I love being in the kitchen… so much so that I enjoy being in the kitchen on my spare time. Now as a single parent, the ‘spare time’ I have is pretty limited. Thankfully I am able to find a work/life balance with my busy schedule so that I can have some kitchen therapy on a regular basis. On the weekends Joel is spending time with his dad, I use that time in the kitchen teaching culinary classes in the city. I’ve been having so much fun with teaching that it’s now become a more serious steady job I do on those specific weekends. One of the popular classes I teach is a tamales class.
Making tamales is a great kitchen activity to do in a group because there are quite a few components to making them and everyone can be involved. To help with a recent tamales class I taught, the folks of Del Monte® reached out to me with a culinary challenge. They asked me to creatively incorporate canned fruits or vegetables into tasty dishes with pantry staples. Challenge? Oh, I think I can come up with something!
For this challenge, they sent me a few cans of Del Monte® canned fruit and vegetables including:
2 cans Del Monte® Whole Kernel Corn, drained
1/2 cup diced bell pepper (red, green, yellow or mix)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon adobo seasoning
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 cups shredded hot pepper jack cheese
Place half of the black beans in a large bowl. Place the remaining black beans in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until mashed. Add the mashed black beans to the bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
2 cans Del Monte® Diced Tomatoes, drained
1 diced medium sized white or yellow onion
1/4 bunch of cilantro (use more or less depending on your taste),minced
juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 jalapenos (or more if you prefer it hotter), seeded and minced
1 small chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1/4 cup diced yellow bell pepper
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1 1/3 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2/3 cup tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup frozen peas
More often than not, if I am using canned veggies for a dish, I am making –
Dixie Stampede Cream of Vegetable Soup recipe
Ingredients
* 3 tablespoons margarine (Some use salted butter)
* 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon corn syrup
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup chicken broth
* 1 1/2 cups water
* 3/4 cup finely chopped cooked vegetable (Some people use diced canned potatoes and canned carrot slices diced very small, corn [Veg-All will work])
* 1 pint half-and-half cream (Some people use a heavy cream for a richer taste)
* chopped fresh parsley
Directions
1. In a 3-quart sauce pot, melt margarine. Add onion, garlic, and corn syrup. Simmer 1 minute. Do NOT brown.
2. Add flour, white pepper, salt, chicken broth, water, and vegetables. Simmer 3 minutes.
3. Add half-and-half. Simmer until desired consistency. Stir constantly – do NOT bring to boil.
4. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.
I use a lot of canned tomatoes in the winter – would that be a canned fruit or a canned vegetable? 😉
Love tamales, thanks for sharing the recipes. We also love DelMonte brand 🙂
Never ever tried tamales – I shall definitely be giving them a try sometime soon now though 🙂 Thank you x
I've never had tamales. Those look like some good recipes. Thank you for sharing!
This sounds like a great dinner!!
I have never eaten tamales! I always wondered if the shell was just for looks or if you eat it. These look easy to make though
I am absolutely in LOVE with Tamales! I am going to be enjoying this post this summer making some super delicious dinners!
I made a black bean and corn salsa with canned veggies. But I think what my mom makes takes the cake(dessert). She uses canned kidney beans, black beans and sometimes hominy to make che (Vietnamese dessert). I don't like it but she loves it.