Cooking Class - Day 2

It seems like life has spun a bit out of control these days with work, school, and general life upkeep. It's nice to sit down and get the chance to blog for the first time this week, and I have great recipes to share.

Last week was day two of my cooking class and it was scrumptious.

We made: Black Bean Chile-Cheese Enchiladas, Red Cabbage Salad with Pears and Walnuts, and Raw Chocolate Pie.

It was all absolutely delicious and so easy to make.

So here we go.

Black Bean Chile-Cheese Enchiladas

You will need:

Sauce
1tsp olive oil
1 small onion
1 small can diced tomatoes
1/2 can tomato paste
1-2 dried Mexican chilies, halved, stemmed, and seeded

Enchiladas
1 Poblano chili (or 1/4-1/2 jalepeno), seeds removed and finely chopped
1/4c chopped onion
1 clove of garlic
1/2c. feta cheese
1/4c. mozza, shredded
1 tsp chopped cilantro
2 tortillas
2c. chopped spinach
1/2 can black beans (drained and rinsed)

We started by making the sauce first.

Heat oil in frying pan (do not try to multi-task or you will run the risk of your cooking instructor coming over and turning your burner off for you as your oil is smoking up the joint). Saute onion and garlic until soft (3min). Add dried chilis and saute 3 min more.

Stir in tomatoes and 1/2c. water. Season with salt and pepper and let simmer 10 min until chilies are soft.

Remove from heat, cool 5 min, then puree in blender or food processor until smooth.

To make the enchiladas: preheat the oven to 375. Heat oil (Medium heat) and saute onion and garlic 3 min.  Be very careful when dicing the chili.

Our instructor taught us to use a tea towel or oven mitt while cutting the chilis to protect our hands as she had an incident where she touched her eye while dicing one. She did not recommend us doingthe same.

So I used extra caution.

 Turn heat off and add chopped spinach and black beans.

Transfer to bowl and add feta cheese, cilantro, and chopped chili.

Spread 1/2 of the sauce over the bottom of a 9x9 baking dish.

Divide cheese/spinach mixture among tortillas and roll loosely.

Don't they look pretty? So colourful!

 Place tortillas in dish.

Top with remaining sauce and shredded mozza.

Bake 15-20 minutes until sauce is bubbly. Remove from oven and top with remaining cilantro!

Delicious.

We take a short break from this foodie post to point fingers and laugh at my new apron. My sweet gramma gave it to my brother last year for Christmas, and my brother 're-gifted' it to me a few weeks ago.

Grammas are the bestest.

Ok moving on.

Served with the enchiladas was a deliciously sweet and tasty salad.

Red Cabbage Salad with Pears and Walnuts

You need:

1 tsp vinegar (or raspberry wine vinegar)
1 tsp honey or maple syrup
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper

1/4 head red cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded
1/2 pear thinly sliced
1/4c toasted walnuts

Shred the cabbage and slice the pear.

Toast nuts in oven for approx 5-7 minutes
Whisk together 1st 5 ingredients
Toss together cabbage, pear, nuts, and dressing

I absolutely love the colours in this salad. The addition of the pear and the substitution of cabbage for regular every-day lettuce made for such a unique side dish.

And now for more important things.

Dessert.

Raw Chocolate Pie

You need:

1/2 c dates
1/2c  nuts
1/4c coconut

1/2c soft tofu
3/4c dark chocolate, broken into pieces
1/2c warmed milk
1tsp best quality vanilla

In a blender or food processor, combine 1st 3 ingredients and process until almost smooth.

Remove and form it into a pie plate, pressing down firmly to ensure it stays together.

Melt chocolate in the microwave, 30 sec at a time (for about 1min). Stir until smooth.

In a food processor or blender, combine tofu, melted chocolate, warmed milk, and vanilla. Process until smooth. Poor over the crust and chill.

We added jam to the top for a bit of sweetness.

YUM!!! It was such a different crust, and our instructor said that the crust could also be used to make granole bars.

The little meal we made was delicious.

The enchiladas were divine. The black beans made them feel like a hearty meal despite this being a meatless dish. The salad balanced well with the enchiladas. And dessert was delish. Anything with chocolate in it is a winner to me.

Other than a few very minor mishaps, my friend and I did a much better job this week than we did last week. Except for the fact that our instructor got a message about an oven being left on after our last class. No clue who could have been distracted enough to do an irresponsible thing like that!!!

In other news, my Valentine's present to myself arrived today at noon!

If you are looking for very easy, hearty and delicious recipes to cook, The Pioneer Woman knows how to do it best. I obsessively check her blog multiple times a day and am never disappointed. Check it out if you have a minute!

Have a wonderful  weekend!


ADELLE