Arroz con Leche

• Milk -- 4 cups
• Short-grain rice --1/2 cup
• Cinnamon stick -- 1
• Orange or lemon peel -- 2 strips
• Salt -- pinch
• Raisins -- 1/4 cup
• Sugar -- 1/2- 1/4 cups depending on taste
  
• Butter -- 2 tablespoons
• Vanilla 1 teaspoon

1. Place the milk, rice, cinnamon stick, orange or lemon peel and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Immediately reduce heat to very low and simmer, stirring often and scraping bottom, for about 45 minutes.
2. Add the raisins and sugar and simmer for another 15 minutes. Stir often to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. Adjust sugar to taste and serve hot or cold, sprinkling the top with some ground cinnamon.

Notes:
I always skip the raisins and the orange peel (two things I usually don't have). the original recipe called for 1/2 cup sugar, but it was a little sweet for me. This is the way I use up any souring milk in my fridge.

Black Bean & Chipotle Soup

¼ cup olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
2 cups peeled and diced carrots
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped green or red bell peppers
2 cups cooked black beans (two 15-ounce cans, undrained) (or cook 1 cup dried beans)
½ dried chipotle pepper, or 1 canned chipotle in adobo sauce (recommended)
2 cups chopped fresh or undrained canned tomatoes (12-ounce can)
½ cup orange juice
½ cup water
salt to taste
sour cream to top
chopped fresh cilantro

Warm the oil in a non-reactive soup pot. Sauté the onions and garlic in the oil for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Add the carrots and cumin and cook on medium heat, sitting often for a few minutes. Add the celery and peppers, lower the heat, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the beans chipotle, tomatoes, orange juice, and water, and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. If you're not using canned beans, add ½ cup of beans cooking liquid or additional water.

If you like a thicker broth, you can blend one or two cups of the soup until pureed, and stir it back into the remaining soup. Top with optional sour cream and cilantro.

Reprinted from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special

Mexican Rice

• 1 generous cup of rice
  
• 2 1/2 c. hot water
• 2 1/2 t. chicken bouillon
  
• 1/3 c. oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
  
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
  
• 1/4 of a green pepper, finely chopped
• 1/2 c. tomato puree (I use tomato sauce)

Heat oil in a frying pan. Brown rice and onion until rice becomes a golden transparent color--not too brown! Drain off oil. Put rice/onion mixture and all other ingredients into rice cooker and cook as usual, or, if preparing without a rice cooker, add other ingredients to the frying pan and simmer until done.

Enchiladas

• 8 to 10 tortillas
• 1 lb. hamburger
• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 cup dairy sourcream
• 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
• sprinkle of dried parsley
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
• 2/3 cup water
  
• 1/3 cup chopped green pepper
  
• 1 Tblsp. chili powder
  
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
  
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  
• Tomato-Chili Sauce (see end)

Brown hamburger and onion together. Drain. Add sour cream, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper and mix. Set aside. In a sauce pan combine remaining ingredients except Tomato-Chili Sauce. Heat to boiling stirring occasionally; reduce heat to simmering, simmer 5 minutes. Pour sauce into a pie pan. Dip tortillas in sauce, fill with 1/4 cup filling, and roll up. Place in a 9x13 pan. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas --cook uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Tomato-Chili Sauce

• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
  
• 1 to 3 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
  
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
  
• onion, chopped (to taste)
• sprinkle of garlic powder
  
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine and chill. Store covered in fridge no longer than a week. Chopped avocado is also good in this.

I've always wanted to create a vegetarian version of this using beans and rice....

Fajitas

• 1 medium to large onion, sliced
• 1 medium to large green pepper, sliced (red & yellow are great, too!)
• 1 can black beans
  
• taco or fajita seasoning mix packet
• tortillas

Directions:

Saute’ onions and peppers together with cooking spray or oil. Add chicken and crained beans when veggies are tender. Add seasoning mix (I use 1/2 packet) and water to chicken, beans, and veggies.. Stir and cook until all are well coated and water is mostly gone. Crisp tortillas in a frying pan if desired. Serve fajita filling in tortillas w/refried beans, sour cream, fresh tomatoes, salsa, taco sauce, guacamole, whatever you like!

Enchiladas Verdes de Pollo

• 2 bone-in chicken breast halves
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 white onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks removed
• 5 serrano peppers
• 1/4 white onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 pinch salt
• 12 corn tortillas
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup crumbled queso fresco
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan, combine chicken breast with chicken broth, one quarter onion, a clove of garlic, and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, and then boil for 20 minutes. Reserve broth, set chicken aside to cool, and discard onion and garlic. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken with your hands.
2. Place tomatillos and serrano chiles in a pot with water, enough to cover them. Bring to boil, and continue boiling until tomatillos turn a different shade of green (from bright green to a dull, army green). Strain tomatillos and chiles, and place in a blender with another quarter piece of onion, 1 clove garlic, and a pinch of salt. Pour in reserved chicken broth, so that liquid just covers the veggies in the blender by about an inch. Blend all ingredients until they are completely pureed. Pour salsa in a medium saucepan, and bring to a low boil.
3. Pour oil in a frying pan, and allow to get very hot. Slightly fry tortillas one by one in hot oil, setting each on a paper towel afterwards to soak some of the oil. Finally, dip slightly fried tortillas in low-boiling green salsa, until tortillas become soft again. Place on plates, 3 per person.
4. Fill or top tortillas with shredded chicken, then extra green sauce. Top with crumbled cheese, chopped onion, and chopped cilantro.