Mexican Style Quinoa Bake

When life gives you leftovers, make Mexican food.  It's no joke.  I can hide a multitude of leftovers in a Mexican casserole.  Flavor it up with all those delicious Mexican flavors, throw in some chips, salsa and cheese and none of the people in my family even notice.  (Well, my one daughter did pick the peppers out of it- and that wasn't even the leftover part).  I did see this amazing recipe on Pinterest and said- dang, I pretty much have all of that in my fridge at this very moment.  You can find the inspiration recipe here at Half Baked Harvest and believe me, it is totally drool worthy. The only thing I was missing was some cheddar.  I decided just to use some feta because I had a lot of it.  Its not nearly as pretty as molten cheddar cheese.  But equally delicious.

Dip a chip into that top it with some pico de gallo and we were good to go.

Mexican Style Quinoa Bake

1 can of black beans
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 tablespoon oil
2 onions, chopped
1 pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon taco seasonings
2 teaspoons cumin
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 cup of cheese- cheddar is best but feta is nice too


Sauté onions, peppers and garlic in oil in a large skillet that you can throw in the oven (if you like).  Once translucent add in the remainder of ingredients except cheese. Cook until all ingredients are heated through.  Once combined sprinkle cheese over top.  Either place under a broiler or you can cover and the pan and it will melt nicely.

Pourable Scallion Pancakes

I have made scallion pancakes before, you can see them here.  They are a bit time consuming.  Believe me they are well worth it though.  But if you are in a hurry and want a lazy person supper- do these amazing scallion pancakes.

I happened to score a very large bunch of scallions last week at the Farmers Market.  They needed to be used up within a day or two.  I made these two nights in a row.  Everyone was loving them so they totally were okay with that.

Make the dipping sauce- this totally makes it.  Without it they are kinda plain.

Easy Peasy Scallion Pancakes

Serve with the amazing dipping sauce, recipe below.

2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup finely chopped scallion
oil for frying

Whisk the eggs, water, sesame oil, salt and flour together just until combined.  Stir in scallions. Ladle about 1/3 of a cup of the batter onto a nicely oiled warm skillet.  Wait until the edges appear down before flipping- you want them golden.  Cook a few minutes more and serve.

dipping sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic chili paste.

Just stir it all together. Pour into dipping bowls.

Jamaican Coat of Arms

These flavors dance together so nicely. Jamaican Coat of Arms is super quick, delicious and nutritious. Yes, I know you see chick peas in mine.  I had some frozen beans, a mix of kidney beans and chick peas so that is what I used this time.  I have made this before without the chick peas as well.

Last time I made it I used some hot peppers.  The dish is on the sweet side because of the coconut milk. I like hot- sweet- salty.

Jamaican Coat of Arms

a can of kidney beans
a can of coconut milk
4 green onions, sliced
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
some add allspice- totally up to you 1/4 teaspoon would do yah

In a sauce pan combine all the ingredients except green onion and heat over a medium high flame.  Torn down so that it simmers for about 20 minutes..  Serve over rice.  Garnish with green onion.

Dum Aloo

Strange (strange because they can be kinda picky)... but after having Indian food in the house for so long now, my children are starting to dig it.  I am doing a happy dance.  I made this dish the other day and they actually ate quite a bit of it.  It was POW!-kinda-flavorful.  Delicious, creamy and kid approved- at least in my house. 

Dum Aloo
Don't know about you but I really like saying the name of the potatoes, why? because I am just goofy like that.  The idea for this dish came from here but really, I changed A LOT.  Since my kids liked it and we liked it of course, I would definitely make it again-  Hopefully, the next time with cilantro.

5 potatoes cut in chunks
1 large onion, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste (if I had some fresh I would have used them)
3 cups cottage cheese (because I had no yogurt)
1  teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 or 2 green cardamom pods
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon Garam Masala powder
1 teaspoon salt
Cilantro – for garnish
 
In a pot, boil potatoes or place in water and heat in microwave. 

While the potatoes are cooking prepare the gravy/curry.  In a deep frying pan heat oil or ghee and add to it: cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick and split-open cardamom pods. Sauté for a couple of minutes. Now, add chopped onions. Sauté for at least 6 to 8 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the remaining spices – turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala powder and salt. Sauté for a couple of minutes.

Add in cottage cheese, mix throughly.  Add mostly done potatoes to the gravy.  Cover and simmer on low for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally.