Oh, hello Bell Pepper!

Lately I have been craving more veggies and so today I decided to share with you one of my favorite salads.  It combines a variety of my most favorite foods: beans, cheese, and bell peppers!  I started to do some research and was surprised to learn that bell peppers come in more colors than just green, red, orange, and yellow.  They can be black, brown, or purple too!  Which kind of makes sense since they're a part of the "nightshade family" that includes potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant.

Red bell peppers are my personal favorite because they're sweet and taste good raw and cooked. Below is my recipe for what I call a Fiesta Salad, it's colorful, spicy, and tasty!  I didn't include many pictures because it's not very complicated.

Red Bell Peppers

Fiesta Salad
Ingredients
Your choice of greens
Black beans, drained
Red bell pepper, diced
Shredded cheese (I prefer the "Mexican" blend)
Tortilla strips
Brianna's Chipotle Cheddar dressing (this is important!) 

Directions
Add as much of each ingredient as your heart desires and dig in!! But of course, be mindful of how much dressing you add...that's where the healthy can easily slip into unhealthy if you're not careful!

These are the tortilla strips I use - found at your neighborhood Savemart

This is the most awesomest dressing and is what gives the salad a little kick! I had trouble finding it at Savemart even though they carry the brand, but WinCo seems to always have it on hand.

This is before the strips and dressing. I'm sharing this pick because I knew once I put it in my lunch bag it wasn't going to look as pretty.  I wait to add those two final ingredients if I'm not going to eat it until later.  Who wants a soggy salad?

Sometimes our best stuff comes out of desperation.  This was born out of stuff I had on hand.  I would love to hear some of your salad creations!

Do Share!

Peace, Love, & Yummy Stuff 

P.S.  I know the cheese in the picture is not the "Mexican" blend I love, but I was out, so I shredded some pepper jack.  I can never have enough spice :)  But after I did so, I wish I had used feta.  I think the tangy flavor of feta would have complimented the dressing nicely.

Because That's How I Casse-roll! Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole with Cilantro-Lime Crema

I am a lover of starches and carbohydrates, and that isn't always a good thing.  I'm also slightly allergic to potatoes. Luckily I was introduced to its very distant cousin, lpomoea batatas, more commonly known as the sweet potato!

The Guest Dujor

It's a wonderful tuberous root also known as a yam, camote, kumara, batata, and a few others.  They range in color from a light yellow to orange and there's also a purple variety more commonly grown in Asia.  The variety I choose to use is the orange one with the darker skin.  Their orange color makes them an alternative to eating carrots for beta-carotene and that essential Vitamin A.  Not only are all rich with a variety of vitamins, but they also have antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, and blood-sugar regulating nutrients.

I was inspired to create this dish from a tostada recipe I found on Pinterest that is a winner in my house.  I figured I could use the sweet potato, along with another favorite, black beans, as a hearty filling to another classic dish....enchiladas!

Rather then spending time rolling each individual tortilla with the scrumptious goodness I decided to turn it into a casserole.  I know it may seem like a lot of stuff, but this is an easy recipe and it will only get easier each time you make it.  I do, however, apologize in advanced that not everything is measured, but the stuff I eyeball is not easy to mess up, so you'll be okay.

Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients

1 1/2 small sweet potatoes (as uniform as you can find)

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 red bell pepper

1/4 purple onion, sliced 

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Crumbled Feta

Cilantro

10 corn tortillas

Enchilada Sauce:
1/4 c canola oil

Flour

Chili powder

Cumin

Garlic powder

Salt
Water
Tomato sauce

Crema:

1 c plain Greek yogurt

1/8 c crumbled feta

1 jalapeño

LIme zest

Juice of 1 lime

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Cumin

Directions:

Set your oven to 400 degrees, then wash all your veggies and drain and rinse your black beans.

Peel your sweet potatoes and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices.  You want to try and find the most uniform sweet potatoes so that all your slices are relatively close in size, which is ideal for roasting.

Dice your red pepper and slice your onion, then toss in a bowl with your potatoes.  Coat your veggies with olive oil and salt/pepper/cumin to taste.  Spread them on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 30 minutes.  Don't worry if some of them blacken, they won't be detectable.

While those are roasting you can start your crema.  I love using Greek yogurt as an alternative to mayo or sour cream. In a blender or food processor, mix the yogurt, feta, lime zest, lime juice, garlic (I always have a jar of minced garlic in the fridge because I use it in almost everything!), and jalapeño (roughly chopped and deveined). 

            

I like to leave a little bit of the vein for some heat

Season it to your liking with salt, pepper, and cumin. Then put in a small container and 
refrigerate until you're ready to use.

