How is it already Memorial Day weekend?  I love celebrating this long weekend here in Bangkok because by late May, in the sweatiest depths of hot season, we need very little excuse to have a barbecue, hang out by the pool, and sip cold drinks.  We’re also several weeks in to seeking out meals that can be served chilled or at room temperature.  

We’ve got lots of relaxing and hanging out to do this weekend, but we’ll also likely be eating what may be my favorite summer dish – pasta salad.  I’ve got big plans for pasta salads this summer.  I want to load them up with fresh things, good cheese, bright herbs, and in the case of this particular version, a Sweet Basil Vinagrette that brings it all together.

I was so sad to see this pasta salad go last week that I’m planning to make more tomorrow.  The salty feta and kalamta olives are a great balance to the sweetness of the dressing.  I couldn’t get enough.  Oh, and those pasta shapes are orecchiette. I highly orecchiette for your next pasta salad.  They form such perfect little bowls for all of that delicious pasta salad dressing.

Enjoy the weekend!

Pasta Salad with Feta, Tomato, Kalamata Olives and Sweet Basil Vinaigrette

 

Save Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

I love this summery pasta salad – the salty feta cheese and kalamata olives are a great pair with the fresh flavor of the Sweet Basil Vinaigrette. Keeps great in the fridge – so make it a day in advance.

Author: Jess Smith

Recipe type: Salad

Serves: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound orecchiette pasta (or other pasta of choice)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced
• 1 and ½ cups crumbled feta cheese
• 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced
• 10 leaves fresh Italian sweet basil, roughly chopped
• 1 recipe Sweet Basil Vinaigrette

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions. When cooked, drain and run under cool water. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add the olive oil. Toss well to coat the pasta in oil.
2. Add all remaining ingredients, except for Sweet Basil Vinaigrette. Toss gently to combine.
3. Add half of the Sweet Basil Vinaigrette and toss to evenly coat the pasta in dressing. Refrigerate the pasta and the remaining vinaigrette for at least an hour and up to a day. Just before serving, add the remaining half of the vinaigrette and toss gently. Serve.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: about ¾ cup Calories: 313 Total Fat: 21g Saturated fat: 6g Carbohydrates: 25g Sugar: 7g Sodium: 504mg Fiber: 2g Protein: 9g Cholesterol: 19mg

3.2.1753

Tweet

The post Pasta Salad with Feta, Tomato, Kalamata Olives and Sweet Basil Vinaigrette appeared first on Inquiring Chef.

I just have a minute this morning.  I’m running out the door and on my way to Northern Thailand for work for a couple days.  Before I go though I wanted to share this dressing that I am declaring the official salad dressing of summer in the Inquiring Chef household.  Sweet Basil Vinaigrette will be making repeat appearances.

We signed back up for our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) which means that every Tuesday we’re getting a box chock full of fresh produce.  I’m glad to be getting it again since those boxes of unexpected ingredients force us to try new things and get creative.  Especially with salads.  This week when I opened the box, I could smell the basil right away.  Tucked inside was a bunch of Italian basil as big as my head.

We can get excellent basil here, but it’s most often Thai sweet basil.  Thai sweet basil tastes a bit more tart and citrusy than the Italian variety.  I wanted to make those sweet Italian basil leaves last and last.  So I put them in a vinaigrette, and drizzled it over everything we ate all weekend long.  I’m going to share my favorite way we used it when I get back later this week (a hint though – it involves another bottle of kalamata olives that made it home intact this time).

In the meantime, if you can get your hands on a bunch of Italian sweet basil this is a great way to use it.  Sweet and fresh tasting, it imparts just the right amount of summery basil to anything it touches.  Have a good week friends!  See you in a few days.

Sweet Basil Vinaigrette

 

Save Print

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

A vinaigrette for summer – full of basil and sweetened with a bit of honey. Excellent on green or pasta salads or over grilled meats.

Author: Jess Smith

Recipe type: Salad Dressing

Serves: about 1 cup

Ingredients

• 20 leaves fresh basil
• ½ small shallot, chopped
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• Juice from ½ lemon
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Combine all of the ingredients except for the olive oil in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. With the food processor running, add the olive oil in a steady stream and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use, up to three days.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 2 Tablespoons Calories: 126 Total Fat: 13g Saturated fat: 2g Carbohydrates: 5g Sugar: 4g Sodium: 118mg Cholesterol: 0mg

3.2.1753

Tweet

The post Sweet Basil Vinaigrette appeared first on Inquiring Chef.

