RECIPES: Rice and Bean Taco Salad

I already posted this recipe in the past, but this time turned out so good, I wanted to note the couple of subtle changes I made, so hopefully I can duplicate it next time.

The recipes calls for cooking onions and garlic in butter before adding in the other ingredients. This time I just did the garlic, and sauteed it in olive oil. Then added the other ingredients. I also put the can of green chiles in the pan to cook with the rest, rather than with the lettuce and tomatoes.

After warming it through, I put about 3/4-1 cup of the mixture on a bed of torn romaine lettuce. I topped that with grape tomatoes that were halved and sprinkled it with sliced green onions and Mexican four-cheese blend. Then Ken's Steakhouse ranch dressing and some crushed nacho Doritos.

So good! Find the original recipe here.

RECIPE: Heather's Mexican Rice

I needed a Mexican-type side dish the other day, and I came up with this.

Heather's Mexican Rice

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic
3 scallions, sliced
1 cup long-grain rice
2 cups water or vegetable broth
1/2 chopped tomato
1/2 small can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
Cilantro

1. Saute pepper in EVO for a few minutes. 
2. Add scallions and garlic and saute a minute. 
3. Add rice and toast until turning brown.
4. Add water/broth and tomato. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.
5. Stir in tomato sauce and season with chili powder, salt and cumin.
6. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and serve.

Actually you should do the tomato sauce to suit you. I think I'll go a little easier on the sauce next time, as it was a little too tomato-ey for me. Otherwise it was a nice little dish.

RECIPE: Fish Tacos with White Sauce

I decided to try my hand at homemade fish tacos. I bought a book the other day called Power Foods, and it had a good recipe in it that I felt was a good candidate.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9265477-power-foods

However I wanted my fish tacos with a sauce. So I did a little research and found another recipe that had a white sauce that people raved about. So I adapted the white sauce from one recipe to go with my fish tacos from another recipe.

Grilled Fish Tacos
adapted from Power Foods
(original recipe was for a dozen tacos. This recipe makes about 4 tacos.)

Ingredients:

1/3 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chili powder
Coarse salt
4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 tsp finely chopped cilantro
Red snapper fillet
1 cup shredded green cabbage
4 corn tortillas
Lime wedges, avocado, sour cream, hot sauce, tomatoes, or any other fillings desired

Directions:

• Stir together cumin, oregano, chili powder, and 3/4 tsp coarse salt. Mix in olive oil and cilantro.

 

• Use sharp knife to make shallow slits about 1 1/2 inches apart into the fish skin; transfer to a large dish and rub both sides with spice mixture (I put it in a ziploc bag instead). Refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes to 2 hours.

 

• Toss together cabbage and 1/2 tsp salt in a small bowl. Let sit 30 minutes.

 

• The recipe called for grilling the fish (on an outside grill), but I just cooked it in a saute pan. Saute about 4-5 minutes on each side.

 

• Transfer fish to a platter and cool slightly. Squeeze half of a lime over the top, and then shred into bite-size pieces. Garnish platter with lime wedges and cilantro sprigs. Serve warm or at room temperature (within 1 hour).

 

• Heat tortillas one at a time in saute pan.
• Have guests assemble their own tacos with white sauce (below) and other desired fillings like tomato, cabbage and avocado.

 

White sauce:

1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup mayo
Lime juice
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp dill
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne

Mix together. Put in enough lime juice to thin to a sauce consistency, and do to taste.Can include some minced jalapeno. This makes substantially more sauce than needed for 4 tacos.


I made four tacos, and even though they are small, it was too much. I made these again tonight, but this time I only made two tacos, so I can have two more tomorrow night.

Very good! Tangy from the lime juice and cilantro, a little mild heat (more heat if you decide to add jalapeno to the white sauce), juicy, tender fish. Very tasty! I obviously loved them, since I made them again for dinner tonight!

RECIPE: Mexican Pasta Salad

I saw this on the Facebook page of What are my kids eating? Unfortunately she didn't really post a recipe, but just the ingredients. So I had to wing it. I'm not sure of the amounts I really used, as I just kept adding more to taste, but I'm estimating it went something like this:

Mexican Pasta Salad

Whole wheat pasta (I used regular elbow macaroni, 1 lb box)
Corn (11 oz can crispy corn)
Scallions (3 scallions, sliced)
Black beans (can, rinsed and drained)
Kidney beans (can, rinsed and drained)

For the dressing, in a bottle mix together:

Juice of 3 limes (about a 1/4-1/3 cup)
Taco sauce (1 jar Taco Bell mild)
Chili powder (1/8 tsp)
Chipotle chili powder (1/4 tsp)
Cumin (1/2 tsp)
Onion powder (1/8 tsp)
Garlic powder (1/4 tsp)
Salt (1/2 tsp)
Pepper (1/8 tsp)
Olive oil (2-3 tbs)

Mix together salad ingredients in a large bowl. Then pour dressing over entire salad, and stir to coat. Serve in bowls sprinkled with Mexican cheese. Eat hot or cold.


