Oven Roasted Green Beans

As I occasionally mention on Facebook, I get a produce basket from Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op (Psst, are you a Facebook fan?  If not, check me out there on the right sidebar!).  So much produce, for such a great price!  I love it, and I love that gets me trying new fruits and veggies.  Often things that I wouldn't buy on my own.

A little while ago, we got a bag of green beans.  Perfect!  It made me think of summer time.  So I found this wonderfully SIMPLE way to cook them up, with lots of flavor, and still have a bit of that green bean crunch to them.

With Easter coming up in a few days, this would be such a tasty way to add a beautiful green side dish!

OVEN ROASTED GREEN BEANS
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• 1lb green beans, trimmed
• olive oil (approx 1-2 Tbsp)
• salt and pepper (be generous!)
• parm cheese

Preheat your oven to 375degs.  In a bowl, combine green beans, olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper.  You can even taste a bean to see if there is enough pepper and salt.  Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on your baking pan  and spread all the beans out in a single layer.  Bake for about 5 minutes, flip the beans around on the pan (make sure you spread them back out in a single layer) and bake for another 10 minutes.  When they're done, sprinkle with parm cheese.

Cowboy Caviar

It's starting to cool off a little bit, and I'm getting back into the groove of cooking, taking pictures, and trying to start blogging more!  I have quite the list of recipes to make that involve my oven.

When I was thinking of a recipe to take to a recent get together, I remembered hearing about Cowboy Caviar.  So I turned to Google, since I've never made it before.  There's about a million different ways to make this dish, which is awesome!  I looked through a dozen or so recipes and saw what they had in common.  Beans, corn, tomatoes, and avocado.  Then I added a few other things to make it more up my alley, and it was gobbled up!

As you're getting ready to gear up for your Labor Day parties, give this recipe at try!  Super quick to put together, and can incorporate some of the veggies from your garden.  It's one of those dishes you can't decide if you should just eat it with a spoon or make the effort to scoop with chips.

I love dips like this, that are chunky and full of flavor.  Even more when it involves things that I always have in my house!  Except for the cilantro, we don't always have that. . .

COWBOY CAVIAR
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can corn, rinsed
• 2-3 tomatoes, diced
• 1-2 bell peppers, diced
• 2-3 avocado, diced
• approx 5 green onions, chopped
• handful cilantro, minced finely
• 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
• corn chips, for serving

Combine the above (except the chips) in a large bowl.  Stir gently, so as not to destroy the avocado, and let chill for about 30 minutes before serving so the flavors will mix together nicely.  Serve with corn chips.

Linked up at: Meatless Monday, Tailgating Time 2.0, Totally Tasty Tuesdays,

Crock Pot Chicken Soup

CROCKPOT CHICKEN SOUP

This is the Second recipe for Soup Week!  You can see the first recipe HERE.  You can also still link up to Saturday's Party HERE.

 I'm a creamy soup person.  I'm more than happy to admit it.  I don't care much for chili's, stews, "dark" soups.  I think my mind has connected creamy soups=cheesy goodness  dark soups=spicy.  I have a hard time with hot spices, I just can't handle the heat.

This soup, however, had just enough heat for me.  You could even amp up the heat factor depending on what type of salsa you used.  I used a salsa verde, since that's what I had on hand.  The nice thing about this soup, besides throwing everything in the crockpot and leaving it, is the options for eating.  You can scoop the soup and eat it with the chips, you can crush the chips up and mix them in with everything (my favorite), you can forgo the chips completely and just eat the soup!  AND it freezes up nicely.  Always a plus in my book!

CROCKPOT CHICKEN SOUP
Posted at: http://recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com
Adapted from: sisterscafe.blogspot.com

• 3 chicken breasts
• 2 15-oz cans black beans, drained
• 3 15-oz cans diced tomatoes
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 4-oz cans chopped green chilies
• 1 14 ½-oz can tomato sauce
• 3 cups grated cheddar cheese, for topping
• Tortilla chips, for topping
• Sour cream, for topping

Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese in large slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 6 hours. During the last 1/2 hour of cooking, remove chicken breasts and slice or shred into bite-sized pieces. Stir into soup. Serve with cheese, chips, and sour cream.  Freeze leftovers.

(Linked up at: Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Tuesday Night Supper Club, Tuesdays At The Table, )

Rice and lentil burritos

RICE AND LENTIL BURRITOS


This is poor-man's meal, as I like to call it. It's also a nice camping/backpacking meal. The overall cost of this meal, is probably less than $.50 a person. I'd guess it to be about $2-4 dollars for the entire meal. The most expensive part is the chicken, which is totally optional, and the cheese. And if you make your own tortillas, then it could be even cheaper.

Here's what you'll need:

• tortillas
• cheese
• rice
• lentils
• taco seasoning
• sour cream
• 1 chicken breast, cooked and diced or shredded up
  

Cook your rice and lentil's together. I always have to call my mama when I'm cooking rice, because I can never remember if it's 2x's a much water, or equal parts water. Either way, cook them together. Yes, the lentils will turn your rice a funny brown color, but that won't hurt anything. you can cook them separate if you like, I just hate doing dishes.

I just opened up this rice cooker I got as a wedding gift. . .three years ago. . .I had never used it!! I went through a phase where I HATED rice and would NOT eat it. Now, I like it again. :)

You want your chicken in small chunks, or even shredded up, so it mixes up good.

And of course, a good pile of shredded cheese. This is completely optional, if for example you're backpacking. . .cheese doesn't pack very well.


After your rice and lentils are cooked, mix them together with your taco seasoning and chicken. if you're feeling really poor that day, omit the taco seasoning and chicken, and spoon a little bit of salsa over your burrito to help give it some flavor.


Mmmmm, this freezes really good too, so you could make a large amount and divide it into containers and freeze.

Take your mixture, spoon some into your tortillas, top with sour cream and cheese and enjoy!

Rice and Lentil Burritos
Recipe Courtesy of: recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• Rice (I use 1 cup)
• Lentils (I use 1 cup)
• Tortillas
• Sour Cream
• Shredded Cheese
• Taco seasoning mix
• 1 chicken breast, cooked and diced/shredded
• Cook the rice and lentils together. When they're done, mix them together with the taco seasoning and chicken. Spoon onto tortillas, and top with sour cream and cheese. Freeze leftovers, or make a larger batch to have plenty to freeze!

"I'm feelin' Poor today" Meal Options: Omit chicken, cheese, and sour cream. Use salsa instead of taco seasoning.