Classic Meatloaf

Why do I love meatloaf? It reminds me of being a kid. Where does one get meatloaf other than at home or at a school cafeteria? When I lived in San Francisco I bought meatloaf already mixed and seasoned from my local butcher. Just mixed in an egg, put it in a loaf pan, and popped it in the oven for an hour. These days I wait for my father to whip up a batch. He makes the Best. Meatloaf. Ever. His trick? Italian pork sausage (half sweet, half spicy). He once substituted this sausage for regular ground pork and never looked back.

Classic Meatloaf Recipe

Many meatloaf recipes call for ground veal or pork in addition to ground beef. You might want to experiment with a third each of beef, pork, and veal. If you don't have access to spicy ground pork or Italian sausage, add a pinch of fennel seeds and a half teaspoon of hot sauce to regular ground pork.

Preparation time: 20 minutes to prep, 1 hour to cook.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of finely chopped onion
• 1 celery rib, chopped fine
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 carrot, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped scallions (can substitute onion)
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoon salt (use 1 1/2 teaspoons if using Italian sausage)
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 pounds of ground chuck
• 3/4 pound of spicy ground pork sausage or Italian sausage (a mix of sweet and hot if you are using links)
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 2 large eggs, beaten slightly
• 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2 In a large heavy skillet cook the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and scallions in butter, over medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Cover the skillet and stir occassionally until the carrots are tender, about 5 more minutes. Stir in salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/3 a cup of ketchup. Cook for 1 more minute.

3 In a large bowl, combine the meats, eggs, vegetables, bread crumbs, and parsley. Form into a loaf and put into a rectangular baking pan with 2-inch high sides. Cover the loaf with remaining ketchup.

4 Bake the meatloaf in the oven for 1 hour.

Serves 4 to 6, with plenty for leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches.

Mom's Perfect Pork Chops

Sometimes the best food is really the simplest. We experiment frequently with different ways of preparing pork chops, but the way we have pork chops most regularly is with a simple dry rub and pan frying. My mother's been making chops this way for years. We use a dry rub of my father's, which requires some advance preparation (when you make some, you make more than you need than for just a few pork chops). If we are out of the dry rub, mom typically uses a bit of paprika, salt and pepper to season the chops.

Mom's Perfect Pork Chops Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 pork chops
• 1 teaspoon bacon fat, grapeseed oil, or olive oil (or other high smoke point oil)
• Salt
• 1-2 teaspoons of dry rub*

*Dad's dry rub:

• 1/4 cup cumin seeds
• 3 Tbsp whole black peppercorns
• 1 Tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Combine cumin, peppercorns, and coriander in a heavy medium skillet. Stir over medium heat until fragrant and toasted, about 8 minutes. Cool slightly. Finely grind toasted spices in blender. Transfer to a small bowl. Mix in sugar and salt. Makes 1/2 cup.

Method

1 Heat a large cast iron frying pan to medium high or high heat (hot enough to sear the meat). While the pan is heating, sprinkle a pinch of dry rub spices (about 1/8 teaspoon or a little more) on each of the pork chops. Using your fingers, rub the spices into the meat. Turn the chops over and repeat on the other side.

2 Once the pan is hot, add a teaspoon of oil or fat to the pan and coat the bottom of the pan. Right before you put the chops into the pan sprinkle each side with a little salt, or you can salt the chops in the pan. Put the chops in the pan. Make sure they are not crowding each other too much. There should be space between the chops in the pan or the meat will steam and not sear properly.

Tip: Arrange the chops in the pan with the thickest, boniest parts towards the center of the pan where they get the most heat.

3 Sear the chops, about 2 minutes on each side. Watch carefully, as soon as the chops are browned, flip them. As soon as you flip the chops, if you are using a cast iron pan, you can turn off the heat. Cast iron holds heat very well and there will be enough heat in the pan to finish cooking the meat.

If you have chops that are a lot thicker than 3/4" (many are sold that are 1 1/2"-thick), you can put a cover on the pan and let the chops finish cook for 5 minutes or so (if you are using a cast iron pan and have turned off the heat, there should be enough heat if you cover the pan to finish the cooking of a thicker chop, if not, lower the heat to low and cover.

How do you know when the chops are done? Mom uses a touch test which with practice I've learned as well. If you wait until you see juice oozing out of the top of the chop, it is definitely done. Mom typically just keeps the chops in the pan, the heat is turned off, so the pan is losing heat. The pan initially provides enough heat to sear the second side. As it initially cools it is still cooking, though not searing the meat. After a couple of minutes, it's just keeping the chops warm.

Yield: Serves 4-6, depending on the thickness of the chops.

Perfect Guacamole

Guacamole, a dip made from avocados, is originally from Mexico. The name is derived from two Aztec Nahuatl words - ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (sauce). The trick to perfect guacamole is using good, ripe avocados. Check for ripeness by gently pressing the outside of the avocado. If there is no give, the avocado is not ripe yet and will not taste good. If there is a little give, the avocado is ripe. If there is a lot of give, the avocado may be past ripe and not good. In this case, taste test first before using.

