Mexican Monday

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

Did you know that for your money, the most nutritious thing you could buy in the grocery store is the sweet potato?

Sweet potatoes are one of Stuart’s favorite foods. If a restaurant offers sweet potato fries as a side option, he’ll be paying the extra $0.99 for them. If mashed sweet potatoes are suggested as a side dish to you-name-the-protein, he’ll pick that entrée. However, unless it’s for Sweet Potato Casserole, I find myself rarely cooking with sweet potatoes.

I spotted a recipe for Loaded Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes and thought, that’s a good idea! And while my photograph isn’t as beautiful or as appealing as Brandi’s (I have to admit, I became very frustrated with trying to capture this dish) the stuffing flavors complimented the baked sweet potato beautifully – no extra toppings needed. Additionally stuffed potatoes make for a surprisingly filling dinner.

Because our Publix is still so new, they don’t yet carry Chorizo – although someone from the Meat Department did promise us that they will. I decided to buy ground pork and add chorizo spices while cooking the meat. I also used (half) my recipe for black beans instead of using refried black beans.

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 lb ground pork
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/8 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • pinch ground cloves
  • pinch ground coriander
  • 1/2 recipe of black beans {click for recipe}
  • 1/2 C shredded Mexican cheese

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and dry potatoes. Poke with a fork and wrap in foil. Bake 1 hour.
  2. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat brown pork in olive oil. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add remaining seasonings and cook, break up the meat, until cooked through. Drain if needed.
  3. In a bowl combine cooked pork and beans.
  4. When potatoes are cooked through allow them to cool enough to handle. Cut a canoe-shaped cavity and stuff with the pork and beans. Top with shredded cheese.
  5. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake 5-7 minutes, until the cheese on top is melted.

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Baby Baked Beef Burritos

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments
Where it all began - this photo taken after graduation, 2010
Where it all began – this photo taken after graduation 2010

Stuart and I met working at Moe’s Southwest Grill in Auburn and whenever we go to a Moe’s we’re always silently critiquing the employee’s burrito rolling skill. On a full size burrito (not the baby ones in this recipe) we would always mix the filling ingredients by “shimmying” the tortilla around the filling. Not only does doing this ensure a perfect bite every time, but it also creates a nice shape to roll a mess-free burrito. Because the “shimmying” method isn’t often used, I don’t particularly like burritos. They’re usually too big for me and my bites have either only meat or only toppings. But when I saw this recipe for baked burritos I thought I’d give it a shot. I liked the idea of a crispy burrito. But when I went to make my grocery list I didn’t examine the tortillas I had on hand well enough – they weren’t burrito sized, they were taco sized. And let me tell you, these baby sized burritos were just perfect for me – every bite had everything!

It was a really long day at work and I was very tempted to forego Mexican Monday for something simpler but I am so glad I made these. Every meal the rest of the week failed to compare.

How to roll a Burrito

Baby Baked Beef Burritos

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp canola oil
  • 1/2 large onion, diced
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 lb ground beef
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 C corn kernels, drained/thawed
  • 1/2 C black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/4 C vegetable or beef broth
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 12 6″ flour tortillas
  • 1 C shredded Mexican blend cheese

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat saute onion and jalapeno in canola oil 3 minutes. Add garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add ground beef and cook, breaking up. Once cooked drain excess fat, if needed.
  3. Stir in 1 tbsp tomato paste. Add corn, black beans, and broth. Stir and add cumin, oregano, chili powder, brown sugar, and salt. Simmer until all liquid is absorbed.
  4. Assemble burritos with cheese and beef filling. (See photos above) Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Spray burritos with cooking spray and bake 18-20 minutes.
  5. Serve with salsa, queso, sour cream, or guacamole if desired.

*This recipe is modified from http://karmelowy.pl/chrupiace-burrito-z-wolowinacrispy-beef-burritos/*

Baby Baked Beef Burritos

Updated July 2016: I have made these burritos multiple times, often doubling the recipe to bring to a potluck or for serving to my extended family. The last time I made these, a couple of weeks ago, we had some new friends over for dinner. They were in the process of moving to Alabama. Having just completed a cross country move ourselves I knew they’d appreciate a home cooked meal before they hit the road, so we invited them over the night their belongings were being boxed up. We served them with salsa, guacamole, and taco seasoning spiked Greek yogurt. These mini burritos are definitely one of my favorite recipes here on the blog! They’re easy to do with little ones underfoot, too, as I can make the filling ahead of time, roll them at a separate time, and simply bake them before we’re ready to eat. Bonus: my kids have enjoyed them every time – eating only the filling.

