Black bean enchiladas
By popular request, adapted from Vegetarian Times Vegetarian Beginner's Guide:
Black Bean Enchiladas
- 2 Tbs. canola or vegetable oil
- 1 med. onion, chopped
- 2 large cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 15-oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced
- 4-oz. can chopped green chilies (undrained)
- 1 Tbs. chili powder, or to taste
- 1-2 tsp. ground cumin
- 2 Tbs. tamari or soy sauce
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- corn tortillas
- enchilada sauce
- grated low-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1. Make the filling.
Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. Add beans, tomato, canned chilies, chili powder, cumin, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Lower heat, cover, and simmer 10 min. Uncover and continue simmering until liquid reduces and mixture is firm and holds its shape. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Roll the enchiladas.
Soften the tortillas by heating them in the microwave. Place about 2 heaping tablespoons of filling down the center of each tortilla and roll. Place the rolls in a single layer in a lightly greased 9x13-in. baking pan.
3. Bake the enchiladas.
Spoon sauce over the enchiladas and scatter with cheddar cheese. Cover dish with foil and bake until bubbly and hot (20-30 min.). Remove foil and bake another 5-10 min. Would be tasty garnished with chopped red or green onions, black olives, and/or chopped fresh cilantro if you have it on hand.
Babies seem to dig this dish. Maddie really really likes these enchiladas, and so does Ruby, who I'm told nearly fell asleep in her chair, she stayed there so long eating them. 
Arroz Con Pollo recipe
Here's the recipe for the arroz con pollo we made last week. We modified the version that's in the Joy of Cooking by adding less broth, and canned diced tomatoes. We also added both ham and pancetta (mmmm....bacon) - and in greater proportions than what is called for. Lastly, we used kalamata olives instead of the green spanish olives because, frankly, that's all we had. The recipe really lends itself to variation and hopefully you liked our take on it, but if not...make it how you want. Corn? sure. roasted red peppers? absolutely. capers? Why not! The sky's the limit....er...or at least the pantry is.
Ingredients
3.5 - 4.5 lbs of chicken parts (we did drumsticks and thighs)
2 Cups chopped onions
1 red pepper diced
1 orange pepper diced
1 slice of ham (sliced on 5 or 6) finely diced
pancetta (the more, the merrier)
2 cups long grain white rice
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 can (28 oz) of petite diced tomatoes
pinch of oregano
1 cup of frozen peas
1/2 cup of chopped olives (your choice)
Important pre-cooking info:
- This is a one pan meal, but you'll need a fairly wide and deep pan. Ideally this pan is NOT a non-stick pan as you want to get the flavor out of the crispy chicken skin and into the rice. The pan should be large enough to accomodate all of the chicken parts in one layer and have a tight fitting lid. When we made this for coop we used 3 18 inch diameter, 2-3 inch deep pans.
- It's always a good idea to do all of your chopping and prep ahead of time, but with this dish it's an imperative. Heather thinks that this is a big PITA to make, but I find it goes really easily when all of the prep work is done in advance...the only real active cooking time in the dish is the chicken part. The rest of it is add, stir and cover.
- The times below are an estimate...I tend to let things go longer on the stove than Joy does, so you may be able to complete this dish more quickly (and, I suppose, less mushily).
Phase 1: Brown the chicken (10-15 minutes)
- heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over med-high heat.
- While that's heating up, rinse the chicken, pat it dry and season with salt and pepper (we season it a ton since a lot of it will fall off in the pan).
- Brown the chicken on all sides. It doesn't need to be cooked, just brown...the crispier you can get it at this stage, the better.
- Once it's brown remove to a nearby plate and reduce the heat to medium low.
Phase 2: cook the veggies and fixins (10-15 minutes)
- Pour off some of the excess fat, but leave some in the pan.
- Add the pancetta and cook until crisp (5 minutes or so).
- Add the onions, peppers and ham and cook until the vegetables are soft (5 -10 minutes).
Phase 3: cook the rice (20 minutes)
- Into the same pan, add the rice and stire until the grains are coated with the oil and fat and the rice is mixed in with the other contents of the pan.
- Then add the garlic, salt, pepper and paprika cooking for another minute or so. Add the chicken stock and the tomatoes and whatever seasonings you want.
- Bring to a boil over low heat, scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Add the chicken pieces back into the pan, nestling the pieces into the rice and veggies.
- Cover tightly, bring the heat down to low and let it cook for 20 minutes....and now you can clean all your bowls and whatnot.
Phase 4: add the color and serve (10-15 minutes)
- Add the frozen peas (right out of the bag, not thawed) and olives into the mix.
- Cover and let it cook for another 10-15 minutes or however long it takes for the rice to be tender.
Greek vegetable stew
Nathan and I cooked a Greek vegetable stew, also known as a briami, for meals co-op this week. The recipe below is adapted from The Olive and the Caper, which I requested for Christmas last year just because I wanted this recipe. A good friend first made the stew for me several years ago, back when we were both grad students at UT, and I hadn't had it since. "You don't like mushy vegetables," she warned me, "You might not like this." But it's as good as I remember: chock full o' veggies stewed in olive oil, white wine, and their own juices, topped with capers and fresh parsley:
Greek vegetable stew
1/3 C olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 lbs potatoes, cut into 1/2-in pieces (I used Yukon Golds, and I left the peels on.)
1 1/2 lbs zucchini or other summer squash, cut into 1/2-in pieces
1 green bell pepper, seeded, stemmed, and cut into 1/2-in wide strips
1 1/2 lbs Roma tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped, with juices
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 C chopped fresh dill
3/4 C chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 C dry white wine (I used a semi-dry Chardonnay.)
capers, lots of capers
1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until wilted but not browned, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, bell pepper, salt, pepper, dill, 1/2 C of the parsley, and the wine. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook over med-low heat until the veggies are very tender and the whole thing looks very juicy, about 1 hour.
3. Remove the cover and stir the veggies. Continue cooking uncovered until the liquid reduces a bit and the veggies are soft, about 30 minutes. Serve hot or at room temp topped with capers (I like about 1 tsp. of capers per big bowl full of stew) and the rest of the parsley.
Welcome
Welcome to The Hungry Eleven, the food blog of a small meals co-operative in Austin, TX.
The families in our co-op swap simple weeknight dinners with each other once a week. Our goal is to get ourselves through the work week without having to cook too much while wee ones are under foot. Please read the About page for more information on how our group works.
We'll post our favorite recipes here, as well as the occasional food article or article about running a meals cooperative. Thanks for visiting our site!