Perfect Guacamole Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1/2 red onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1-2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of fresh lime or lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• A dash of freshly grated black pepper
• 1/2 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped

Garnish with red radishes or jicama. Serve with tortilla chips.

Method

1 Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avacado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl. (See How to Cut and Peel an Avocado.)

2 Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt and pepper and mash some more. Chili peppers vary individually in their hotness. So, start with a half of one chili pepper and add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness. Be careful handling the peppers; wash your hands thoroughly after handling and do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes with your hands for several hours.

Keep the tomatoes separate until ready to serve.

Remember that much of this is done to taste because of the variability in the fresh ingredients. Start with this recipe and adjust to your taste.

3 Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready.

4 Just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole and mix.

Variations

For a very quick guacamole just take a 1/4 cup of salsa and mix it in with your mashed avocados.

You don't need to have tomatoes in your guacamole.

To extend a limited supply of avocados, add either sour cream or cottage cheese to your guacamole dip. Purists may be horrified, but so what? It tastes great. In fact, guacamole with a little cottage cheese added to it is my favorite.

Yield: Serves 2-4.

Vermicelli

Vermicelli (*pronounced verm-i-CHELL-ee) is one of my mother's signature dishes. In fact, all one has to do is say the word - vermicelli - around here and eyes light up and hearts warm to the very idea. Also known as "Sopa de Fideos", this dish is made with vermicelli pasta, a pasta much thinner than spaghetti, that is sold in twirled nests, also called "angel hair nests". (I think you can buy straight vermicelli, but this dish calls for the kind that is twirled into nests.) The dish can be used as an alternative to Spanish Rice in accompanying a meal. The trick to a great vermicelli is the chicken broth. We've used bouillon, boxed broth, and homemade broth; the homemade broth version is miles ahead of the others. (Isn't it always?)

Vermicelli Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb vermicelli (angel hair nests). Vermicelli usually comes in 1 lb packages, so about 1/2 a package.
• 1/2 cup olive or grape seed oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, minced
• 2 fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth
• Salt and pepper

Method

1 In a 9-inch frying pan (with lid), fry the vermicelli on both sides in hot oil until golden brown in color. Remove from pan.

2 In the same oil, brown the minced onion, add the chopped tomato. Add chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3 When broth is boiling, add vermicelli and reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover and cook until the vermicelli has soaked up the liquid, about 30 minutes.

Serves 4.

Black Bean Salad

What is it about a black bean salad that practically shouts, "summer potluck"? The mercury has been edging past a hundred degrees lately here and I've been getting nostalgic for some of the picnic foods I remember having often as a kid. The basic structure of a black bean salad is black beans (canned or freshly made) with corn kernels (canned, frozen, or fresh). Parsley, basil or cilantro can add a bitter to the flavors. Tomatoes, lemon juice and or lime juice some acid. Jalapeno or cumin will give it a kick, and avocado and olive oil will smooth it down. I find adding a little bit of sugar almost always helps balance the acid from the citrus and tomatoes, and makes for a better tasting salad.

Obviously, this salad will be extra good if you have freshly cooked corn and beans on hand. But if you don't, just use the canned beans and frozen corn (we used white corn here).

Black Bean Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can of black beans, thoroughly rinsed, and drained (or 1 1/2 cup of freshly cooked black beans)
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn, defrosted (or fresh corn, parboiled, drained and cooled)
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions or shallots
• 2 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced, or 1 whole pickled jalapeño pepper, minced (not seeded)
• 3 fresh plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
• 2 Tbsp lime juice (about the amount of juice from one lime)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sugar (to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Make sure to rinse and drain the beans, if you are using canned beans.

In a large bowl, combine the beans, corn, onions, jalapeno chile peppers, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, basil, lime juice and olive oil. Add sugar and salt and pepper to taste. (The sugar will help balance the acidity from the tomatoes and lime juice.) Chill before serving.

Serves 6 to 8.

Zucchini with Thyme

My father found a recipe for zucchini sautéed in butter and olive oil with onion, parsley, and thyme in one of his decade-old Food and Wine magazines. He made it a few days ago and it was perfect - tender, but still firm, gently infused with the flavor of thyme. The original recipe calls for the zucchini to be cooked for 20 to 30 minutes, which was simply too long for the zucchinis I used tonight. They were done at 10 minutes. My mother tells me that depending on the source and the time in the season, zucchinis can widely vary in toughness. So my advice is to watch it closely and when it is close to being done, take it off the heat.

Zucchini with Thyme Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 pound fresh zucchini, cut into 3-by-1/2-inch sticks
• 1 beef bouillon cube, crumbled (use vegetarian bouillon for vegetarian option)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

1 In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter on medium heat. Add the onion and parsley and cook until soft, but not browned.

2 Add the zucchini sticks, crumbled bouillon cube, thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper. Gently stir to coat the zucchini. Cover and cook until tender, from 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how tender the the raw zucchini is to begin with, and how small you have sliced the pieces. Check and stir every few minutes. Be careful not to overcook.

Yield: Serves 4.

