Chile Rellenos Casserole

I made this a couple of nights ago, but we had a last-minute glitch, so we didn't eat it until last night. It was good, but while I was making it (and confirmed last night), I was thinking that salsa instead of chiles would add a lot of flavor. I really think that, now! Ha!

So, here's what I did, along with the salsa suggestion and a guess as to quantity!

Serves 4

2 cans, 7 oz. each, whole green chiles, rinsed and seeded

1 large red bell pepper, cut into strips

1 medium shallot, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese

8 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 bunch cilantro, leaves chopped

4 green onions, thinly sliced

Opt.: 2 medium tomatoes, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with canola oil (or olive oil) spray. Lay opened and cleaned chiles in a single layer on the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle the bell pepper, shallot, and minced garlic over the chiles. Sprinkle the cheese over everything!

In a large bowl, mix eggs, milk, paprika, salt, and pepper with a fork or a whisk. Pour this mixture over the cheese.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 40 minutes, or until the top is slightly browned. Remove from oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes to make cutting easier. Top each serving with cilantro, green onion, and optional tomatoes.

OPTION: Instead of using chiles, red pepper, shallot, and garlic, substitute 1 cup--this is the "guess" part!--of salsa. I think medium would be good--a little zip mitigated by the eggs, milk, and cheese. Finish the dish as directed above, and top with cilantro and green onions. I think this would taste great! AND it would be a lot easier than chopping stuff! Ha! Enjoy, either way!

AMERICANIZED Taco Salad!

My mom fixed us a version of this when I was a kid! I loved it when she did! Typically, she fixed it in the summer--my family ate hot food exclusively in the fall and winter--but I fixed it all year round. Everybody liked it, including whatever drop-in guests that we had! And I usually had all the "fixings" hanging around, so it was no big deal! And what an impact!

And even I know that this bears absolutely NO resemblance to the current taco salads--or any Mexican food, period! It's great-tasting, though, if you're in the mood for a fun-food lunch or dinner! I usually made it without the meat, although my mom's version had 1 lb. ground beef or turkey, fried until it was done. She didn't add any seasonings to it, other than salt and pepper, and it made this salad very filling!

If you're in the mood for spicy, you can add Tabasco sauce or cayenne pepper to the dressing or to the soy meat. The addition of spices to the soy meat, or meat, is more contained than the dressing addition. Also, I've tossed in stray bits of jicama and/or corn I have sitting around, which adds sweetness and crunch. This is good, but the original version, left alone, is better! Ha!

For the salad:

Optional: 12 oz. package soy meat, plain

Optional: 1/4 tsp. salt

Optional: 1/4 tsp. pepper

1 head romaine or iceberg lettuce, chopped into bite-sized pieces

3 medium tomatoes, cut into 1/2"-3/4" dice

1 medium brown, white, or red onion--it depends on what I have!--chopped or diced

1 15-oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or more, if you like)

1 small can chopped ripe olives (Jenna won't remember this; I hate olives, so I never added them!)

1 6-8 oz. package good quality yellow corn chips, crushed, but not pulverized!

If you're using it, brown the meat with the salt and pepper, or the soy meat with the pepper.

You can cut stuff up during this time, or you can do it later, while the meat is chilling. To chill the meat quicker, put it on a paper towel on a plate in the freezer. Check it every 20 minutes, or so, because it actually will start to freeze fairly quickly! I learned this the hard way! Ha!

For the dressing:

You can make your own, or you can just buy 8 oz. (we like more) of thousand island dressing.

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup catsup

1/3 cup sweet pickle relish

Optional: few drops of Tabasco sauce

Optional: 1/8 tsp. or more cayenne pepper

Mix everything together in a container. For best results, refrigerate it for a couple of hours. On the other hand, I never plan that far ahead, and I generally use it immediately. Nobody's ever complained! Ha!

To assemble:

Put the lettuce in a large bowl--large enough to toss everything without spilling! Put the meat, or soy meat--if you're using it, obviously!, tomatoes, onions, kidney beans, cheddar cheese, and olives in pie-slice-shaped wedges around the salad. Put it on the table, so everyone can see your artistry! Now, pour the crushed chips over the top. Add the dressing, starting with about half the above recipe, and toss it to coat everything. I think this is a bit dry, so I add more dressing--like, the rest of it! I'm the type who likes a little salad with her dressing! Ha! Serve IMMEDIATELY, since the chips will absorb the dressing and get soggy pretty quickly!

To serve later: do the lettuce and the "pie wedges," cover, and refrigerate until you're ready to eat. Add the chips and dressing, and toss!

