Southwest Middle East Burritos

Lately I've been much more adventurous about trying foods I always thought, based on limited experience, that I hated. Brussels sprouts, for example. This recipe is an example of that. I tried hummus once and didn't like it. However, I found that homemade hummus, with a tweak or two, is FAR superior to the store bought stuff. I call these Southwest Middle East Burritos because I use cilantro and cumin in the hummus.

This meal takes under 30 minutes, and makes 3 burritos. You will have leftover hummus, though, so feel free to make more chicken than I did, and you could probably easily serve 4 or 5 with this recipe.

You will need:

for the hummus:
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), 15 or 16 ounces
1/4 cup tahini (basically, a paste made out of sesame seeds)(this is a little harder to find -- in my area you can't get it at Walmart, but you CAN find it at Kroger, either in the organic food aisle or the Asian food aisle)
1 lemon
1 heaping spoonful of minced garlic
cilantro, cumin, and salt
olive oil

for the chicken:
butter
1.5 boneless skinless chicken thighs (I just grabbed some out of the freezer and got a whole one and a half and decided it was enough for the two of us) (or 1 breast if you prefer)
1 heaping spoonful of minced garlic
lemon juice (i just used the lemon juice from the store rather than juicing another lemon)

for the burrito or wrap:
tortillas or flatbread -- tonight i used some spinach tortillas that I found at Walmart -- fantastic!
1 tomato (actually, you really only need half a tomato or so)

First cut your chicken up into little cubes. Melt some butter in a skillet over medium heat, then add the garlic and cook for a couple minutes, until you start to see the garlic brown a little. Toss in your chicken, and squirt fairly liberally with the lemon juice. Stir once in a while while you're attending to the rest of the recipe.

Pour the entire contents of your can of chickpeas into a small saucepan, juice and all. Bring to a boil and boil for about six minutes.

While your chicken is cooking and your chickpeas are boiling, juice your lemon (I had a medium lemon and it yielded just under 1/4 cup of lemon juice). If you have a juicer attached to a cup to catch the juice, like I do, add the lemon juice to your food processor last, to make sure that everything that is going to drip through has had a chance.

Measure your 1/4 cup tahini and place into your food processor or blender. Add cilantro and cumin. I didn't measure those (I rarely measure herbs) but if you're not used to using them, be careful. They are both pretty potent, and you don't want to overdo it. Be especially careful with the cumin. Now add your juice of the lemon. Don't blend yet.

Chop your tomato.

When your chickpeas are done, drain them in the colander. I've found that you don't want to add all of them to the food processor at once, at least if you have a smallish one like I do. So add about 1/4 of the chickpeas, blend, stop, mix it up, maybe add some more, blend, stir. Here's where the olive oil comes in.

Originally this recipe called for more tahini, but we didn't like quite ALL that sesame flavor, so I cut back on the tahini and I substitute olive oil as needed to make the consistency come out right. So I would add some chickpeas, blend, stir, add some olive oil some more chickpeas, and so forth. I know this sounds complicated and time consuming, but it really isn't. I was done with this part in a matter of minutes. I wasn't measuring the olive oil, but I'm guessing I used 1/3 cup or so, when all was said and done.

Don't worry about trying to get it completely smooth. You will end up with a few chickpeas still intact, or nearly intact, but it actually enhances the dish, in my opinion.

By now, your chicken is cooked, so drain that too. Now lay out one of your tortillas on a plate. Here's the part that is difficult to explain, if you don't know how to roll a burrito. I tried to find a video for you online, but none of them roll the way I do. I'm not saying my way is better, and if you have a way you like, then by all means, go for it! (My husband used to work at Moe's, and he actually rolled the one in the picture, so it's probably not my method either, but if anyone wants to know how to make it look like the one in the picture, I will ask him and post it)

At this point, basically, you make a burrito by smearing some hummus on the tortilla, topping with chicken and chopped tomato, then rolling it up. I like to fold one side up, turn the plate, and then roll fairly tightly till it's a burrito. Simple, but pretty effective. I know a lot of people like to fold both sides up and make both end tucked in, but I like the front open, myself.

One more thing! The recipe that I adapted the hummus from called for 1/2 a lemon, not a whole lemon, and they weren't expecting it to be served with garlic lemon chicken. So, if you're not crazy about lemon, season your chicken some other way, and cut the lemon back to a half. Just know you might have to add more tahini or olive oil to make the consistency come out right. As it is, this recipe is NOT a subtle one. ;) But it is SOOO tasty! Like I said, I didn't think I liked hummus at all, and I polished off my dinner burrito. Oh, and this reheats pretty well, as I discovered when I decided to eat half of the burrito in the picture later. ;) It was that good. I challenge you to try it!

Italian Crusted Smothered Chicken

Easy, quick, and tasty -- who could ask for more?

