Meal 115 - December 28th - Ultimate Pork Tacos, Spicy Black Beans & Avocado Green Salad
Well I tried to convince my family to forego the traditional Christmas dinner in favour of a 15 minute meal but sadly no one seemed too keen and so turkey it was. Credit must to go to the chef (who for once was not me) for a fantastic ensemble and even mother outdid herself with four or five palatable desserts. After a few days of eating and drinking to excess with the family though it was back to normality and we resisted the temptation of the pizza delivery man to crack on with a challenge which now requires me to cook 5 meals in just 4 days if I'm going to see it through.
Showing posts with label black beans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black beans. Show all posts
28 Dec 2013
21 Jun 2013
Black Bean Beef Burgers, Noodles and Pickle Salad
Meal 52 - June 21st - Black Bean Beef Burgers, Noodles and Pickle Salad
Well I'm pleased to report that we did successfully make it to Brighton last weekend. Fuelled by the Incredibly Delicious Chicken Salad and Lolz's pear tart, not to mention an army of Jelly Babies, we negotiated rain, shine, hills, bike jams and even some brake issues before we caught sight of Brighton beach at around 6:30. It wasn't quite 15 minute meals standard but I think I'd thoroughly earned the greasy chicken and chips from the beachfront caff which I ate before heading home (in the car, obviously, although Lolz did make me drive). A busy week meant this was my first post bike ride opportunity to return to my 15 minute meal challenge and with various other trips away over the next few weeks I knew I'd have to make this weekend count - I will be aiming to add three meals to my tally before returning to work on Monday.
Well I'm pleased to report that we did successfully make it to Brighton last weekend. Fuelled by the Incredibly Delicious Chicken Salad and Lolz's pear tart, not to mention an army of Jelly Babies, we negotiated rain, shine, hills, bike jams and even some brake issues before we caught sight of Brighton beach at around 6:30. It wasn't quite 15 minute meals standard but I think I'd thoroughly earned the greasy chicken and chips from the beachfront caff which I ate before heading home (in the car, obviously, although Lolz did make me drive). A busy week meant this was my first post bike ride opportunity to return to my 15 minute meal challenge and with various other trips away over the next few weeks I knew I'd have to make this weekend count - I will be aiming to add three meals to my tally before returning to work on Monday.
3 Feb 2013
Veggie Chilli, Crunchy Tortilla & Avocado Salad
Meal 11 - 2nd Feb - Veggie Chilli, Crunchy Tortilla & Avocado Salad
As I write this on Sunday night I'm reflecting on what's been a fairly stressful weekend, in a culinary sense. Poor Cinderel-Lolz claims to have washed up 20 times, I'm debating whether to go to A&E after slicing off the top of my finger in the food processor (slight exaggeration maybe) and three 15 minute meals were cooked to varying degrees of success...
The first of the three was this rather funky looking chilli, my first veggie attempt. After getting through ten dishes in January including a knockout Swedish meatballs on Wednesday maybe we were due a bit of bad luck. The first problem was finding dried smoked chipotle or ancho chillis... Waitrose did not stock them, nor, after an internet search do any other major supermarkets. Even our trusty Lebanese corner shop could not fix us up. Not a major disaster though as we had some chipotle paste from a previous dish. The second problem was finding a ripe avocado, we bought the best we could find and decided to make do.
The centre piece of this dish - the chilli - is extremely simple - basically chuck it all in a pan and turn on the stove. The salad however, although simple on paper, relies on the dressing to pull it together. Unfortunately, our unripe avocado meant we couldn't blend it effectively, even after switching from the hand blender to the liquidizer. It did liquidize eventually, but the flavour wasn't right. What we ended up with was a fairly basic/ boring salad of lettuce, cucumber, tomato, chilli and rather odd "croutons" (which also didn't really work) with an overly limey dressing.
Thankfully, the chilli was a 15 minute miracle with all the flavour of any other chilli I've ever cooked. The chipotle adds a really good zing and the dried chillis were not missed.
Lolz gave the dish 8/10, think I probably added too much chipotle paste. Said it was too spicy for her delicate lady palate. Difficulty 2/10. Just make sure you get a good, ripe, soft avocado!
As I write this on Sunday night I'm reflecting on what's been a fairly stressful weekend, in a culinary sense. Poor Cinderel-Lolz claims to have washed up 20 times, I'm debating whether to go to A&E after slicing off the top of my finger in the food processor (slight exaggeration maybe) and three 15 minute meals were cooked to varying degrees of success...
The first of the three was this rather funky looking chilli, my first veggie attempt. After getting through ten dishes in January including a knockout Swedish meatballs on Wednesday maybe we were due a bit of bad luck. The first problem was finding dried smoked chipotle or ancho chillis... Waitrose did not stock them, nor, after an internet search do any other major supermarkets. Even our trusty Lebanese corner shop could not fix us up. Not a major disaster though as we had some chipotle paste from a previous dish. The second problem was finding a ripe avocado, we bought the best we could find and decided to make do.
The centre piece of this dish - the chilli - is extremely simple - basically chuck it all in a pan and turn on the stove. The salad however, although simple on paper, relies on the dressing to pull it together. Unfortunately, our unripe avocado meant we couldn't blend it effectively, even after switching from the hand blender to the liquidizer. It did liquidize eventually, but the flavour wasn't right. What we ended up with was a fairly basic/ boring salad of lettuce, cucumber, tomato, chilli and rather odd "croutons" (which also didn't really work) with an overly limey dressing.
Thankfully, the chilli was a 15 minute miracle with all the flavour of any other chilli I've ever cooked. The chipotle adds a really good zing and the dried chillis were not missed.
Lolz gave the dish 8/10, think I probably added too much chipotle paste. Said it was too spicy for her delicate lady palate. Difficulty 2/10. Just make sure you get a good, ripe, soft avocado!
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