Southwestern Egg Muffins

I had a bunch of stuff leftover from random recipes and needed to use it up, so I threw it all together last night and made myself a good take-to-work breakfast for a few days. I can't believe I hadn't thought of this before, although I'm sure if I looked around others have similar recipes. It's a great way to use up veggies and have a hearty breakfast without having to cook in the morning.

Southwestern Egg Muffins

serves 6 (2 muffins per serving)

8 large eggs

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 cup black beans

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup corn

2/3 cup shredded Mexican-style cheese

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin by spraying all the cups thoroughly. 

In a large bowl, combine eggs and stir until yolks are evenly mixed. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pour into muffin cups until nearly full, then bake 20-25 minutes until the muffins are just slightly browned and firm on the top.

Let cool for a few minutes before removing from the tins gently, using a knife to loosen the sides. Serve warm and enjoy!

*For leftovers, let cool completely and keep in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad

Do you ever make a recipe, try it, and want to yell out loud, "I AM SUCH A GOOD COOK!" Sometimes I do. Really, I think my talent is in picking other people's recipes that have everything I love. This one was a major hit with me. Pretty simple, high-protein, and full of yummy/healthy stuff.

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad

serves 4

1/3 cup uncooked quinoa

1/2 cup cooked corn

1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained

6 oz cooked, shredded chicken

1/4 cup plus 2-4 Tbsp of your favorite BBQ sauce, divided

1 small avocado, chopped (about 4 oz)

2-4 Tbsp shredded Mexican-style cheese

2 scallions, chopped

Cilantro for garnish

Cook quinoa according to package directions. Meanwhile, combine shredded chicken with 1/4 cup barbecue sauce and set aside to marinate for a few minutes.*

When quinoa is done, put in a large bowl and toss with the corn, black beans, chicken, and avocado. Top with a few tablespoons of barbecue sauce, cheese, and scallions. Serve garnished with cilantro if desired.

*The creator of the recipe suggests actually cooking the chicken in your crockpot with the barbecue sauce and some chopped yellow onion, but I like to make large batches of shredded chicken for a bunch of different recipes, so I added the sauce after.

Mexican Rice and Chicken Bake

This recipe came out of my head. Translation: this recipe includes a bunch of flavors and ingredients that I love thrown together, so naturally I loved it. The flavors are complex - you get a tangy hit from the Greek yogurt and sour cream but a little bit of heat from the chili powder and cumin. Chock-full of really good things for your body and your taste buds. Seriously.

Mexican Rice and Chicken Bake
Serves 6

1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
15 oz canned black beans, rinsed and drained
4 oz can green chili peppers
1/3 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup fat-free sour cream
1 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup shredded Mexican-style cheese
6 oz pre-cooked and shredded chicken breast
2 cups cooked brown rice

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat oil in a skillet and saute the onion and bell peppers a few minutes until just crisp-tender.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except 1/4 cup cheese and mix thoroughly to combine. Make sure the yogurt, sour cream, and cheese are stirred in throughout the entire bowl. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Transfer to an oven-safe dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through. Enjoy!

Also...happy 2012! Hopefully my life will allow me to be better about cooking and posting recipes. Here's to another year of trying many new things!

Three Bean, Vegetable, and Turkey Chili

I posted this awhile ago on my personal blog as part of my 30 Healthiest Foods Challenge, but thought I'd do another re-post here because I'm eating the leftovers this week! Some work is being done in our building and for some reason it's super cold in the office this week (I'm currently wrapped up in a blanket, jacket, and scarf in my office, despite the hot weather outside) so I was really excited to defrost my lunch and dig in to a hot meal! I was pleasantly surprised to find that the chili freezes really well.

This recipe is time consuming at the beginning if you don't have pre-chopped veggies, but it's also full of a a lot of stuff that you probably already have in your pantry. I usually have ground turkey in the freezer and I always keep bell peppers on hand because I LOVE them. It is a nice, thick chili that is super filling, healthy, and delicious.

Three Bean, Vegetable, and Turkey Chili

Serves 8 with 1 1/2 cup serving

Cooking spray

1 pound lean ground turkey

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium bell peppers (colors of your choice - I used red and orange), chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp paprika

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, undrained

1 (15 oz) can black beans, undrained

1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, undrained

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce, no sodium added

1 3/4 cup chicken broth, fat-free and low sodium

Coat a large sauté pan with cooking spray; set over medium-high heat. Brown turkey, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks, about 10 minutes; drain and set aside.

Coat a large pot with cooking spray; set over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add bell peppers; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add chili powder, paprika, cumin, and oregano; stir for 1 minute.

Stir in broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, all beans and turkey; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring every 5 minutes, about 35 minutes total. Yields about 1 1/2 cups chili per serving.

Normally I'd add more tomatoes and omit the kidney beans because I'm not a huge fan, but they're on the 30 Healthiest Foods list so I figured they'd be the least offending in a big pot of chili. Ultimately, I was pretty happy with my creation!
 

Enjoy!

Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas

After a long and drawn out email conversation with Cassie and much googling of the difference between yams and sweet potatoes, we discovered that most yams in America are actually just an orange-colored variety of sweet potatoes - called yams merely to differentiate the regular from the orange ones. There are such things as yams, but usually it's not what people think they are. We received "yams" in our Bountiful Basket, but they seem to taste and cook just like sweet potatoes. Apparently you can substitute either for the other in pretty much any recipe. 

