Baked Chile Rellenos {Saying Goodbye to Grandma}

Pin It Now!


This blog has moved!!  Please join us over at Sealed With a Whisk!

I've tried over and over again to open this post eloquently, and have been failing miserably.  It could be a lack of coffee, or perhaps it's a product of the past week's ride on an emotional see-saw.

On Monday, May 13, one day after Mother's Day, my Grandma passed away.

AnnaBelle Chaparro had suffered from Alzheimer's for several years, and in all honestly, she had left us long ago.  But the finality of her passing means a different kind of goodbye, one that we can't tuck away in our minds as "not really goodbye."  For a long time we still had her here, albeit somewhat absent.  My mom put it perfectly when she said that Alzheimer's is "the long goodbye."

During my Grandma's final years, my mom and dad worked day and night to make sure she was well taken care of.  What started out as merely being there to make sure she wasn't in the house alone gradually became much, much more, and eventually turned into a complete role reversal, wherein they became the "parents" of a now fully-dependent Grandma.  It's a thankless and extremely hard job.  There truly should be an organization somewhere that awards medals and accolades to caregivers.

When I think of my Grandma, I picture her in the kitchen or in the garden.  She had a beautiful, lush garden that she took great pride in.  In the backyard she had apples, apricots, tomatoes, rhubarb, veggies of all kinds, and even a cherry tree.  She was an avid composter, and to this day I can still picture her coffee can sitting under the kitchen sink, full of scraps and things to compost for the garden.  Hubby and I planted a garden the weekend before Mother's Day, and I thought of her as we tucked the little plants into their new home.

My Grandma was a great cook.  She would whistle as she chopped and stirred, and soon there would be a table full of deliciousness waiting for us all to dig into.  Today I'm going to share one of her recipes with you.

Every Christmas, Grandma would make spanish food for the family dinner.  She would spend hours in the kitchen and the house would smell amazing!  I can still smell the chicken poaching for enchiladas and the aroma of roasted chiles wafting from the kitchen.  This recipe for baked chile rellenos is one of the stars of Grandma's Christmas dinner.  As I assembled this dish and the house started to smell like chiles, I couldn't help but feel her in the kitchen with me.  There were definitely tears falling as I stuffed the chiles, beat the eggs and shredded cheese, and still now as I write this.  I hope that when you make this dish you can reflect back on your favorite memories with your family, and smile.
Who knows, maybe it will become a favorite in your family, too.

Green Chile Rellenos
|Serves: 6-8| Prep: 10 mins| Bake: 40 mins|
10 green chiles, roasted and peeled*
cheese (jack/cheddar) cut into 10 strips
1/4 c cheese, shredded
3 eggs
1/4 c milk
2-3 tbsp flour
salt & pepper
hot sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray a baking dish with non-stick spray, or lightly butter. Set aside.

Stuff the chiles with the strips of cheese and arrange in baking dish.  Sprinkle with the shredded cheese.  Lightly beat the eggs and add the milk, flour, salt, pepper and dashes of hot sauce, if using.  Pour the egg mixture over the chiles.  Bake approx. 35 minutes, or until eggs are set.

*Green chiles can be purchased roasted in jars or cans.  Rinse them thoroughly to remove the added sodium.  To roast your own chiles, place them over open flame, turning occasionally, until charred on all sides.  Place roasted chiles in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 10-15 mins.  To peel, wipe the chiles with a paper towel until the charred skins are removed.

This blog has moved!!  Please join us over at Sealed With a Whisk!

Back from hibernation... {Veggie & Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers}

Pin It Now!

You all must think I've either: a) forgotten about you or b) have been swept away to some hidden tropical paradise where there is no internet and an endless supply of pina coladas delivered to my hammock on the beach.  Well, rest assured I haven't forgotten about you.  And, alas, I have not been swept away to said tropical paradise. Sigh.

source

See.  Not lounging in that hammock.  And I'm certainly not seeing any pina coladas...

I've been doing both a whole lot of stuff, and a whole lot of nothing this year.  Some of it has been eventful, and some of it not, and I'm perfectly fine with both.  Some really yummy things have been creating in the kitchen, but for some reason my motivation to blog them has been definitely lacking, so I've been selfishly keeping it all to myself and sharing a little bit with my hubby cuz I have to.  ;)

Since you've been so patient and have put up with my awkward silence for the past four (wow, actually nearly FIVE) months, I'm back to share a delicious and simple recipe with you.  Along with a crummy instagram pic of said recipe.  You guys are so lucky.