Baked Ziti

Now here's a classic midweek meal, or a hot dish to bring to a potluck. Baked ziti is a lot like American lasagna, but easier to make; it has practically the same ingredients but you don't have to fuss with lots of layers or broken noodles. This recipe is a pretty basic version, but everyone who makes baked ziti has their own unique tricks and twists to it. Some vary the cheeses, some the meat, some make meatless versions, and some people leave out the tomato sauce for a truly cheese-tastic casserole.

Baked Ziti Recipe

• Cook time: 55 minutes

If you don't have Italian seasoning in the pantry, use 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon dried basil and 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ziti (can sub penne) pasta
• Olive oil
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage or ground beef or pork
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary (or basil), minced
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 large jar of marinara sauce (about 32 ounces) or make your own tomato sauce
• 1/2 pound of mozzarella cheese, grated
• 1 heaping cup of ricotta cheese
• 1 cup grated parmesan or pecorino cheese

Method

1 Bring a large pot of water to a strong boil. Add about a tablespoon of salt for every 2 quarts of water. Add the pasta and boil, uncovered, until the pasta is al dente—edible but still a little firm. Drain the pasta through a colander. Toss with a little olive oil so the pasta does not stick together while you make the sauce.

2 Pour a tablespoon or so of olive oil into a large sauté pan on medium-high to heat. When the oil is hot, add the bulk sausage or ground meat. Do not crowd the pan (work in batches if needed). Break up any large chunks of sausage as it cooks. Brown well. Don't stir that often or it will be more difficult for the meat to brown. If you are using ground beef or pork instead of sausage, add a little salt.

3 When the meat is mostly browned, add the onions and stir well to combine. Sauté everything until the onions are translucent and beginning to brown, about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic, rosemary or basil, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Cook 1 minute, then add the tomato sauce and stir well. Bring to a simmer.

4 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch casserole pan, then dot the surface with half the ricotta cheese. Ladle in some sauce with the pasta, mix it well and add the pasta into the casserole.

5 Pour the rest of the sauce over the pasta, dot the remaining ricotta cheese over the pasta, and sprinkle on top both the mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese. Bake in the oven until the top is nicely browned, about 20 minutes.

Yield: Serves at least 8

Braised Turkey Legs

Everybody loves turkey breast for their turkey sandwiches but the more flavorful meat comes from the dark meat found in turkey thighs and legs. These, by the way, are much less expensive than the breasts. Mom and dad have a great way of preparing braised turkey legs, perfect for a cold winter day.

Braised Turkey Legs Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients

• 2 turkey legs and 2 thighs, about 4 lbs
• Olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup of finely chopped celery
• Salt, pepper, and cayenne
• Water or other braising liquid (dry wine or stock)
• Corn starch
• Parsley, chopped, about 1/4 cup

Optional winter vegetables such as:

• Potatoes, peeled and quartered
• Carrots, chopped
• Turnips, quartered
• Rutabagas, quartered
• Parsnips, chopped

Method

1 Sprinkle turkey thighs and legs with salt and pepper. Brown the turkey thighs and legs on medium high heat in a little bit of olive oil in a large sauté pan with high sides. Add chopped onion and celery to form a nest under the turkey pieces. Sauté an additional 5 minutes.

2 Add enough braising liquid - either water, stock, wine, or a combination - so that the liquid covers the bottom inch of the pan, about 1 cup. Bring to a simmer. Lower heat and simmer covered for an hour and a half, or until the turkey is so well cooked and tender that the meat easily falls off of the bones. Remove the turkey meat from the pan and remove the bones, taking special care to remove the many small narrow bones of the legs. Remove the skin.

Optional: At this point you can use the liquid remaining in the sauté pan to cook the potatoes, carrots and turnips. Add the vegetables to the pan and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Cook covered until they are done, about 20 minutes. Remove from pan so you can reduce the remaining liquid without overcooking the vegetables.

3 Reduce the liquid remaining in the pan to intensify some of the meat juices for added flavor. Take a teaspoon of cornstarch and dissolve in a 1/2 cup of water. Add cornstarch mixture a little at a time to sauce, adding more liquid, until the sauce achieves the desired body. Adjust seasoning. Add salt and pepper if needed, add a little cayenne or Tabasco sauce. If the sauce is too sweet, add a little vinegar or lemon. Add parsley.

4 Add the turkey meat back in the pan with the sauce. Serve immediately over rice or bread or with the vegetables if you have chose to make them.

Yield: Serves 6-8.

Turkey Stew with Root Vegetables

Updated, from the recipe archive. First posted in 2005. ~Elise

One of my father's favorite dishes to make in the winter is a hearty turkey stew with lots of root vegetables like rutabagas, turnips, and carrots. It's warming, filling, and a big batch will last all week for several meals of leftovers. It's also very easy on the budget, which is probably why we had it so much growing up. You make it with turkey thighs (or legs), which, in addition to being the tastier dark meat, you can usually get for $1.50 per pound or less. Slow cooking the turkey thighs bone-in, you get all of the healthy goodness and flavor from the bone marrow. Cooking them with skin on also coats the turkey with flavor. Turnips and rutabagas, which can be rather strong tasting, hold up beautifully with the also strong-tasting dark turkey meat.

