Chile Rellenos Casserole

I made this a couple weeks ago for dinner...and I ate the whole pan, by myself.  I didn't do it in one sitting at least, but still, this is good and I ate it all! It is not a quiche, like some of the other chile rellenos casseroles you'll find.  I added flour to the egg mix and it changes it entirely.  The consistency of the egg, I think, is so much better this way.  You can make it with or without meat, I did half and half in my pan...both ways are excellent.  You could even try it without the dairy-free cheese, or decrease the cheese, if you want to.

This post is featured on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Allergy Free Wednesdays.

Chile Rellenos Casserole
6 large fresh Anaheim peppers
2 cups Daiya Pepper Jack Cheese shreds (the whole package)
Optional: 1 pound sausage of choice, cooked and crumbled (chorizo, Italian, etc., I used leftover breakfast sausage that needed to be used up)
6 eggs
1/2 cup So Delicious coconut milk
2/3 cup all purpose gf flour blend
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Place peppers under a hot broiler and cook, rotating every few minutes, until skin is blistered and blackened. Place the peppers into a large brown paper bag and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes. Wearing gloves (I use the yellow rubber kitchen gloves) peel the skin off of the peppers, and make a slit in the side of each one, open, and flatten the chile. Remove the seeds and the membranes from each, then set aside.

Preheat oven to 450F and grease a 9X13 pan.  Place three of the opened, flattened chiles unto the bottom of the baking pan.  Top with half of the cheese and half of the sausage (if using). Place the remaining chiles on top and add the remainder of the cheese and sausage on top of that.

In a medium bowl combine the eggs and milk.  Whisk in the flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper, and salt until smooth.  Pour the egg mixture over the peppers, cheese, and sausage.

Bake, uncovered, for about 15-20 minutes or until a knife come out clean.  You can eat this as is or serve it with salsa or hot sauce.

Tiny Spicy Chicken and Homemade Sambal Chili Paste

I love reading recipes, they give me ideas and inspiration...especially when I'm in a rut.  I found this recipe for tiny spicy chicken and knew I had to try it.  It was an easy conversion for our diet...the only problem was I didn't have any sambal chili paste in my house, and I'm trying to be good and only go grocery shopping once a week.  So, what was I to do?  Well, I went looking for a recipe to make it and I happened to have the ingredients or at least equivalents of the ingredients, so I made my own chili paste and we had our tiny spicy chicken.  The chicken wasn't as spicy as it could be, I toned it done so our kids would eat it, so add more chili paste if you want more heat.

Tiny Spicy Chicken

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks and sprinkled with garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 egg
canola oil


Combine the garlic salt and cornstarch in a bowl.  In a separate bowl beat the egg.  Heat oil to 350F.  Dip chicken in the egg and then in the cornstarch, and fry until golden brown. Place chicken in a 9x13 pan and cover with sauce (recipe below).  Bake at 375F for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Sauce:
1 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons coconut aminos or gluten-free soy sauce, if you can have soy
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon (or more) Sambal chili paste (homemade recipe below)
1/4 cup brown sugar

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, cook until sugar dissolves.

Sambal Chili Paste (adapted from here)
1/4 cup sugar
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 cup dried Thai or Japanese chilies
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor, and blend until smooth.  Place the mixture in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the mixture has reduced to ~1/2 cup.  It should take about 10 minutes.

Black Bean, Corn and Quinoa stuffed Anaheim Peppers

I got a dozen anaheim peppers this past weeks in my Bountiful Basket and wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with them, so I roasted and peeled them, and stuck them in the fridge.  But, they didn't stay in the fridge for very long, I saw this recipe and knew I had to stuff my peppers with it. I really didn't change the recipe much, I used my homemade fresh salsa in it (which I think makes a huge difference) and I warmed up the mixture once everything was combined.  I then stuffed my peppers with it and heated those up for a few minutes, easy peasy. :)  This is actually really incredible cold, it may be my go to salad at potlucks from now on, it's really awesome.  I have the recipe below, but all credit goes to Parents magazine, it is an incredible recipe and really easy, too.  And, for all of you that rolled your eyes when I said I made my own salsa for this, it took less time to make the salsa than it did to cook the quinoa (I know because I made it while the quinoa was cooking and I prepped the corn, black beans, and cilantro, too).

Black Bean, Corn and Quinoa Stuffed Anaheim Peppers

3/4 cup quinoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup salsa (here's a link to my homemade fresh salsa)
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

12 anaheim peppers

Directions

Rinse quinoa under cold running water. In a medium saucepan, combine 3/4 cup quinoa with 1-1/2 cups water. Heat to boiling over high heat. Stir in salt, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed. Once cooked, add in corn, beans, lime juice and cillantro and heat through.  (If you are using this as a salad, you don't need to heat, just serve).

Meanwhile, place peppers under a hot broiler and cook, rotating every few minutes, until skin is blistered and blackened.  Place the peppers into a large brown paper bag and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes.  Wearing gloves (I use the yellow rubber kitchen gloves) peel the skin off of the peppers, and make a slit in the side of each one.  Remove the seeds and the membranes from each, then set aside.

To stuff the peppers, place a few tablespoons of the quinoa mixture in each pepper and set in a baking pan.  Once all are stuffed cook at 350F for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.

This post is featured on the Real Food Weekly and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Turkey and Green Chili Gorditas

Once again, I'm using up my leftover turkey and trying to change the flavors enough that my family will not think they are eating leftovers...and this was beyond a success, if stuffing yourself until you're ready to pop, counts as a success.

My boys actually loved the gorditas dipped in ranch...simple, yet they actually tried something new. :)

We'll start with the gorditas, I've never had gorditas before, let alone made them, but they sounded good, so I gave them a shot.  I modified the recipe on the back of my masa flour package and this is what it is:

Gorditas

2 cups Masa flour
1/4 cup gluten-free all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons palm oil shortening
1 1/2 cups warm water
canola oil for frying

Directions
1. Heat griddle to medium heat

2. Combine masa, flour, baking powder and salt.  Add shortening and water.  Knead until all ingredients are well blended and you are able to form a ball.  Divide dough into 14 balls.  Keep dough cover.  Using a rolling pin or your hands, press each ball out to form a circle that has about a 5-inch diameter (don't worry if they are smaller) and is 1/4" thick.

3. To form and cook the gorditas, lay gordita on preheated griddle.  Cook each side for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned.  While still wearm, pinch edge to form a 1-inch rim.  It should look like a small saucer.

4. Preheat over to 170F. Line a cookie sheet or baking pan with paper towels. Set aside.

5. To fry gorditas, use a large frying pan.  Add enough oil to cover bottom and fry 2 to 3 gorditas at a time for 1 to 2 minutes, turning frequently, until both sides are golden brown and crisp. Place fried gorditas in the baking pan and set in oven to keep warm.

6. Top with whatever toppings you like...shredded beef, pork, or my turkey and green chilies below, along with lettuce, tomatoes, etc.

Turkey and Green Chili Filling


1/2 C turkey gravy (if you don't have any add ~1/4 cup chicken stock)
3 C chopped turkey
7 oz can chopped green chili peppers
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all ingredients together in saucepan, until warm and bubbly. Serve over gorditas, or for enchiladas, burritos, on top of rice, etc. :)

This post is featured on The Whole Gang's Real Food Weekly.