Casserole #3 - Breakfast Casserole

 The Year of Casseroles

Casserole #3 - Breakfast Casserole

    I chose to "half" this recipe from 1999's The Centennial Harvest - A Collection of Recipes from The First Unitarian Church of Dallas. Per the directions, I prepared this casserole in the evening, covered with plastic and refrigerated overnight. First this morning, I pre-heated my oven, removed the casserole and the plastic, and baked for 40 minutes. I sprinkled with red pepper chili flakes. This casserole was yummy. I would recommend the recipe as I give it, especially if you are making this for one to four people. Double the recipe to serve eight to twelve people. Substitute spicy breakfast sausage like I did or use plain sausage. Also try turkey or chicken breakfast sausage. Serve with a sprinkle of red chili pepper flakes or drizzle your favorite salsa on top. 

Ingredients: 

1/2 lb breakfast sausage, browned

6 slices of bread

5 eggs

1/2 cup milk (I used oat milk)

1/2 cup grated/shredded cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In an 8x8 baking dish, lay four slices of bread. Tear the other two pieces of bread in half and squish the halves lengthwise on both sides of the first four slices. Sprinkle browned sausage crumbles evenly over the bread. In a small bowl mix eggs with milk, and salt and pepper; use a fork or whisk. Pour egg mixture over the bread and sausage. Evenly sprinkle cheese on top. Cover baking dish with plastic wrap or foil. Refrigerate overnight.  In the morning, pre-heat oven to 350 F and bake uncovered for 40 to 60 minutes; until the center is set (for me that was 40 minutes). Cool slightly, cut into squares and loosen the edges with a knife. Serve squares of casserole with salsa or red chili pepper flakes. 

Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast Casserole 

Week 36 - Barley, Black Bean and Corn Burritos

 Barley, Black Bean and Corn Burritos

Week 36 of 52

Vegetarian Entree #5

    Let me start with the fact that you can make this Barley, Black Bean and Corn mix and make a burrito bowl like I did, or you can make burritos. Depending on your serving sizes, you could get at least 8 or 9  servings of two burritos each. With a couple of good sized scoops on bowl of rice, you could probably get about 8 bowls. I liked this recipe, as it was fairly easy to put together and it is a slow-cooker recipe.  The recipe comes from the Southern Living - Slow Cooker Cookbook published in 2002. Notes/Modifications in italics.

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilis (not drained)

1 cup uncooked fine barley 

2 cups vegetable broth (the recipe calls for chicken broth, but, um, that doesn't make it vegetarian)

3/4 cups frozen corn (whole kernel)

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (I used bottled lime juice)

1 teaspoon ground cumin (I didn't have cumin, so I used extra chili powder)

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (Plus extra for decoration)

shredded cheddar or monterrey jack (Optional)

shredded lettuce (optional)

salsa (Optional; I used medium heat)

sour cream (Optional)

18 tortillas if you are making burritos

2 cups cooked white rice if you are making bowls

Directions:

Add the first eleven ingredients to a 3 to 4 quart slow cooker and combine thoroughly. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hrs or until the barley is tender. I cooked the full five hours. Stir in cilantro. 

Bowls: Place a couple of scoops of cooked rice into a bowl and top with the Barley, Black Bean and Corn mixture. Add spoonfuls of sour cream and salsa. Sprinkle cheese over top, followed by a sprinkle of chopped cilantro. 

Burritos: Heat tortillas evenly on both sides on low to medium heat on a cast-iron comal, griddle or skillet. Basically, whatever you use to cook pancakes, you can use to heat tortillas. You want the tortillas to be warm and flexible. If you overcook them, they'll get too crispy to roll. Heat tortillas one at a time. In the center of each tortilla, spoon some of the Barley, Black Bean and Corn mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and roll up. The recipe in the book says to make a bed of lettuce and lay the burritos on the lettuce, but nope, that is not for me. Top with salsa, sour cream and chopped cilantro. 

Barley, Black Bean and Corn Bowl

     

Creamy-Spicy Sauce

 Creamy-Spicy Sauce

        This is a super easy sauce.  I'll give some measurements, but you can adjust as needed or to taste. I made this sauce for chunked pork loin, which I served over rice.  You can use it on chicken or maybe fish or even on plant based substitutes.  Try it with cooked & cubed tofu or paneer cheese or potato. Try it with pasta or rice and mix in chunks of meet or the aforementioned tofu/paneer cheese. I used La Costena Ranchera Salsa. This salsa is a tomatillo and mixed chili peppers sauce.  I definitely taste chipotle in there and I love chipotle. This salsa is a dark, roasted color.  La Costena products can be found at Latino groceries and other local grocery stores. 

    First, cut your pork/chicken/tofu/paneer cheese/potato into chunks as big or small as you like. Heat a skillet, add a bit of oil (I like canola & olive oil) or cooking spray. Add whatever you decided to use, meat, tofu, paneer cheese, to the skillet and cook until meat is cooked thoroughly or the tofu/paneer cheese is completely cooked.  Sorry I don't have more info on how to tell when tofu/paneer cheese is completely cooked.  I just cook paneer cheese so it is a little browned on the edges of the cubes and some of the pieces pop a little.  Also, the tried and true method is to just spear a piece with a fork and check it by biting it. For potato, I like to cook the cubed potato in salted boiling water until softened, but not too soft, because I'm adding it to a skillet.  

