roasted green chiles 2 ways

You know what I love? Summer produce. Everything is beautiful, in season, and delicious. When I went to the grocery store last night, I was excited to see that green chiles were cheap, so I scooped up a handful of Anaheims, and began to hunt for tasty recipes. After browsing all the great ideas on Central Market, I decided to make my own version of the black bean stuffed bell pepper, and then add a chili cheddar biscuit on the side.

First and foremost. Stop everything you're doing, and roast your peppers! I didn't know this was necessary, but a chat with my mom confirmed that roasting your chiles is the best way to go. Simply plop your peppers onto a baking sheet and let them cook under the broiler approximately 5-10 minutes or until they're brown and blistering. Make sure you flip the chiles half way through to get both sides cooked, and when they're looking browned to perfection, take them out, peel off the skin, and use them up!

You can immediately use them in your recipes, or seal them in a plastic bag for future use. Tonight I did a little bit of both-I used 2 for my dinner, and stored the rest for stew, or burritos, or something else amazing.

For the quick-fix chili cheddar biscuits you need: 1. Bisquick Heart Smart mix 2. Milk- I used rice milk 3. Cheddar cheese 4. Roasted green chiles

I know using Bisquick is like, half cheating, but when you work all day, and want something delicious and fast, then shortcuts are often the answer. Besides. The Box said Heart Smart, so it can't be all bad, can it? :)

Follow the directions on the back of the Bisquick box stirring together the dry mix with your milk product. Add a healthy 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, 1 diced, roasted green chili, and pop those babies in the oven. 9 minutes later you will have yourself 5 soft, moist, cheesy biscuits, with just a slight hint of heat. They were absolutely to die for, but note for next time: more cheese & more chiles. Yummm

For the stuffed bell pepper you need: 1. 1 Bell pepper- I used red 2. Cous cous 3. 1/2 cup black beans 4. Cheddar cheese 5. Your favorite salsa 6. 1/4 diced onion 7. 1 roasted green chili diced

Start off by preparing your cous cous. You can also use rice, or any other grain, but I used cous cous since I had it on hand, and it cooks very quickly. While your grain is cooking, cut off the top of your bell pepper and scoop out anything that's inside. Now chop up your onion and green chili, measure out your cheese, black beans, and salsa, and when the cous cous is ready, mix everything together in a bowl and stuff it inside of your hollowed out bell pepper. You will definitely have lots of extra filling, but you can serve it as a side, or snack on it while your pepper is cooking.

Place the stuffed bell pepper into a baking dish with about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom, and put it into a 450 degree oven for about 30 minutes. The recipe I based mine off of said 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven, but just check on it occasionally, and when the pepper is soft and the stuffing is heated through, you're good to dig in!

Biscuits and stuffed peppers? A slightly strange combination, but both fantastic uses for my roasted green chili peppers. The slight hint of spicy heat in both recipes was perfection. I think my first time roasting peppers was incredibly successful, and now I can't wait to try my roasted green chiles in all sorts of new recipes! Yayy!

bbq tempeh & kale

O.M.G. I don't know if it's possible to accurately describe how full and incredibly content I am right now. I don't know if it was sheer genius, or dumb luck, but tonight's dinner was incredible. I'd like to make this introduction better, but let's skip it and get right to the food. BBQ tempeh and kale! *drool*

For the BBQ Tempeh

Stuff you need: 1. 1 block tempeh 2. 1 bell pepper 3. 1/2 onion 4. your favorite BBQ sauce

Start off by bringing approximately 3 cups of water to boil in a saucepan. When the water is boiling, put some salt, and the tempeh brick into the water, and let it simmer on medium for 20 minutes. While your tempeh is boiling, thinly slice your bell pepper and onion into strips and sauté them in in a little olive oil, until they're nice and tender. When the tempeh is done, drain it, and slice it into long thing strips, just like the onion and peppers. Combine the tempeh, veggies, and a healthy helping of BBQ sauce in the skillet or saucepan you already used, and let everything heat together.When you can stand it no longer, dish it up, and dig in!

For the Kale

Stuff you need: 1. 1 garlic clove 2. a bunch of kale 3. 1 can diced tomatoes 4. brown rice

For the kale dish, I was inspired by this recipe from Epicurious, but I altered it according to what I had on hand. I started by making a pot of rice- using leftover rice would be helpful, but it wasn't a problem to prepare everything else while the rice cooked. Meanwhile, mince the garlic, roughly chop the kale, and open and drain the can of diced tomatoes. Sautee the garlic in a little olive oil, and when it's just starting to turn golden, add the tomatoes, kale, and a good sprinkle of salt. Occasionally stir it every few minutes, and when the kale is tender, add the rice, toss everything together, and serve.