This is so good; I'm really looking forward to dinner! Ha! MMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

What I Ate for Dinner: Clams and Brittany Beans from Trader Joe's

I came up with this entirely by accident. I had some stuff in the freezer, but nothing to make an “official” recipe. So I threw it all into a bowl together and zapped it, and it turned out better than I expected!

The Recipe:
Serves 2

1 package Trader Joe’s Steamed Clams in White Wine and Garlic
1 package Trader Joe’s Brittany Beans (a mixture of green beans, wax beans and carrots) or Fritto Misto (eggplant and zucchini in olive oil)
Grated Parmesan cheese to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste (optional)

Microwave the clams according to the package directions. While they heat, pour the beans into a microwave-save bowl. Remove the clams from the microwave and set them aside while you zap the beans (about 4 minutes, stir, zap 2 more minutes).

Put half the beans in a bowl and pour half the clams (with sauce) over them. Top with Parmesan cheese (and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes if you like).

It’s fast and easy, and looks good enough to feed your date!

What I Ate for Dinner: Breakfast Time!

This is what I eat for breakfast, Monday-Friday (and sometimes on the weekends, too!). I started eating this when I started trying to eat a LOT more protein, and it has just enough junk-food associations to be something I'm willing to eat first thing in the morning. (I've always been someone who prefers biscuits and gravy to oatmeal for breakfast. I can't STAND fat-free carbs for breakfast: they upset my stomach like WHOA.)

I don't normally post nutritional breakdowns, but since I did this specifically to get the nutritional content, I happen to know these (approximate) numbers:
Calories: 270
Carbs: Beats me. Not very many, that's for sure.
Protein: 40 grams. Yeah, you read that right. FORTY. GRAMS. (But I'm NEVER hungry before lunch anymore, so that's nice.)
Fat: 7-10 grams, depending on how much non-stick spray you use.

The Recipe:
Non-stick spray
3/4 cup egg substitute (or 3 whole eggs, though that changes the nutritional info above)
1 slice Veggie cheese, American flavor
2 slices Jennie-O Turkey Ham*
Salt and pepper

Spray some non-stick spray into a microwave-safe bowl and pour in 3/4 cup of egg substitute. (You can use 3 real eggs, but then you have to crack and scramble. I'm in a hurry in the morning, so I stick with substitute.) Microwave for about 2 minutes.

While that zaps, put your ham on a plate. When the eggs are done, put the ham in the microwave (COVERED!) for 1 minute.

While the ham zaps, tear the Veggie cheese into bits and throw it in the eggs with some salt and pepper. Mix the whole thing together with a fork. (It's ok if the eggs are still a little runny - they're going back into the microwave.)

Take the ham out, and put the egg mixture back in for 1 minute.

Take the eggs out, use the fork to stir the "cheese" in, and dump them on your plate with the ham.

Eat fast, you're running late! ;)


*Note: the ham requires advance planning. I buy the Jennie-O Turkey ham in a package as close to 2 lb as I can, then cut it into 16 as-equal-as-possible slices (the nutritional breakdown on the package is for 2 oz of "ham", so it evens out). I pack the slices in sandwich bags, 4 to a bag, and put them in the freezer. Then I just pull a bag out and throw it in the fridge when I use the last of the bag that was ALREADY in the fridge. It's thawed by the next morning.

Crab Quiche

YUM. What's not to love about crabby, eggy goodness in a PIE CRUST? Ok, the pie crust is optional. This will work just fine in a pie dish without the crust, as long as you are generous with the non-stick spray. I've also used this recipe to make egg "muffins." It's been a while since I did that, but I think it made about 16 muffins. Either way, it's good stuff. :)

The Recipe:
1 cup crab (imitation crab works fine, too)
1 ¼ cup sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
½ small white onion, chopped (or ½ cup frozen, pre-chopped onion)
4 eggs
1 cup milk
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp hot sauce - optional
½ cup Parmesan cheese
1 prepared pie crust, NOT prebaked (or make your own) - optional

Preheat the oven to 450. If you’re not using a piecrust, spray a baking dish liberally with non-stick spray. (Seriously. None of that nanosecond spraying – this will need some help coming out of the pan.)

Combine the crab, Cheddar cheese and onion in the bottom of the pie crust. Mix the eggs, milk, pepper and hot sauce in a bowl, and pour it over the mixture in the pie crust. Top with Parmesan cheese.

For best results, bake at 450 for 10 minutes; then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 30 more minutes.
OR: instead of preheating to 450, just preheat oven to 350 and bake 40-50 minutes. This is good, but not quite AS good. I’m just saying.

You’ll know it’s done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

This is also one of my favorite "on-the-go" lunches, because you can eat it cold or at room temperature. Either way it tastes FANTASTIC.