Not bad at all!

RECIPE: Mushroom Pepper Tacos

I was looking for a simple and healthful vegetarian dish to make during the work week, and I recalled having seen one for some vegetarian tacos, and I had saved the recipe for use later on. So I dug through my list, and found this recipe, originally found on Upstate Ramblings.

Ingredients:

    2 T. olive oil
    1 poblano chile, chopped
    1 green pepper, chopped
    1 red pepper, chopped
    1/2 onion, sliced
    2 portabella mushrooms, chopped
    1 t. ground cumin
    1/2 t. salt
    taco shells
    shredded cheese
    cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in skillet and add the chile, onions, peppers and mushrooms.  Saute mixture about 5 minutes.  Mix in cumin and salt.
2. Serve in taco shells topped with cheese and cilantro.

Mmmmmmm...good! Just serve some Mexican Rice on the side, and you've got a fast and easy vegetarian meal for a busy weekday. This one is definitely a keeper!

Recipe: Spicy Rice and Black Bean Nachos

Last night I decided on Mexican night for dinner. On the menu were Bean Burritos with Spicy Avocado Dressing for dipping, Spicy Rice and Black Bean Nachos. Now the Bean Burritos and the Spicy Avocado Dressing I've posted on here before, so I won't repeat them. But here is how it went with the rice and nachos:

Spicy Rice
from Perfect Mexican

Ingredients:

3 tbs oil
6 scallions, chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 green peppers, seeded and chopped
Corn kernels, cut from one ear of corn
2 fresh mild green chilies, seeded and finely chopped (I used jalapenos from my garden!)
9 oz/1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
2 tsp ground cumin
1 pint/2 1/2 cups broth
2 tbs chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper

Directions:

• Heat oil in large, heavy-bottom pan over medium heat. Add scallions, celery and garlic, and cook 5 minutes or until soft.

Then add peppers and corn and cook 5 minutes.

• Add rice and cumin and cook, stirring to coat the grains in oil, for 2 minutes.

• Stir in broth and half of the cilantro, and bring to boil.

• Reduce heat and let simmer 15 minutes, or until nearly all liquid is absorbed and rice is just tender.
• Remove from heat, fluff with fork.
• Stir in the remaining cilantro and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let stand, covered for 5 minutes, before serving. Garnish with cilantro sprigs.

Black Bean Nachos
from vegetarian

Ingredients:

Canned beans, drained
6-8 oz/1 1/2-2 cups grated cheese, such as Cheddar, fontina, romano, Asiago, or a combination
1/4 tsp cumin seeds or ground cumin
4 tbs sour cream
Thinly sliced pickled jalapeno chilies (optional)
1 tbs chopped fresh cilantro
Handful of shredded lettuce
Tortilla chips, to serve

Directions:

• Spread the beans in a shallow ovenproof dish, then scatter the cheese over the top. Sprinkle with cumin to taste.

• Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until the beans are cooked through and the cheese is bubbly and melted.
• Remove from the oven and spoon the sour cream on top. Add the chilies, if using, and sprinkle with cilantro and lettuce.

The verdict:

The meal was a little off, but it wasn't due to poor recipes. The recipes were awesome! It was due to me being a little off with my preparation last night.


The nachos were left in the oven too long, as I got tied up with something else. This caused the cheese to be overcooked. So the flavor was there, but the consistency was rather hard instead of gooey. I dished the nachos into individual dishes before topping it with the lettuce.

The Spicy Rice. I swear. Everytime I make a dish like this, where the rice cooks in the liquid with other ingredients, I have the same issue. The rice never wants to cook. I cooked this dish for about 30-40 minutes longer than I was supposed to, and I used 4 cups of broth rather than 2 1/2 cups, plus I added probably another 1/2-1 cup of water. STILL I couldn't get all of the rice to cook! Arg! So the flavor was there, but ever bite has a couple of granules of rice that were still crunchy. I am going to attribute this to the frying pan being bigger than the burner, so that the heating element doesn't heat the outside edges of the pan enough. Next time I will either cook this in a saucepan, or I will cook the rice separately in broth and then mix it in with the veggies to let it finish.

However seeing this picture of the spicy rice has gotten me thinking. Some of the rice cooked so long and slow in the broth that it was almost like risotto. I ought to try using this recipe to make a spicy Mexican risotto some night!

The dressing and burritos were okay. Woodrow really liked the dressing, but it actually wasn't as good as the first time I made it. This time it tasted like it had too much lime juice and not enough spice. Next time I should go lighter on the flavors, and then adjust them after I process it in the food processor.

So dinner was okay, but there was definitely lots of room for improvement. However it was good enough that I'm eating leftovers for lunch today!