Turkey Stew with Root Vegetables Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Save time by prepping the root vegetables during the first stage of the stew's oven cooking.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 lbs turkey thighs (preferred) or legs (skin on, bone in)
• 1 medium-large yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 quart chicken, turkey, or vegetable stock (use gluten-free stock if cooking gluten-free)
• 2 medium carrots, peeled, 1/4 inch slices (about 1 1 /4 cups)
• 2-3 medium turnips, peeled, 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 medium rutabaga, peeled, halved, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
• 3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 teaspoon herbes de provence*
• Freshly ground black pepper

*Herbes de Provence is a delightful French blend of herbs - Winter savory, thyme, basil, tarragon, and lavender flowers.

Method

1 Preheat oven to 300°F. Heat olive oil on medium high heat in a Dutch oven on the stove top. Wash and pat dry turkey pieces. Working in batches if necessary, brown turkey pieces, first skin side down, 2-3 minutes on each side. Sprinkle the thighs with a little salt as you brown them.

2 Once the thighs have browned, remove them from the pan and set them in a bowl. Add the onions and celery to the pot. Cook for about 5 minutes or so, until the onions are translucent and starting to brown at the edges. Return the turkey thighs to the pot.

3 Add 2 teaspoons of salt and half of the stock. Bring to a simmer, remove from the stove top and put in the oven, covered, for an hour and fifteen minutes.

4 After an hour and fifteen minutes, remove from oven and add the rest of the vegetables - carrots, turnips, rutabaga, and potatoes, the herbs, and the rest of the stock. Return to the oven, covered, and cook until tender, another 45 minutes or more.

5 Remove the turkey thighs from the stew and place in a bowl to cool. When cool enough to handle, strip the meat off the bones. Discard the bones and skin. Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces (1 1/2-inches or so chunks) and return to the pot.

Season the stew to taste.

Yield: Serves 6 to 8.

Albondigas Soup

Albondigas soup is a traditional Mexican meatball soup ("albondigas" means "meatballs" in Spanish) that my mother has cooked for our family for almost 50 years. It is our version of comfort food. What makes the flavor of albondigas soup distinctive is the chopped mint in the meatballs. I once complained to a Mexican chef about the lack of mint in his cookbook's albondigas soup recipe, and he looked at me with surprise and said, "my mother puts mint in her albondigas!" You can, of course, skip the mint, substitute with a little fresh oregano or some cilantro, but to me, the soup's not the same without it. You can also vary the vegetables added, depending on what you have on hand and what's in season.

Albondigas Soup Recipe

If fresh mint is not available, you can use a couple teaspoons of dried mint from herbal mint tea. You can also vary the vegetables depending on what you have on hand. Spring peas in their pods instead of shucked peas, for example. Or you could add some chopped fresh zucchini or corn. My mother often puts a couple extra tablespoons of chopped fresh mint directly into the soup. Feel free to substitute ground turkey for the ground beef, we do it often.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 3 quarts of chicken stock or beef stock OR water OR a mixture of both (we usually use half stock half water as the meatballs will create their own stock)*
• 1/2 cup of tomato sauce

• 1/2 lb of string beans, strings and ends removed, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced

• 1/3 cup of raw white rice
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 cup of chopped parsley
• 1 raw egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• A dash of cayenne (optional)

• 1 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, crumbled, or 1 Tbsp fresh chopped oregano
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

*If using prepared stock, be sure to use gluten-free stock if you are cooking gluten-free.

Method

1 Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed pot (5-qt) over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add broth mixture and tomato sauce. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add carrots and string beans.

2 Prepare the meatballs. Mix rice into meat, adding mint leaves and parsley, salt and pepper. Mix in raw egg. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs.

3 Add the meatballs to the simmering soup, one at a time. Cover and let simmer for 1/2 hour. Add the peas towards the end of the 1/2 hour. Add a few pinches of oregano and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and a dash of cayenne, to taste.

Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.

Yield: Serves 6-8.

Banana Bread

The best recipes come tried and true from friends who begged them from other friends and so on and so on. That's the wonderful thing about sharing recipes - the more good recipes we share, the better we all get to eat! This banana bread comes from my friend Heidi who years ago begged this recipe from a ski friend's mother - Mrs. Hockmeyer (parents of friends are always Mr. and Mrs. no matter how old we get). Mrs. Hockmeyer passed away years ago, but her simple but perfect banana bread lives on for all of us to enjoy.

Banana Bread Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Yield: Makes one loaf.

Chicken Peanut Curry

The inspiration for this recipe comes from a West African soup recipe in Nancie McDermott's The Curry Book. With a little less broth and a lot more chicken you have a great peanut curry dish. Control the level of hotness you want with the amount of chili. We didn't have serranos when we made this, and we wanted it very spicy so we used 4 fresh large jalapeños instead of the 2 serranos called for in the following recipe. The lime, coriander seed, onion, cilantro, mint, ginger, chili, and peanut combine wonderfully.

