There is nothing better than cooking up a huge vat of soup over the weekend and having an arsenal of lunches in the fridge so you barely have to cook during the week. This Winter Minestrone is packed full of vegetables, but isn’t some sissy soup. Instead it has nuggets of carrots, lots of greens, pasta that reminds you of the canned minestrone that you grew up with, and of course, large pieces of bacon. This recipe makes enough for 8 bowls of soup, which can also be frozen too, at $1.42 per serving.

Winter Minestrone, adapted from Gourmet, January 2009
1/3 pound sliced bacon or pancetta, chopped
3 medium red onions, chopped
4 celery ribs, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch Swiss chard
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes in juice
3 quarts hot water
5 cups coarsely chopped cored Savoy cabbage, about 6 ounces
5 cups coarsely chopped escarole, about 1/2 pound
1 piece Parmesan rind, about 3 by 1 1/2 inches
1 14-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
4 ounces dried macaroni pasta

Brown the bacon or pancetta in oil in a 7-to 9-quart heavy pot over medium heat. It is best to get the bacon as crispy as possible so that the majority of the fat renders and you aren’t left with flimsy and fatty pieces of bacon in your finished soup. Add the onions, celery, and carrots, and stir occasionally, while preparing the chard.

Cut out the tough stems from the chard and then chop them up, reserving the leaves for later. Stir the chard stems into the bacon and veggie mixture with garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until all of the vegetables are very tender and begin to stick to bottom of pot, about 45 minutes total.

Push the vegetables to one side of pot, and add the tomato paste to the cleared area and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste begins to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Stir the paste into the vegetables and let everything cook for another 2 minutes while continuing to stir.

Stir in the canned tomatoes with their juice, and use a spoon to break them up into smaller pieces. Add 3 quarts of hot water and scrape up any brown bits from bottom of pot.

Bring everything to a simmer, and then stir in the cabbage, escarole, and Parmesan rind. Let the soup continue to simmer, covered, until the greens are tender, about 40 minutes.

Coarsely chop up the chard leaves and stir them into the soup along with cannellini beans and pasta. Simmer, partially covered, for another 10 minutes. Remove the Parmesan rind from the soup and season with salt and pepper to taste.

It has been a long week since we last posted with the website getting hacked and my computer getting a nasty handful of viruses that had Carlo pulling out what is left of his hair. Plus we had some friends in town, which meant we ate out and drank a lot this past weekend. So it felt really nice to get into the kitchen last night and make this hearty Spanish chickpea stew.

Both Carlo and I love all kinds of Spanish food, in particular tapas, but I’m a sucker for a good stew especially when it has chickpeas AND chorizo in it. The hardest part of this recipe is cooking the dried chickpeas, which is a bit time consuming, but you can do it the day before if you want. The end result is a complex stew with a nice smokiness from the paprika and a good contrast of textures between the soft meatballs and the nutty chickpeas. This recipe makes enough for 4 people at $2.66 per serving.

Chickpea Stew with Chorizo and Meatballs, adapted from The New Spanish Table
For the chickpeas:
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight or quick-soaked
1 bay leaf
6 ounces Spanish chorizo, sliced

For the meatballs:
2 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
10 ounces ground pork
1/4 cup grated onion
1 egg, lightly beaten
sea salt and pepper
extra-virgin olive oil

For finishing the stew:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon smoked sweet Spanish paprika
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
sea salt and pepper

Prepare the chickpeas by placing them in a large pot and covering them with 2 inches of cold water. Bring the soaked chickpeas to a boil over a high heat. Add the bay leaf and then reduce the heat to low, and simmer, partially covered, for 1 hour. If the water level gets really low, add some extra water to the pot.

After 1 hour, add the sliced chorizo to the chickpeas and continue cooking until the chickpeas are tender but still have a bit of bite to them, around 30 minutes longer.

