Grit-Style Chilaquile Casserole

40 minutes in the oven? Ugh-that's such a long time for someone as impatient as I am, especially when it's after 8 and you're waiting on dinner. So what do we do when we have over an hour and a half to kill? Put on some Buena Vista Social Club and make margaritas! Oh, and write a blog post.

Tonight's dinner comes from The Grit cookbook. Even though we aren't vegetarians, The Grit in Athens, GA is one of our favorite places to eat! They have a great selection of typical and not-so typical home-cooked meals and desserts. When I visit the Grit, it always takes me forever to decide what delicious thing I want off the chalkboard (I usually order from the board, not the menu). Fortunately, I now have The Grit Cookbook which allows me to make their down-home recipes all the time. I've been working my way through it, and I have yet to make something Isaac and I didn't like! A few weeks ago I was looking for an interesting chilaquile recipe, and I stumbled across this one .Finally, we're trying it out...

But first, a little bit about chilaquiles. Chilaquiles is a dish that comes from Mexico and is generally comprised of fried corn tortillas, scrambled eggs, beans or meat, cheese, and salsa . Different versions are found in certain parts of Mexico and areas of Central and South America.

Looks messy but tastes delicious

The following meal serves 8, and took about 15-20 minutes to prepare (Isaac cut and sauteed the veggies while I put the casserole together). Cook time is about 35-40 minutes. They say to cool for 10 minutes before serving, but we'll see if I can wait that long.


Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 small or 1/2 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped (approximately 2 cups)
1 medium yellow squash (approximately 2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
5 taco-size (8 inch) flour tortillas (we used whole wheat), divided
4 cups shredded white cheddar cheese, divided
1 medium jalapeno pepper, minced
2 cups Grit Pintos or canned seasoned pinto beans
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon dry or prepared mustard

**White cheddar cheese can be expensive, so we went with a bag of mixed "Mexican blend" cheese. Seemed to work fine.
Also, I left out the jalapeno pepper. I like a little spice, but those bad boys are difficult for me to enjoy.

Make it!
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13" pan or glass casserole dish with 1 tablespoon butter and set aside.

In a large skillet or frying pan, melt 1 tablespoon butter over high heat. Add onion and garlic, and saute until onions are softened. Add zucchini, squash, dry spices, and salt. Tossing frequently for even cooking, saute until vegetables are fully tender and onions are caramelized. Set aside.


Tear 3 tortillas by hand into random strips 2 to 3 inches wide. Distribute tortilla strips into bottoms of casserole dish, layering evenly (retain remaining 2 tortillas for top crust). Spread 2 cups of shredded cheese over torn tortillas. Sprinkle minced jalapeno evenly over cheese, followed by a layer of the pinto beans. Spread sauteed vegetables over this, and top evenly with remaining cheese.


Tear remaining 2 tortillas as before and distribute on top to form upper crust.
Beat eggs together with buttermilk and mustard.
Pour mixture over casserole and place in oven.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until bubbling at the edges and well browned on top.
Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Top with Grit Salsa.

Right out of the oven

**If you ask really nicely, I may post the recipe for Grit Pinto beans and Salsa. Or you could just go buy the book and support this amazing local restaurant!





Check out The Grit and get the cookbook HERE!

Naan Pizza with Canadian Bacon, Asparagus, and Fontina Cheese

Since Isaac and I are both pretty active people, we attempt to eat healthy and make good meals that will benefit our exercise and training. Sometimes it's hard to find recipes that are full of protein and the right amount of carbs to compliment all the cardio we do. I mean, you can only eat chicken and broccoli so many nights a week. If you're like me, you don't like to eat the same thing twice in, well probably about a year. I'm all about changing it up and cooking a variety of things, even if some of the ingredients are similar. This drives Isaac crazy, but I think he secretly enjoys the adventure of attempting to cook something new every night.

My awesome friend Courtney bought me a cookbook for Christmakah last year. It's called The Athlete's Palate Cookbook, and it's a compilation of recipes by different chefs who are also athletes. It contains a ton of different, healthy recipes that are good for training days, race days, and recovery meals. Tonight's dinner was one of the easiest recipes I've made from this book, and definitely one of the best (so far). I guess you want the recipe, right?
Oh, and I hope this color makes you think of Canadian bacon.


This recipe feeds 4 (or 2 really hungry athletes)
Prep time: 10 minutes / Cook time: 15 minutes


Ingredients:

Chop chop.

2 (9") naan (8-ounce package)
1/3 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup prepared pesto (I made my own)
8 asparagus spears, tough ends snapped off, cut into 1.5" lengths
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil (or E.V.O.O if you're a fan of Rachel Ray...)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
3 slices Canadian bacon, cut into thin strips
2/3 cup (about 2 ounces) grated Fontina cheese

Ready for round one in the oven.

