May 7, 2009
· Filed under Main Dish, Spring · Tagged chard, cheese, enchiladas, greens, mushrooms
Posted by Lisa
Chard, Mushroom & Onion Enchiladas in Tomatillo Sauce
We are omnivores in this house and really enjoy meat, though we don’t eat it in every meal. Whever I try a new dish in which I use vegetables in the same capacity that I would normally use meat, it has been received poorly at times. I was expecting the worst when I served these pretty green enchiladas with my usual Mexican rice and was suprised that they were heartily consumed by all except my youngest who felt tricked that they weren’t filled with chicken. These enchiladas really were delicious and the leftovers were promptly eaten the next day which is always a sign that a dish has been well received.
When contemplating the jars of tomatillo salsa I have in my pantry still left from last fall’s canning, I googled a recipe for tomatillo enchiladas and one of the first recipes that came up was a recipe for Swiss Chard, Onion and Monterey Jack Enchiladas in a Tomatillo Salsa. Since we received chard in our CSA share, this seemed the perfect recipe to try. The chard worked beautifully in the enchiladas because it has such a mild flavor that it doesn’t compete with the tart flavor of the tomatillos and its tender texture doesn’t get stringy like some greens might have. I made adaptations to the original recipe by adding some mushrooms, using a raw cheddar instead of Monterey jack and using my home canned salsa.
Chard, Mushroom & Onion Enchiladas in Tomatillo Sauce
- 1 cup of prepared or home canned tomatillo salsa
- 1 1/2 cups of water or stock
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 bunch chard
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 5 large mushrooms, chopped rather finely
- 10 oz. grated cheddar cheese, divided
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- sea salt
Preheat oven to 375°.
In a medium sauce pan bring salsa and water (or stock) to a boil. Turn down to simmer and simmer until it is the about as thick as tomato sauce. When it has reached the desired consistency, remove from heat and whisk the sour cream in. Set aside.
To prepare the chard, strip the leaves from the stems and cut into thin strips. Remove the bottom inch or so of the stems and chop the remaining stems finely.
In a large pan, heat your oil and sauté onions for about one minute. Add the chopped chard stems and the mushrooms. Sauté for another minute. Add chard leaves and stir well. Add about one teaspoon of sea salt and cook until chard wilts is tender, about 10 minutes.
Set aside 1/4 of the grated cheese to use on top of the assembled enchiladas.
Corn tortillas crack if you try to roll them cold, so they need to be warmed. I do this by heating two or three tortillas at a time in the preheated oved for about a minute. Then, dip each tortilla into the tomatillo salsa mixture and then fill with several tablespoons of the chard filling and about a tablespoon of grated cheese. Place the rolled enchilada in a 9′ x 13′ casserole dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
When you have assembled all 12 enchiladas and placed them in the dish, pour the remaining tomatillo sauce on top of the enchiladas, sprinkle the reserved grated cheese and the 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese on top. Bake about 30 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden.
April 28, 2009
· Filed under Main Dish · Tagged bacon, cheese, greens, leeks, meat, mushrooms, onions, pizza
Posted by Lisa
Bacon, Caramelized Leek, Rapini, Mushroom Pizza
Pizza is such a versatile dish. You can make it with meat or without or use up small bits of a variety of vegetables that you have sitting around, which is useful for stretching a vegetable or clearing out your refrigerator and will change seasonally. Pizza can seem intimidating, but really, it’s a dough topped with stuff. How hard is that? If you find a good dough recipe, you’re set. I’ve heard that having a pizza stone is handy, but even if you don’t own one (as I don’t) you can still make wonderful pizza. I’ve used regular baking sheets and a cast iron griddle and I find that a cast iron griddle makes for a nice golden and well done crust.
This week I used bacon (cooked), caramelized leeks from our CSA share, one bunch of kale rapini (chopped and lightly sautéd), sliced local mushrooms and grated mozzarella.
Easy Pizza Dough
from The Food Network
- 3 1/2 cups, unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 packages active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
In a mixing bowl fitted with a dough hook, place flour, yeast, salt and sugar. While mixer is running, gradually add water and knead on low speed until dough is firm and smooth, about 10 minutes.
Turn machine off. Pour oil down inside of bowl. Turn on low once more for 15 seconds to coat inside of bowl and all surfaces of dough with the oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
If using a pizza stone, place stone in oven on bottom rack while preheating. Punch dough down, cut in half*. Place half of the dough on generously floured work surface. By hand, form dough loosely into a ball and stretch into a circle. Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough into large circle until very thin. Don’t worry if your circle isn’t perfect and if you get a hole just pinch the edges back together.
To prevent dough from sticking to counter, turn over the dough and sprinkle with flour. Also, flour the counter top and rolling pin as needed. Sprinkle pizza peel or cookie sheet generously with cornmeal. Transfer dough to pizza peel or cookie sheet with no lip. Add toppings. Slide dough onto pizza stone or place cookie sheet with pizza on bottom rack.
Bake 10 to12 minutes or until golden. Roll out remaining dough and top with desired toppings or freeze in freezer bags.
*I always divide the dough into four pieces for smaller, individual pizzas. 1/4 of the dough rolls out to fit very nicely on a standard sized cast iron griddle.
February 19, 2009
· Filed under Autumn, Dish Type, Main Dish, Spring, Summer, Winter · Tagged cheese, eggs, greens, ham, mushrooms, quiche, yukina
Posted by Lisa
Yukina and Mushroom Quiche
Quiche is a very versatile dish, because you can throw a variety of vegetables, cheeses or meats into it and it will generally come out great. I frequently make quiche when I have greens to use. I’ve tried all kinds of greens in quiche with success: spinach, kale, chard, broccoli rapini, turnip rapini and most recently yukina. Yukina is a Japanese green that we received in our CSA share last week. Cooked, it had a very mild taste. In this version of quiche, I used a diced onion, chopped yakina, sliced, mushrooms and raw cheddar and feta cheeses. I was also short on time the night I made it, so I made a crustless quiche, though I prefer one with a crust. The recipe below is for one 9-inch quiche, but I always make two and we have the second for breakfast or lunch the next day.
Onion, yukina, mushrooms
Lisa’s Basic Quiche
- Pie dough for one 9-inch crust
- 2 cups of cooked vegetables, leaving them crisp tender (onions, leeks, asparagus, any type of greens, chopped broccoli, mushrooms, or any combination of these)
- 1/2 cup of chopped ham, crumbled bacon, prosciutto or sausage (all of these should be pre-cooked), optional
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups of grated cheese (I generally use cheddar)
- 1/2 cup ricotta, crumbled feta, cottage or goat cheese
- 5 eggs
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon dried or 3 teaspoons fresh dill
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place dough in pie pan. Sprinkled grated cheese on dough and then vegetables and meat on top of the cheese. In a large bowl mix soft cheese, eggs, cream, milk, sea salt and dill. Whisk until well combined. Pour into pie pan. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is golden and the center is no longer jiggly. Cool 5-10 minutes before serving.
