Central Am Inspired Enchilada Salad

In Central America much of our diet includes beans, tortillas and avacado. One dish that is especially popular is enchilada. These are not the goo covered cheesy hot concotions of US Mexican retaurants. Instead an enchilada is made with a tostada (a crunchy corn tortilla) topped with beans, cheese, and either lettuce or raw cabbage, hot sauce and maybe some aguacate (the name for avocado down here). 

While visiting the US, I needed something "familiar" to my current daily diet and whipped up this for lunch. It is mestizo in nature- a little Central American and a little US flavored. 

Ingredients:

• Crispy corn tortillas
• Mixed greens or shredded cabbage
• Aguacate or Haas avacado- whatever is avail near you
• Good hot sauce (not tobasco) if you like spicy
• Frijoles volteados. I prefer tehse to the gross refried beans of the Old el Paso type. Personally I love the Natura 's or Ducal that you can find in the "Mexican"section of the US supermarket: 

  

• 1 Tomato (I love hierloom or anything with real flavor), diced
• 1 lime
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1/2 jalepeño, seeded and diced if desired
• Cilantro, if desired

Preparation:

• Lay out your greens on a plate. 
• Add slices of the aguacate/avacado. I like to leave the pit in so if I don't use all of it, I can wrap and save it for a few days. 
• In a small bowl, mix together a diced tomato, diced red onion and the jalepeño and some chopped cilantro (if using). You just made a version of pico de gallo! Congratulations! 
• Cut lime in half and squeeze into tomato mix. Stir and add salt and pepper to taste
• With your hands, crunch up the corn tortillas to bite sized pieces and sprinkle onto greens
• Heat the bean in a pot or microwave. You can add cheese and/or hot sauce if you like. 
• Scoop beans onto greens and chips
• Scoop the pico de gallo onto the salad. 
• Squeeze the rest of the lime onto the salad. 
• Enjoy! Buen provecho! 

Lentil Burgers- Can be vegan and gluten free!

Lentil Veggie Burger Recipe

I adapted this from Naturally Vegetarian Recipes.
You can make this Vegan and gluten free and be creative with toppings.

Total Prep Time: ~30 Minutes 
Total Waiting-for-things-to-cook-or-sit-time ~4 hours:  (1.5h to soak lentils, ~50 mins to let lentils simmer, 1/2 hour to cool mixture, 10 min to cook patties) ~ Servings: 5 hamburger bun sized patties
 ~Nutrition Data, 54g Serving (burger only):194 cal, 23g carb, 8g fat, 294 mg sodium, 9g fiber, 10g protein, low Cholesterol, good source Vit E, Thiamin, Folate, Magnesium. Estimated glycemic load 7

Ingredients:
 * 1 cup brown lentils
 * 2 cups water
 * Optional: 1 unsalted vegan veggie bouillon cube (I used a chicken one as I had no veggie, so mine was not totally veggie friendly)
 * Olive oil for cooking
 * ~1/4-1/2 red onion, chopped
 * 3 cloves diced garlic
 * 1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger OR 1 1/2 tsp dried ginger
 * 1 medium sized finely chopped carrot
 * 1 tsp cardamon (or cumin)
 * 3 tsp ground sage
 * salt to taste
 * black pepper to taste
 * splash of worchester sauce
 * 1/2 cup quick oats (like 1 min. oatmeal), lightly chopped
 * 1 crust of stale integral bread (leave out if gluten free and use more oats), finely chopped

  Directions:
 1. Soak lentils in hot water in a pot for 1.5 hours
 2. Drain
 3. Add 2 cups of water, plus optional veggie cube or bay leaf, add sage
 4. Bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 1/2+ hour until tender
 5. Add cadamon or cumin, salt and pepper, worchester, and ginger. Add the finely chopped carrot. Remove lid and turn heat up to medium, stirring occasionally, until almost all of the remaining liquid has been absorbed. Some liquid is ok as it will bond to the oats.
 6. Meanwhile, chop the onion and garlic, sautee in olive oil until onions are almost carmelized.
 7. Place onions and garlic in a large container and let cool. Add the chopped oats and mix together.
 8. When lentils are tender, mash lentils with a potato masher, stick blender or fork.
 9. Mix lentils in with oats and onion mix. Add the bread crumbs (if using). Pat down into a small loaf. Let cool for about 1/2 hour. You can put in the refrigerator for part of this time if the mixture has cooled enough. 
10. Heat the pan on med-hi and drizzle with olive oil. Swirl to coat.
 11. With a spoon, scoop the mixture into your hand and make a ball. Form into a patty. Mine tend to be larger (to fit a hamburger bun) so they only made 5. If it seems not quite stiff, add a little more oats and-or dry bread crumbs. If too crumbly, add more water.
 12. Do a test patty to see how long you need to cook each side. I found that it was under 3 mins per side. The outside should be a little crispy.
 13. If you are not vegan, add some cheese once the patty is flipped. If you are not celiac, grill or toast the buns.
 14. Add your toppings. We went traditional mayo, mustard ketchup, but you can be classier.