Tahini BBQ Summer Vegetable Bake

August 14, 2015 / ktbuchs87

I have been all about the tahini lately. I have been finding ways to put it on everything and I have not been disappointed. Most of us only know tahini as an ingredient in hummus. It helps give it that nice creamy, earthy flavor. While hummus is delicious, tahini deserves to be more than just an ingredient in a popular dip.

It is awesome in baked goods, drizzled over pancakes or roasted plantains, and it turns any homemade dressing into creamy delicious lick the bottom of the bowl good. The fact that it turns things creamy is one of my favorite things.

I like creamy, creamy is good, but sadly people only associate creamy with cheese or other dairy products. I’m going to change your mind one tahini filled recipe at a time.

This one is really easy to make and is a great way to use up the surplus of zucchini and other summer vegetables I’m sure are crowding your fridge. I also like this one because it can be made the night before and then just popped into the oven and it’s done. That’s actually what I did when I made this last weekend and it worked beautifully.

The sauce I made for this vegetable bake would also be awesome as a dip or slathered on wings or ribs or burgers or a spoon…. You get the idea. Go grab all the summer vegetables you have, whip up this sauce, and throw together this yummy dish!

Tahini BBQ Summer Vegetable Bake

Tahini BBQ Sauce-

1/4 cup tahini
2 tbsp homemade ketchup (or the best you can find/afford at the store)
1 tsp molasses
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp smoked paprika (make sure it’s smoked)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt

Blend all ingredients together until smooth and well combined

Vegetable Bake-

1 batch of tahini BBQ sauce
1 zucchini, sliced and diced
1 summer squash, sliced and diced
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
1 cup red onion, diced
1 1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans (or whatever bean you have on hand)
2 tsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper

If you want/have the time, roast the zucchini and summer squash. You don’t have to, but it adds a nice flavor to the dish. Drizzle with a little olive oil and salt and pepper and roast at 400 for 15 minutes.
Remove the zucchini and squash, turn the oven to 375 and place the roasted vegetables into a large bowl.
Add the corn, onion, garbanzo beans, and stir everything to combine. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and salt and pepper and stir again.
Add in all the tahini BBQ sauce and stir everything making sure the sauce is coating all of the vegetables and beans.
Transfer everything to a large casserole dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Take off the aluminum foil and bake for another 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and let it cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Mexican Shepherd’s Pie & TV Talk

July 10, 2015July 10, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Friday’s have always been for recipes. I like coming up with new and creative ways to make food not only healthy but tasty too. Healthy food doesn’t have to be boring and I have a whole page of recipes to prove it. Friday’s are still going to be for recipes, but they are also going to be for something else.

TV and movies.

Yeah, that one probably came out of the blue. Why would a health blog talk about TV or movies? Because I love them and want to talk about them just like everyone else. Plus it’s something fun to add in with a yummy recipe. Even better. Go make my food and then come back and talk about TV while you’re eating it! Best of both worlds!

I work from home and usually have a show on in the background to pretend like I’m not alone with my cats for the majority of the day. Don’t worry it isn’t as sad as it sounds. I tend to be a solitary person and my cats are awesome. Netflix is amazing because I’ve been able to watch shows that I’ve always wanted to watch but never had the time. And no commercials. It’s a dream.

I’ve just started Orange Is The New Black. I know I’m behind but I had other important things to watch, like every single episode of Doctor Who. Twice. Don’t as questions. I don’t know how I feel about the show yet. I know everyone is crazy about it and I’m only 4 episodes in so I don’t have a strong opinion yet. I always give a show a whole season to find their groove before I pass my judgment. Even though I don’t have an opinion yet, I can already tell I’m gonna like Sophia. Girl is fierce. And Dayonara Diaz. Something about her I like.

Have you watched OITNB yet? Do you have other show recommendations for me? Are you only here for the food?

