Easy Black Bean Spinach Enchiladas

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a simple dish that I make for lunch when we are at the lake, or for day game when we are home and I have a gang in the living room. The enchiladas, which are inexpensive to make, can be prepared in 15 minutes, and on the table in less than an hour. They are perfect for informal family meals or occasions when friends drop by. Chances are you have everything you need to make them in your pantry, but if it is at all possible, I'd like to suggest you make the enchiladas with fresh corn kernels. It adds a bit of work and mess to the endeavor, but I think you will find it time well spent. Having said that, frozen or canned corn can be used if that is all you have on hand and you will still have a meal worthy of your family and guests. These are not highly spiced enchiladas, so children will usually eat them without complaint, and because they are meatless, they make a great entree for a Meatless Monday meal. I do hope you'll give this simple recipe a try. The spinach makes them a bit unusual, but it adds color and contributes unique flavor and texture to the enchiladas. Here is how they are made.

Frugal Foodie Friday - When the Corn is as High as an Elephants Eye

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...One of the great delights of living in the part of Oregon that I call home, is our proximity to truck farms and orchards. While our weather, of late, has been wildly unpredictable, local farmers have had a great summer and the bins at farm stands are sagging under the weight of this year's harvest. Each summer,  the Silver Fox and I make a pilgrimage to our favorite farms for fruit and produce to put by  for the winter ahead. This is very picturesque country and the journey takes us into valleys where the clock seems to tick more slowly and the eye captures a panorama that rotates and changes  at a slower pace than the cities that surround it. We count ourselves especially blessed because many of these farmers sell their produce in forms that are near-ready for the kettle or the freezer. If I'm willing to buy in quantity, I can purchase pitted cherries, cut beans and corn that is scraped from cobs before my very eyes.  Many of these farmers are also willing to share old family recipes with customers they consider to be regulars. One of the places we frequent each year is Hentze Family Farm and I want to pass their recipe for frozen corn casserole on to you tonight. I make it at this time of year, but I hide four bags of it the back of my freezer for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. The recipe is simple and I thought it would be perfect addition to my Frugal Foodie Friday recipe collection. I hope those of you who can buy corn in bulk will give the recipe a try. Here is how the freezer version of corn casserole is made.

Homemade Mexicorn

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a wonderful dish to serve at your next barbecue. It's a bit unusual but it's enormously flavorful and I know you and your family will enjoy it. I actually double the recipe when I make this. One batch, meant for children and those who don't enjoy highly spiced food, is made without chili powder and cumin, while the other uses the quantities suggested in the recipe below as a starting point for seasoning the corn to taste. Do be aware that whatever amount you use, the addition of chili powder will dull the vibrant color of the unseasoned corn and limit the ways in which it can be used. I've been working in a poorly equipped kitchen this week, so I purchased diced vegetables to make assembly of this dish even easier. I've also found a couple of ways to use the leftovers. Earlier this week, I shared a recipe for corn muffins that used unseasoned Mexicorn to make an unusual and tasty muffin. That same day, I used the leftover seasoned Mexicorn as a topping for bruschetta that was as delicious as it was unusual. I do hope you'll give this simple recipe a try. Here is how the Mexicorn is made.