Have I ever mentioned that purple is my favorite color? I find the color exhilarating and like plants that bear purple fruits and vegetables, including tomatillos.

Our tomatillo plants were slow this year along with everything else in the garden. The extended cold, wet spring put a damper on things, making everything slow to grow and blossom. We finally harvested some tomatillos a few weeks ago, much later than last year, and with the early cold snap this week we didn’t get much of a growing season at all. All we can do is preserve what we have and hope for better next year.

This was our second year for growing tomatillos, and we planted two green and two purple, both of which took off in late July and shot up to about nine feet tall. The purple tomatillo fruits are generally smaller than the green, with shades ranging from bright amethyst to almost black.

The interiors are only slightly lighter in color than the exterior, and the salsa is a brilliant purple.

When the cold snap hit this week we started pulling things off the plants, hoping to save as much as possible. The tomatillos stopped producing but still have hundreds of little paper lanterns hanging from the four plants. Fortunately they stand up to cold better than tomatoes and peppers, so we have a little time to finish the harvest. We’ll roast the rest, make them into salsa, and freeze it for the winter. I don’t like to process salsa because it tastes cooked rather than fresh, but I do recommend using the salsa within a couple months before it gets freezer burn and loses flavor.

Roasting the tomatillos is easy, just spread them out onto a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil and cook under the broiler until they char, about 6 to 8 minutes. Once roasted, the tomatillos can be thrown into a blender with your own blend of chiles, cilantro, garlic, onion, limes, whatever sounds good, and you’ll have roasted tomatillo salsa. This works with either the green or purple tomatillos, and we make both. This year the tomatillos, garlic, and serrano chiles all came from our garden.

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, a blogging event that celebrates the dishes we create from foods we’ve grown, raised, foraged, or hunted ourselves. I am the host for this final event of 2009, and you can send your post information to me at andreasrecipesgyo AT gmail DOT com. Posts are due on October 30. Grow Your Own is taking a winter break this year while we tend to some family matters, but we’ll be back in the spring ready for more fun. If you would like to host in 2010, please drop me a note. If you are new to the event, you can read more about the rules for participating and find the links to previous events at the Grow Your Own page.

OVEN-ROASTED TOMATILLO SALSA

Makes about 24 ounces/710 ml.

Equipment

baking sheet lined with heavy duty aluminum foil
blender

Ingredients

3 pounds (1.4 k) tomatillos, color of your choice, husked and rinsed
1/2 medium onion, quartered (red for purple tomatillos, white for green tomatillos)
1 fresh chile, stemmed (serrano or jalapeno work well)
3 cloves garlic, peeled
handful of cilantro leaves and tiny stems, rinsed and patted dry
1/2 lime, juiced

Preparation

1. Spread the tomatillos out on the lined baking sheet stem side down. Place under broiler until charred, about 6 to 8 minutes. Some will crack and release juice, and that’s ok. Add tomatillos and juice to the blender jar.

2. On a dry skillet, toast the onion, chile, and garlic, turning until charred on all sides. Add to the blender jar. (Note: Remove the seeds of the chile if you want a milder salsa.)

3. Add the cilantro and lime juice to the blender jar. Blend all for a few seconds. Pour into a large bowl and serve, or pour into jars and refrigerate for up to 1 week. Can also freeze in plastic containers. I use the Ball Plastic Freezer Jars.

More Grow Your Own Recipes

More Tomatillo Recipes From Around the Blogs

Simply Recipes – Tomatillo Chicken Stew

Cookworm – Chickpea and Tomatillo Soup

What’s Cooking? – Mexican Tomatillo Rice

Kalyn’s Kitchen – Grilled Halibut with Southwestern Rub and Tomatillo Salsa

Thanks for reading this blog through a feed! Copyright © 2005-2010 Andrea Meyers: cooking, gardening & four hungry guys.

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Ham bones are a traditional flavoring for beans, and I remember my mother making pinto or navy beans cooked with ham and onions and served with cornbread. It was simple, homey food that warmed the belly and was easy on the budget. We use ham bones in soups and beans, and save the large ham bones when we cook ham for Sunday dinner, I just store them in the freezer.

