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Spinach Enchilada Pie

June 2, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 8 comments

I finally started cooking again! With a long weekend in DC, a week of evening events, and Memorial Day weekend on the boat, I literally hadn’t made more than a sandwich or cereal in what felt like an eternity.

Luckily, Tortilla Land provided me with some inspiration in the form of LOTS of fresh tortillas.

Tortilla Land Tortillas

After lots of fun eating and drinking, I decided to whip up a semi-healthy dinner a few nights ago, using the Tortilla Land tortillas as my base. A little too lazy to make neatly rolled enchiladas, I went with an enchilada pie.

tortillas

First, I cooked up the Tortilla Land tortillas. These arrive uncooked, and while the packaging says to cook them for 30 seconds on each side, it took me about a minute on each side for the tortillas to get browned and puffy.

Once the tortillas were cooked, I set them aside and made my filling, a mix of about 1/2 cup Neufchatel cheese (lower fat than cream cheese) and about 1 and 1/2 cups of low fat cottage cheese, my new high protein obsession. Into the cheese mixture went an entire Vidalia onion, sautéed in olive oil and a box of chopped spinach, thawed with the liquid squeezed out.

spinach and cheese

This mixture was good enough to eat alone. I love how the cottage cheese kind of hid the spinach. I added some crushed red pepper flakes to add a teeny bit of spice and then got started layering my pie.

image

To top the enchilada pie, I just used store brand enchilada sauce, though I am sure I can do better homemade. Still, this sauce was really flavorful and added a lot to the dish.

enchilada sauce

I popped the baking dish into a 350 oven for 15 minutes, making sure everything was nice and hot, and dug in so quickly I forgot to take a photo of the finished dish until after I started eating.

enchilada pie

Mmmmm. . . the cheese mixture got nice and gooey. The tortillas were great, a little crunchy in parts from being cooked earlier and a little soft from the enchilada sauce. This made four large servings, leaving enough for lunch the next day, a lunch we definitely looked forward to!

Do you have a favorite way of sneaking veggies into a recipe that has a reputation for being unhealthy?

Tags: Food, healthy comfort food, recipe

Food Art

May 19, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 9 comments

Remember that June where it rained every day for the entire month? Yeah, I am pretty sure those dreary “summer” days are hard to forget, and it looks like this May is trying to one up June 2009. Don’t get me wrong. I love rainy days and actually appreciate a cloudy day or two every week. I find them more serene than sunny days, and in this allergy season, I can finally breathe more easily. It’s not so much the rain that is getting me down, it’s the cold! I am back to working in multiple layers of fleece with my down slippers on, sipping on various Yogi teas all day to stay warm. We even put the heat on a few times this week. It’s obviously not as cold as it was all winter, but my body is just longing to feel comfortable, no chattering teeth or blue fingers, just that ahhhhhh when you can sit back, relax and not feel too hot or too cold.

I am ready to feel like that.

To bring the taste of summer into my life this week, I decided I needed a bright caprese salad.

caprese salad

It provided a bright contrast to what I was looking at out of my skylight.

rain in Boston

Caprese salad is such a simple and colorful dish, perfect for a light summer dinner with a baguette and a glass of wine.

This time, I used Shaw’s brand, Culinary Circle fresh mozzarella. Once again, the store brand is just as good as the fancier brands but about a dollar cheaper.

fresh mozzarella

These tomatoes looked gorgeous, but they ended up being a little too hard. It was a little disappointing, but I know I will appreciate local summer tomatoes that much more.

vine ripened tomatoes

My Shaw’s had one box of basil left, and it looked awful, so I bought these Gourmet Garden herbs in a tube.

tube of basil

Tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, olive oil, salt, and pepper. It couldn’t be easier or more delicious.
caprese salad

Served, of course, with a side of Tostitos hint of jalapeno because I am a tortilla chip addict. These beat out the hint of lime chips, in my opinion!

Tostitos Jalapeno

This was actually my mid day lunch, one of the perks of working from home!

 

What summer foods are you most looking forward to?

Tags: Food, mozzarella, salad, tomatoes, Vegetarian

Orange Glazed Plantains

May 17, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 10 comments

Do you like plantains? Have you ever tried to make them at home? Following a visit to Grenada years ago, making great plantains became a goal of mine. This staple in Caribbean cuisine is versatile, inexpensive, and delicious.

plantains

I always like to get ripe plantains at the store. These are not that ripe; I prefer them to browner on the outside, sort of like a banana you almost wouldn’t eat.

plantains

I have prepared plantains a few ways, sometimes spiced with jerk chicken. Today’s “recipe” has them glazed in orange juice and served aside black beans. To start, I cut the plantains on a diagonal.

plantains

I added them to a little bit of oil on medium heat and left them alone to brown.

plantains

I repeated the same for both sides of the plantains and then added about a cup of orange juice and a drizzle of honey to the pan. I simmered them in the orange juice for about fifteen minutes until it reduced a little and the plantains were softer, then served beside some spicy black beans.

plantains

I love bringing flavors of vacation home with me, and these plantains were definitely a taste of the islands.

Do you have a favorite recipe or ingredient you have brought home from a vacation?

Tags: Food, recipe, Vegetarian

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