Finally, back in the kitchen again! Or, pickled red onions.

Wow- it's been over a year since my last post. Lots has happened, including the birth of our first baby! 3 months later and I'm finally back in the kitchen again. Long gone are the days where I can spend hours coming up with the perfect recipes and taking my time making them. I've learned about planning ahead and prepping ahead-- it's the only way I can possibly cook anything from scratch anymore. 

The other day I was feeling particularly motivated and wanted to cook something. I did a new twist on lasagnchiladas and thought some pickled onions would be awesome with them. Pickled onions are the greatest condiment- they add acidity, salt, a little sweetness, and oniony goodness. Oh, and who doesn't love a splash of pink on their plate?? They're ubiquitous in Mexican cuisine-- not Tex-Mex, but actual Mexico-- so I thought they'd be a great accompaniment to my decidedly unauthentic Mexican dish.  

This was simple and easy to make, and made an already good dish even better! 


Pickled Onions

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion, peeled and sliced thin, root to stem 
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed (NOT chopped, minced, or pressed)
• 1 tsp. salt 
• 1 cup vinegar (I used plain ol' white vinegar, but apple cider, red wine, or a combination would work just as well)
• Juice from 2 limes

Directions

• Bring a couple cups of water to a boil. Put the onions in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and drain. 
• While the water is heating up, mix other ingredients in a jar or bowl until salt is dissolved.
• Add the drained onions to the jar. Let sit on the counter for about 4 hours, until flavors are well melded and liquid is pink.
• Serve with anything that could use a little acidity to brighten it up! 

Lasagnchiladas!

So... I came up with this idea when the hubs and I were trying to figure out dinner plans for the week. He's been begging for lasagna for awhile and I've managed to get around it by making various other pasta dishes (I hate lasagna. More like loathe, detest, abhor lasagna- ricotta cheese freaks me out. Plus I've never been a huge fan of Italian food.) Anyway, he really wanted some lasagna. But then chorizo got thrown into the conversation, and I had my revelation... Mexican Lasagna... LASAGN-CHILADAS!!! I started out trying to make some corn noodles. That did not go well, I need to spend more time figuring that out. So 2 eggs, 1 1/3 cups AP flour and an hour later and I had fresh lasagna noodles.

In the meantime, I julienned 2 onions and sauteed them with a pound of chorizo.

Once the onions were softened, I added a large can of diced green chiles. While that was cooking and the lasagna was drying a little, I threw a pound of quesadilla cheese in the food processor and shredded it.

Then it was just assembly.

Some canned enchilada sauce (I'm gonna figure out how to make my own-- next time) on the bottom, then noodles, chorizo mixture, quesadilla cheese and cotija cheese.

Layer and repeat. This is an instant classic in our house. It's sort of lasagna, which Mr. Beez likes, and sort of Mexican, which he loves. Win-win!

Lasagnchiladas

Ingredients

•  Lasagna noodles (Homemade or boxed)
• 1 pound chorizo sausage
• 2 onions, julienne
• 1 pound quesadilla cheese
• Cotija cheese (or parmesan)
• 1 large can diced green chiles
• 2 cans enchilada sauce- red or green, your call

Directions

•  Preheat oven to 350. Heat a saute pan over medium high heat. Add onions and chorizo. Cook until onion is softened and chorizo is browned. Drain excess fat and add green chiles. While the chorizo is cooking, shred quesadilla cheese.
• In a 13 x 9 casserole, put a thin layer of enchilada sauce. Add a single layer of lasagna noodles. Top with about 1/4 of the chorizo mixture, then quesadilla cheese, a little cotija and some more enchilada sauce. Spread the sauce evenly over the layer.
• Continue layering until you run out of chorizo mixture. Top with a final layer of noodles, enchilada sauce, and both cheeses.
• Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown. I rotated mine halfway through cooking because my oven doesn't cook all that evenly.
• Let cool, cut, serve, and ENJOY!

I will figure out how to make those corn noodles and this dish will go from awesome to awesom-er!

Also, add jalapenos for added heat, but with the chorizo and green chiles, it's hot enough for us!