Red Bean Chili and Cornbread

Chili isn’t exactly the type of food you think of in the summer months. This stick-to-your-ribs dish is far better for the cold winter months and gloomy grey days, but what is a girl supposed to do when she has a craving. So yes, we ate chili in the middle of the summer, while the sun was shinning and the temperature was rising. We also happened to eat it for three days straight–until there wasn’t any left. I guess it didn’t turn out so bad. In fact, I’m looking forward to having it again soon.

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Kefta Sandwich

This is exactly what you have been looking for. Why? Because it is an amazing flavorful meal that can be put together in nearly no time. Am I starting to sound like Rachel Ray? Even if I am it’s worth it for these things. I can’t even remember how I came across this dish, but I do remember wanting to make it again soon. Usually I’m the type of person that is looking forward to trying out the latest recipe but in this case I was looking forward to repeating this recipe right away. I usually make this dish with fresh pita bread topped with shredded lettuce and tomato but I didn’t have those around when I made it last, so we improvised as usual. Still good, just less authentic. I would strongly recommend the pita route but you can’t really go wrong either way as long as you don’t skip on the tzatziki sauce–a whole lot of refreshing cucumber and yoghurt goodness.

Mushroom & Cilantro Quesadillas

I really love mushrooms. I usually have at least one small container of mushrooms in the fridge at all times. After moving out of our cute little apartment in San Luis Obispo Sam and I have been bouncing around. We spent a few weeks up in the bay area and now we are temporarily settled at my mom’s place in San Diego. One of nice things about being in a bigger city than San Luis Obispo is the supermarkets. Instead of just having Safeway and Albertson’s you can find all different kinds of ethnic markets. One of favorite ones in San Diego is the Vietnamese market that happens to be just up the street from where my mom lives. I got so excited when I was there that I bought 4 different kinds of mushrooms! I have yet to use several of them, but I have great plans for all of them.

Sushi rolls and Sauces

What feels like ages ago, we had a sushi party, and then a few weeks later we had another. Sam and rolled about 8 rolls of sushi and then shared them with some great company. It was a total mess. There was rice everywhere. They mean it when they call it sticky rice. But it was so fun. And then we had a lovely stay with Sam’s family and had a sushi party there as well. That one was a lot bigger (Over 200 pieces?) and a lot more delicious. Its all about the fresh fish, I’ll remember that next time.

If you like the tempura-ed rolls with baked mushrooms and scallops on top, these are probably not the type of sushi for you. They were quite plain and simple, but ultimately good and quite the healthy meal. I think the sauces that we made to go with them really made them worthwhile. One of the sauces was a spicy mayo made with delicious sriracha and the other was a sweet soy sauce glaze.

Chicken Empanadas

I like to think of these as chicken hand pies, or perhaps more like a chicken pot pie, but entirely contained and less soggy. They are so adaptable. The filling I used for this batch was fairly simple. It was mainly olives, chicken and onions but you could add anything. I think carrots and some celery would be a nice flavor addition. You could make a beef version with red wine instead of white. It is really a good way to use up some leftover in a creative fashion.

I was always hesitant of chicken empanadas when I lived in Nicaragua because I thought that sugar and meat should not go together. So I just bought the sweet empanadas instead–i’ll have to try to make some of those another time.