Avocado, Cream Cheese, & Salsa-Stuffed Puff Pastries

It's kind of a joke that every recipe that gets popular on Pinterest involves cream cheese in some way, and it's mostly true. It should come as no surprise then that this recipe involves cream cheese and was found on Pinterest. What should come as a surprise is that these were not delicious at all. They were actually kind of gross. The hot cream cheese in puff pastry? AMAZING. Hot avocado? No. Hot avocado mixed with everything else inside puff pastry? Not good at all. Neither Erica nor I enjoyed it in any way. And we both determined that avocado is delicious when cold or room temperature, but when it's warmed up it just gets this weird, gross taste. Blech. Definitely not a make-again.


{In progress. I got to use my ravioli wheel!}



Avocado, Cream Cheese, and Salsa-Stuffed Puff Pastries
Love Veggies & Yoga, via Pinterest

1 large sheet puffed pastry, thawed
1 ripe avocado, halved and mashed (approximately 1 tablespoon of avocado per pastry square)
1/3 cup cream cheese (approximately 1 teaspoon of cream cheese per pastry square)
1/3 cup salsa (approximately 1 teaspoon of salsa per pastry square, or a combination of Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde and Trader Joe’s Mango Red Pepper Chutney)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 egg, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 400F and prepare two baking sheets with either parchment paper, Silpat liners, or spray them well with cooking spray.

2. Thaw one large square of puffed pastry for about 10 minutes. Flour your countertop or working surface and roll out the pastry square as thinly as possible. With a pizza cutter or knife, slice the puffed pastry into approximately 2-inch by 2-inch squares. From the one thinly rolled large sheet of frozen puffed pastry, I created 18 squares.

3. On half the squares (9 squares for me), place a dollop of avocado, then cream cheese, then salsa, season with salt and pepper. Use the remaining squares as the lids and place one lid over the filling mounds. Seal the pastry packages by pressing the edges with a fork, taking care to seal the edges well, pressing the fork in repeatedly, so no filling escapes during baking.

4. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork, and apply an eggwash to each of the pastry packages. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until desired browning and puffing has occurred. Watch them closely after 10 minutes in case your oven is hotter or your brand of puffed pastry cooks faster.

5. Remove from the oven and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and if desired, reheat leftovers in the microwave for approximately 45 seconds before serving. Or, store extras in an airtight container on the countertop for a day or so, using common sense because of the cream cheese filling, and reheating in the microwave if desired.

Yield: approximately 9 puffs, depending on size of square

Spicy Bean & Rice Burritos

In case you are curious what we eat on the days when I don't cook, the answer is the following:
-Casa Italia pizza
-Peace Valley Winery wine
-Lemon Cheesecake Truffles from Spreading Joy
(The latter two are things we got at the farmer's market.)

Last night I made super-easy burritos because I found a recipe on Pinterest. Mine did not look like the photo on Pinterest (no one is shocked by this) but we agreed that they were very good. Despite the enjoyable spiciness, I still like my Rice & Bean Burritos better, so I probably wouldn't make this one again. But a good, healthy dinner for once! Hooray!



Spicy Bean and Rice Burritos
Tasty Kitchen via Pinterest

For the filling:
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 whole pepper from a can of chipotles in adobo, minced
1 tablespoon sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 dashes cayenne pepper
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed, 15 oz can
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed, 15 oz can
1/3 cup water
2 cups brown rice, cooked according to package instructions
1/4 cup fresh salsa

For the taco assembly:
6 whole tortillas, burrito sized, warmed
8 ounces shredded cheese
3 cups shredded lettuce, more as desired
4 whole green onions, chopped
8 ounces fat-free greek yogurt

Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, chili powder, chipotle, adobo sauce, cumin, and cayenne. Cook briefly until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds. Add in drained and rinsed beans, and water. Bring to a simmer, then lower heat to medium-low and cook for 8 minutes, mashing the bean mixture slightly. Remove from heat, and stir in rice and salsa.

Divide mixture evenly down the center of each tortilla. Top with cheese, lettuce, green onions, and Greek yogurt. Roll up, and serve!

Servings: 6

Couscous with Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Edamame

There has been a lot going on for my family lately so cooking has been the last thing on my mind the past couple of days, until yesterday when I suddenly got the urge to make a large quantity of Couscous with Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Edamame. Like, three huge Tupperware containers'-worth. It's so freaking easy, and it's always delicious (to me - to Erica, it's a bowl of things she hates) and now I'm guaranteed to have dinner and lunch for the rest of the week. I'm hoping to cook tomorrow and Friday but it all depends on my motivation level. We'll see!

Challenge: Failed

Yesterday Erica and I were discussing that being vegan sucks because we miss all of these delicious things in the world. Denise was telling me about s'mores made with Reese's, and I kept thinking about all the delicious things on Pinterest involving cream cheese, and I just felt an overwhelming sense of depriving myself. Being a vegetarian/pescetarian, I don't feel at all like I'm depriving myself. It's a lifestyle change I made 15 years ago (!15!). But eliminating dairy and eggs, regardless of the reason, felt like torture. Perhaps if it was something I felt very strongly about and truly wanted to make a permanent change, like when I was in 8th grade and chose to stop eating meat? Regardless, we decided to stop being vegan and this immediately happened.



