Mashed Pinto Beans with Manchego Cheese

Keeping on the spanish/mexican theme we had going on a few weeks ago, I needed to find a couple new side dishes. This recipe caught my eye because I LOVE refried beans, but have never had them at home. I think the hubby thought I was crazy as I was preparing these beans, but I was very satisfied with the outcome.

However, I did not care for the bacon, and would leave that out next time. Maybe my bacon wasn't crispy enough, but I just did not really like the addition, so my changes are reflected below. Also, I have not acquired a potato masher yet, so my beans were not mashed as much as I would have liked, so hopefully I'll have one by the next time I make these beans.

Mashed Pinto Beans with Manchego Cheese

Source: adapted slightly from elly says opa

1/2 medium onion or one shallot, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2/3 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp. cumin
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper
2-3 Tbsp. shredded or grated manchego cheese
sliced scallions
1 tsp olive oil

Heat olive oil over medium heat in large skillet; add the onion/shallot and cook until tender. Stir in the garlic until fragrant, and then the chicken broth, cumin, beans, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring the mixture to a light boil and continue to simmer for 10 minutes (or for as long as you want, if you want to time it with your main dish).

Use a potato masher to press down on the beans, and mash to your desired consistency (adding more broth if necessary).

Once plated, top with the manchego cheese and sliced scallions

Island Spice Pork Tenderloin

Now that it is grilling season, I strongly urge all of you to make this meal ASAP. Pork tenderloins can grill up in about 15 minutes and you can essentially flavor the meat any way you want. This was actually our first time having pork tenderloins, as we usually stick to the larger pork loin roasts, and I was incredibly turned off in the past by those packaged, already flavored pork tenderloins you can buy (seriously, the one time we had one of these I was totally grossed out.) However, I am now a fan of good quality pork tenderloins and can't wait to try more ways of preparing them.

Back to the recipe at hand; this pork is like a flavor explosion in every bite. Honestly, with every bite you get the faint sweetness from the brown sugar, a hint of garlic and cumin, and then a burst of heat from the cayenne pepper and hot sauce. And my favorite part, the hint of cinnamon lurking around the corner of each bite. I actually almost could not make this because the hubby explained to me that he does not like cinnamon unless it's on his toast. Seriously, how can you not be intrigued and in love with cinnamon? So we compromised by adding cayenne pepper.

Every bite of the pork tasted a little different, depending on where the glaze ended up during the grilling process. The glaze carmelizes and creates a nice crust on the outside, so don't mistake this for burnt meat! I think we'll be having this again soon! The original recipe roasts the tenderloin so I adapted it for the grill.

Island Spice Pork Tenderloin
Source: Adapted from Annie's Eats, who adapted from Pennies on a Platter

Ingredients:

For the spice rub:
2 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil

2 pork tenderloins (about 2-2½ lbs. total)

For the glaze:
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1½ tsp. Tabasco or your favorite hot sauce

Directions:
Combine the salt, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Stir together with a fork to blend. Pat the mixture over the pork tenderloins. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate 4-8 hours, or as long as you want.

Prepare a medium-hot grill. Remove meat from refrigerator and let rest 15 minutes to take the chill off. Combine brown sugar, garlic and hot sauce.

Grill the pork for 12 minutes, turning a quarter turn every 3 minutes. Top tenderloin with 1/3 brown sugar glaze. Continue to cook pork, turning every minute or so, topping twice more with glaze. Cook pork until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the tenderloin measures 145 degrees or the meat is slightly pink at the center. Let the pork rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!

Manchego Stuffed Pork Chops with Roasted Red Pepper-Pepita Sauce

I'm always on the look-out for ingredients I've never had/used before, and this recipe really hit the jackpot. Pepitas? Basically pumpkin seeds, but something I've never cooked with. Manchego? A salty, slightly tangy cheese that opened a new door in my cheese-lover's heart. Roasted red peppers? Sure I've had a jar hanging out on the shelf for-ev-er, but I have to admit I'm not sold on these yet.

I figured I would love the pork chop aspect of this meal, because honestly, anything stuffed with cheese has to be pretty good. And I was not disappointed with that part. The sauce, however, did not sit well with me. I do think that was my own fault because I think I used too much balsamic vinegar, and I ended up scraping all the sauce off my pork. I think it could be a good sauce, and the hubby seemed to enjoy it, but not quite up my alley yet.