It’s steamy out, but there are signs that rainy season might be coming.  A morning downpour nixed my plans for a swim.

But things cleared up in time for fried chicken and gyoza.

And happy hour…with this little dog as a drinking mate.

Sunday morning smoothies.

Sweet cherry tomatoes that must be soaking up the heat and craving the rain.

Tweet

The post The Little Things: Rainy Season? appeared first on Inquiring Chef.

I bought more mangos. Are we surprised?  Chopped and tossed with chills, scallions, cilantro and lime, this is one of those salsas that is made for summer grilling.

The other day I fired up put my little grill pan and realized that this silly pan is one of my favorite kitchen tools. I bought the thing nearly 10 years ago for less than $20, and still to use it nearly as often as any other pan in our kitchen.

A grill pan certainly wouldn’t get so much use in some other kitchens, but in my adult life I’ve never had a grill.

At 22 I lived in a concrete apartment in Romania with a balcony that was used exclusively for hanging laundry. At 23 I lived in DC with friends. I don’t recall ever having a grill as I think we spent our extra money on curtains and overpriced cocktails. For the rest of my 20s I lived in a studio apartment with no outdoor space and then with Frank in DC and Bangkok where we’ve been living in equally un-grill friendly buildings in metropolitan neighborhoods.

It strikes me as a strange twist that a girl who feels that she is much more at home in wide open spaces can’t seem to get herself enough outdoor space to cook a few chicken skewers over an open flame.

 All I can say is that our next home will most certainly involve a yard. (Frank, who looks longingly at pictures of our friends’ big yard-loving dogs on Facebook, is in agreement.)  In the meantime, the grill pan does a surprisingly good job at approximating the satisfaction of cooking on a “real” grill.

These chicken skewers filled the apartment with that distinctive summer smell of meat on the grill and that spicy, sweet mango salsa made me think of summer nights and barbecues.

Get the recipe at Parade.com.

Tweet

The post Marinated Chicken Skewers with Mango Salsa appeared first on Inquiring Chef.

Before this coffee cake, I thought that I wasn’t really a coffee cake person.  It’s not that I dislike it – I mean, who doesn’t like cake for breakfast?  There were just so many things I would like to have for breakfast even more.  But Frank and I have fallen into a tea routine – we both drink tea like it’s going out of style.  It was with all this tea drinking that made me want a cake like this one – with a light, sweet base that hints of cinnamon, tart fruit, and crumbly topping piled high.

It’s called a “coffee” cake, but it’s perfect with tea.  With the sweet/sour flavor of the raspberries and the crunch of almond in the topping, I couldn’t get enough of it.

I loved it thinly sliced with fruit on the side for breakfast, but we found ourselves sneaking oddly shaped slivers of this cake for nearly a week.  It got better every day.

I’ve been thinking lately about how important it is to surprise ourselves from time to time.  I gravitate so much towards routines, but it’s when I break out of them that things get interesting.

Having lived in Bangkok for two and a half years now, there’s hardly as much surprise on a daily basis as there was in the beginning.  Anyone who has traveled  knows that unique combination of exhaustion and energy that comes from an environment in which every sight, smell and experience is new.  For the first months in Bangkok, every day surprised me.

These days, some things about Bangkok feel very familiar.  Much of my life has been surrendered to routine.  But from time to time I manage to surprise myself.  I have a conversation with a taxi driver or order a bowl of noodles in just exactly the way I like it or I gat caught in a rainstorm while the whole city gets painted streaky shades of green.

This is the part of the expat experience that is most thrilling.  Because when you’ve live in a place that is so very different from “home”, you are both satisfied when you get to know it well and continually amazed by its foreignness.  Most moments are shinier somehow.

It feels a bit like summer camp – the stories you’ll tell for years about snakes in bunkhouses and staying up all night under the stars that only the handful of people who were there can ever really “get”.

Maybe that’s how I should start to think about life in Bangkok.  Extended summer camp.  With longer work days and fewer snakes.

Simultaneously a break from real life, and real life personified.

Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake

 

Save Print

Prep time

25 mins

Cook time

55 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

This moist coffee cake is topped with tart raspberries and a crumb made with toasted almonds.