Chicken Peanut Curry Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken pieces (or you can use bone-in for added flavor), cut into 1 1/2 inch wide chunks or strips
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 Tbsp curry powder
• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground peppercorns
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
• 2 Tbsp garlic, minced
• 2 serrano chili peppers, seeded, de-veined, minced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (if using freshly ground peanuts, add 2 teaspoons of sugar)
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 8 green onions, chopped, greens included
• 1/3 cup each finely chopped mint and cilantro
• 2 limes cut into wedges

Method

1 Rinse chicken and pat dry. In a small sturdy paper bag, combine the flour, curry powder, salt and pepper. Shake well. Add the chicken pieces and shake to coat well.

2 Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium high heat. Add chicken pieces. Cook 5-10 minutes (depending on size of chicken pieces) tossing occasionally to cook chicken evenly. Add the ginger, garlic, chili pepper and 1/2 cup of the chicken broth to the saucepan. Cook for 3 minutes, scraping the pan with a spatula and stirring to combine everything well.

3 Add the peanut butter, stirring quickly to incorporate it with the chicken. Add the remaining 3 1/2 cups of broth slowly, stirring continuously to maintain an even texture. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Right before serving, add the coriander and green onions. Salt to taste.

4 Serve with rice. Top each serving with fresh cilantro and mint. Squeeze a little lime juice over it as well.

Yield: Serves 6-8.

Red Beans and Rice

Something tells me we're not the only ones who get excited over beans and rice. Do you? Rarely a week goes by that we don't have beans of some sort or another, and my mother's chili beans with rice are a staple around here. My father found a recipe in our local grocery store (Raley's) circular for a Cajun red beans and rice using smoked pork shanks. Given my dad's love affair with all things pork, he couldn't wait to make it. Traditional Louisiana red beans and rice also uses Andouille sausage which we did not add, but you could if you wanted. There was plenty of flavor, and plenty of meat, with the smoked shanks.

Red Beans and Rice Recipe

If you have access to ham hocks and not shanks, you may want to make up the difference in meat (hocks have much less meat) with sausage. Just take 1/2 pound of Andouille sausage, slice, brown first before adding to the beans with the ham shanks. If you do not eat pork, you might try making this with smoked turkey sausage, in which case I would replace some of the water with chicken stock.

Ingredients

• 1 lb dry small red beans
• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs meaty ham shanks
• 4 cups water
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons of Cajun or Creole seasoning (Tony Chachere's or Zatarains) or to taste*
• Tabasco sauce**
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cooked white rice (from about 3 cups raw rice)

*If you don't have access to packaged seasoning, just skip it and add some thyme (fresh or dried), a bay leaf (in with the beans and shanks in step 2), and a little paprika
**We used a combo of Chipotle Tabasco sauce and regular Tabasco, could also use cayenne pepper

Method

1 Place dried beans in a large bowl and cover them with cold water by a couple of inches. Let soak for 8 hours or overnight. (You can quick soak them by putting them in a bowl and pouring boiling water over them, covering them by 2 inches, then letting them soak for two hours.) Drain.

2 Place beans, ham shanks, garlic, chopped onion, and water in a large (8-quart) pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover, simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender.

3 Remove ham shanks from the pot to a dish. Let cool slightly then shred the meat away from the bones. Return the meat back to the pot. Add the celery, bell peppers, Worcestershire and seasonings. Cover and cook for another hour or until the mixture gets thick. Season to taste with Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper.

Serve over rice.

Serves 8.

Roasted Garlic

Years ago my pal Peter showed me how to roast garlic whole and eat the warm, toasty cloves right out of the head. How wonderfully simple! And perfect for garlic lovers.

Roasted Garlic Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2 Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.

3 Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.

4 Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. Use a small small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.

Eat as is (I love straight roasted garlic) or mash with a fork and use for cooking. Can be spread over warm French bread, mixed with sour cream for a topping for baked potatoes, or mixed in with Parmesan and pasta.

Cold Pea Salad

This delightful cold pea salad recipe comes from my friend Chigiy's friend Beth, who brought it to a recent BBQ. It calls for Smokehouse Almonds, but I think it could easily be made with tamari almonds too. Perfect for picnics on hot summer days, it's made with frozen peas which help keep the salad chilled. The peas do thaw a bit, but they're good crunchy and cold too.

Cold Pea Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 16-ounces frozen petite peas (do not thaw)
• 6 ounces smokehouse almonds, rinsed to take off the excess salt, chopped (preferably by hand)
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 8 ounces chopped water chestnuts
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp yellow curry powder
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method

1 Combine the frozen peas, green onions, almonds, and water chestnuts. Mix together the mayonnaise and curry powder in a separate bowl.

2 Gently fold the mayonnaise mixture into peas. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serves 6.

Notes from Beth: You make this salad the morning of, but add the almonds when you serve it. The salad is still good the next day but it's best if it's made the day you serve. Wonderful served with sliced tomato and avocado and chicken for lunch.

Cucumber Yogurt Salad

We eat a lot of hot and spicy dishes around here; a great way to cool the palate is with the delicious combination of yogurt and cucumber. This easy-to-make cucumber salad, also called "tzatziki", is a refreshing accompaniment to spicy dishes such as chili beans, enchiladas, and Indian food.