I've taken to calling myself an "accidental vegetarian" as of late.  For some reason as soon as 2012 turned into 2013, my taste for meat all but vanished.  In fact, I've been finding red meat pretty repulsive.  I can handle seafood just fine, and the occasional bite of chicken, but that's it.  Hubby has been a great sport and even found that veggie burgers are pretty darn delicious.

Here is the recipe for our Veggie & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers that we had for dinner the other night.  They may not look like much, but these babies were tasty, and make great leftovers. Leave out the cheese to make this vegan. We had a simple side salad with a balsamic drizzle that  I will be sharing in a future post.

Veggie & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
4 bell peppers, any color(s), tops and seeds removed
1/3 c chopped sweet onion (about half of a small onion)
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 c cooked quinoa
2 zucchini, diced
1 c fresh corn kernels (frozen is fine)
1/4 c cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 crumbled feta
1/2 c chopped asparagus
juice of 1/2 lime
Few pinches of mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a small baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine quinoa, diced zucchini, corn, cilantro, feta, asparagus and the lime juice.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.  In a small pan, heat 2 tsp olive oil and add chopped onions.  Saute until onions are beginning to soften, about 5 mins.  Add minced garlic and cook another 1-2 mins.  Add to the quinoa and veggies and stir to combine.  Spoon the mixture into each pepper and top with a pinch of mozzarella , if desired.  Bake approx. 20 minutes, until peppers are beginning to soften.

White Pizza with Pesto and Veggies

Pin It Now!

This is another perfect recipe for Meatless Mondays - and one that is sure to be a crowd pleaser.  Who doesn't love pizza?  Crispy, crunchy crust with ooey gooey melted cheese... mmmmm...

I think I may be hungry.  It's really a shame that we devoured this entire pizza and dashed any hopes of leftovers.

Produce stands everywhere are overflowing with amazing summer goodies right now.  For the moment I've gotten the stone fruit obsession calmed, so now I'm on to things like summer squash.  There may or may not be another zucchini recipe lurking on the horizon...  You're on the edge of your seats now, aren't you? 

Hubby declared this pizza "really yummy" and I've got to say I agree with him.  This will definitely be joining our weekly rotation.  One of the great things about pizza is that you can top it with pretty much whatever your little heart desires.  It's a great way to use up some of the random unused veggies that tend to accumulate over the week. 

Happy Friday!

White Pizza with Pesto and Veggies
1 prepared pizza dough, at room temp
1/2 c (or so) of homemade or store bought pesto
1 1/2 c shredded mozzarella
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 small zucchini, diced
1/2 c chopped asparagus
Garlic oil (recipe below)

Turn on your oven to the highest it will go (ours is 550) and preheat (with the pizza stone in) for about an hour.  In the meantime, let the dough come to room temperature and chop the veggies.

Lightly dust a sheet of parchment with flour.  Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin until it's about 1/4" thick.  Spread pesto evenly across the dough.  Top with shredded cheese, chopped veggies and a couple turns of fresh cracked black pepper.  Drizzle whole pizza with a couple spoonfuls of garlic oil.  Bake for approx 8 minutes, or until cheese is brown and bubbly and crust is crisp.  Drizzle a tad more garlic oil over the top and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

For the garlic oil...
Pour about a cup of extra virgin olive oil into a jar and toss in several peeled garlic cloves.  Let sit for a couple days so the garlic flavor infuses the oil.  Use on pastas, pizzas, sandwiches, etc.

Veggie & Feta Quinoa {Family Weekend}

Pin It Now!

Like I mentioned last week, we've been busy little bees lately.  We had a fabulous family weekend in San Francisco, complete with city traffic and stunning views from the Golden Gate bridge.  Before we knew it the weekend was over and it was back to the real world.

Montalvos

Many Montalvos!

After a busy weekend I knew I wanted to keep dinner simple and light.  I made a nice big batch to have some leftovers for lunch the next day (it was great as a cold salad), and you could easily sub whatever veggies you have on hand to make your life easier.  This is a great dish for Meatless Mondays.

