Pulled Pork Tacos with Bean Salsa

We were looking for something quick and refreshing to do with our leftover pulled pork. We scavenged our pantry and came up with pulled pork tacos topped with a bean salsa. Now that I think about it, a mango salsa (with some red peppers, green onions and balsamic vinaigrette) would have been good, too.

Ingredients
Bean salsa
1 celery stick, cubed
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1/2 can corn kernels
juice of 1/2 lime
pepper and a tiny pinch of salt
cilantro, minced

8 small whole wheat tortillas
about 2 cups pulled pork
salsa
mozzarella cheese, grated
sour cream or mayonnaise

Method
1. Mix everything from the bean salsa together.
2. During that time, heat up the leftover pulled pork.
3. Make the tacos and enjoy!

Spinach Pasta

This was delicious! As always, of course, because I only showcase our delicious meals and never speak of our in progress recipes. Our inspiration came from Chef John always making béchamel seem easy to make, and he's right! One part butter/margarine, one part flour, fast whisking and then you add as much milk as you want to the consistency you desire. Just check out Chef John's video, you'll see.

Ingredients
225g rigatoni (any type of pasta will do)
3 tbsp margarine
3 tsbp all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
pinch of salt, if not using salted margarine
pinch of cayenne
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/8-1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed and patted dry-ish

Method
1. In a medium pot, bring water to a boil to cook the pasta.
2. In the meantime, in a large frying pan, melt the butter on low-medium heat.

3. Once the butter is melted, add the flour and whisk vigorously until combined and no longer clumpy. 

4. Add the milk and keep whisking.

5. Add the spices for flavour.

6. Add the spinach and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

7. Add pasta and mix well.

8. Top with parmesan cheese and serve.

Enjoy!

A Very Spicy Chili

This chilli is pretty quick and mostly necessitates ingredients you have in your pantry. As for the recipe, I tweaked my mom's recipe and I removed the meat to make it vegetarian. There's only one problem if there is no meat, the spice is unbearable! So here's the recipe but with a little less heat than what I used.

Ingredients

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes

1 large carrot, diced

1-2 cans red kidney beans

1 can low sodium corn or 1 1/2 cup frozen corn

1 can low sodium crushed or diced tomatoes

Method

1. On medium-high heat, in a large pot, heat up cooking oil and cook the onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Add in the spices and cook for 3-5 more minutes.

2. Add the the rest of the ingredients in the pot. Let simmer on low-medium for 30 minutes.

3. Serve with sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro. 

If you want to add some ground meat to your chilli, just add about 1/2-1lb at the same time as the onions and garlic.

Almost Perfect Vegan Burger

The summer is here!...Well almost and this meal makes it feel that much closer. We were having our vegan friend over for board game night so we quickly combined chickpea burger recipes from Yummly and Oh She Glows, and came up with the patty you have before you. Although, this patty will not fill a hamburger craving, if you think of it as a whole new meal instead of a meat replacement, it's quite tasty! The only thing is, we have tried a couple of version of this, and the patties just can't stay together when we eat them. Our journey for a crumble free vegan patty continues but, in the meantime, here's what we used.

Ingredients
1 can chickpea, drained
1 medium carrot
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small zucchini
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
2 tbsp tahini or peanut butter
1 Chinese eggplant, cooked
1/2-1 cup panko (breadcrumbs)

Method
1. Preheat oven at 400 F.
2. In a food processor, mix everything but the panko.
3. In a medium to large bowl, combine the vegetable-chickpea mush with the bread crumbs. Start with about 1/2 cup of panko and, if need be, add the rest.
4. Form into patties, makes 4-6 depending on the size.
5. Place on baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes, or until they start to brown and are all warm on the inside.

Don't hesitate to use other kinds of vegetables in your patty, you can basically just use leftover vegetables that are about to go bad. For alternate methods of baking, check out the links from Yummly and Oh She Glows.