Fajitas

I knew you were wondering what I did with that Pico De Gallo, as I'm sure you assumed I did something besides eat it by the spoonful   

So after I ate it by the spoonful, I realized I should probably make something equally delicious to slather the Pico De Gallo onto, my decision was Fajitas.  

When scouring my cookbooks for a fajita recipe, I found this one and it is so perfectly delicious and simple.

As I've learned more and more about cooking, there is one thing that I always go back to...

the best recipes are the simple ones that use fresh ingredients.

 This is one of those recipes.

The recipe itself does not actually call for pico de gallo, but I can only imagine it made it better.

Also, I followed the recipe and pan seared this steak, but you could definitely grill it, we are just out of propane.  EHeeehmmm *HINT* Logan *HINT* ;)

Try it for yourself and let me know!

ENJOY!

Seared Steak Fajitas

3/4 lb top round steak

1 T soy sauce

1/4 cup plus 1 T fresh lime juice (from about 3 limes), plus wedges for serving

1 T olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

S&P

2 medium green bell peppers, ribs and seeds removed, thinly sliced

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced ( or accidentally diced, like I did)

8 corn tortillas (6in), warmed (see note)

1/2 cup grated white cheddar cheese (2oz)

1 large tomato, chopped (or fresh pico de gallo)

Cilantro sprigs for serving

*NOTE*

To warm the corn tortillas, use tongs to toast them on a gas stove burner for about 30 seconds per side.  Or wrap them (stacked) in damp paper towels and microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, just until softened.  

In a shallow dish or bowl, combine steak, soy sauce, and 1/4 cup lime juice.  Refrigerate 1 hour, turning steak occasionally.

  

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat 2 tsp oil over medium.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.  Remove from heat.  Stir in remaining 1 T lime juice. Set garlic oil aside.

Remove steak from marinade and blot dry with paper towels.  Season with salt and pepper.  In a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet, heat remaining 1 tsp oil over medium-high.  Cook steak, about 2 min per side for medium-rare.  Transfer to a cutting board, tent with foil and let rest.

Add bell peppers and onion to pan; season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring, until veggies are tender, 4-6 minutes.  Stir in reserved garlic oil. 

Thinly slice steak against the grain and serve with vegetables, tortillas, cheese, tomato, and cilantro.

Serves 4.

Logan Rating: ***

(But take with a grain of salt, because he says he doesn't like fajitas, what next will he tell us he hates fun too????)

S'mores

Logan has been bugging me for weeks to make S'mores.

I finally caved.

And no we did not go camping, nope we do not have a fire pit...

So YUP we made them over the stove!

Not quite the same ambiance, but they tasted just the same.

SO GOOD.

P.S. spread some peanut butter on the graham cracker before you put the chocolate on, you will think you have died and gone to heaven...YUM, I'm drooling just thinking about it. 

No wonder they call these things S'mores....its impossible to not want S'more. 

Pico De Gallo

There is NOTHING better than fresh salsa, but second best I would say is fresh pico de gallo.

Honestly, I've never made this, I've purchased it in the store or at markets several times...not cool, I know.

I can't believe I've never made this before, it's so fast and easy and it is so much better than the packaged stuff...what was I ever thinking???

I got the inkling to make this after reading a segment out of one of my America's Test Kitchen books. 

They give recommendations on products as well as give us awesome recipes.

They recommend chips, sauces, utensils, pretty much everything you can think of and when it came to salsas they literally said they could not recommend ANY store bought salsas.  Even salsa made with canned tomatoes at home is better...that was eye opening to me.  No wonder I love homemade salsa so much.

Which by the way, my mother makes a mean homemade salsa, I will share that recipe with you all someday.

Anyway, put this pico on ANYTHING, it was simple and tasty, loved it!

ENJOY!

Pico De Gallo

3 roma tomatoes, or one large beefsteak tomato

1/2 medium onion, diced

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2-1 jalapeno with ribs and seeds removed (or leave them in for more heat)

2 T chopped green onions

S&P to taste

1/4 tsp garlic salt

Basically mix everything together in a bowl...taste and adjust flavors as necessary. 

EASY and DELICIOUS!

YUM!

Classic Stuffed Peppers

A old school staple, like meatloaf and fried chicken...stuffed peppers.

I've made several versions of the infamous stuffed pepper, and this, I must say is one of the best.

It is from one of the American Test Kitchen cookbooks, they do the testing in the kitchen for us and then leave us with a perfected recipes, what more can you ask for?

