Everyday Food for Busy People
You may have noticed that I have a thing for enchiladas.
There’s something about warm tortillas stuffed with zingy filling and covered with melting cheese. Yum!
These were inspired by cans of green chili enchilada sauce I picked up at the grocery. Simple and delicious.
I whipped this up for dinner one Saturday night when I didn’t really want to cook. It was fast, easy and tasty. While I was eating I thought how versatile this recipe could be.
The topping could be put over pasta, pizza crust, used to fill an omelet or mixed with eggs for frittata, broiled on thick slices of French bread…the possibilities are endless.
It’s hot outside. Super hot and humid.
If you’re looking for a cool dinner idea, this is your recipe.
I wish I could say that I had garden fresh tomatoes for this dish, but my plants have yet to decide to really produce tomatoes. All I have are a few small green maters that taunt and torment me because they haven’t changed in size or color for weeks.
I’m a gardening failure. But that’s a whole ‘nuther post. For this dish I used a couple of store bought tomatoes and grape tomatoes (tragic because this is August) and 3 delicious cherry tomatoes from my garden.
Oh yum! We’ll be eating these frequently. They have the ease of a slow cooker meal and the crowd-pleasing taste of Mexican food. They are similar to Chicken Fiesta with Black Beans and Chicken Tacos and Salsa Verde Steak.
But they also have a bit more heat (not so much to make them too hot for the kids) and a delicious smoky flavor.
Oh, my merciful heavens! This was so very delicious.
Inspired by the grilled zucchini and a container of gorgonzola cheese, I quickly pulled this together for dinner one night. Five of us were home to eat and we all loved it. My oldest daughter worked late and came in after we had gone to bed. She scrounged in the fridge and found the leftovers. She said she ate some cold before she realized it was meant to be served hot, but it tasted good both ways.
I also used homemade seasoned salt in this dish. If you haven’t made any of it yet, please take a couple minutes to stir a batch together. Your taste buds will thank you.
I’ve done tilapia in a foil packet before, but this time I wanted to use the grill and more veggies. Instead of making individual packets, I made a large one. The fish and vegetables cooked perfectly in just 15-20 minutes. Even though the foil was charred around the edges, the food didn’t burn at all.
There may not be anything original about this, but it’s one of my favorite summer suppers. And it only takes minutes to put together. My kids aren’t big fans of tomatoes, so for them I make a cheese pizza or use cooked sausage that I’ve frozen. Either way, everybody is happy and dinner is fast.
5:30pm and I still didn’t know what I was going to make for dinner. I piled all the likely ingredients from my fridge on the counter – bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic and parsley. My first thought was an omelet, but when I went rummaging for eggs I found only 5. Not enough for my family.
Boneless chicken tenders and a box of couscous came to the rescue. Everyone in the family loved this, even the kids who aren’t crazy about veggies. In fact, my pickiest eater tried and liked the bell peppers.
Every once in a while I think I might be losing my mind. Okay. I think that more than just every once in a while.
Regardless, this recipe has made me question my cognitive bearings. The other night I decided to whip up some quesadillas for dinner. Not wanting to reinvent the recipe, I did a search on my blog to find out how I made it before. I know I made them once before. I’m sure I posted it here. I remember some of the comments.
However, I couldn’t find the recipe on here anywhere. I dug through my wordpress files. I searched various titles, categories and tags. Nothing. Squat nada.
So, I started from scratch making up a new recipe. It still bugs me that I don’t know what happened to the other one. Maybe I never posted it. Maybe I really am losing my mind. Oh well. Let’s have a quesadilla and it will all be okay.
This recipe is a great way to use leftover ham. You could also make it with smoked sausage if you like. I had grilled ham slices the day before and needed to use up the extra. The recipe makes enough to feed about 8 people, so if your family is smaller you may want to only make half.
Here’s what you’ll need:
