Black Bean & Scrambled Egg Enchiladas

I'd like to commit to making every single recipe from a cookbook. Or maybe a few cookbooks. I know there are groups about that (like TWD which I was part of before). Being part of a group like that is great because it forces you to make dishes you otherwise might not or might not make time for. So I guess what I'm saying is that I want to try making everything in Canadian Living: The Vegetarian Collection. I love that it has a variety of dishes, some with interesting twists like these black bean and scrambled egg enchiladas, the recipes are all fairly simple and easy to accomplish on a weeknight, and the ingredients are all really easy to find. Has anyone else made anything from this book? Have people outside of Canada even heard of it? Anyway, I'm not formally committing myself to it right now but perhaps soon.

At first I didn't want to make these enchiladas because while I do like scrambled eggs, I knew we'd have leftovers and the idea of reheated scrambled eggs does not appeal to me. I'm really happy I made it, as it was delicious, but I was right about reheated scrambled eggs not being good. I think this dish is best served to a large group where it will be finished in one night. I liked that it was something a little different than other enchiladas I've made.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Lentil Veggie Burrito Casserole
Frijoles, Etc. Casserole
Black Bean and Zucchini Chilaquiles
Southwest Brunch Bake

Black Bean & Scrambled Egg Enchiladas
Adapted from Canadian Living: The Vegetarian Collection

1 can (19 oz/540 mL) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (4.5 oz/126 mL) chopped green chilies, drained
1 tbsp lime juice
12 eggs
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp butter
8 large (10 inch) whole wheat tortillas
3/4 cup Cheddar cheese

Enchilada Sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
680 mL tomato sauce (my can might not have been exactly 680 mL, something around 680 though)
1 cup vegetable broth
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I didn't add it but would next time)

Enchilada Sauce: In saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; fry onion and garlic until onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, broth, chili powder, oregano and sa< bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in cilantro. Set aside.

In bowl, combine beans, chilies, lime juice and 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce; mash with fork. Set aside.

In separate bowl, beat together eggs, 1/4 cup water, half of the green onions, the salt and pepper.

In skillet, melt butter over medium heat; cook eggs, stirring, just until softly set but still moist.

Divide bean mixture among tortillas, spreading evenly. Spoon egg mixture along bottom third of each; roll up tortilla. Trim ends; place, seam side down, in greased 13- x 9-inch (3 L) glass baking dish. Spoon 3 cups of the remaining sauce over top. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake in 375°F oven until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes. After removing from the oven, top with remaining green onions. Serve with remaining sauce.

Cauliflower and Parmesan Cake

I loved the idea of this cauliflower and Parmesan cake when I saw it on Smitten Kitchen. Since then I've seen so many Ottolenghi recipes on blogs, many of which I want to try! I thought this savoury cake was good but not amazing. Fresh herbs may help to bring it to that next level (I used dried though the recipe calls for fresh). It's something different and fun to try though and I loved eating it with a big salad.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Savoury Vegetable Cheesecake
Butternut Squash Casserole
Tomato and Corn Pie
Tracy's Lentil Loaf

Cauliflower and Parmesan Cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi

Serves 4 to 6

1 medium cauliflower (1 1/2 pounds, 23 to 24 ounces or 650 to 700grams)
1 large red onion, peeled
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
10 medium or 8 large eggs
1 tsp dried basil
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 cups (about 220 grams) finely grated parmesan cheese
Salt and black pepper
Butter, for greasing pan
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) degrees. Break cauliflower into medium florets (this will cause less mess than chopping it). Place floret in a pot with a teaspoon of salt, cover them with water and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until quite soft. Strain and let drip in the colander for a few minutes so they dry and cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the batter. Halve your red onion and cut a few thin rings off the end of one side; set them aside. Coarsely chop the remainder of your onion. Heat all of your olive oil in a saucepan and saute the chopped red onion and rosemary together until soft, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Whisk eggs and olive oil and onion mixture together. Stir in basil. Whisk flour, baking powder, turmeric, cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (use 1 teaspoon if you are nervous about this amount) and many, many grinds of black pepper together in a separate bowl and add to egg mixture, whisking to remove lumps. Stir in cauliflower gently, so most pieces remain intact.

