Amish Mexican-style Haystacks

Haystacks – are they Amish or simply a deconstructed Mexican dish? I’m not sure but I am sure they are a FUN way to serve either a large or small crowd. Everything can be prepped ahead and then everyone custom stacks his or her own plate. Even vegetarians or vegans can build a substantial meal.

After seeing a recipe for Haystacks in a novel I was reading about an Amish cooking class (Wanda E. Brunstetter’s The Seekers), I began searching the internet for ideas + consulted with a friend who also makes them. Seems there are a range of toppings that can be included so I selected my favorites + made a few adjustments here and there.

Here are some of the other ideas I ran across: instead of tortilla chips, use corn chips or saltines crackers. Other additions: chopped hard cooked eggs, chopped celery, coconut (a friend swears by it), raisins, different types of beans, chopped nuts such as pecans, cheese sauce (the one in the novel is made from 2 cans of condensed cheese soup mixed with a can of condensed milk – needless to say, I did NOT go with that option), green olives instead of black, shredded carrots, bacon, guacamole, dressings such as Ranch or oil & vinegar . . . or, obviously just about anything you might want to add to the mix!

No matter what ingredients you decide on, adjust the amounts to fit the preferences of your guests.

Dinner party with bowls of Haystack ingredients in the center of the table.

Amish Mexican-style Haystacks   Serves 12 to 14 people

3 lb. ground beef

1 pkg. (1.25 oz.) or 2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix + ½ cup water 

Dressing: 2 cups+ salsa + 1 cup sour cream + 1 tablespoon dry Ranch dressing mix

2 cups cooked rice – I jazzed mine up & made Cilantro-Lime Rice

About ½ lb. tortilla chips, lightly crushed

2 heads iceberg lettuce, chopped

6 to 8 tomatoes, diced

1 cup finely chopped onions

1 cup bell finely chopped bell peppers

¼ cup finely chopped jalapeño peppers

1 to 2 (15.5 oz.) cans pinto beans, drained & rinsed

1 (6 oz.) can black olives, sliced

1 ½ cups grated Cheddar cheese

1 cup roasted sunflower seeds

1. Brown ground beef. Then add taco seasoning and water and simmer until water is absorbed.
   
   
   
2. Mix salsa with sour cream to create a dressing, adding more salsa if desired.
   
3. Prepare rice.
   
4. Chop and assemble other ingredients.
5. Set out and let guest prepare his/her own stack.

 Recipe without photos . . .

Amish Mexican-style Haystacks   Serves 12 to 14 people

3 lb. ground beef

1 pkg. (1.25 oz.) or 2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix + ½ cup water 

Dressing: 2 cups+ salsa + 1 cup sour cream + 1 tablespoon dry Ranch dressing mix 

2 cups cooked rice – I jazzed mine up & made Cilantro-Lime Rice 

About ½ lb. tortilla chips, lightly crushed

2 heads iceberg lettuce, chopped 

6 to 8 tomatoes, diced

1 cup finely chopped onions

1 cup bell finely chopped bell peppers

¼ cup finely chopped jalapeño peppers

1 to 2 (15.5 oz.) cans pinto beans, drained & rinsed

1 (6 oz.) can black olives, sliced 

1 ½ cups grated Cheddar cheese

1 cup roasted sunflower seeds

1. Brown ground beef. Then add taco seasoning and water and simmer until water is absorbed.
2. Mix salsa with sour cream to create a dressing, adding more salsa if desired.
3. Prepare rice.
4. Chop and assemble other ingredients.
5. Set out and let guest prepare his/her own stack.

Quick & Easy Marinara Sauce

So easy and quick that we used this recipe in our 2017 summer meatball cooking class for kids. Of course, you can cook it longer than 7 to 10 minutes to develop even more flavor! 

Quick & Easy Marinara Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

½ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon granulated (white) sugar

1 to 2  tablespoons dried Italian seasoning (or use about 1/4 chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, oregano, basil if available)

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.
2. Add the olive oil to the pan, allowing it to warm for 1 minute, then add the garlic and sauté it for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until it's light brown and fragrant.
3. Add the crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar, Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper flakes if using; stir to combine.
4. Simmer the sauce for at least 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Taste and then add more seasonings as desired.
   
   
   

   

   Our Italian-style Stuffed Zucchini recipe uses this marinara sauce.

   
   

Italian-style Stuffed Zucchini + use the extra sauce over pasta

Italian-style Stuffed Zucchini
over brown rice

Still more zucchini . . . this time I tried an Italian inspired recipe. I adapted a recipe that I found online and increased the amount of meat-veggie sauce and used the extra over cooked spaghetti linguine for another meal.

