Mexican Corn Pizza

Homemade pizza is a quick, easy and highly adaptable meal that everyone can enjoy. Like pasta sauce, everyone has their own methods and today I'd like to share mine. For the base I prefer to use either wholemeal pita bread or tortilla wraps and I'll be researching gluten-free bases in the near future! Pita bread and tortilla wraps are cheaper, thinner and therefore a comparatively healthier option to designated "pizza bases" available in the supermarket.

If I'm in a rush I usually make a quick tomato sauce using 2 tbl tomato paste, 1 clove of crushed garlic, 1 tbl water, 1 tbl olive oil and some fresh basil/oregano. If I have more time, I make a tomato sauce along the lines of my Tasty Tomato and Mushroom Pasta Sauce except I skip the mushrooms, making it with anchovies, garlic and a tin of tomatoes and let it simmer it for 35-50 minutes.

 

Today's recipe has a vague Mexican twist. I made these pizza's just before I decided to take a break from gluten. They were delicious and a lovely change from the more traditional homemade style of pizza.

Sauce

3 tbl Black bean pate/refried beans

1 tbl tomato paste

1 clove garlic

1 tbl olive oil
1 tbl water

 

Toppings

spring onions

black olives
jalapenos

quick roasted corn

red capsicum

mushrooms

grated cheese

Making a pizza is similar to making a stir-fry, the key to low stress cooking is doing all your prep before you start putting your pizza together.

 

So first of all pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees.

Next start on the quick-roasted corn. It may seem tedious, but the sweet roasted corn flavour is pretty central to this recipe.

Heat your the BBQ and wet a peeled ear of corn under the tap (do not dry). Place corn on a plate and cook in the microwave for 2 minute bursts until it is cooked. Mine took about 6 minutes total, but all microwaves are different.

 

Place the corn on a medium heat BBQ, turning frequently for about 5-10 minutes until all sides are golden. Once it is cool enough to handle, cut the corn away from the cob ready to be used (I eat whatever corn is left on the cob).

Prepare you tomato-bean sauce.

 

I  had a bunch of left over Martha Rose Shulman's Black Bean Pate. It tasted great but I think I cooked it too long and it was a little dry. You could easily substitute this for tinned refried beans.

 

Mix 3 tbl Black bean pate/refried beans, 1 tbl tomato paste, 1 clove garlic, 1 tbl olive oil and 1 tbl of water in a small bowl.

Then finely chop a little spring onion, mushroom and capsicum. Remember any vegetables you add, contain water and you don't want a mushy pizza, so cut them finely.

Now you are ready to make your pizza. Add a thin layer of tomato-bean sauce

Veggie it up, don't forget the black olives and jalapenos!

Then cheese it up

Bake until golden. Once out of the oven, let it rest for a good 5 minutes
(or as long as you can retain self control)

Enjoy!
 

 

Black Bean Chilli

This post follows directly on from Black Beans 101. Martha Rose Shulman has a number of recipes using her perfectly simmered black beans. The first one I tested out was her  Black Bean Chilli. I've been searching for a vegetarian chilli recipe for ages and I'm so happy I found this one.

I made a few changes, primarily due to a lack of canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce available in Australia. As a substitute I added paprika, fresh chilli and apple cider vinegar. I also added some celery, because it was in the fridge and needed to be used.

It's thick, rich and delicious!

1 pot simmered Black Beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions finely chopped
6 large garlic cloves, minced
2 fresh chillies
3 sticks celery
1 tbl dried chilli
1 tablespoon lightly toasted cumin seeds, ground
425 gm tin tomatoes
2 tbl apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tbl paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt
1/2 cup chopped coriander

Make the black beans as directed, preferably the day before you wish to serve.

Heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion and celery

 

Cook, stirring often, until the onion is lightly colored, about 10 minutes.

Add the fresh chilli and garlic, fry for a minute or two until fragrant

 

Then add the spices, dried chilli, cumin and paprika. Cook, stirring, for two to three minutes, until the mixture begins to stick to the pan.
 

 

Add the tinned tomatoes, vinegar and oregano. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.

  

 

Stir in tomato paste then simmer for another 15 minutes, stir often to prevent it from sticking and burning.

 

Add the Black Beans to the tomato mixture and bring back to a simmer.

 

 

 

Continue to simmer, stirring often, for 45 - 60 minutes.

 

Taste and adjust salt.

 

I've been eating this all week in various ways along the theme of a burrito salad.

Served with brown rice and/or sweet potato

Garnished with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, black olives, coriander, jalapeños, spring onion, grated cheese, natural yogurt and corn chips.

 

Black Beans 101

Black beans are not widely used or available in Australia, which is sad, because they are so delicious not to mention super healthy. Lucky for me the Kakulas Brothers in Northbridge, Perth have bulk bins of almost everything you could desire, including dried black beans.

I attempted cooking black beans once before with poor results because I boiled them and discarded the cooking water - amateurs mistake. They require more time and effort than other dried beans, but after discovering the absolute brilliance that is Martha Rose Shulman and her guide to Black Beans as part of her awesome recipe series with the NY times called Recipes for Health, I think my cooking abilities are about to take a leap forward.

