I thought that we had made all of the various enchilada recipes from the Dish of the Day and Vegetable of the Day cookbooks. But it turns out that I'd missed one! This one involves a simple filling of black beans and kale (spinach in the original recipe) with a bit of cheese and some homemade salsa verde to bring it all together.

Personally, I felt like the sauce could have used a bit more kick. I would be tempted to add some jalapeños and/or finger chilies next time. But the kids seemed to enjoy it this way, so that's good at least.

I'm glad that I tried doing the sauce from scratch for these. It was nice. That said, if you're looking for a way to streamline the recipe, I wouldn't hesitate to use store-bought salsa verde in place of the homemade.

Kale and Black Bean Enchiladas

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Sauce

• 12 tomatillos, husked and halved
• 3 poblanos, halved and seeded
• 1 jalapeño, halved and seeded (optional)
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 1 c. fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper, taste

OR

• ~1L store-bought salsa verde

Enchiladas

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. dhania-jeera masala
• ~300g frozen chopped kale or spinach
• 2 cans (~400mL each) black beans (or 1 1/2 c. dried black beans, cooked), drained and rinsed
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 250g Monterey Jack (or pepper jack) cheese, shredded and divided
• 1 medium tortillas¹
• 1-2 avocadoes, sliced

Directions

1. Preheat the broiler (on high if it has multiple settings).
2. Place the tomatillos and chilies, cut-side-down, on a baking sheet and broil until slightly charred and softened (8-10 minutes).
3. Transfer tomatillos, chilies, onion, garlic, and cilantro to a blender and purée.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
5. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
6. Heat oil over medium heat.
7. Add onion and bell pepper and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
8. Add the cumin and masala and cook for another minute or two.
9. Add the frozen greens and cook until thawed.
10. Remove from heat and stir in the beans, cilantro, half the cheese (~1 c.), and 3/4 c. of the sauce.
11. Spoon ~1/2 c. of sauce into the bottom of a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish.
12. Put ~1/2 c. of filling in the centre of each tortilla, roll up into a tube, and place seam-side-down into the prepared baking dish.
13. Once all of the tortillas have been filled and placed in the baking dish, pour the rest of the sauce over them.
14. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, cover with foil, and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30 minutes.
15. Remove foil and continue baking for another 10 minutes.
16. Serve topped with avocado and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.

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¹ The recipe calls for flour tortillas and that's what I used this time, but I actually think that corn tortillas would have been better here. They just didn't have any when I went to the grocery store and I didn't feel up to making my own from scratch this time. The flour tortillas were fine. I just think that corn ones tend to work especially well for enchiladas. ^Back

So, full disclosure: I was in a bit of a hurry and kind of messed up this pudding. It still turned out reasonably tasty. It was just very lumpy. Since I just dumped the chia into the milk the night before and didn't both to mix it properly. Not the end of the world. Just not ideal either. So, I guess I should let that be a lesson to me to make sure to mix everything very well before I leave it to soak overnight if I'm ever making this again.

You can mix up the fruit to go with this. The original recipe calls for kiwi, blackberries, fresh apricots, pomegranate, and toasted coconut chips. I think I ended up using kiwi, blackberries, nectarines, raspberries, and toasted coconut. But you could try all sorts of things! I've included some ideas in the variations below.

Chia Pudding with Fresh Fruit

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. oat milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 150g blackberries
• 2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
• 4 apricots, sliced
• 75g pomegranate arils
• 20g toasted coconut chips

Directions

1. Combine oat milk, chia seeds, maple syrup, and vanilla and mix well.
2. Cover and chill for 4-24 hours.
3. Divide into four bowls, top each with 1/4 of the fresh fruit and coconut chips, and serve.

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Variants

Strawberry-Banana

Ingredients

• 1 c. oat milk
• 2 Tbsp. peanut butter
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 150g strawberries
• 2 bananas, peeled and sliced
• 20g dark chocolate shavings

Kiwi-Mango

Ingredients

• 1 c. coconut milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
• 2 mangoes, sliced
• 2 passionfruit
• 20g toasted coconut chips
• 20g macadamia nuts, chopped

Lemon-Blueberry

Ingredients

• 1 c. almond milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. culinary lavender
• 150g blueberries
• 1/2 c. lemon curd
• 20g slivered almonds, toasted

Blackberry-Melon

Ingredients

• 1 c. coconut milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1/2 tsp. lime zest
• 150g blackberries
• 1/4 cantaloupe, diced
• 1/4 honeydew melon, diced
• 20g pine nuts, toasted