Put it all together:

Oven rack should be at a lower-middle position. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the flat breads on a baking sheet. Mix the ricotta and pesto and dollop onto the breads. Toss the asparagus with the oil ad a light sprinkling of salt and pepper. Evenly distribute the spears, along with the Canadian bacon, over the naan. Bake until the breads are warm throughout and the asparagus is bright green, about 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven. Divide the fontina equally and top each naan with a portion of the cheese. Return them to the oven and continue to bake until the breads are crisp and the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes longer. Cut each naan into quarters, serving each person 2 slices, or half a naan.

Per serving: 360 calories, 18 G protein, 32 G carbohydrates, 18 G fat

**If you don't want to spend the big bucks on Fontina cheese, I'd go with a white cheddar or another soft Italian cheese. We also topped ours with grated Parmesan. What can I say, I like cheese.

Mmm. It was so crispy and good.

Buy the Cookbook HERE!

Potsticker Soup

Isaac and I both love shopping at Trader Joe's. However, it's not the most practical thing for us, since we live on the East side of town, about 4 minutes away from Kroger and an additional 1 away from Publix. When we do go to Trader Joe's, we go a little crazy with our grocery shopping. As silly as it sounds, it somehow seems special to shop there, and way more fun.

Last year I bought The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook, and I've just recently started cooking out of it. It has a ton of great recipes, and you don't have to buy everything at Trader Joe's. The following dinner is just one of the many awesome recipes from the book.

There was no picture in the cook book, but ours turned out very colorful!

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cubes frozen crushed garlic (you could use a clove or two of fresh garlic, chopped)
1/2 (16-ounce) package frozen chicken or vegetable potstickers (about 12)
1 (20-ounce) bag of stir-fry vegetables (or really any frozen veggies you're in the mood for)
1/2 cup shredded carrots
4 green onions, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons sesame oil
*If vegetable broth and vegetable potstickers are used, the recipe is vegetarian!

What to do:
In a medium saucepain, combine brother, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic. Bring to a boil. Add potstickers and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 4 minutes. Add stir-fry vegetables and carrots simmer until vegetables are tender and potstickers are cooked through, about 3 minutes. Garnish with green onions and a drizzle of sesame oil.

Serves: 4-6
Prep  Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Black Bean Burgers

Tonight Isaac cooked up some simple black bean burgers.

The original recipe is for six servings...we went ahead and made all six so we could have leftovers for lunch.

We ate our "burgers" with cheese, lettuce, and tomato on top. Next time we'll try them with avocado or guacamole, and maybe a little bit of salsa.

Since we were sticking to a quick recipe tonight, we made some Alexia brand sweet potato waffle fries to go along with our entree. They were delicious and went really well with the flavors of the burger.

The original recipe can be found at http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2565

Ingredients:

1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added black beans, rinsed and drained
1 egg
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped (it's a lot of onion, you may want to add less)

1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or granules
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste
1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive or canola oil
6 potato rolls (you could use whole wheat hamburger buns instead)
Lettuce (however you like it)

Tomato (thinly sliced)

Monterrey Jack Cheese (slices)

Instructions:

Put beans in a large bowl and mash well with a fork. Add egg, yellow onion, bread crumbs, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Mix well to combine then shape into 6 patties.

Heat griddle to 375 degrees F and coat with cooking spray OR heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Arrange patties in a single layer (working in batches, if needed) and cook, flipping once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, about 10 minutes total. Place cheese on patties while they're still on the griddle to allow for melting time. Transfer to buns, top with lettuce, tomatoes and serve.

Per serving: 290 calories (70 from fat), 7g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 35mg cholesterol, 450mg sodium, 47g total carbohydrate (10g dietary fiber, 7g sugar), 12g protein

*This does NOT include the cheese!

This recipe has been Abe-approved.

The takeover

Hi. My name is Whitney. I have (un)officially taken over Isaac's blog. As you can see, nothing has been posted since February, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been eating. In fact, he has been eating pretty well. I have continued to take pictures of our meals on his phone and have encouraged him to post, but my attempts have been unsuccessful. So here I am, writing my first blog post ever. I'm not a very eloquent writer, but you're not here to listen to me, right? It's all about the food. We don't make up a lot of our own recipes...why reinvent the wheel? It is, however, nice to share the good ones we come across.

Anyway, here's what Isaac ate tonight (he actually cooked it all too):

Naan.

Prep time: 20 minutes            Rest time: 60 minutes             Total Time: 90 minutes
Servings: 5

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt

Directions

1. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Stir in the yogurt till the dough is too stiff for a spoon, then knead it in the bowl till it holds together well, adding more flour if necessary.
3. Turn it out on a floured surface and continue kneading for about 5 minutes till the dough feels smooth and elastic.
4. Form the dough into a ball and put it in an oiled bowl, covered with a towel, to rest for an hour or longer.
5. Take the dough out and cut it into 5 equal pieces. Form each into a ball and press the balls flat into round discs.
6. Heat a large frying pan or griddle, either seasoned cast iron or a good non-stick finish.
7. Heat your oven to about 500 degrees F.
8. Take 1 piece of dough at a time and roll it out on a floured surface till it is about 8-10 inches across and less than 1/4 inch thick.
9. Lay it on the hot griddle and cook it over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes.
10. It will puff up in places or all over, and there will be some blackish-brown spots on the bottom.
11. Slide a spatula under the naan and transfer it to the oven, directly onto the rack, for a minute or two, just till it finishes puffing up into a balloon and begins to color lightly on top
12. Remove naan from the oven and brush it lightly with melted butter if you like.
13. Continue this way with all the dough.
14. Serve the breads hot, fresh from the oven, or let them cool and wrap them up.
15. To reheat, wrap them in aluminum foil, in packets of 4 or 5 breads and put them in a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

