These delicious tacos from Mexican Everyday are filled with a mixture of caramelized onions and sauteed green chard — definitely a departure from the norm for us! When we make tacos at home, we’re more likely to fill them with mahi-mahi or shredded chicken. We picked this recipe because it’s Vegetarian Week here at We [Heart] Food, but these were good enough that they’re likely to make an appearance in the usual rotation.

Is it just me, or is CSA box day almost like Christmas?

Lisa says:

Sorta… though do you usually eat your Christmas presents?

Chris says:

Oh. Not really. Okay, so it’s not like Christmas, but it’s still exciting.

Lisa says:

I agree — so the veggies in these tacos came from the box?

Chris says:

Yep! I’m glad I found this recipe; tacos aren’t the first thing I think of when I see chard… but these turned out really well. The chard has that slight earthy taste that combines nicely with the slight sweetness of the caramelized onions.

Lisa says:

Glad we’re having rice and beans with them, or I’d still be hungry.

Chris says:

Same here… oh yum, I forgot how much I like that tomatillo salsa.

Lisa says:

Is it spicy?

Chris says:

This batch not as much; I didn’t add as much of the adobo sauce from the chipotles.

Lisa says:

These tacos rule. Yay for Vegetarian week!

Soft Tacos with Green Chard, Caramelized Onions, and Queso Fresco
1 (12-ounce) bunch green chard, thick lower stems cut off
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, sliced 1/4″ thick
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup water
Salt
warm corn tortillas
crumbled Mexican queso fresco
smoky chipotle salsa (recipe in this post)
cilantro

Cut chard crosswise into 1/2″ slices. In a very large (12-inch) skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown but still crunchy, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and stir for a few seconds, until aromatic, then add water, 1/2 tsp salt and the chard. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover pan, and cook until chard is almost tender, about 5 minutes.
Uncover pan, increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring continually, until mixture is nearly dry. Taste and season with additional salt if necessary. Serve in warm tortillas, topped with cheese, cilantro, and salsa.

Makes about 8 tacos, depending on how full you like ‘em.

This was another of those “let’s look for a recipe that uses the veggies in the CSA box” nights that turned out really well. The original, in Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook called for red or yukon gold potatoes, but we had sweet potatoes on hand and I thought they made a nice contrast to the spicy homemade enchilada sauce.

Chris says:

We’re becoming kale fiends!

Lisa says:

I know it… we never cooked with it at all until this year…

Chris says:

Well they certainly love giving it to us in the CSA box… not that I’m complaining. Anyway, what do you think?

Lisa says:

I like it — I didn’t think I’d like the sweet potatoes, and I still want to try this again with regular spuds, but the taste is really good. What do YOU think?

Chris says:

I think it’s hard to take a good picture of enchiladas.

Lisa says:

Hmmm…. don’t worry about it. I think people know enchiladas aren’t that photogenic.

Chris says:

Maybe. Anyway, I love these things. I’d probably puree the enchilada sauce a little more next time, but I like the combination of flavors.

Lisa says:

The guacamole you made goes really well with it too. I heart guac.

Chris says:

I’m really liking the recipes from this book. They certainly don’t scream “vegan”.

Lisa says:

I agree! They’re just good.

Sweet Potato and Kale Enchiladas
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 hatch chilies, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped coarsely
2 1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt

1 lb sweet potatoes
1 bunch kale, washed, trimmed, and chopped finely
3 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup vegetable stock or water
3 tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 tsp salt

12–14 corn tortillas

Peel and diced the potatoes, then boil them until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375°F and have ready a shallow casserole dish, at least 11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches.
Prepare the enchilada sauce : In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, sauté the onions is oil for 4 to 7 minutes, until softened. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, bring to a simmer, and remove from the heat. When the mixture has cooled enough, taste and adjust the salt if necessary. Puree with an immersion blender until the mixture is smooth and even.
Prepare the filling: Cook the olive oil and minced garlic in a saucepot over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the garlic is sizzling and slightly browned. Add the kale, sprinkle with a little salt, and raise the heat to medium, stirring constantly to cover the kale with the oil and garlic. Partially cover the pot to steam the kale until it has wilted, 4 to 6 minutes.
Remove the lid and mix in the potatoes, vegetable stock, lime juice, and salt. Use the back of a wooden spoon to mash some of the potatoes. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes, until the stock is absorbed. Add more salt or lime juice to taste.
Ready a plate filled with about 3⁄4 cup of enchilada sauce, a casserole dish, a stack of corn tortillas, a heated cast-iron pan, and the potato and kale filling.
Ladle a little bit of the enchilada sauce onto the bottom of the casserole dish and spread it around. Take a corn tortilla, place it on the heated pan for 30 seconds, then flip it over and heat until the tortilla has become soft and pliable. Drop the softened tortilla into the pie plate filled with sauce; allow it to get completely covered in sauce, flip it over, and coat the other side.
Now, place the tortilla in the casserole dish, place some of the potato filling down the middle and roll it up. Continue with rest of tortillas, tightly packing enchiladas next to each other.
Pour about a cup of sauce over the top (reserving some for later), cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until edges of the tortillas poking out of sauce look just a little browned. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Top individual servings with any remaining enchilada sauce, warmed slightly.

Makes 12-14 enchiladas

I was stuck at home today, and just before leaving to walk out in the rain for a long, cold, wet trek to get some lunch, I decided to poke around and see what we had on hand. I knew we still had a few potatoes left from the CSA box, and when I spotted a can of tuna, something clicked in my mind and I remembered a recipe from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless that I had been wanting to try. The version in the book uses poblanos, but I knew the roasted hatch chilies sitting in my freezer would work just as well, if not better. The onions and shallots kept a lot of their crunch, and along with the chilies provided a nice contrast in texture to the soft potatoes. The tuna adds protein, but doesn’t overpower the other flavors in the dish. Hooray for having ingredients on hand — this potato salad kept me sated — and dry!

