Pots & Plots

Ingredients:

• 1 can (or approximately 2 cups of home cooked) black beans, drained, mashed
• 2 Tbsp salsa
• ½ small onion finely diced
• 1 small potato, boiled and mashed
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp cilantro
• Fresh pepper to taste
• 1 egg
• Breadcrumbs or corn meal or whole wheat flour, enough that there’s some bulk to the burger but not too dry.

Mix salsa and spices together; add black beans and mash well; add potato and mash well; add egg and dry ingredients (I prefer a mix of all three), then pan fry in vegetable or canola oil until both sides are brown (effectively “seared”); finish off in oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. I love these served with Monterey jack or really sharp cheddar on a whole wheat or sourdough bun. They freeze really, really well and last quite a while in the freezer, so it’s something I enjoy pulling out, nuking for about a minute to thaw, then tossing into the toaster oven with my bun and cheese to toast right up.

Quiche is one of those foods that is awful if you don’t have a good recipe. My dear hubs swore he hated quiche. Then he had my mother’s recipe and changed his mind. There are many crustless versions you can try, but to me those simply don’t taste like real quiche. I gotta have my pastry. One of these days I’m gonna get around to making a whole wheat crust of my own, but as I’m not much of a pasty maker, I haven’t done that yet. So storebought crust it is for me.

Ingredients:

• 1 deep dish pie crust (store bought or your own)
• 1/2 cup mayo (I prefer fat free Miracle Whip)
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 3 beaten eggs (You can cut it down to 1 whole egg and ½ cup of Egg Beaters, but I don’t recommend all Egg Beaters)
• ½ cup milk

Mix ingredients until blended.
This is your base quiche to which you can add pretty well whatever you like, but for traditional quiche lorraine you need to add:

• 1 lb thinly sliced ham
• 6-8 oz shredded swiss cheese
• 2 tsp freeze drived chives or 1/8 cup fresh scallions

Pour into pie crust

Bake in deep dish pastry lined pie pan, 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Put a tent of aluminum foil while baking. Take off the tent for last 5 minutes. You may need to bake for additional ten minutes. Let stand before cutting.

For a lower fat snack or veggie version, use the base quiche, then add mushrooms (I prefer baby portobellos), scallions, 1 grated zucchini, and a half a cup of frozen spinach (squeezed to get all the liquid out), plus 6 oz of whatever cheese you prefer (I like swiss). For crust, take sheets of phyllo dough, fold into quarters and tuck into oversized muffin tins. Be sure to spray the tins with cooking spray first or your phyllo will stick! Bake for 20 minutes.

I’ve done a lot of experimenting with substitutions and I’ve discovered you can cut the fat and calories on almost everything, but you MUST use real cheese. Low fat or fat free cheese doesn’t melt properly. All other substitutions for healthy purposes are listed above.

The weather has FINALLY started to cool down and that has me craving soups, stews, and chowders. This is one I created last winter that is a good warm you up meal for a cold day.

Ingredients:

• 1 can creamed corn (no sugar added if you can find it)
• 1 can whole kernel corn (no sugar added), drained
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes and peppers, drained)
• ½ cup diced onion
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 3/4ths a can of evaporated skimmed milk
• 4 oz. fat free cream cheese in cubes
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• Fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1/8 tsp. paprika
• 1/8 tsp. cumin

Directions:

1. Melt cubes of cream cheese in the stock over medium heat.
2. Add onion, tomatoes and peppers, corn, and creamed corn. Stir.
3. Add garlic powder, paprika, cumin, and pepper. Stir well.
4. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Remove from heat and stir in 3/4ths a can of evaporated skimmed milk, slowly.

Serve with a slice of dense bread, like sourdough for a light lunch, or add a spinach salad for a full meal. Serves 4.