Veggie Fajitas with Corn & Avocado Salsa



Best. Fajitas. I've. Ever. Had. No restaurant that I've ever been to can come close to how good these are!!! The story behind these is: I was really craving fajitas... So I went to the store and got all the stuff I thought I needed. I cooked up the onions, peppers, and mushrooms, but it seemed so boring. Something was missing. I went through my pantry, refrigerator, freezer... Found anything I could that would spice them up a bit. Thus, Corn and avocado salsa was born!

Ingredients:

Fajitas-

Flour tortillas (I used sun dried tomato, but there are many other kinds that you can choose from!)

Olive oil

Yellow Onion (julienned)

Red Peppers (julienned)

Shitaki mushrooms (julienned)

Shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese blend

Salsa-

Avocado (soft!)

Canned corn

Tomato

Jalapeno

Salt

Salsa-

Dice avocado into a bowl. Add the corn, diced tomatoes, and desired amount of diced jalapeno. Mix well. Add salt to taste.

Fajitas-

Get a pan hot on medium high heat. Add olive oil. Add onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers. Sautee until veggies are soft. Add salt & pepper if desired. Remove from heat when finished. For your tortillas, all you have to do is warm them up in a kumal or pan just before serving. Add the filling to the tortillas, top with corn & avocado salsa and cheese, and enjoy!

Creamy Roasted Potato Soup

Yummm!!! I love a good soup, where each bite you take, you can taste each delicious ingredient working together to satisfy your taste buds!!! And boy, will it make your house smell good when you're cooking it!!! This is my healthy version of baked potato soup. I use red potatoes with the skins on instead of white potatos with the skin peeled off. It's a little on the heavy side, therefore I prefer to make this as a full meal, rather than an appetizer.

Ingredients:
Red Potatoes (quartered)
Yellow onion (quartered and seperated)
Garlic
Carrots
Roasemary
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Milk
Cheddar cheese
Sour cream

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with foil. Add the potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, & rosemary evenly across the sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Add desired amount of salt & pepper. Roast veggies in the oven for about 15-25 minutes (until carrots can easily be cut in half with a fork). Remove the sheet from the oven. Add the veggies to a blender and add milk. Blend until smooth. Tranfer soup to a large pot. Cook on medium heat. Fold in cheddar cheese and sour cream. Add a dollop of sour cream with fresh rosemary just before serving. Enjoy!



Vegetarian Encheladas & Mexican Rice

Okay, so I actually just attempted to make homemade encheladas for the FIRST time! I was not expecting them to come out as amazing as they did!!! I make the rice all the time, but the combination of encheladas with the rice was especially great!

Encheladas:
-Corn tortillas
-Frozen cream of spinach (thawed)
-Corn (frozen- not thawed!)
-Black beans
-Enchelada sauce (Trader Joe's sauce is amazing!)
-Water
-Cheddar cheese (shredded)
-Green onions (sliced small)

Get your kumal or pan nice and hot. Also, preheat your oven to 375. While your waiting, mix your filling: Cream of spinach, corn, and black beans. Cook the tortillas on both sides until bubbles form on the top. Spoon some of the filling ineach tortilla. Wrap it up tightly and arrange them in a deep baking pan.When they are all folded and arranged in a single layer, add enchelada sauce. Don't be afraid to go heavy on the sauce! They should be completely covered! Also, add about 1/4- 1/2 cup of water right on top of it. it will keep the encheladas from drying out in the oven and the tortillas will absorb it all anyway! Sprinkle cheddar cheese on to. Bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, uncovered. Let cool for a couple minutes before serving, because serving to early can cause them to fall apart. Sprinkle on the green onions and enjoy!

Mexican Rice:
-White rice
-oil (I used olive oil for everything!)
-Red tomatoes
-yellow onion
-Water
-Vegetable boullion cube
-Frozen veggies (such as peas, carrots & corn)

Heat some oil in a pan. Add the rice and stir constantly until rice gets toasted a light brown color. In a blender, combine tomatoes, water, and onion. Blend until liquified. Add to the pan of rice and bring to a boil. The ratio is 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. I rarely ever measure, but you might like to. I just add water when I see it start to get low. Add the boullion cube. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cover. Cook for 15-20 minutes until water is completely absorbed and rice is cooked all the way through. I put the veggies in about 5 minutes before the rice is done.