Baby Baked Beef Burritos Sew You Think You Can Cook

 

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Spicy Taco Cheese Soup

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Over the past year or so my husband has gotten into adventure racing. Last year the obsession was Tough Mudder, and he even got me to join in one. (To watch the epic youtube video click here!) He completed his first (another video) with friends from work Nov 2011 and proceeded to do 3 more solo runs in addition to the one I did with him!

This year the thing is adventure racing. He does these events with the same friends who did the first Tough Mudder. There’s even a blog, Team Disoriented, that narrates their training, racing, and other related activities – you should check it out!

Last weekend they did a big training day biking for 32 miles after working on their canoeing skills for an hour. I offered to have dinner for them when they returned. I’ve been given a lot of slack for not attending their races as a spectator – especially when one team at their last event had a group of supporters who made them grilled chicken!

I knew that they’d be exhausted, sore, and cold by the time they finished so I decided to serve them something warm and filling. Additionally, I was working on a baby quilt so decided to take advantage of my trusty slow cooker. I have a CrockPot® cookbook and decided to take a look through that. I found a recipe by Kimberly Taflinger that sounded good. I changed some things and made it my own – the result was a thick, warm, spicy soup. I was drawn to this recipe because it closely resembled my Award Winning Chili. The leftovers were just as good in my lunch too. I recommend adding Fritos as a complimentary crunch factor to this soup, although Tostidos work perfectly well too.

An Original Recipe

 Spicy Taco Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 lb ground beef, cooked and drained
  • 1 lb processed cheese, cubed
  • 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies
  • 1 can (14.5 oz) sliced stewed tomatoes
  • 1 can (15 oz) corn, drained
  • 1 can (15 oz) dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 1/2 C chicken broth
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 1/4 C taco seasoning (or 1 pkt)

Steps:

  1. Place all ingredients, cut slits in the jalapeno and leave whole, in the slow cooker.
  2. Cover and cook on LOW 4-5 hours.

Taco Cheese Soup

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

Cilantro Lime Chicken

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Today’s edition of Mexican Monday requires prep on Sunday, even though it’s a slow cooker dish! But that’s also what makes it perfect for your Monday, whether you follow my Mexican Monday Menu plan or not. The chicken needs to marinate over night, but in the morning all you have to do is drop it into the slow cooker – no chopping, no measuring!

I found this recipe on a Pinterest post of Paleo Slow Cooker Recipes. Although we don’t follow the Paleo diet trend in this house, I may have some readers who do. Or maybe I’ll get new readers from it! 😉 If you’re looking for new Paleo inspired recipes, check out Jason’s blog, Paleo Pot. 

But because we don’t follow Paleo, I served this chicken with Rice and Beans! 

Cilantro Lime Chicken

Ingredients:

  • 1 5-6 lb whole chicken
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 3/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 whole lime
  • juice of 2 limes
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

Steps:

  1. Mix together pepper, salt, cumin, cayenne, and chili powder. 
  2. Dry chicken and rub spice mixture over entire chicken.
  3. Poke holes in the whole lime and rub with spice mixture. Place in chicken cavity.
  4. In a food processor (I actually used the single serve unit for my Ninja blender, a Magic Bullet would work great too!) combine lime juice, garlic, cilantro, and olive oil.
  5. Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag with the marinade. Marinate over night.
  6. Put chicken, breast side up, in slow cooker with the marinade. Cook on LOW 5-6 hours.

*This recipe is modified from Jason at http://paleopot.com/2013/01/chili-cilantro-lime-chicken/*

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Protein Packed Southwestern Salad

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

I am keeping with my healthy kick of Mexican Monday (previous weeks included Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers and Turkey Lettuce Wraps) with a double duty Mexican Monday & Salad Night.