This meal is another one of my Sunday throw all the leftovers in a dish and hope something good comes out at the end dinners. If you have leftover taco fixin’s then you are all set to make this Mexican Shepherd’s Pie. If not you can still easily throw this together and have dinner on the table fast.

Mexican Shepherd’s Pie

2 cups cooked black beans, about 1 can’s worth
1 cup cooked brown rice
3 corn tortillas, torn into bite-size pieces
1 red pepper, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 cup mashed potatoes (you can also use pumpkin or butternut squash puree)
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 tsp taco seasoning
2 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 425. In a skillet, saute the sliced peppers and onions over medium-high heat until they are slightly softened. About 7 minutes.
While the onions and peppers are cooking, mix the beans, rice, tortillas, and 2 tablespoons of cilantro in a medium bowl. Add the taco seasoning and salt and pepper and stir to combine. Add the peppers and onions and stir.
In a separate bowl, mix the mashed potatoes, tomato paste, the rest of cilantro, and chili powder together. Taste and add salt as needed.
Pour the bean and vegetable mix into a deep pie dish or casserole dish. Spread out evenly. Spread the mashed potato mix on top and make sure all the bean mix is covered.
Cook in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Like I said, if you have taco fixings you can just use those and add whatever else you would like. Use ground beef or turkey, shredded pork or chicken, or add shredded cheese if you want. This can be totally customized to your tastes.

Have a happy Friday and an awesome weekend!!

Blog Recipe Roundup

June 26, 2015June 23, 2015 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

Happy Friday! I don’t know about you, but it has been HOT here this week. The heavy, muggy, wet, kind of hot. It seems like summer is either cool or super hot, there is no in between. I guess it could be worse and at least it isn’t snowing sideways anymore.

I don’t have a new recipe for you this week, but I do have some delicious things that I have found on some of the blogs that I follow regularly. I think it’s good to share a little blog love and I hope that you find something here that strikes your fancy. Enjoy!

Eating Bird Food- Chocolate Banana Overnight Oats

Have you ever tried overnight oats? If not, then you need to jump on the bandwagon. Not only are they delicious, it’s the perfect breakfast for a busy morning because you can make it the night before. Plus chocolate and banana are born to be together.

Kath Eats Real Food- Orange Dill Bean Salad

This is the perfect dish to bring to a summer BBQ or party. It’s easy to put together and you don’t have to use the oven which is a must on hot summer days.

Cotter Crunch- Gluten Free Spicy Rice Noodles

I could eat noodles for every meal. Sorry, I’m not sorry. I like the versatility of this dish and it’s a perfect summer dinner!

PaleOMG- Watermelon Mint Granita

Ok, this looks amazing. Whenever it’s super hot out all I want is ice cold watermelon. I feel like this is going to be a regular around here this summer…

Monday I’m going to be introducing a new feature for my blog, so make sure you come back and check that out! It’s gonna be a good one! Have a great weekend!

Marinated Mushrooms and Roasted Rutabaga with Smoked Paprika Sauce

June 19, 2015June 18, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Because I mostly eat a plant based diet, I don’t make many marinades. For some reason, I always forget about marinading vegetables and this makes me sad because I love the flavor a good marinade can impart. Plus marinades don’t have to be super complicated and can be made with the things you already have on hand.

Mushrooms were on sale at Jewel the past week so I decided it was time to make a good vegetable marinade. This one would also be really good with eggplant or maybe some jicama. Oooo, jicama would be tasty…. Anyway, this marinade pulls double duty in this recipe because it turns into the sauce at the end of the process. Good for you because it means less work for a super tasty dinner.

Make sure you leave enough time to marinate the mushrooms for at least 12 hours, preferably a full 24. That gives the dish the most intense flavor.

Marinated Mushrooms and Roasted Rutabaga with Smoked Paprika Sauce

For the marinade:

4-5 cups sliced mushrooms, I used cremini but use what you like
1 cup onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp cilantro, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients into a large container or zip lock bag and mix to combine. Put in the fridge to marinade for at least 12 hours, 24 hours if you can.

