Recipe Review #9

 

If you've got a few extra cans of black beans around, I have two recipes I tried that I would suggest (well, one is a keeper, the other not loved all around). I also reviewed what I considered a dud (and sadly I made two of that one and froze the one we didn't eat right away, so we have to suffer through twice!)

This BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad by What's Gaby Cooking appealed to me because I like pretty much all the ingredients and have very few quinoa recipes. I'm guessing I'm going to never have many in my collection based on the votes of those I cook for.

 I liked it. My husband did NOT like it, one kids voted almost thumbs up and the other said it's medium. My 2.5 year old ate all of it, but slowly. So, basically, it doesn't make the cut. I think it's something I could probably make for lunch for the kids and me when we happen to have left over BBQ check, but otherwise, we're not making this again.

 (I made a few changes. I doubled all of it. Instead of just a cup of beans I used and entire 15 oz. can. I left the avocado out as a topping instead of mixing it in. My kids don't like them and they don't sit well in mixed up left overs. My cheese was Colby-jack and I also added a bit of red onions as a  topping.)

I was excited to see this variation of a enchilada on Pinterest from food.com. Jalapeno's Spinach Enchiladas were toted as being one of the most popular entrees on the menu at the Houston restaurant.
 Imagine my photo here because I guess I didn't take a picture of this one.
It looked promising: spinach, garlic, onions, cheese, spices I wouldn't usually put in enchiladas like nutmeg and it was all topped with a cream sauce full of cilantro. I'm sad to report that we were all disappointed. It was just too weird for us (and we love our Mexican food around here). NOT a keeper.

And while we're talking Mexican style food, let me tell you about the Tortilla and Black Bean Pie from Martha Stewart. I like black beans. I like to have a variety of dishes I can make with them, so I was drawn to this recipe. I thought my husband, who hates casserole type meals, would say to me "why not just make regular burritos?"

I was right! Ha ha. When he finished the first bite he admitted that is was good after all. And it was. For some reason I had two kids that didn't want to eat anything for dinner, so I only have one kid review which was positive. I also liked it. That being said, the amount of effort, but more so time that it took to make it, I would follow my husband's advice and just make burritos. So, the only reason I'm not keeping this one is because it just takes longer than a meal like this should (in my opinion).