Tostada Pizza

I found this recipe on You Tube and have slightly adapted it. This is a great way to get kids and adults to eat their veggies.

For the base, I have used whole wheat pita bread. Any other flatbread or pizza base will also work.

For the "sauce" - I sauteed some finely chopped onions in little oil, followed by finely chopped green, red, orange and yellow bell peppers. Cooked these till slightly softened, but still crunchy. Then added some chopped garlic and sauteed another 2 mins. Added salsa and canned black beans (drained & rinsed) and some spices - cumin pwd, paprika, onion pwd and garlic pwd. Simmer till slightly thickened and mash with a potato masher. Mashing is optional, you can leave it as chunky as you prefer.

Other toppings I used - shredded Mexican cheese blend, shredded lettuce, crushed corn chips, red chilli flakes

To proceed - spread the sauce on the base and top with cheese. Bake at 400F for 5 to 10 mins till cheese melts and base turns golden brown. Once you get it out of the oven, put the other toppings - lettuce, pepper flakes, corn chips etc.

Cut into wedges and serve.

Tortilla Lasagna

This is a kind of fusion recipe that I've adapted from one I came across on Youtube. Makes for an easy and filling meal.

Here's how I made this Tortilla Lasagna:

First for the sauce - Fry 1/2 cup chopped onions in 2 tsp oil till they soften. Add 1 cup of chopped mushrooms and fry on medium high heat till they brown. Add 1 clove of chopped garlic and fry for a min. Add 1 cup frozen or fresh chopped spinach, I've used frozen in the above picture. Fry for 5 mins. Add upto 2 cups of salsa or diced tomatoes or a combination thereof. I've used 1 cup salsa and 1 cup canned diced tomatoes. Add also 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed well. Simmer this sauce for 5 mins. Add additional spices if desired - I like to add a little of onion pwd, garlic pwd and a good amt of cumin pwd and paprika.

To assemble the tortilla lasagna - Lightly grease a round cake pan. Arrange 2 tortillas in the bottom. Spread 1/3 of the sauce, top with some shredded Mexican cheese blend, one tortilla, 1/3 sauce, cheese, another tortilla, remaining sauce, more cheese. Lastly top with 2 more tortillas and some cheese. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 30 mins until top in slightly browned.

Let cool for 5 mins. Top with finely chopped cilantro and/or green onions, cut into wedges and serve.

This tastes good the next day for lunch box also.

Mexican Rice

I use store-bought salsa and enchilada sauce for this hence I call it Mexican rice. In the above picture, I have used cooked brown rice and quinoa, you can substitute with cooked white rice. This is a good way to use up leftover rice, salsa and enchilada sauce.

Here's how I make it:

Heat veg. oil in a pan. Fry some chopped onions and green bell peppers in it. Add the salsa and enchilada sauce. Latter can be omitted, in which case increase the amount of salsa used. For 2 cups cooked rice, I use abt 1 cup salsa depending on how chunky or smooth it is and the heat level. Add seasoning to taste - salt, sugar, cumin pwd and paprika. Stir well. Add the cooked rice (see note). Add drained canned black beans and upto 1 tbsp soy sauce. Stir gently to coat rice well. Cover and heat on medium low heat for 5 mins. Adjust seasonings to taste if needed. Garnish with finely chopped cilantro, red bell pepper and even some shredded Mexican cheese blend if desired.

Note - You can use uncooked rice, in which case probably better to go with white rice as it cooks faster. Add water or veg. broth and cook till almost done before proceeding to add the canned beans and soy sauce.

This Mexican rice goes well by itself as a one-pot meal or served along with tortilla soup/quesadilla, enchiladas etc.

Taco Salad in a Tortilla Bowl

A couple weeks back I ate a very tasty and satisfying Taco Salad in a Tortilla Bowl at the Microsoft cafeteria. It had layers of greens, rice and veggies, topped with salsa, guacamole etc. all served in a deep fried tortilla bowl. Since I love making Mexican style dishes at home, I immediately set out to replicate this. For the rice, I borrowed the Mexican Brown Rice with veggies recipe from Kids Lunch Box. I marinated and cooked the veggies in a fajita-style sauce from this recipe from Cooking from A to Z. I baked the tortillas into bowls using the same process as I posted here. It turned out to be such a wonderful and quick meal!

So here's how it all come together:

First, brush tortillas (I used whole wheat tortillas) lightly with oil (I used olive oil). Press down gently into oven safe bowls. Bake in a pre-heated 400 F oven for 10 mins till edges brown and tortilla bowls crispen.

Cool the tortilla bowls for a few minutes, then spread a layer of mixed greens/lettuce.

Layer desired quantity of the Mexican Rice over the greens. For the rice, I sauted some onions, garlic, carrots, green and red bell peppers in oil, added chopped tomatoes, handful of spinach, cooked mixture of brown rice plus quinoa, salt, sugar, red chilli pwd, cumin pwd, soy sauce, dried oregano and chopped cilantro (all per taste). Gave the whole thing a good mix till heated thru.

The fajita-style veggies go on top of the rice. For this, I cut some onions, green and red bell peppers, zucchini, yellow squash and mushrooms into long thin strips. For the marinade, I pretty much followed the recipe linked above, the only addition I made was cumin pwd since I love its flavor. Marinated the veggies for about 2 hrs, then sauted them in a little olive oil in a wok on medium high heat for about 10 mins until just cooked.

