Black Bean Enchiladas

Black beans have become one of my favorite foods. Black beans, green pepper, red pepper, corn, olive oil and lemon juice go so well. Black beans, salsa, and cheese in an omelet. YUM! Black beans are just good. No mealiness that is found in other beans. Lots of protein and meatless.

I found this recipe through Prevention magazine, which to me, is a really great resource for fitness and good food recipes that are healthy.

So here are the ingredients:

NOTE: Ingredients for a changed serving size are based on a calculation and are not reviewed by the author or tested. Please also consider scaling up or down cooking containers as needed.

• 4 cloves garlic, minced (yes 4 cloves)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/2 cups salsa, divided
• 12 corn tortillas (6" each), warmed according to package directions
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, well drained
• 1 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
• 3 cups finely shredded lettuce
• 6 tablespoons fat-free sour cream

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Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 13" x 9" baking dish with cooking spray. Another recipe that uses a clear Pyrex dish.
2. Put a good sized blob of olive oil in a stove top skillet (the original recipe called for just cooking spray, and that wasn't enough.) Heat over medium-high heat. Cook the garlic, onion, bell pepper, red pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and black pepper for 5 to 7 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
3. Mash the beans and add to the skillet with 3/4 cup of the salsa. Cook for 5 minutes or until heated through.
4. Spoon about 1/4 cup of bean mixture onto each tortilla. Roll loosely and place seam side down in the baking dish.
5. Combine the tomatoes and the remaining salsa and pour over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until hot.
6. Divide the lettuce among 6 plates. Top each with 2 enchiladas and 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Serves 6 people. Or four really hungry people perhaps. These were yummy and very filling. I used rounded half teaspoons of all the spices except cumin and it was pretty warm, so if you aren't into spicy you might want to cut the spices. I also used canned tomatoes that had chilies in them because that's all I had, so that might have added to the heat. Make sure you use 6" tortillas. I used 8" ones and I had to squeeze them into the pan. Also, use Paul Newman salsa because it's awesome.

Eating Down East

When you're spending the day on the lawn by the beach with a rolling cooler, what better to do than make beer sundials? This was pretty much the level of cuisine for the week that the Bartrams and the Hotalings spent in Maine, but it was perfect for vacation.

First night picnic in the Hotalings' back yard.

The menu was of Drew's choosing, I believe - barbecued chicken, Three Ingredient Wonder, and squash casserole.

For dessert, lots of gelato. Strawberry Balsamic, Strawberry Limeade, Lemon, Chocolate Bourbon, Espresso Chip, and my personal favorite, Caramel Sea Salt.

The freezer was a bit wonky, so we just had to eat it all in one sitting.

A subsequent bbq - lots of veggies, since we're all adults now.

One of Clare's excellent fruit salads.

More chicken, and a Riesling from Rick's Wine and Spirits.

Em has chosen her dinner.

A brief pause before dessert - Drew and I sat outside with Dad and listened to stories while drinking a rather large bottle of Russell Orchards hard cider.

After the sun set, and all of the turtles and dragons and castles in the clouds went to bed, it was time for berry pie, pound cake, and pumpkin bread. Clearly the decision has been made that paper towels are probably good to keep on hand when we eat.

Dinner at the Bartram's. Can't find the switch for the light above the dining room table, so we went for a romantic atmosphere. Thank heavens for that box of candles that were on the dresser in my room (in a box marked "Colonial Williamsburg," strangely enough.)

Pork tenderloin, dirty mashed potatoes, roasted green beans, really good grainy bread, and some leftover grilled veggies from the night before. Also, note the awesome plates - like many things in our house, they reminded us of our grandmother, who had the same plates. Dad informed us that they came from the Grand Union.

The Hotaling contribution to dessert. A Maine classic.

Mom had made brownies for brownie sundaes, so we each had a brownie and ice cream and half a whoopie pie. And then some people had another half of a whoopie pie (not me!)

On the other side of the cribstone bridge was The Salt Cod Cafe - after having one of their amazing blueberry muffins at the Orr's Island Library book sale, I was interested in one of their lunches. As you can see, Emily and I had a lovely al fresco luncheon.

Iced tea, corn chowder, and a turkey and hummus wrap. I could eat a lunch like this every day.

Find of the trip goes to Em. Macaroni and cheese loaf. No idea what the loaf part is made of.

It wouldn't be vacation without hotdogs! And more Three Ingredient Wonder and squash casserole. There was supposed to be a salad too, but after the gelato incident with the weak freezer, the fridge was vacuumed and cranked up, and started to work too well. After chopping up all of the non-lettuce parts of the salad, we discovered we had a spring-mix-cicle in the crisper!

On the last night, we went to the Cribstone Grill(e?), which was on our side of the bridge. This is someone's lobster being cooked in the hut next door.

Waiting to hear "Rick, party of six!"

A lovely way to end a week in Maine - some of the best breaded haddock I've ever had!