Mexican Black Bean Quinoa Salad

These are some of my favorite ingredients. I saw this online and wanted to save it so I could repeat it. It looks so super yummy!

the original can be found here:
http://rebekahgough.blogspot.com/search/label/recipe
shes got some great recipes!

Mexican black bean quinoa salad

1 cup of quinoa soaked for 15 min or so in water, drain well.

1 ½ cups of water added to the soaked and drained quinoa and a tsp or so of salt bring to a full boil, cover and turn to low and let sit for 15 min. Turn off heat and let sit another five min and then fluff with a fork. (can be made ahead and stored in the fridge)

When ready for salad –

Mince 1 jalapeno, 2 cloves of garlic and 1 small red onion (or half onion if big). Saute in olive oil, for a few minutes. Add two bell peppers that have been sliced thin. Saute a few minutes longer until softened. Add 1 tsp. cumin and 1 tsp coriander, stir and remove from heat.

Add quinoa to a large bowl followed by a can of drained black beans and a can of drained corn. Toss in the sauteed veggies and mix together.

Add 1 diced tomato

For the dressing use the juice of 1 lime (2 Tablespoons), ¼ cup of olive oil (less is fine), tsp or so of salt and a dash of cayenne pepper. Mix well and dress the salad and then top with cilantro if desired!

Chicken Enchiladas

I can cream of chicken soup
I cup sour cream
1/2 onion chopped (usually I omit this)
4 oz. can of diced green chillis
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
8-10 tortillas
3-4 boiled chicken breasts

boil the chicken until fully cooked, and let it cool. then grated or chop the chicken.
Mix the first 4 ingredients together. Grab a tortilla, layer the sauce, chicken and cheese in the tortilla and wrap and place in the pan. ( you can use leftover sauce on top and add more cheese if you would like, but you don't have too.) bake @ 350 for 30- 35 minutes or until boiling in the middle and the onions are cooked. you can also make an extra pan and cover with foil and freeze before cooking for an easy meal on a busy day in the future.

Chicken Enchiladas

I had an epiphany the other day.

Over the summer, I canned some chicken. Those glass mason jars are filled with chicken chunks and water/broth.

I used one of the jars of chicken in this recipe and used the broth to make my own cream of chicken. The result was delicious! If you ever use canned chicken, dont just drain it over the sink, use the liquid to make your own cream of chicken. I cant believe how easy it was!



for the cream soup/sauce:

In a sauce pan, saute a little garlic and onion
drain your canned chicken and reserve liquid
pour the liquid into a saucepan
in a separate bowl measure about 1 cup of water and some cornstarch. whisk well.
pour cornstarch mixture into sauce pan and turn on to medium heat, stirring continually
when the mixture starts to thicken (it will get really thick and almost solid-ish), pour in some milk until it is about the consistency of gravy. Add salt and pepper and any other spices you would like and VIOLA!

If you dont have precanned chicken, you can still make your own sauce. Boil your chicken in water and use some of that for the base of your sauce/soup.

I dont really know any specific measurements, I just dumped stuff together and layered it in a pan with corn tortillas

sour cream (I used about 1 cup)
chicken (I used one small canning jar)
grated cheese (I put some in the creamy mix and used some on top)
can of green chiles
black beans, precooked or canned (I used about 1 1/2 cups)
white beans, precooked or canned (I used about 1 cup)
cream sauce from above (what I had made about 2 cups)
corn tortillas

I layered this all in a 9 x 13 pan. then topped it with cheese. Bake 350 for about 40 minutes.