Knock Your Socks Off Salsa

Blaine and I have been making our own salsa since the early days of our marriage (where we would make it at 11PM, plop the bowl between us and watch six episodes of the X-Files before crawling in to bed at 4AM, those were the days....). It was always different, we had no written recipe. Sometimes it would be amazing and we wished we could recreate it, and sometimes it was really weird (usually when Blaine would get the grand idea to add things like pickle juice or tuna juice...weird). It has been a fun past time. Yesterday I had the audacity to make salsa from a recipe. Mostly because the dinner I was making (baked southwestern egg rolls) had a salsa recipe linked to it and it looked pretty good. It was good folks...oh it was good. Make a batch and enjoy!

Salsa

by: Annie's Eats

2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and very coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, halved

2 large vine-ripened tomatoes

1 (28 0z.) can diced tomatoes (drained or not, depending on how much liquid you want in your salsa - I used two 14 oz cans and drained the juice from one can but not the other)

2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tbsp. cumin

1/2 sweet yellow onion, coarsely chopped

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

juice of one lime

Directions:

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the jalapenos and garlic. Process until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add all other ingredients to the food processor. Pulse in very brief pulses until the vegetables have reached the size you desire (it does not take many pulses so don’t overdo it). Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

Seven Layer Tostadas

It's been a month since I posted, wow! Turns out having a first grader and a 1L law student is harder than I thought! I wake up at the crack of dawn and collapse in bed at like 8:30PM most days. Dinner is a chaotic mess, rushed and tensions flare high at the end of the day when we are all a bit grumpy. Needless to say I haven't really taken the time to take photos of dinner to post recipes on here. With the advent of pinterest the whole idea of this meager little recipe blog is kind of outdated. Oh well :) I'll still post when I can. Especially when I make something awesome.

And maybe I was just like really hungry or something but these. were. awesome. I love tostadas but I never even thought it was possible I could make my own. And I love olives, but Blaine doesn't so any time I actually have the audacity to use them I enjoy my meal ten times more.

This is simple to make and so tasty, enjoy!

Seven Layer Tostadas

from: Kalyn's Kitchen
1 can refried beans
1 1/2 cups guacamole (I hope you are making your own guacamole, so easy)
1 cup sour cream (can use light)
1/2 tsp taco seasoning
1 cup cheddar cheese (or mexican blend)
1 cup chopped tomatoes (I used the cherry tomatoes from Costco, so good)
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup sliced black olives
6-8 whole wheat flour tortillas (I won't tell if you use white tortillas like me)
olive oil, about 1tsp

Place a baking sheet inside the oven and let it get hot while the oven preheats to 450dgs. Carefully remove baking sheet and drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil on it and spread the oil around with a paper towel. Put the tortillas on the baking sheet (I could only fit two at a time, which was slightly annoying). Toast tortillas in the oven until they are crisp and barely starting to brown, turning several times ( I flipped once a minute). This will take 5 minutes or less so...be vigilant.

While tortillas are crisping, put the refried beans in a bowl, stir to break them apart and microwave 2-3 minutes or until they are hot. Stir the taco seasoning in to the sour cream (genius!). Slice the green onions, olives and tomatoes. Make the guacamole. Well, you probably should do that before the whole toasting thing begins.

Put a crisped tortilla shell on a plate and top with the beans, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, green onions, and olives. Serve immediately. Thank me later. So good.

Seriously, Gwen was literally singing my praises.

Honey Lime Enchiladas

I hate to start every post out with the same disclaimer, but really these taste better than they look. And they don't look so bad in real life. I guess there is something about taking pictures at 9PM that is unflattering to casserole type foods. Who knows? All I know is I tried putting it on a plate for a picture and I may possible be the worst enchilada cutter and scooper outer in the world. So just take my word for it, these are awesome. And not only are they awesome, they are about the easiest enchiladas to make too.

Honey Lime Enchiladas

adapted slightly from melskitchencafe.com

5 tablespoons honey
6 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (abt 3 small chicken breasts)
8-10 flour tortillas
1 lb Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
16 oz green enchilada sauce
1 cup sour cream

Mix the first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken. Let marinate for at least half an hour . Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving about a cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce and sour cream. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 dgs, covered with foil for twenty minutes, remove foil and cook an additional ten minutes.

Notes: So, the thing I love about recipes like this is that they are so forgiving. I used to be such a stickler and follow recipes exactly, cooking was a lot more stressful back then. Just take it easy and know that it's probably going to turn out fine. I made this a million times and probably never exactly the same. Take yesterday for example, turns out I only had like 2 TBS honey, so I dumped some agave in. I was sure it was going to taste funky since I used a mix of two sweet ingredients, it was totally delicious! I've used a costco rotisserie chicken before, but yesterday I just put four chicken breasts in the crock pot (just plain old chicken breasts) and shredded them to put in the marinade, it was so easy. I am kind of weird about cooking chicken, it's all slimy and *shudder*, so just dumping it from the package to the crock pot was awesome. I also use cheddar cheese a lot of the time. This time I had half cheddar and half Monterrey jack, and a combined total of less than a half a pound (have I mentioned before how extremely healthy I am?). Anyway, just don't be afraid if you follow the general direction of the recipe they will turn out great.