While the chickpeas are cooking, make the meatballs by putting the bread into a small bowl and covering the slices with cold water. Let the bread soak for 5 minutes, then drain and squeeze out the excess liquid. Finely crumble the bread and place it in a large bowl with the pork, onion, and egg. Gently knead the meatball mixture with your hands until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Season with salt and pepper.

If the meatball mixture is too moist to form into meatballs, stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. Shape the meat mixture into meatballs the size of a cherry tomato. Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan and in batches, cook the meatballs until they are browned on both sides and pretty much cooked through. Remove the meatballs from the frying pan and set them aside until later.

In the pan with all the meatball drippings, cook the onion, carrots, and garlic over a medium heat until they are soft but not browned, around 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes then cover the frying pan, and let everything cook for another 5 minutes. Finish by stirring in the paprika.

By now, the chickpeas should be ready. There will still be some water left in the chickpea pot, and if you think it is too much, remove some of the cooking juice and reserve it in case you need to add it back later to the stew.

Add the tomato mixture to the chickpea pot and cook the stew over a simmer until the chickpeas are very tender, around 15 to 20 minutes longer. Add the meatballs at the end and simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Taste the stew and season with salt and pepper as needed.

To serve the stew, chop up some fresh parsley to sprinkle on top and enjoy.

We both really like middle eastern food, and one of our favorite cookbooks is from the restaurant Moro in London, which melds together Middle Eastern, Spanish and Moroccan food wonderfully. As we’ve been trying to eat more vegetables lately, I searched through it for some good, moreish veggie recipes, and found one for Turlu Turlu, a Turkish dish the book says is similar to ratatouille. I’d agree that it’s like ratatouille, but a bit more exciting and flavorful. I like the French version well enough, but too often it becomes this mush of mostly indistinguishable flavors. This one managed to come together a lot more nicely, and the allspice and coriander make it a lot more interesting. This recipe for Turlu Turlu makes enough for 6 portions at $1.42 per serving.

Turlu Turlu, adapted from Moro: The Cookbook
2 zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1 inch disks
1 eggplant, halved lengthways and each half cut into 4 wedges lengthways
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves
2 green peppers, halved, deseeded and thickly sliced
3 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthways and each half cut into 3 lengthways
1 medium turnip, cut into 1 inch wedges
2 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 can chickpeas
2 14-ounce cans of whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 small bunch each of fresh Italian parsley and cilantro, roughly chopped
salt and fresh ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. While the oven is heating up, sprinkle a teaspoon of fine sea salt on the zucchini and eggplant slices, and let them stand for 20 minutes before rinsing under cold water. The salt helps get rid of the excess water in the vegetables so they can roast up nicely.

In a large bowl, toss the eggplant, onion, 2 garlic cloves, peppers, carrots, turnips, and potatoes with the olive oil, allspice, coriander seeds, and a little salt and pepper. Spread the veggie mixture on a large roasting tray in a single layer, so the veggies can roast rather than steam.

Cook the vegetables for 45 minutes in the oven, and gently turn the veggies over every 15 minutes or so to prevent them from burning. After 45 minutes of roasting, add the zucchini disks to the tray and cook for another 15 minutes.

While the veggies are in the oven, make a sweet tomato sauce that will bind the dish together. In a medium saucepan, heat up the olive oil over a medium to high heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the 6 finely sliced garlic cloves and fry until the garlic begins to color. Add the chopped tomatoes and a pinch of salt to balance their acidity. Cook the sauce over a medium heat until most of the liquid that the tomatoes give out has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and then stir in the rinsed chickpeas to heat them up.

To serve the Turlu Turlu, add the roasted vegetables to the tomato-chickpea sauce and then stir everything together with the fresh herbs. Taste, and season with extra salt and pepper if needed.

On Friday night, Carlo and I had a quiet night at home with a nice bottle of wine and we spent the evening cooking together. Our original menu included some bbq ribs, but upon defrosting the frozen ribs, they smelt a bit suspect so we quickly defrosted a pork tenderloin to grill instead. The Zatar-crusted pork came out excellent, but sadly the majority of it was accidentally dropped on the floor so we each only had 1 slice to taste.