Line the bottom of a 9-inch (24cm) round springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the sides generously. Put the sesame seeds in the pan and toss them around so that they stick to the sides. Pour in the cauliflower batter, arrange the reserved onion rings on top and bake cake in the center of the oven for 45 minutes, until golden brown and set.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Before you serve the cake, be sure to run a knife around the pan.

Potato Salad Niçoise

Wow December has flown by!! Sadly I haven't had any time to do Christmas baking so I plan on making up for it in January after my wedding. Which is also when I hope to catch up on blogs, as I keep on saying. I hope you all have merry Christmases and happy holidays and happy everythings! I'm waiting for E to get home so we can go over to my mom's and help out with preparations then eat eat eat and play games. We have lots of family meals and visiting in the next few days which I'm really looking forward to!

I've also got a recipe to share with you today from a new favourite cookbook of mine - Canadian Living: The Vegetarian Collection. For some reason I was kind of skeptical of how the recipes would turn out but I've made a few things and have been quite happy with them so I'm looking forward to working my way through the rest of the book. I've always wanted to try Niçoise salad and came across a vegetarian version in this cookbook so finally decided to try it! I really enjoyed it and will be making it again.

Abby in her new favourite spot.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Mediterranean and Couscous Lentil Salad
Pesto and Chickpea Pasta Salad
Greek Barley Salad
Orzo Salad with Chickpeas, Dill and Lemon

Potato Salad Niçoise
Adapted from Canadian Living: The Vegetarian Collection

Makes 4 servings

14 mini new potatoes, quartered (1 lb)
2 cups trimmed green beans, cut into 2" pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 cups baby spinach (I like lots of spinach, you don't have to use this much)
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
16 Kalamata olives, pitted
Half sweet red pepper, diced
4 hard boiled eggs, quartered

In large pot of boiling salted water, cook potatoes, covered, until almost tender, about 10 minutes.

Add green beans; cook until tender-crisp, about 4 minutes. Drain.

In large bowl, whisk together oil, lemon juice, mustard, basil, salt, and pepper. Add potato mixture, spinach, tomatoes, olives and red pepper; toss to coat. Top with eggs.

Summer Strata with Spinach, Basil & Roasted Garlic Custard

Not too long ago I made this southwest brunch bake for mother's day brunch, but I had initially wanted to make this summer strata. The strata is more work though with caramelizing onions, roasting garlic, washing and cooking spinach, etc whereas the southwest brunch bake is pretty much dump and mix. I don't mind doing the bit of extra work for this strata, but when I had to prepare a few other dishes, I went with the simpler southwest brunch bake! However, this summer strata is super yummy and flavourful, and I'm really happy I tried it out for a weeknight meal. The only thing I'd change is to use less milk, as the bread was a bit soggy for my liking.

Also, I hope you guys didn't miss out on seeing this seriously amazing chile-cheese bread I just posted about. It would be sad if you did because it was one of the best things I've eaten this year!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Southwest Brunch Bake
Savoury Vegetable Cheesecake
Butternut Squash Casserole
Tomato and Corn Pie

Summer Strata with Spinach, Basil & Roasted Garlic Custard
Adapted from Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook

Serves 8-12

Caramelized Onions
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
4 yellow onions, sliced or diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup vegetable stock or water
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp cracked pepper
1 tsp minced fresh thyme, sage or rosemary

Filling
1 lb sourdough loaf, cut into 3/4" cubes (I think you can use whatever bread you want here)
2 bunches of spinach, wilted, squeezed and chopped
1 recipe caramelized onions
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (not oil packed)
1/2 cup chopped basil
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 1/2 cups grated fontina cheese

Custard
6 eggs
3 cups milk (I used 1%, and will use less milk next time)
2 bulbs roasted garlic, mashed
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked pepper

Caramelized Onions
1. Heat olive oil and butter over medium heat until the butter begins to foam. Add the onions and stir to coat. Add salt and cook for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.

2. Sprinkle in the sugar and wine and reduce until the liquid has evaporated. Add stock, vinegar, pepper and herbs. Cook gently until the stock is reduced and the onions reach a creamy texture.

Filling and Custard
1. Prepare all of the ingredients for the filling. Soak the sundried tomatoes until soft, strain and chop coarsely.