 

On her website she says, "I draw my inspiration from Mediterranean and Mexican cuisines, inherently healthy cuisines with big flavors, whose recipes can be easily adapted, if they need to be, to lower-fat versions without compromising flavor"... I want to meet this woman!

 

This recipe is pretty much Martha Rose Shulman's to the letter, it takes a good 2-3 hours and completely worth the time and effort. 

I am tired of the excessive foodie language used today in Australia. Comments like "I love how the saltiness of the fish sauce is balanced by the sweetness of the palm sugar", or "I love the way the lemon zest brings out the flavour of the beans" are so over used and drive me bananas. For this reason I avoid being too verbose when describing food.

But for this recipe I can't help it. The rich earthiness of these black beans has to be tried to be believed, it is deeply satisfying.There I said it..

When you have time, give this recipe a go, you won't regret it!

 

2 cups dried black beans, washed and picked over for stones

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 medium onions diced

6 large garlic cloves roughly chopped

1/4 cup chopped coriander

Salt to taste 

Soak the beans in about 2 litres of the water for at least six hours. If they will be soaking for a long time in warm weather, put them in the refrigerator.

 

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until it begins to soften, about three minutes.

 

Add the garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about one minute.

 

Add the beans and soaking water. The beans should be covered by at least an inch of water. Add more as necessary and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and skim off any foam that rises.

Once it comes to a boil, this is when I put mine in the oven at about 170 degrees for an hour, alternatively simmer on a low heat for an hour.

Add salt and fresh coriander and simmer for another hour.

 

The beans will become soft and the broth thick and fragrant. Taste for salt.

T

Let sit overnight in the refrigerator for the best flavor.

 

 

I ate mine with brown rice, coriander, spring onion, lettuce, jalapenos, fresh chilli, black olives and a couple of corn chips. Some sour cream or natural yogurt would have been good, but it wasn't missed.

Super Simple Burrito Wraps

Like the post title suggests, this is a really fast, satisfiying meal that you can make within minutes of walking through the door. It would probably taste even better if you had the time to make my roasted corn salsa but sometimes you're too tired to even think about cooking let alone doing it.

 

you will need...

 

wholemeal wraps (I like to buy mission brand)

A tin of refried beans

sliced black olives

chilli sauce/Jalapeños

natural yogurt/sour cream

avocado

lettuce

spring onion

tomato

coriander

 

 

Just cut up the vegetables and you're ready to put this baby together.

 

I zap the wrap in the microwave for about 30 seconds and then put down a smear of refried beans and sprinkle on the rest.

 

If you have more time you could sprinkle the beans with cheese, onions and olives and put it under the grill for a couple of minutes to melt the cheese, then add the salad and yogurt at the end

 

Or wrap it up and put in the sandwich press to toast.

 

the choice is yours!

Burrito Salad with BBQ'd Corn Salsa

In Australia, we make just about the worst Mexican food on the planet. It's usually a soggy, refried bean sloppy mess covered in cheese (Old El Paso anyone...?). Sadly this means many people think they don't like Mexican food without ever really experiencing it. I haven't actually been to Mexico - but in Canada Mexican food is everywhere and it's often fresh, interesting and delicious. Even their standard pub nachos are 100 x better than any Mexican meal I've had in Australia.

 

Like many international cuisines, I think the key to great Mexican is having a variety of flavours and textures on you plate. I started out making this burrito salad with chilli con carne as an alternative to just eating it with a big pile of rice and nothing else. These days I often omit the beef all together and eat is a vegetarian meal. Today I made it with a spicy beef kebab - therefore the word Mexican it used rather loosely with regards to the beef part of the meal, but I think the flavours still worked pretty well.

 

BBQ'd Corn Salsa

 

1 avocado

1 cob corn

juice of 1/2 lime

1 spring onion

1/4 of a red onion

1 tomato de-seeded

handful of fresh coriander

1 chilli (optional)

 

 

Cooking corn on the BBQ makes it smokey and sweet. I know some people think you need to soak corn overnight before BBQing - I don't. I just peal off the husk and put it on a low heat for about 30 minutes, turning frequently. If you rub a little oil on it, it will cook quicker, but I prefer not to. Don't worry if some kernels burn a little, it just adds more flavour.

 

While the corn is roasting away, finely dice the spring onion, red onion, tomato, coriander and fresh chilli

 

 

Once the corn is cooked, let it cool for a couple of minutes and then cut the kernels off using a sharp knife. Stir it through the rest of the salsa and then gently stir through one diced avocado and a little lime juice.

 

Spicy Beef Kebab Marinade

 

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp lemon rind

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

pinch of mixed spice

1 clove of garlic

1 spring onion

1 tsp honey

salt

 

 

Pound the chilli flakes, cumin and mixed spice in a mortar and pestle

 

Add garlic, lemon rind and spring onions to mortar and pestle and pound into a paste

 

Mix in honey, oil and salt.  I marinated about 250gm of rump steak for about an hour, then BBQ it on metal kebab sticks

 

Burrito Salad

 

BBQ'd Corn Salsa

Spicy Beef Kebab

Refried beans

Brown rice

Lettuce

Celery

Black olives

Natural yogurt