Baked Pinto Bean and Swiss Chard Burritos (ATK)

This is one of our favorite dinners.  foodforscot 2015 and prior contained food for scot.  Meaning, I primarily cooked all the recipes.  Because recipes made by scot never made the blog.  I mean, I could show you how to make a bowl of cereal, but I just didn't.

Boy, has he come a long way.  Mostly because children need to eat food frequently and regularly, so waiting until mom** comes home and eating at 9 pm is no longer a viable option.  But these burritos are in Scot's repertoire.  And even better, Birk loves them.  I LOVE when Birk loves food that has more than 2 ingredients in combination.

These are filled primarily with rice, Swiss chard, and pinto beans.  The Swiss chard is stewed in a tomato sauce, which makes it super tender and sweet.  Out of all the greens, Swiss chard is not too bitter to begin with, but it is as mild as spinach in this preparation (I know, I should rewrite this sentence...it is the worst).  The filling is, most importantly, flavorful with specific and well tested measurements of spices and salt, which is Scot's favorite kind of recipe.

We also love that the burritos are "baked".  Everything inside the burrito is fully cooked and ready to eat, but after assembling, you sprinkle with a little cheese (these have more than I prefer, but I am not picky if someone is cooking dinner for me).  Then, you place under the broiler for only a few minutes to get the tortilla and cheese golden brown.  And you never leave that broiler's side.  In fact, keep the door open and just sit and watch.  The window of when broiling transitions from perfect to burnt is nearly 0.5 seconds.  

Lastly, we like to eat with some guacamole.  My current recipe for guacamole these days is mashed very smooth and seasoned with salt, lime, and garlic powder.  Recently I was preparing some avocado toast and was stuck with a pretty bad, green tasting avocado (although texture was fine).  I added some plain yogurt and it actually sort of fixed it.  Finally, I like to shake on some green Tabasco on every bite.  

Oh actually more.  Birk did not love these the first five-ish times he ate them.  I just wanted to make that clear.  After enough "experience" with this meal, he will even eat these at room temperature in his lunch box.  And they are great reheated too.  I have to stop writing about these burritos because my enthusiasm is starting to make me uncomfortable.  They are burritos.  You get it.  

Baked Pinto Bean and Swiss Chard Burritos

recipe from "The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook", America's Test Kitchen*

2¼ cups vegetable broth, divided
¾ cup brown rice, rinsed
6 cloves garlic, minced, divided
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon minced chipotle chile in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 lb. Swiss chard, stemmed and sliced into 1-inch wide strips
1½ cups cooked pinto beans (1 15 oz. can), rinsed, divided
1 tablespoon lime juice
6-7 10-inch flour tortillas
10 oz. Monterey jack cheese, shredded (about 2½ cups), divided

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine 1¼ cups of the broth, the rice, half of the garlic, and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until the rice is tender and the broth has been absorbed, about 45 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the cilantro and fluff with a fork to incorporate. Cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, chipotle, cumin, oregano, remaining garlic, and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chard and ½ cup of the broth, cover and simmer until the chard is tender, about 15 minutes.

Using a potato masher or a fork, coarsely mash half of the beans with the remaining ½ cup of broth in a bowl, then stir into the pot. Cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid is nearly evaporated, about 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lime juice and remaining whole beans. Cover to keep warm.

Adjust an oven rack to 6 inches underneath the broiler element and heat the broiler. Wrap tortillas in a damp dish towel and microwave until warm and pliable, about 1 minute. Lay warm tortillas on a work surface. Mound warm rice, chard-bean mixture and 1½ cups of the cheese in the center of the tortillas, close to the bottom edge. Working with 1 tortilla at a time, fold the sides of the tortilla over the filling, then fold up the bottom of the tortilla, pulling back on it firmly to tightly wrap around the filling and into a burrito.

Place the burritos seam side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of cheese over the top. Broil until the cheese is melted and starting to brown, 3-5 minutes. Serve warm with guacamole.

 *I copied the text of this recipe from (http://thehouseofnashrecipes.blogspot.com/2015/04/baked-pinto-bean-and-swiss-chard.html) because I didn't want to type it out myself but I just use the cookbook!  It is definitely the best cookbook I have ever owned.  

