Bringing Out Our Inner 'Veggie-ness'

It has been an ongoing effort in our house (on my part, anyways) to reduce the amount of meat that we consume and increase the number of veggies. This can be difficult considering that my husband is not even remotely close to a veg-head. Honestly, it is usually easier to get the kids to eat their veggies!

Last night I decided to try a new recipe, and was pleasantly surprised at the reception it received at our kitchen table. The kids ate it with only minimal complaints and Kevin ate it and said it was good! Yay, me!

Black Bean Burritos

2 (10 inch) flour tortillas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped (you can use a Vivaldi onion if you like....LOL)
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon minced jalapeno peppers
3 ounces cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1) Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven heated to 350 degrees F; bake for 15 min. or until heated through

2) Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place onion, bell pepper, garlic and jalapenos in skillet and cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour beans into skillet, cook 3 minutes stirring.

3) Add cream cheese to skillet with salt. Cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir cilantro into mixture.

4) Spoon mixture evenly down center of warmed tortilla and roll tortillas up. Serve immediately.

** Some changes that I made......

Instead of regular flour tortillas I used whole wheat, extra fiber, low calorie kind of tortillas. I also didn't want to turn on the oven the warm them, given the temps these days, so I wrapped them in a paper towel and warmed them in the microwave for 20 seconds. They came out perfectly.

Also, I put the black beans in my mini food processor. I didn't want the kids to recognize them as beans. I passed it off to them as a meat mixture and they both ate it.

Next time I might consider boosting the amounts of jalapenos and cilantro. I love fresh cilantro and the flavour was very subtle. The jalapenos couldn't be tasted at all (and remember, I am a wimp when it comes to spicy foods!).

Oh, and before wrapping the burritos up, I added Mexican grated cheese.

This amount of filling made two small burritos for the kids, and a reasonable sized burrito for each Kevin and I.

I would say this was a huge success for such a quick dinner. I will definitely make it again.

I served the burritos with homemade guacamole and chips. The kids won't eat it, but Kevin loves it. The recipe I have is from Renee Zellweger's Restaurant called the Blue Parrot in East Hampton.

Guacamole

1 ripe tomato, diced
1/2 Spanish onion, chopped
1 Serrano chili, seeded and minced (I always us fresh jalapeno)
juice of two limes
salt
5 ripe avocados, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Mash the avocado and mix with all of the other ingredients. Enjoy!

Happy cooking! :)

Easy Skillet Beef and Peppers

In hono(u)r of our blog "re-launch," here's one to start us off.

(Re-posted from www.wecaneatthis.blogspot.com)

Before now, when I had a bunch of green peppers from the garden, I made stuffed peppers (or stuffed "mangoes" as my west-side family used to call them). The other night, I was looking for a quick meal that used up a bunch of green peppers. I browned and drained about 3/4 pounds ground beef, then chopped one onion and 3 peppers and sauteed them in 1 tablespoon or so of olive oil added to the beef. Then, I sprinkled in some salt and pepper and added 1 can of tomato soup plus around 1/2 soup can of water. I let this simmer for a bit then mixed in about 3/4 c cooked brown rice and some cheese. I used muenster and cheddar because I had them, but you could try all sorts of cheeses. My picky family LOVED it. Tim even told me how much better it was than those awful stuffed peppers I make. Funny, it's the EXACT same ingredients assembled a little differently. I think he doesn't like to have to cut his food!