Italian-style Stuffed Zucchini

24 to 26 ounces marinara or spaghetti sauce, divided (purchased or homemade)

3 medium zucchini (ideal if they are uniformly sized)

Sauce:

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (I used a variety of colored peppers)

1 cup chopped button mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian herbs such as parsley, oregano, basil

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

Dried Italian seasoning to taste if needed

Zucchini Boat Topping:

About 1 1/2 cups fresh mozzarella cheese (or could use shredded)

1/4 cup  panko bread crumbs drizzled with olive oil (olive oil insures they will brown)

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Measure out 1 cup of the marinara sauce and set aside.
2. Trim ends from zucchini and slice in half, lengthwise. Use the tip of a spoon to scrape out the seeds; they scrape out the  zucchini flesh, chop it and set it aside (if there is not enough flesh, chop up another zucchini – that’s what I did to equal about 1 cup chopped zucchini).
3. Place the scooped out zucchini boats into a 13" x 9" baking dish and add about 1" of water. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until just slightly fork-tender. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool slightly.
   
4. Sauce: Heat a large skillet over medium heat; add beef, onion, bell pepper, and garlic to the skillet. Cook, stirring to break up the ground meat as it cooks. Continue to cook and stir until meat is thoroughly cooked and veggies have softened. Drain off grease if needed, or if meat is really lean, a tablespoon of so of olive oil could be added.
   
5. Add the chopped zucchini flesh, mushrooms, remaining marinara (reserve 1 cup for later), parsley, fresh Italian herbs, salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper and dried Italian herbs.. Stir well to combine. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and allow to simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes.
   
   
   
   
6. Remove partially cooked zucchini from baking dish and pour off water. Pour the 1 cup of reserved marinara sauce into the empty baking dish and place zucchini boats on top of the sauce. (At this point, I divided the zucchini and marinara between 2 smaller dishes for one meal now and another later.)
7. Divide the filling between the zucchini boats. If you have extra filling, spoon it into the dish around the zucchini boats.
   
8. Topping: Top zucchini with cheese and bread crumbs that have been stirred to distribute added oil.
   
9. Cover the dish with foil, and bake for 30+ minutes or until zucchini is fork tender; remove foil last 10 minutes so cheese and bread crumbs can brown or turn to broil last few minutes if preferred.
   
10. Serve with rice.
    

As I mentioned, I adjusted the recipe to make extra meat sauce that I used over  cooked pasta for another meal . . .

Also, you might like to  try our recipe for Garden-style Stuffed Zucchini Boats . . .

Recipe without photos . . .

Italian-style Stuffed Zucchini 

24 to 26 ounces marinara or spaghetti sauce, divided (purchased or homemade)

3 medium zucchini (ideal if they are uniformly sized)

Sauce:

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (I used a variety of colored peppers)

1 cup chopped button mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian herbs such as parsley, oregano, basil

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

Dried Italian seasoning to taste if needed

Zucchini Boat Topping:

About 1 1/2 cups fresh mozzarella cheese (or could use shredded)

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs drizzled with olive oil (olive oil insures they will brown)

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Measure out 1 cup of the marinara sauce and set aside.
2. Trim ends from zucchini and slice in half, lengthwise. Use the tip of a spoon to scrape out the seeds; they scrape out the  zucchini flesh, chop it and set it aside (if there is not enough flesh, chop up another zucchini – that’s what I did to equal about 1 cup chopped zucchini).
3. Place the scooped out zucchini boats into a 13" x 9" baking dish and add about 1" of water. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until just slightly fork-tender. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool slightly.
4. Sauce: Heat a large skillet over medium heat; add beef, onion, bell pepper, and garlic to the skillet. Cook, stirring to break up the ground meat as it cooks. Continue to cook and stir until meat is thoroughly cooked and veggies have softened. Drain off grease if needed, or if meat is really lean, a tablespoon of so of olive oil could be added.
5. Add the chopped zucchini flesh, mushrooms, remaining marinara (reserve 1 cup for later), parsley, fresh Italian herbs, salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper and dried Italian herbs.. Stir well to combine. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and allow to simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes.
6. Remove partially cooked zucchini from baking dish and pour off water. Pour the 1 cup of reserved marinara sauce into the empty baking dish and place zucchini boats on top of the sauce. (At this point, I divided the zucchini and marinara between 2 smaller dishes for one meal now and another later.)
7. Divide the filling between the zucchini boats. If you have extra filling, spoon it into the dish around the zucchini boats.
8. Topping: Top zucchini with cheese and bread crumbs that have been stirred to distribute added oil.
9. Cover the dish with foil, and bake for 30+ minutes or until zucchini is fork tender; remove foil last 10 minutes so cheese and bread crumbs can brown or turn to broil last few minutes if preferred.
10. Serve with rice.

Cinnamon Roll Zucchini Bread

Yes, the zucchini crop continues. Today I tried a sweet treat; a zucchini quick bead twist. As the bread bakes, it will create swirls of cinnamon sugar throughout.  By the way, Barry says "it's the best zucchini bread ever." Yum!