**Just curious your thoughts on me referring to myself in the third person, as mom?  It is a little uncomfortable but you like it, right?

Thai Millet Salad with Peanut-Ginger Dressing

Happy Birthday to my sister, Jen!!!  

Several years ago, Jen decided to be a vegetarian.  Something about how humans aren't supposed to eat meat.  She rode that out for many, many years.  Recently, due to other allergies, she has started eating some meat again.  It is funny because right around the time she stopped being a strict vegetarian, I started being more strictly vegetarian.  

Luckily, our family eats lots of veggies, so catering to vegetarians is no problem.  And because of Jen (and many of my other vegetarian friends), I have always enjoyed finding and eating delicious vegetarian dishes.  

This is a very easy dish to throw together.  These types of grain/pasta/seed salads are perfect summer dinners.  They don't take a lot of effort.  They are quick, healthy, and don't heat up the house.  

This salad has millet as its grain.  Millet is a popular grain in parts of Asia and Africa and grows well in dry, hot climates.  It is not popular in the US, where is it predominately used as bird seed.  You will see it on occasion in some whole grain bars.  It is on our favorite bread baked at Whole Foods called Seeduction.  By the way, we always have a loaf of Seeduction at home.  

Cooked millet tastes pretty much like any other grain.  It tastes like grain.  It does have good texture.  It could be used any time you are using quinoa or rice (or barley, or couscous...who uses couscous anymore, what happened to the poor couscous?).  I like having a variety of whole grain options.

What else?  The dressing here is delicious.  It is a Thai-inspired peanut-ginger dressing.  I used freshly ground peanuts, but any peanut butter is fine.  If you use a non-natural peanut butter, just keep in mind it will be sweeter.  

Other than that, the salad is filled with whatever veggies you want or have and then some beans.  I used Savoy cabbage and broccoli, since both are in season.  Then, I also used shredded carrots and pinto beans.  For veggies, you could do bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini (shredded), any cabbage, cauliflower (roasted would be good), any dark greens (cooked), etc.  For beans, I would recommend a white bean or maybe edamame.  Anything other than black or chickpeas, I think.    

Thai Millet Salad with Peanut-Ginger Dressing

adapted from Eats Well with Others

1 cup uncooked millet
2 cups shredded Savoy cabbage
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 cup shredded carrots
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
4-6 scallions, finely diced
1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts
1 can of Pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup peanuts, freshly ground into butter
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp olive oil

Put the millet and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until water is evaporated. Let sit, covered, for 5 minutes.

Toss the millet with the cabbage, broccoli, carrots, cilantro, scallions, peanuts, and beans.

To make the dressing, whisk together the peanut butter, ginger, soy sauce, honey, red wine vinegar, sesame oil and olive oil. Season to taste with salt. Add the dressing to the salad and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

(Servings: 4-6, Prep time: 30 min., Cook time: 15 min., Difficulty: Easy)

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foodforscot Ratings:

Shanon (taste):  9/10
Scot (taste):  9/10
Effort:  1/5
Dishwashing Effort:  1/5

Kohlrabi, Three Ways

Two week ago, I received my first batch of kohlrabi in the CSA.  Kohlrabi is not new to me.  When I sold veggies at the market for Gene, I would work the kohlrabi like no body else out there.  Almost every single person asked me what they could do with kohlrabi.  I said "you can cook it like a potato or eat it raw in a salad."  What does it taste like?  "Sort of a cross between a potato and an apple."  Now, I would add that it does have some slight bitterness than neither apples, nor potatoes have.  Kohlrabi is cheap.  And probably easy to grow, not that I know anything about that.  So eat it up!

My CSA is fancy so we got the purple kohlrabi, which you can see in the far left in the pic above and in the pic below.  I thought it might be purple on the inside, but it was just regular on the inside.  And there is the rest of our CSA from this past week (we got kohlrabi two weeks in a row!)  Can you believe how much produce we got?  We scarfed our salad greens (curly endive, red and green leaf lettuce, salad mix) in a matter of days.  Then moved to the dark greens (collards and kale), ate those up in a few days.  Also got some little broccoli heads, savoy cabbage, and garlic scapes.