Thank god, the Roasted Sweet Potato Salad With Black Beans and Chili Dressing that we had originally made as a side dish turned into a very last minute and desperate vegetarian main course. Roasted sweet potatoes are always a favourite of mine and they paired nicely with the spicy dressing and the fresh cilantro. This recipe feeds 4 people as a side dish (or 2 as a main course when disaster strikes) at $1.24 per serving.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad With Black Beans and Chili Dressing, adapted from Mark Bittman’s The Minimalist
4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large red onion, chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh hot chili, like jalape?±o
1 clove garlic, peeled
juice of 2 limes
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the chopped sweet potatoes and onions in a large bowl and toss them with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and lots of salt and pepper. Spread the mixture into a single layer on a large baking sheet and roast them in the oven, turning occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and start to brown on their corners, around 40 minutes. Remove the roasted veggies from the oven and keep them on the baking sheet until you are ready to toss the salad.

While the sweet potatoes are roasting, whiz up the chilies, garlic, lime juice, remaining olive oil, salt, and pepper in a mini food processor to create the dressing. In another large bowl, dress the chopped red pepper and the black beans with half of the dressing and let it sit to infuse the flavour of the dressing into the beans.

Once the sweet potatoes are roasted, transfer the warm veggies into the bowl with the black beans and red pepper, and toss everything with the remaining salad dressing and chopped cilantro. Season the salad with salt and pepper as needed, and you can serve this sweet potato salad either warm or at room temperature.

Here is the recipe for the Plum and Walnut Crisp that ended our meal with my parents last week. I had planned on serving homemade ginger ice cream with the crisp, but despite my best efforts with my brand new ice cream machine, the ginger custard would just not freeze. I think I will have to test some different ice cream recipes to see if I have better luck with my birthday present!

However, it is a good thing that the plums were so ripe and sweet that the crisp didn’t need much help and could be served plain with just a dollop of fresh cream. This crisp recipe makes enough for 6 desserts at $1.30 per serving.

Plum and Walnut Crisp, from Bon Appetit, July 2003
Fruit Filling:
2 1/2 pounds plums, pitted, quartered
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crisp Topping:
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of ground nutmeg
6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Preheat your oven to 400¬?F. Toss the cut plums, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla together in bowl. Let the mixture stand until the sugar dissolves, tossing occasionally.

While the plums are standing, mix all of the dry ingredients of the crisp topping together in a large bowl. Then add the chilled butter and rub the butter into the dry mixture with your hands until small moist clumps form. Cover the crisp topping and stick it in the fridge for 20 minutes.

After the topping has properly chilled, put the fruit into a large baking dish and then sprinkle the topping over the plums. Bake the crisp until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling up through the topping, about 40 minutes. Remove the crisp from the oven and let it cool for around 30 minutes before serving.

Serve the warm crisp with either a nice scoop of ice cream or whipped fresh cream, and enjoy.

My mum and dad came out for a visit last week, and I took them up to Bryce Canyon and Zion Canyon National Parks for a few days in Utah. The night before we left on our Utah road trip, I cooked dinner for my parents and Carlo. On the menu was Spicy Pork and Chilli Pepper Goulash with a green salad and plum crisp for dessert.

This Jamie Oliver recipe for goulash isn’t really like any authentic Hungarian goulash that I have tasted, but the combination of all of the peppers and the smokiness of the paprika with melt-in-your-mouth tender pork make for a delicious dinner regardless. Plus your kitchen will smell incredible for the three hours that the goulash is transforming in your oven. This goulash recipe makes enough for 8 dinners at $3.06 per serving.