Recipe type: Breakfast, Dessert

Serves: 10

Ingredients

For the Crumb Topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup (packed) light brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup slivered almonds, toasted, chopped
• 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes

For the Cake:

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen will work)

Instructions

1. To make the crumb topping, whisk flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in nuts. Add butter; using your fingertips, work butter into dry ingredients until large, moist crumbs begin to form. Refrigerate topping until ready to use.
2. Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray.
3. To make the cake, in a medium bowl, whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
4. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat ¾ cup sugar and butter in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until mixture is pale and fluffy, 3–4 minutes longer.
5. With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients to bowl in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Pour half of batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Whisk remaining 3 Tbsp. sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; sprinkle evenly over batter in pan. Spoon remaining batter over; smooth top.
6. Pour raspberries evenly over batter. Sprinkle crumb topping over raspberries.
7. Bake cake until top is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 55–60 minutes. Let cool completely in pan.
8. Store in airtight container at room temperature. (This is a great make-ahead cake. I think it tastes even better the day after being baked.)

Notes

Adapted from Old-Fashioned Blueberry Coffee Cake by Eric Wolitzky, Bon Appetit September 2012.

3.2.1753

Tweet

The post Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake appeared first on Inquiring Chef.

A few things have been happening around here lately. Spring-themed things.

It started when Frank bought a pair of seersucker pants.  I picked him up at a coffee shop on Friday after work, and felt an overwhelming desire to buy a big hat and find us some mint juleps.

For the next week I put strawberries in every smoothie and invented dishes that contained little more than crisp, sweet stalks of asparagus.

If spring is a state of mind, we’re embracing it fully with our fictional mint juleps in hand and this seasonal Corkscrew Pasta with Asparagus and Crispy Bacon on the table.

I love simple pastas as a vehicle to highlight a favored vegetable of the moment, and in this dish, the asparagus really shines.  It is cooked just until it turns bright and crisp – a great complement to all that crisp bacon and rich Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  It was the curly Amorini pasta in this dish that cozied up to the kalamata olives in my purse last week just before they met their tragic end.

I’m thrilled to share this recipe as part of a new partnership with Parade.com!

You can find the full recipe for Corkscrew Pasta with Asparagus and Crispy Bacon at Parade.com.

Tweet

The post Corkscrew Pasta with Asparagus and Crispy Bacon appeared first on Inquiring Chef.

Thai class. Learning to speak Thai has been, in a word, humbling. The Thai language continues to elude me, but seeing as I do live here, I’m not giving up any time soon. I was sitting in my language class this week, feeling utterly lost, and craving chocolate.

Because isn’t chocolate an obvious solution for most ails?

It’s entirely my own doing that I equate a difficult Thai class with dessert.  When we had just moved to Bangkok I was in a Thai class of expats from all over the world. There was a car wash owner from France, a DJ from Norway, a teacher from Egypt, and a Canadian author. In my months in that class, we were never able to communicate all that effectively in Thai, so we gravitated towards whatever amount of English we could each speak (lucky for me).

We communicated in spotty English and in the universal language of desserts. I baked often for that class, and when I opened a container of cookies or brownies in our small, sunny classroom, we didn’t have to speak at all to share them.

 So last week I shored up for the coming weeks of Thai class, and I baked these bars. They are made with coconut flour which makes them gluten-free and turns the base into a soft, almost fudgy cookie with a faint hint of coconut flavor. The topping couldn’t be simpler – just chocolate chips and coconut flakes with a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk. The whole thing gets toasty in the oven for a bit of crunch, but retains a creamy, sweet quality as well.

They might shore me up for a few more weeks of Thai.

Creamy Chocolate Coconut Layer Bars

 

Save Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

23 mins

Total time

38 mins

 

These sweet layer bars use coconut flour in the base for a creamy texture and a double-dose of coconut flavor.

Author: Jess Smith (an Inquiring Chef original recipe)

Recipe type: Dessert, Gluten-Free

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• ½ cup coconut flour
• ⅓ cup light brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 4 eggs
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• 1 and ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 and ¼ cups shredded coconut (see note)
• ½ cup sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8 baking dish with butter and line with parchment paper so that a bit of the parchment paper is hanging over the sides (this will makes it very easy to pull the bars out in one piece when they finish baking).
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, light brown sugar, and salt. Add the melted butter, eggs and almond extract all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until evenly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it with the spoon until it evenly lines the bottom of the pan. Bake until it just begins to set, 8 minutes.
3. Remove the crust from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top. Sprinkle the shredded coconut evenly over the chocolate chips. Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk in even stripes across the coconut.
4. Return the bars to the oven and bake just until the coconut is golden brown, 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before slicing.
5. These can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Notes

You can use either sweetened or unsweetened coconut in this recipe. I prefer my desserts a bit on the less sweet side, so I had a slight preference for the unsweetened coconut in this recipe, but both versions were good.