Veggie & Feta Quinoa
1 cup organic quinoa
1 medium (or 2 small) zucchini
1 1/2 c fresh corn
1/2 c crumbled feta

Cook the quinoa according to directions.  While the quinoa is cooking, slice the zucchini in half lengthwise and then cut into 1/4" half moons.  That's the technical term, right?  Quickly blanch the zucchini so that it retains its beautiful green color and remains crisp.  Set aside.  Steam the corn, if desired (I left mine fresh).

Once the quinoa is finished, combine with veggies in a large bowl.  Gently fold in feta right before serving.

Crustless Spinach & Sausage Quiche {Breakfast for Dinner}

Pin It Now!

I'll admit that some nights I just don't have it in me to put a lot of thought into dinner.  Don't get me wrong - I love cooking and I do find it to be somewhat therapeutic.  But at the end of a long day sometimes you need to come home and space out to Friends re-runs instead of standing over a hot stove.  This recipe is great for that.

Quiche is another one of those customizable ("kitchen sink," if you will) dishes.  It's a great way to use up extra veggies, and the cheesy goodness makes any quiche very kid friendly (helloooo, sneaky veggie hiders!)  Make this recipe yours - substitute your favorite cheeses, meats or veggies and see what combo your family loves.

PS - I apologize for the less than stellar photos.  We were rather hungry and eager to dig in.


Haphazardly placed avocado is a great garnish.

Crustless Quiche
|Serves 2-4| Prep time: 10 min.| Bake time: 40-50 min.|
6 eggs
1 1/2 c milk
4 oz. sausage (whatever kind you like)
1/2 small onion, diced
handful of baby spinach, chopped
1/2 c cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray an 8x8 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Note: Make sure to beat the eggs well so that no egg white solids remain.  I didn't do this.  Baked egg whites turn out very tough.  Learn from me, people.  Add the chopped spinach and whisk.  Set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the sausage and onion in a skillet over medium heat until the onions are somewhat soft and the sausage is cooked through.  Drain on a paper towel lined plate.  Once sausage is drained well, spoon it into the bottom of baking dish.  Follow with cheese and any other veggies and then top with the egg mixture.  Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the quiche is set and top is golden brown.  Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Pizza Night: Margherita Pizza and White Pizza

Pin It Now! Who doesn't love pizza?  I'm a pizza fanatic.  I could probably live on pizza and sushi alone, no joke.  It's hard to decide what I like best - hot fresh pizza from the oven, or cold leftover pizza the next day.  I'm pretty sure there's a law somewhere that says you have to bite the tip off of a slice of cold pizza before reheating it in the oven.

We've attempted homemade pizzas in the past, and for some reason the dough always fights me to the point of wanting to stomp my feet like a child and throw the dough and rolling pin through the window.  Do you have any tricks for getting the dough to roll out without constantly springing back?  Sweet Marina from Yummy Mummy gave me great advice: let the dough come to room temperature.  Marina is a homemade pizza pro (have you seen her pizzas??  Go.  Now.  Stop reading my boring post and go check out her amazing pizza recipes.)  The dough rolled out with ease once it was at room temp.  Thank you, Marina, for saving my sanity!

And my windows.

We decided to make two pizzas: one classic margherita (with a little twist - feta!) and the other a white pizza with garlic cream sauce in place of the tomato sauce.  They were both delicious and extremely simple to put together.  For the white pizza toppings we went with artichoke hearts and bell pepper slices.  Have fun with your combinations.  What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Margherita Pizza
1 prepared pizza dough*
marinara sauce
shredded mozzarella
crumbled feta
tomato slices
fresh basil leaves

White Pizza
1 prepared pizza dough*
garlic cream sauce (recipe below)
shredded mozzarella
toppings of your choice

*Many grocery stores have prepared pizza dough available in the refrigerated sections.  We get ours from a small pizzeria down the street.

Preheat your oven to as hot as it will go.  For us this is 550 degrees.  You want your oven screamin' hot to get a crispy crust.

As I mentioned, the dough rolls out without incident at room temperature.  Save yourself from frustration and set the dough out about 30 minutes prior.  Simply roll out the dough and top with sauce, cheese and toppings!  Bake for approx 8 minutes (depending on thickness, of course).