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Italian dressing
bread crumbs (they even make Italian herb bread crumbs if you want some extra Italian in your dinner)
3 large mushrooms
3 slices provolone cheese

Marinate your chicken breasts in the Italian dressing. Thirty minutes will do it, but if you have time to give it an hour or two, so much the better.

When you're just about ready to get started, chop up your mushrooms. Pour some bread crumbs onto a plate. Heat some oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the mushrooms, then stir them around really well to get them coated, then push them to one side of the skillet to leave room for the chicken. Add a little more oil in the empty side of the skillet. While the mushrooms are beginning to cook, bread your chicken breasts in the crumbs and place them in the skillet, top side down.

Cook the chicken for about 7 minutes on that side, then flip and cook for about another 3 minutes. You'll be wanting to move your mushrooms around a little during this. After you've flipped and cooked your breasts for another 3 minutes, scoop the mushrooms onto the breasts and cover with the provolone cheese. I found it took 3 slices to completely cover the chicken and mushrooms. Now, cover, reduce heat SLIGHTLY and cook for another 3 minutes.

Make sure your chicken is done, either with a meat thermometer, or by cutting into the thickest part of the chicken and making sure it isn't all pink inside.

This goes well with any of the veggies I've previously posted. Tonight it was served with Brussels sprouts.

Roasted...Brussels Sprouts?

Ok, almost anyone who knows me knows that I hate Brussels sprouts. Ask my parents. They remember the look on my face when I was a kid. And I've never gone near them again since that night that I couldn't leave the table until I had eaten just one. I was there for hours. I couldn't get past the smell.

So...for Valentine's Day, I made my husband some Brussels sprouts. He loves them, but he hasn't had them in forever because I insist they are gross and don't want them stinking up my house. Imagine my surprise when I found a recipe that a) doesn't stink, and b) actually tastes pretty darn good!

Now, I hope you have a cast iron skillet, because you need an oven-safe skillet, and the only one I had was our new cast iron. I am not sure if it was the cast iron or the fact that I only made about 1/4 of what the recipe called for, but mine was done in half the time that the recipe called for. So my advice is to watch the suckers.

You will need:
Brussels sprouts (1 pound makes four servings, but I was only expecting my husband to eat it, so I made 1/4 pound)
whole garlic cloves (the 1 pound recipe calls for 5 peeled cloves...I used that many for the 1/4 pound version, heehee)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
balsamic vinegar

Heat oven to 450.

So, cut the hard ends off, cut the sprouts in half, and brush off any loose leaves. Heat the olive oil in your oven-safe skillet. When it is hot, add the sprouts, cut side down, and then toss in your garlic. Cook for a couple minutes, until the bottoms of the sprouts are lightly browned.

Put the skillet in the oven and cook for 30 minutes, shaking occasionally (here is where you watch the suckers!). Remove from oven and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Good served hot or warm, so if they get done a little quicker than you expected, just put the skillet on a cold burner on the stove top and cover it until everything else is done (this works especially well with cast iron, since it holds heat very well).

These are good even without the balsamic vinegar, but if you're hesitant about B. sprouts, then you'll probably want to add the vinegar, because it makes them almost sweet. My husband was in heaven, since it's been YEARS since he had Brussels sprouts. And since Wal-mart sells B. sprouts by the pound, I have enough to try this again, and maybe find another recipe or two to try as well, now that I know that Brussels sprouts aren't hideous!

Scratch Pancakes

Ok, I know it's really easy to go to the store and buy pancake mix. But I read the ingredients and decided I would see how difficult it would be to do at home, from real food. Turns out, it isn't hard at all.

1 cup all-purpose flour (I used the unbleached kind)
2 Tablespoons white sugar
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1 egg
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons oil (I used corn, but vegetable would work too)

Mix your dry ingredients together in a bowl. Mix the egg, milk, and oil together in a different bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients bowl and pour the wet stuff into that well. It's going to overflow, so don't worry. Now whisk everything together until it's smooth, and you have pancake batter. (Not really much more complicated than "Pour our powder made out of weird stuff into bowl, add milk (or water, or oil)," and *I* think worth an extra few minutes)

Heat over medium heat a lightly oiled pan. I do mean lightly. The first batch of pancakes I did didn't turn out nearly as well as the second or third, because my pan had too much oil in it. Honestly, you might be better off just using a generous amount of cooking spray.

I like small pancakes (I will post a picture soon of my pancakes) -- about the circumference of a baseball. So I used a slightly large regular spoon to drop my batter on the pan. This will produce about 12 baseball sized pancakes. If you want fewer, bigger pancakes, you can used a 1/4 cup measure -- it's what the recipe actually called for.

Anyway, put your batter in the pan, let it sit until it is firm enough on the bottom that you won't break it by flipping, and flip. Let cook, and I usually flip mine a couple times to keep the browning even on both sides. Then I poke it with a toothpick to make sure it's done in the middle, too.

