Snack Time!

Snacks can be warm and comforting, or cool and refreshing, or something new.  Here are a few snacks to get you through.

 

Homemade French Fries are VERY inexpensive and a hot comfort food for winter.  Making them at home allows you to use a variety of potatoes and high quality olive oil to make the snack healthier and tastier.

Ingredients
5 or 6 potatoes
8 cups water & 2 Tbsp salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp rosemary or dill weed
1/4 tsp onion powder

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In 8 cups of water dissolve 2 Tbsp of salt.  Slice 5 or 6 of your favorite potatoes lengthwise in half until slices are about 1/2 thick.  Soak in water at least 5 minutes or as long as it takes for you to get ready for the next step.  Drain water.  Dry soaking bowl with towel.  Put potatoes slices in bowl and sprinkle and stir with 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp rosemary or dill weed, and 1/4 tsp onion powder.  Add olive oil and stir again.  Lay out potatoes on cookie sheet drizzle remaining oil over potatoes and bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes.  You'll love them!

Guacamole is the easiest dip to make and goes well on so many things - corn chips, salads, sandwiches, wraps, etc.  I don't know why people buy premade guacamole when it's so easy to make and customize to your own taste.

Ingredients

2 avocados
2 Tbsp lime juice or tomato puree or tomatillo puree
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 jalapeno pepper diced (optional)

Cut avocado in half around the pit and separate halves.  With a spoon scoop out pit and discard.  Scoop out avocado flesh into a bowl.  Mash with a fork and mix in other ingredients.  The lime or tomato is added as an acidic to prevent the avocado from turning brown.  If you want your guacamole to look very green, stick with the lime or tomatillo.  (Tomatillo is a "cousin" of the tomato.  It is green and tastes very similar to a tomato but grows with a paperlike lantern around it.  They are quite delicious when ripe.)

Stuffed Sweet Peppers (not the dinner entre) are pretty colors and may be something new and delicious for your family.

Ingredients
18 small sweet peppers or jalapenos if you like it hot
1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup of feta cheese crumbled
1/4 cup of shredded cheese your choice
1 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp salt

Cut off tops of peppers and scrape out insides with a butter knife.  Mix remaining ingredients and stuff into peppers.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Enjoy!

Taquito Time!

Labor intensive recipes have never been a favorite of mine; but some dishes are worth a little more effort.  Mexican food made from scratch has never been quick cooking; but some ingredients can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen for use later – like refried beans.  You can always get vegetarian or fat free refried beans out of a can; but it’s never tastes as good (or authentic).

These taquitos aren’t the crispy rolled ones that you buy in the freezer section (I’m not sure if those are authentic).  These taquitos are soft, tasty delights that are addictive!  An old friend of mine, named Felipa taught me how to make these.  She is from Mexico and makes the most delicious Mexican food I have ever tasted!

Refried Beans Ingredients

(There will be enough here for lots of taquitos plus extra for other meals.)

2 cups uncooked pintos

3 cups water

2 Tbsp brown miso or soy sauce

1 onion diced

1 tsp salt

½ cup of olive oil

1 tsp onion powder

Dried beans may be cooked quickly in a pressure cooker or by various quick soaking methods; but the old fashioned method of soaking overnight before cooking, makes the beans easier to digest and more nutritious.  Soaking the beans overnight and then draining the soaking liquid before cooking, removes about 50% of the phytic acid in the beans.  Phytic acid keeps your body from absorbing more of the minerals from your food; and makes digestion more difficult.

Soak beans overnight in about 6 cups of water.  Drain and rinse beans. Cook in 3 cups of water, adding more water if water level reduces to ½ inch below beans.  Bring beans and water just to a boil and reduce to medium-low heat for 1 hour.  Beans should be fully cooked before adding any other ingredients.  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for another 20 minutes.  Mash beans with potato masher or with immersion blender. As the beans cool they will absorb more of the moisture.

Taquito time!

Tools: small frying pan, tongs, a plate to fill and fold taquitos on, a woven cotton kitchen towel, a medium sized sauce pan.

About 12 corn tortillas

1 & ½ cup vegetable oil (I use olive oil for everything I cook because I’m used to the taste.)

1 cup of refried beans

½ cup of your favorite salsa

½ cup of shredded cheese (optional)

A couple of sprigs of fresh cilantro (optional)

Mix beans and salsa (and cheese if you are using it) and set next to your stove top.  Put oil in a small frying pan and heat on medium until oil bubbles mildly when tortilla is dipped into it.  We are only softening the tortilla. If the tortilla puffs up, take it out quickly with your tongs.  Place it on a plate, fill with 1 Tbsp of bean mixture (and a couple of cilantro leaves to make it interesting), fold, and lightly press flat. 

As each tortilla is filled, lay it inside damp towel laid out in sauce pan.  Arrange taquitos as shown in photo.  When all taquitos are in the towel and sauce pan, fold the corners of the towel over the top of the taquitos.  Place sauce pan on burner and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes.  The water in the towel will steam the taquitos.  After the 20 minutes are up, remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.  Carefully unfold towel and remove taquitos individually.  Top with salsa or guacamole and enjoy!