Cucumber Yogurt Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cucumbers, peeled, quartered lengthwise, then sliced
• Plain yogurt, about 1 cup
• 1 teaspoon dried dill, or a couple of teaspoons of fresh dill
• Sprinkling of salt and pepper

Method

First taste the cucumbers to make sure that they are not bitter. Depending on the variety of cucumber you are using, and many other factors, you may find a cucumber that is distinctly bitter in taste. If this happens, soak the cucumber slices in salted water for half an hour, or longer, until the bitterness is reduced, then rinse and drain before using.

To make the salad, simply gently mix together the ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.

Yield: Serves 4.

Hamburger and Macaroni

Rachael Ray has nothing on my mother. As far as this family is concerned, my mom invented healthful, delicious comfort food that one can cook in 30 minutes or less. This hamburger and macaroni dish has been served in our house at least twice a month for the last 45 years. We even have a special name for it - HMO (HamburgerMacaroniOnions). Dad gets a song in his voice when he announces that we're having HMO for dinner. And it only takes 20 minutes to make.

Hamburger and Macaroni Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 yellow onion, chopped (or mixed chopped green onion greens and yellow onion)
• Olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Vegesal or other seasoned salt
• Dash crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 large can (28 oz) of diced tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2 cups uncooked macaroni (use rice pasta for wheat-free version)

Method

1 Get a large pot of hot water heating and begin cooking the macaroni as per the directions on the macaroni package.

2 In a skillet, brown the ground beef in a tablespoon of olive oil on high heat. Stir only infrequently so that the ground beef has an opportunity to brown.

3 In a large skillet, sauté chopped onion with a tablespoon of olive oil on medium high heat. Add the ground beef and lower the heat to medium. Add a dash of crushed red pepper. Add Vegesal or other seasoned salt. Add celery seed. Add canned tomatoes. Add Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 5 minutes. Mix in the drained and cooked macaroni and parsley. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Serves 4.

Tuna Patties

Tuna patties! All you have to do is say these two words and I'm flooded with childhood memories. We kids are only a few feet high, have tiny feet, scabbed knees, and boundless energy. In between chasing each other around the dining room table we are squealing to our mother, "We're having tuna patties!" We were enthusiastic about food, to say the least. And always hungry. Back then, this was one of my mother's go-to dishes. No idea what her recipe was, and it's been so long since she's made them, it's long forgotten. This recipe is as close as I can come to what I remember, probably with a few added flourishes. What I love about the recipe is that I almost always have the necessary ingredients in the pantry and fridge, the patties are incredibly easy and quick to make, and they're budget friendly too. Oh yes, and they taste great! (At least to us. Big fans of canned tuna here.)

Tuna Patties Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 6-ounce cans tuna
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup white bread torn into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp water (or liquid from the cans of tuna)
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives, green onions, or shallots
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A couple squirts of Crystal hot sauce or tabasco
• 1 raw egg
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon butter

Method

1 Drain the liquid from the tuna cans. If you are using tuna packed in water, reserve a tablespoon of the tuna water, and add a teaspoon of olive oil to the tuna mixture in the next step.

2 In a medium bowl, mix together the tuna, mustard, torn white bread, lemon zest, lemon juice, water, parsley, chives, and hot sauce. Sprinkle on salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste the mixture before adding the egg to see if it needs more seasoning to your taste. Mix in the egg.

3 Divide the mixture into 4 parts. With each part, form into a ball and then flatten into a patty. Place onto a wax paper lined tray and chill for an hour. (You can skip the chilling if you want, chilling just helps the patties stay together when you cook them.)

4 Heat the olive oil and a little butter (for taste) in a cast iron or stick-free skillet on medium high. Gently place the patties in the pan, and cook until nicely browned, 3-4 minutes on each side.

Serve with wedges of lemon. You can also serve with tartar sauce on slider buns for a tuna burger.

Yield: Makes 4 patties.

Chicken Curry Salad

I love this curry chicken salad. I made up this recipe 20 years ago after a friend of mine gave me a gift box of curry spices and have been making it ever since. It's quite easy to make. The important thing to remember is that you need to "cook" the curry powder in the olive oil before adding it to the rest of the salad ingredients. Heat releases the flavor of the curry. It's also easy to make ahead, the added time just allows the flavors to blend.

Chicken Curry Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 lb skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
• Salt
• 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 2 heaping Tbsp yellow curry powder
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 apple (tart or sweet, your preference), peeled, cored, and diced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (just lightly packed)
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 Tbsp mayonnaise optional

Method

1 Heat olive oil on medium/medium-high heat in a thick-bottomed sauté pan. Add chicken pieces and cook, stirring frequently until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle some salt on the chicken pieces while cooking. Check doneness by removing the thickest piece and cutting it in half. If it is still pink in the middle, keep cooking. Try not to overcook the chicken or it will be dry. Remove chicken pieces with a slotted spoon, set aside in a bowl.

