Farm to Table, Part 2

I settled on enchilada casserole for the main dish, with fresh salsas, avocado, chips, and spice-rubbed tofu for appetizers. We'll have a big salad with heirloom tomatoes and peas from the farm for our greens, and the tofu chocolate mousse for dessert. So, for the enchiladas, most of the cooking is really going into the sauce, since that will make the dish. First I seeded and quartered 4 red peppers (yellow and orange being considered red here) and 2 anaheim chilies. Adding a walla walla sweet onion and a couple of small red salad onions, I gave everything a light coating of olive oil (I used my sprayer, but a brush coat or fingers works fine, too) and salt and popped it into a hot oven (I'd say around 400, but since my oven has no numbers on the dial its always a guess). Basically, you want to roast them for about 20 minutes or until they look pretty charred but not totally black.


For this recipie I went a little lighter because I was not planning on peeling them after. For others, a more thorough char assists in the peeling. Next I threw some fire-roasted tomatoes in my skillet with garlic, cumin, smoked paprika and some fennel seed which I had seared for a minute in hot olive oil. I used about 6 cloves of garlic and about a tablespoon each of the cumin and fennel. Just a small amount of the paprika. I used a 32oz can of Muir Glen tomatoes but I also like to roast my own when I have them, using the same technique as the peppers. I saved about half the can to blend and put half in with the chard so there will be some good chunks of tomato in the final dish.
Cook the chard down with a cover to steam it, should only take 5 minutes or so and look like this when it's done.
Prior to the sauce I actually used the same spices to season the tofu cutlets, first searing the spices on their own and then adding the tofu for a quick fry before baking them.


I removed a lot of the spice rub before baking so it wouldn't burn, and put them in a 250 - 300 degree oven for about 30 minutes. They can go shorter or longer, but too long and they will get dried out. They are kind of good that way, but more of a cracker than a cutlet!

These will be good with the salsas and chips, just cut into bite-sized pieces for a little protein with our snacks. I didn't photograph the salsas but I made one with heirloom tomatoes and one with mango and pickled jalapeno. Will try to get shots for part 3 if it works out.

When the peppers and onions were done roasting, I put them in a bowl and blended them with the rest of the tomatoes plus a little extra tomato sauce (about 1/2 of a 16 oz can). I added a pressed clove of fresh garlic and some salt and pepper, but the veggies were so sweet and smokey that the sauce really needed very little seasoning at all.


Since we're travelling to the coast and the meal isn't until Saturday, I put all of these items in containers to assemble when we get there. Given that I will be using corn tortillas in the casserole I decided it would be too mushy if it sat, and if I baked it today it might get dried out or over-baked when re-heating Saturday. In case I don't get any final photos, I intend to layer the sauce with corn tortillas, cheddar (for one dish, and almond rella for the vegan version), and thinly sliced quorn (faux chicken cutlets). Served with the salsas, avocado and salad, I think it will be a good spicy meal on a hot night.