Southwestern – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

13-9: Enchiladas

Jamie Martin Group 13: Vegetarian Dishes, Section 2: Main Courses January 26, 2021January 26, 2021black pepper, canola oil, cashews, Cheddar, cheese, chopped, cilantro, coriander, cubed, dinner, eggplant, fairly easy, fairly expensive, filling, garlic, lunch, Mexican, Monterey Jack, nuts, parsley, peeled, Pepper Jack, raisins, salt, sautéed, shredded, sour cream, Southwestern, spicy, Tex-Mex, tomato sauce, tomatoes, tortillas, untested, vegetable oil, vegetarian, yellow onions

Enchiladas were always a big hit in one of my previous cooking jobs, and they’re still a big hit when I make them at home for dinner today. Presenting 13-9: Enchiladas as a vegetarian dish (using vegetables as filling instead of meat) is pretty avant-garde for a 1980s cookbook, but you can always adjust the fillings as you wish.

If you want to add some options to your combination plate, you can add in 8-65: Sizzling Skirt Steaks, 3-15: Quick Mexican Soup, or 9-6: Filled Tacos.

Enchiladas were usually (and still are) one of my top choices when going to a Mexican restaurant, and the method here is not that far off from the traditional way to make them.

However, as much of a stickler as I am for authentic/homemade, I like the canned enchilada sauce you buy in the supermarket SO much better and will pretty much always just use that. Can’t tell you why, just my personal preference.

7-31: Lime Cayenne Pork Chops

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses May 26, 2020June 16, 2020black pepper, boneless, cayenne pepper, chopped, cilantro, citrus, deglazed, diced, dinner, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fruit, garnish, grated, green onions, grill pan, grilled, Hutton house, lime juice, limes, lunch, marinated, meal prep, oranges, parsley, pork, pork chops, relish, revisited, salsa, salt, Southwestern, summer, supreme, tomatoes, vegetable oil, zested

In these trying times (are you tired of hearing that yet?), it’s important to make the food you have go as far as you can, and to reduce the amount of food being wasted. Even before “the Rona“, I’ve been spending many a Saturday (or Sunday) meal-prepping for the upcoming week, which has brought down our grocery bills (and our waistlines, but apparently not as quickly).

7-31: Lime Cayenne Pork Chops was part of a “pork chop” meal-prep week, prepared in tandem with 7-53: Cider-Braised Pork Chops and served with some mixed roasted potatoes courtesy of the CSA box. It’s “meat and potatoes”, but maybe with a healthier twist?

My mom apparently made this back in November 1993, and it was “good” and “easy”. I’m not sure who ranked it as such (since she doesn’t eat pork), but we’ll go with that recommendation.

9-21: Chili Beef Casserole

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses July 22, 2018October 18, 2020basil, black olives, butter, chili powder, chopped, corn, diced, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, garlic, gluten-free, green bell peppers, ground beef, ground meat, guacamole, herbs and spices, lunch, Mexican, minced, parsley, peeled, red bell peppers, red kidney beans, salt, sautéed, sour cream, Southwestern, spice blends, taco shells, tacos, Tex-Mex, tortilla chips, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

9-21: Chili Beef Casserole is yet another case of calling something a casserole that is barely a casserole. There is no condensed soup in this recipe and this dish is cooked on a stove top, not baked. This dish is more of a tortilla filling than a main course as a casserole.

One might say this dish is a ground beef casserole with a cultural appropriation problem, not “with a Mexican accent”.

8-65: Sizzling Skirt Steaks

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses July 21, 2018July 2, 2020avocados, barbecue, beef, black pepper, broiled, canola oil, Cheddar, cheese, chili powder, chilled, chopped, cumin, diced, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, fajitas, flank steak, garlic, grilled, guacamole, herbs and spices, lime juice, limes, lunch, marinated, Mexican, minced, onion salt, party food, pico de gallo, red onions, salsa, salt, shredded, skirt steak, sliced, sour cream, Southwestern, steak, tacos, Tex-Mex, tortillas, untested, vegetables, white onions, yellow onions

You may recognize 8-65: Sizzling Skirt Steaks as basically fajitas, one of the standard Mexican restaurant menu features. If you’re looking for something different on taco night, consider this dish. This can even be modified for different types of proteins, or even add in a few more veggies or a meat substitute and go meatless.

Flank or skirt steak is taken from the underside of the cow, and is tougher than most other cuts of meat. Therefore, marinating it (especially with some acid) breaks down some of those fibers and gives you a more tender piece when it’s cooked. Cooking fast/hot works well with this type of cut–low and slow will give you tough and rubbery.

9-6: Filled Tacos

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses August 13, 2016October 20, 2020avocados, black olives, butter, canola oil, Cheddar, cheese, chili powder, diced, dinner, easy, egg-free, filling, green olives, ground beef, ground meat, ground turkey, hot sauce, inexpensive, lettuce, lunch, Mexican, Monterey Jack, party food, salt, shredded, sliced, sour cream, Southwestern, stuffed, taco shells, tacos, Tapatio, Tex-Mex, tomatoes, untested, vegetables

I never expected to find a recipe for filled tacos in the Simply Delicious cookbooks. 9-6: Filled Tacos are an easy and filling dinner. The prep is the longest part. ?

I bought a box of prepared taco shells at the store. Different from the kind shown in the photos provided by Simply Delicious, but they got the job done. ??

2-26: Corn & Wild Rice Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters February 14, 2016March 14, 2020American, appetizers, black beans, boiled, cilantro, cooked chicken, corn, dairy-free, diced, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, gluten-free, green bell peppers, green onions, ham, jalapeño peppers, lettuce, lime juice, limes, lunch, marinated, olive oil, party food, red bell peppers, rice, salads, salt, shrimp, side dish, simmered, Southwestern, spicy, untested, vegan, vegetable oil, vegetables, vegetarian, wild rice

In the mood for more corn after 3-14: Creamy Corn Chowder? It’s still not quite corn season yet, but if you’ve got some frozen corn hanging out in the freezer, you can feel like it’s summer with 2-26: Corn & Wild Rice Salad.

This would be a great recipe to make for a summer BBQ or picnic–it’s healthy, pretty, and as they say above, easy to make. It feels incredibly out of season now (February), but therein lies the magic of the Internet–you might find this in June or July and it’ll be perfect then.