Oh and also, if you are still buying regular flour tortillas, just stop. The ones that are refrigerated that you cook yourself are about a hundred kazillion times better tasting. The precooked variety kind of makes me want to yak. You can get a big pack at Costco for less than $7 or if you live in an area where you can get a bountiful basket you can often order their tortilla pack. For $10 you will get enough tortillas to last six months. They freeze really well. Hey and speaking of that, these enchiladas also freeze well....to do that DO NOT thaw them, just bake enchiladas covered for one hour, then uncover and cook for thirty minutes longer. Wow, that was a lot of "notes" sorry.

Fiery Fish Tacos with Crunchy Corn Salsa

Have you ever been to Rubio's? Probably the finest fish taco to ever grace the Earth, especially on Tuesdays when they are half off. Well, these fish tacos are absolutely nothing like the tacos at Rubios, but they are still delicious! My very favorite part of these tacos is the jicima salsa. Jicima is a slightly sweet, crunchy, delicious little ...thing. Growing up my Grandma would always have jicama on hand and peel and slice it for a sweet little afternoon snack when we would visit. It compliments these spicy tacos perfectly. And don't be afraid, you can easily control the heat in these tacos to suit your tastes.

I also kind of feel like I should note something here. Well, two things, one is that I only own white plates and bowls. It's a sad little life to be such a cheapskate, but I just want to get that out in the open so we can all move on. The second thing is that...notice how there is nothing else on the plate besides the tacos? That's totally the norm at our house. I'm proud that we rarely eat things like soup from a can, grilled cheese, etc. but making things that take more than ten minutes to prepare means that we usually just get a main course. Occasionally some bread or a vegetable, never anything too thrilling.

I really wanted to just make German pancakes for dinner tonight, but I have a husband who is staunchly opposed to breakfast for dinner (pity me, please). Anyway, hope you enjoy these tacos!

Fiery Fish Tacos with Crunchy Corn Salsa

adapted slightly from http://www.allrecipes.com/
1 cup corn
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 cup peeled, chopped jicama
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
6 (4oz) tilapia fillets
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 corn tortillas, warmed (I spray a pan with pam and slightly toast on both sides)

Preheat grill to high heat. In a medium bowl, mix together corn, red onion, jicama, red bell pepper, and cilantro. Stir in lime juice and zest. In a small bowl, combine cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt. Brush each fillet with olive oil, and sprinkle with spices. Arrange fillets on grill grate (or on George Foreman) and cook for three minutes per side. For each taco, top corn tortilla with fish, sour cream, and corn salsa.

Kristi's Notes: Be pretty sparing with the spice rub, even if you like the heat. We like spicy in this house and I probably only used a third of this spice mixture, if that. For the kids tacos I threw some fish on with just the salt and none of the spice rub.

Sweet Potato Foil Packet Tacos

I'm an avid follower of perrysplate.com, her recipes are always delicious and full of good-for-you things, like spinach and sweet potatoes. The ingredients in these tacos don't seem like they would mesh together well, but man, they are a great combination! Hopefully we can use the "hobo dinner" cooking style to our advantage when we go camping this summer! You should definitely give these tacos a try for a fun twist on a traditional favorite!

Sweet Potato Foil Packet Tacos
by: www.perrysplate.com

Sweet Potato Foil Packet Tacos
by Natalie @ http://perrysplate.com

1/2 pound ground beef or turkey
2-3 tablespoons taco seasoning
1/2 cup tomato sauce (4 ounces)
1 can black, kidney, or pinto beans, drained
2-3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 6 cups total)
2 tablespoons butter
salt
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream, salsa, and/or guacamole for garnish
6 12-inch long pieces of aluminum foil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Brown ground meat in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in taco seasoning, tomato sauce, and beans. Set aside.

To assemble packets, spray the foil with non-stick spray. Place 1 cup sweet potato cubes in the center of each piece. Top with a small piece of butter (about 1 tsp) and a pinch or two of salt. Sprinkle some chopped spinach over the sweet potatoes, followed by about 1/3 cup of taco meat and sprinkle of cheese. Fold the sides in, then bring the top and bottom ends of the foil together in the center and fold, sealing the packet.

Repeat with remaining ingredients, placing the packets on a rimmed cookie sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the sweet potatoes are tender.

Serve with sour cream, salsa, and/or guacamole.

Makes 6 servings.