Bean Burrito with Potatoes

Blogging Marathon# 66: Week 3/ Day 1

Theme: Kid's Delight -- Lunch Box Recipes

Dish: Bean Burrito with Potatoes

We are starting a new week of blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is 'Kid friendly-Lunchbox dishes'. I am hosting Valli's Kid's Delight event this month with the same theme. Packing lunches for my kids is quite a task since they are quite picky and it gets really challenging to come up with dishes they would eat in school.

Both my kids have very different tastes. My son likes pasta, sandwiches or wraps to school whereas my daughter prefers rice with broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrot etc. With such varied tastes, it becomes so difficult to make something that both of them would enjoy. Luckily until last year, my little one was going to school only 3 days a week, but come September she will be going full time, which means packing lunch for both for the whole week.

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Mexican Chocolate Date Truffles (Vegan Energy Balls)

After doing the detox diet, I have been trying to avoid processed foods and refined sugar in our diets. But sometimes it is difficult to stop those afternoon sweet cravings. Instead of reaching to those chocolate candy, here are a much healthy and nutritious alternate -- these Mexican Chocolate Date truffles.

These little energy balls are made with medjool dates, nuts and cacao powder. They are no-bake, no-cook and are perfect when you are short on time. I used mixed nuts with almonds, cashews, pistachios and peanuts, but you can use any one nut or your favorite combination of nuts.

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Spicy Tofu Sofritos

Blogging Marathon# 61: Week 4/ Day 3

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes from Fellow BM Bloggers

Dish: Tofu Sofritos from Smruthi's Herbivore Cucina 
For the final day of this month's blogging marathon, I made Tofu Sofritas from Smruthi's Herbivore Cucina. I bookmarked it when I saw it on her Top 15 recipes of 2015. This is a restaurant style dish that can be easily made at home.

If you are wondering what Sofritas is, then here's a nice infographic by Chipotle that explains how cooked and crumbled tofu combined with sofrito (a very popular Latin spice mix) makes this amazing tasting dish that they call Sofritas. I ate sofritas at Chipotle once and was planning to make it at home and then I saw it on Smruthi's blog, so finally made it myself.

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Mexican Chopped Salad with Jicama

Blogging Marathon# 61: Week 3/ Day 2

Theme: Dishes using Root Vegetables

Dish: Mexican Chopped Salad with Jicama

Jicama has recently become one of my favorite vegetable. It is crispy, slightly sweet and very refreshing. It is a root vegetable and falls under the taproot category. Rutabaga, parsnip, daikon are few other veggies that fall under this category.

I wanted to take a picture of jicama and asked my son to pose. Then my daughter wanted to hold it too for the photos. But in the end I couldn't pick just one, so I'm posting both their pics.

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Taco Salad (Vegetarian Recipe)

Blogging Marathon# : Week 1/ Day 2

Theme: Taste of Home Top 100 recipes of 2015

Dish: Taco Salad
Today's dish from Taste of Home top 100 recipes is this delicious Taco Salad. I wanted to make taco salad for a while now and when I saw it on the top 100 I knew I had to give it a try. Original recipe also has cooked meat but I omitted it and just made the rest of the recipe.

Key to this recipe is the dressing that is made with Thousand Island dressing. You can either use store bought Thousand Island dressing or make it yourself at home. I didn't want to buy a jar since I know I will let it sit in the fridge for god knows how long.

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Mexican Chocolate Bars

Bake-a-thon 2015: Day 12
Bake of the day: Mexican Chocolate Bars

Last week of December, last couple of posts for this year's Bake-a-thon.. sigh.. time sure is zooming by fast :-( Can't believe we are just a few days away from a new year, I'm excited and anxious as to what it's going to bring.

Coming back to today's dish, I made these Mexican Chocolate bars way back in May when I had my blog buddies over for a get together. I took the photos but didn't get a chance to post the recipe till now. Recipe is from Woman's Day.

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Salsa Picante

This is one of the condiments that I wanted to post for the mega marathon-condiment week, but didn't know which country to put it under. So I'm posting it today for 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge'.
Salsa is a condiment made with tomatoes, onions, peppers and other ingredients. 'Picante' is a Spanish adjective meaning 'piquant', derived from the word 'picar' which means to sting, referring to the feeling caused on the tongue.

I usually make fresh salsas, the ones that are basically chopped and mixed together. This one is cooked till the veggies are tender and the sauce is thickened.