I like black beans with ham and spice them up with Mexican flavors. We enjoy these beans as a main dish with jalapeno cheddar cornbread or rice or as a side dish for Mexican foods.

SPICY BLACK BEANS AND HAM

Makes about 5 quarts.

Equipment

4-quart pot or other large pot or bowl
6-quart pot with lid

Ingredients

16-ounce (454 g) bag of dry black beans
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 large meaty ham bone
2 quarts (~2 liters) water

GARNISH OPTIONS
cilantro, chopped
green onions, chopped
yellow or white onions, chopped
bell pepper, chopped
salsa

Preparation

1. Sort the beans, pick any stones out, then pour them in the 4-quart pot or bowl and cover with water, until it’s a couple inches over the beans. Allow to sit overnight. Drain and rinse the beans in a colander.

2. Warm the olive oil in the 6-quart pot over medium heat. Saute the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. Add the cumin, chili powder, and red pepper flakes, cooking and stirring until the spices have melded with the olive oil and are very fragrant.

3. Add the beans, the ham bone, and the water. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour. Garnish and serve.

More Beans Recipes From Andrea

More Beans Recipes From Around the Blogs

Farmgirl Fare – Roasted Garlic Lover’s White Bean Soup

Nola Cuisine – Red Beans and Rice

The Perfect Pantry – Cannellini Vinaigrette

Karina’s Kitchen – Sweet Potato and Black Bean  Enchiladas

Thanks for reading this blog through a feed! Copyright © 2005-2010 Andrea Meyers: cooking, gardening & four hungry guys.

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The big Asian grocery store not far from my house had a great lime sale—20 limes for $1.00—so I came home with a bag of 20 limes and plans to make several lime dishes. This weekend we grilled some of this tequila lime chicken, which has become a favorite for us.

How long should you marinade chicken in a citrus-based liquid? Overnight or no more than a couple hours? For years I’ve heard you should not marinade your chicken in citrus liquids for more than an hour because it starts to “cook” the chicken, meaning that the outside layers of the chicken meat start to take on a white, cooked-like appearance. So of course when I saw recipes which called for marinating your chicken overnight in lime juice and other ingredients, I was skeptical and thought for sure that the chicken would be ruined. But I also saw many comments online at various cooking forums and recipe sites where people swore that their chicken turned out fantastic when marinating overnight and that it was tender and juicy, not tough or overcooked.

So this year I finally decided to try it and risk ruining a batch of chicken, and I am so glad that I did. Yes, the outside of the chicken does turn white, but when grilled the chicken is flavorful and tender. This recipe is now a favorite, and the chicken makes great fajitas. I make a large batch so that we can have leftovers for salads.

If you want to marinade for just a few hours, try slashing the chicken in a couple places before adding the marinade. This will help the flavors to penetrate better.

Equipment

medium bowl
2 zipper freezer bags
grill

Ingredients

6 boneless chicken breasts

MARINADE
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (not the bottled stuff)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup gold tequila
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 or 4 grinds fresh black pepper

ACCOMPANIMENTS
refried beans
Mexican rice
sauteed or grilled onions and peppers
whole wheat flour tortillas
tomatoes or salsa
sour cream
guacamole

Preparation

1. In the medium bowl, stir together the lime juice, orange juice, tequila, cilantro, garlic, salt, and pepper.

2. Put the chicken breasts into the freezer bags, 3 per bag, and pour the marinade over the chicken. Turn the bags over a couple times, then put them in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.

3. Preheat the grill to medium heat, and brush the grill rack with oil. Grill the chicken 10 minutes on the first side, then turn and cook another 8 minutes.

4. Slice the chicken diagonally across the grain and serve with the fajita accompaniments.

Optional

Michael likes to pour the cooked marinade over his fajitas. (If you choose to do this, please make sure you boil the marinade, not simmer. You want to kill any bacteria that may be present.) Reserve the marinade and bring it to a boil in a small pot, cooking for about 10 to 15 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes

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I’ve never been to Mexico. There, I’ve said it. I’ve traveled in 24 countries on 5 continents, but Mexico is not one of them. I haven’t been to Canada, either, but that’s a different post.