Spicy Pork and Chilli Pepper Goulash, adapted from Jaime Oliver
2-3 lbs pork roast or pork shoulder off the bone, in one piece, skin off, fat left on
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
2 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
2 generously heaped tablespoons mild smoked paprika
2 teaspoons ground caraway seeds
small bunch of fresh oregano, leaves picked
5 bell peppers, best if you use a mixture of red, green, and yellow
1 jar of roasted red peppers, drained, peeled and chopped
1 14-ounce can of plum tomatoes
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 pot of sour cream
zest and juice of 1 lemon
small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Preheat your oven to 350¬?F. This recipe calls for a deep, ovenproof dutch oven that you first heat up on the stove over a medium heat to brown the pork. I found my pork loin roast on sale at Whole Foods for $5.99 a pound, and it was a really nice piece of meat.

Score the fat on the pork roast in a criss-cross pattern all the way through to the meat and then season the pork generously with salt and pepper. Pour some olive oil into the dutch oven and let it heat up. Add the pork, fat side down, and cook it over a medium heat for about 15 minutes until the fat renders out and the pork forms a nice browned crust. Turn the pork over halfway through the cooking process so the other side can brown, and when it is finished, remove the pork from the dutch oven and set it aside.

Add the onions, chilli, paprika, caraway seeds, oregano, and a good pinch of salt and pepper to the pork drippings in the dutch oven. Turn the heat down and gently cook the mixture for 10 minutes, then add the sliced peppers, roasted peppers, and canned tomatoes.

Place the pork back into the pot in the middle of the peppers and then pour in enough water to just cover the meat. Add the vinegar to the pot, and bring everything to a boil on the stove top. Put the lid on top of the dutch oven, then place it in the preheated oven for 3 hours.

The meat is cooked when it is very tender and you can break it up easily when pulled apart with two forks. When the pork is cooked, remove the meat from the stew and shred it with a couple of forks. Place the shredded pork back into the goulash and dinner is almost ready to serve. Taste the goulash and season with extra salt and pepper as needed.

To make a nice condiment for the goulash, stir together the sour cream, lemon zest, and most of the parsley in a little bowl. Squeeze in some fresh lemon juice until you get a nice lemon-y taste.

Serve the goulash over cooked rice, and top each dish with a sprinkle of chopped parsley and a big dollop of the lemon sour cream.

Meatloaf is one of those truly American dishes that I didn’t eat when I was growing up. In fact, the only time I ever really eat meatloaf is when we are in San Francisco and have lunch at ‘wichcraft, where I order the truly incredible meatloaf sandwich with cheddar, bacon, and tomato relish on a ciabatta roll. But perhaps once every 2 years or so, I get a hankering for meatloaf and make some at home.

I got such an urge last week and found this wonderfully adult tasting meatloaf recipe. Instead of squirting tons of ketchup into the meat mixture, this recipe has the surprise ingredient of chopped prunes instead. Sounds disgusting is what I bet you are thinking, right? If so, you are wrong. The prunes add a nice sweetness to the meatloaf that tastes so much better than cloying effect of the normally used ketchup. In fact, while we were eating dinner, I had Carlo guess what the mystery ingredient was and after a few mouthfuls, he still had no idea. He named pretty much all of the other ingredients in the dish, but was stumped at what was the pi?®ce de r?©sistance of the dish.

Anyway see for yourself just how good prunes could taste (seriously, who knew?), and stump your loved ones by making this meatloaf and have them guess the mystery ingredient. This recipe for meatloaf makes enough for 8 large slices of meatloaf at $1.60 per serving.

Meatloaf, adapted from Gourmet, February 2008
1 cup fine fresh bread crumbs (from 2 slices firm white sandwich bread)
1/3 cup whole milk
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium celery rib, finely chopped
2 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 pound bacon (about 4 slices), chopped
1/2 cup pitted prunes, chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
1/2 pound ground pork
2 large eggs
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Before you start preparing the mixture for the meatloaf, preheat your oven to 350¬?F with the rack placed in middle.