 A lot of my CSA goes into salads, stir fry, pizzas, and other things I whip together off the top of my head.  That is what I love about the CSA box.  And I get giddy when Tuesday comes around and I get to go pick ours up.  Like butterflies in my stomach.  IT HAS BEEN SO DELICIOUS.

This dish is a perfect example of something I would never make if I didn't get a CSA box.  It was good!  The name of the dish is in honor of every dish on Chopped or Top Chef.  The base of the dish is a puree of the kohlrabi greens and white beans.  Our farm takes such good care of the produce we get.  The greens are always impeccable.  I find a lot of times beet greens or any of those other turnipy greens don't look so hot.  But all the produce I have gotten so far has been basically perfect.  Next is a fritter made from the bulb.  On top of that is a little fresh kohlrabi lightly dressed with olive oil and vinegar and some fresh basil.

My next plan to show you what I have been doing with my CSA.  Hopefully that will give you some ideas of how to use all the stuff that is currently growing (greens!)

Kohlrabi, Three Ways
by foodforscot

2 kohlrabi bulbs and greens
salt and pepper
olive oil, for shallow frying
1st way:
a small handful of basil, julienned fine
1 tsp of white wine vinegar
1 tsp of olive oil
2nd way:
1 14.5 oz. can of Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
handful of grated parmesan cheese
3rd way:
1 egg
~¼ cup potato flour (or any flour)

Cut off the bulbs from the greens. Wash the bulbs and greens. Peel the bulbs with a sharp knife or a peeler.

1st way: Prepare the fresh salad. Julienne approximately ½ of one of the kohlrabi bulbs. Toss with salt, pepper, basil, olive oil, and white wine vinegar.

2nd way: Make pureed beans and greens. Remove tough stems from kohlrabi greens and roughly chop the leaves. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, add kohlrabi greens, beans, and a small amount of water (enough that you can see it but do not cover beans and greens). Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let cook until beans are tender and some of the water has evaporated off. Add more water as needed. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth (or put in food processor or blender). Mix in a handful of parmesan and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

3rd way: Make fritters. Shred the rest of the kohlrabi bulbs (1.5 bulbs) using the largest side of a box grater. Toss grated kohlrabi with salt, pepper, egg, and half the flour. Continue adding flour until mixture sticks together enough to maintain its shape when frying.

Preheat a skillet with a healthy amount of olive oil over medium high heat. Pan fry the shredded kohlrabi mixture until golden brown on each side. When done, let drain on a paper towel lined plate. Should make approximately six fritters.

Assemble: Place half of the bean/greens mixture in a wide bowl. Top with three fritters. Top fritters with fresh salad.

(Servings: 2, Prep time: 30 min, Cook time: 30 min., Difficulty: Intermediate)

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foodforscot Ratings:

Shanon (taste):  9/10
Scot (taste):  9/10
Effort:  3/5
Dishwashing Effort:  3/5

Greek Veggie Wrap

I am going to tell you a story about my journey with food.

Let's start with my parents.  Growing up, especially when I was young, my mom did a lot of cooking.  She made all the 80s and early 90s favorites like beef stroganoff, tuna casserole, swiss steak, tuna salad, cream chipped beef, meatloaf, roasts, goulash, etc.  But my mom is also 50% Italian, so she also made family recipes like huge vats of homemade marinara with ribs, meatballs, and sausage, stuffed artichokes, salads, sausage and peppers, stuffed peppers, stuffed squash, etc.  Like most families at that time, mine was influenced by popular food culture and marketing.  I think we were all brainwashed into thinking that buying fresh produce was somewhat of a luxury.  Therefore, we ate plenty of canned veggies.  Did the cream of mushroom soup thing.  Plenty of velveeta.  Margarine happened (it is healthier, duh!)

But my mom's core food knowledge was real food.  My family definitely followed the pre-made, packaged, canned food trend, but didn't stray too far and for too long from the real stuff.

