Quick and Easy Mexican Enchilada Sauce Recipe

By Jolinda Hackett, About.com

Ingredients:

* 2 tbsp vegetable oil
* 2 tbsp flour
* 2 tbsp chili powder
* 1/2 tsp cumin
* 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
* 2 cups water
* 1 8 ounce can tomato paste
* 1 tsp garlic powder
* 1/2 tsp onion powder
* 1/2 tsp salt

Preparation:
Heat the oil, flour and chili powder together in a large pot. Allow to cook for a minute or two.

Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a slow simmer. Stir well to combine and dissolve tomato paste in water. Allow to cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more spices as desired.

Albondigas Soup Recipe

This Mexican meatball soup was a family favorite growing up. Not an appetizer, always a main course, either for lunch or dinner. "Albondigas" means "meatballs" in Spanish, and the trick to perfect albondigas soup is to put chopped mint leaves into the meatballs. The mint is what gives an albondigas soup meatball its unique flavor.

Preparation time: 1 hour.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
3 quarts of chicken stock or beef stock OR water OR a mixture of both (we usually use half stock half water as the meatballs will create their own stock)

2 large carrots, sliced
1/2 lb of string beans, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 pound ground beef
1/3 cup of raw white rice
1 raw egg
1/2 cup of chopped fresh mint leaves and/or parsley
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas
Dried oregano, crumbled
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and minced garlic and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and broth mixture. Bring to boil and simmer. Add carrots and string beans.

2 Prepare meatballs. Mix rice into meat, adding mint land parsley leaves, salt and pepper. Add raw egg. Form beef into 1-inch meatballs.

3 Return soup to gentle simmer. Add meatballs to soup, one at a time. Cover and let simmer for 1/2 hour. Add peas towards the end of the 1/2 hour. Add a few pinches of oregano and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish soup with chopped fresh cilantro.

Serves 6-8.

Corn and Black Bean Quesadillas

Very easy, and a nice change form cooking meat for dinner.

1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup shredded monterey jack or cheddar cheese (I like to use both)
1/4 cup salsa
1 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup canned black beans drained and rinsed
2 green onions, chopped

tortillas
sour cream
guacamole

Stir together mayo, salsa and cheese. Spread 1/4 mixture over one half of a tortilla. Sprinkle with 1/4 of the corn, beans, and onions. Fold tortilla in half and press together. Repeat.
Cook in ungreased frying pan over medium heat until lightly browned, flip and cook other side. Cut into wedges and enjoy.

I am lazy and actually just throw all the ingredients into a bowl then spread it on to the tortillas - works fine.

Makes 4 servings.

burrito pie

Happy Mothers Day Everyone!

I got this recipe from Rhonda. It's one of Brad's favorites. I have also heard it called mexican lasagna, lets you know kinda what it looks like. I like to make a full recipe and then bake half to eat and freeze the other half. If you look it up here you can change the serving size and it will adjust the amount of ingredients for you.

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 (2 ounce) can black olives, sliced
• 1/2 (4 ounce) can diced green chili peppers
• 1/2 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chili peppers
• 1/2 (16 ounce) jar taco sauce
• 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
• 6 (8 inch) flour tortillas
• 5 ounces shredded Colby cheese
• Lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, guacamole - whatever you like to eat with it.
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the ground beef for 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, and saute for 5 more minutes. Drain any excess fat, if desired. Mix in the olives, green chili peppers, tomatoes with green chili peppers, taco sauce and refried beans. Stir mixture thoroughly, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Spread a thin layer of the meat mixture in the bottom of a 4 quart casserole dish. Cover with a layer of tortillas followed by more meat mixture, then a layer of cheese. Repeat tortilla, meat, cheese pattern until all the tortillas are used, topping off with a layer of meat mixture and cheese.
4. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is slightly brown and bubbly.

Chicken Enchiladas

2 med chicken breasts cut up

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1-2 cups Cheese (depending how cheesy you want it)

4 tortillas

salsa
cilantro (optional)
diced tomatoes (optional)

Double for sure if there are more than 2 people eating this.


Cook chicken and add soup.
DIVIDE mixture among tortillas, top wop with cheese, salsa, cilatro and tomatoes to your liking. Roll-up, place seam side down in baking dish. Top with more salsa and cheese if you want; cover with foil.
BAKE at 350 for 30 to 35 min. or until cheese is melted and enchiladas are heated through, removing foil during last 10 min. of baking.

I like these a lot, but don't get to make them very often because Derek had chicken enchiladas for something like 12 days in a row on his mission for dinner appts., no joke. It was some sort of recipe of the month for enrichment.

Black Bean & Rice Tostado (or Tacos)

1 lbs ground beef
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 can corn, drained
1 - 1 1/2 cups cooked rice (left over?)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 cup salsa (I use blak bean & corn salsa)
tortilla shells

toppings (optional):
cheese
sour cream
lettuce
tomato

Brown ground beef in frying pan & drain. Add beans, corn, rice, salsa and taco seasoning (don't mix with water) to ground beef. Mix well.

For tostados: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slightly brush both sides of tortilla shells with oil or spray with cooking spray, place on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 mins or until slightly crisp & browned. Tpo with mix & other toppings.

For tacos: roll in tortillas (don't bake) just like a normal taco.

These are really easy to make and it makes quite a bit. I have eaten it as a salad as well with corn chips or doritos. The picture is of the original recipe from kraftfoods.com. I have modified it just a little (added ground beef & salsa mixed in) because I like it better that way and it makes more.