Me: I feel like a failure. I never fail at challenges.
Erica: No. We have pizza and Snickers ice cream bars. This isn't losing. This is absolutely winning.

Spicy Vegetarian Chili

OK, I am not one to give up on a challenge, but I'm pretty sure that we're going to fail miserably at being veganish. Just giving you a heads-up!

Last night for dinner I had a meeting until late so I thawed out some of the Spicy Vegetarian Chili I froze awhile ago. Still delicious when re-heated. Love it so much!

Chipotle Sweet Potato, Black Bean, & Guac Tacos

Something I learned today is that when you can't eat dairy or eggs, catered lunches at work are not so fun and exciting. This little experiment is three days old and already I am tired of it. We will persevere!

Recipes like the one I made for dinner tonight certainly will help. These tacos were so good that we didn't even miss the cheese or sour cream. The homemade guacamole was wonderful. I omitted the chile and tomato and just added extra chipotle to the potatoes. Because I have had bad luck cooking sweet potatoes in a dry pan (so sticky!), I microwaved it first and then cut it up and threw it in with the beans and onions. This worked VERY well and made for a nice texture. It also stayed neatly in the taco shell. We both agreed this was delicious and I would make it again.



Chipotle Sweet Potato, Black Bean, and Guac Tacos
NaturallyElla.com via Pinterest

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 medium sweet potato, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/2 cup black beans
1 chipotle in adobo sauce
2 tablespoons adobo sauce
1 tablespoon honey
Juice from 1 lime
4 taco shells (hard or soft)

Guacamole:
1 avocado
1/4 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 serrano pepper, diced
1/4 teaspoon salt
Juice from 1/2 lime
1 small tomato, diced
Handful of cilantro

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in skillet. Add onions and let cook until onions begin to soften, 3-4 minutes. Next, stir in sweet potatoes and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes.

2. In a mortar and pestle, combine the chipotle, adobo sauce, honey, and lime juice. Break apart the chipotle into small pieces (alternatively, you can cut up the chipotle.) Pour into the pan with the sweet potatoes and reduce the heat to medium-low. Add beans and continue to cook until sweet potatoes have softened, 10-15 minutes.

3. While sweet potatoes cook, scoop out the insides of the avocado. Add onions, garlic, pepper, salt, and lime juice. Mash until the guacamole has your favorite consistency. Fold in tomato and cilantro. Taste and add more salt if needed.

4. To serve, scoop a spoonful of guacamole onto the bottom of the taco and layer with sweet potato mixture. Sprinkle extra cilantro on top if desired.

Yield: 2 (4 tacos)

Veganish: Day 2 - Bhel Puri

It turns out that buying lunch in the hospital cafeteria is damn near impossible when one is vegan. Yes, I could eat filler like salad, but there's no protein in it. Maybe when there are beans at the salad bar, tossing some of those on? I'm pretty sure most people on special diets thusly bring their lunches. Today I am taking a Tandoor Kitchen pad thai for lunch. Super duper.

So for dinner last night I made Bhel Puri. I love it so much, and I was thrilled to find my bombay mix at the grocery store. Surprisingly, Erica really liked it. I was nervous because it's so spicy (full-of-spices spicy, not hot-spicy) but she liked it. And hoorah for vegan!

So maybe we'll make it through the month after all. We'll be ok. We have Erica's copy of Veganomicon, and I took this as an opportunity to buy The Voluptuous Vegan and Rebar Cookbook (as well as Booze Cakes - but that's after this month is over). Farmer's market in four days! How fun.

Veganish: Day 1

I am going on 15 years of being a mostly-vegetarian (occasional fish, mostly in the form of sushi), but vegan remains an elusive concept that I can't picture because I love eggs and cheese so much. LOVE. Like the other night we went to a diner and I got an omelet and cheesecake. I LOVE eggs and cheese.

Erica's mom apparently had success with weight loss after switching to a vegan diet, and thus Erica wants to try the same. We're going to 'go veganish' for four weeks - ending May 27 - and see what happens. "Veganish" means that, while we will read ingredients, I'm not going to be overly obsessive about it. I'll stick to it as best as possible, but if an Amazing Sushi Opportunity happens, I'm not turning it down. Capiche? So why did I agree to this? I think Erica is approaching it more as a crash diet, but I'm approaching it as a challenge. You know I love challenges. I'm curious to see if I can manage to eat mostly-vegan for a month.

Eating "veganish" will force me to really evaluate recipes and try new things with my cooking, whether it's trying something new or modifying something old. I read one of Denise's paleo cookbooks while I was in Oregon and, while the paleo diet is completely incompatible with being vegetarian, the idea of using fresh, unprocessed foods as much as possible is something that I want to try to incorporate into this challenge as well. I don't want it all just to be mock-turkey and tofu cream cheese and soy "cheeze" and all the other super-processed meat stand-ins. We all know I love my soy crumbles, but I'm not going to go out of my way to veganize a vegetarian recipe solely by substituting in mock dairy ingredients. The farmer's market opens next weekend and that provides an exceptional opportunity to really start working with fresh, local produce again.

So our first meal was Curried Lentil Soup, which I've made before and loved. Something was off this time - I'm not sure if it was the quality of the lentils or if it was the lack of butter? But it wasn't as great as it could have been. This was Erica's first experience with lentils and with curry, so eh, but yay for vegan day 1!