at home with ann

For many years I thought I didn't like corn off the cob.  I'm not sure why, but I suspect it had something to do with canned corn at some point.  Last summer during the great CSA corn influx, when we were given 8 ears every two weeks for over a month, I gave it a try just to escape from under the sheer weight of corn piling up.  It's good!  And you don't need to follow it up with floss. Corn and Black Bean Salad is nothing new, in fact I've made a version of it before .  The variation this time was to grill the corn, though.  We had a grilled pork tenderloin this past weekend, and whenever Jon gets the grill fired up, I always have him toss on some sort of vegetable as well.   I love grilled vegetables, but I am scared of the grill because I think it's going to blow up in my face, and it seems silly to get the charcoal going just for a couple ears of corn.  All about the multi-tasking.  And not having things blow up in my face. To gr...

We've made a version of these before , but I have to say I like this one better.  Even without the cheese.  I never thought I would say that. The filling is chock full of vegetables and spices, and the chopped avocado on top gives it the perfect creamy finish.  Jon topped his with sour cream, but I didn't miss it.  Some of the dishes I've made in the last few months have left me staring wistfully at Jon's plate saying things like, "How is it with cheese?  Goat cheese is my favorite.  I bet it's good.  Mine is good, but not as good as yours.  I hope you appreciate how good yours is." Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas - Vegan Inspired by Oh She Glows Ingredients: olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 jalapeno, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 14 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, chopped and cooked (I roasted mine at 375 for 45 minutes, you can also steam or bake) A...

I may have mentioned before that raw chicken scares me.  I've made great strides against this somewhat irrational phobia in recent years, but I still avoid touching it if possible.  That is why this recipe is perfect for me, I don't have to touch anything raw and at the end of the day I get a tasty and healthy meal.  That's a success in my book.  I've made vegan Tortilla Soup before , which was great, but I was feeling something a little heartier. The only injury sustained while making this soup was burning my tongue while I was taste testing.   This has become something of a pattern lately.  I'm either eating at lightening speed because we are on the verge of a baby meltdown, or it takes me hours because I keep getting pulled away and grab a bite as I walk through the kitchen.  Even eaten a little too hot, this was delicious, definitely a keeper.  Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup 1 14 oz. can tomato sauce 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon ...

I love my Crock Pot.  Not only does it make a delicious dinner ready when you get home at night, but you get to say "set it and forget it" as many times as you want while it's cooking.  Or maybe that's just me.  This is one of those especially easy Crock Pot recipes that requires hardly any work in advance.  You do need to plan ahead to soak your beans, but that's just putting beans in water overnight, so as long as you remember, it's not tough. Crock Pot Spicy Black Bean Soup 1 pound dried black beans, soaked overnight 1 onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1-2 jalapeno peppers, chopped 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped 1-2 tomatoes, chopped, or 1 can diced tomatoes in juice 1 Tablespoon chili powder 1 Tablespoon ground cumin 2 teaspoons ground coriander 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper sea salt and ground black pepper ~4 cups vegetable broth or water To soak beans - rinse dried beans in cold water.  Put in a pan or bowl with a lid and cover with s...

It seems that I make almost weekly posts about some sort of Mexican-ish food.  If you know my husband, you understand.  Also, you won't be surprised that this morning he mentioned I had said I would make tacos soon and that hasn't yet happened.  And he's wondering what the delay has been.  He's going to have to wait a little longer, and survive with enchiladas in the meantime.  You can easily substitute canned black beans in this recipe, which would make the whole thing super fast and easy.  I opted for the long approach and made black beans in the crock pot.  If you have the time, it's so worth it. So, first we'll start with the black beans.  I soaked a one pound bag of black beans overnight.  The next morning, I drained, rinsed, and added just enough fresh water to cover.  Also into the crock pot went a chopped onion and sliced jalapeno.  Don't forget to use a plastic bag or gloves when handling hot peppers.  I forgot on ...

This salad went through a lot of different iterations in my head before I made it.  I started planning to make it a salad, then veggie burgers, then back to a salad.  Mostly I knew that with six ears of corn in the fridge and eight more arriving this week, I needed to make a recipe that involved corn.  Fast.  It could be considered a salsa, I suppose, but the black beans bulk it up a bit.  This was good. So good that I dug into it for dinner at 4:58. Southwestern Black Bean and Corn Salad Ingredients: 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 cup corn 1/2-1 cup chopped tomatoes Pickled jalapenos, chopped (to taste) 1/2 mango, cubed Dressing: equal parts (~1/4 teaspoon) chili powder, cumin, and coriander.  Sprinkle of salt.   Equal amounts lime juice and olive oil. Mix everything together and drizzle with dressing.  I served with a scoop of guacamole and some tortilla chips for scooping.  Because food you can scoop = good. ...

