Crock Pot Red Veggie Enchiladas

It was another hot day and I wanted something spicy, but didn't want to turn on the oven. I decided to try a favorite recipe of mine to see how well it would turn out using my crock pot. I love Mexican food, and will eat it practically every week. I blame it on my Mexican genes. I decided to make my enchiladas in the crock pot. They really turned out nicely and I didn't have to turn my oven on.

First I sauteed onion and garlic in oil. While that was cooking, I chopped up my vegetables; Italian squash, yellow squash and red bell pepper. I know, I know, I always use those vegetables, but they are so delicious in everything and really inexpensive where I live. You can add whatever vegetables you like, or meats (chicken, turkey, beef).


Then I added them to my onions and garlic.

I love this sauce. I have tried all kinds of sauces, but this one screams "AUTHENTIC ENCHILADA SAUCE". I have yet to try to make my own sauce from scratch, and I don't know if I will because this one is so darn good. This particular sauce is on the spicy side. You can reduce the spice by adding some tomato sauce if you'd like.

I pour about a 1/2 cup of the sauce on the bottom of the crock pot and the rest into a large pan to allow it to warm up slightly. If you warm it too much you'll burn your fingers when it's time to dip the tortillas.

While the sauce is warming up I warm my corn tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This will keep them from cracking and breaking while you're dipping them in sauce and rolling them.

Then I take a tortilla and lightly dip it in the sauce covering both sides.

Next fill it with cheese and vegetables or if you'd like, chicken or beef. I like using a combination of Monterey Jack cheese and Tillamook medium cheddar. I also add a little bit of creamed corn to make it a little creamy.

Once they are rolled, layer them inside the crock pot making one layer, and top with more cheese and black olives. Cook for about 3 hours on low.

When serving, drizzle more sauce and garnish with some cheese and black olives. Or for a delicious crunchy bite, add chopped cabbage. Serving sour cream on the side will help cut down the heat.

LFGF Crock Pot Red Veggie Enchiladas

Serves 4

1/2 medium white onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 Tablespoons canola oil

1 Italian Squash, diced

1 Yellow Squash, diced

1 Red Bell Pepper, diced

1 28 oz. can of El Pato Enchilada Sauce

*optional- to cut down the heat of the sauce, add tomato sauce according to your taste.

1/2 C. creamed corn

8-12 corn tortillas (depends on how large your crock pot is)

1 cup Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup Tillamook medium cheddar cheese

1 small can of sliced black olives

1. In medium saucepan, heat canola oil. Add onion and garlic until onion is tender. Then add the squash and red bell pepper and cook until tender.

2. In a separate medium saucepan warm up the El Pato Enchilada Sauce. Reserve 1/2 cup and cover the bottom of your crock pot. While sauce is slightly warming, cover your tortillas in a clean dish cloth and put in microwave for about 30 seconds. You want the tortillas to be warm so they can bend easily. If they aren't bending easily and are cracking in half, put back in microwave for about 45 seconds.

3. Once tortillas are warmed, turn off the heat/flame to Enchilada Sauce. Lightly dip each side of tortilla in the sauce.

4. On separate plate, place the tortilla down, and fill with vegetables, or meat, and cheese. Then drizzle some creamed corn over the vegetables.

5. Roll up the tortilla and place seam side down in the crock pot. Repeat steps 3-5 until the bottom of your crock pot is covered.

6. Drizzle a little bit more sauce over tops of rolled enchiladas, and sprinkle some cheese.

7. Cook on low heat for about 3 hours. **Each crock pot is different, so time may vary.

8. Serve the enchilada with a spoonful of enchilada sauce drizzled over it, and garnish with cheese, black olives, or chopped cabbage.

Dreamy Creamsicle Pie

Dreamy Creamsicle Pie
Adapted from the book, "Pie" by Ken Haedrich
Filling
3 cups vanilla ice cream
3 cups orange sherbet
1 graham cracker pie shell

Topping
1 cup of cold heavy or whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup powdered sugar
Mandarin Oranges for garnish

Let the ice cream soften for a few minutes. Soft enough to scoop out easily, but that it's not soupy. Ice cream can be scooped out in any order and placed in bottom of graham cracker crust. I had two scoops of vanilla with one scoop of orange sherbet for one layer and the second layer I did two scoops of orange sherbet to one scoop of vanilla. Shape with a cold spoon or metal spatula into a nice mound. Freeze immediately for about 1-2 hours.

About 10 minutes before you take out the pie, make the topping. Put a medium sized bowl and beaters in the freezer to chill for a few minutes. Take out then whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add vanilla and stir in. Then add powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks form, but not grainy. Immediately spread whipped cream topping to the top of the pie. Add a few mandarin oranges for garnish before or after you put back into freezer to set for another 30 minutes or overnight. I like the mandarin oranges frozen and my husband prefers them soft.

Enjoy on a hot day and your guests will thank you for this refreshing dessert.

Too Hot for the Oven. Crockpot Vegetable Lasagna Day.

My husband invited some friends over tonight. Ahhh! I didn't want to turn the oven on. Also, my dear sweet husband asked, "How about lasagna or pizza or anything Italian?". Hmmm...Italian without the oven? I then remembered my friend making lasagna using her crock pot.

