Meatless Mexican Salad

I'm back! Stunned? I am. First I've had all kinds of computer problems and then I had major issues with my camera. Anyway hopefully it's all finally cleared up.
Today's dish comes from a neighbor who had the meal at her parents house. I then adapted the recipe to fit my family's taste and trust me this picture does it no justice. The flavors blend together well and it's a salad that you'll crave often. My favorite thing about this recipe besides the taste is from start to finish it takes about 15 minutes to make, less if you don't make your own salsa and salad dressing. Another shocking thing about this recipe is my kids, yes the world's  pickiest kids, will eat this salad. So with that on to the recipe.

Lettuce (I use two salad bags or two washed heads of lettuce), I prefer romaine or green leaf but iceburg works
2 cans of Chili Beans, your choice I prefer S&W chili beans
1/2-3/4 bag of frozen corn, fresh works well too
fresh salsa, jarred works but it tastes great with freshly made
2 avocados, diced
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, play around almost any cheese is great in this salad
2 bunches of green onions, chopped (less if you want less or leave them out if your not an onion fan)
salad dressing, I prefer my homemade Creamy Tomatillo dressing but ranch works or even sour cream
crushed tortilla chips

Here is the only cooking part of this dish: Heat the chili beans and corn until heated thoroughly. Microwave or stove either way works.
Now assemble the salad, starting from the bottom:
lettuce, chili beans/corn mixture, cheese, green onions, avocado, salad dressing and tortilla chips.

Hopefully you like this salad as much as we do!

Corn Chowder

I want to preface this post by telling all of Norah's avid readers that this is Mary, her sister, making a post. I don't post that often, Norah is by far the better cook in the family, but I strive to be more like her. But every once in a while I make something that I just want to share with others.

I was up at her house last weekend and I got to personally look through her latest issue of Cook's Country, the one she has been making everything from. Well I saw a recipe that I wanted to try and she told me she probably wouldn't be making because her husband had no desire to try it. So I thought "yay, a post for me!" Corn chowder was my poision.

I didn't write the recipe down when I was up there, so I called Norah several days later and jotted it down over the phone. Unfortunately, this meant I shorthanded some ingredients and directions so my actual recipe is slightly different than the Cook's Country one. Plus I tried to scaled it down to serve less, there is only 2 of us in my household, but I'll talk more on that later.

Corn Chowder

adapted slightly from Cook's Country

3 cups frozen corn, rinsed of any frozen water particles and patted dry

1 15oz. canned corn, drained

3 cups chicken broth, divided

1 onion, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

6-8 red potatoes, diced into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons chives, thinly sliced

1. Puree the canned corn and 1 cup of the chicken broth until smooth.

2. In a sautee pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add chopped onion and frozen corn. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 8 minutes, or until the vegetables start to brown. I found, or maybe I was too impatient, that adding about a teaspoon of sugar helped brown the vegetables quicker. Of course I will almost eat sugar on anything, so you probably don't want to listen to me.

3. In a heavy stockpot, combine potatoes, corn puree mixture, the onion/frozen corn mixture and the remaining chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until potatoes are tender.

4. Add cream and chives to the pot. Season with additional salt and pepper. Serve warm.

The Cook's Country orginally called for fresh ears of corn, which I subbed with my frozen corn. It's not in season yet that I can tell. It also called for bacon, which I had none of, so it got omitted. My mother says she missed the bacon but still enjoyed the meatless soup. And scallions are called for but I have chives I am trying to use up.

I simmered my soup with no lid, which reduced the soup and I had to keep adding more chicken broth so the potatoes would get tender. I never thought to put a lid on it. By adding more broth I effectively didn't scale the recipe down. It probably would serve four people heartily. Next time I'll put a lid on it.

Overall it was delicious and I, personally, didn't need bacon. I would and will make this again.

Green Chile Enchiladas

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
2 1/2 cups half and half
1 (7 oz) can green chiles
1/2 cup onion, minced
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 medium onion, minced
4 cups cheddar cheese, grated
4 cups jack cheese, grated
oil for frying
12 corn tortillas
2 cups sour cream
Melt butter in small saucepan and sprinkle in flour. When flour is slightly browned and begins to bubble, slowly stir in half and half. Simmer, stirring regularly for 5 minutes. Add chiles, 1/2 cup minced onion and cayenne, and simmer 10 minutes. Mix cheeses with remaining minced onion. Dip each tortilla into hot oil for 5 seconds and drain on paper towel. Scoop cheese mixture onto each tortilla, roll up and place in baking pan. Top with green chile sauce, sprinkle on remaining cheese and broil until bubbly. Garnish generously with sour cream.