I also added the cheeses and cumin, because I am not a fan of hot food and I love cheese and cumin. Both were great additions, the cheeses making it creamier and the cumin keeping it very Mexican without being too hot. To make it vegan, take out the cheeses and it probably tastes just fine. You can also up the chili powder if you like the kick!

Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas

Modified from Inspired RD, originally from the Vegan Planet Cookbook

2 large sweet potatoes or yams

1 tsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

one 4 oz. cans chopped green chiles

1 can black beans, rinsed

one 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 oz Neufchatel cream cheese

salt & pepper

1 ½ cups mild salsa

½ cup shredded Mexican-blend cheese

8 medium whole-wheat tortillas, or 12 fajita-size tortillas

½ cup chopped onion

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Wash your potatoes thoroughly, then chop into small chunks, unpeeled.  Spread them out on ungreased cookie sheets in a single layer.  Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, tossing halfway through. After 20 minutes, remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees.

In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, add the garlic, ¼ cup onion, and green chiles and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the black beans, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, ¼ cup cheese, cream cheese, salt and pepper. Stir in the roasted sweet potatoes and let everything cook together for about 5 minutes until cheese is melted through.

While the filling is on the stove, prepare a 9x13 glass dish with cooking spray and coat the bottom with about a ¾ cup layer of salsa. Place a large spoonful of filling into the middle of each tortilla, roll it up and place it seam-side down in your dish. Repeat until pan is filled.

Spoon any extra filling over the top, then add remaining salsa, chopped onion, and ¼ cup cheese to the top. Bake the enchiladas in the 350-degree oven for 20 minutes. Serve with avocado and sour cream if desired. Enjoy!

Makes 4-6 servings, 2 enchiladas per serving.


I really loved these. A lot. The texture and combination of tastes were incredible - I'll probably put these in my regular rotation for whenever I have a sweet potato hanging around...however, I will have to make pretty small portions at a time, because past a day or two they do not make great leftovers.

Cinco de Mayo - Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

Happy Cinco de Mayo! And happy birthday to my big sister, Erin. She's a year older and definitely wiser. I've always been a bit jealous that her birthday is on a holiday - not a big one so it overshadows her, but people have lots of parties anyway and it's always easy to do a Mexican-themed party.

Another post from the other blog, but it's a dish I make frequently because it's so easy, filling, and delicious.

One perk - it's a one-skillet recipe! Easy cooking, easy cleanup. Make sure the skillet is well-heated and that you cook the whole quesadilla long enough so the tortilla is firm and almost crunchy.

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

2 medium, high-fiber whole wheat tortillas
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
6 Tbsp Mexican-style shredded cheese
4 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed or shredded
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, sliced thinly
1/2 medium bell pepper, sliced thinly
Cumin
Chili powder
Salt

Take spinach and cheese and divide between the two tortillas, spreading across each whole tortilla evenly.

Sprinkle chicken with small pinches of cumin, chili powder, and salt to taste. In a non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chicken until no longer pink.

Divide cooked chicken between tortillas, placing pieces on one half of each. In same skillet, heat 1 tsp olive oil and cook sliced onion and bell pepper until tender-crisp and onion is translucent. Layer the veggies on each tortilla on top of the chicken.

Microwave tortillas each for about 30 seconds until cheese on bottom is slightly melted. Fold top half over, then place both tortillas in the skillet you used to cook other ingredients. Cook over medium heat, flipping so both sides are browned thoroughly and cheese is all the way melted. Transfer to plate, cut folded tortillas in half.

Enjoy!

Makes 2 servings.

Creamy Black Bean Enchiladas

This dish is vegetarian-friendly or not (depending on the use of soy crumbles or beef), but either way I love them! If you decide to use ground beef, it will add some extra time because you'll need to cook and drain it beforehand. The soy crumbles are easier and my family actually didn't notice that it wasn't real meat - they are still delicious, despite the trepidation from meat-lovers (including myself). Add some chopped spinach at the end of cooking the mixture to make it a bit healthier - it doesn't change the taste at all, but adds some nice color.

The bit of cream cheese adds a great extra taste and texture to the mixture. I have used fat-free and regular and honestly couldn't taste the difference - I also reduced the shredded cheese to 2/3 cup, but it's up to you. The wonderful thing about recipes (with the exception of baking) is that you can play around with them and reduce what you don't like and add what you do.

Speaking of, the chili powder does give it a bit of a kick, so if you like things milder, you can reduce it and make sure to use mild salsa.

Enjoy! 

Black Bean Enchiladas

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 enchiladas)

Cooking spray

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (12-ounce) bag frozen soy crumbles, thawed (such as Morningstar Farms) or ground beef (cook and drain beforehand)

3/4 cup bottled salsa

1/3 cup (3 ounces) block-style cream cheese, softened

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese, divided

12 (6-inch) corn or wheat tortillas

1 (10-ounce) can enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Stir in cumin, oregano, chili powder, garlic, beans, and soy crumbles/beef, and cook 2 minutes, stirring mixture frequently.

Stir in salsa, and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat, and add cream cheese and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, stirring until cheese melts.

Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spread 1/3 cup enchilada sauce in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/3 cup black bean mixture down center of each tortilla, and roll up. Arrange enchiladas, seam sides down, crosswise in dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce evenly over enchiladas, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheddar. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Enjoy!