Cumin is a spice that's always been a part of my childhood
but is something I have just grown to love.

Once your veggies are done, mix them in with your drained black beans and garlic.  Season a bit more at this time if needed and set aside. 

You can choose to buy your enchilada sauce (and you'll get no judgment from me), but I've grown up on homemade, so I chose to make my own.  First you heat up the canola oil.  Then add the flour and whisk until it forms a paste and let it brown a bit.  Next, whisk in your chili powder and garlic powder and let it brown some more.  

Slowly add water until it reaches the consistency you want, ideally kind of runny, but not too thin.  It may look a bit clumpy and separated at first, just be sure to whisk like crazy and the water will eventually incorporate.  Add in your tomato sauce, salt, and cumin, along with anything else you might want to include to taste. Keep whisking!

Once your sauce is ready, lower the heat and warm your tortillas.  I sandwiched them between two wet paper towels and heated them for 30 seconds in the microwave.  That was long enough to make them soft and heated through.

Then begin to layer your casserole by spreading some of your sauce on the bottom of your 9x9 dish. Follow with a layer of tortillas. I cut some in half and layer so that there is no space in between for the filling to fall through.  Spread the filling and sprinkle with feta and cilantro, followed with sauce and repeat.  Top it off with sauce, cheese, and cilantro.  Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Serve with as much crema as you like!

This happened to be another hit with Biz, and he's usually pretty honest with me if he doesn't like something.  I don't want to make anything he has to force down, so I'd rather know and not waste my time.  In this case it was a winner.  This size gave us nine servings.  I must admit I ran out of sauce, but the crema helped with the lack of moisture and they tasted great!  I still have quite a bit of crema left, but I figured we could use that on some chicken tacos later in the week.  

I'd love to hear if you give this a try and anything you might have done differently.

Chick-A-What? Chick-A-Who? Did you say chickpeas and lasagna?

As I began thinking about what I wanted to write for my first post, the chickpea was the first item that came to mind.  If you asked Biz to guess the topic of my first post, he'd say, "She's probably going to make it all about pasta" (insert eye roll here).  Nine times out of ten, he'd probably be right; and that's exactly what got me to thinking about what I could do differently.  I know a pasta-heavy diet is not cholk-full of nutrients, so I got to thinking...what could I possibly substitute in it's place?

What

about

CHICKPEAS?

The Guest Du Jour

I can't tell you the exact moment that I first consumed chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), but I do remember thinking, "where have you been all my life?" It is a lovely legume that I have come to appreciate for all its versatility.  Chickpeas can be served cooked, baked, roasted, fried, blended, the possibilities are endless!  They're full of zinc, folate, and protein, polyunsaturated fat (good fat) and low in calories.  

With that in mind, I was off to the drawing board to figure out how I was going to make this work.  I thought about what kind of pasta dish would allow for an easy substitute and could remain relatively healthy, as I am trying to promote the benefits of substituting my precious pasta with a bean.

Then it hit me, what about using the ingredients typically found in a lasagna!  Thus, Chicksagna was born!  Here's what you'll need:

Chicksagna

Ingredients:

1 8x8 baking dish

2 cans of chickpeas

3/4lbs ground turkey

1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce

1/2c Low-fat ricotta cheese

2-3Tbsp pesto

2Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/4c diced carrots

1/4c diced yellow onion

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and set aside while you dice your carrots and onions. In a medium pan, heat your oil and saute your carrots and onions on medium heat, until softened (the carrots will help to cut down the acidity from the marinara sauce).

While those are cooking, combine your ricotta and pesto sauce in a small bowl.  

               

Then add your ground turkey to the saute pan to brown and season to taste.  I didn't spoon out the fat because there wasn't very much, but if you're using beef, you may want to.  Once cooked, add about half the jar of marinara and continue cooking until it's heated through.

Now you're ready to begin layering.  Pour just enough marinara from your jar into your baking dish to coat the bottom.  Then pour in and spread out half of your chickpeas.

Then add your layer of meat mixture, followed by some of your ricotta mixture, then sprinkle with mozzarella.  You should have enough to last you for two total layers.

On your final layer, pour in any remaining sauce from your jar.  Then sprinkle with Parmesan.  Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.

  

Presto!  You have a healthy alternative to a common pasta dish.

Now I know it's not the same layers of flavor you may be used to, and this is more a bowl-friendly dish, but it was a hit with Biz and it's so much more healthy.  You could serve it along side some roasted veggies or a light green salad.  I'd love to hear your thoughts if you decide to try it.  Are there any recipes involving chickpeas that you've been dying to try?  If so, I'd love to hear about them!