Tag Archives: tomatillo

Broccoli Rice Burrito

15 Oct

I am telling you… broccoli is everywhere and cheap.  So I need to cook off all this broccoli before it goes bad on me.

As the official caterer to my mom and aunt while my grandma was in the hospital, I decided to make something they would both enjoy, knowing how picky and particular my aunt is about vegetarian food.  She says she likes it… but then she has certain rules like she only eats avocados with rice…  go figure!!!

These burritos are super easy to make… their portable and can be eaten warm or at room temperature.  But warm are better in my opinion.  Perfect for a picnic, brown-bag lunch and even to bring to someone in the hospital…

 

BROCCOLI RICE BURRITO

½ broccoli head, florets only
½ cup cooked whole grain rice
2 ounces of cream cheese
1/3 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
¼ cup of toasted walnuts
2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves
8 slices of tomato
4 tbs of Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 whole grain flour tortillas or flatbreads

 

  1. In a medium covered skillet with about ¼ cup of water, add the cooked rice and the broccoli florets.  Cover the skillet and over medium heat that bit of water will steam both the rice and the broccoli.   After about 10 minutes, just turn off the stove and the rice and broccoli will be done.
  2. Drain any excess water, but there usually isn’t any every time I make it this way.   In that same skillet add a drizzle of olive oil, the cream cheese, parmesan, walnuts.  Season with salt and pepper and mix well to combine.
  3. You can warm up the tortillas or the flatbreads if you’d like… I do it on the oven or in a skillet, depending on which ones I’ll use.  Sometimes, the flatbreads are just perfect as is.
  4. Place about ¼ cup of rice on each tortilla/flatbread.  Spread 1tbs of tomatillo salsa over it.  Top with the baby spinach and tomato slices.  Roll up the tortilla/flatbread and wrap in parchment paper before you put any aluminum foil over it.   This way you’ll be able to stick them in the oven to warm up and they’ll stay warm for a while.

               

 Both my mom and aunt loved these burritos…  My mom had hers with a slice of avocado on the side, as she is in my camp that we will eat an avocado any time, any place without any restrictions whatsoever.  But you can certainly add the avocado inside the burrito if you’d like.

Hope you like them too…

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Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

29 Sep

I have used and re-purposed this salsa recipe into so many dishes that I think it deserves its own Recipe Post.

I think I first learned this recipe from Tyler Florence… but he used jalapeños also in his mix.  Being the wimp that I am in the spiciness department I do not use them.  But feel free to add as much or as little as you want according to your heat tolerance.   I saw Marcela Valladolid make a version of this same recipe but with Serrano peppers… even more spicy.  It’s up to you which version you prefer…

 

ROASTED TOMATILLO SALSA

1 pound tomatillos, husked
1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
4 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
olive oil
juice of 1 lemon

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400degrees F.
  2.  On a baking tray, place tomatillos, onion and garlic.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for 15-20 minutes.
  4. Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices from the bottom of the tray to a food processor.  Add the lemon juice and pulse the mixture until well combined, but still chunky.
  6. If for your purposes the sauce is too chunky… just add a bit of water and pulse to loosen it.

 

I’ve used this recipe originally with my Cheesy Rice Burritos, in my Mexican Lasagna and more recently in my Broccoli Rice Burritos.  I will certainly also try it in a Chilaquiles recipe like the one Marcela Valladolid used hers in…  Yum.

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Mexican Lasagna

5 May

Today we celebrate 5 de Mayo… which many US people think it’s the celebration of the Mexican Independence and of great consequence to Mexicans, but it’s not so…   I believe 5 de Mayo it’s a nice holiday to them but not nearly as important as the celebration of their Independence, celebrated on September 16.  I know… I moved to Chicago around that time and it was impressive the amount of Mexicans with huge flags riding on their cars up and down the main avenues.  However, on 5 de Mayo, not nearly enough…

I think it’s just easier in English to say “5 de Mayo” than to say “16 de Septiembre”… you know, that issue with the rolling r’s.  So if the US wants to celebrate Mexican culture, let them do it at the beginning of the Spring/Summer season… it’s more festive anyhow.

Jumping on the bandwagon myself, I decided to treat my friend AnnieMariel to lunch the other day with a Mexican-inspired lunch.  The theme had dual-purpose – to celebrate the upcoming 5 de Mayo and to support our Mexican friends whose been getting such a bad rap lately with all this “swine flu” news.  They’ve been hurting health wise and they will continue to hurt due to decreases in travel to Mexico.  It’s just unfortunate that the level of poverty over there just prevents people to seek medical health as easily or rapidly as we do here in the US and probably that’s part of the increased severity of the cases there.

Both AnnieMariel and I had trips planned to Mexico that were abruptly cancelled or postponed.  So we want to support them symbolically with our lunch…

 mexican-lasagna

MEXICAN LASAGNA

About 8 corn tortillas
4 tomatillos, washed well and quartered
1 medium onion, chopped into large pieces
6 garlic cloves
The Juice of 1 lemon/lime
¼ cup textured soy protein, re-hydrated in about 1 cup of water
2 tbs sofrito
1 vegetable bouillon cube, divided in half
¼ cup red-wine vinegar
¼ tsp Herbamare
1 cup Italian-blend grated cheese
½ cup Parmesan Cheese
½ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Canola Oil Spray

 

This is a simple recipe, but we need to take care of a few steps before we assemble. 