It’s been way too long since my last salad post – and unfortunately that also indicates it’s been way too long since our last salad night! Stuart has been looking for healthier meals lately, and after eating this Southwestern Salad he was completely satisfied.

The dressing for the salad is made with Greek yogurt. If you’ve paid attention, or know me, you realize that I have a great dislike for Greek yogurt. But I do try and give it another chance every now and then. I was prepared to revert to bottled salad dressing, but I’m happy to state that I loved the creamy cilantro vinaigrette!

I added chicken to the salad so we’re getting 3 sources of protein: the Greek yogurt in the dressing, chicken, and black beans! I promise this is no rabbit food.

Protein Packed Southwestern Salad

Ingredients for the chicken:

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken tenders (you can also cut up 1 breast into strips)
  • 3/4 tsp Adobo seasoning
  • 1 tsp Ancho chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil, divided use
  • 1 head iceberg lettuce
  • 1/2 C canned corn, drained
  • 1/2 C canned black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 on-the-vine tomato, chopped and seeds removed
  • 1 avocado, chopped
  • crispy tortilla strips, for topping

Ingredients for the dressing:

  • 1/2 C Greek yogurt
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1 C fresh cilantro
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
  • salt, to taste

Steps:

  1. In a small bowl combine adobo seasoning, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Season both sides of chicken with spice mixture (you will have some left over).
  2. In a medium skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken 4-5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
  3. In a food processor combine all dressing ingredients.
  4. Assemble salad with lettuce, corn, beans, tomato, avocado, and chicken. Toss with as much dressing as you like. Top with tortilla strips.

*This recipe is adapted from Chung-Ah at http://damndelicious.net/2014/01/10/southwestern-chopped-salad-cilantro-lime-dressing/*

Protein Packed Southwestern Salad 1 Protein Packed Southwestern Salad 2 Protein Packed Southwestern Salad 3

Turkey Tomatillo Lettuce Wraps

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Mexican food isn’t necessarily known for being healthy, and I know my preference for turning Mexican Monday into Pasta Night doesn’t follow many diets, but it is possible to turn Mexican Monday into Healthy Night. Most taco recipes can be turned into taco salads, or in this instance, a lettuce wrap!

I was excited to find this recipe and Mountain Mama’s blog where she partakes in Taco Tuesday. I hope to find more Mexican Monday inspirations from her as I explore her page.

I absolutely loved this recipe – it was fresh, healthy, and crispy. I think it’s genius to take a store bought salsa and add more fresh flavors to it.

If you don’t like using fresh lettuce as your taco shell, you can substitute soft or hard shell tacos.

Turkey Tomatillo Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 C chicken stock
  • 1/2 large onion, coarsely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 1/3 C fresh cilantro
  • juice of 2 limes
  • 3/4 C tomatillo salsa
  • 1 head romaine lettuce
  • your favorite taco toppings, i.e. tomatoes, fresh onion, cheese, avocado

Steps:

  1. In a large non-stick skillet, heat olive oil in medium-high heat. When hot add ground turkey and season with S+P. Brown turkey, breaking up with a wooden spoon. After 5 minutes stir in chili powder, cumin, and oregano.
  2. In a food processor combine onion, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and salsa. Pulse until smooth. Add to the turkey. Cook another 5 minutes.
  3. Add chicken stock and cook let simmer another 2 minutes.
  4. Tear off lettuce leaves, fill with turkey, and top with your favorite taco toppings.

*This recipe is adapted from Kelley at http://www.mountainmamacooks.com/2014/01/cilantro-lime-turkey-taco-lettuce-wraps/?subscribe=success#blog_subscription-4*

Lettuce Wraps

Chicken and Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

~ lk529 ~ 3 Comments

Last weekend Tara, from Tara’s Multicultural Table, and I joined hundreds of other food bloggers in Birmingham, AL for Food Blog South. Each of the speakers at the conference had their own inspiring story and advice to give.