Then for dessert we had individual creme brules! Target sells these creme brules frozen in ceramic dishes. Just sprinkle on the sugar and stick it under the broiler for 6 minutes.
Not as good as "the real thing", but still good! A fine way to finish off any meal!

RECIPE: Heather's Mexican Chicken with Cubanelle Peppers

The other night I needed to find a way to use the Cubanelle peppers that I bought the other day at the produce market, since I'm getting set to go out of town.


I've never had Cubanelle peppers before, but heard that they are similar to other red peppers-- a little sweet and good for frying. So I decided to do just that-- fry them. I also have become a fan of cumin over the last few years (check out my cuminy Zucchini-Corn Saute), and have recently become quite fond of chipotle as well. So this is what I wound up with when looking to create something with Cubanelles:

First I sliced the peppers into strips, along with a sweet onion.


I tossed these into a pan with a little olive oil and minced garlic.


Then I pounded two chicken breasts down so that they were a more even thickness. (By the way, I bought this chicken at Target as part of the JustBare Chicken line. They allow you to track the chicken back to the farm where it was raised, and is hormone and antibiotic and cage free. I think I'm gonna start doing most of my shopping at Target!)

I tossed the chicken in the pan and seasoned it with a little cumin, some dried chipotle pepper and a sprinkle of my house seaoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder).


When it was nearly complete, I sprinkled the chicken with a little Mexican cheese and let it melt.


I served the chicken up with the fried Cubanelles and onions and with some Mexican rice (Uncle Ben's, I think).




Mmmmm good!

And another good thing...

herChristianHome.com is giving away a $25 gift certificate for Spice Cubed. They have a wonderfully clever idea to attach magnetic strips to the little tins of spice, and store them on your frig. Do you have any idea how much room this would save me??? I have two shelves in a cabinet devoted to spices! Let me at 'em! Go here to enter for the $25 gift certificate!

RECIPE: Taco Salad with Spicy Avocado Dressing

Mom gave me an avocado a few days ago, so last night I decided that I needed to figure out how to use it. I thought Mexican, of course, and then decided maybe I would make a taco salad with avocado. I Googled this, and I found a great recipe on Life's Ambrosia. It includes an avocado dressing and kidney beans and ground turkey. Yum!

Taco Salad with Spicy Avocado Dressing
Adapted from Life's Ambrosia

Dressing:

* 1 large avocado, pitted, skin removed
* 2 tablespoons minced red onion
* 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1/4 cup sour cream
* juice of 1/2 lime
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 jalapeno, chopped ( had a pretty large jalapeno, so I only did half)
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
* salt to taste

Salad:

* 1/2 pound ground turkey
* 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
* salt to taste
* 2 corn tortillas cut into strips (I just used packaged tortilla chips, broken up)
* oil for frying
* 1 head green leaf lettuce, washed and chopped (I used bagged romaine)
* 2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
* 1/2 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
* 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* 2 green onions, chopped

1. Combine dressing ingredients in a food processor.


Process until smooth. Cover and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.


2. In a skillet brown ground turkey. Season with chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and salt to taste. I chose to toss the beans in with the seasonings.


3. If making your own tortilla strips, heat 1/2 inch of oil in a saucepan. Once hot, fry tortilla strips until golden brown. About 3-5 minutes. Transfer to paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle with salt and set aside.

4. Depending on how much dressing you like, spoon about 1/3 to 1/2 of the dressing in the bottom of a large salad bowl. Add lettuce, meat and beans, and tomatoes.


Toss to coat. Top with tortilla strips, cheddar cheese and green onions. Serve.


Awwww, this was good! Next time I might use more ground turkey though. But the dressing is awesome! Mine wasn't so much "spicy", probably because I only used half of a jalapeno, but it has a little tang from the vinegar and lime juice. Very good! It also makes a good dip for the tortilla chips.

So tonight I was starving when I got home, since I skipped lunch today. I still had avocado dressing leftover from last night, as well as cheese and a half can of kidney beans. I decided to make bean burritos for dinner and serve them with chips and avocado dressing. It was really simple. It went something like this:

Bean Burritos

1 can of refried beans
1/2 can of kidney beans (optional)
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4-1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper (adjust to taste for heat)
1 tbs fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground chili powder

1. Put all ingredients in food processor, and process until well-mixed (it doesn't matter whether some of the beans are unprocessed).


2. Spoon bean mixture into flour tortillas and top with cheese.


3. Roll up burritos and place on cookie sheet. Bake in pre-heated oven for 6-8 minutes. Serve with salsa. (I served mine with leftover avocado dressing and chips.)


That avocado dressing is a definite keeper. I highly recommend it!

ARCHIVE: Pico de Gallo with Grilled Tilapia and Shrimp

Archived. Originally posted on Homemaker's Who Work on 11/11/09, but recipe archived here in case that site goes down.