There are a few things I almost always have in our pantry, various grains (brown rice, couscous, etc.), dried or canned beans (chickpeas and black beans) and canned tomatoes.  With those three ingredients, ideally supplemented by some fresh vegetables and maybe some type of cheese, you can put together a huge variety of healthy and very economical dishes. I had a jalapeno in the fridge, and the bell peppers, tomatoes and garlic from the CSA, so I made a spicy black bean dish. In one pot on the stove, 2 cups of water, 1 cup of brown rice, simmer on low for 30 minutes.  When the rice was done cooking, I stirred in about a 1/4 cup of Mama Pea's Mmmm Sauce .  Kind of like vegan nacho cheese sauce. In another pot, I heated up a little canola oil and sauteed onion, bell pepper, garlic, black beans, fresh tomato, jalapeno, chili powder, cumin and coriander.  About equal amounts of the vegetables (except garlic and jalapeno), and a teaspoon of each spice.  Put the...

Mama Pea  is a bit of a celebrity in the blog world.  A one-time lawyer, she left her job to stay home with her adorable daughters, and transitioned her family from a conventional to a vegan diet.  This is not the land of fake food, however, her recipes are varied, flavorful, filling, and satisfy everyone.  Plus, she shares awkward things like how she spends all day wearing old yoga pants.  I do too.  And she never fails to make me laugh.  She has a cookbook coming out this week, which I desperately want, but in the meantime I will keep cooking from the fantastic recipes she posts on her blog.  One such recipe is this tortilla soup.  I love tortilla soup, but do not always love dealing with chicken, so this was a perfect alternative.  I changed it very slightly just based on the veggies we had on hand, and also to add a mini cheese quesadilla for dipping, because we eat cheese around these parts. Tortilla Soup very slightly modified ...

I know you are all probably Mexican-fooded-out after yesterday (is that even possible?), but I'll share a few more ideas. At the recent request of one of my friends, I have been working on making queso dip that does not involve fluorescent, processed cheese.  Searching online led to a lot of dead ends with the dreaded velveeta, so I went with a very simple creamy cheese sauce with a kick. Easy  Queso Dip Ingredients: 4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese 1/4 cup milk 1/2 cup shredded cheese - I used a Mexican four cheese blend.  A cheddar jack mix would work as well. It's important to have some blend that includes an easy melting cheese, all cheddar will give it a grainy texture. 1/4 cup salsa - I used hot hot sauce, for topping In a saucepan over medium low heat, soften the cream cheese with a couple Tablespoons of milk. When mixture is melted and creamy, slowly add the cheese, stirring well. Add milk, one Tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency. Stir in...

As you probably know by now, in addition to Swedish Meatballs, tacos are Jon's favorite food.  Every week when I ask what he wants for dinner, he says one of those two things.  While I always aim to please, I'm not going to make tacos every week.  I will, however, make every possible variation on tortilla, filling, cheese, spices I can think of. These were very good.  I used green chilis instead of pickled jalapenos because I was thinking I didn't want it to be extra spicy.  Then I realized that was crazy and added the habanero spice to the mix.  This made a little bit extra filling than would fit in the dish, so I ate it on the side.  If you want to portion things a bit better, I recommend cutting down the sweet potato quantity, or using slightly larger tortillas.  Mine were about 8 inches in diameter. These could easily be made vegan by skipping the cheese or offering it on the side.  Also, I need to figure out how to make my own enchil...

I admit that I don't always cook with dried beans, although I should. I know they are healthier for several reasons.  One, soaking and cooking beans fresh helps them retain maximum nutrients.  Two, they are more economical.  And finally, there's no exposure to any of the weird BPA stuff inside of cans.  I know all these things, but sometimes it's just easier to crack open a can. This week, however, I planned ahead.  On Sunday, I put a pound of dried black beans in the crock pot, covered with several inches of water, and cooked all day.  It ended up being about 4 hours on high and 4 hours on low.  I find the crock pot method of cooking dried beans far easier than worrying about something simmering on the stove.  That might also be because anytime I leave something simmering on the stove, it bubbles over and makes hideous marks on the white ceramic cooktop.  I don't know who thought it was a good idea to make a white ceramic cooktop, but I cu...