Before breaking up for the sessions that interested us most, Virginia Willis kicked things off with a thought provoking list of things she’s learned from cooking: FAITH, faith that sugar, eggs, and flour will turn into a cake, faith in yourself; PATIENCE, this is one that I need to work on the most, not only patience when a recipe calls for it but patience in understanding that a career in the food world takes time; SEASONING, what is life with out a little flavor?, what is a recipe without a little spice?; LAISSEZ FAIRE, don’t interfere with that steak on the grill, don’t focus on what others are doing and focus on yourself; DEDICATION, with dedication comes passion and with both comes success.

The first seminar we attended was Photography & Food Styling run by food stylist Tami Hardeman and photographer Helene Dujardin. Together they taught us tricks of the trade in both styling the food and how best to photograph the food. Helene’s collection of food props (aka plates, bowls, utensils, trays, etc) was enough to make anyone jealous. The less than 1% of her collection that she brought to the conference was like walking through an Anthropologie, a vintage thrift shop, and a Pottery Barn all at once. I immediately had the urge to rush out and find some fantastic pieces. (not that I have) When I research food photography everyone says to use white, that white makes food pop and look more appealing, but I was excited to see that they plated soup in an off-white bowl with a navy center. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to food photography, especially in dealing with my lack of natural light. Which you will see in the photos associated with this blog post – my ability to photograph and then edit cheese shot under artificial light at night is awful! Unfortunately when I asked how to shoot photos without natural light the answer was, “If it’s dark, put it in the fridge and try again tomorrow.” Too bad I only cook after dark… Oh well, I’ll figure it out one of these days… hopefully.

Next we switched tracks where Cathy Barrow shared her experience in turning her blog into a career. Upon returning from the conference I adjusted my twitter account (@Tiny_Chef_829) to be public and have started tweeting my blog posts. In a couple of weeks we get new phones and I’ll be going over to the dark side by getting an iPhone –  I will then figure out what Instagram is and how to use it. I have figured out how to add a contact page to my menu bar! Unfortunately she informed us of the harsh reality that in a world over-saturated with food writers, it’ll be hard to “make it big”.

After lunch Tara and I split up. She attended the Creativity Lightning Round while I attended Better Recipe Writing & Development. Nancy Huges was such a delight! She gave us great advice on creating recipes, tips on how best to write the recipe, and had countless stories to share from her impressive career.  I am now in the process of going through my blog posts and addressing any recipe writing mistakes I’ve made. Attending this session really re-motivated me to create some more original recipes. And that’s exactly what I did when I got home. It’s the recipe at the end of this post. I wanted to utilize one of the many vendors’ products. I had grabbed Roland’s Instant Black Bean Quinoa from their table thinking I could use it for Mexican Monday. I used traditional Mexican spices to flavor the chicken, and am so pleased with how perfectly my end results complimented the quinoa. Additionally, the red bell pepper rounded out the flavor profile perfectly.

Stuffed Peppers

I rejoined Tara for How to Win a James Beard Media Award where Marion Laney and Diane Jackson introduced us to the world of awards.

To round out the conference, keynote speaker Molly Wizenberg, gave an inspiring speech. Before her speech she sat down at our table and spoke one-on-one with us in such a personal way. She understands where we are in our budding “careers” and I found her to be very relate-able. I enjoyed her story and how far her passion for cooking has taken her.  My favorite quote of hers (and I jotted down a few) is

What do I stand to lose by following my nose; what do I stand to lose to not follow my nose.

That philosophy is the reason she’s so successful. And that philosophy is the one I need to stop being afraid of.

An Original Recipe

Chicken and Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:

  • 1 pkt (5.46 oz) Roland® Black Bean Quinoa
  • 1 1/2 C water
  • 1 lb chicken, cut into small bite-size cubes
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3/4 C your favorite salsa, not a chunky one though
  • 2 C shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided use
  • 5-6 red bell peppers, tops cut to create a cup and seeds and ribs removed

Steps:

  1. Bring 1 1/2 C of water to a boil. Add quinoa, stir, reduce heat and cover. Cook for 15 minutes, or until all the liquid has evaporated. Transfer to a large glass bowl.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. Toss pieces of chicken in seasonings.
  4. Heat olive oil a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot add in chicken and cook 10 minutes, or until cooked through. Transfer to the same bowl with the quinoa.
  5. To the chicken mixture add in the salsa and 1 C of shredded cheese.
  6. Place peppers cut side up in a casserole dish. Fill peppers completely with chicken mixture. Top with remaining cheese. Place the pepper tops back on and bake for 30-35 minutes. Note: I like having a bite to my peppers, if you prefer a softer pepper cook for 45-50 minutes with 1/4 C water or chicken stock in the casserole dish.

