savor

Cooking for this family is occasionally a challenge. Fussy kids. I know, I know, serve one meal and if they do not like it, they go hungry. I just don’t have the heart to do that. There are some ways to make it a bit easier. One way is to starve them. Well, that came out wrong. What I mean is, serve an early lunch and a late dinner with no snack in between. They will eat.

The other afternoon, I was on an “errand date” with our five year old, Maximilian. I often take one of our children with me when I run errands as a way to have special time with just them. There is often a coffee (for me) or treat (for them) shared, too. Well, our afternoon ran late and we found ourselves at the grocery store at dinner time. The cell phone rang and Daddy encouraged us to bring home dinner. I just did not want to get fast food and we had already had a request of “not pizza.” With our groceries, we selected some ready-to-eat meals from the Market’s Kitchen. We brought home some Pork Tenderloin, a whole rotisserie chicken, corn and rice pilaf. The cost was certainly less than feeding seven people fast food. We even had leftovers.

Tonight I served the leftover Pork Tenderloin and the other half of the chicken along with corn on the cob and (raw) green beans. It was easy. But one look at the meal and I thought for sure our Timothy would not be pleased. He wasn’t pleased when we brought it home the other evening. So, I grabbed the rest of the black beans that were opened a couple of days ago from the fridge and remembered some inspiriation.

I was watching 30 Minute Meals on The Food Network a couple of weeks ago and Rachel Ray prepared Nacho Bread Pizza. I did not have a baguette, but I substituted with a Large Tortilla. I forgot the hot sauce, but no one missed it. I did finish with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro and offered sour cream to go with.

I served it to Timothy, my only “beany boy. He ate it without complaint. After our “meaty-boy” Maximilian finished his chicken and corn, he requested some of the Nacho Pizza. Then, not wanting to miss out, Pier-Jérôme requested some as well. Maximilian also added some of the Rotisserie chicken to his bean filling. They all cleaned their plates. Yay! Here is the recipe:

Nacho Bread Pizzas

1 loaf baguette or semolina bread, day old is fine (used a large Tortilla)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped or 1 pickled hot pepper of any kind, chopped (jalapeno)

1 (15-ounce) can black beans

2 teaspoons hot sauce (we did not miss this)

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

Salt and pepper

1 cup prepared salsa, any variety

2 cups shredded Cheddar, smoked Cheddar, Monterey Jack or pepper Jack (we used sharp cheddar, but less than one cup)

1 heart romaine or 1/2 iceberg head, shredded (I chopped up organic spring mix)

/2 cup green olives with or without pimiento, chopped forgot this, too

1/4 red onion or 2 to 3 scallions, chopped (skipped this, too)

2 plum or vine tomatoes, seeded and diced

Split bread lengthwise. Hollow the bread out and cut each half in half across, making 4 boats.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add oil, 1 turn of the pan, garlic and hot peppers. Drain beans. Add half of the beans then mash the remainder of the beans in the can using a fork. Add mashed beans to the pan and combine with whole beans. Season beans with hot sauce, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. When the spicy beans are hot through, spread them evenly across all of the bread. Top with salsa and liberally sprinkle with cheese, covering bread to all edges. The boats will only be half-full. Melt cheese in the oven until it bubbles and begins to brown.

Top Nacho Bread Pizzas with lettuce, olives, onions and tomatoes and serve