Empanada

My love for cooking has moved me to try different types of food from cultures all around the world. One thing I have observed is there are a lot of similar dishes under different name. One such dish is Mexican or Spanish dish called Empanada. It is very similar to a dish called Somas in Tamil or Gujiya or Karanji in Hindi. It is a circular dough filled with meat or cheese or fruit, and fried or baked.
My son had to make 20 empanadas for a project in Spanish class. The recipe given was one with meat. He wanted to make them at my house with his friends. I told him that it was not happening and asked him to make a vegetarian version. He discussed with his friends and decided to make Spanish rice and stuff the empanadas with rice and cheese. Last week, I had 6 teenage boys cooking rice and making empanadas. It was a great team work and they made 48 great tasting empanadas, of course under my supervision.

Ingredients:
1 package frozen empanada discs, thawed
1 Cup rice
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, diced
3-4 mushrooms, chopped
1 Tbsp. sliced black olives
1/4 Cup cooked black beans
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
salt to taste
1 Tb sp. tomato paste mixed in 2 cups water
1 Cup grated Monterey Jack cheese

Method:
1. Wash and soak rice in water for 5 minutes.

2. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add onion and cook till soft. Add garlic, pepper, cook for 3-4 minutes. Add mushroom, cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in cayenne pepper, cumin, coriander powder and salt to taste. Add black beans. Pour tomato paste mixed with water. Cover and cook till all liquid is absorbed and rice is cooked. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Pre-heat oven to 425 F. Remove empanada disks from package. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, spray with oil. Place empanada disk on the cookie sheet. Place 1 Tbsp. rice in the center of the disk. Top with a generous amount of cheese. Seal the edges by bringing the top edge to the bottom. Use a fork, press along the edge to make indentation. Repeat the process with remaining disks. Prick empanadas in a couple places with a fork. Spray with oil. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.