Baked vegetarian taquitos

Before I made this I hadn't had a taquito in probably 15 years. I haven't done a ton of looking around for them, but the ones you can find in the freezer section are definitely not vegetarian. They sometimes sound really delicious though. So I decided to create my own. The secret here is to not let them rest too long before baking because the tortillas will split open like mine did.

Ingredients:

10 corn tortillas

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 of an onion, diced

1/3 green bell pepper, diced

1/3 red bell pepper, diced

1 roma tomato, diced

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 can water

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

2 dashes cayenne pepper

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it liberally with cooking spray. Heat a sauce pan over medium heat and saute onion and bell peppers in oil until tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomato and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add beans and water and stir to combine. Add garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the beans are soft. Smash the beans with the back of a spoon (or fork) and mix until the beans become thick and relatively smooth, adding more water if necessary. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Allow this mixture to cool in the fridge for about 10 minutes. When the filling has cooled, take the tortillas and wrap them in damp paper towels and microwave for 30 seconds to allow them to soften. Take one tortilla at a time (and cover the rest) and spread about 2 spoonfulls of bean mixture about 1/4 of the way up the tortilla. Roll up tortilla as tightly as possible and place seam-side down on the pan. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas. Spray the taquitos with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tortillas have crisped up and have begun to turn brown. Serve with salsa, guacamole, or lime-cilantro sour cream.

Lasagna with zucchini and mushrooms

Lasagna is one of those hit or miss dishes for me. I really dislike it when it is watery or when the ricotta is really grainy, which I find is quite often with a lot of frozen lasagnas. I actually thought I hated lasagna for a while but it turns out that when it is made well it can be really delicious. This is not one of those lasagnas out there that uses zucchini to replace the noodles, why would someone want that? The noodles are one of the best parts! This recipe makes two small lasagnas, which is perfect for me - I could make one veggie one and then throw spicy sausage into the other one for the boyfriend. You could just as easily eat one and freeze one for later.

Ingredients:

8 lasagna noodles, broken in half and cooked
1 1/2 cups pasta sauce
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
dash salt
2-3 cracks black pepper
1 medium zucchini, sliced thinly
1/2 a small box of mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup mozzarella, shredded

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease two small, rectangular baking dishes. In a small bowl, combine ricotta, egg, parmesan, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Heat oil in a saute pan over medium heat and cook zucchini and mushrooms for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Allow them to cool slightly before assembling the lasagna. Pour just enough pasta sauce into each baking dish to cover the bottom, then lay two cooked noodles on top in order to cover the entire bottom. Pour a bit more sauce on top of the noodles, then layer a scoop of ricotta on top and smooth it out, top this with some of the sauteed veggies, then a handful of mozzarella. Continue layering like this until you are out of ingredients. On the top layer, skip the ricotta so it ends with pasta, sauce, mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake them at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese begins to brown in spots. Allow the lasagna to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Corn chowder

Soup is one of those foods that I could eat pretty much every day and be happy. This is a great soup to make at the end of summer or beginning of fall when there is plenty of good fresh corn around. The corn adds a nice amount of sweetness and crunch, which I balanced out with the creaminess of potato and the spices. It is delicious right out of the pot or, almost better, the next day after the flavors have had a chance to really come together.

Ingredients:

1/2 an onion, chopped
1/4 green pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 potato, peeled and diced
2 cups veggie stock
2 ears fresh corn, kernels removed
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1 generous dash cayenne pepper (adjust to your liking)
4-5 cracks fresh black pepper
1 ounce cream cheese
salt, to taste

Directions:

Heat a large pot over a medium-low flame and saute onion and green pepper in oil until tender, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Add potato and cover with veggie stock. Bring to a boil and place the lid on the pot but make sure it is cracked a bit so that a little steam can escape. Cook potato until it is very tender, about 10 minutes. It should be very easily broken down by a fork. Add corn kernels, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, and black pepper and cook for about 5 more minutes. Blend the soup to your desired level of chunkiness, I pureed about half of mine. Then bring back up to a simmer for about 3-5 minutes. Add cream cheese and stir to make sure it melts completely. Taste the soup and adjust seasonings to your liking. Serve topped with fresh corn and green onions if desired.

Pumpkin pie smoothie

Even though tomorrow is the first official day of fall, it already feels like fall to me. There are so many great things about fall; boots, cool nights, beautiful colors, cozy sweaters, and best of all, the food. This pumpkin smoothie really does taste like pie, and unlike a pumpkin spice latte, it actually has pumpkin in it. It is delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 an apple, chopped - I left the skin on and it was fine
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cup almond milk - I used unsweetened vanilla
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon instant oatmeal
5-6 ice cubes

Directions:

Place everything but the ice into a blender and puree until smooth. Add the ice cubes and blend until they are completely crushed and it is nice and thick, add more ice if you'd like it a little thicker.

Sweet potato, corn, and black bean enchiladas

This meal is so good. It is one of those meals that feels like it is really bad for you but really it is fairly healthy, especially if you limit the cheese on the top. I didn't really care about it being healthy so I loaded mine up with cheese. Make sure you let these rest a bit after you take them out of the oven, that way they can set up a bit and you make sure you don't burn your mouth.

Ingredients:

1 small sweet potato
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon oil, divided
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/3 cup corn
1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 small can enchilada sauce
6 corn tortillas
1/3 cup - 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop sweet potato into small cubes and toss with garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, and 1 teaspoon of oil. Roast in preheated oven for 15-25 minutes or until tender. While the sweet potato is roasting, heat remaining two teaspoons of oil in a small sauce pan. Add onion and cook for 3-4 minutes or until tender, add frozen corn and heat 2 more minutes, or until corn has heated through. Add black beans, garlic, cumin, and chili powder and heat for 2 more minutes so the beans warm through. Remove from heat. Add the sweet potato chunks when they are done and stir to combine, season with salt and pepper. Turn oven down to 350. In a small baking dish, place 1/3 cup enchilada sauce in the bottom. Take a corn tortilla and stuff with 1/4 cup (or so, just eyeball it) of filling and roll up. Place it seam side down in the pan and repeat with the rest of the tortillas and filling. Once the pan is full pour the remaining enchilada sauce on top and sprinkle with cheese. Place in oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. Allow it to rest for about 5 minutes, then top with sour cream, avocado, lettuce, or whatever toppings you prefer.