From Canadian Living

Black Bean Quesadillas

Serve with: Garden salad.

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped 1 sweetgreenpepper, diced 1 tbsp (15 mL) chili powder 1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground cumin 1/4 tsp (1 mL) each salt and pepper 1 can (19 oz/540 mL) black beans, drained and rinsed 1 cup (250 mL) salsa 1/2 cup (125 mL) cornkernels 4 large flourtortillas 2 cups (500 mL) shredded cheddarcheese 1/2 cup (125 mL) light sour cream 1/4 cup (50 mL) diced fresh or pickled jalape?eppers (optional)

Preparation:

In large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat; cook onion, green pepper, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper until softened, about 8 minutes. Add black beans, salsa and corn; cook, stirring often, until heated through, about 5 minutes. (Make-ahead: Let cool for 30 minutes; refrigerate until chilled. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.)
Evenly spoon bean mixture over half of each tortilla; sprinkle with cheese. Fold uncovered half over top and press lightly. Place on large rimmed baking sheet; bake in 425°F (220°C) oven, turning once, until golden, 6 to 10 minutes. Serve with sour cream, and jalapeno peppers (if using).

These were great! The prep was really fast - I actually omitted the green pepper and used onion powder in place of the onion. They were ready for the oven in about 5 minutes, and ready to eat in well under half an hour. Plus, they were quite delicious and very healthy.  Again, I failed to photograph, but the original website has one if you need convincing. It was too good not to post the recipe despite no photo.

Crockpot Pineapple Chicken Chili

Adapted from Amazing Hawaiian Chicken Chili

Crockpot Pineapple Chicken Chili
6 servings

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 2)
1/2 cup barbeque sauce
1 tsp onion powder (or half an onion, chopped)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp chipotle powder, optional
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 can pineapple chunks
1 can black beans or kidney beans, or half of each (15 oz total) (drained and rinsed)
1/2 jar salsa (1 1/2 cups)

1. Chop raw chicken into bite-sized pieces. Put into crockpot.
2. Add spices, beans, pineapple juice, and salsa. Reserve pineapple.
3. Cook 8-10 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high. Add pineapple and cook until warm (about 15 min on high).
4. Serve with buns or cornbread.

This was more reminiscent of baked beans than chili, somehow. Rather on the sweet-and-sour (or rather, sweet-and-spicy) side. We enjoyed it, and I have a feeling the leftovers will be even better than the meal. It would freeze very well. It could, of course, easily be stewed on the stovetop. Add a little more liquid (about a cup of tomato sauce, or more salsa) and simmer for 30 min (or until chicken is cooked through). I think it does benefit from cooking all day and really melding the flavours in the crockpot, though.

It's Sunday night and I was again hankering for something good for me (yet yummy) to eat for snacks this week. I believe we have a winner: Irresistible Double Chocolate Muffins. Whole wheat flour, wheat bran, flax seed, pumpkin puree... and cocoa and chocolate chips. The chocolate chips are what takes this from yet another "well, I suppose it's good for me" to "mmmm".

Irresistible Double Chocolate Muffins

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup wheat germ (or bran)
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk (or add 1 Tbsp vinegar to 1 cup milk)
  
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners.
2. Combine flour, flax seed, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and chocolate chips in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat the buttermilk, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing just until combined. Spoon equal amounts of batter into muffin cups.
3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Layered Enchilada Bake

Layered Enchilada Bake by Kraft Foods

I admit, I kind of give Kraft recipes the side-eye. They tend to be full of weird processed stuff. I did omit the salad dressing from this (and ended up subbing tomato sauce for the salsa when I realized my salsa was mango lime and would probably be weird in this).

The good news: it's pretty tasty. It would freeze well (but we're eating this one fresh). It really was quick to put together. Add a salad and it's not a bad meal at all. Next time, I will either actually use salsa or enchilada sauce. And on that note, I need to go eat my salad.

