Thursday, January 17, 2008

Quesadillas

I've still been battling this SAD. Damn, it's tough. I struggle to get out of bed in the morning. I mean STRUGGLE. Then I struggle, all day, to not climb back in. I can get up and drink two large cups of coffee, then go lay down and be asleep in five minutes. I've been trying to just let myself do whatever my body feels like it needs because I know next month at this time, I'll be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I just don't really want to gain another ten pounds between now and then!

Anyway...This evening for dinner I decided to make some black bean and veggie quesadillas. I've been wanting an excuse to try out my new Le Creuset grill pan and panini press anyway. So, here's what I did: I chopped up an onion, half of a red pepper and a few cloves of garlic and sauteed them until soft. Then, I added some chopped, cooked broccoli that I had leftover from yesterday. I added about 3-4 cups of cooked black beans. I seasoned with some chili powder, paprika, cumin and cayenne. Salt and pepper to taste. I put a big spoonful of the veggie mixture between a couple whole-grain tortillas with some cheese. There ya go. Quesadillas.

I made some mexican-style rice to go with them. I cooked one cup of long-grain brown rice in two cups of "No-Chicken Broth." While that was cooking I sauteed half an onion and a few cloves of garlic. To that, I added a can of fire-roasted crushed tomatoes. When the rice was finished cooking, I dumped it into the tomato mixture. Super-easy, and unbelievably tasty.

I didn't post yesterday, but I made one of Sleek's favorites. It's such an easy dish. It's called "Halusky." (Mmmmm. The version described on that wiki entry sounds awesome!) Just cabbage and onion cooked in butter (or Earth Balance), and added to a bag of cooked egg noodles. (I use whole wheat noodles.) Add some salt and pepper, and there you have it. It is mighty good. I originally found the recipe in my trusty White Grass Cafe cookbook. I served it with a side of roasted asparagus with a really simple balsamic-soy sauce.


Today, I listened to an album that I haven't listened to forever. I played the hell out of it from 1999 to 2001, I swear. It's Ben Lee's Breathing Tornados. Great, great album. Sleek and I saw Ben Lee last summer, and he didn't play a damn song off of that album! I was highly disappointed. He is cute, though! ;)

4 comments:

Charleston Catholic / Clay Center Project said...

Quesadillas are in heavy rotation at my house. My favorite combination: roasted anaheim or poblano peppers, red onions, soyrizo (soy chorizo... it's really good!), refried beans (or just plain black beans, if I'm lazy) roasted corn, and shredded Mexican queso.

Sounds complicated, but I roast everything ahead of time, toss, and freeze in individual baggies for easy quesadilla-making. I vary the ingredients depending on what's on hand.

Susan Chipley said...

Oh, I've heard of the soyrizo before. I'd love to try it. Dang, those quesadillas sound awesome!

HopSkipJump said...

O.k... I totally feel connected to you for a number of reasons. I am going to highlight two of them:

Lecreuset: Love, love, love it.

SAD: Last year, Vancouver was a day away from a record: 33 days of pouring rain... straight... boo.

I commend you for being able to function during shitty weather.

Susan Chipley said...

IF: I need more Le Creuset! I fully intend on replacing every bit of my cookware (except my cast-iron skillet) with it over the next couple of years.