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Mexican Vegetarian Chilaquiles

Buffet on Table: Breakfasts across Countries

Day 21: Mexican Chilaquiles

After a simple Cuban breakfast, we move onto Mexico for a traditional dish called Chilaquiles. Lightly fried corn tortillas smothered with red or green salsa forms the basis of this dish.
Chilaquiles are generally served for breakfast or brunch and is usually made with leftover tortillas and salsas. They are also served as the last meal in a long lasting wedding party close to morning in what is known as a tornaboda (or after-wedding party).

I found this 'Chilaquile Manifesto' post and knew right away that the author means business and knows a lot about chilaquiles. So I just followed the recipe without futzing it around. The resulting chilaquiles were soooo good that even my picky eater son loved them and came back for seconds.

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Sikil Pak (Pumpkin Seed Mole Dip)

Buffet on Table: Week 3 -- Condiments from Countries

Day 17: Mexico -- Sikil Pak (Pumpkin Seed Mole Dip)
For the last day of the Condiment week, here's a no-cook Pumpkin seed dip called Sikil Pak from Mexico. It is a specialty of Yucatan region and is rich, thick and very delicious.

Recipe is from 'Vegan Eats World' cookbook by Terry Hope Romero. When I first read the name, it sounded like an Asian dish but it is a Yucatan dip that is apparently very popular in many Mexican restaurants in the U.S. I've never seen it in any of the ones that I went to, so it was totally new to me.

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Vegan Churros with Chocolate Sauce

Buffet on Table: Week 1 -- Combos from Countries

Day 5: Mexico -- Vegan Churros with Chocolate Sauce

For the last day of this week's Combo meals, I made a addictive dessert from Mexico -- Churros with Chocolate Sauce. Churros are fingers or loops of sugar coated fried pastry dough that is usually served with cups of hot chocolate.

Churros have a light crunchy outside and an airy inside. They are quite easy to make at home. They can vary from country to country in shape and size: in Venezuela, they are shaped as dainty loops whereas Mexican churros are quite long and spiked with cinnamon. Many Latin countries like their churros with just a dusting of granulated sugar.

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Vegetarian Tamales with Spinach, Corn and Cheese Filling

Blogging Marathon# 54: Week 3/ Day 2

Theme: Kid's Delight -- Cooking from Kid's Books/ TV shows

Dish: Tamales with Spinach, Corn & Cheese Filling 

For the second day of BM# 54 under 'Kid's Delight: Cooking from story books/ TV shows', I made Tamales. I asked my son to give me ideas for this week's theme and he said he watched a TV show where they made tamales and he wanted me to try them too.
Tamales have been on my to-make list for a very very long time. I asked my blog buddy Mir to buy me some corn husks and the sweet heart she is, she brought me a big bag of corn husks that I finally got to use today.

Tamales are made with masa harina, a traditional flour used to make corn tortillas and other Mexican dishes. The flour is made from dried masa, a dough made specially from treated corn. If you want to know more about masa harina, read this. The masa dough encases the filling and the whole tamale is wrapped in a corn husk or a banana leave and either steamed or boiled.

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7 Layer Mexican Dip

Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 2/ Day 1

Theme: Movie Night Snacks

Dish: 7 Layer Mexican dip

My theme for this week's blogging marathon is 'Snacks for Movie Night'. Family movie nights have become rare with my husband's crazy travel schedule but we try and catch up once in a while. I'm not big on snacks, I rather eat a full meal and I'm happy. But the kids and the husband love snacks. So for the next 3 days, I'm going to share some make ahead or quick to make snacks that are great for a movie night (or for any night or party for that matter).

First up is a Mexican layer dip. It has 7 layers with gaucamole, refried beans, salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, olives and scallions. If you are up for it, you can make some of the layers at home, or if you are like me, just buy some good quality guacamole, refried beans and salsa.

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Vegetarian Rice & Beans Burrito with Queso Sauce

Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 1/ Day 3

Theme: Tortilla based Dishes

Dish: Vegetarian Rice & Beans Burrito with Queso Sauce

For the last day of this week's marathon under 'Tortilla based dishes' theme, I made rice & beans filled burritos. We love Mexican food and I make it at least once a week. I always keep tortillas in stock for quick wraps, burritos or tacos.

Taco Bell happens to be our favorite fast food restaurant and before you start judging me let me tell you that is the only place where we get a decent choice of vegetarian options. Also they keep adding new items on to their menu unlike other fast food chains where we usually exhaust the dishes to try the first time we visit. Other Mexican fast food places we visit are Qdoba & Chipotle. So moral of the story is we love Mexican food and eat it quite frequently at home and outside.

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Vegetarian Fajitas

Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 1/ Day 2

Theme: Tortilla based Dishes

Dish: Vegetarian Fajitas

Second day of tortilla based dishes and today I've some delicious vegetarian fajitas to share. Fajitas happen to be my favorite dish to order at Chili's restaurant. I've never made them at home even though they are quite simple to make.