My dad also did a lot of cooking.  I remember him making things like drip beef sandwiches, chicken and dumplings, stir fry, etc.  Also, I think for a good 5 years of my life, my dad ate a large, fully loaded salad for dinner.  Every night.  And I share many of my dad's taste buds.  We both like spicy food and now that I am an adult, I realize I share my dad's lack of a sweet tooth.

As a result of mostly positive food influences, I was never in too bad of shape with my general food knowledge.  Especially since my extended family and friends have taught me a lot too.

However...I, too, fell for much of the crap (aka "food") out there at your typical large supermarket.  When I went off to college and started 100% feeding myself, I started with what I knew.  Diet drinks and Sweet N' Low were a part of my regular diet.  Thought it was healthy.  Once I came to my senses and stopped (it was easy), I started noticing it was in EVERYTHING.  Anything labelled "light", which at the time, I thought meant "light on the sugar".  For example, light yogurt, I thought just had less sugar...but no, it just had fake sugar.  I was so mad.  Furious.

And probably my saddest realization was "coffee creamer".  I bought it thinking it was just cream.  Like what comes from a cow.  At one point I was looking at my Coffeemate bottle and noticed it said non-dairy.  WHAT!?!?  Non-dairy?!?!  That is when I decided to start seriously looking at labels and not be tricked again.  This was about 10 years ago.

As I have been continuing to grow my food knowledge and trying more and more types of foods and recipes, I (like so many others) have come a long way.  I never thought I would eat homemade granola for breakfast (and not be able to buy it from the store...)  I never thought I would prefer whole grain wraps to white wraps.  I never thought I would eat a pound of beans each week and only eat meat on occasion.  I never thought I love kale and other dark greens.  I never thought I would be such a...hippie.

Ok, that is a lie.  I always hoped I would.

The point is...I started out with a good relationship to food.  With reasonable knowledge.  With a decent diet.  But it wasn't easy to sort through all the crap that is thrown at us at the grocery store.  You almost have to have a PhD in Food to understand what food trends to follow and what marketing is actually true.

This is the reason that you should never let any package tell you what is good for you.  If food needs to convince you to eat it, they are probably lying.  Have you ever picked up a head of broccoli and pondered whether or not it will do your body any good?  No.  Broccoli has dignity.

Everyone has a journey with food.  I just thought I'd share mine.  Maybe you are at a different stage in your journey.  And I hope you are enjoying it!  :)  My journey is partly being recorded on this blog...so the archives hold my deepest and darkest secrets.  Don't get too excited though.

Now, here is another "burrito" for you.  This time, I went with a Greek-ish filling.  We have baby spinach, a warm chickpea mixture, a greek salsa and some feta cheese all wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla.  It is summer in your hand.  I will remind you one last time (ha...), buy the feta that comes packed in a liquid.  It is about 7 times better.

Greek Veggie Wrap

2 14.5 oz. cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

½ tsp of coriander (heaping)

a pinch (or more) of cayenne

½ of an English cucumber, diced

1 large tomato, seeded and diced

¼ of a medium red onion, finely minced

handful of kalamata olives, chopped

2-3 tbsp of finely chopped flat leaf parsley

1-2 tbsp of white/red wine vinegar (or lemon juice)

1-2 tbsp of olive oil

2 burrito-sized whole wheat tortillas

feta cheese, crumbled

several big handfuls of baby spinach

salt and pepper

Prepare the bean mixture:  put the chickpeas, coriander, cayenne, salt and pepper, and a good splash of water in a skillet.  Cook over medium high heat until water evaporates.  Taste, adjust seasonings and repeat process (add more water, cook until evaporated, taste), until desired texture is reached.  I usually do the process twice.

Prepare the Greek salsa:  combine cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, olives, parsley, vinegar, and olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Prepare wraps:  warm a tortilla over an open flame, the microwave or in the oven.  Put a healthy layer of baby spinach down.  Top with bean mixture, feta cheese and salsa.  Wrap, burrito-style. 

(Servings:  2, Prep time:  20 min., Cook time:  20 min., Difficulty:  Easy) 


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foodforscot Ratings:  


Shanon (taste):  8/10
Scot (taste):  7/10
Effort:  2/5
Dishwashing Effort:  1/5