Start the meatloaf by soaking the bread crumbs in milk in a large bowl.

Then cook the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots in the butter in a large heavy saucepan over a medium heat for about 5 minutes and stir occasionally. Cover the saucepan and reduce the heat to low, then cook everything until the carrots are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, allspice, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of pepper. Add this veggie mix to the soaked bread-crumb mixture.

Finely chop the bacon and prunes in a food processor, then add to the vegetable mixture along with the beef, pork, eggs, and parsley. Mix everything together with your hands.

Coat a 9- by 5-inch oval loaf pan with a light spray of olive oil and pack the meatloaf mixture into it. Once you have shaped the meatloaf, turn the loaf pan upside down in the middle of a 13- by 9-inch shallow baking dish or pan and remove the loaf pan. The meatloaf should retain the shape of the loaf pan, but will be able to cook in the pan so the three exposed sides get a bit crispy while it all cooks.

Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of meatloaf registers at 155¬?F, about 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Once the meatloaf reaches the ideal temperature, remove it from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.

After cooking the meatloaf, a lot of drippings remained in the baking dish, so I asked Carlo to make a gravy from them to top the meatloaf. He drained the drippings into a small saucepan and whisked them with a little bit of flour to create a roux. Then he added some water until he had the right gravy consistency and kept on whisking over a low heat.

The meatloaf tastes great smothered with gravy and a side of creamy mashed potatoes. It also tastes pretty amazing the next day on a sandwich too.

One of the most interesting things that has happened while I’ve been working on Recession Recipes is connecting with old friends and new friends who are as obsessed with food as I am. I love getting emails from them telling me what they are currently enjoying to eat or getting family recipes.

A very old friend Britney, who I met at my first ever job at a party store in Texas circa 1993, sent me this recipe for Moroccan Spiced Chickpea and Lentil Soup saying that I had to try it. I like lentil soups, although canned ones are usually rather bland, so I was excited to try this new soup.

It got two thumbs up from both Carlo and I. It was hearty and full of flavour from all of the dried spices, plus the Moroccan condiment charmoula added a nice shot of colour and brightness to the soup. This soup recipes makes enough for 8 big bowls of soup at 97 cents per serving.

If you have any incredible recipes that you want to share, please send them my way!

Moroccan Spiced Chickpea and Lentil Soup
Soup:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 fennel bulb, chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 medium white onion, chopped
2 14-ounce cans chopped tomatoes, with their liquid
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Pinch of saffron threads (optional)
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup dried lentils (green, brown, red or yellow), picked through and rinsed
4 sprigs cilantro
4 sprigs parsley
2 dried bay leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed, about 2 cans

Charmoula:
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and deveined
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 bunch cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil up in a large pot over a medium heat. Add the fennel and let it gently cook for a few minutes until it releases its natural juices. Throw in the red and white onions and cook until they are translucent, around 10 to 12 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes with their liquid and turn the heat up to high until it begins to simmer. Then add all of the spices to the soup base and let everything simmer together for a few more minutes.

Add the broth, lentils, cilantro and parsley sprigs, and bay leaves to the soup base and bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Mix in the sugar, salt, and pepper, then cover the pot and let everything simmer for another 25 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Add the chickpeas and cook the soup, uncovered, for another 5 or so minutes, until all the ingredients are properly heated through. Remove and throw away the bay leaves, cilantro, and parsley. Then season with salt and pepper to taste.

To make a chunkier soup, I took a couple cups of the soup and threw them in a blender until everything was pureed and then I returned the puree to the soup and mixed it in well.

The Moroccan condiment charmoula adds a nice freshness to the cooked soup and can easily be made by mixing the olive oil, cumin, garlic, jalapenos, and lemon juice in a food processor to make a puree. Throw in a bunch of cilantro leaves along with the lemon zest, and salt and pepper, and whiz until the mixture looks like a rustic pepper. If you need to thin it out, add a little bit of extra oil. You can keep the charmoula in a tightly closed container in the fridge for up to few days.

