Lil Hunsaker's White Beans

Lil Hunsaker's White Beans

From my dad, Steve Van Nattan who spent years tuning pianos. He got some great food from his customers sometimes: "I found this exceptional bean soup at a customer's home in Tubac, Arizona."

• White Northern beans or lima beans (In the words of Country Bevins, "Them greezy Michigan beans")
• Red Onion
• Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Lemon Juice
• Salt and Pepper  
• Cilantro
• Parsley

Cook the beans as you usually would. For a clear soup broth, cook beans and drain before adding water, onion, garlic, oil, lemon, and salt. If you drain off the first water, save it for later use since it is full of food value. For a clear broth, clear beef broth could be used to add flavor. After the top six ingredients are cooked and ready to eat, shred the cilantro and parsley into the soup and serve.

For the chili lovers, red pepper could be shaken on, or a few drops of Tabasco added. Habanero in moderation would also add a real special touch to this dish.

A garnish of the cilantro, parsley, as well as green onion tops could be served in a side dish to be added at the table.
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Editor's Note: Cilantro is already growing in the southern parts of the US at this time of year. In areas with more winter it won't be long before you can plant it. Fresh cilantro is one of my favorite herbs. :-)

Loaded Chips and Cheese

You can make chips and cheese into a fully balanced meal! This is one of the great things about it – that and melted cheese. What cheese lover can resist that? :-)  (Note of our foreign friends – the kind of chips used for this are corn tortilla chips, just in case you don’t know that.)

To make the loaded chips and cheese pictured above I fully cooked some chicken breast strips and seasoned them with Mexican type seasoning (garlic, onion, red pepper, cumin, oregano) and salt.

Then, after spreading the corn chips on a baking sheet, I added the chicken, sliced black olives and grated cheese.  I added some more spices to make the entire batch more flavorful. I baked it in the oven (350F-375F)  just till the cheese melted and then sprinkled it with fresh, diced tomatoes before serving it. Supper in one pan! :-)

Pinto or black beans from a can or precooked (rinsed and well drained) could be used here in place of the chicken meat, or added to it to “stretch” it. You could also use cooked, drained ground beef.

Other toppings you could use to make a complete meal of it:

- mozzarella; pepperoni; fully cooked, crumbled sausage (drained and patted dry with paper towel); mushrooms; olives and other pizza toppings (use the sauce for dip if you want it, or sprinkle basil, garlic and oregano on top of the cheese before baking).

- good melting cheese of your choice, thin sliced steak (fully cooked); chopped, canned artichoke hearts (well drained and patted dry); and sautéed garlic cloves (drained). Add fresh chopped tomatoes after removing it from the oven. Season with herbs of your choice – maybe fresh, chopped basil? Mmmm.

- fully cooked, drained ground beef (drain on paper towel); garbanzo beans; pitted kalamata olives; lightly sautéed garlic; crumbled feta cheese.  (You could use mozzarella with this as well.)  Top this with fresh, shredded lettuce, chopped cucumber, and/or tomatoes.  You could also spray the top lightly with olive oil before to add flavor.

- cheddar cheese; cooked, drained ground beef; and finely chopped dill pickles. Add chopped, diced tomatoes; shredded lettuce; and diced onion or chopped green onions after it is finished baking. "Sprinkle" ketchup and mustard over it. (This is for a cheese burger type taste.) :-)

Notes:

Obviously all the cheese needs to be grated, or in the case of feta crumbled, before use.

You could use leftover meat for this such as shredded chicken, turkey, beef, or pork.

Anything you want fresh needs to be added after removing from the oven.

I have not tried all these toppings. I’m just thinking these through as I write. Be adventuresome and think up some of your own that sound good to you. Just remember not to use anything very wet or oily or the chips may get soggy.

Also, using safe cheese and other ingredients, this recipe can be made gluten free.

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First published here 1/2011. Edited.

Quick Meals – BLT Quesadillas

 

Here is a quick meal that does required a few precooked items.  You can use your own, previously cooked ingredients.  The amount of what you will need will vary depending on how many you are cooking for, the size of your tortillas and how much you like bacon. ;-) 

You will need:

Cooked flour tortillas  (We actually buy raw flour tortillas at Costco and I cook them at home because they have the fewest ingredients of all the store bought tortillas, they don’t bother my “attentive stomach”, and they taste and smell incredibly better this way.  See more info below)

You will need:

Cooked bacon – Plan ahead: Cook extra when you’re cooking bacon anyway, and reserve what you need to make this meal later (pre-cooked bacon can be frozen for later use).

You will need:

Fresh tomatoes
Lettuce
Cheese, sliced
Mustard and/or mayonnaise if desired
Garlic powder, optional

Fold the tortillas in half.  Spread the inside with mustard or mayo and sprinkle lightly with garlic powder, if using.  Add sliced cheese and bacon inside the tortilla.  Cook on a hot griddle or in a frying pan.  It should be fine to do this in a dry pan, but if the pan tends to stick at all wipe it with some oil first.

Cook, turning at least once, till the cheese is melted and all the layers are heated through.

Just before serving open one side and add the tomato slices and lettuce.