EDIT TO ADD: This is another recipe that I will definitely divide into two 8x8 or 9x9 pans in the future. While it's still good, I'm just tired of it. 9x13 pan recipes are really too big for two people unless they never get tired of leftovers.

Sweet Potato and Apple Curried Soup

 

Sweet Potato and Apple Curried Soup

4 entree servings or 6 appetizer servings.

Ingredients:

1 jumbo sweet potato (about 2 cups)

2 apples, peeled cored and diced

3 cups chicken stock

2 tsp onion powder (or some real onion)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tbsp mild curry powder (adjust if your curry powder is hotter)

1/2 tsp ginger powder

sour cream or yogurt for garnish

Directions:

Wash sweet potato, stab generously with fork, and microwave until soft all the way through (approx. 15-20 minutes on high).

Meanwhile, put apples, chicken stock, and spices in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer until sweet potatoes are done. Cut sweet potato in half and scoop flesh into pot. Stir until well combined. Simmer 10 minutes.

Puree using immersion blender or in batches in regular blender (do not fill past half full, as it can overflow). Add water as needed to reach desired consistancy.

Serve garnished with sour cream or plain yogurt. 

Freeze up to 3 months. Makes a great low-calorie (but filling and delicious) lunch option.  This is loosely "my" recipe in that I didn't specifically follow anyone else's and definitely wrote my own directions. I'm in love with cooking sweet potatoes in the microwave. I hate peeling those bad boys. This is one of my favorite soups.

Sushi Salad

I like sushi, and I have made some rolls in the past. The flaw is, of course, that I am lazy. This salad has all the sushi flavours I love, but skips the "make it into a roll" steps that really draw out the process. This recipe made waaaay too much for us, though, and I had to give away a few servings to a friend because I knew we'd never eat it all. Rather than having it as a side, I just added some imitation crab meat to make it a full meal. I really enjoyed it - and it will be a lovely lunch for me for the next couple days.

Unfortunately, it's a Cooking Light recipe, and they are pretty strict with their copyright, so I must ask you to check the recipe here: Sushi-Rice Salad . I did find their recipe unclear, as it called for 2 cups of rice and 2 cups of water, while my rice called for 2 parts water to 1 part rice... I did 2 cups rice and 4 cups water, which made a very large amount. But the dressing to rice ratio was perfect. I would advise cutting the whole thing in half, but doubling the water (ie. 1 cup rice, 2 cups water).

This recipe is not freezer friendly, but it was tastey and easy, so I thought I would pass it along. It would be lovely with an asian-flavour salmon on the side, an interesting potluck dish, or you could add whatever maki roll ingredients strike your fancy.

Redneck Cooking: Kool Aid Cake

I'm still on a quest to find a good lemonade cake. Don't tell me to google it. Those ice cream based monstrosities are not what I dream of.

So I set out to try adding the most potent artificial colors and flavours of my chidhood to the goodness of cake. My first attempt: Blue Raspberry, the most baffling of flavours.

The result was a little dense, but overall kind of good. Not "OMG fabulous" good, but good enough I'll be making lemon-lime cupcakes for St. Patrick's day. It would also work to just add the Kool Aid to a cake mix, but I never have a cake mix, so I did it from scratch.

Update: The strawberry mini-cupcakes were much tastier than the blue raspberry cake. At least in part because eating red food feels more normal than eating blue food. They would be really great for a kid to take to school for Valentine's Day, or for an office treat.

Kool Aid Cake

2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 packet Kool Aid, flavour of your choice (the kind you're supposed to add sugar to)

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Mix the dry ingredients, including Kool Aid. Add wet ingredients. Stir until well blended.

Pour into 8" or 9" square pan, or muffin tins. Bake 50-60 minutes for cake (shorter for cupcakes,probably 20-25 min, I haven't done that yet). Mini-cupcakes bake for 12 minutes (and look fantastic, and taste pretty darn good). Pictured below: strawberry.