This is the perfect use of leftovers from taco night. I mixed up shredded chicken with part mayo and part avocado before adding corn and black beans. Customize it with any add ins from the leftovers! It is great scooped … Continue reading
Benedict-esque but sub chorizo for ham, and queso for hollandaise for a little spice to liven brunch up. Continue reading
I took our love for beans, especially pizza beans, and gave them a taco twist. They were such a hit – especially with our littlest eater. The toppings and customization make it easy for a win.
Taco Beans:
Ingredients: (serves 4)
2, 15-oz cans of seasoned black beans (or see alternative below)
1 cup corn
1/2 chicken breast (optional)
1 avocado
cilantro
cheese
pickled onions
any condiments: salsa, hot sauce, salsa con queso, sour cream
chips
Directions:
Warm the beans through, over low heat for ~10 minutes. (Alternative if using plain canned beans: drain, rinse, and add to a pot with 1/2 cup veggie broth and a sprinkle of cumin, chili powder, and salt to taste).
While beans are cooking, slice the avocado, chop cilantro, and prepare all the toppings
Assemble bowls with beans and any toppings, as you wish.
Enjoy!
Mr. J and I went with almost all the toppings, but the kids loved their beans with cheese, avocado, sour cream, and salsa.
I feel like a genius. I created an amazing burger out of nowhere. I made burgers out of ground pork, taco seasoning, and some salsa con queso.
Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground pork
1 tbs taco seasoning
2 tbs salsa con queso
Directions:
Mix the ground pork (or beef/chicken/turkey) with taco seasoning and salsa con queso.
Form into patties and grill
Top with sliced pepper jack cheese and some more salsa con queso!
This had some great spice and perfect cheesiness. I think the cheese sauce was a perfect way to keep the meat juicy. I served it with a vinegar based bean salad. We loved this one!
I’m expanding my non-authentic Mexican food repertoire. I made flautas. I first googled to find out what the difference was between flauta and a taquito. Again, from non-authentic sources, it seems like flautas are flour tortillas and taquitos are corn tortillas.
I prepped some of it in the morning before work, which always makes me feel like a rockstar. The pup was very into these. When I say he’s under my feet in the kitchen, I mean it. See? He’s just to sweet to totally kick out of the kitchen. It makes me feel loved since I come in second to Mr. J in his eyes (unless I’m cooking).
½ pound ground turkey/pork/chicken/beef (I used pork)
3 tbs taco seasoning
12 small flour tortillas
2 cups baby spinach
6 oz shredded monterey jack cheese
oil for frying
Cook the ground meat with taco seasoning until cooked through and mix with spinach after removing the meat from the heat.
Heat about ¾ of an inch of oil to fry the flautas when they’re assembled.
Lay tortillas out and top with 2 tbs each shredded cheese, and the ground meat and spinach mixture.
roll up the filled tortillas into skinny cigars and secure with a toothpick
gently drop into the oil for a few minutes, rotating them to crisp evenly.
When they’re evenly golden, remove and let hang on paper towels. Don’t forget to pull out those toothpicks!
They stayed together nicely and I served them with a little chipotle ranch dressing (also known as: ranch with a touch of BBQ sauce for smokiness, a dash of hot sauce, and taco seasoning). They were really good. I loved how different they felt from burritos or enchiladas.
Frying anything stresses me out. I only did a few at a time and kept the others warm in the oven at 200 degrees.
These are a great use for leftovers :ahem:spinach:ahem. I would have thrown in any other veggie I had around. Think: corn! onions! zucchini! mushrooms! They also didn’t require a ton of ground meat. I end up with weird amounts of leftover ground pork or chicken and almost always use it for a Mexican meal.
Serve these with my favorite Mexican bean salad for a quick & easy fiesta! They also are great reheated in the toaster oven for lunch the next day at work!
I was thinking I wanted to make salsa once my work event was over I was thinking not just any salsa. Something crazy! I haven’t made salsa before but I winged it and it came out good. I wish it was spicier but I wasn’t sure that would appeal to the crowd.
I also can’t say I actually knew how spicy it was going to be anyway.
5 tomatoes, chopped
1 jalapeno, diced (seeds and
1 onion
2 garlic clove minced
1 lime, juiced & zested
½ pineapple, grilled
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp hot sauce
¼ tsp salt
Blend 4 tomatoes, onion, garlic, and jalapeno.
Add the jalapeno, then the last tomato, lime juice, lime zest, red pepper flakes, hot sauce, and salt.
Grill pineapple 2-3 minutes per side until lightly charred.
Chop the pineapple and add to the salsa.
Let it sit at least 2 hours before serving.
Salsa was totally easy. I was worried after I blended the tomatoes. It seemed too pink but it was a good amount of liquid to add the chunks to. I like it super chunky so I left the pineapple really big chunks.
Any salsa tips for me next time? It was good, but maybe the next one can be great!
Have you ever used corn tortillas? I guess I don’t know how to use them! I had an enchilada mishap I figured I’d share with you. Not that any of my meals are pefect but I think everyone needs a reminder that not everything goes to plan. The meals that do go to plan are just more fun to blog about.
They were super crumbly. I tried soaking them in water but they still cracked.
Then I threw in the towel. I shredded the tortillas and made it casserole style.
We ate it anyway. Ohh well.
I love when totally unexpected people tell me they read my blog! I was working a few weeks ago in Chicago and one of the local staff had a recommendation for me to try. She suggested a taco pizza! She and her husband like it and seem to have perfected it! Thanks Mrs. M!
I’m not into mixing food from one region to another (hello, taco stuffed shells? No thanks) but pizza is a whole different game to me. Does that make sense? Prob not. Do I make the rules? Sure do! I was super psyched to make this pizza and knew I’d like it.
