Tortilla Bake

I made this for dinner last night.  It was simple, included ingredients that needed to be used, and flavors that Bill enjoys.  I was able to sneak a bunch of mizuna into the filling.

Tortilla Bake

2 T olive oil

1 bunch of mizuna, washed and cut in 2" pieces
2 C cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
12  six inch corn tortillas
1 (16) oz jar of hot salsa
1/4 C water
16 slices pepper jack cheese, (about 1/4 lb) thinly sliced from the deli
2 tomatoes, sliced
sugar
salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Heat a skillet over medium high heat.  Add 1 T olive oil, and saute mizuna until wilted.  Stir in chicken and cook just until it's heated through. 

Pour 1T olive oil into 13x9 baking dish.  Use a tortilla to coat the dish with oil.  Arrange 6 tortillas on the bottom of the pan.  Top with the kale-chicken mixture plus any juices from the pan.  Pour salsa on top of the chicken mixture.  Rinse the salsa jar with 1/4 C water and pour over the salsa.  Top with 8 slices of cheese and remaining tortillas.  At this point, you can refrigerate it for a couple of hours or overnight, if you wish.

Arrange tomato slices on top of the tortillas.  Sprinkle with salt and sugar.  Bake 25 minutes, then remove from the oven.  Place 8 remaining slices of cheese on tomatoes, and return to oven until bubbling and the top looks golden with brown spots.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

The Verdict
Bill really liked it.  It's totally guy food- cheesy and spicy.  I was happy with it because it was easy, relatively healthy and tasted great.  I used a modest amount of cheese, and it still had that statisfying gooey cheesy-ness.  I will definitely buy the cheese from the deli counter again.  The price was competitive, and the slices were paper thin.  The tomatoes sprinkled with salt and sugar were an impressive topper.  I will make this again. 

Dish Bitch
knife
cutting board
skillet
baking dish
wooden spoon
spatula to serve

Cucumber - Chickpea Salad with Lemon and Mint

I made cucumber salad last night. Bill requested the addition of chickpeas. Have I mentioned Bill's addiction to chickpeas? It seemed a reasonable addition and one that would guarantee that Bill's interest.

2 Large cucumbers, seeded and cut in 1/2 " pieces
1 15 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 scallions, white and green bits, finely sliced
1-2 tsp dried mint (or 2T fresh)
1/4 C lemon juice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Prepared Blue Cheese Dressing for garnish (Optional)

Put cucumbers through pepper in a bowl with a tight fitting lid (1 1/2 qt capacity). Toss everything by shaking the container. Let sit in the refrigerator for several hours. Serve with a small dollop of dressing.

Saturday morning

A summer cold has hit the Barnacle household, which has slowed the pace of cooking adventures. During the week, Bill was inspired by gorgeous basil at the local supermarket, and made a batch of pesto with thin linguine. It was delish.

I'm feeling a bit better, Bill is feeling a bit worse. I felt like cooking, so this morning's adventure, I made pickles with the yellow squash, more Spicy Radish Leaf Furikake (recipe from Just Hungry website), and started a batch of Kimchee.

Yellow Squash Pickle - Sicilian style
2 yellow squash, sliced in rounds
olive oil
garlic scape, minced
salt
pepper
lemon juice

Brown squash, and set aside. Saute garlic scape in the same pan, adding oil if necessary. Turn off the heat, and add lemon juice to deglaze pan. In a wide mouth jar, layer squash, salt, pepper, spoonful of scapes, and pouring the remaining juices from the pan over the last layer of squash. Refrigerate. Serve with toast, over macaroni or with salad.