Simple Caprese salad



This is probably my all time favorite salad... Seriously! Sometimes the simplest things in life are the best! Everything is so fresh and bright. It goes great with some crusty bread too! If you are not familiar with heirloom tomatoes, you should get aquainted!!! Everyone knows how good red tomatoes are for you, but the other colors add a mix of anti-oxidents and vitamins that you can't get from regular tomatoes alone. I got these tomatoes at Trader Joes, they are small cherry heirloom tomatoes. But regular ones work too, you just have to dice them up a little bit more.

Ingredients:

Mixed Heirloom tomatoes

Fresh mozzerella

Kalamata olives

Basil

Olive oil

Balsamic vinigar

Sea salt & pepper

Three Bean Pasta Salad

Looking for a recipe that's healthy, light, AND yummy?! Well look no farther! This dish is FULL of protein, anti-oxidents, fiber, taste, etc! And it super easy to make! Great for a potluck, picnic, lunch, or whatever! You've gotta try it!!!

Ingredients:

Romain lettuce
Rotini pasta
Canned kidney beans (drained)
Canned green beans (drained)
Canned garbanzo beans (drained)
Peppperoncinis
Olive oil
White wine vinigar
Salt & pepper

Boil the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and set aside to cool while you prep your other ingredients. Tear the lettuce and put into your serving bowl. Add desired amount of each kind of bean and pepperoncinis. Once the pasta is cool, add it into the bowl. Top off with desired amount of vinigar, oil, salt and pepper. Toss it all together well. Enjoy!!!



Baked Chips with Spicy Salsa

Authentic Mexican salsa is easier to make at home than you might think! I love fresh and spicy salsa! I've been pretty close with Mexican families over the years, and I've learned how to make a lot of delicious Mexican food and techniques. And I like my chips baked rather than fried, cause then i'm allowed to eat more of them and not feel as guilty! =]

Ingredients (chips):
Corn tortillas (cut into triangles)
Cooking spray
Sea salt

Ingredients (salsa):
Ripe tomatoes - 4
Red Jalapenos - 2-4 (depending on how spicy you like it)
Yellow onion - one quarter of an onion
water
Sea salt

Salsa:
I start by washing the peppers and tomatoes and charring them on a hot griddle or kumal to give it that roasted flavor. Cut up all the ingredients into chunks and add to a blender. Salt as desired. Add about a quarter of a cup of water to the blender so that there's enough liquid to blend. Blend until all the ingredients are well combined. Add the salsa to a pot and cook on medium heat until most of the water is evaporated. Let cool before serving.

Chips:
Preheat oven to 350. Place tortilla triangles on a baking sheet coated in cooking spray. Spread them evenly, you don't want them overlapping. Add some more cooking spray on top and sprinkle on the sea salt. Put them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, watching them closely so that they do not burn.



Mock Sushi Rolls with chili sauce



If you are a vegetarian, then you probably know what it's like to feel left out when you're dining with your meat-eating friends. Sushi is deffinately one of those times when I feel left out! But then, I had an idea... Why not invite your friends over to have vegetable sushi with you?! It's better than it sounds, trust me! And there are many different variations you can make! You also can use egg omlet, sweet potato, avocado, cucumber, carrots, brocoli, etc. And you can feel free to mix and match any of those fillings!

Ingredients (for the sushi):

Sushi rice or sticky rice

Nori/ roasted seaweed sheets

Avocado

Carrots

Cucumber

sesame seeds

Water

Ingredients (for the sauce):

Soy sauce

Chili paste

Sesame seeds

You can make your own sushi rice if you'd like, but I prefer the microwavable sticky rice! Whichever meathod you prefer, have your rice ready and a sheet of seaweed on your bamboo mat. To one half of the seaweed, evernly spread out the sticky rice. Toward the top, add your desired amount of veggie filling. Turn the top toward you. With your fingers, add a small amount of water at the dry end of the seaweed to help it stick at the end. Start rolling the bamboo mat and tucking in the edge of the seaweed as needed. Roll until the whole sushi roll is wrapped up tight. Then you can cut up your rolls into sushi pieces, however big or small you like! In a seperate dish, combine desired amount of soy sauce, sesame seeds, and chili paste. Mix, and enjoy!