Along with this classic version of a stuffed pepper they also have a middle eastern version and an italian version, I must try these, they look incredible!

This one has just a few ingredients, and the flavors aren't really complex at all, but something about it is just so yummy and reminiscent of my childhood...even though my mother never made this dish, not once.

This isn't the quickest meal and it certainly is not for a hot summer day, as you will need to turn on the oven.

BUT all that taken into consideration it makes for a real tasty meal and with fall right around the corner I can only imagine cool days are on their way.

Thank you all for reading...until next time...

ENJOY!

Classic Stuffed Bell Peppers

4 medium bell peppers, 1/2 in trimmed off tops, cores and seeds discarded

1/2 cups long grain white rice

1 1/2 T olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped fine

12 oz ground beef

3 medium garlic cloves, minced (about 1 T)

1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes, drained, 1/4 cup juice reserved

5 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded (1 1/4 cups)

2 T chopped fresh parsley (I hate parsley, so I skipped it)

S&P

1/4 cup ketchup

Bring 4 quarts water to boil in a large stockpot or dutch oven over high heat.  Add 1 T salt and bell peppers.

Cook until peppers just begin to soften, about 3 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, remove peppers from pot and drain off excess water, place peppers cut sides up on a paper towel.  Return water to a boil; add rice and boil until tender, about 13 min.  Drain rice and transfer it to a large bowl, set aside. 

(or just cook rice according to package directions in a different pot as the peppers boil)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350.

Meanwhile heat oil in a skillet over med high heat, add onion and cook about 5 min...add ground beef.

Cook breaking beef into small pieces with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Transfer mixture to a bowl with rice;

 

stir in tomatoes, 1 cup cheese, parsley, and S&P to taste. 

Stir together ketchup and reserved tomato juice in small bowl.

Place peppers cut side up in a 9inch square baking dish.  Using soup spoon, (I used an ice cream scoop) divide filling evenly among peppers.  

Spoon 2 T ketchup mixture over each filled pepper and sprinkle each with 1 T of remaining cheese.  

Bake until cheese is browned and filling is heated through, 25-30 minutes, serve immediately.

Fast Food

These are burritos that sort of look like enchiladas, and that taste like a hybrid of the two.

When you are craving enchiladas, but its too hot to turn the oven on, BOOM, here's your solution.

Another wonderful recipe from The Pioneer Woman, if you don't know of her, you should

These were extremely quick and very delicious, you should add this to your weekday meal plan, they are easy, versatile and delish.

You can switch up the filling ingredients and create an entirely new recipe, so if you need to you could serve these to your family twice in one week and they probably wouldn't even realize you were repeating.  Tricky!

I opted to use enchilada sauce and I think it added the perfect flavor, tomato sauce would probably be tasty too, you be the judge.  Let me know what you think!

ENJOY!

Beef and Bean Burritos

2 lbs ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground oregano

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

(I doubled each of these spices, probably because turkey doesn't absorb flavors quite like beef)

Two, 7 oz cans Mexican tomato sauce or enchilada sauce

one, 28oz can refried beans

3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese, plus extra for sprinkling

12 burrito size flour tortillas

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, torn

OPTIONAL FILLING INGREDIENTS

mexican rice

sour cream

guacamole

roasted green chiles

pico de gallo

In a large skillet, over med heat, cook the beef and onion until beef is cooked through. 

Add cumin, oregano, chili powder and salt and stir to combine.

Pour 1 can of the sauce into the meat and simmer over low heat for 5 min, add a little water if it gets too dry.

Meanwhile heat the refried beans in a saucepan over medium low heat.  Add the cheese...

And stir it until its melted.  Remove from heat.

Heat tortillas in microwave for 1 min, then spread a small amount of beans on each tortilla.

Add small amount of the meat, add any other optional ingredients you may be using or just keep it simple and leave them as they are.

Fold over the ends of the tortilla, then roll them up.  Place 2 burritos on a microwave safe plate.

Drizzle some of the second can of red cause over the top, and sprinkle with more cheese.

Microwave the burritos for 1 min or until the cheese is melted.  Repeat with the rest of burritos.

Sprinkle the tops with cilantro leaves and serve immediately.

YUM!

Easy, healthy, good

This meal is nothing special, but in the interest of full disclosure, this is what I made for dinner last night.