Vegetarian fajitas are not on Chili's menu, but a nice waitress had it customized for me once and I got totally hooked. Every time I went to this Chili's location, I make sure to order their vegetarian fajitas.

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Vegetarian Sincronizada (Quesadillas)

Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 1/ Day 1

Theme: Tortilla based Dishes

Dish: Sincronizada

We are starting a brand new edition of Blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is 'Tortilla based dishes'. Valli gave us a list of tortilla dishes to choose from to make our lives easy. Tortilla is nothing but the Spanish version of Indian rotis. They are soft and made with finely ground wheat flour or corn flour.

So for the first day, I picked Sincronizada. The name seemed very complicated but making it is not complicated at all. Sincronizada is usually confused with Quesadilla, but they are considered are completely different dishes. Quesadilla is traditionally made with corn flour and is single folded. Whereas sincronizada is made with flour tortilla, has 'ham' as a mandatory ingredient and is usually made as a sandwich.

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Tres Leche Cake (Vegan Recipe)

I have a rich, decadent and indulgent dessert today, Tres Leche cake or 3 milk cake. I made as a part of Mexican lunch I had with some of my blog buddies last weekend.

My husband is not a big fan of desserts like these, but I love them a lot. Since I can't make them for myself, I'm always looking for opportunities to make them. So when I decided on the Mexican theme for our blogger's lunch, I knew this Latin American dessert would be a great addition.

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Vegetarian Molletes - Mexican Open Face Sandwich

After all the sweet & savory bakes in April, I'm starting May with a baked Mexican open faced sandwich called Mollete. When I think of May, I think of Cinco de Mayo that is celebrated on the 5th of May. The date is observed to commemorate the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French at the battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. So May 5th means make Mexican food and enjoy!!
I was browsing through my 'Cookshelf -- Mexican' cookbook for some recipes and found this Mollete sandwich. It is a Mexican version of open faced sandwich that is filled with refried beans and cheese, then topped with a crunchy cabbage salad.

Molletes are traditionally made with bolillos, a savory Mexican bread that is similar to a baguette but is shorter in length and has a crunchy crust and soft inside. I couldn't find bolillo in my neighborhood, so bought wholewheat crusty rolls and made the sandwiches with them.

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Migas with Black beans

Blogging Marathon# 49: Week 1/ Day 3

Theme: Brunch Recipes

Dish: Migas with Black beans

Eggs form a very important part in breakfast and brunch menus, for egg eaters that is. So when I'm planning a brunch for my egg eating friends, I usually make a frittata (a big fat baked omelette with lots of veggies) or a quiche (egg based pie). One of my Turkish friend recently introduced me to Menemen (Turkish scrambled eggs with veggies) and that tasted awesome.

While looking for some egg based dishes for this week's Brunch theme, I found this Migas recipe on Pioneer Woman site. This Migas is different from the traditional Spanish & Portuguese migas. In this Tex-Mex version eggs are scrambled along with corn tortillas, veggies and cheese. It is typically served with refried beans and corn or flour tortillas are used to fold all the ingredients into tacos.

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Taco Pizza (Vegetarian Recipe)

Blogging Marathon# 47: Week 2/ Day 3
Theme: Kid's Delight Event -- Pizza & Pasta
Dish: Taco Pizza

Today's dish is a Mexican - Italian fusion dish, Taco pizza. My son loves tacos and pizzas and this seemed to be a great dish which combines both of his favorites. I saw the recipe being made on TV by the Pioneer Woman and I knew I will be making it for my kids real soon.

Refried black beans are spread on the pizza instead of tomato sauce here and then baked with some grated cheese on top. What happens after the pizza comes out makes it a Mexican specialty.

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Limeade with Brown Cane Sugar (Agua de Papelon)

Blogging Marathon# 46: Week 2/ Day 3
Theme: Lemon/ Lime Recipes
Dish: Agua de Papelon (Limeade with Panela/ Jaggery)

For the final day of 'Lemon/ Lime recipes', I was thinking of making something sweet. But I'm not a big fan of lemon flavored desserts -- I prefer vanilla or chocolate flavors. As I was looking through 'Viva Vegan' cookbook, I found the recipe for a Limeade with Panela or South American unprocessed cane sugar.

I bought a slab of panela a while back but totally forgot about it until I found this recipe. Papelon or Panela (as it's called in Venezuela and Colombia) is produced by cooking the juice of freshly squeezed sugar cane down to a solid, crystallized mass. I wasn't sure how it would taste because it was really dark in color, I thought it will have a molasses-ish taste but I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted just like jaggery (our own unprocessed cane sugar from India).

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