Pizza dough
1 can refried beans
¾ pound ground chicken/pork/turkey/beef
3 tbs taco seasoning (or half a packet)
1 ½ cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded
¼ cup salsa
2 cups lettuce, chopped
5 tortilla chips crumbled (optional)
Precook pizza dough for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.
Cook ground meat until cooked through and add taco seasoning and a splash of water when the meat is mostly cooked.
Remove pizza crust from oven and spread the beans on it (instead of tomato sauce)
Top with cheese, then ground meat and cook for 10 more minutes (or until crust is crisped).
Remove from the oven and top with salsa, lettuce, and tortilla chip crumbles.
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After thinking about other ways to use ricotta I thought, why not Mexican? I’m sure nobody who knows anything about enchiladas would ever use ricotta but I’m not pretending I know anything other than what tastes good.
The thought of biting in a huge hunk of cream cheese makes me shutter. I like ricotta because it’s light and creamy. It was beautifully green (thanks to some spinach) and light but full of flavor.
12 oz whole milk ricotta
2 cups spinach leaves
2 slices of thick cut ham
1 tbs taco seasoning
6 whole wheat tortillas
1 ½ cup enchilada sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar
Blend ricotta and spinach in a food processor, or by hand (chopping spinach first).
Pan fry the ham and taco seasoning just until golden and warmed through.
Stuff each tortilla with the ricotta mixture and top with ham.
Roll them up and put them into a baking dish.
Top with enchilada sauce and bake 20 minutes at 375.
Finish with shredded cheese and bake 3 minutes to melt.
I liked this seemingly strange combo. I actually had the ham around so that’s why I added it but I really liked it in here! You could easily use shredded chicken, sauteed peppers & onions, or corn and black beans…or whatever. These were cheesey inside and out and had some textural contrasts too.
Then I decided to recreate a recipe I had from a restaurant. Jose MacIntryre’s has these crispy avocado eggrolls that are addicting…especially during $1 appetizers 😉
Egg roll wrappers
2 avocados
2 tbs salsa
Cut avocados and mix with salsa
Put 2-3 tbs of the avocado mixture into the center of the wrappers. Tuck 2 opposite corners towards the center, and then roll the corner closest to you to the center and roll it away from you (like rolling up a burrito).
Fry for a few minutes on each side.
Remove and let cool on paper towel.
These were pretty good. Not as good as the restaurant, but I liked it. Mr. J wasn’t a big fan so I had his for lunch the next day. That’s when I remembered they’re served with some creamy dipping sauce.
I mixed some ranch dressing, bbq sauce, and taco seasoning. Ohh my goodness. That’s the ticket! Don’t knock it will you try it!
The other night, I was prepping dinner and I was following a recipe. I actually rarely follow recipes. I consider them “suggestions” or jumping off points in most cases. I read a lot of blogs and google a lot of recipes so it is often mishmash of an “adapted from.” Following recipes can be stressful and it takes even longer! You might be surprised how quickly I can whip something up if I’m not blogging it!
Things were going well, then going poorly, and it was crazy. Part smelled really good but the other part seized up. I burned my hand (not badly, don’t worry mom!) and almost dropped the entire cast-iron skillet (which contained the entire meal). The external flash I nab from Mr. J wasn’t working, I chose a pan a bit too small, and the pup was underfoot.
While all of this was happening, I was rocking out to my kitchen radio the previous owners of the house so kindly left. Kelly Clarkson’s “oldie” “Beautiful Disaster” came on. How appropriate for this meal?! It was seeming like just that.
1 cup milk
1 cup cornmeal
2 cups boiling water
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon corn oil or EVOO
1/3 pound mexican chorizo (raw) or chopped spanish chorizo (cured) (I nixed this since my store only sells spicy and Mr. J doesn’t love lots of heat)
4 slices bacon, finely chopped (I nixed this too since I planned another meal with bacon and figured we’d be fine without it)
1 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely chopped (I used dried)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon ground coriander (about 1/2 palmful)
1 small onion, chopped
3 – 4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup beer
1 14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes with chiles, drained (I used fresh)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
Cilantro leaves and sliced scallions, for garnishing (I chopped arugula I had instead)
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk. Whisk in the cornmeal, then whisk in the boiling water and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until very thick, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the butter and honey.
Preheat the broiler. Meanwhile, in a large ovenproof skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until smoking. Add the chorizo and bacon and render the fat for 3 minutes. Stir in the pork and cook, crumbling the meat, until browned, about 8 minutes.
Season with the thyme, chili powder, coriander, salt and pepper. Add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes to soften. Stir in the beer to deglaze for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes to heat through.
Spoon the thick cornmeal over the pan and spread evenly. Top with the cheddar and brown under the broiler for 2 minutes. Serve from the skillet, garnished with the cilantro and scallions.
So, check out what happens when you read the first step and overlook the fact that the water should be boiling water. In the time it took to heat the water (after adding the cornmeal to the milk) it totally seized up. I was going to dump it and start over but I was feeling especially determined. I whisked as much as I could once the water was finally boiling. Seriously though, milk and cornmeal are cheap ingredients and wouldn’t have set me back.
After all that I bet you’re wondering how it was. It was good, not amazing. I think the chorizo and bacon would add a bit more flavor. We joked it was Pork-Liker’s Tamale Pie rather than Pork-Lover’s Tamale Pie since I omitted 2 of the 3 porks. I used fresh tomatoes and think canned would have boosted the flavor too. That’s quite the creative licensing given the fact that I said I was following the recipe.
I liked the cornmeal topping and I appreciated that this wasn’t a million ingredients. It reheated surprisingly well too. It was a fun and I was glad to have a different Mexican meal for a change.