2 Add yellow onion and cook. After a few minutes, when the onions are beginning to get translucent, add 2 heaping tablespoons of yellow curry powder. Cook a few minutes more, stirring frequently. If the curry sticks to the bottom or the mixture gets dry, add a bit more olive oil to the pan. As you stir, scrape up the stuck curry bits. Add raisins, and cook, stirring another minute. (If adding optional mayonnaise, remove curry from heat and mix in mayo.) Add raisin and onion mixture to chicken and mix well, coating the chicken pieces with the curry infused olive oil. Refrigerate until cool. At this point you can make the salad a day a head of time.

3 When you are ready to serve the salad, mix in the apple, green onions, and cilantro.

Serves 4.

Perfect Lemonade

Everybody knows how to make lemonade, right? Squeeze some lemons, add sugar and water. But how to make lemonade so that it tastes right everytime? Here's a surefire method.

Remember the starting proportions - 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of lemon juice.

(This ratio makes a pretty sweet lemonade. Reduce the amount of sugar if you want your lemonade less sweet or if you are using Meyer lemons which are naturally sweeter than standard lemons.)

The secret to perfect lemonade is to start by making sugar syrup, also known as "simple syrup". Dissolving the sugar in hot water effectively disperses the sugar in the lemonade, instead of having the sugar sink to the bottom.

Perfect Lemonade Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

Method

1 Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.

2 While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.

3 Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.

Serve with ice, sliced lemons.

Yield: Serves 6.

Corn Chowder

With sweet, fresh corn, still available at the local farmers market, we just couldn't resist trying our hands at some fresh corn chowder. The recipe is adapted from one by Mitchell Davis in Kitchen Sense and is full of flavor. The original recipe calls for a strip of bacon, but you can add a little bacon fat instead, if you have some on hand, or just add a little more butter.

Corn Chowder Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 strip of bacon or 1 teaspoon of bacon fat (substitute 1/2 Tbsp of butter for vegetarian option)
• 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 large carrot, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
• 1/2 celery stalk, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
• 3 ears of sweet corn, kernels removed from the cobs (about 2 cups), cobs reserved (see steps for taking corn off the cob)
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 1/2 cups milk, whole or low fat
• 1 medium Yukon Gold potato, or Russet, peeled and diced
• 1/4 red bell pepper, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Method

1 In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the bacon strip (skip this step for vegetarian option, just add more butter) and fry until the bacon renders its fat, but doesn't begin to brown, 3 or 4 minutes. Add the onion and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, until soft. Add the carrot and celery and cook for 4 or 5 more minutes.

2 Break the corn cobs in half and add them to the saucepan. Add the milk and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a bare simmer. Cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes. Make sure the heat is as low as can be and still maintain a gentle simmer (on our stove we had to use the "warm" setting) to prevent scalding the milk on the bottom of the pan.

3 Discard the cobs, the bacon strip, and the bay leaf. Raise the heat, add the potatoes, red pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt, fresh ground pepper to taste, bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are almost fork tender.

4 Raise the heat, add the corn kernels and the thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Serves 4.

Dad's Greek Salad

I'm on vacation this week, so am pulling forward a few recipes from the archives that we've recently updated. This gorgeous Greek salad is one of them, originally posted in 2005. So pretty, isn't it? And perfect for the hot weather. ~Elise

This Greek salad is a favorite of my father's to make during the summer. We usually have plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers growing in the garden, and all you have to do is toss in some red onions, olives, bell pepper, feta cheese, a few herbs, and some olive oil and vinegar and you have beautiful, cooling, fresh, Greek salad.

Dad's Greek Salad Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes

Tip from my mom: to take some of the bite away from the onions, after you chop them, soak them in a little vinegar or lemon juice.

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dill weed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 large plum tomatoes, seeded, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cucumber, peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 red onion, peeled, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, seeded, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup pitted black olives (preferably brine-cured), coarsely chopped
• A heaping half cup crumbled feta cheese

Method

1 Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, vinegar, oregano and dill weed together until blended. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. (Can be prepared 3 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewhisk before using.)

2 Combine the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, olives in a bowl. Toss with dressing. Sprinkle cheese over and serve.

Yield: Serves 6.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

Flank steak is a lean, somewhat tough but flavorful cut of beef that benefits from the tenderizing effects of a marinade. It is best cooked medium rare and thinly sliced at an angle. It actually could be sliced even more at a diagonal than what I've shown here in the photo. My father is the real expert around here at making beautiful thin slices, not I.

Prepared this way, marinated, cooked quickly at high heat, thinly sliced, flank steak practically melts in your mouth. This recipe calls for grilling the steak, but if you don't have a grill, you can prepare the steak on a large cast iron frying pan as well. I recently updated the marinade recipe based on a few suggestions from our readers. Thank you! There are more marinade ideas in the links to other food blogs at the bottom of the recipe. For more Southwestern flavors, see our carne asada recipe. Do you have a favorite flank steak marinade? or grilling trick for flank steak? If so, please let us know in the comments.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak Recipe

Ingredients

Marinade Ingredients

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Other ingredients

• 2 pounds flank steak
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper

Method

1 Score the surface of the steak with 1/4 inch deep knife cuts, about an inch apart, across the grain of the meat. Combine the marinade ingredients. Place steak and marinade ingredients in a large freezer bag. Coat the steak well with the marinade. Seal the bag and place in a bowl. Chill and marinate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

2 Using olive oil soaked onto a paper towel, coat the grill rack of your grill with olive oil. Preheat the grill with high, direct heat. The grill is hot enough when you hold your hand about an inch over it and you can only hold it there for about a second.

