Recipe Review from 10/5/2015

A much less busy week this time.  The Husband was off in St. Croix Falls for four days for a work meeting, which left me to my own devices and I tried to do as little as possible!  Mostly succeeded - only additional thing I crammed in was an oil change and mouse nest extraction for my car.  Mechanics were quite impressed at the size of the nest that mouse managed to build the weekend I was in Oregon!  Though...it might also have been the week I was in Spokane.  My car was parked in a garage that week too.

And for my efforts of doing less, I managed to catch "The Cold" that was either migrating around the office or the Husband so thoughtfully shared.  On what was a perfect Fall weekend, I was down for the count and became one with the couch.  Suck-o-rama.  On the positive side, the TV is working again and I got to watch some football and a cooking show on Create (PBS).  


The (small) Meal Plan:
Mon - Thurs - leftover butnut enchiladas
Fri -leftover curry
Sat - out? 

Lunches - Chicken Curry in a Hurry (America's Test Kitchen) 


Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles  (Chocolate and Carrots blog via Pinterest)
These were the start of my new Pancake Sunday Challenge - to make a different pancake or waffle recipe instead of repeating the same three recipes.  Since this is the first weekend in October, and really the kick-off to the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.  

My batter came out rather thick, and I suspect it was due in part to the coconut milk I used.  I like the stuff from a can, and the brand I prefer is delightfully thick, but perhaps too thick for this recipe.  I did thin with the last of the regular milk I had on hand.

I don't use white whole wheat flour, so I went with half WW and half AP.  If you don't have WW White Flour on hand, you can use all white and just add a bit more to compensate.

The recipe called for a Belgian waffle maker, but I used a regular waffle iron with no problems.

These were lovely with real maple syrup and a bit of butter.  Happy October!

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour  (I used 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup white)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon  (I used 1 tsp Penzey's)

  

  Photo from Chocolate and Carrots Blog

• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk  (I used coconut milk)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15 ounce can) can pumpkin purée

1. Preheat waffle maker.
2. Mix first 4 (dry) ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the (wet) ingredients.
4. Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry ingredients (keeps the flour from going everywhere) and mix.
5. Spray the waffle maker with cooking oil spray and cook according to your manufacturer’s instructions.
6. Put the waffles in the preheated 250° oven to keep warm while you cook the others. (If you have any leftover, freeze them for a midweek breakfast without the hassle!)

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Enchiladas (from Julia'sAlbum via Pinterest)  vegetarian, gluten free

This was a tiny bit labor intensive in the veggie prep department, but once it's in the oven, clean-up, table setting, and wine drinking can all happen with time to spare (or writing out the review on the blog).

My other complaint was with how the recipe was posted to Julia's blog - it was picture and direction excessive, which totally threw me off.   I didn't know where I was doing what, and during prep, I realized I had completely missed the bit to saute the veggies.  Then I missed the bit where I was supposed to spread a portion of the enchilada sauce over the layers and not just over the top. Urk.

In essence - roast the squash, saute veggies, layer everything equally including the enchilada sauce.  Cover and bake.  There.  Simplified.

This made a 9x13 pan for me.  Or, two dinners for two, and five solo dinners.  Leftovers were just as tasty when reheated.

• 4-5 cups butternut squash, cubed (store-bought, or make your own - see recipe below)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt
Vegetable mixture:




Photo from Julia's Album blog.

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped into cubes
• 1 red bell pepper , chopped into cubes
• 1 teaspoon cumin, or more
• 1 teaspoon chili powder, or more
• salt
• 1 can corn, rinsed
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 teaspoon and 1/8 teaspoon salt
Ingredient for assembling the casserole:
• 1 cup salsa (to go on the bottom of the casserole dish)
• 12 corn tortillas, 6 inch diameter (4 corn tortillas per each of 3 layers)
• 1 and 1/2 cups sour cream (1/2 cup sour cream for each of 3 layers)
• 1 cup enchilada sauce (if you're gluten free, make sure to buy the sauce without gluten!)
• 1 and 1/2 and 1/4 cups Mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup mozzarella cheese for each layer plus extra on top)]

Roasted butternut squash:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
2. Peel the squash and slice it into 3/4 inch cubes. You will only need about 1/2 of the medium size squash. Toss the squash cubes in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil and generously sprinkle with salt.
3. Put butternut squash on the greased baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes, until soft. Flip the squash cubes over midway through baking. Let it cool slightly.
Roasting vegetables on the stove top: 
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped green bell pepper, and chopped red bell pepper, 1 teaspoon cumin, and 1 teaspoon chili powder, and roast the vegetables in olive oil and spices on high heat until charred just a bit. Mid-way through, add corn, then rinsed and drained black beans. Add roasted butternut squash. Season with 1/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon salt and taste. Add more salt if needed. Add more chili powder or cumin, than indicated in the recipe, if needed.

Assembling the casserole (Notes and directions are entirely the authors, from Julia's Album):

1. I used a casserole dish 11 inches long x 8.5 inches wide x 3 inches deep. Add 1 cup of salsa to the bottom of this 3 inch deep casserole dish and spread to coat the bottom evenly. Top with 4 tortillas, overlapping to cover the bottom of the casserole dish.
2. Spread 1/3 of the vegetable mixture over the tortillas. Top with 1/2 cup sour cream, dropping it in small dollops all over, then carefully spreading it over the veggies. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese. Top with 4 tortillas.
3. Spread 1/3 of the vegetable mixture over the tortillas. Top with 1/2 cup sour cream, dropping it in small dollops all over, then spreading it carefully over the veggies. Pour 1/2 cup enchilada sauce evenly all over, at the same time spreading sour cream evenly all over. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese. Top with 4 tortillas.
4. Spread 1/3 of the vegetable mixture over the tortillas. Top with 1/2 cup sour cream, dropping it in small dollops all over, then spreading it carefully. Pour 1/2 cup enchilada sauce evenly all over, spreading sour cream evenly all over. Sprinkle with 1/2 and 1/4 cups Mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil.
5. Bake at 375 F for 25 minutes covered, then remove foil, and bake for 10 more minutes uncovered.