For never having been to the country, I really enjoy the food. My favorite Mexican treat is paletas and for a few years I experimented with different recipes (before the blog) and our freezer was full of paletas in the summertime. So with the Cinco de Mayo celebration last weekend, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do paletas, but I’m not sure where my equipment is—it’s been MIA since the move—so I made a simple ice dessert this time.

The combination of mango and lime really works well, a nice balance of tart and sweet; very refreshing after a spicy meal or a hot afternoon outdoors. My boys love mango and they were constantly on me while making this. My two-year-old has such a cute way of opening his eyes wide and asking, “Mommy, taste? Please?” And of course once he got a taste, he wanted more!

The recipe calls for fresh mango, but I use frozen cut mango and it is very easy; just measure and mix. However, don’t be tempted to use bottled lime juice because it won’t taste as good. Stick with the fresh lime.

The ice is pretty slushy, not firm, and it takes about 7 hours to prepare with 3 cycles of freezing and slushing, so plan ahead but don’t let the time daunt you. The active preparation time is only about 20 minutes total, and the rest of the time it’s just sitting in the freezer turning to ice. You can start it in the morning and have it ready to go in time for a party, or you can make it the night before then let it sit in the refrigerator for up to 30 minutes before serving.

You’ll have quite a bit of pulp left over after pressing the mixture through the strainer. So what to do with all that pulp? You can throw it in the blender with some yogurt and make a smoothie, or pour it over ice cream, or go for the simple solution and just grab a spoon and eat it straight out of a bowl, which is what I did!

If you don’t have an immersion blender to use during the freezing/scraping cycles, you can use a fork and just scrape away at the icy surface and then stir well before putting back in the freezer.

This is also my contribution to A Taste of Yellow for Livestrong Day sponsored by Winos and Foodies.

Update: Check out the round up 143 entries (an amazing number!) for A Taste of Yellow for Livestrong Day. There are some lovely dishes!

Equipment

food processor with blade attachment
mesh strainer
stainless steel bowl or 9×9-inch pan
immersion blender

Ingredients

4 large (2-1/4 pounds total) mangoes, peeled, fruit cut away from the pit and coarsely chopped (or about 2 heaping cups of frozen mango)
zest of of 1 orange
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1 cup cold water

Preparation

1. In the food processor, combine the mangoes, orange zest, sugar, lime juice, and water. Process until smooth, then press through a mesh strainer into a stainless steel bowl or 9×9-inch pan. You don’t want any of the pulp in the bowl, just the liquid.

2. Freeze until the mixture is firm 2 inches in from the sides, about 2 hours. Whip with an immersion blender or scrape with a fork until it’s slushy. Repeat the freezing and whipping process 2 more times, then freeze at least 1 hour before serving.

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Source: adapted from Rick Bayless

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Michael saw a recipe in the Washington Post about twenty years ago that inspired him to make this. It’s a very healthy, low-fat, vegetarian chili. He likes it chunky, and true chili mongers might even call this a soup done up tex-mex style.

When Michael makes it for himself, he uses lots of hot peppers. In fact, he likes to sweat when he’s eating chili. After we started dating, he asked me if I liked spicy foods and I said yes. Of course I did not realize that our ideas of spicy were nowhere close to each other. I like lots of flavor, he likes heat. So the first time he made this chili for me, he turned up the heat. My eyes were watering and my mouth was on fire, and I drank water and ate crackers for about an hour trying to kill the burn. He’s making the chili very mild for me since I’m pregnant with #3, then he adds some hot pepper sauce to his bowl.

You can make this quickly in about 45 minutes if you are in a hurry, but it’s better when it has time to simmer for a couple hours. Serve with grated sharp cheddar and crackers or jalapeño corn bread.

[Updated June 8, 2010.]

(Print this recipe)

MICHAEL’S VEGETARIAN CHILI

Makes about 7 quarts.

Equipment

8 quart stock pot with lid

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 anaheim pepper, seeded and minced
10 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons dried basil
2 tablespoons dried oregano
4 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound (454 g) yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 pound (454 g) zucchini squash, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2 pounds (~900 g) roma tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 (28 ounce/794 g) can crushed tomatoes
1 (8 ounce/227 g) can tomato sauce
1 (15 ounce/425 g) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 (15 ounce/425 g) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce/425 g) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 bunch cilantro, rough chopped (reserve some for garnish)
juice of 1 lemon

Preparation

1. Add olive oil to pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, peppers, and garlic and cook until they start to turn golden. Add the basil, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, chili powder, dill, and salt. Stir and continue to cook until the spices are very fragrant, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the yellow and zucchini squash and saute until tender. You can add another tablespoon or two of olive oil as necessary.