I was up for the challenge and gathered all the vegetables in my fridge and chopped away. I did have to use the stove top to saute the vegetables and onions in garlic and Smart Balance butter. That didn't take too long, and it beat turning on the oven. I had to use cottage cheese instead of ricotta. At least it made it a little healthier. I was tempted to use the tofu I had, but didn't want to scare away our meat-eating-guests from coming over next time. Chopped spinach and fresh basil and thyme were added to the cottage cheese mix along with one egg. Luckily I had some delicious fresh mozzarella on hand and added freshly grated Parmesan for the cheese layer. I also used a can of Trader Joe's Marinara sauce. I usually love making my own sauce, but the clock was ticking and I ran out of the canned tomatoes and tomato sauce. The layering was easy: sauce, uncooked noodles, cottage cheese mix, vegetables, mozzarella/Parmesan mix, and repeat. Topping it off with more mozzarella. It took about 3 hours on medium heat to cook.



Crockpot Vegetable Lasagna

2 Tablespoons Smart Balance Butter
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 large onion
1 Italian squash
1 yellow squash
1 carrot, diced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground peppercorn
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 thyme sprig
1-2 cups chopped spinach
2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta
1 egg
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
4-5 cups of homemade sauce or your favorite canned spaghetti sauce. I used the large can of Trader Joe's Marinara sauce. I wish I had more sauce to add to the recipe.
3 cups mozzarella cheese
1 box of UNCOOKED lasagna noodles (I prefer whole wheat). Don't cook the noodles. They will cook in the crock pot.

In medium skillet brown onion and garlic in butter on med-high heat. Then add chopped vegetables and saute until soft.

Then mix cottage cheese with one egg, and add Parmesan, chopped spinach, chopped basil, thyme, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.

Set crock pot to medium and ladle some sauce on the bottom. Next layer noodles (break them up if you have to make them fit the bottom). Then add cottage cheese layer. Add vegetable layer and top with mozzarella cheese. Repeat. Once last noodle layer is placed finish by pouring a generous amount of sauce and a generous amount of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on top.

Cook for 4-6 hours. My lasagna finished in about 3 hours. Each crock pot is different so make sure you check on it. You don't want it to start burning around the edges.

For dessert I made a cool and refreshing creamsicle pie. It's a frozen pie that is delicious on a sweltering hot day. Recipe here.

Everything turned out delicious and I didn't have to break a sweat.

Easy Morrocan Tagine with Whole Wheat Couscous

My husband came home one day with a Bristol Farms magazine filled with recipes. I was excited about their "Moroccan Chicken over Couscous with Almonds and Currants" and had to try it. My husband and I try to eat more of a vegetarian based diet which is why I use tofu. You can use chicken or even kidney beans if you don't like tofu. I also like adding any vegetables I have on hand in the fridge. This is one of my husband's favorite meal. I love how simple couscous is and I love Moroccan food, but it's usually time consuming. This recipe is quick and easy you'll have a meal in less than Rachel Ray's 30 minutes.
Recipe adapted from Bristol Farms Real Food Magazine Winter 2007

Moroccan Tagine with Tofu or Chicken
serves 4

2 Tablespoons Smart Balance butter
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 of an Italian squash, diced
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 oz firm tofu (or 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces)
1 14.5-ounce can chicken broth (DIVIDED: 1/4 cup for Tagine and rest for couscous)
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes

Whole Wheat Couscous
2 Tablespoons Smart Balance butter
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon curry powder
1 cup whole wheat couscous
Rest of canned chicken broth
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup orange flavored dried cranberries

Melt 2 tablespoons of Smart Balance in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft. Add paprika, cumin, salt, cinnamon, curry powder and cayenne. Stir to combine. Add tofu or chicken and cook, stirring a few times about 4 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup of the chicken broth and all of the tomatoes. Cover, reduce heat to a gentle simmer, and cook until tofu soaks in the color or chicken is tender (15 minutes).

Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of Smart Balance butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add paprika, cumin, salt, cinnamon and curry powder. cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add remaining chicken broth, couscous and cranberries, and stir. Bring just to a boil, then immediately cover and turn off heat. Let sit for about 6 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork and stir in almonds. Serve tofu/chicken over couscous.

Simmering away.


This couscous begs you to say "more, more".

Tell me how you like it.

My Dutch Oven and Delicious No Knead Bread

I had seen this "No Knead Bread" recipe a year ago in the Williams-Sonoma catalog and really wanted to try it, but didn't have a dutch oven. I recently received a beautiful dutch oven for my birthday and coincidentally a foodie friend of mine posted about the same "No Knead Bread" here. I loved the "no knead" method. The bread took a long time to rise, and made me anxious. Sometimes I like instant gratification. I was dreaming about it at night and throughout the day. Luckily the bread was delicious. I added rosemary from my new rosemary bush I bought in L.A. A few things to remember for next time: I should probably use more flour to make it shape more nicely. The directions said to use as little flour as you can. I also think I baked it just a tad too long. It didn't distort the taste, but the texture on the outside was a little too tough. The inside was moist and delicious. This bread was like those "artisan" breads you get at the bakery. How cool is that? You can make your own at home, pat yourself on the back for being a demi-artisan break maker :) The bread would be especially tasty dipped in balsamic vinegar and oil. I also want to try to make it with a wonderful grilled cheese sandwich recipe which involves mozzarella, Havarti, basil, tomato and honey. DELICIOUS! Let me know if you tried the recipe and how it turned out.

My Dutch oven. Don't you love the color?

Have a delicious day!

Delicious!

I love the word delicious. One definition of delicious I found here says "highly pleasing to the senses, esp. to taste or smell: a delicious dinner; a delicious aroma." I love using that word, especially when it comes to food. I LOVE food. GOOD food. No, DELICIOUS food. I also like using the word delicious for anything that pleases my senses. Not only do I love food, but I love creating with my hands. I want to remember my days as DELICIOUS and pleasant. That's why I created this site and named it "Live For Good Food".