3.2.1753

I’ve got my eye on gluten-free bars and cakes of late – here are a few that have been tempting me:

Gluten-free Dee-luxe Coffeecake by The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking (I love everything about Kate’s blog, but the thick, sticky topping of this coffeecake is downright irresistable)

Paleo Chocolate Coconut Slice by Claire K Creations (my friend Claire is a magician when it comes to turning coconut flour into baked treats – these look particularly delicious)

Gluten-Free Lemon Bars by Elizabeth Barbone via Serious Eats (whether we eat gluten or not, I think we should all be making these lemon bars)

Gluten-free Brownies by Gluten-Free Girl (she’s the best, so you know these are good)

Tweet

The post Creamy Chocolate Coconut Layer Bars appeared first on Inquiring Chef.

Monday was Coronation Day in Thailand, so we had one of those long, leisurely holiday weekends.  We kicked it off with post-work drinks at a new spot high over the city.

I was so smitten with the view that I dropped my purse on the ground and broke the entire bottle of kalamata olives I had inside (#foodbloggerproblems).  The surviving contents still smell salty.

Including a bag of macaroni that I was also carrying around at happy hour.

I got some work done…including photographing pizza on a beautifully sunny morning…

And battling to get photos of coffee cake on a not-so-sunny morning.

The rainy weather was perfect for popcorn and movies.

And cleared up just in time for mojitos at Hemingway’s.

It’s back to work today.  Kids are back to school soon too.  (The Thai school year starts in May.)  I’m loving the school supplies for sale in our grocery store.  School supplies make me want a box of freshly sharpened pencils and brand new college-ruled notebooks.

It’s been a long time since I did a Little Things post, but past Little Things posts can be found here.

Tweet

The post The Little Things: Long Weekend appeared first on Inquiring Chef.

A few years ago a group of women gathered for a bachelorette party. It wasn’t an entirely traditional bachelorette party, and we began it in what was not an entirely traditional sort of way. Making gnocchi.

The bride-to-be, my good friend Sarah, is an excellent cook. One of our final dinners before moving to Bangkok was an American-style dinner worthy of Paula Deen that Sarah made for Frank and I. We ate enough fried chicken and mashed potatoes and bright green salad to strengthen us for the flight to Thailand and the weeks of transition ahead.

So it was fitting that a number of years ago, before Sarah got married, we found a cooking class to kick off her bachelorette weekend. Our caravan of cars that Saturday got lost several times in signal-less cell phone territory, but when we finally arrived it was to a bright open home and a kitchen so full of fresh herbs and fragrant ingredients that we could just as easily have been in Tuscany as in rural Maryland.

It was a fantastic day. We drank wine, told stories, and celebrated Sarah. We also made an enormous batch of gnocchi. They were imperfect potato dumplings of various sizes with a decidedly rustic feel. But those little pillows of potato were deeply satisfying.

That day I vowed that gnocchi-making would be part of my regular routine. I imagined serving platters piled impressively high with those dumplings tossed in little more than a basic marinara or fresh herbs and good grated cheese.

But I bet you can guess how many times I’ve made gnocchi since that Saturday bachelorette-party cooking class.

Not a one.

Until this weekend.

When I saw these Ricotta Gnocchi on Nancy’s site, The Busy Mom Cafe, thanks to this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I knew it was time to revisit the long-forgotten gnocchi.  As the title implies, these are not the potato gnocchi I made so many years ago.  In fact, it was the simplicity of this technique that uses ricotta and flour togive the dumplings their shape that sold me entirely on the recipe.

They are simple enough to make me want to tackle the potato variety again, but the ricotta version will be one I make again as well. They are surprisingly light in texture, and would go great with any number of sauces. I chose to keep it simple with this springy mix of fresh herbs and bacon for a bit of crunch.

Ricotta Gnocchi with Herbed Butter and Bacon

 

Save Print

Prep time

25 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

These plump, light dumplings are great with a variety of simple sauces, but I love them with the freshness of herbed butter and a scattering of crispy bacon.