Cinnamon Roll Zucchini Bread   Makes 1 regular loaf or 3 smaller

Bread

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded zucchini (seeds removed)

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cinnamon Swirl Layer

2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (preferably high oil cinnamon)

1 tablespoon water

Vanilla Icing  (I did double the amounts in order to top 3 smaller loaves)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 to 2 teaspoons milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a non-stick  9x5-inch bread pan with pan release or several smaller ones. (I used three 3x5½-inch baking pans.)
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy.  
   
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  
   
4. Add the sour cream and mix well.  
5. Stir in the shredded zucchini.  
   
6. In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
   
7. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir together until just combined.   
8. Spread half of the batter into prepared bread pan.  
9. Stir together all of the cinnamon swirl layer ingredients and spread over batter, leaving a small border around the edge.
   
   
   
   
10. Top with remaining bread batter and spread out evenly.
11. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes; 30 to 35 minutes for small loaves or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or an instant read thermometer registers 200 to 209° (the most accurate way to test for doneness. Remove from oven and cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely then top with vanilla icing.

    

    In addition to checking the internal temperature, I ran a knife around the edges of each pan so the bread would be easy to release.

12. For the Vanilla Icing: Combine powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 teaspoon of milk and stir together until smooth.  If it's too thick, add a little more milk. Pour over cooled bread.   
    

Recipe without photos . . .

Cinnamon Roll Zucchini Bread    Makes 1 regular loaf or 3 smaller

Bread

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 cup sour cream 

1 cup shredded zucchini (seeds removed)

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cinnamon Swirl Layer 

2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (preferably high oil cinnamon)

1 tablespoon water

Vanilla Icing (I did double the amounts in order to top 3 smaller loaves)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 to 2 teaspoons milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a non-stick  9x5-inch bread pan with pan release or several smaller ones. (I used three 3x5½-inch baking pans.)
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy.  
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  
4. Add the sour cream and mix well.  
5. Stir in the shredded zucchini.  
6. In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  
7. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir together until just combined.   
8. Spread half of the batter into prepared bread pan.  
9. Stir together all of the cinnamon swirl layer ingredients and spread over batter, leaving a small border around the edge.  
10. Top with remaining bread batter and spread out evenly.
11. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes; 30 to 35 minutes for small loaves or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or an instant read thermometer registers 200 to 209° (the most accurate way to test for doneness. Remove from oven and cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely then top with vanilla icing.
12. For the Vanilla Icing: Combine powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 teaspoon of milk and stir together until smooth.  If it's too thick, add a little more milk. Pour over cooled bread.

Crispy Baked Zucchini Chips

The zucchini keeps producing and I keep looking for new recipes. This one is definitely a keeper. We served the chips with Comeback Sauce for dipping.

Crispy Baked Zucchini Chips   2 or 3 servings

1 medium zucchini 

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

½ cup Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons+ olive oil

1 egg

2 tablespoons water

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a sheet pan with oil or line with parchment paper.
2. Cut zucccut into thin (about ¼”) slices; 1 medium zucchini should yield about 30 to 50 slices depending on size.
   
3. In a shallow pan, combine breadcrumbs and Parmesan; add enough oil to lightly coat mixture (the oil is needed so the panko will brown).
   
4. In a 2nd shallow pan, whisk the egg and water.
   
5. In a 3^rd shallow pan, combine the flour paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
6. Set up the 3-dip station in the following order: flour, egg, panko.
   
7. Dip each zucchini slice in the flour mixture, then egg mixture, then panko mixture.
8. Place in a single layer on baking sheet. Repeat until all zucchini slices are coated.
   
9. Bake for 20 minutes. Note - check underside about halfway way through and flip if not browning; ours browned just fine without the flipping.
   
10. Serve with Comeback Sauce or your favorite dipping sauce.

Recipe without photos . . .

Crispy Baked Zucchini Chips   2 or 3 servings

1 medium zucchini cut into thin (about ¼”) slices (about 30 to 50 depending on the size)

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

½ cup Parmesan cheese 

2 tablespoons+ olive oil

1 egg

2 tablespoons water

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a sheet pan with oil or line with parchment paper.
2. Cut zucccut into thin (about ¼”) slices; 1 medium zucchini should yield about 30 to 50 slices depending on size.
3. In a shallow pan, combine breadcrumbs and Parmesan; add enough oil to lightly coat mixture (the oil is needed so the panko will brown).
4. In a 2nd shallow pan, whisk the egg and water.
5. In a 3^rd shallow pan, combine the flour paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
6. Set up the 3-dip station in the following order: flour, egg, panko.
7. Dip each zucchini slice in the flour mixture, then egg mixture, then panko mixture.
8. Place in a single layer on baking sheet. Repeat until all zucchini slices are coated.
9. Bake for 20 minutes. Note - check underside about halfway way through and flip if not browning; ours browned just fine without the flipping.
10. Serve with Comeback Sauce or your favorite dipping sauce.