Bean Enchiladas (Veg Friendly)

The dish that I can absolutely eat until I'm sick: enchiladas. I've loved them since I was little and last night, as a birthday week present for myself, I cooked bean enchiladas for dinner.

An easy crowd pleaser, my mom and I have often made hundreds of enchiladas for events, and it never takes longer than an hour or so.

So, here is my easy, fool-proof recipe for enchiladas:

Makes 10

Bean Enchiladas (or meat if you want)

Ingredients:

• 1 can of refried bean
• shredded colby jack cheese
• 10 flour tortillas
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 packet McCormick enchilada spices
• OPTIONAL: ground beef or ground turkey (cooked)

Directions:

1. Simmer tomato sauce mixed with spice packet until warm.
2. Fill each tortilla with a large spoon full of beans, a sprinkle of cheese and a spoonful of sauce (add the meat and anything else you might want here too); spread evenly down the center of the tortilla.
3. Roll tortillas and place them side-by-side in the pan (the closer the better)
4. Top generously with cheese and sauce.
5. Cook at 350 F for 25 minutes, or until enchiladas are hot in the center.
6. Serve immediately.
7. Enjoy!

These enchiladas are great re-heated! You can also freeze them for about a month and take them out one at a time for lunches or dinners.

Tortilla de Patatas

My favorite meal while I was living in Spain was the Tortilla de Patatas or Tortilla Española, a quintesential Spanish staple. I had this tortilla all over Spain and I can guarantee that the tortilla my Señora made was by far the very best. So, during the four months I lived with her, I was able to learn some of her secrets to the perfect tortilla and I am ready to share them with you!

Tortilla Española (read about my adventures with la tortilla here, in an pre-release excerpt from my Spanish food magazine: Comida)

Ingredients:

Potatoes, any variety
1 onion
3-6 egg whites
2-4 egg yolks
Salt to taste
Extra Virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Pour 1-1.5 inches of olive oil in the bottom of a round-bottomed pan.

2. Peel and slice potatoes in to approximately 1 cm thick rounds. Place potato slices in warm oil until pan is about 2/3 full of potatoes. Oil should not be boiling.

3. Continue to turn potatoes for about 10-15 minutes or until all slice are soft. Potatoes should not brown.

4. Add salt to taste.

5. Grate onion in to potato mixture and continue to turn for about two more minutes.

6. Strain potato mixture, removing all excess oil (the easiest way is to allow the mixture to sit in a strainer for about three minutes).

7. While mixture is straining, beat all eggs together.

8. Pour potato mixture back in to pan and pour eggs over the top. Turn mixture so that the eggs are evenly dispersed.

9. Add salt to taste.

10. Allow Tortilla to cook for approximately three minutes, or until tortilla hold together when pan is shook.

11. Using a plate, flip the tortilla on to the plate and slide it back in to the pan allowing the other side to cook.

12. Cook for about three more minutes and carefully slide on to serving plate.

13. Allow the tortilla to sit for at least 30 minutes before serving so that it holds its domed shape.

14. ¡Buen Provecho!

To learn more about my time in Spain, visit: taylorqchat.blogspot.com

Fried Goat Cheese Salad

While I was in Spain I developed an undeniable adoration for goat cheese (like eat a pound of goat cheese in one sitting, even when I'm full, kind of love). So, upon returning home to Texas it has been my goal, or rather a necessity, to incorporate goat cheese in to my life. While watching one of the new shows on OWN (I will always follow Oprah), I saw a chef cooking fried goat cheese and it looked easy. So, I decided that Valentine's Dinner was the perfect time to attempt this fancy-ish technique. My little goat cheese bubbles where hard to flip and cooked much faster than I expected, but they were absolutely wonderful!

Fried Goat Cheese Salad (serves 2)

Fried Goat Cheese

1 6 oz. package of goat cheese (or 3/4 of a 8 oz. package)

1 egg

panko bread crumbs (I used italian flavored)

flour

olive oil

Salad

Baby Spinach

Honey Balsamic Dressing

1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. olive oil

1-2 tsp. honey (depending on how sweet you like)

Directions:

1. Roll goat cheese in to small 1/4 balls.

2. Make three bowls, one with flour, one with an egg (well stirred) and one with bread crumbs. With your thumb, lightly press each ball in to a disk.

3. Coat each goat cheese ball in flour, dip it in egg and coat it in bread crumbs. Repeat the final two steps, dipping the ball in egg and then bread crumbs once again.

4. Heat 1/8 inch of olive oil in pan.

5. Place each disk in oil, cook for 30 seconds to a minute, flip the disk and cook the other side 30 seconds to a minute.

6. Mix all dressing ingredients.

7. Serve warm goat cheese disks on a bed of baby spinach, topped with the honey balsamic dressing.

8. Enjoy!

Sliced and Spiced Baked Potatoes

I adore potatoes, all forms of them, baked, fried, mashed, you name it, I love it! My mom used to make these potatoes when I was little and I always loved them because they look so fancy, but believe me, they're incredibly easy, versatile, yummy and healthy.

Ingredients:

Potatoes (1 for each person you're serving)

Olive oil

Salt

Ground black pepper

Garlic powder

Your choice of herbs--rosemary, thyme and oregano are some of my favorites

Optional Parmesean cheese (whatever kind you have in your pantry)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Slice thin cuts 3/4 of the way through the potato, the thinner the slices the better the potto will cook. Be careful not to slice all the way through, you want the potato to stay together for serving.

Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle each of them with olive oil. Make sure to get a little oil in between each cut (a basting brush is good for this...or fingers).

Mix together salt, pepper, garlic powder and herbs to taste (truly taste the mixture with each addition so you can get it just right. You will want 1-2 tsp. of mixture per potato.

Sprinkle the mixture on each potato and in between all cuts. Sprinkle parmesean cheese on top of the potatoes if you would like (I wouldn't recommend other kinds of cheese because they will get melty in the oven rather than crispy).

Bake the potatoes in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until all potatoes are cooked through (they should be slightly soft to the touch but not mushy).

Bon Appétit!