XO's Friday Foodie: Desperation Salsa and Pre-season Pesto

It's been such an early spring that it's hard to believe that fresh, local produce isn't available in abundance yet.  I've been craving fresh tomatoes and basil from the yet-to-open farmers market to make pico de gallo and real pesto (we ran out of our frozen homemade pesto months ago).  So, with over a month before the De Pere Farmer's market opens in July (waaaaaah!), I turn to my old stand-by favorites: Desperation Salsa (which I make almost weekly anyway) and what I just dubbed Pre-season Pesto which I just made this week.  Note: These recipes, of course, also fit nicely into my "Blender Bender" series of simple but tasty blended goodness. 

Ryan’s Desperation Salsa:
1 Large Can Regular Diced Tomatoes (28oz)
1-2 cloves Garlic
1 Tablespoon Cumin
½-1 teaspoon Oregano (Mexican Oregano if you’ve got it!)
½ teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/4- 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne to preference (or a hot green chile with veins & seeds removed)

Desperation Preparation:
Drain & squeeze as much liquid out of the diced tomatoes as possible*. Put half the tomatoes in the blender with all the other ingredients and puree the heck out of it. Add the rest of the tomatoes and pulse a couple of times to mix but retain some texture. Eat.  *It's highly recommended to drink the tomato juice, it's way better than a V8!

Pre-Season Pesto (AKA Desperation Pesto)
1/4 cup dry basil (High Quality such as Penzey's makes a HUGE difference)
1-2 cloves Garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
Olive Oil to blend (1/4 cup or more)
Walnuts, Pine-nuts or raw skinless peanuts
Parmesan Cheese, finely grated



Place the first 4 ingredients into the blender and puree.  Add Olive Oil as needed to blend (really small batches are difficult to do in most blenders).  Taste and adjust salt if needed.  Add nuts if desired and pulse a few times until nuts are finely chopped.  Add oil to achieve desired consistency. Dab on top of pasta and sprinkle with shredded Parmesan (or other hard italian cheese like romano, asiago etc...)  You can easily freeze any leftovers.  One of my clients suggested freezing leftovers into an ice-tray for ready to use pesto-cubes.  What a great idea!

BTW: You can use the pesto to make one of my favorite fresh mozarella salads:  Combine halved grape or cherry tomatoes with an equal amount of small fresh mozarella balls and coat with pesto... YUM!!!

Enjoy!  -XO

XO Friday Foodie: Cinco De Mayo Enchilada casserole

I lived in New Mexico for several years back in the early 90's and one of the popular foods I remember fondly was stacked enchiladas.  These were corn tortillas separated with chile sauce and cheese and then broiled.  Mexican comfort food at it's finest!

More of an assembly project than anything, this recipe makes enchiladas into a healthy, tasty and filling meal (without that watery ice-berg lettuce!).  Make the 9x13 pan for lots of leftovers to freeze or make a 8x8 pan if you would like a smaller batch.

Ingredients for a 9x13 (halve for an 8x8 pan):

28 oz can diced tomatoes
1-2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon oregano (mexican oregano if you have it!)
1 can (2 cups) black or pinto beans, rinsed
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder or 1 cup fresh onion, diced.
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne (optional)

18-21 corn tortillas
1/2 bag Quorn or Boca crumbles (easy) or 1/2lb ground beef, browned
2 cups shredded cheese

Blend the first 8 ingredients into a thick sauce.  Preheat the oven to 375'.  Grease your pan and spread a layer of sauce and then cover with a layer of tortillas (break them into pieces to cover the layer).

Cover with more sauce and repeat for 4 to 5 layers of sauce and tortillas.  Cover the final layer with sauce, sprinkle the boca crumbles or ground beef over the top and then cover with the 2 cups of shredded cheese.

Bake uncovered in the oven at 375' until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown. 

Cut into 8 pieces.  Each piece has just 323 calories.  Fat 8g, Carbs 45g, Protein 18g and 438mg of sodium. With over 8g of fiber, each serving has 35% of  the daily recommended allowance of fiber (based on a 2000 cal/day diet)! Add a vegetable to this plate and you have a near perfect meal that would impress a dietician!

Fitness for Moms

Look Good & Feel Great no matter what age your kids happen to be!
Here's why exercise is important for all you Moms out there:

Moms-to-be
Pre-natal exercise minimizes weight gain during pregnancy and can definitely make your delivery easier.

Moms with little kids
Lose the baby fat! You spend nearly every waking moment taking care of others.
Isn’t it time you take care of yourself? A little “me time” goes a long way.

Moms with school-age kids
Like it or not, your kids are watching you, so be a good role model.
If you care about exercise and eating well it will rub off on your kids (eventually).

Moms with older kids
Now that you have some free time are you in shape enough to enjoy it?
Got any kids’ weddings to attend? You can look great in your mother-of-the-bride gown.

Grandmas
Babies are heavier than you might remember!
Can you get down on the floor to play?
Are you fast enough to keep up with your grandchildren?