My original intention was to marinate this hunk of salmon and then grill it, but as 7:00pm rolled around last night I realized that effort was futile. However, fresh fish does not stay fresh for very often...especially when you live in MT and it was frozen before it became "fresh" again.  So I decided to still BBQ it as planned, but instead of a tasty marinade I opted for a very simply solution, slather it in BBQ sauce.  And it payed off because it was delicious!  I served it with the leftover cucumber salad and some red grapes.  Extremely healthy, light and surprisingly filling.  Just thought I would share with you all a new way (at least to me) to make salmon. Try it, you won't be sorry.

I grilled this on a gas grill, but it would be just as tasty if not more tasty on a charcoal grill.  To get the indirect heat effect on the gas grill I turned on burner on, but put the fish over a different burner.  This heats up the grill and then cooks it almost like an oven would.  Timing will be different depending on how hot your grill gets, cook the salmon until it is opaque and flakes off with a fork.  

Have a fabulous Monday!

Chicken Salad with a TWIST

In our house, you can almost never go wrong with any kind of curry dish.

To say my husband loves curry would be an understatement, I'm pretty sure he would trade me in any day someone who made Indian food on a daily basis.  

So every once in a while, I indulge him, mainly because I love curry too!

This was a wonderful twist on a traditional chicken salad, which might I add my husband does not like.

Seriously, I'm telling you, I could add curry to ANYTHING and he would eat it.

This is a pasta salad, so it makes a delicious lunch on its own, but leave out the pasta and you could make wraps/sandwiches out of this wonderful chicken salad. 

The raisins add a perfect sweetness and the celery adds just the best crunch.

Don't forget to toast the almonds, it makes all the difference.

You guys would be crazy not to try this and then let me know what you think....

ENJOY!

Curried Chicken Pasta Salad

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream

1/2 cup half and half (I used fat free and it was still awesome)

2 T lemon juice

2 T brown sugar

3 T curry powder, more or less to taste ( I used 3 T)

S&P to taste

2 cups shredded or diced cooked chicken

2-3 celery stalks, chopped

3 green onions, sliced (white and light green parts only)

3/4 cup regular or golden raisins

1/2 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted in a small skillet until golden brown

6oz bow tie pasta, cooked and drained

small handful of fresh dill, minced

Mix together mayo, yogurt or sour cream, half and half, lemon juice, brown sugar and curry powder.

In a large bowl, combine chicken, celery, green onions, raisins, almonds, dill and pasta.

Pour the curry dressing over all ingredients.

Toss to combine.  Chill if needed.

Serves 8-10.

(I halved the recipe and we still have tons leftover!)

Summer Stir Fry

Don't pass out, yes this is my second post in 2 days, breathe, sit down, get your composure. 

I know your shocked, but I just couldn't help but share this incredible recipe with ya'll. 

BTW I don't say ya'll in my real life, but for some reason I find it acceptable while blogging...

This is one of those recipes where you grab all the vegetables in your fridge/garden and throw them in a pan, doesn't matter if its eggplant, or zucchini or squash or tomatoes, or literally ANYTHING you have on hand, just grab it, chop it up and throw it in the pan, saute for a bit and viola, deliciousness.

I will give you the recipe below, but feel free to add/subtract anything, it will still be amazing.

Also, this recipe called for shrimp but you could easily sub chicken, sausage, etc.

This recipe is light, fresh and absolutely perfect for a hot summer evening.

You can thank me later.

ENJOY!

Summer Stir Fry

(From "The Pioneer Woman Cooks")

2 T butter

2 T olive oil

2 lbs jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on (I took tails off)

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 large zucchini, diced

2 ears corn, kernels removed

3/4 cup red grape tomatoes, sliced in half

3/4 cup yellow grape tomatoes, sliced in half

S&P

12-18 fresh basil leaves, cut in chiffonade (google it)

juice of 1 lemon

rice or pasta for serving (optional)

Melt 1 T butter with 1 T oil in a large skillet over med high.  Add shrimp and garlic then saute until shrimp are opaque, about 3 min.

Remove shrimp to a plate.  Increase heat to high, then thrown in the zucchini.

Stir around for about a minute.  Then scoot zucchini to edges of the pan. Throw in the corn and cook it for a minute...

Then push the corn to the edge of the pan. 

Throw in the grape tomatoes and stir them around for a minute, then sprinkle on some salt.

Add pepper.  Then throw the shrimp back in the pan.  Stir everything around for about a minute or until everything is combined and heated through.

Then pour the contents of the skillet onto a big platter.  Sprinkle the fresh basil and squeeze the lemon all over the top.  Serve with rice or pasta or all by itself.

Serves 8-10