Kiwi-Lychee

Ingredients

• 1 c. coconut milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. rosewater
• 150g blackberries
• ~20 lycheefruit, peeled and halved
• 2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
• 20g slivered almonds, toasted

Cranberry-Quince

Ingredients

• 1 c. oat milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 quince, peeled and diced
• 1 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 c. apple juice
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 250g fresh cranberries
• 1/4 c. raisins
• 20g walnuts, toasted and chopped

Directions

1. Combine the oat milk, chia seeds, maple syrup, and vanilla extract as directed above, mixing, covering, and chilling for at least 4 hours.
2. Meanwhile, combine the quince, star anise, cinnamon stick, apple juice, and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for ~20 minutes.
4. Add the cranberries and raisins and simmer for another 20 minutes.
5. Divide pudding among four bowls, top with compote and walnuts and serve.

Chocolate-Cherry

Ingredients

• 1 c. almond milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 1 Tbsp. Dutched (alkalized) cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 400g fresh cherries, pitted and halved
• 20g slivered almonds, toasted
• 20g dark chocolate shavings

I really like kabocha squash. It's sweet like a pie pumpkin, but the flesh is much less wet. It's great roasted and mashed. (As it is for these squash toastsa.)

This recipe calls for a slightly different approach. Rather than roasting it with the skin on and then scooping out the softened flesh, you cut it into wedges and peel it first and then roast the wedges. Sounds good. But, sadly, I had a bit of trouble with this approach. The wedges took much longer to cook than the recipe suggested and, with a longer cooking time, they ended up starting to burn at the tips while still being somewhat underdone in the middle. Next time I think I'd just cut the squash into cubes and roast it that way. Or, possibly better yet, roast unpeeled halves, mash the flesh, and then just drizzle a little balsamic over it before serving. Because, while this approach wasn't terrible, it wasn't great either, so I would definitely like to make some modificaitons next time. (Or just save the squash and use it for something else entirely.)

Roasted Kabocha Squash with Balsamic Vinegar

From Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 kabocha squash (~1kg)
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Then cut each half into wedges ~2cm thick¹ and peel each wedge.
3. Toss squash wedges with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Roast at 200°C (400°F) until tender (20-25 minutes).
5. Drizzle with balsamic and roast for another 2-3 minutes.

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¹ In retrospect, part of my problem may be that I cut my wedges too thick. But even so, I don't think I'd want to do wedges again. Trying to cut and peel the wedges was annoying. I think I'd still rather just do cubes or mash and drizzle. ^Back

I was going to just save myself some time and effort and buy some read-made pico de gallo from the grocery store. But, when I got there, it was so expensive and looked so sad that I couldn't bring myself to do it. I ended up making a small batch from scratch instead. It's not that difficult. It just involves a bunch of chopping (and a little waiting).

Pico de Gallo

Slightly adapted from Cookie and Kate

Ingredients

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
• 1/4 c. lime juice
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 680g ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 c. minced fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine onion, garlic, jalapeño, lime juice, and salt. Mix well and set aside for at least 15 minutes.
2. Add tomato and cilantro, mix, and let stand for another 15 minutes before serving.

I've been staring at this omelette recipe for a while. I looked tasty. But it also involved a lot of ingredients that I don't normally keep on hand: pico de gallo, avocado, bacon, alfalfa sprouts, Monterey jack cheese... So, as much as it looked like an appealing breakfast option, it kept getting pushed because I haven't been organized enough to get all the bits. But, I had some leftover pepper jack from another recipe and I figured I could just quickly swing through the grocery store and get the rest of the components a day or two before making it.

In the end, the pepper jack ended up getting eaten before I got around to making the omelette, so I had to use all cheddar, rather than I mix of cheddar and jack. The ready-made pico de gallo at the grocery store was way over-priced and didn't look very good, so I ended up making my own from scratch. I couldn't find any sprouts, so I ended up tossing in a small handful of spring mix instead. And I forgot to get the bacon, so I fried up some thinly sliced smoked tofu and used that instead.

So, in the end, quite a few changes from the original recipe. But it was still very good. Probably not something I'll revisit often due to the ingredient list. But I would definitely consider it as either a special occasion thing or if I somehow ended up with pico, bacon, and avocado sitting around needing to be used.