Author: Jess Smith

Recipe type: Main Dish

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the Gnocchi:

• 1 (8-ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cups all-purpose flour

For Serving

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup minced fresh herbs (such as rosemary, basil, green onions)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• black pepper, to taste
• 6 strips cooked bacon, roughly chopped
• extra grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Instructions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the ricotta, eggs, cheese, and salt. Add the flour ¼ cup at a time, stirring between each addition, until the dough forms a wet ball that is cohesive enough to be handled. Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface and divide it into fourths. Roll each piece of dough into a long rope, about 1 inch thick. Cut dough into 1-inch pieces with a knife. (Note: At this point, you can roll the dough pieces down the tines of a fork to create grooves. This gives them a bit of texture, but is not at all necessary.) Place the dumplings on a light-floured parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to serve (up to 8 hours).
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Remove gnocchi from the refrigerator and cook in the boiling water in 2 batches. Cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. (They will float to the surface midway through cooking, but will need to cook for a few minutes longer.)
3. While the gnocchi are cooking, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter. When the butter begins to bubble, add the fresh herbs and salt and cook, stirring constantly, just until the herbs brighten in color and are coated in butter. Turn off the heat. Strain the cooked gnocchi and transfer it from the boiling water to the herbed butter and toss gently to coat. Top with black pepper, bacon, and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Serve immediately.

Notes

Inspired by The Busy Mom Cafe with adaptations from Gourmet, April 2008

3.2.1753

 

 

 

 

Tweet

The post Ricotta Gnocchi with Herbed Butter and Bacon appeared first on Inquiring Chef.

I sort of assumed that writing about what I eat for dinner would mean I would never struggle with the question – “what’s for dinner?”.  Surely, after a year or two of writing a food blog, I’d have built up enough of a repertoire that I could easily come up with an answer to that question every night of the week.  Turns out, that couldn’t be further from the truth.  Now I have this habit of way over-thinking the question of what’s for dinner.  I forget some simple, obvious favorites.  Like enchiladas – why on earthy haven’t I made these since I started blogging?

I realized this oversight last week and promptly made enchiladas.  For dinner.  Twice.

These enchiladas make a great weeknight meal.  You make the entire dish, from start to finish, in a skillet and put the whole thing in the oven.  At the end, you’ll have almost no dishes to wash but you will have a skillet full of delicious vegetarian enchiladas.

I may not always have a response to the “what’s for dinner” question, but this week, these enchiladas made for a pretty good answer.

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Enchilada Skillet

 

Save Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

A surprisingly simple alternative to traditional rolled enchiladas. These are vegetarian – filled with black beans and creamy goat cheese. Great on their own or topped with sour cream and guacamole!

Author: Jess Smith (an Inquiring Chef original recipe)

Recipe type: Main Dish, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the filling:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• ½ cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
• ½ cup vegetable broth
• 1 Tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
• 2 ounces goat cheese

For the sauce (see note):

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• ¼ cup minced yellow onion
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1.5 cups vegetable stock
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

Enchiladas:

• 6 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• a few sprigs cilantro

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Put an oven-safe 8-inch skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions just begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the black beans and broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer the beans, gently pressing them against the sides and bottoms of the pan with the back of a spoon to break them up, until most of the broth has cooked off, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cilantro and goat cheese. Transfer the filling to a bowl and return the pan to the heat (don’t worry about wiping down the pan before making the sauce).
3. To make the sauce, with the pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and minced onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions just begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Stir to coat the onions. Add vegetable stock, and tomato paste and stir until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Bring the mixture to a simmer and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and add salt, as needed. Turn off the heat. Transfer 1.5 cups of the sauce to a small bowl and set aside, leaving just a thin layer of sauce in the pan.
4. To assemble the enchiladas, place one corn tortilla in the bottom of the pan. Top with a generous spoonful of the sauce and a spoonful of the black bean filling. Repeat with the remaining tortillas, sauce, and black bean filling. End with a tortilla and a generous spoonful of sauce, spreading the sauce to cover the tortilla. Sprinkle the top with goat cheese. Bake until the goat cheese is golden and the sauce on the sides of the pan is bubbling, 15 minutes. Top with cilantro and serve immediately.

Notes

This recipe has you make a very simple enchilada sauce right in the pan. It is so easy and delicious that I highly recommend it. If you prefer, you can also buy enchilada sauce and substitute 2 cups of store-bought sauce in this recipe.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 487 Total Fat: 18g Saturated fat: 8g Carbohydrates: 60g Sugar: 9g Sodium: 560mg Fiber: 13g Protein: 26g Cholesterol: 30mg

3.2.1753

Tweet

The post Black Bean and Goat Cheese Enchilada Skillet appeared first on Inquiring Chef.