, but you could lay down parchment paper if you wanted even easier clean up.

Bake at 450 degrees for about 11-14 minutes.  This depends on the thickness of the tortilla. My first batches took 11 minutes and burned in 12. This batch took almost 15.  Just keep an eye on them.

This was one package of corn tortillas (minus the few chips I had to “taste” for quality control)

As soon as they come out, squeeze fresh lime juice over them and sprinkle with salt.  You could salt them before they cook too, if you like them saltier.  You can eat them warm or let them cool completely and store in an airtight baggie.  They should last a few days, if you can stop eating them.

mmm extreme chip closeup!

Enjoy!

I bought a lot of beautiful red, yellow and orange peppers this week at the farmer’s market and then didn’t know what to do with them so I decided to try roasting them.  Turns out it’s easy, but a bit messy, to do!

I preheated my oven to 450 degrees and covered a cookie sheet with tin foil.

I put the peppers on the tin foil and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and then used my hands to cover each pepper with a little oil.

They went into the oven for a while. Honestly, I didn’t check the time because I was making dinner and I kept looking at them. I’d guess maybe 15 minutes and then I turned them over and cooked them another 15 minutes.  I have NO idea if this is too much time, but they turned out ok.

After they came out of the oven, I put them into 2 small brown lunch bags to steam.  Then I went to eat my dinner.

A little while later (maybe 20 minutes because I watched the last two rounds of Chopped) I started peeling the skins off and removing the seeds.  This is the messy part. It took me about five peppers before I figured out how to get the seed pod out without breaking them all over the peppers.

I put all the peppers in a container and drizzled with more olive oil and put in the fridge.  I will be making paninis or roasted pepper hummus with them soon. You could also slice them and put on salads.

Easy and delicious!

Let me just say that I LOVE tomatillo salsa. I love tomatillos.  They are so cute in their little paper wrappers, and they are a beautiful color of green.  Did you know tomatillos are in the huckleberry family?

Anyway, here’s a super easy recipe for a delicious tomatillo salsa. It’s a raw one, so it takes NO time at all to make.

8 tomatillos, unwrapped, washed and halved
1 avocado
handful of cilantro
1/2 serrano chili (I seeded mine)
1 lemon
salt
pepper
little water

Load items in your blender and blend away.  I had to put in a little bit of water to get it to the consistency that I wanted.

Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. That’s it!

Look at how beautiful it looks!  Spoon over tacos or flank steak or even just eat with chips.

I was at the famers’ market today and was inspired by the lovely tomatoes and whole grain baguette I purchased.  Tomatoes, bread….hmm what to make?  Bruschetta!  It didn’t hurt that I had a ton of basil at home that I needed to use, either.

I hadn’t made bruschetta before so I was winging it, like a lot of my cooking.  My mom has a terrific ability to taste a food and then be able to recreate it.  *side note* Years ago when Cinnabon first came out, she asked them how they made the cinnabons.  Of course they wouldn’t tell her, so she sat at a table in the mall eating one and watching their technique (Ingredients were hidden) and then she came home and made them.  They tasted exactly the same, even the icing! I like to think that I’ve inherited that talent.  I can taste a dish and usually figure out how to make it.  Most of the time I’m pretty close, but some recipes take a few tries.

For the bruschetta I chopped one medium tomato.  A lot of people don’t like the goopy seeds inside tomatoes, so after you cut them in half, squeeze the tomato to get rid of the seeds.  It makes your tomatoes less slimy, and it keeps your food looking prettier.  You can do this any time you dice tomatoes.  Also, my tip is to dice the tomatoes with the skin side down, so your knife is cutting the inside of the tomato instead of going through the skin.

Bruschetta
Dice the tomatoes into small cubes
Mince 1 or 2 cloves of garlic — Traditionally, you rub the garlic on the toasted bread.
1T red wine vinegar – again, traditionally, you’d use balsamic…but I was out.
Healthy drizzle of olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Chop a few large basil leaves
Mix all items together.

I used a whole grain baguette,  sliced it on the diagonal, spread a little butter on each piece and popped it in the toaster.
When the bread was toasted, I spooned the tomato mixture on top and let the vinegar soak into the bread.

Things I did not do:
Some people use onion, but I think raw onions are too strong.  (I could have soaked them in cold water to get rid of the strong onion flavor…maybe next time.)
I didn’t have any parmigiano reggano, but I did think about putting a little goat cheese on top but  in  the end, I decided not too.

This really is a healthy accompaniment to dinner if you use a whole grain bread and limit the cheese.  Please, buy a hunk of good quality parmigiano reggano cheese and keep it wrapped in your fridge. It will last a long time and it’s well worth the expense.

If my sad tomato plants would have had more than 2 tomatoes and I didn’t kill all my basil plants, I could see myself eating this with a nice salad as dinner many nights.  Lots of room for experimenting with this simple recipe.  The goat cheese is going to be spectacular with this, or even crumbled ricotta salata.

A few weeks ago I bought a gigantic bag of green beans from the farmer’s market.  I grilled them a few times and then promptly forgot about the rest of the bag until tonight when we were cleaning out the fridge.  Oops.  I was already planning on making caprese salad with my left over fresh mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes, so I decided to put a twist on the dish.

This really isn’t a recipe, more of a technique. I make 99% of the salad dressings I eat because I don’t really like all the junk in the store bought ones, plus I really like to see what I can whip up. I have a vinegar obsession. Salad dressings are a good way to experiment with flavors.

Lemon Vinaigrette

zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon (maybe 2T)
a few T olive oil (depends on how much salad you have and how much lemon juice you were able to get)
splash of rice vine vinegar
salt
pepper

Add items to a resealable storage container, screw on the lid and shake vigorously.  Taste and adjust seasonings. You may need more olive oil or another splash of rice wine vinegar or even more salt/pepper.

Cook the green beans in boiling water for a few minutes and then blanch them in ice water to stop the cooking process.
Chop heirloom tomatoes (I used a lovely yellowy orange variety) and grape tomatoes into quarters.
Cut a chunk of fresh mozzarella into cubes
Drain green beans and wipe as much moisture off them as possible.
Chiffonade fresh basil leaves  (as much as you like)

Combine tomatoes, cheese and green beans, basil and mix thoroughly
Shake the lemon vinaigrette one more time and pour half over the salad. Mix and taste, add more dressing as needed.  If you aren’t going to eat all of this salad at once, then I would not pour the dressing over the whole bowl, you can add it to your plate.

Voila, you’ve now used up all those green beans, tomatoes and cheese hanging out in the fridge AND you have a delicious, healthy side dish that tastes equally good the next day.

Added bonus, is that it’s as beautiful as it is tasty.