Deluxe Guacamole

Like many good cooking ideas, this one came from Whole Foods. A few months ago on a whim I picked up a container of fresh guacamole at Whole Foods (in the produce section). It was outstanding! It became a regular item in our fridge as the weather kept getting warmer. And then after a few $6-8 containers, it occurred to me to flip it over to read the ingredients, since (duh!) I could probably make it cheaper! Especially since it was made at Whole Foods, there was unlikely to be any ingredients with more syllables than "avocado". So I scribbled them down and began a guacamole adventure of sorts that has lasted most of the summer! I've been picking up fresh avocados from Kroger or Whole Foods every Sunday and mixing and matching different ingredient ideas. Since all guacamole really comes down to a ripe avocado (and not over-doing the onion), they've all been pretty good.

This past weekend, I made the "deluxe" version. It's a kitchen-sink approach to guacamole--everything that *might* go in, did. It was fantastic! You can use all of these ingredients, or just the ones you have in the fridge, and you'll get a delicious result. Serve with Restaurant Style Tositos and an ice-cold adult beverage of your choice. I love summer!


Anne's Deluxe Guacamole

4 ripe avocados (have some give, but not mushy), pits removed
1 ripe tomato, diced
1/4 yellow onion, diced (you'd think purple onion would be better because it has that tang, but yellow is much preferred if you're not a big onion fan but like a little flavor)
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and diced into very small pieces
2 medium-sized cloves of garlic, crushed
1 handful fresh cilantro (can substitute 1-2 tsp dried)
4-6 shakes of the Tabasco bottle
5-7 shakes of salt
2 Tbs lime juice

I recommend putting the avocados in a medium-large mixing bowl first, and mashing them with a fork. Then add all remaining ingredients and blend well with the same fork or a spoon. If you have leftovers, be sure to put them in an air-tight Tupperware container. All guacamole turns a little brownish overnight, but give it a good stir the next day and the green will come back quickly. It's still good--if not better!--the next day.

Dios mio, is it Friday yet? Also, if you're looking for more I Married a Doctor posts, I promise I didn't abandon my 2nd blog, I just prefer to write them on weekends and have been a bit occupied lately! Looking forward to a quiet weekend...

Cheesy Rice and Bean Strata

You know, for some reason I always thought "Strata" meant eggs. But I guess that's a frittata? So if you know what constitutes a strata let me know. I didn't exactly follow this recipe on this one, and it turned out delicious, and probably would have been delicious even if I had. But the main lesson I learned was: 5 cups of rice is a LOT of rice. I also learned that when you have something that calls for 5 cups of rice (and probably 5 cups of anything!) you should *always* use the dish the recipe tells you to for cooking. But it called for spinach and I forgot it at the store...so I thought since I wasn't going to use spinach that I would use a dish smaller than my 9x13 Pyrex for baking. Turns out 5 cups of rice probably doesn't fit in anything except the largest baking dish possible. Next time I make this (and there will be a next time) I might even take it one step further to my 9x13 Le Cruset.

So since I left out the spinach, I thought I'd throw in some fresh sweet corn because we had a few leftover cobs that wouldn't last through the week otherwise--and this time of year I just can't bear to waste good sweet corn. So to get the corn off the cob and into a casserole, you want to boil it on high for 5-8 minutes, and once it gets cool you can stand it up vertically and cut down the cob with a sharp knife. Needless to say this Cooking Light recipe made a ton! We had plenty of leftovers for the week! I also wonder if it's really "Cooking Light" if you double the cheese...hmm :) It's a great vegetarian recipe that you could easily add a lb of ground beef or turkey to if you have a "no meat, no meal" eater. But it makes enough to fill anyone up, I promise. Oh! I also have to mention that a year and a half later I started using my rice cooker! I absolutely love it and cannot believe I've been making it stove-top for so long.


Cheesy Rice and Bean Strata

2 Tbs EVOO
2 cups chopped red/purple onion (I probably did 1 cup)
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 10oz package of fresh spinach (we accidentally omitted)
2 19oz cans of kidney beans, drained
16oz jar of picante sauce
12 tomato slices
5 cups cooked basmati rice
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup jack cheese, shredded
Optional 1 cup sweet corn off the cob
1-2 cups Quick Mole Marinara sauce (read on...)
Optionally top w/ sour cream and green onions

Preheat to 350 and prepare your rice. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over med-high. Add in onion, cumin, and garlic--saute for about 2 minutes. Add spinach and saute another minute until the spinach wilts--then remove from heat. Combine beans and picante sauce in a large mixing bowl. PAM your baking dish and spread half of the bean mixture in the bottom. Top the mixture with 3 cups of cooked rice, and top with tomato slices. Layer on spinach mixture, remaining 2 cups of rice, and then second half of the bean mixture. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

While that's baking, grate the cheese and cover. Then in a medium saucepan make the Mole Marinara. I completely admit I read this sauce recipe and thought it wasn't going to be worth it! But it added a great flavor to the strata and I'd make more next time. After 30 minutes in the oven, uncover the strata and top generously with cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Mole Marinara

2 Tbs EVOO
3 Tbs minced Anaheim chile
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
Half jar of your favorite marinara (I used Paul Newman's Shock-a-something or other)
2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp dried cilantro

Combine and heat on medium while strata bakes.