YOU know what to do after that! Butter and syrup! (next on my list -- figure out how to make my own syrup)

Thanks, Allrecipes.com!

Broccoli Pesto Pasta with Basil

This is a most amazing recipe that I got from Jamie Oliver's cookbook. We don't usually eat vegetarian, since I don't feel like I have had a meal if there isn't meat in it (those are called "appetizers," usually), but this really hit the spot, and it makes a SPECTACULAR leftover (since a pound of pasta is a bit much for two adults and one toddler just discovering that he loves noodahs (noodles).

1 pound noodles (tagliatelle is what is called for, but I used fettucine because my local grocery store doesn't seem to carry tagliatelle, and I think the only difference is a slight width difference)

a package of fresh basil (even if you have the dried stuff, do yourself a favor and buy the fresh at least this once. You won't believe how awesome it smells and tastes...mostly how awesome it smells. Your hand will smell like a eucalyptus tree all night -- and that's good!)

1 medium potato (trust me)

salt (preferably kosher or sea, but regular would work too)

1/4 cup green pesto (you can buy it in a jar at the grocery store, or make your own. This time I bought it, but I plan on making my own next time, because now I know this dish is worth the extra effort.)

3 ounces grated parmesan cheese (the stuff that comes in a bag, not a can, or you can buy a block and grate it yourself)

some broccoli (I'm going to leave this up to you -- how much do you like broccoli? He calls for a head. I probably used 2/3 of a head, and I like broccoli)

Salt your water and put it on to boil, then cut up your broccoli, keeping stalk and florets separate. Wash and peel the potato, discarding the skin, then shave it with your potato peeler until you have a pile of nearly see-through potato shavings. When the water is boiling, put your noodles and broccoli stalks in and cook to package specifications (personally, I never cook my pasta to specs because that makes it over-cooked for me, so I compensated).

While this is cooking, chop your basil up (yummy smell!), discarding any stalks that might have been in the package. Two minutes before the pasta should be done, add the florets and potato. After 2 minutes, drain everything in the colander, but reserve a little cooking water just in case your sauce is too thick. Pour the pasta, broccoli and potato back into the pan and add the basil and pesto and half of the Parmesan cheese. At this point, if it's too thick, add a splash of cooking water.

Sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan over the pasta once it's been served up into separate bowls.

This may sound like it would take a long time, but it really doesn't. It's really very easy -- most of it is just cutting stuff up.

Cheesy Creamy Cauliflower Bake

Ok, this one is pretty easy, and it takes just about exactly the same amount of time as fried chicken to cook, so they go well together.

I took a recipe out of a Jamie Oliver cookbook and modified it *just a tad* -- like, i left out the anchovies, because they're gross, I left out the bacon because I was serving this as a side dish with chicken, and I didn't make my own bread crumbs because I already had some in the cupboard. I also used dried rosemary instead of fresh, because it's what I had, and added some other spices. ;)

Between half and two-thirds of a head of cauliflower
2 cups heavy cream (one of those itty-bitty cardboard cartons -- a pint, maybe?)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
rosemary
Nature's Seasoning
some kind of garlic blend (mine is McCormick and it's Roasted Garlic and Herb)
bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ok, here's how I did this tonight. Later I will tell you what I might do different next time. Put a large pot of water on to boil, and rip up your cauliflower. It's up to you how small you want it, but I would use both the florets and the stalk. Keep in mind that the smaller the pieces are, the faster they cook, so if you make them small you may end up with pretty mushy cauliflower.

Boil your cauliflower with a pinch of sea salt (or kosher salt -- that's what I had!) for just a couple minutes -- Jamie says 5 minutes, but he's also doing a whole head. I boiled mine for 3-ish. While it's boiling, pour your cream into a large Pyrex measuring cup (or just measure the two cups of cream into a bowl). Add 1 cup of the cheese and your seasonings, and stir.

Once your cauliflower is done, drain in a colander and place in a casserole dish. Pour your cheesy cream over it and mix it up. Sprinkle the other cup of cheese over it, and top the whole shebang with a dusting (or more, if you like) of breadcrumbs.

Bake this for about 45 minutes. Like I said, I put this in the oven, and immediately dropped my fried chicken in the pan, and they were done at the same time. I love it when that happens!

As far as what I might do different -- I like my veggies pretty crisp most of the time, and this turned out pretty soft. Next time I think I'll omit the boiling of the cauliflower first, cause I'm pretty sure that it will cook enough in the oven. But I gave you the way that I did it tonight, because I KNOW that it's tasty this way!

Thank you, Jamie Oliver, for giving me the bones of this recipe -- I hope I didn't change it too much!

Stay tuned -- I have a fabulous pasta dish to share with you soon, also courtesy of Jamie Oliver's cookbook (which I got for Christmas, if you couldn't tell)! The pasta dish I did NOT modify. I'll post it soon.