Tag Archive: Salsa

Cumin-Spiced Red Beans

Written on February 11, 2015 by in Breakfast, Side Dish

Taco Flavored Beans

Homemade breakfast on the weekend is a usually my reward for 5 days of quick, processed breakfasts eaten at a desk or sometimes standing up. Melted cheese, runny yolks, and lots of flavor are a must.

One of my favorite things to make is lightly-fried corn tortillas filled with this spicy bean mixture. It’s just the right balance of salt, spice, and richness to start off the day topped with some pepper jack or parmesan cheese. You can serve it next to rice or scrambled eggs for a more protein-filled plate. Use either mild, medium, or hot salsa to adjust the heat.

Cumin-Spiced Red Beans

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

  • 1 cup black beans, drained
  • 1/2 cup salsa 
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
  • 3/4 teaspoon cumin

Method:

  1. Heat up the beans and salsa in a pan over a burner set to medium.
  2. Stir the beans and salsa along with the cumin as it comes to a boil. Keep stirring until most of the liquid boils off and the mixture is thick.
  3. Add in the butter and continue stirring until it melts. Once the butter’s melted completely, turn off the heat and mix for a minute over the stove as it cools.
  4. Serve hot with shredded or shaved cheese on top.
2 Comments - Leave a comment!

How To Make Blender Salsa

Written on September 19, 2014 by in Recipe Round-Up

Blender Salsa

Salsa is by far my favorite condiment. I average between 1-2 jars a week from my everyday lunch and working it in to dinner some nights. I always used to think jarred salsa was “good enough” until I made my own and now I’m hooked.

Last week I shared my 2nd recipe on Life by Dailyburn, an easy 5-minute blender salsa recipe that you can make 3 ways. I pretty much insist that you not just look at it but make it, too. It’s about as easy as can be and well-worth the effort. Serve it to some guests and they’ll think you stole it right out of a Mexican restaurant’s kitchen.

Check out the recipe, give it a try, and tell me what you think!

2 Comments - Leave a comment!

Cowboy Caviar

Written on February 10, 2014 by in Miscellaneous

Cowboy Caviar

My favorite recipes all have two things in common: They’re easy and they’re delicious. This one’s both.

This dip’s about as easy as it comes. There’s no cooking or processing. Just mix all the ingredients and voila! (Or whatever the Mexican equivalent of voila is.)

Make sure to soak the onions before adding them to the dip. Soaking them takes away the sharp bite that raw onions have so they don’t overpower the rest of the ingredients. You can add some diced avocado in as well for an added touch.

Cowboy Caviar

Cowboy Caviar

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Serves about 6 people):

  • 1/2 large red or white onion
  • 1 cup black beans
  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • 3/4 cup corn kernels
  • 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

  1. Dice the onion with a sharp knife.
  2. Soak the diced onion in cold water for 5 minutes to remove the raw onion bite.
  3. While the onion’s soaking, mix the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl.
  4. Strain the water from the onion and add it to the mixture.
  5. Mix well. Serve at room temperature.
1 Comment - Leave a comment!

Vegetarian Nachos

Written on May 9, 2013 by in Snack

Vegetarian Nachos

If I could eat everyday like it were Cinco de Mayo I probably would. Melted cheese, margaritas, fried food—What else could you ask for?

We had a small party over the weekend. Nothing fancy. Premade margaritas, a piñata we named and so couldn’t hit, and nachos. That was really all we needed.

Vegetarian Nachos Topping

These are so simple you probably could make them everyday. I wouldn’t recommend it if I were a doctor, but as a food blogger I have no reservations. I think the best way to make these irresistible is using high quality salsa, sour cream and guacamole to get the perfect flavor.