Over the veggies go some black beans. I used canned ones, drained and rinsed.

Now just add the toppings per your choice. For myself, it was some chipotle peppers in adobo suace, mild salsa and a big dollop of guacamole (all store-bought). Hubby also had some sour cream. And kiddo had the salsa, guacamole, sour cream and some shredded Mexican cheese blend.

This Taco Salad in a Tortilla Bowl goes to the BB8 - One Dish Meal event at One Hot Stove. 

Red Beans & Rice

Several years back, when I worked in downtown Dallas, we often ate a wonderful Red Beans & Rice dish from a cafetaria style restaurant. Recently I had the urge to eat this meal again. After some web surfing, some details of that experience came back to memory - the restaurant was situated inside the Plaza of the Americas and was called TreeBeards. At lunchtime, a long line would form at this place for their famous Red Beans & Rice. They had a veg. & a meat version of it. With all these memories flooding back, I could not wait to make this dish @ home. Though my dish may not be the restaurant version, it was very tasty and made for a very satisfying meal.

Here's how I made it:

2 cans Rajma/Red Kidney Beans - drained & rinsed

1 onion chopped

1 bell pepper chopped

2 cloves garlic - minced

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried oregano

1 heaped tsp Lawry's Taco Seasoning mix

Salt to taste

2 tsp olive oil

Garnish (very imp., do not miss this) - chopped green onions & shredded cheddar cheese

Heat the oil & saute onions in it for 5 mins. Add the bell pepper and garlic. Saute 2-3 mins. Add the rajma and all the other spices & salt. Add about 2 cups water, cover and cook on medium for 10 mins. Take out about 1/2 cup of the rajma mix, cool slightly and grind to a paste. Add this back to the rest of the mix. This gives it the required consistently. Heat the mix again before serving. Check for taste at this stage.

To serve, spoon hot rajma mix over brown rice. Top generously with chopped green onions and shredded cheddar cheese.

These Red Beans & Rice go to the JFI - Rajma event at Divya's Dil Se.

This event was started by Indira of Mahanandi.

I served these with a side of taco salad, which I made as follows:

For the taco bowl - Spray 1 tortilla ( I used multi-grain) with cooking oil on both sides. Press gently into an oven safe bowl. Bake @ 400F for about 10 mins till edges turn brown.

For the salad - Chopped lettuce, colored peppers ( I used red, yellow & orange), sweet onions, shredded carrots, chopped tomatoes, Lawry's Taco Seasoning Mix.

Spoon the salad into the taco bowl. Break off pieces of the bowl and eat with the salad.

Enjoy!

Veggie Enchilada

I got this recipe from American Masala by Suvir Saran. I make many types of Quesadillas for quick dinners and have started preferring these over the restaurant ones. After trying this enchilada, I am even more in love with home-made Mexican food. Though it is more time-consuming than my humble quesadilla creations, its definitely worth the time & effort. All members of my family loved it.

Here's how I made it:

For the roasted pepper dip -

2 tbsp oil

1 small red onion - chopped

4 colored bell peppers - I used 1 each of green, red, orange and yellow - cored, seeded & chopped
2 medium tomatoes - chopped

4 cloves of garlic - peeled

1 serrano - increase for more heat

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper pwd

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup Mexican cheese blend

Toss all the ingredients, except milk & cheese, together. Spread on a greased glass baking dish. Roast in a pre-heated 450F oven for 1 hr, stirring every 15 mins.

Cool slightly, then blend.

Transfer to a saucepan. Simmer on medium heat. Add the milk & cheese. Stir till cheese melts. Take off heat.

The original recipe calls for cream, but I used 2% milk for a lighter option.

This dip tastes delicious with tortilla chips as well.

For the enchilada stuffing, the author uses a stir-fried carrot salad recipe from his book. Here's how I made it:

1 bag shredded carrots
1/2 a head of cabbage - shredded
1 can balck beans - drained & rinsed
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
1 tsp sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 tsp lemon juice
Cilantro for garnish

Heat the oil in a wide skillet. Add the cumin seeds. After 2 mins add the carrots and cabbage. Stir & cook on medium heat for about 5 mins. till al dente (or a little longer if u prefer it more cooked). Add the salt, pepper, sugar, lemon juice, cumin pwd, coriander pwd & cilantro. Mix well & take off heat.

The original recipe does not include the beans. I just added them as I love black beans in Mexican dishes.

To assemble the enchiladas:

Preheat oven to 450F.

Evenly spread 1/2 cup of the Roasted Red Pepper Dip on the bottom of a 11 X 9 inch baking dish along with 1 tsp oil.

Heat 4 tortillas on a skillet on medium high heat for about 20 secs. each side until a bit toasty. Fill each with 3 heaped tbsp of the carrot-cabbage-beans stuffing down the middle. Roll them up & place seam side down in the baking dish. Top with 1 cup of the dip and an even layer of cheese. Bake for about 20 mins till cheese is melted and golden brown. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

These veggie enchiladas are off to the Monthly Mingle: Mexican Fiesta event at allthingsyummy.