  1. First you need to re-hydrate the textured soy protein.  Place the soy protein in a medium bowl or measuring cup and fill it with water and wait for it about 30 minutes to re-hydrate well.

For the tomatillo salsa…

  1. In a pyrex pan, place the tomatillos, onion and garlic.  Drizzle a bit of olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.  Mix them all together to make sure everything is well-coated with the oil.  Roast in a 350F oven for about 30 minutes, or until you see the onions and tomatillo getting caramelized on top.
  2. Wait a few minutes until the tomatillos/onion mixture cools down a bit.  Transfer the contents of the pyrex to the bowl of a food processor.  Add the juice of a green lemon and pulse a few times to make a thick sauce.  Set aside.

 

While the tomatillos are roasting in the oven, we can make the soy picadillo… but this soy picadillo is dryer than the versions I have showed you before…

  1. In a small skillet over medium heat, drizzle about 1 tbs of olive oil, add ½ of the vegetable bouillon cube and the sofrito.  Cook for a few minutes and add the soy protein after you’ve squeezed out as much water as you can from it.  Mix it all together to combine.  I want to add some moisture to help it cook along… so I add the vinegar at this point.  Season it with a bit of pepper and Herbamare. 
  2. Cook over medium-low heat until the soy looks cooked, about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Set aside too.

 

  1. In a medium tall-sided skillet, warm up about ½- ¾ cup of water with the other ½ vegetable bouillon cube to make a vegetable “broth”.  Add about ¼ cup of the tomatillo salsa to this broth and whisk well to combine.
  2. In a medium-sized glass dish sprayed with canola oil spray we’ll start layering the lasagna…
  3. Take the tortillas and cut in half 4 of them.  This will help you layer them as evenly as possible in the glass dish. 
  4. Take about 1/4 cup of the thinned tomatillo salsa and place it at the bottom of the dish.  Now dip in the thinned tomatillo salsa one whole tortilla and 2 halves.  Place them on the bottom of the dish. 
  5. mex-lasagna-2
  6. Now spread intact tomatillo salsa on top of the tortillas to create a layer and sprinkle a third of the cooked soy picadillo.
  7. mex-lasagna-1
  8. Sprinkle parmesan cheese, a layer of the grated Italian cheeses and sprinkle a third of the pepitas.  
  9. mex-lasagna-3
  10. Now we start all over again, starting with the tortillas, creating 3 layers and finishing off with wet tortillas covered with parmesan cheese, Italian blend cheese and pepitas.
  11. Place in a 350F oven for about 30 minutes until the cheese on top is golden brown.

 

mex-lasagna-4

 

I always turn off the heat in the oven and leave it there for a few minutes until the lasagna settles a bit.

It takes a few steps, but your hard work will be rewarded…    it tastes very Mexican because of the corn tortillas, but the tomatillo salsa gives it a nice tang, different than a regular tomato-based sauce.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did… and  ¡¡VIVA MEXICO LINDO Y QUERIDO!!

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Cheese Rice Burritos with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

17 Nov

This is a recipe I have been meaning to make for a loooooong time.  It is an adaptation of two different recipes from the Food Network.  I had never had tomatillos before, but I always wondered how they tasted.  I was so surprised at the amount of flavor this salsa gives to this dish.

Before you say anything else… I know I need some help with the plating and the pictures – for them to have more appetite appeal… so for this one, forgive me and just use them as an educational guide for how the dish is prepared and assembled.  OK?  The flavors are there, I promise to practice my picture-taking techniques.

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 Cheese Rice Burritos with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

6 whole-wheat flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups julienned or shredded zucchini
1 medium diced onion
1 minced clove of garlic
1 cup cooked whole-grain rice
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
olive oil
1 tomato, thinly sliced
1 cup shredded lettuce
Roasted Tomatillo Salsa – recipe follows
  1. Warm tortillas over a warm skillet
  2. While tortillas are warming, heat a pot with some olive oil.  Add zucchini and onion and sautee until tender.  Season with salt and pepper.
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  4. Stir in rice, cheese, and cook for 1 few minutes.
  5. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.

Fill in warm tortillas with rice mixture.  Spoon a few table spoons of the Roasted Tomatillo Salsa.  Top with lettuce and tomato.  Roll up the burrito and serve with additional salsa and sour cream.

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Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

1 pound tomatillos, husked
1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
4 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
  1. Pre-heat oven to 400degrees F.
  2.  On a baking tray, place tomatillos, onion and garlic.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for 15-20 minutes.
  3. Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices from the bottom of the tray to a food processor.  Add the lemon juice and pulse the mixture until well combined, but still chunky.

As you can notice, I do not like spicy foods.  But you can add as much spice to this recipe as you’d like.  Add jalapenos to the tomatillo salsa and even mix in some chile sauce to the rice mixture… go crazy if you’d like.

I would also accompany this recipe with a nice chunky guacamole… recipe follows. 

Buen Provecho!!!!

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