Cheese and Onion Enchiladas

Extended Shelf Life for: Onions

With fresh, Bacon Fat Tortillas, ready to go, it was time to kick a Mexican food craving in the rear and enjoy some home-made enchiladas. These guys were not even close to being a disappointment! Only bummer of the whole meal was not having enough Chile Powder to make this enchilada sauce correctly, regardless, a few extra shakes of Cayenne Pepper and a short prayer were all that was needed to thoroughly enjoy this weeknight meal.

Ingredients/Directions:

Spread a bit of Enchilada Sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan (or have two square pans ready to go) then begin filling each tortilla with a small handful of Onions (sauteed if that's your preference - we're not opposed to raw, so I left them that way), Cheese and a touch of Enchilada Sauce. Arrange tortillas in the pan, once it's full spread remaining Enchilada Sauce over the top, sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese is melty and sauce is bubbly. Enjoy!

Roasted Roots and Chimichurri

Extended Shelf Life for: Roots and Parsley

Roasted veggies are roasted veggies and honestly, I have no secrets...I could use some tips actually on how to get the perfect roasted veggies without waiting an hour and a half, but perhaps the answer to that lies more in leaving high elevation than anything else...or having a more efficient oven, who knows...

What I can offer however, is a recipe for Chimichurri - a sauce which I have dreamt about and considered for years, every time we receive an abundance of parsley, I think, hmmm, I should really try that recipe for Chimichurri sauce. Well folks, I finally have and let me tell you, totally worth it and honestly, should have been done a long time ago!

Ingredients/Directions:

In a food processor, blender or your awesome multipurpose juicer combine 1 1/4 cups Italian Parsley, 1/4 cup Olive Oil, 2 Tbsp. Fresh Oregano or Basil, 2 Tbsp. Onion, 3-4 peeled Garlic Cloves, 2 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar (or Red Wine Vinegar), and 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice - pulse in food processor or blender, or run through juicer until you reach a nice, saucy consistency. Cover and chill a minimum of 2 hours before serving, should last up to 1 week or a little more if you 'daring'!

Chickpea Spinach Pasta

Over a month ago...many months ago in fact, I did a bit of 'once-a-month-cooking', knowing full well I wouldn't use it all up in a month because my life is busy, but not that busy and I just have too many ideas flooding my foodie brain to do all my cooking in one day. Regardless, having things like home-made tomato sauce just waiting for me in the freezer is quite awesome and I'm quite happy on the nights I don't feel like cooking nor walking to any food establishment, that there's something waiting to be prepared quickly and easily.

So, with a CouchSurfing Guest at home and a desire to feed him well while taking time to chat and enjoy his company I figured a quick boil of some pasta along with the defrost of some frozen chickpeas (since we can't get canned one here and it's easier to prepare many at once rather than a few at a time) and my home-made tomato sauce we'd soon have ourselves and enjoyable and hearty meal.

In a large skillet, saute an onion and garlic, add chickpeas, heat through. Next, add a few handfuls of washed and chopped spinach until wilted, dump in two cups of tomato sauce, heat through and mix in pasta , fresh basil and mozzerella cheese, enjoy!

Spicy Sesame Noodles

From Fresh from the Oven's adaptation of a

July 2007 Bon Appetit Recipe comes the

519 Rendition of:

Spicy Sesame Noodles

Ingredients/Directions:

In 1 tablespoon peanut oil saute 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger and 2-4 garlic cloves, minced. Transfer to large bowl and add the following: 3 tablespoons Asian sesame oil, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon (or more) hot chili oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.

Prepare 1 pound fresh Chinese egg noodles or other fresh noodle. Run under cold water and add to sauce. Top noodles with 12 green onions (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced. Let set one hour at room temperature and serve with 1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted peanuts and 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh Thai basil leaves.

Enjoy with Thai Tea on a warm spring day or save the recipe for warmer summer days!

Hasselback Potato with Spinach Alfredo

Hasselback Potatoes are genius and delectable. I don't know why it took so long to learn of their existance. I regret only learning this technique in my 25th year of life. Regardless, I will embrace the Hasselback and attempt to share this great find with the world of eaters who just so happen to meander into 519 Kitchen.

Hasselback Potato Directions per Potato:
1 Clove Garlic, thinly sliced. 1 Potato scrubbed. Slice off thin piece of the bottom so potato cannot roll. Slice 3/4-ish way through the potato every quarter inch or so. Stuff garlic slices into potato pockets. Rub potato with salt and top potato with 1 Tbsp. butter. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the oven at about 400 degrees for about an hour or until tender. Baste potatoes every 15 minutes with the pan drippins. Enjoy however you darn well please. I used half a jar of prepared Alfredo sauce with added onions, garlic and spinach. It was out of this world delicious.