2. To make the custard, whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in the milk, cream, mashed roasted garlic, salt and pepper. Stir in the bread cubes, cover and let stand for 1 hour. Stir occasionally to ensure that all of the bread is evenly soaked. Stir in the remaining ingredients, reserving half of the grated cheese.

3. Heat the oven to 350F. Butter or oil a 9"x13" baking dish and scoop the bread pudding mixture into it. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese and bake until crusty, golden brown and just set in the middle (about 45 minutes). Let stand for several minutes, cut into squares and serve.

Southwest Brunch Bake

In addition to the flatbread with caramelized onions and brie and blackberry orange tea scones, I made this southwest brunch bake as part of the mother's day breakfast for dinner! (Yes I really need to catch up on my posts.) It's super easy to put together, basically just stirring hashbrowns, black beans, corn, red pepper and onion. Then cheese on top, then pour egg & milk mixture on top.

It's a great dish to have in your repertoire because you can make it beforehand then bake it when you need it - good for breakfast or for a weeknight dinner on a night when you don't have time to cook. I liked the dish the way it was, but I think the flavour could be kicked up a bit. Maybe more onion or a stronger cheese? I didn't add the cilantro so that would help bring more flavour too.

Abby, just chillin.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Savoury Vegetable Cheesecake
Butternut Squash Casserole
Tomato and Corn Pie
Squash and Aged White Cheddar Tart with Sage and Roasted Garlic Custard

Southwest Brunch Bake
Adapted from The Best of The Best and More

I left out the 2 tbsp cilantro and 1/4 tsp cayenne because I wasn't sure how well cilantro would go over with my family and didn't want it to be spicy for my niece. So feel free to add those back in if they sound good to you!

Serves 6-8

4 cups frozen shredded-style hash browns
19 oz can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
8 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt

Spray 9"x13" baking dish with cooking spray. Mix potatoes, beans, corn, red pepper and onion in baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Beat eggs, milk and salt until well blended. Pour evenly over potato mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours but no longer than 24 hours.

Heat oven to 350F and bake, uncovered, 55-60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center come sout clean. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Feta and Ricotta Cheese Pie

How good does a feta and ricotta cheese pie sound? Insanely good I thought. I'm definitely a big cheese lover and couldn't ignore this recipe. It was deeelicious! Kind of like fancy scrambled cheesy eggs. There's no crust, though now that I'm thinking about it I bet a crust would make it even better. (But then I think crust makes everything better.) It would be great for a brunch, but really would be good anytime. Next time I'd like to try using half of the filling, and fill up the rest with sauteed vegetables. Adding a crust and vegetables sounds like I'm turning it into a quiche so I guess that's defeating the purpose of the feta and ricotta cheese pie, but it would be such a yummy quiche!

I think my blog might be down for a few hours tomorrow. I'm so very lucky to have my brother host all the files for my website and his server is moving tomorrow. I assume things shouldn't be down for too long? But if it's weird, then that's why.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Squash & Aged White Cheddar Tart with Sage and Roasted Garlic Custard
Apple & Spinach Tart
Cheddar Ale Dip
Onion and Mushroom Frittata

Feta and Ricotta Cheese Pie
Adapted from Dana Treat who adapted from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen

1/2 pound good feta cheese
1 pound low fat ricotta cheese
4 eggs
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup 2% milk
salt and pepper
1 tsp dried dill

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the feta with the ricotta in a medium bowl, without worrying about getting it perfectly smooth – you’ll want some chunks. Beat the eggs into the cheese, then add the flour and milk. Season with salt, pepper and dill.

2. Grease a 9 inch pie plate. Pour in the batter. Bake until golden, 35-40 minutes. Cut in to wedges and serve.

Asparagus Mushroom Bread Pudding

It's too bad I didn't get a more delicious looking picture of this bread pudding. While I really love having a food blog, I really don't enjoy taking the pictures for it. Especially when the light isn't good (which is most of the time, and I'm not fancy enough to set up something to fix that) or the food doesn't look that exciting, even though it might be super tasty. At one point I enjoyed taking the photos but now it just feels like a chore. However, I definitely enjoy looking at others' food photos and I admire the people who have such skill and passion for food styling. And regardless of how good or bad a photo is, I always think it makes a post better. I try and do what I can to make the food look good but mostly I just want to eat it!

