Saturday, February 27, 2010

Fiesta Time!








Saturday was a lazy day. Didn't get to do much. It was snowing since morning and all I wanted to do was to relax. I spent almost all day watching TV!





I didn't want to spend much time in the kitchen either. So I decided to make a one dish meal. My old and trusty Mexican Lasagna, which I prefer to call Fiesta Lasagna. It is truly a fiesta in a pot. Fun and easy to make and it is yummo!

Here is the recipe for my Fiesta Lasagna.



    Ingredients:


  • 1 lb. ground meat, browned and drained

  • 2 medium onions, finely chopped

  • 6 big cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 each, medium sized green and red bell peppers

  • 1 cup frozen corn, thawed

  • 1 chipotle chilli in adobo sauce, chopped

  • a handful chopped cilantro

  • a pack of Old El Paso taco seasoning

  • 1 tsp. dried oregano

  • 2 tbsp paprika

  • 1-26 oz bottle of tomato sauce

  • 12-6" tortilla

  • 3 cups marble cheese, shredded

  • Sour cream and Salsa(optional)

Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Saute onions till soft and translucent. Add all the ingredients up to tomato sauce. Mix thoroughly and simmer gently for at least 2 hours.


In a 13" X 9" baking dish, sprayed with cooking spray, ladle 2 cups of sauce. Arrange 4 tortillas, overlapping. Spread 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers again, ending with a layer of cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes. Turn off the oven and let the pot sit in the hot oven for 10 more minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it cool down for 15 minutes. Cut into pieces and serve with sour cream and salsa.






Friday, February 26, 2010

Edible bouquets!



These bouquets were made a while ago. Thought I should share it with all my friends out there. Both the bouquets are self explanatory! No recipe required!

The fruit bouquet was made for my parents' 40th anniversary party. It was a huge hit. Guests loved it, and they didn't want to eat any of the skewers as it looked too good to eat! Funny!

The veggie bouquet, I wanted to surprise my co-workers! And bull's eye! They were so surprised to see that simple veggies can be turned into something eye catching! We all enjoyed the veggies with the special 3-cheese dip that I made!

I like to take short cuts in cooking. Yes, Semi Home-made Indian works and rocks!

Here is the recipe for the dip:

3-Cheese dip

Just take 3 cheese ranch dressing(any!), mix with equal amount of mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste and voila! your dip is ready!

Enjoy!