Second, determine how 'saucy' you want your sauce.  I like saucy, myself.  You can start with 1 cup of sour cream and mix in "salsa to taste".  Add the sour cream and salsa mixture to your skillet with your meat, tofu, paneer cheese or potato and heat through, stirring to combine all.  

Third, if serving with rice or pasta, fill bowls with rice/pasta and spoon your meat/tofu/paneer cheese and sauce mixture over top.  Serve with bread and butter if you like.  

Ingredients:

La Costena Ranchera Salsa or try it with your favorite salsa

Sour Cream

Pork/Chicken/Tofu/Paneer Cheese/Potato (Use enough for the amount of servings you plan)

Creamy-Spicy Sauce with Pork

Southwestern-ish Salad

 Southwestern-ish Salad

    No special recipe here (although I will tell you what I had in my salad). I just had a salad last night. This is so simple. Just layer your ingredients in the order you want them, drizzle some of your favorite salsa over your bowl, followed by your dressing (I used Ranch dressing here), add a sprinkle of black pepper and you are good to go. Use as much of any ingredient as you want. You can always add crushed up tortilla chips or tortilla strips for some crunch, like I did for my lunchtime salad today. 

Ingredients:

Baby Spinach, washed & patted dry

Veggie Mix, a scoop

Veggie Mix:

    1 Can Corn, drained, rinsed & drained again

    1 Can Blackbeans, drained, rinsed & drained again

    1 Can Diced Tomatoes, drained, rinsed & drained again

Pickled Carrots, a small scoop

Cotija Cheese, to taste

Salsa, I used taqueria style

Ranch Dressing

Black Pepper

Southwestern-ish Salad

Fried Guacamole

 Fried Guacamole

    This is adapted from a recipe which was posted recently on Delish.com.  If you'd like to see there version or for other recipes, check them out. For a short cut, use pre-made guacamole in a spiciness level you prefer. Store bought should work just the same. If you make your guacamole from scratch, like I did, you can add spicier jalapeno if you like and more or less, tomato, onion, jalapeno, cilantro. 

    To make your guacamole homemade, mash together avocados with a tablespoon of lime juice, using a fork or pastry cutter/butter creamer tool (it should be mostly creamy, some little chunks are totally fine). My pastry cutter/butter creamer tool worked perfectly for me, because my avocados were really nice ripe (soft). Add chopped tomato, onion, cilantro and jalapeno to taste, followed by salt, pepper and minced garlic. Use a spoon or cookie scoop (this is what I used) to form balls of guacamole, placing them on a plate and freezing them for 20 minutes. While your balls are in the freezer, crush tortilla chips to a powdery consistency and set aside in a bowl. Some larger pieces are okay, but you're not going to want those pieces on your balls. I just mean "don't beat yourself up making your crumbs perfect". Heat your oil to I don't know what temperature exactly it was, but when I tested a little bit of tortilla chip to see if the oil was hot enough, it fried right up. Not an official method by any stretch of he imagination, but you use what you have to make sure the oil gets all bubbly when you drop whatever it is you're frying into it. Also make an egg wash in a separate bowl. I used two eggs and a little bit of water. Set your egg wash next to your dish of tortilla crumbs/powder.

    Remove your guacamole balls from the freezer. Roll your balls one at a time in the tortilla chip powder/crumbs, then the egg wash and then the tortilla chip powder/crumbs again. Place each ball on a plate. Repeat the process until you either run out of guacamole or you've made as many as you want to make (like I did). Use a large, slotted, metal spoon to lower two balls at a time into your hot oil  (I only had four balls in my hot oil at any one time.  You don't want to crowd them.).  Fry until crispy on the outside and as golden as you'd like and remove to a plate with paper towels to cool and sprinkle with a little bit of salt (I used Chipotle sea salt). Sprinkle with lime juice if you like. 

    At the end, I decided to fry up hush-puppy style, the rest of the tortilla powder/crumbs. I just mixed the rest of the egg wash into the powder/crumbs and fried them just like I had the guacamole balls. These would be fabulous dipped in queso. 

    The verdict? I liked these guacamole balls.  They'll be best fresh, as most fried foods are best, fresh. I put several in an airtight container in my fridge after taste testing a few, because I just can't eat all of them. The balls are crispy on the outside and soft/creamy on the inside, because remember, it is guacamole. Serving suggestion: Serve in a bowl drizzled with salsa as I did or a side of salsa. I actually used green sriracha sauce and really liked it. Would I make these again? Yes, but I would definitely make less if it was just myself. I used 8 avocados and addition to leftover balls, I have a ton of guacamole left. 

Ingredients:

Guacamole (Recipe below)

Tortilla chips

Egg

Oil

Guacamole Ingredients:

8 Avocados (ripe) mashed

1 cup Pico de Gallo (diced tomato, jalapeno, onion and cilantro)

1 tbsp Lime Juice

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

1/2 tsp Garlic, minced

Mmmm. Guacamole Balls with green sriracha drizzle. 

Mash avocado with lime juice.

Stir in pico de gallo. 

Shaped balls, ready to freeze.

Shaped and coated balls, ready to fry.

Cooling fried guacamole balls.

Plain tortilla balls, which would be fab dipped in salsa or queso.