Chicken and Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

Disclaimer: I was not asked to create a recipe using a Roland product. I was provided Roland products for attending the conference. All reviews are my own.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

Mexican Monday is back! And it’s back with a trusty favorite recipe. Stuffed shells. I know, stuffed shells are typically an Italian dish, but I much prefer this Mexican spin to the traditional spinach and ricotta.

I’ve been making these stuffed shells for a couple years now, and was not disapointed to find that previous photographs weren’t exactly blog worthy. I’ve done these with both ground beef and ground turkey. Honestly, the turkey just doesn’t yield that same mouth-watering, need-to-grab-another stuffed shell result. But if you’re trying to cut back on red meat this year you can absolutely substitute turkey or chicken for the beef.

Shells

Meat Filling

Stuffed Shells

Mexican Stuffed Shells

The following recipe is for two casserole dishes worth of stuffed shells, which will feed 6-8 people.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

  • 2 lb ground beef
  • 4 tbsp taco seasoning
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1 box jumbo shells
  • 1 jar (16 oz) salsa
  • 1 jar (8 oz) taco sauce
  • 2 1/2 C shredded Mexican cheese
  • 3 scallions

Steps:

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente. You don’t want them to be too soft so you can stuff them. Using a slotted spoon remove shells from water and place on wax paper. (You run the risk of breaking shells by straining like you would normal pasta.)
  2. Brown ground beef. Drain fat. Mix with taco seasoning and 2 C water. Cook until water is reduced. Mix in cream cheese until melted. Remove from heat and set aside.
  3. Divide salsa between two casserole dishes.
  4. Spoon about 1 tbsp of meat mixture into each shell. Place in casserole dishes.
  5. Top shells with taco sauce.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Top with cheese and bake another 10 minutes.
  7. Garnish with scallions. Serve with sour cream, salsa, or any other toppings you’d like.

*This recipe is adapted from Maeghan at http://www.thewaytohisheartblog.com/mexican-stuffed-shells/*

Mexican Stuffed Shells 1 Mexican Stuffed Shells 2 Mexican Stuffed Shells 3

Chicken Tortilla Soup

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Now that the weather is getting cooler I thought it’s time for another soup recipe. And this Chicken Tortilla Soup fits in nicely with Mexican Monday!

I made the chicken stock on Sunday so that my weeknight prep time would be shorter. If you want to shred your chicken instead of cubing it, it’s best to do while it’s hot out of the poaching liquid. Because I cooked the chicken/stock the night before I simply cubed it before adding it to the soup Monday evening. Even though my prep time was much shorter, the soup cook time was longer than the original recipe declared, I left the soup on the stove for about an hour and a half. But with soup, the longer it stews the better!

I also left the heat factor out of the soup because I was making this for childhood taste buds. I provided hot sauce on the table for the adults to flavor our soups.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients for stock:

  • 3 large chicken breasts
  • 8 C water
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 onion, left whole
  • 1 jalapeno, left whole
  • 1 tsp pepper

Ingredients for soup:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can corn, drained
  • 1 can diced roasted tomatoes
  • 1/4 C cilantro (I used 2 ice cubes)

Steps:

  1. Make stock by combining all ingredients in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove chicken and shred/cube. Strain and reserve the broth.
  2. In a large pot over medium-high heat saute onion and bell pepper in olive oil. When translucent add in garlic until fragrant. Stir in spices. Pour in the chicken broth. Bring to a gentle simmer and add in the cooked chicken, beans, corn, tomatoes, and cilantro. Allow soup to cook for at least 20 minutes for the flavors to combine and chicken to be warmed through.
  3. Serve with shredded cheese and tortilla chips for garnish.

*This recipe is modified from Patricia at http://www.patriciaspatticakes.com/2013/10/spicy-chicken-tortilla-soup.html*

Chicken Tortilla Soup 2

Chicken Tortilla Soup 1