I've been on a pico de gallo kick all summer. I don't know why. I've been craving it week after week. When I'm eating it in some Mexican restaurant, I'm trying to figure out what is the special ingredient that gives it the flavor that I love so much? So it was just a matter of time before I made a batch myself!

The other night I decided to try my hand at some pico de gallo, and I decided that it would pair well with some grilled tilapia and shrimp. Nothing fancy! I kept things simple:

Pico de Gallo

1 sweet onion, chopped small
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
4 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
A few tbs of chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lime
Salt

• Chop onion into small pieces. You might want to go a little lighter on the onion, like 1/2-3/4 of an onion. I found a full onion to be a little too much.

• Slice a jalapeno in half, and remove the seeds (this is where the heat lies). You are smart to use gloves when preparing the jalapeno. Anyone who has worked with jalapenos, and then accidentally touched their nose or eye, even after having washed their hands, knows what I'm talking about! Then dice the jalapeno up small.
  

• Remove the seeds and pulp from the tomatoes, and chop them up.
  
  
• Take a bunch of cilantro, and chop it up into small pieces, until you have a few tablespoons of chopped cilantro.


• Mince up a clove of garlic (or just used the jarred kind. It works for me!)


• Mix all of the ingredients together.
  
  
• Squirt the juice of 1/2 lime over the mixture and season with salt.

I grilled up tilapia and shrimp, with just a little salt and pepper and a squirt of lime over it. Then I topped the fish and shrimp with pico de gallo.

The meal was very simple and fresh. Another drizzle of lime over the top of it.

Yum! I love the fresh taste, although there is still something missing. It still doesn't have quite the same flavor as the Mexican restaurants. But it is still very good, and very economical to boot! I think that I could probably serve this meal to four people for under $10 or so.

So do any of you have a great recipe for pico de gallo? Did you perhaps spot an important ingredient that I'm missing?

RECIPE: Shrimp Fajitas and Bean Dip

I commonly have stomach upset when eating a lot of foods, so I've been experimenting with different dishes to figure out what foods I don't do well with. The other night I decided to try some recipes from the cookbook Eating for IBS. I made shrimp fajitas with Mango-Tomato Salsa and Smoky Black Bean Dip.

Sizzling Shrimp Fajitas with Baja Orange Marinade
Makes 6 servings.


1 1/2 lbs shelled and deveined raw shrimp (or red snapper, catfish or rock cod)

Make a marinade by stirring together in a glass pie plate:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tbs olive oil
4 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp ground chipotle pepper
2 tbs minced fresh cilantro

Fresh flour tortillas

Add shrimp (or fish) and marinate for 20 minutes.




Remove shrimp from marinade and grill or broil (I sauteed them) just until cooked (I overcooked the shrimp, as usual), turning once. Shrimp will cook more quickly than fish, approximately 2 minutes per side. Exact time for fish will depend on the thickness of the fillets-- typically, 10 minutes per inch, total.


Serve on fresh tortillas, and allow each person to customize their fajitas with the following:

Shredded cabbage
Diced onion
Fresh chopped cilantro
Smoky Black Bean Dip (see recipe below)
Guacamole
Sweet Mango and Roasted Tomato Salsa (see recipe below)

Serve with baked tortilla chips.


I put salsa on one, and not the other. I think I prefer it without the salsa.




Sweet Mango and Roasted Tomato Salsa
Makes 6 servings

5 ripe plum tomatoes
1 tsp ground chipotle pepper, or to taste
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tbs honey
2 small ripe mangoes, peeled and diced

Baked corn chips for dipping

Roast or broil tomatoes until skin blisters and blackens, turning to cook evenly on all sides. Add tomatoes, chipotle, lime, and honey to a blender and puree until smooth.


Pour into serving bowl and stir in diced mango. (If you are unsure how to dice a mango, I have found the best way is to peel it, and then make slits in the top to make squares, and then slice down the mango to slice off the squares into pieces.)




Adjust ratio of lime juice or honey to taste. Serve with baked corn chips.


This was "okay", but I probably wouldn't make it again. I didn't find it worth all of the hard work of roasting the tomatoes. Interesting flavor, though.



Smoky Black Bean Dip
Serves 4, but can be easily doubled.

1 15-oz can of drained, rinsed black beans
4 large garlic cloves, minced to a paste with a dash of salt
1/4-1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper (adjust to taste for heat)*
1 tbs fresh lime juice
1 tbs white vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground chili powder
2 tbs soy cream cheese (I used regular light cream cheese)

Baked corn chips for dipping

Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth.


Fill a glass bowl with dip, cover, and microwave until hot, about 3-5 minutes. Serve with generous amount of baked corn chips.


This was by far my favorite dish. Loved it! It was a little spicy, a little smokey. Delicious!