3. Add the tomatoes and beans. Fill the can of crushed tomatoes with water and add it to the pot. Cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook for at least 30 minutes. The flavors develop the longer it cooks. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.

Variations

• If tomatoes are out of season, you can use canned whole peeled tomatoes instead.
• Frozen squash works well in the winter months when they are out of season.
• You can substitute whatever peppers you have on hand. Go for some color.
• If you like spicy foods, go for the gusto. Add a habanero or two. If you prefer a milder version, lower the spices and garlic.
• This can also be cooked in a large slow cooker. After Step 2 dump everything in the slow cooker and cook on high for 5 or 6 hours or low for 7 to 8 hours.

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I have a relatively small collection of fundraiser cookbooks. One is from my grandmother’s church, two are from hospital auxiliary groups, two are from elementary schools, two are from overseas women’s groups, and one is from a law firm that donated the proceeds to charity. I would really like to have more fundraiser cookbooks, because these books are treasure troves of all the great regular kinds of foods that people eat. The recipes are contributed by moms and grandmothers—veterans of the kitchen who know what it’s like to try and put a meal together while juggling kids, job, and everything else. So when I go hunting for a recipe, I almost always start with these because there’s a good chance that I’ll find what I’m looking for, or at least something very similar.

Today’s recipe is a good variation on the layered bean dip. It’s called “Walking Tostada” and it’s from the ClearGourmet fundaiser cookbook, submitted by Lana Crist and Elsbeth Simon. This dip is great for parties, poker or Bunco night, or just whenever the mood strikes.

Equipment

9 x 13-inch glass dish

Ingredients

1 (28 oz) can refried beans (I use black refried beans.)
1 pkg powdered taco mix
8 oz sour cream
2 jars marinated artichoke hearts
1 (2.25 oz) can sliced black olives
2 green onions, chopped
16 oz grated cheddar cheese
8 oz chopped tomatoes
shredded lettuce
guacamole (optional)
1 can green chilies (optional)
corn chips or tortilla chips for dipping

Preparation

1. Mix together the refried beans and the taco mix. Spread in the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch glass dish.

2. Add layers of ingredients in the following order: sour cream, artichoke hearts, black olives, green onions, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce. Garnish with guacamole and green chilies if desired.

3. Serve with corn chips or tortilla chips.

Variations

I often use cilantro leaves instead of the lettuce for an extra bit of flavor.

I prefer to put the tomatoes on top for some nice color. I also remove the seeds and juices so that the dish keeps a little longer, which is helpful if you prepare this several hours in advance.

You can also use about 8 oz of a chunky salsa instead of tomatoes if you want a different flavor.

You can cut the recipe in half and serve it in a glass pie plate.

If you do not keep taco mix on hand, you can make your own using the following recipe.

Taco Seasoning Mix

1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Put all spices in a bowl and stir until combined. Makes the equivalent of one pouch taco seasoning mix.

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Source: ClearGourmet; the variations are from Andrea Meyers

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I first fell in love with guacamole when I lived in Bogotá, Colombia. There was a restaurant just down the street from my apartment called Aqui en Santa Fe, a small place with a cute red door. Their specialty was arepas, and I would order the aguacate arepa with queso mounded on top. It was heaven! I’ve been hooked on guacamole ever since, and I based my recipe on the guacamoles that I enjoyed in Colombia (which are not spicy like their Tex Mex cousins). This one is chunky, with a good lime flavor.

Equipment

sharp knife
medium bowl
fork

Ingredients

2 avocados, I like Hass
1 lime
handful of cilantro leaves, snipped from the stem
2 green onions, finely sliced (green part only)

Preparation

Cut open the avocados and remove the pits. Cut into chunks and scoop out the meat. Put in a medium bowl. Squeeze lime juice over the chunks and add cilantro and green onions. Stir with a fork, leaving some chunks of avocado. Serve with tortilla chips or on arepas or pita.

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