**Since there are only two of us, this is our scaled-down version. Get the original recipe at: http://www.food.com/recipe/naan-203261#ixzz1rgZf73Gt

Green Lentils with Garlic & Onion.

Prep time: 10 minutes                   Total time: 75 minutes                  Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (we used ground)
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup whole green lentils, washed and drained
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Directions

1. Heat oil in heavy pot over a medium flame. When hot, add cumin. A few seconds later, put in the garlic. Stir and fry until the garlic pieces turn a medium brown color. Now add the onion. Stir and fry until the onion pieces begin to turn brown at the edges. Put in the lentils and the water. Bring the water to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low, and simmer for about an hour or until lentils are tender. Nearly all of the liquid should have been absorbed, but watch that it doesn't turn completely solid.
2. Add the salt and the cayenne. Stir to mix and simmer gently for another 5 minutes.

View original recipe at http://www.food.com/recipe/green-lentils-with-garlic-onion-madhur-jaffrey-438848


This meal took a while to prepare, and may be better for a weekend than a busy weeknight! If you give yourself enough time and start the naan ahead of time, you'll be good to go. Isaac liked the naan, but I thought it was a little bit tough and not as soft and fluffy as it should be. It was tasty once I topped it with lettuce, shredded carrots, and the lentils, and good for a recipe with such few ingredients. Overall, it was a nice,simple vegetarian meal with lots of fiber and a decent amount of protein (go lentils!). I would make it again. Wait, let me re-phrase that. I would have Isaac make it again!

Oh, and listening to your Bollywood radio station on Pandora while cooking and eating only enhances the experience.

Penne Rigate Pasta with Baby Artichokes and Spinach

A delicious light meal

Adapted from Donna Katzl’s recipe in “Cooking for the Heart and Soul”

*Roasted or grilled chicken can be added for extra protein. You can also use asparagus instead of artichokes

10 oz artichokes-you can find them sliced and marinated in a jar-drain before using

6 oz dried penne rigate pasta (the tri-colored veggie kind is really good!)

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

½ cup chicken stock or vegetable stock

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tsps grated lemon zest**

1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions

3 cups washed, stemmed, drained and thinly sliced spinach (if you like spinach, add more! It really brings out the lemony flavor)

Salt and ground pepper to taste

3 tbsp freshly grated Asiago cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander, transfer to a large bowl, toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the other 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the drained artichokes and garlic, and sauté until lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken or vegetable stock, oregano, lemon zest, scallions and spinach, and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

Transfer the skillet mixture into the bowl of warm pasta. Add salt, pepper, and Asiago, toss until mixed and serve.

Makes about 4 servings.

**To zest a lemon, simply use a cheese/veggie grater and grate off small pieces of the lemon peel



Orzo with Salmon and Asparagus

Pretty simple and especially healthy dinner

Ingredients:
-Salmon
-Asparagus
-Orzo
-Red Onion
-Feta
-2 Lemons
-Dried dill
-EVOO
-Salt
-Pepper
-Cooking Spray

-Preheat oven to HI Broil setting
-Boil 6 cups of water
-Take a bunch of asparagus (doesn't matter how much just as much as you would like, I like a lot!) and cut the bottoms off leaving about 4" tips.
-When water is at a rolling boil toss in the asparagus for 3 minutes
-After 3 minutes take it out, plunge it into a bowl of ice water and then strain it. Set it aside until the pasta is cooked
-Return the asparagus water to a boil and then put in 1 cup of orzo (use whole wheat for more healthiness)
-Cook as per instruction on the pacakage of orzo (about nine minutes)
-Prepare salmon by placing it on a pan coated with cooking spray and sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper
-Broil salmon until done (my oven took nine minutes). You will know it is done when it flakes with a fork.
-When orzo is done drain it and then toss in asparagus
-Add red onion cut into thin strips to the asparagus/orzo
-Flake up the fish into chunks and toss into the pasta mix
-Dress with the dressing
-ENJOY!


Dressing:
-1/3 cup crumbled feta (use reduced fat)
-1/4 tsp dill (use the dried stuff in the can)
-3 halves of freshly squeezed lemons (save the other half for the fish)
-2 Tsps EVOO
-1/4 Tsp salt
-1/4 Tsp pepper

Mix it up with a fork, and use the fork to break up some of the larger chunks of feta.





Adapted from: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/salmon-asparagus-orzo-salad-with-lemon-dill-vinaigrette-10000001895960/