Holy shit that was a good meal. The tempeh is just like good ol' fashioned BBQ- a little sweet, and the texture is perfect. Substitute this into a Philly cheese-steak, and you'd never miss the meat! Also, the kale concoction was just the right side to serve with the tempeh. The slightly-sugary BBQ sauce was nicely complimented by the savory, tenderness of the tomatoes, rice, and kale. Omg I just can't say enough good things about this dinner. Tonight's meal = AMAZING!! :D

broccoli slaw

What a lovely Monday evening. I got in a great workout, made an amazing dinner, prepared my lunch for tomorrow, and sat down on my bed and looked through the entire Ikea catalog page by page. Colorado's first Ikea store opens in 2 days, and let me tell you, there is some mad Ikea fever around here. I hear there are already people camping out in front of the store! I'm not that crazed, but I am excited to pick out some cute new items for my place.

Before fully diving into the Ikea catalog, however, I made myself a giant bowl of broccoli slaw. I have an abundance of broccoli in my house right now, and even though I love steamed broccoli, I thought I'd mix it up with something light, chilled and summery. I modeled my recipe after this one I found on Apartment Therapy, but I adjusted it according to what I found in my kitchen.

Stuff you need: 1. 1 head broccoli 2. 1/2 small onion 3. 1 carrot 4. 1/4 cup raisins 5. 1/4 cup sliced almonds 6. a heaping 1/4 cup Vegenaise 6. 2 tablespoons lemon juice 7. 1/2 tablespoon stone ground mustard 8. a pinch of salt

Start by chopping/shredding your broccoli, carrot and onion. If you are lucky enough to own a food processor, you should totally use it. If you are poor like me, roll up your sleeves and get to cutting! When your veggies are ready, place them into a large bowl, and add the raisins and almonds.

In another bowl, combine the Vegenaise, lemon juice, mustard, and salt. Vigorously stir the concoction together and then adjust the flavor accordingly. The original recipe uses vinegar, which would have been a nice addition, but I didn't have any in my cabinets, so I just used more lemon juice. Combine the liquid mixture to the shredded vegetables and toss well. The flavors will blend better if you let it sit in the fridge a while, but let's be honest, this slaw is ridiculously delicious, and there's no way in hell it could possibly stay out of my belly for more than 5 minutes.

Isn't it beautiful? The colors are so nice with the orange carrot, purple raisins, and green broccoli, but let me tell you, it is even more tasty than it is attractive. It may have turned out a little overly-lemony, but for a hot, summer night, the bold, citrus taste was perfect. The chopped vegetables and crunchy almonds also give this dish a really great texture, that would be nice in a variety of recipes. Tonight I threw it in a black bean and corn burrito, and I'll definitely take the slaw for lunch the next few days. In fact, I might even make a second batch with my other head of broccoli and eat it all week! Yes. It's that good. Ikea may be premiering in Colorado, but this broccoli slaw is pretty exciting too :)

easter festivities

A Happy Easter to everyone binge-eating jelly beans and dying Easter eggs today. I may be 24, but nothing makes me happier than pretending I'm 5, and painting silly things on eggs once a year.

I come from a large Catholic family, so Easter is always a big deal. This large family, mind you, is not vegetarian, and we always have the traditional Honey Baked Ham. Minus the meat, there's always tons of great food and way too much candy. In fact, here's a great list of vegan candy from PETA. I had no idea that a lot of my favorites were vegan! Total score.

Also, for my family celebration today, I brought a citrus quinoa salad that I found at Tall Green Grass. It's a pretty tasty dish, but definitely needed some tweaking. I doubled it, cooked the quinoa in vegetable broth, added another 1/2 lemon of juice, a little more siracha, and a pinch of salt for serving. Otherwise, I was pleased to introduce a large number of my family members to quinoa, since they had no idea what it was. I think they liked it too :)

On a crafty note, I wanted to pass along a super cute sewing pattern I found last week. My Grandma is in the hospital right now, and since she couldn't make it to the Easter celebration, I thought I'd bring a little Easter to her. The pattern and tutorial are here at Craft Gossip. I'm a total novice when it comes to sewing, but it was a moderately easy project that only took me a few hours to do during one of my late night spurts of energy.

I always find projects to start, but rarely finish them, so I'm really excited that I actually finished this little guy and he turned out great to boot. Most importantly though, my Grandma loved him, and it totally brightened her day.

It was a delicious day, but a long and busy one as well. It's time to eat some left over quinoa and a few more jelly beans before bed. Happy Easter! ♥