California Omelette

Adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 1/4 c. grated cheddar, divided
• 1/4 c. grated Monterey jack (or pepper jack), divided
• 4 slices bacon (or 8 short slices smoked tofu), cooked until crisp and chopped and divided
• 1/2 avocado, chopped and divided
• 1/4 c. pico de gallo, divided
• 2 small handfulls spring mix or baby spinach, divided

Directions

1. Beat the eggs with the milk and salt and pepper to taste.
2. Melt 1 tsp. of the butter over medium heat.
3. Pour in half the egg mixture and cook until bottom is just set.
4. Lift up edges and let raw egg flow underneath. Keep cooking until eggs are nearly fully set and just slightly wet on top.
5. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the omelette.
6. Add half of the bacon to one side of the omelette along with half of the avocado, pico de gallo, and greens.
7. Fold the omelette over and cook for another 30-60 seconds.
8. Transfer omelette to a plate and repeat cooking process with remaining ingredients to make a second omelette.

Stuffed French Toast

The Kidlet loves French toast. (And strawberry jam, for that matter.) So I figured the idea of French toast stuffed with cream cheese and strawberry jam would be a big hit. And it was!

I think the concept for this recipe is sound. I just question their instructions.
As written, the recipe recommends using one loaf of challah and cutting it into six 6-cm thick slices. Now, first of all, even considering that you'll be suffing the slices, that is insanely thick. And, secondly, how big are their loaves of challah that you can get six 6-cm slices out of one loaf? That would mean that the whole loaf would have to be a little over 36cm long! (A little over, because you need to trim the heels off.) I consider a "standard" loaf pan to be between 20 and 23cm long. So, that is one monster loaf of bread they have there.

I asked TF to cut our loaf into four 5-cm thick slices. And even those were (in my opinion) still much too thick. I'd definitely go for five 4-cm slices next time. And TF thinks that those might be too thick even still. She suggested that 3-cm slices might be more appropriate. And, honestly, I think she might be right. That said, I'd want to try it with 4-cm slices first and see how that works out before moving down to even thinner slabs of bread.

Given that we ended up with only four slices for our rendition of this recipe today, I reduced the amount of custard and filling somewhat. However, since I'm writing up the recipe for a larger number of thinner slices, I've scaled the filling and custard amounts back up. Hopefully these amounts should be about right, but feel free to play around with the proportions a bit.

French Toast Stuffed with Cream Cheese and Strawberry Jam

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of bread¹
• 170g cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 c. strawberry jam
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/4 c. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. butter, divided
• maple syrup, to serve

Directions

1. Trim off the heels and cut the bread into five or six very thick slices (3-4cm each).
2. Cut a slit into the top of each slice of bread to form a pocket that extends through the centre of the slice to within ~2cm of each of the other three sides.
3. Combine the jam and cream cheese and mix well.
4. Carefully spoon some of the cream cheese mixture into each bread pocket, doing your best to divide it evenly.
5. Beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla.
6. Melt ~1/2 a tsp. of butter over medium-low heat.
7. Dip one stuffed bread slice into the custard to thoroughly coat the outside.
8. Place it in the pan and cook until underside is golden brown. Flip and cook until other side is similarly golden.
9. Repeat cooking process with remaining slices.
10. Serve topped with maple syrup.

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Variants

French Toast Stuffed with Mascarpone and Apricot Jam

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of bread
• 170g mascarpone
• 1/3 c. apricot jam
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/4 c. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. butter, divided
• maple syrup, to serve

French Toast Stuffed with Banana and Nutella

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of bread
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1/3 c. Nutella
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/4 c. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. butter, divided
• maple syrup, to serve

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¹ A relatively close-grained bread will be best for this. Something with a fairly light, but fine crumb so that the filling won't leak out. Challah, brioche, and pain de mie are all good choices. I used a loaf of Sister Virginia's bread based on a 19th century Shaker recipe. It is a fairly basic white bread very slightly enriched with a bit of milk, sugar, and lard. But anything that's not too heavy, too open, or too savoury would work well here. ^Back

In The Classic Pasta Cookbook, Hazan talks about the virtues of pasta aglio e olio as a simple, low-effort dish -- basically just pasta tossed with olive oil and a bit of sauteed garlic. And he's not wrong, but often I want something that's no more effort to make, but a has a bit more punch to it. This is that sauce; it's handy when we have a bit of leftover plain pasta after preparing a dish that doesn't quite call for a standard 450g package.

The anchovies described here are found in the grocery store packed whole in oil with generous quantities of red pepper flakes. I do not recommend using anchovy filets; they don't dissolve into the sauce the same way.

Quick Anchovy-Garlic Sauce

Ingredients

• 60-80 mL olive oil
• 3-4 whole anchovies packed in oil with chili flakes
• 1 entire bulb's worth of garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• basil and/or parseley to taste

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat.
2. Add the anchovies and cook, stirring occasionally, until they break down and dissolve into the sauce.
3. Reduce heat to medium low. Stir in the garlic and continue cooking until it is has softened and turned fragrant.
4. Add herbs if desired, toss with pasta and parmesan, and eat.