Garlic cream sauce for white pizza
16 oz. heavy cream
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1/4 c shredded parmesan cheese

In a saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer, stirring often to prevent scorching.  Add in garlic, salt and pepper to taste.  Continue to simmer on low, stirring often, for approx 5 minutes.  Turn off the heat and toss in the parmesan cheese, stirring to combine.  Let the sauce sit while you roll out the dough and prepare your toppings.  Assemble and bake pizza as you would a tomato based pizza.  The leftovers of both sauces make a fabulous pasta sauce.  We combined them to make a sort of "vodka sauce" and made baked spaghetti.

Buon appetito!

Best of both worlds

{Comfort Food} Baked Meatballs

Pin It Now!

Guess I kinda dropped off the radar again, didn't I??   So sorry for being such an inconsistent presence lately.  Allow me to give you a brief update...

As I mentioned here, we have been up to our ears with re-doing the apartment (not gonna lie, it's still a work in progress).  The kitchen and living-room are somewhat done, which is a relief, but the "guest bedroom" is still littered with boxes of things to go through.  At the moment we are actively in the "shut-the-door-and-ignore-it" phase.

Aside from the nesting, we had some car issues on our hands.  Hubby's temperamental car took another nose-dive right after the new year, so we had to make the tough decision to let her go and move on.  I didn't think it would be an emotional thing, but I cried when she drove away.  What a goober, right??  We had some good times with her.  We drove that car to the moonlit beach the night Hubs asked me to be his girlfriend so many years ago.  We drove that car countless miles to countless places over the course of our relationship making memories together, and the day after our wedding we drove that car - with my wedding dress in he back seat - home to start our life as husband and wife.  Those are the things that brought me to tears when she drove away with her new owner.  Now, time to change our phone number before they figure it out. ;)

Anywho, last week we took a day trip to the Bay area with close friends to visit some other close friends who recently got engaged.  The guys headed off to play golf while us girls took the train into the city and had lunch at Boudin Bakery overlooking the bay.

Don't judge us, it's a vacay day!

The Rock... Alcatraz

Great friends!!

While the hubbies are away, the ladies will play!

Back to the present, the ACM awards were on this weekend, and I sure loves me some country music.  Country music plus comfort food?  Yes, please!  This was kind of a kitchen-sink recipe.  Shredded carrots and canned tomatoes keep the meatballs tender and moist, while the onions, garlic and feta add tons of flavor.  I think next time I'll add some hot sauce for a little kick.

These would be great for entertaining as well.   The baking time will vary depending on the size, so keep an eye on them.  Now back to our regularly scheduled country music awards...  yeehaw!

Baked Meatballs
1/2 pound ground beef (85/15 or 80/20)
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 can diced italian style tomatoes (salsa would be great, too)
crumbled feta (just eyeball it)
1 carrot, finely grated
1 egg
Drizzle of olive oil
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil.

Now pay attention, this is where it gets complicated: Mix all ingredients.  That's it!  Make sure not to overwork the meat, or the meatballs will be tough.  Form into meatballs and bake on a cooking rack at 400 degrees for approx. 20 minutes.  Yummy yummy!

Southwestern Quinoa Quesadillas

Pin It Now!

We are on quite the quinoa kick lately, let me tell you.  Hubby can't get enough of it, and I'm pretty smitten myself.  Forgive me, but I didn't measure a thing when I put this together.  The amounts can vary depending on your taste preference, so just experiment til it suits your fancy.

Like I've said before, quinoa is like a blank canvas.  Feel free to omit/switch ingredients as you see fit.  I was feeling a bit dangerous so I even added a teensy bit of hot sauce.

Southwestern Quinoa
Cooked quinoa
Shredded cooked chicken
Roasted corn
Small tomato, diced
Black beans, drained and rinsed
Edamame (you can find ready-to-eat at Trader Joe's)
Red onion, finely diced
Cilantro, chopped finely
Lime
Hot sauce (optional)

Combine quinoa through cilantro in a mixing bowl.  Squeeze the juice of one lime over the whole thing, salt and pepper to taste.