These would be great with guacamole on the side.

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Regarding the tortillas: The raw flour tortillas that we purchase from Costco come in a large quantity. (NOTE: We Do Not Recommend the corn tortillas.  We had a bad experience with those, but never with the flour ones so far)  To deal with this quantity, we take them out of the packages; separate the tortillas, putting a small square of waxed paper between each one; place them in freezer bags; date them and put them in the freezer.  The reason we go to all the trouble of inserting waxed paper between each tortilla is that we found they stuck together after they thawed if we didn’t do this.  With this method we’ve had little trouble with that and they keep well in the freezer for several months.

MMmm.  I think I need to make these again soon! :-)

Tomatillo Salsa

This salsa was actually an invention of my dad’s.  I simply copied his idea.  (He didn’t have a recipe, as usual. :-)  )  The ingredients don’t have to be added in these exact proportions.  You can change them to suit your needs or taste.  One reason I like this salsa especially is because tomatoes bother me some, but apparently tomatillos don’t.  It also has a great flavor that is a little different than the usual fresh tomato salsa.  I find it a bit more refreshing.

Tomatillo Salsa

3-4 large tomatillos  (Probably more if you use homegrown.)
1 green onion, (green leaf parts only, unless you like lots of onion)
1 large jalapeno
3-4 garlic cloves
A little fresh (or frozen) cilantro
Juice of one lemon
Salt to taste

Prep. vegetable appropriately and run in a food processor or blender in batches.  Mix all together well and allow to sit in the fridge about 15 minutes before serving.  (Refrigerate leftovers.)

I love fresh salsa on a fried egg with sour cream on top and this kind is especially delicious.  You can also use it with corn or tortilla chips, tacos or burritos.  Mix it with sour cream for a yummy dip.  I spooned a little over chicken I was cooking in a frying pan with vegetables one night.  It  was good that way too.

Mango Salsa

 

Recently I bought some mangoes for a treat for us, but to my disappointment, I discovered they were too sour to eat by themselves.  I recalled the fact that I’d seen a recipe at some point for mango salsa and thought I’d look it up online.  I found several recipes, but thought the combination of ingredients sounded a bit weird.  My husband, however, thought I should at least give it a try.  I picked one recipe that seemed the closest to what I wanted and then made it up to my own needs and tastes.  So, here’s the basic “plan”:

Finely chopped mango (1 and half small mangos made about 2 servings.)
Snipped green onion
Red pepper flakes
A little snipped cilantro
Salt
(Add a little sugar if the mango is still too sour – but – add it only a tiny bit at a time or you may get too much.  If your mangos seem too sweet, you may want to add a touch of lemon juice to add tartness.)

This salsa is good served with meat.  I think it would be especially good with pork.  It would be a zippy sauce to make a non-traditional hamburger topping. :-)  And, an added perk is the lovely color this adds to a meal!

Guacamole

Here is our recipe for guacamole - to go with the Taco Soup recipe, or for any time you want to make guacamole. We used to make a different style of guacamole, but after a friend expressed how he like the taste and/or texture of the store bought variety better, I came up with this alternative. Interestingly, though the mayonnaise is non-traditional, we like it better this way.

Guacamole

3 - 4 ripe avocados (med-small, non-sweet variety)
1/4 - 1/2 C. sour cream
1 - 2 Tbl. mayonnaise
Garlic powder - to taste
Onion powder - to taste
Red chili pepper (powder)
1/4 tsp. cumin
Pinch of oregano
1 - 2 tsp. lemon juice – preferably fresh
Salt to taste
Mix all ingredients in a small - med. bowl. If avocado does not mash enough just from mixing you may wish to smash the chunks against the side of the bowl in order to make a smoother texture.
Serve with chopped black olives and tomatoes, and grated cheese. You may mix these in or use them to garnish the top. A dollop of sour cream and a black olive on top also looks nice when serving it.

Taco Soup

Well, the weather is actually getting a little cooler here in Texas.  It’s not exactly cool during the day, mind you, and I expect more hot days still, but it has moderated.  And, since a friend of mine was requesting my Taco Soup recipe recently, I started thinking about posting some soup recipes on here. :-)
Mary's Taco Soup
Canned refried beans
Chicken/beef broth or water
Fully cooked ground beef, or beef or chicken chunks (optional)
Garlic powder - to taste
Onion powder - to taste
Red chili pepper - to taste (mild, medium or hot)
Cumin (not as much as the onion or garlic)
Oregano (just a little)
Mix refried beans with broth over medium heat in a large pan.  Add seasonings and meat.
Cook, stirring often, till it is heated through or just coming to a boil.
Serve with chopped black olives, guacamole, sour cream, grated cheese and chopped tomatoes.  Chopped onions - optional.  Also, serve with warm tortillas, quesadillas, or tortilla chips.
Note: If you want a creamier soup, mix some sour cream into it while it is cooking.

As you can see, I don’t have exact measurements for this.  It is one of the recipes that I know “what” but not “how much”, so I make it “by the seat of my pants”. :-)  Make it agree to your family’s taste.
Also, I think this recipe could be made gluten-free.