For the roasted rutabaga:

3 cups rutabaga, cubed (I used a medium-sized rutabaga)
olive oil
Italian seasonings
salt and pepper to taste
1-quart vegetable broth or water
2 tsp smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 400. Place cubed rutabaga onto a large baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with herbs and spices. Toss to coat and roast for 30 minutes rotating halfway through.
Once the rutabaga has finished roasting, heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add in the mushrooms and all the marinade and saute for 5-7 minutes.
Add in the rutabaga and mix to make sure they are covered with the marinade too. Cook for another minute. Pour in the vegetable broth or water and season with extra smoked paprika and salt and pepper.
Stir everything together and bring the broth to a boil. Once it’s boiling lower to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the sauce has thickened it’s ready.

At first glance, it looks like there are a lot of steps and a lot of ingredients, but half of them are for the marinaded mushrooms and that is the easiest part. This meal is good enough on its own but if you want an even heartier meal you can serve it over rice or pasta. You can also use this marinade on chicken or pork and use those instead of the mushrooms. Or use all of the meat and vegetables, it’s all fair game!

Lentil Taco Filled Empanadas

May 29, 2015May 29, 2015 / ktbuchs87

These empanadas have been a labor of love. The first time that I made them I was basing them off another recipe and they turned out really well. I made them a few times to make sure they worked and was happy with the outcome. But I couldn’t just leave them alone.

The first version I made used eggs, which is fine because I love eggs and use them daily. I wanted to try and make a version that didn’t use eggs. That’s when the labor part of “labor of love” started. I won’t say I failed, I just found 452 ways to NOT make empanadas without eggs. Finally I had a breakthrough and came up with an eggless empanada. I might have done a little dance in my kitchen….

I included both versions of the empanada here so you can choose which version you want to make. The ingredients will be different but the process will be the same. I’m also including my recipe for taco lentils as a filling for the empanada, but you can use any filling you would like. Try shredded chicken or pork or ground turkey or beef. Whatever your little heart desires. Dream big my friends, dream big.

Empanada with Eggs- based on this recipe from Barefoot Provisions

1/2 cup brown rice flour
4 eggs
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder

Empanada without Eggs

1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup aquafaba
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder

1. Whatever version you make, combine all the dry ingredients and mix together. Then add in the wet and stir to combine. For the version with eggs the batter will seem very runny but that is fine. The eggless version should be a little thicker like pancake batter.

2. Preheat oven to 350 and line a large baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.

3. Heat a little olive oil in a small skillet over medium high heat. Pour a little bit of the empanada batter into the skillet and cook for about 3 minutes. You want the bottom to be cooked but the top to still be a little doughy.

4. With a spatula transfer the empanada from the skillet over to the lined baking sheet. Spoon a little of your filling onto one side of the empanada. Fold over the opposite side pressing along the edges to seal. Repeat this process until you have used all the batter. I usually get about 5 empanadas out of this recipe.

5. Bake the empanadas for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. You can top with avocado cream, cashew sour cream, salsa, or hot sauce.

Lentil Taco Filling

1 cup cooked lentils
1/2 cup cooked black beans (canned or dry)
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tsp taco seasoning
3 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
2 tsp tapioca starch or cornstarch mixed in 1/4 cup water

1. Mix the tapioca starch/cornstarch into the water and set aside.

2. Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute the onions until soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add in garlic and saute for another minute. Add in everything else except for the seasoning, starch, and cilantro. Cook for about 10 minutes.

3. Sprinkle the seasoning over the lentil mix and then pour the starch mix over everything. Cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Turn off the heat and stir in cilantro.

It might seem like a lot but this meal actually comes together pretty easily. You can even make your filling ahead of time and then just pull it out when you’re making the empanadas. Whichever version you try I hope you enjoy these yummy empanadas!

Have a great weekend and enjoy the last few days of May!

What’s your favorite Mexican dish?