Day Eighty-Three

I know this whole lockdown thing is supposed to be the worst ever, buy my kid is apparently using it to turn herself into a chef? As in, Alexis has said the words, "I want to start a food blog," out loud as she was making Banana Walnut Pancakes that were AMAZING.

Her skills are escalating. We're way past boxed mac-n-cheese. THIS COULD TURN OUT TO BE THE BEST.

While she hones her skills and makes decisions about how long she's going to make me wait for this food blog (apparently until she's in college ...), I'm just going to go ahead and post her successes.

Up first, Veggie Empanadas. This recipe was inspired by a similar version I used to get when I actually went to an office for work. Alexis made some tweaks to the spices while I suggested we buy puff pastry instead of making it from scratch. It worked out REALLY well.

Veggie Empanadas

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup frozen diced potatoes
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped white mushrooms
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
3/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
3 tablespoons milk
Salsa

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.

2. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large non-stick skillet. Add potatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic, and spices. Cook and stir every few minutes until you're happy with how soft the potatoes are. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

3. Flour a surface. Unroll the puff pastry sheets. Flour a rolling pin and roll out the sheets until they make a 12-inch square. Cut each square into four smaller squares.

4. Place about 1/3 cup of filling into the corner of each square. Sprinkle with cheese.

5. Brush a little milk on edges of pastry squares. Fold opposite corners together until they meet then press edges with a fork. Cut a small slit in the top of each triangle.

6. Place triangles on baking sheets. Brush the tops with a little more milk. Bake 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Serve with salsa.