The Pajama Chef

Pumpkin, Kale, & Black Bean Stew

October 29, 2012October 29, 2012 Sarah

I’ve definitely been slacking on the pumpkin front this fall. I’ve made several batches of my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip muffins…. a few breakfasts of pumpkin pie baked oatmeal… and a few other treats that I’ll share about soon. But all in all, I’m not sure what my deal is: I still love pumpkin and still have been using it in recipes, but I just haven’t been blogging about it. How weird!

Well, that’s going to change. This week. Right now, in fact.

A couple weeks ago, I didn’t feel like the dinner I had planned on my weekly menu plan [this happens semi-often…], so I just started pulling things out of the fridge and pantry and put together this quick Pumpkin, Kale, & Black Bean Stew. I wasn’t sure if it would be blog-worthy, but once I took a bite, I was smitten!

This thick stew’s pumpkin base is the perfect canvas for flavorful, healthy black beans, stewed tomatoes, and kale. For non-pumpkin lovers, the pumpkin flavor simply serves as a base for hearty ingredients. But for pumpkin lovers, just a pinch of pumpkin pie spice[!!!] is the secret ingredient to lasting pumpkin love! And boy, do I love pumpkin. This stew comes together in a flash, and is so flavorful that it doesn’t need any typical soup toppings [cheese, sour cream, etc.]. However, to make it a little more indulgent, I stirred in a bit of half and half at the very end. Great decision! And an even better decision on my part [and yours!] would be to make this stew again asap. It is that good. 🙂 Enjoy!!

Pumpkin, Kale, & Black Bean Stew
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Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups black beans, drained and rinsed
1 [15 ounce] can stewed tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 leaves kale, chopped [about 2 loosely packed cups]
1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced
2 tablespoons half and half

Directions:

In a stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and season with black pepper. Saute for about 5-6 minutes or until soft and translucent. Next, add chicken broth, pumpkin, black beans, tomatoes, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir until combined, then cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Lastly, add kale and sage, and cook for another minute or two. Stir in half and half and serve immediately.

Time: 30 minutes.

Yield: 4-6 servings.

Menu Plans

Menu Plan

October 28, 2012 Sarah

Week of October 29

Monday: roasted chicken
Tuesday: breakfast for dinner [probably a frittata]
Wednesday: Sweet Potato & Chorizo Chile Mac
Thursday: Chicken & Refried Beans Burritos
Friday: leftovers/fro yo date!
Saturday: Apple Chicken
Sunday: appetizers and desserts at church

Appetizers, Recipes

Mexican Rollups

October 25, 2012June 5, 2015 Sarah

So, I think I’ve mentioned a time or two that the first Sunday every month I organize food for a church event. It usually appears on my Menu Plan as an “appetizer and dessert” night. Sometimes “organizing” means planning, shopping, recruiting help to cook/bake, and setting/cleaning up the actual event. Other times, things are a little more involved. For one reason or another, I end up doing most of the cooking and baking. And that’s okay. For the most part, I don’t mind since I love food. But sometimes that gets a wee bit time consuming. So those months, I turn to something easy and delicious that I know everyone will love. Something that is always a hit are my Mexican Rollups. I think I’ve made these on [or had a friend make them] no less than three separate occasions. For someone who’s an avid nonrecipe repeater, how could I not when I had a cheesy, spicy hit on my hands? Each of these two-bite appetizers is absolute packed with taco spiced deliciousness. Black beans and corn. Two kinds of cheese. Cilantro. Onions. Salsa. All wrapped up in a soft flour tortilla. Amazing. Though they aren’t really healthy, I do have ideas for healthifying them [add spinach, cut down on cheese, etc.]… but I just haven’t. Sometimes you gotta be a bit excessive. Besides being tasty, these Mexican Rollups are incredibly easy to throw together in about 15 minutes or less. You can even make them a day or two ahead–for ease on the day of a party or get-together, as well as for better marriage of flavors. All you gotta do before serving is cut them up. Perfect, right? Or guess what… if you happened to not be making these for an event, I won’t tell anyone if you just eat them burrito-style. I may have done that a time or two…. shhhh! Just kidding. But now I am uber-tempted. Seriously though–these rollups are simple and well-loved. Every time I make them, I get so many compliments and recipe requests that I figured it would be easier to just blog about them. No one gets tired of them and they are always devoured [and I always make a double batch. Wowsers!]. One bite of this fresh yet indulgent Mexi-flavored app and you’ll see. 🙂 I guarantee anyone who tries them will agree… even those who say they don’t like black beans. There’s so much other good stuff in there. I don’t usually say that you have to try something… but you have GOT to try these. Enjoy!

