Bacon-Date Tasties

We had these appetizers while visiting friends in Dayton last weekend. They were awesome! I have never seen fresh dates in my grocery story, so I'll probably use re-hydrated prunes when I make them again. My kids liked the bacon and cheese part, but weren't big fans of the dates... oh well, perhaps they'll develop a taste for them eventually.

1 lb of thick cut bacon

Fresh dates or prunes (same number as you have slices of bacon)

4 oz goat cheese

2 tbs. brown sugar

1 tsp. cumin

toothpicks

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Partially cook the bacon on paper towels in the microwave. The slices should still be completely flexible, but you want to try to get rid of some of the grease.
3. Combine the brown sugar and cumin in a small bowl.
4. Lay out each slice of bacon and sprinkle with 1/2 of the brown sugar/cumin mixture.
5. Take about 2-3 tsp. of goat cheese in a wad and press it against one side of the date. Wrap a piece of bacon around the date/cheese cupping the bottom of the cheese with the bacon. Secure the bacon with a toothpick and stand upright on a cookie sheet. Repeat with each slice of bacon. Sprinkle remaining sugar and cumin on the top.
6. Bake for around 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Enchilada Casserole

We had a bunch of family in over the weekend for my mother-in-law's 80th birthday. Great fun! I made dinner one night for everyone and there were a few restrictions... one relative can't eat wheat and another is a vegetarian. So, I was thrilled to find something EVERYONE could enjoy. I ended up making two -- one with chicken and the other without. I'll tell you how to do both:

This makes enough for one 9"x13" pan.

1 cup chopped onion

1 red pepper, chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed or minced

1 cup salsa

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup frozen corn, thawed and drained

14 six-inch corn tortillas, each one torn into around 8 pieces

8 oz. Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup sour cream

1 can enchilada sauce

Optional garnish: chopped fresh cilantro, sour cream, chopped black olives

If you're adding meat: 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Saute onion in a little oil until soft and starting to brown. Add red pepper and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and saute an additional minute. Set aside.
3. Combine beans, salsa, corn and sour cream. Add onion mixture and stir until blended.
4. Spray 9x13 pan with oil. Layer half of the torn tortillas on the bottom. Cover with the bean/sour cream/onion mixture. Sprinkle with half of the grated cheese. If you're adding chicken, put it on now. Top with remaining tortillas.
5. Carefully pour one can of enchilada sauce over entire casserole. Try to cover eachtortilla with a little bit of sauce. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. (At this point you can cover it and put it in the fridge until you're ready to bake it. Make sure to add 15-20 extra minutes of cooking time if it's cold when you put it in the oven .)
6. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking an addition 15 minutes, until heated through and starting to bubble on top.
7. Serve hot and garnish with chopped cilantro, sour cream and black olives.

Chicken & Bean Main-Course Dip

My friend Maria passed on this recipe because her kids gave it rave reviews. Having made it the other night, we concur. It's awesome! It didn't come with a name, so we decided to call it "Chicken Dip" because you eat it on corn chips. If someone has a better name, let me know.

6-9 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces (If you choose to use breasts instead of thighs, increase the amount of salsa to 1 1/2 cups since breasts are dryer.)

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 cup salsa (use one that's a little spicy or it may come out kind of bland)

1 cup frozen corn

Corn chips

1. Put chicken in crockpot; it's okay if it's still frozen. Top with beans, salsa and corn.
2. Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or high for 4-5. Cooking time will vary depending on whether or not your chicken is frozen and how big the pieces are. Check on it at the minimum number of hours so that it doesn't get dried out.
3. Serve with corn chips used as dippers.

Vegetarian Tostadas

These are really easy to make and my kids like them because they get to choose what goes on top. Meriel tends to stick with black beans and cheese, but Gavin is a little more adventurous, adding onion and mushrooms. You can dice the vegetables ahead of time and keep them in the fridge until you're ready to use them.

Corn tostada shells

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 onion, diced

2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

Selection of diced vegetables: red pepper, yellow squash, zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, etc. All put in separate bowls.

Optional condiments: salsa, guacamole, hot pepper sauce

1. Microwave the diced vegetables briefly so that they're partially cooked. (Put in the fridge if you're not going to use them right away.)
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Give each person a tostada shell and have them layer their selected ingredients putting cheese on the top.
4. Place the tostadas on a cookie sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.
5. Serve with salsa, guacamole or hot pepper sauce.

Pizza with Rice Crust

We make pizza every Friday night and I've found this to be a nice change of pace from our usual wheat crust. If you have rice earlier in the week, make extra (you'll need about 3 cups) so you can use it for the crust.

Crust:

1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice (you can use white, but it won't be as healthy)

2 eggs

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Pizza toppings (Except for the sauce and cheese, all of these are optional. And, I suppose you could even make the sauce optional as well):

3/4 cups pizza sauce (I just use spaghetti sauce)

1 cup thinly slivered red or yellow bell pepper

1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms

1 cup thinly sliced onion

1 can (2 1/4 oz.) sliced black olives, drained

4 oz. sliced pepperoni

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook rice according to directions . Scrape into a large bowl. Cool for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a fork.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. In another bowl, beat eggs. Then add the eggs and cheddar cheese to the rice and mix well. Scrape rice mixture into a well-oiled, 9X13-inch pan and pat into an even layer.
4. Bake in oven until rice begins to brown around the edges, 15-20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, if you're doing vegetables on top, saute them in a little olive oil over medium-high heat until the mushrooms begin to brown and the moisture has evaporated. 5-10 minutes. (If you don't cook them until the liquid is gone, they'll make the pizza soggy.) Stir in olives and remove from heat.
6. Spread pizza sauce evenly over the baked rice and sprinkle with mozzarella. Place pepperoni or spoon vegetables over crust and top with parmesan.
7. Return to oven and bake until parmesan begins to brown.

My kids prefer just pepperoni, so I usually do half with vegetables and half with meat.