4 cups baby spinach
4 medium tomatoes
2 scallions, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 teaspoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup basil, chopped
salt and pepper

1. Preheat grill to high.
2. Grill the tomatoes until the outer skin is blackened and blistered on all sides.
3. Allow tomatoes to cool to the touch, then chop into small pieces.
4. Mix tomatoes with scallions, jalapeno, lime, sugar, basil and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Spoon tomato mixture over spinach leaves to serve.

Makes 4 servings

8 Anaheim chilies
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1 tablespoon powdered garlic
3 cups bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
4 ounces Monterey jack cheese, sliced into 8 pieces
1/2 cup all purpose flour
salt and pepper
deep fryer

1. Preheat grill to high.
2. Rub chilies with vegetable oil and place on the grill. Char on all sides until skin is completely blackened and blistered.
3. Allow chilies to cool, then carefully remove the skin. Cut off the stem of the chili and scoop out all of the seeds.
4. Combine egg, oregano and garlic powder in a wide bowl.
5. On two separate plates combine bread crumbs and parmesan cheese and flour seasoned with salt and pepper.
6. Place a stick of cheese inside each chili.
7. Dust each chili with flour, dip them into the egg mixture and then press into the bread crumbs.
8. Deep fry the chilies until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Makes 8 servings

2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
19 ounces canned Romano beans
4 cups button mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup half and half
1 tablespoon chipotle adobo
salt and pepper

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté onions until soft.
2. Add the beans, mushrooms and garlic and cook until mushrooms have softened, stirring occasionally.
3. Season with oregano, cilantro, salt and pepper to taste.
4. Combine chipotle adobo with stock and stir into the mushrooms and beans. Cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated.
5. Stir in the cream. Cook until mixture is thick, then serve.

Makes 4 servings

In honor of the whole 666 marketing hype, I thought I'd use it for my own theme and create a sort of hellish dinner. I stumbled upon a dish called Chili Rellenos that was perfect for this. Essentially an oversized jalapeno popper, chili rellenos is a fire roasted pepper, stuffed with cheese, then battered and fried to give it a nice golden crust. These were sinfully good, though because of the battering leave behind terrible leftovers. Shannon is sick and she even loved them, previously having no interest in anything other than dry toast. The spice was a bit of a kick in the face up front, but quickly mellowed out. They are fairly time consuming to make and I found it difficult to seed the peppers without tearing them at all, but it was definitely worth the attempt.

While the peppers were on the grill, I also threw on some aging vine-ripened tomatoes, which I then tossed together into a salsa. This became the base of a delicious Fire Roasted Tomato and Spinach Salad. The tomatoes were deliciously sweet and their juices, mixed with a little lime juice, became a wonderful dressing for the spinach leaves. This dressing was also a nice compliment to the other side, Mushrooms and Beans with Chipotle Cream.

I was a bit timid of adding too much chipotle, since I expected the chili rellenos to be spicier and didn't want to go through the personal hell of day after waste disposal. Other than perhaps benefiting from a bit more heat, it's hard to go wrong with creamed beans and mushrooms. The cilantro took a back seat on this one and the garlic and chipotle picked up where it left off. Being such a fan of beans and these particular spices, this is definitely something that I'd make again.