This is great just on its own, but even better in a quesadilla.  Heat a griddle or skillet on medium heat.  Sprinkle shredded cheese (any melty cheese that you like) on top of a tortilla on the griddle.  Spread some quinoa mixture on and top with some more cheese before you put on the top tortilla.  Grill until the cheese is ooey gooey and enjoy!

Honey-Lime Salmon over Quinoa {and dolphin watching!}

Pin It Now! What a beautiful Sunday!  One of the benefits of living right on the coast is the opportunity to watch stunning sunsets on the beach.  Hubby and I took a walk to the Ellwood Bluffs/Coronado Butterfly Preserve to catch the sunset, and we were definitely in for a treat...  dolphins!  While we took in the sunset from the bluffs, dozens of dolphins played in the waves below.  It was really an amazing sight. 

Another benefit to living on the coast is fresh seafood.  We have a great fish market in the Harbor, with a selection of lots of local seafood as well as some flown in from around the nation. We chose a beautiful wild salmon from Washington.  (ALWAYS buy wild when possible.)

Santa Barbara Fish Market 

We love salmon in our house.  My usual standby is to drizzle it with olive oil, squeeze a bunch of lemons over it, scatter garlic slices on it and toss it in the oven.  Nothin' wrong with that, but it was time to switch it up.  So this time I went with a glaze of lime and honey, and it turned out great!  Hubby loved it (yay!) and even had seconds.

Another switch-up to our usual salmon dinner was with quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).  I've been meaning to give this a try for quite some time and I'm really not sure why I didn't do it sooner.  We loved it!  Quinoa is one of those superfoods you've been hearing about.  Each serving is loaded with protein, fiber, folate, magnesium (great for people like me who get migraines), iron AND all eight amino acids!  It's no wonder the Incas called quinoa "the mother of all grains."  And if you're not sold yet, it cooks in 15 minutes with zero supervision.  That scores high, in my humble opinion.  Quinoa is like a blank canvas; you can do anything with it.  We'll definitely be enjoying quinoa quite frequently.  Give it a try!

Honey-Lime Salmon
Juice of three limes
3-4 tablespoons honey
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, honey, salt & pepper.  Place salmon in baking dish and pour half of the glaze over it, letting it rest for five minutes before baking.  Bake until cooked to desired doneness.  Serve over a bed of quinoa, drizzling the rest of the glaze over the filets immediately prior to serving.

Garlic & Shallot Quinoa
1 c uncooked quinoa
2 c water or chicken broth
1 small shallott, thinly sliced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed. 

We enjoyed our salmon and quinoa with steamed broccoli and corn.  Enjoy!

Lemon Scallion Pasta with Shrimp

Pin It Now! Is it really December 10th?!  Eek!  This little elf needs to kick her Christmas planning into high gear!  This year we are spending the holiday in the snow with my family.  We are very much looking forward to our white Christmas!!  (And by "we" I mean Hubby and myself.  Chico isn't so much a snow dog.)  ;)

After running errands this afternoon and trying to get a 6-year-old chihuahua to model for our Christmas photo (yes, we're those people) we needed something quick & simple for dinner.  I remember catching the tail end of an episode of Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals a couple of years ago in which she was finishing up a lemony pasta side dish.  I took inspiration from that and customized, adding some shrimp to make it a more hearty meal. I'm so bad about measuring, so these are approximations.  Just fiddle with it until it tastes good to you.  My Hubby likes lots of lemon, so I went a bit heavy.

Lemon Scallion Pasta with Shrimp
1 lb spaghetti
2 c low sodium broth (chicken or vegetable)
1/4-1/2 c low sodium soy sauce
2-3 lemons, zested and juiced
drizzle of olive oil
1 bunch scallions, cut into slices on the diagonal
1/2 lb shrimp

Cook the pasta according to package, draining just shy of al dente.  While the pasta cooks, combine broth, soy sauce, lemon juice and lemon rinds in a small saucepan.  Bring to a simmer and cover, heat off, for about 7 minutes (allowing the lemons to steep.)  As the sauce steeps, saute shrimp in olive oil until pink and opaque.  Toss shrimp into drained pasta.  Pour sauce through a strainer onto pasta and shrimp and toss to coat.  Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.  The pasta will soak up the sauce and finish cooking to the perfect al dente.  Fold in scallions and lemon zest and top with a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan.

Grow your own scallions!