Obviously, I couldn’t discuss the deliciousness with Lisa, as she didn’t get to try it, but instead, I give you the following instant messenger transcript:

[1:36 PM] Chris: Guess what I had for lunch?
[1:40 PM] Lisa: Nothing?
[1:40 PM] Lisa: Water?
[1:41 PM] Chris: We had tuna, potatoes, shallots, and the hatch chilies in the freezer… I made that potato salad w/tuna from the Rick Bayless book!
[1:41 PM] Lisa: Yum!!!!!
[1:41 PM] Lisa: Are there leftovers???
[1:41 PM] Lisa: I want to try it!!!
[1:41 PM] Chris: Uh, no. Didn’t make a full recipe, sucka.
[1:41 PM] Lisa: Dammit!
[1:41 PM] Lisa: Bragger.
[1:42 PM] Lisa: I had a frozen dinner. *Boring*

Fascinating, I know! Hey, I do what I can.

Roasted Hatch Potato Salad with Tuna
2-3 roasted hatch chilies
2 medium (1/2 lb) Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2″ pieces
Salt
1/6 cup olive oil (2 tbsp + 2 tsp)
1/2 small red onion, sliced 1/8″ thick
1 large shallot, sliced 1/8″ thick
1 1/2 tbsp champagne vinegar
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
One 6-oz can tuna, drained
1/4 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
Romaine, to serve (optional)

Put the cubed potatoes into a microwave-safe bowl and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp of salt. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for about 3 minutes, until completely tender. Leave covered.
Rub the blackened skin off the chilies and pull out the stems and seeds. Rinse to remove rogue seeds and skin, then cut into 1/4″ thick strips.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion and shallots are browned, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar, oregano, black pepper, and hatch chilies. Stir well, then add the potatoes to the pan. Set aside to cool; when at room temperature, add the parsley/cilantro and tuna.
Serve over optional Romaine lettuce leaf.

2 side-dish servings, or a large lunch

This is a perfect recipe to adapt to the vegetables you happen to have on hand.  Our CSA box came loaded with corn on the cob and mushrooms, so I modified a recipe from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Everyday to use the fresh vegetables of the day.  As the book suggests, one of the great things about this soup is that once you master the base broth, the variations are limited only by your imagination.

Lisa says:

Wahoo! I love walking in the door to a meal that’s ready to go!

Chris says:

I like not feeling rushed on nights that you’re home late.

Lisa says:

Nice. Is it spicy?

Chris says:

Shouldn’t be — ancho powder is relatively mild; it has a slightly smokey flavor.

Lisa says:

Mmmmm… the masa harina really gives it a nice consistency.

Chris says:

Totally — and the flavor goes really well with the fresh corn kernels. The starch from juicing the cobs also helps thicken it.

Lisa says:

I like how thin you cut the chicken.

Chris says:

Yep — it cooks pretty quickly that way.

Lisa says:

Well this soup is disappearing pretty quickly this way.

Red Chileatole with Mushrooms, Corn, Peppers, and Chicken
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium white onion, halved and sliced
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsp ancho chile powder
1 1/2 tbsp masa harina
4 cups chicken broth, divided
6 oz cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 ears of corn
1/2 poblano pepper, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 large sprig fresh flat-leaf parsley
3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
salt, to taste

Husk the corn. In a shallow bowl, hold ears of corn upright and, with a sharp knife, cut kernels from the cobs. Then with blunt edge of the knife, scrape juice from cobs. Discard the cobs.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring until golden, about 7 minutes. Transfer the onion and garlic to a food processor or blender. Add chile powder, masa harina, and 1 1/2 cups broth; process until smooth.

Return the puree to the saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups broth, mushrooms, corn kernels and juices, poblano pepper, and parsley and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in chicken and continue to simmer until cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes more. Taste and add salt if needed. Remove parsley and ladle into soup bowls.

3-4 Servings

Our first post after our almost three weeks in Italy (w00t honeymoon!) is this chicken dish from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Everyday. The original recipe calls to prepare it in a slow-cooker, but, not owning one, we went with the oven-bake method instead. This was a perfect recipe match to our CSA box, which this week included tomatillos and red-skinned potatoes.

Chris says:

Yum, I love this!

Lisa says:

Me too — I was taking bites while you were taking pictures.

Chris says:

This is like your dream dinner — there’s no oil, and there’s salt between each layer.

Lisa says:

That doesn’t mean I can’t add even more salt, though…

Chris says:

I bet the flavors would be even more intense if this was done in a slow-cooker. And I really like the little crispy edges of cilantro and tomatillo from the lid-free finish.

Lisa says:

Too bad I have lunch plans tomorrow, this would make a great lunch.

Chris says:

Guess what we’re having for dinner tomorrow night, then?

Lisa says:

Wahoo!

Pollo Pulquero
1 medium white onion, sliced into 1/4″ thick rings
salt
1 lb red-skin potatoes, sliced 1/4″ thick
8 skinless chicken thighs
1 cup cilantro leaves
1 1/4 lbs tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and sliced 1/4″ thick
1/4 cup roasted hatch chilis, chopped

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a 6-qt Dutch Oven, spread the onion in a layer, and sprinkle with salt. Continue with the potato slices, chicken, cilantro, and tomatillos, sprinkling with salt over each layer. Scatter the roasted chilis over the top. Set the lid in place and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and bake 15-20 minutes longer to reduce the juices. Spoon directly onto plates, and top with additional cilantro.

4 Servings