Pomegranate Salsa

Here's the yummy salsa Mom made at Thanksgiving and at the Rogers Birthday/Christmas Party! 

Pomegranate Salsa

2 pomegranates (peel under water to prevent staining clothes)
2 avocadoes, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
2 tomatoes (I use 4-5 Roma tomatoes--they're not as juicy)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground coriander (I used less than 1 tsp.)
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper (I used less than 1/4 tsp.)

Mix all together and serve with scooped tortilla or corn chips.

Pan-Seared Chicken with Clementine Salsa

Mom and Dad both say this is really, really good!

Pan-Seared Chicken with Clementine Salsa

2 clementines or 1 navel orange
1 medium tomato
1/4 c. chopped red onion
1 handful fresh cilantro
2 lg. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 12 oz. each)
1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper
1/2 Tbsp. olive oil

Peel and chop clementines; place in a small bowl. 

Chop tomato and add to bowl, along with onion. 

Discard cilantro stems; coarsely chop leaves and add to bowl. 

Toss well and let set at room temperature. 

With a sharp knife, carefully cut each chicken breast in half through its middle (thickness-wise) to get four thin cutlets.

Season with salt and pepper. 

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. 

Cook chicken 4 minutes per side. 

Let rest 5 minutes before slicing and serving with the salsa.

Prep time: 25 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Per serving: 200 calories

Served it with Rice-A-Roni.

Pico de Gallo

Because it's that good, it deserves its own post!  (Plus, it'll be easier to find later.)

Pico de Gallo

1 c. diced tomatoes (remove seeds)
1/3 c. diced red onion
1 diced jalapeno (at least a Tbsp, but more if you prefer)
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 limes, juiced (about 1/3 c.)
1 Tbsp. cilantro, plus extra for garnish
Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and stir well.
Refrigerate to keep chilled.

Pico de Gallo Chicken Quesadillas

This recipe was an experiment for us tonight...  a conglomeration of various recipes I saw online.  I'm happy to report it was a huge hit!  Plus, anything that includes fresh, homemade pico de gallo is divine in my book.  (Pico de gallo recipe from here.)

Pico de Gallo Chicken Quesadillas


Pico de gallo:
      1 c. diced tomatoes (remove seeds)
      1/3 c. diced red onion
      1 diced jalapeno (at least a Tbsp, but more if you prefer)
      1 Tbsp. minced garlic
      2 limes, juiced (about 1/3 c.)
      1 Tbsp. cilantro, plus extra for garnish
      Salt and pepper

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Olive oil
1-2 packages of flour tortillas
1 bag of Monterey Jack-Cheddar shredded cheese blend
Sour cream (garnish - optional)


Make pico de gallo:
     Mix all ingredients in a bowl and stir well.
     Refrigerate to keep chilled.

Cook chicken:
     Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.
     Heat 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil in skillet.
     Saute chicken pieces until cooked through (about 5-10 minutes).

Make quesadillas:
     Place 1 tortilla in a pan.
     Cover with cheese.
     Top with pico de gallo & chicken.
     Cover again with cheese.
     Place another tortilla on top.

Cook quesadillas until heated through, and cheese is all melted, flipping once.  (Only takes a couple of minutes in a hot pan.)
Remove from heat, slice into quarters, and serve with a dollop of sour cream (optional).

Enjoy remaining pico de gallo with tortilla chips.

Makes 6+ quesadillas.

Kristen's Mexican Lasagna

I made this the other night even though I didn't have zucchini. My adjustments are typed in BLUE. I want to try it again with zucchini, but if you don't have any, then this recipe is still really yummy. Oh and I didn't have an onion so I just used a little onion flakes. If you don't use produce (haha!) then this is a recipe you can make almost exclusively from things you can store in the pantry - minus the tortillas, cheese, and sour cream. Let me know what you think!
(As seen in Woman's Day.)

Kristen's Mexican Lasagna

Prep Time:  15 minutes
Total Time:  1 hour

INGREDIENTS:

2 tsp. olive oil
1.5 c. chopped onion
1 lb. zucchini, diced (about 3 c.)
2.5 tsp. ground cumin
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with chiles
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed
1 can (11 oz.) corn niblets, drained
1 can (10 oz.) mild enchilada sauce
0.5 c. chopped cilantro
5 (8-in.) whole-wheat flour tortillas
1.25 c. shredded reduced-fat cheddar

Garnish: reduced-fat sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 400ºF.
Coat a 3-qt round baking dish with nonstick spray.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Add onion and sauté 5 minutes.
Add zucchini and cumin, and sauté 5 minutes or until zucchini is crisp-tender.
Stir in tomatoes, beans, corn and enchilada sauce; bring to a simmer.  (So I jumped to this step, added the cumin (1 tsp.) and let it simmer.)
Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

Put 1 tortilla in baking dish.
Top with 1.5 c. zucchini mixture; sprinkle with 0.25 c. cheese.
Repeat layers 4 times.
(My dish was a round ceramic dish about 8" in diameter, and I had to trim my tortillas. With the trimmed pieces I tossed them with a little EVOO and salt, and baked them - if yours don't burn like mine did, then these might be a nice garnish!)

Cover with foil and bake 20-25 minutes until bubbly around edges and cheese is melted.
Cool 5 minutes.
Cut into wedges and serve with sour cream, if desired.  (I'm not much of a sour cream person, but I'm becoming converted. It is a nice combo with the mild spice that is in this.)

We also ate this with tortilla chips, since a lot doesn't make it on your fork. This is almost like nachos or a burrito or something, just in a different form.

Margene's Taco Soup

Margene's Taco Soup

1 lb. ground beef or ground turkey (I use a pkg. of ground turkey, 20 oz.)
1 c. chopped onion (I just chop a whole onion)
2 c. water
2 14-oz. cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
2 16-oz. cans kidney beans, undrained
16 oz. tomato sauce
1 envelope taco seasoning

Garnish with: chopped avocado, grated cheddar cheese, sour cream and/or corn chips

Cook meat & onions, drain off any fat.
Put meat mixture, water, stewed tomatoes, kidney beans, tomato sauce & taco seasoning into soup pot.
Mix all together.
Simmer the soup, covered for 15 minutes.

(To get everything out of my cans, I use the 2 cups of water to rinse the cans. Pouring it back and forth and twisting them, to get everything out)

Aimee's Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

If I made this once a week for Brian, he'd be in heaven... and it's a dish that he actually eats the leftovers of - every.last.bite!  Don't be fooled... this isn't very authentic, but it's oh so delicious!

Aimee's Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 onion, roughly chopped
Salt & pepper, to taste

2 Tbsp. butter
1 small can diced green chiles
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
4 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. grated cheddar cheese or mexi-cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
12 oz. sour cream
1 10-oz. can chicken broth
8-12 flour tortillas

Boil chicken with onion, salt & pepper about 15 minutes, or until just cooked through.
Let chicken cool.
Cut it into bite-sized pieces or shred it, and set aside.

In small sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat.
Add chiles and chopped onion and cook until onions are just transparent.
Remove from heat and add 6 oz. of the shredded cheese, 1/2 the cream of chicken soup, 1/2 the sour cream, all of the cream cheese, and the chicken.  Mix thoroughly together.
Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
Spoon 1/2 c. of this mixture into each tortilla, roll it up, and place it in the baking dish - wedge it in to fit 8-12 stuffed tortillas.

In a separate bowl, mix the remaining sour cream, soup, and chicken broth.
Pour this sauce over the tortillas.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the dish.
Bake 25-35 minutes at 350 degrees.