Mexican Rollups

Servings: 80-100 slices, approximately 20-25 servings total
Time: 15 minutes + 2 hours to chill
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12 ounces cream cheese, softened [I used Neufchâtel]
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese [I’ve used Sharp Cheddar and a taco blend]
½ bunch cilantro, diced
6 green onions, chopped
1 package – 2 ounces – taco seasoning
1 cup sour cream
1 cup salsa
20 flour tortillas

Combine cream cheese, corn, black beans, cheese, cilantro, onions, and taco seasoning in a large bowl. Add sour cream and salsa gradually [if it seems too runny use less of either]. Microwave tortillas to just warm up before adding filling. Spread evenly in each tortilla and roll up tightly. Don’t overfill; you don’t want it to be difficult to roll. Place all tortillas in a baking dish, separating each layer of rolled tortillas with foil or wax paper. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting into small slices–approximately 4-5 per tortilla, and continue separating each layer with wax paper or foil.

Menu Plans

Menu Plan

October 22, 2012 Sarah

Week of October 22

Monday: leftover lasagna
Tuesday: crockpot beef stroganoff
Wednesday: healthy fried rice
Thursday: black bean nachos
Friday: leftovers
Saturday: breakfast for dinner
Sunday: skillet apple chicken

Main Dishes, Pasta, Recipes

Mom’s Lasagna

October 21, 2012 Sarah

So, I’m super excited about this pasta recipe I have to share with you today. It is my absolute favorite of all time. I know people say [myself included] that something is their favorite, or the best, and most of the time, that’s a huge exaggeration to emphasize how good something is. But this time… I am 100% serious. My Mom’s lasagna is my absolute favorite pasta dish, or dinner for that matter. It’s my Grandma’s recipe [the same Grandma of the famed blueberry muffins] and it can’t be beat. I just call it Mom’s Lasagna cause a) the recipe is from my mom, b) the recipe originated with her mom, and c) that’s how it’s written on the recipe card. That’s a lotta mom, so it’s gotta be good.

This lasagna is the perfect mix of cheesy goodness and rich tomato meat sauce. I recently started making my own sauce, and I can’t wait to share the recipe later in the week, btw. It’s made in the crockpot and it’s super easy and flavorful. But that recipe will have a chance to shine later–right now it’s lasagna’s turn. 🙂

I know a lot of lasagnas favor special ingredients like Italian sausage, veggies, or fancy cheeses, and those are good. I’ll never turn down a hearty slice of lasagna… but those aren’t the cozy, comforting lasagna from my childhood. I can’t tell you how many birthdays or weekend visits home from college featured this lasagna, and I’ll never get sick of eating it.

The base of the cheesy layer [aside from the mozzarella and parmesan] is not ricotta cheese, as many expect, but rather cottage cheese. I know that’s a semi-common substitute that may not sound the most appealing… but I promise promise PROMISE that using cottage cheese is not only a more frugal choice, but actually a creamier choice that highlights the flavor of the smooth mozzarella, sharp parmesan, chewy noodles, and sweet, bold tomato sauce. If you want to sub ricotta I won’t be offended [and actually have tried it myself], but I prefer cottage cheese in this and use ricotta other times.

Every bite of this saucy, meaty, cheesy hearty lasagna is savored, cherished, and devoured in our house. It’s actually a little embarrassing how much of the pan we can chow down on when it’s piping hot out of the oven. Now you can enjoy it too!

For the record, I’m not entirely sure why I haven’t shared this recipe on the blog yet, but I am glad I hadn’t. See, a few weeks ago I got an email from Sarah at Yahoo!’s Shine Supper Club inviting me to join the monthly recipe challenge club. Each month has a theme, and October’s happened to be favorite pasta recipes. So this was totally perfect!! If you have a blog, definitely check it out and see how you can get involved. I’ll be back later to link up other entries for this month so be sure to come back and check those out too.

We love this lasagna and hope you do too!

What’s essential to your favorite lasagna?

Mom’s Lasagna
click to print

Ingredients:

9 lasagna noodles [regular not no-cook]
1 pound ground beef
28 ounces spaghetti sauce [homemade or your favorite jarred sauce; can really use 24-36 ounces]
16 ounces cottage cheese [or ricotta]
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2-1 cup grated parmesan cheese [depending on preference]

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Begin by heating a large pot of water to boiling to cook the lasagna noodles. Next, brown ground beef and drain, then stir in spaghetti sauce.

Meanwhile, stir together cottage cheese, eggs, oregano, garlic, and black pepper. When water is boiling, cook noodles almost to al dente [I usually cook them a minute or so under the time on the package]. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water.

Prepare lasagna by first placing a layer of sauce [about 1/5 of the sauce] in the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Top with 3 noodles, then 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture, 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese, and a 1/3 of the parmesan cheese. Repeat twice, ending with a layer of sauce.

Bake, uncovered, for 60 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Time: 90 minutes [20 minutes active].

Yield: 8 servings.