3 Take the steak out of the marinade bag and sprinkle generously on all sides with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. The salt and pepper will help form a savory crust on the steak. Place steak on the hot grill. If you are using a gas grill, cover the grill. Grill for 4-6 minutes on each side. Half way through grilling on each side, turn the steak 90° so that you get more grill marks.

How do you know if the steak is done? The best way to tell is to poke it with your finger tips. While the steak is still raw, test it with your fingers; it will be quite squishy. That's what a very rare steak feels like. As the steak cooks the muscles contract and firm up. Touch the tip of your nose and that's what a very well done steak feels like. Here's a visual guide, the finger test to check the doneness of steak.

4 Flank steak is best eaten medium rare; well done will make it too tough. When the steak has cooked to your preferred level of doneness, remove from the grill and place on a cutting board. Cover with aluminum foil to hold in the heat and to keep the steak from drying out, and let rest for 10 minutes.

5 Make very thin slices, against the grain, and at a slight diagonal so that the slices are wide.

If you want, you can take the excess marinade and bring it to a boil, simmer for several minutes, and serve with the flank steak. Great also with salsa or horseradish sauce.

Serves 6.

Veggie Tacos

Why I didn't think of this earlier in the summer, when the zucchini beast was putting out two zukes a day, I don't know. But here it is, a veggie taco that combines the best of summer produce, that you can pull together in about 20 minutes or less. I've made these for lunch for the last 3 days straight with summer squash, green chiles, tomatoes, and jalapeños from our garden. You can improvise with the vegetables, a little fresh corn would work great added in, or some cooked beans as well. We have fresh chiles, so I included them, you could always just add some salsa or jalapeño pickles to taste. The key to the overall taste is the addition at the end of cotija cheese, a Mexican cheese that is salty and crumbly, much like Greek feta. Remember, unless you have just made your tortillas fresh from scratch, packaged corn tortillas need to be heated and softened first, before being used for tacos.

Veggie Tacos Recipe

Packaged corn tortillas vary in quality. Look for a thick tortilla, it will hold up better in the cooking. Otherwise, if your tortillas are more fragile, you may need to double them up - 2 per taco.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 cup of roughly chopped zucchini or summer squash (1-2 zucchini or squash, depending on the size)
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 large fresh mild green chile (Anaheim or Hatch), seeds and stem discarded, chopped
• 1/2 fresh jalapeño chile pepper, seeds and stem discarded, minced (or more, if you desire more heat)
• Salt
• Pinch of ground cumin
• Pinch of ground oregano
• 1 small to medium tomato, chopped
• 4 corn tortillas
• 4 slices cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup crumbled Mexican cotija cheese (a salty, crumbly cheese, you can substitute feta)
• A few sprigs of fresh cilantro, chopped (okay to include the stems, if small)

Method

1 Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add the zucchini, onions, garlic, green chiles, and jalapeño to the pan. Sprinkle with salt and cumin. Stir to coat the vegetables with the oil in the pan. Spread the veggies out in the pan and then stir only occasionally, until they are all lightly browned. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and oregano, lower the heat to low. Let gently cook for several minutes while you are preparing the tortillas.

2 You are going to want to heat up the tortillas first, first to soften them, and then to melt the cheese. There are two basic ways of doing this. One way is on the stove top, preferably in a cast iron pan. Another way is to use the microwave. In both methods you will work in batches. (A third way is to use fresh homemade corn tortillas, which is a great option if you are set up for it.)

2a Preparing tortillas on the stove-top Heat a dollop of olive oil (or other vegetable oil) in a large cast iron frying pan, on medium high. Add a tortilla to the pan, moving it around a bit, and turning it over, so that it spreads around the oil. Let the tortilla heat until it develops little bubbles of air pockets. Then place a piece of cheese on one side of the tortilla, and use a metal spatula to fold the other side of the tortilla over the cheese. Heat until cheese is melted, then remove from pan. Note that if you have a big enough pan, you can have one tortilla folded over while you have another tortilla doing its initial heating.

2b Preparing tortillas in the microwave Place a paper towel (or half a paper towel) on the heating surface of your microwave. Spread out 2 tortillas on the paper towels. Cook on high heat for 20 seconds per tortilla, in the case of 2 tortillas, 40 seconds. The tortillas should develop air pockets. (Note that every microwave is a little different, and corn tortillas differ as well. So you may need to adjust the times for your particular setup.) Then place a slice of cheese on one side of each tortilla and fold the tortillas over the cheese. Cook for an additional 10 seconds per tortilla (20 seconds for 2 tortillas), or until the cheese is melted.

3 Open the tacos and spoon some of the cooked veggie filling into them. Sprinkle on chopped cilantro and crumbled cotija cheese. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 tacos. Serves 2.