Vegetarian Nachos

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Serves 4-6):

  • 8oz corn tortilla chips, preferably lightly salted or no-salt added
  • 4oz shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
  • 3/4 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup or more salsa
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup guacamole

Vegetarian Nachos Cheese

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Put about half of the tortilla chips in a layer on top of a baking pan or in a baking dish.
  3. Cover the chips with half of the shredded cheese.
  4. Add another layer of chips.
  5. Sprinkle the rinsed beans on top of the second layer of nachos evenly.
  6. Add the remaining shredded cheese over the bean layer.
  7. Spread the salsa out on top of the cheese evenly over the entire tray.
  8. Bake for about 15 minutes until the cheese has melted completely. Remove from the oven.
  9. Plop the sour cream and guacamole on top of the hot nachos however you’d like. Serve immediately while still hot.

Vegetarian Nachos Finished   

2 Comments - Leave a comment!

Healthy Breakfast Tortillas

Written on November 2, 2011 by in Breakfast, Entree

healthy-breakfast-tortillas

Some things are almost so easy that they don’t really require a recipe. But I love these so you’re getting one.

My new favorite find at the grocery store is corn tortillas. Everyone and their mother has probably bought these before but I really never had noticed them until last weekend. They’re cheap(perfect for a college student), whole-grain, naturally gluten-free and vegan. That’s an all around win in my book.

healthy-breakfast-tortillas-tortillasj

So now I have these tortillas; but what to do with them? Well, I went the obvious route and stuffed them with piping hot scrambled eggs, a slightly spicy salsa, and cool, ripe avocado. Difficult? No. Delicious? Yes.

Make sure your avocado is ripe for this recipe. A ripe avocado makes all the difference. The skin should be a reddish brown and the flesh should give easily to pressure.

Healthy Breakfast Tortillas

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients(Enough for 2 people):

  • 4 whole-grain corn tortillas(or whole-wheat if gluten isn’t an issue)
  • 8 medium eggs
  • 1/4 cup salsa
  • 1 large ripe avocado, sliced into thin wedges

healthy-breakfast-tortillas-close-up

Method:

  1. Heat up a frying pan over a burner set to medium-high heat.

  2. Crack and beat the eggs into a large bowl.
  3. Pour the scrambled eggs into a hot pan. Cook for about a minute scraping occasionally until most of the egg is cooked(leave it a little liquidy as the egg will continue to cook once it’s off the heat).
  4. Heat up the tortillas and stuff them each with a quarter of the scrambled eggs.
  5. Top with salsa and sliced avocado. Serve hot.

healthy-breakfast-tortillas-salsa

I found this salsa at Trader Joe’s also over the weekend. I was a little worried I wouldn’t like it since I usually go for really spicy salsas and this one advertises itself as having a medium heat. What it lacks for in spiciness it makes up for in tomato and chili flavor; it’s really good and the bottle is almost half gone. I can’t keep my tortillas out of it.

22 Comments - Leave a comment!

One Of Those Weeks…

Written on February 26, 2011 by in Miscellaneous

I think Longweekenditis is a real disease, even though WebMD doesn’t give you anything when you search for it. It was just one of those weeks…

February 23rd 021

When you make the same thing for each meal because you’re low on groceries and uninspired to try something new.

quinoa + frozen spinach + leftover chicken + olive oil = perfection

When whenever you cough someone in the room thinks a horse is dying.

February 23rd 062

When you make the most absurdly delicious fudge on Thursday afternoon because the week just needs it. Don’t worry; that post’s coming.

When your family tells you they think your pet’s spirit lives in a Rhode Island casino and you think they’re crazy until you realize if you were dead you’d probably haunt that casino, too, because then you’d get visited way more than if you were in some cemetery.

February 25th 007

When you run out of groceries a little early and salsa goes from being a condiment to being its own food group.

When there’s so little going on in your life that the highlight of your week is a soap opera wedding(who else is excited for EJ and Taylor’s story line? Don’t lie…).

February 25th 001

When the one day a week you plan on going to the store it’s raining buckets. If only there were some sort of 21st century way to tell what the weather’s going to be; my Farmer’s Almanac keeps failing me.

But hey, it’s not all bad: Two and a Half Men production has been shut down. There is a God and he hears my prayers.

17 Comments - Leave a comment!