Serve the soup hot, with 1 tablespoon of the charmoula mixed in. The soup keeps for a few days in the fridge and makes great leftovers. We didn’t freeze any this time, but I think it should hold up well in the freezer too.

This tasty Tyler Florence recipe for Roasted Hatch Green Chile, Black Bean, and Chicken Enchiladas takes an ordinary roasted deli chicken from the supermarket and turns it into a spectacular Mexican treat. Everything else in the rest of the recipe is made from scratch, aside from the tortillas, so not having to worry about roasting a chicken makes this recipe a little easier. Although if you are super gung-ho, you can always make Carlo’s fail-proof roast chicken.

This recipe with guacamole makes a huge baking dish of enchiladas that easily feeds 8 people at $2.54 a serving, or you can make the full amount just for yourself and have some great leftovers for a few days.

Roasted Hatch Green Chile, Black Bean, and Chicken Enchiladas
Enchiladas:
12 tomatillos, husked and rinsed
2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed
1 onion, quartered
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
2 limes, juiced
salt
3 Hatch green chiles, or poblano peppers if you can’t find any
extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups canned chicken stock
1 deli roasted chicken, about 3 pounds, boned, meat shredded
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
Leaves from 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 large corn tortillas
1/2 pound Monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 pint sour cream

Chunky Guacamole:
4 ripe avocados
3 limes, juiced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 serrano chiles, sliced thinly
1 big handful fresh cilantro, finely chopped
extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Although you can roast your husked tomatillos and chile peppers over an open gas flame or in an oven, it is really easy to also throw them on a hot bbq grill until you get some nice char marks on their skins. Once the chile peppers are roasted, put them in a closed brown paper bag or in a bowl covered with clingfilm and let them steam so it is easier to skin and deseed the chiles under running water. You can also grill the jalapenos and onions for the salsa to add a nice grilled flavour to the dish.

To make the salsa for the enchiladas, put the grilled tomatillos, jalapenos, and onion into a food processor with the cumin. Whiz everything together and then add the cilantro, lime juice, and salt and mix together.

To make the enchilada filling, heat up some olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute it until it is softened and about to caramelize, around 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or so, then add the cumin and cook for another minute.

Add the flour and mix it well into the onion and spice mixture. Slowly pour the chicken stock into the saucepan and stir constantly so the flour doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan or clump together. Bring the mixture to a simmer and let the liquid thicken. Then mix in the chicken, diced peppers, black beans, and cilantro, and season well with salt and pepper.

The end result is a nice soup-y filling. We had some filling leftovers after making enough enchiladas to fit into our baking dish, so I used it is as a sauce the next day in some incredible freestyle Huevos Rancheros.

To assemble the enchiladas, start off by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F and getting a large glass or metal baking dish.

Dip a corn tortilla into the tomatillo salsa and place it on a cutting board. Use a slotted spoon to dollop some of the chicken mixture on to the center of the tortilla. Sprinkle with a little cheese on top and then roll the tortilla like a cigar to enclose the filling. Use a spatula to place the enchilada seam side down in the baking dish, and continue to fill all of the tortillas in the same way and arrange them in the baking dish.

As the above photo demonstrates, it is a bit of a messy process but don’t get too discouraged about non-perfect enchiladas:

as they get hidden by a thick layer of cheese and no one will notice anything when the enchiladas are cooked and served.

Pour the remaining tomatillo salsa over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top to make a nice thick layer. Bake the enchiladas uncovered for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and cracked on top.

To make the guac, halve and pit the avocados and scoop out their flesh into a mixing bowl. Mash them with a fork to leave them a little chunky, then add the remaining ingredients and gently mix everything together. To prevent the guacamole from going brown before you serve it, place a piece of plastic wrap right on top of the surface of the guac and put it in the fridge until dinner.

Serve the enchiladas hot with a side of the guacamole and some sour cream.