Anyway onto discussing the food. I know it's the tail end of asparagus season (or so it seems since I still see it around) so I'm posting this just in time! I've never made any sort of bread pudding before, and while I've only tried dessert bread pudding a couple of times I've never liked it (too mushy). But I was quite intrigued by this savoury version with asparagus, mushrooms, goat cheese, basil, leeks and Dijon mustard. It was yummy and something different, though it was a bit mushy. Is bread pudding supposed to be mushy? I think I'd prefer to just bake it longer and have it dry out and be more like stuffing... but I guess that's not the point otherwise there wouldn't be something called stuffing and something called bread pudding!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
French Pasta Salad
Tarragon Pecan Asparagus
Asparagus and Feta Pasta
Spaghetti with Spinach Cream Sauce

Asparagus Mushroom Bread Pudding
Adapted from Vegetarian Times, May/June 2009

1 leek, white part finely chopped (1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 tbsp)
1 lb fresh asparagus (18 to 20 spears), cut into 1 inch pieces
6 oz mushrooms, sliced (1 cup)
2 cups 1% milk
2 large eggs
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 lb loaf crusty bread, cut into cubes
100 g soft goat cheese log, sliced

1. Coat skillet with nonstick cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Add leek and garlic, and sauté 8 minutes, or until soft. Add asparagus and mushrooms, and cook 4 minutes more, or until asparagus is tender. Set aside.

2. Whisk together milk, eggs, mustard, and basil in bowl. Set aside.

3. In a large casserole dish, spread half of bread cubes in single layer in baking dish. Spoon asparagus mixture over top, and cover with remaining bread cubes. Arrange goat cheese rounds over top. Pour egg mixture over all, pressing down with spoon to submerge bread. Cover, and chill 2 hours, or overnight.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake bread pudding 45 minutes, or until center is set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Fried Rice with Scallions, Edamame and Tofu

I've seen people participating in Taste & Create and been intrigued, but this is my first time participating! I was really excited and eager to see who my partner would be so I could start poring over all their recipes to pick one. I was paired with Natalie of What's for Supper? and while going over her recipes found that we've made a lot of the same things - namely Dorie Greenspan (from Baking: From My Home to Yours) and Martha Stewart recipes! She's also working her way through The Food You Crave (with a blog event called Craving Ellie in my Belly), and I had just taken this book out of the library - perfect!

I settled on this recipe for fried rice because it had lots of ingredients I love (and had on hand) plus I love fried rice. Natalie made a few changes with the recipe but I decided to stick to the original. I loved the combination of the ingredients - red pepper, edamame, brown rice, corn, green onions, tofu, ginger, eggs. The fried rice was yummy but to make it again I'd do a few modifications - more ginger and garlic, more vegetables, add onion, and add the green onions at the end (as I find you can never taste them if they're too cooked). And I got to use our new wok for the first time! I can't believe I've been going this long attempting to stir fry things in a frying pan. Thanks Natalie for inspiring me to try out this cookbook - now I'm going to have to buy it!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Sunflower Rice Bowl
Wild Rice Almond Cherry Pilaf
Soba Noodles with Zucchini Ribbons
Lemon Miso Tofu and Eggplant

Fried Rice with Scallions, Edamame and Tofu
Adapted from The Food You Crave

Make sure you have all your ingredients prepared before you start as things will go quickly! Also, it's much better to use day old rice for fried rice because fresh rice will be too sticky/wet. You can easily make this vegan by omitting the eggs and adding extra tofu.

1 tbsp plus 1 tsp canola oil
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced ginger
4 cups cooked brown rice
1 seeded and finely diced red bell pepper
3/4 cup frozen shelled edamame, cooked according to package directions and drained
1/2 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) corn kernels
6 ounces firm tofu, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
2 large eggs, beaten
3 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
4 green onions, thinly sliced

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until softened and aromatic, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the rice, red pepper, edamame, corn and tofu and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Make a 3 inch well in the center of the rice mixture. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil, then add the eggs and cook until nearly fully scrambled. Stir the eggs into the rice mixture, then add the soy sauce and stir. Add green onions and stir. Serve hot.