Black Bean

Huevos Tirados One of Gran Café de la Parroquia's specialties is this unique omelet, made with black beans and served inside out. Make the omelets one at a time and serve them immediately (they will dry out and lose their tenderness if you try to keep them warm in the oven). If you don't have time to prepare dried beans, canned will do just fine (see the cooks' notes for black beans, this page). Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 2 3/4 hr (includes cooking dried beans)

For an attractive presentation, mound the salad on shredded lettuce and garnish with tortilla chips. Warm corn muffins and thickly sliced beefsteak tomatoes round out this substantial menu, and sliced fresh peaches and brown sugar wafers make a nice light dessert.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Quinoa, though technically a seed in the herb category, has traditionally been considered a valuable member of the grain family. A sacred source of strength for the ancient Incas, it is enjoying as a new popularity here in the United States. The secret of the success of this salad is the steaming of the quinoa. (The traditonal cooking method for quinoa, boiling it in a measured amount of water, does not produce the light, fluffy texture that works so well in a salad.) This dish provides a complete protein and can stand alone as a luncheon or light supper entrée.

Brian Polcyn of the Five Lakes Grill in Milford, Michigan, has updated this Mexican favorite by oven-roasting the stuffed chilies rather than coating them with batter and frying them. The chilies are presented on a bed of rich-tasting caramelized onions.

This is also a great vegetarian entrée.

A stick-to-the-ribs-not-the-waistline chili. Great served with all the usual toppings: chopped red or green onions, chopped cilantro, shredded cheddar cheese (low-fat, of course) and nonfat yogurt.

You'll need a big glass bowl or a trifle dish to show off the salad to its best advantage. An accompaniment to Chicken Chili Verde .

Cornmeal adds a nice crispness to the coating for the chicken. The salsa and the Three-Pepper Slaw with Chipotle Dressing make this a colorful entrée. For drinks, mix up some tequila-lime spritzers by combining a little tequila with fresh lime juice and sparkling water, or uncork a bottle of dry Gewürztraminer.

Great with tortilla chips as a dip. Or try it as a vegetarian filling for burritos adding grated Monterey Jack cheese, too.

These superb tacos are from chef Alex Castro at the Old Mexico Grill in Santa Fe.

This dish comes together in no time, especially if you have leftover chicken on hand and use purchased guacamole.

Enfrijoladas Enchiladas, entomatadas, and enfrijoladas are all different preparations that take a corn tortilla and bathe it in a sauce of chiles, tomatoes, thick cream, or — as they prefer in Oaxaca — long-simmered black beans. While it is traditional to fold them into quarters or thirds, you can also fold them over once. Wait to season the beans with salt until they are just soft.

"I run my own salon, and I’m an instructor at a cooking school," writes Sandy Ercolano of Ridgewood, New Jersey. "It seems that I’m always in the kitchen. At home I cook meals and come up with recipes for my classes. My son Andrew appears to have inherited my culinary interest. He likes to lend a hand with the cooking, especially with desserts. Unfortunately, he’s not as interested in helping with the cleanup."