Another plus to this meal is how fast and easy it all comes together. Served with mashed pinto beans, it was an all-around new tasting experience for us!

Manchego Stuffed Pork Chops with Roasted Red Pepper-Pepita Sauce
Source: elly says opa

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 pork chops
thinly sliced manchego cheese
2 Tbsp. pepitas
1/2 cup sliced roasted red peppers
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350.

Using a paring or utility knife, slice pockets into your pork chops, or nearly butterfly them. Stuff the chops with thin slices of manchego (about 1/2 oz. for each chop). Season the pork chops with kosher salt and fresh pepper.

Heat a large, heavy bottomed skillet or saute pan over medium heat and then add 2 tsp. of the oil. Once hot, add the pork chops and brown on each side, about 1-2 minutes (don’t cook them through). Move the pan to the oven and allow the pork chops to finish cooking (8-15 minutes, depending on thickness and whether chops are boned).

Meanwhile, make the roasted red pepper sauce. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the pepitas. Toss a couple of times and let them heat until fragrant and they start to turn golden brown. Combine the pepitas, roasted red peppers, vinegar, remaining 1 tsp. olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste in a mini food processor and process until smooth. Serve the red pepper sauce over the pork chops.

Pork Carnitas

Growing up, tacos made a regular appearance on our dinner table. Tacos are also one of my dad's most requested dinners, if I'm not mistaken. I know you should never mess with a good thing, and nothing can really compare to a regular taco, but sometimes it's nice to try something new. That's where these carnitas come in (along with a 6lb pork shoulder hanging out in the freezer that I just had to buy because it was on sale.)

These were actually really good! I have a little food crush on cinnamon, and I love that you can taste a hint of it in this pork. This pork is really juicy and full of flavor, and it makes A LOT. We served ours on corn tortillas with pepperjack cheese, jalepenos and tomatoes. This would also make a great filling for enchiladas, so our leftovers are hanging out in the freezer until it's enchilada time.

Pork Carnitas

Source: Homemade by Holman, adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 pork shoulder roast, 6-8 pounds
2 T chili powder
2 T ground cumin
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 T coarsely ground salt
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups apple cider
1 cup chicken stock

Put pork roast into a large crock pot, cutting into smaller pieces if necessary to make it fit. Mix spices in a small bowl and pat on top and sides of meat. Pour cider and stock around the sides of the roast, making sure to not wash off spices.

Cook on low for approximately 10 hours. The fat will easily pull off the top of the meat with a fork or spoon. Use 2 forks to shred the meat and remove the bone. Skim off some of the excess liquid, leaving about 1/2 - 1 cup in the crock pot and turn to warm until ready to serve. If you prefer you can also remove the roast before shredding the meat and add back into the crock pot.

Serve on tortillas with whatever toppings you want.

Cauliflower Soup

I have been on a huge cauliflower kick lately, and it's actually kind of disappointing that I went without veggies for so long because I was positive I did not like them. I'm glad I got over that! And holy moly, this soup is good. I actually cannot believe I had forgotten how delicious cauliflower soup could be. And I know that winter is now officially over, but that shouldn't mean that soup season is over as well. This soup is light enough that it can be enjoyed all year long, and it's actually pretty healthy (you can make it even lighter by not adding the cheese, but I am a firm believer that cheese makes almost anything better.)

Cauliflower Soup
Adapted from Branny Boils Over, inspired by The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh basil, chopped (or 1 tsp. dried basil)
1 1/2 heads of cauliflower, chopped into florets
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I used reduced fat)
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 Tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil over medium heat in large dutch oven or stockpot. Add onion and cook for 4-5 minutes, just to sweat, not brown them. Add minced garlic, saute until fragrant. Add celery and carrots, continue cooking for 4-5 minutes. Stir in salt, basil and cauliflower florets; cover and cook on low for 15-20 minutes.

Add chicken broth and bring soup to a simmer. Slightly warm milk in microwave and whisk in flour; add to soup. Simmer 15-20 minutes.

Using an immersion or standard blender, puree a small amount of soup (you can skip this step if you like your soup chunkier, but I wanted to thicken it up a little bit more.) Add parsley, cheddar cheese and sour cream; heat until cheese melts. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with crusty bread (see below); Enjoy!

Toasted Ciabatta
Slice a loaf of ciabatta bread, drizzle slices with olive oil. Toast in broiler until crispy. Peel a garlic clove and lightly rub over toasted ciabatta slices. Serve with soup.