Mexican Chicken Bowls

WELL....It's good to be back!  Not that I've really been anywhere, just MIA when it comes to blogging!  I actually think it was a good thing to take a break.  I feel like I have a little more time and energy to devote to some new recipes and almost a renewed excitement for cooking!!  After all of the holidays, baking cookies, eating cookies, and big heavy dinners, I'm ready to lighten things up a bit but without skimping on taste!!  I'm going to try my best to put out some legit healthy & tasty recipes :)
I may add the occasional sweet treat, but hey, everything in moderation right?!?!

This dish was way too easy to prepare and honestly everyone in my family loved it!  I guess you could call it a deconstructed burrito, but I almost enjoyed it better than a burrito.  Give it a try!

MEXICAN CHICKEN BOWL - (recipe adapted from HERE )

INGREDIENTS: (Makes about 4-5 bowls)

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• chili powder, paprika & garlic salt to season chicken
• 1 jar (16 oz) salsa, your favorite kind!
• 4 cups cooked brown rice...I used 2 bags of Trader Joes Frozen Organic Brown Rice
• 1-2 cups frozen corn, heated
• 1 can black beans, heated & drained
• shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 avocados, mashed with fresh lemon juice, garlic powder & sea salt to taste
• sour cream, optional

DIRECTIONS:

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place chicken breasts in a baking dish and season with some chili powder, paprika and garlic salt.  Pour the jar of salsa on top of chicken breasts, cover tightly with foil and bake in oven for 1 hour.  Turn oven off and leave the chicken in the oven for another hour (or longer).  The chicken will shred very easily this way. (You can alternately do the chicken in your crockpot, on high for 4 hours or low for 7 hours). I like the oven method the best :)

Leave the chicken in the baking dish when you shred it so it so you can mix it with the salsa that's left in the dish...you will want the chicken to be a little saucy!

Once the chicken is shredded, start prepping all of the other ingredients.  When I don't have time or ingredients to make guacamole, I do more of a "avocado mash", which is avocados, lemon juice, garlic powder and sea salt.  Mash it all together and it's a perfect condiment to any mexican dish!!

To assemble the bowl, place about 3/4 to 1 cup of the rice on the bottom of the bowl, a couple spoonfuls of chicken (with some of the salsa) on top, a scoop of black beans, some shredded cheese, the last but not least the mashed avocado and sour cream if you like.

I gobbled up the first bowl then went back for a little extra chicken and black beans!  If you have some tortilla chips, you can definitely serve those on the side for scooping! 

ENJOY!

Chicken, Black Bean, Corn and Zucchini Enchiladas

I made these for dinner last night and OH MY...they were delicious!!  Everything I was hoping for!  

I saw this recipe on pinterest (my new fav website) and kind of re-constructed it a bit to my own liking.  I've been craving enchiladas and these definitely hit the spot!  They were a big hit with my husband.  I made one pan of 4 large enchiladas for us, and another pan of chicken and cheese enchiladas for the kiddos.  I saved some of the filling so I could make a big burrito for lunch today!!

If you wanted to make these vegetarian, just leave out the chicken.

Chicken, Black Bean, Corn and Zucchini Enchiladas {recipe adapted from Taste And Tell }

INGREDIENTS: {Makes about 8 large enchiladas}

• 2 chicken breast halves with bone
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 

Black Bean Filling: 

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 large zucchini, cut into 1-inch dice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 {15 oz} can black beans, rinsed
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn, thawed
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Enchilada Sauce:

• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, stemmed and seeds removed, cut into a small dice
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 can {4 oz} fire roasted green chiles, mild
• 1 cup salsa verde {I like Herdez brand}
• 1/2 tsp. cumin 
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

For Enchiladas:

• 8 {8-inch} flour tortillas {I used fresh uncooked tortillas, but cooked them first...delicious}
• 3/4 lb. monterey jack cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS:

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Rub the chicken breast halves with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and chili powder.  Place in a baking dish and bake uncovered for 1 hour.  Remove from oven, cover with foil and let sit until ready to shred. 

To make the filling: In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium low heat.  Add the onion and saute about 4 minutes.  Add zucchini and saute another 4 minutes, or until slightly tender.  Add the garlic, black beans, corn, chili powder, cumin and salt. Heat through about 4 minutes.  Pour into a large bowl and set aside.  Take the chicken out of the pan, shred and add to the black bean mixture.

To make the sauce: Wipe the pan clean and over medium-low heat add 1 Tbsp. butter for the sauce.  Stir in the garlic and jalapeno and cook until fragrant and softening, about 4 minutes.  Add the flour and cook for 1 minute.  Whisk in the stock and bring to a boil.  Once at a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for about 5 minutes or until reduced a bit.  If you have an immersion blender, you can use it right in the pan, if not, transfer the sauce to a blender.  Add the sour cream, green chiles, salt, cumin, chili powder. Blend until slightly smooth (I left a little chunky).  Pour in 1 cup of salsa verde and stir to combine.  

If you decide to use the uncooked tortillas, go ahead and cook those up in a dry pan...I used my double burner griddle and got them done pretty fast.

To assemble the enchiladas:

Coat a 9 by 13 pan with about 1/2 cup of the sauce.  Fill each of the tortillas with a generous amount of the black bean/chicken filling and a spoonful of cheese (I like a lot).  Roll up and place seam side down in baking dish.  Pour the remaining green chile sauce over the top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is beginning to get golden around the edges.  Serve with a side of guacamole and chips!

  

corn, zucchini and black bean filling

oh yea, lots of cheese!

a nice amount of filling and cheese...

ready for the oven

oh yea, nice a bubbly golden brown!

close up!

Chile Verde

There's nothing like a big pot of chile verde that's been simmering all day.  The spices, peppers, and browned meat smell so wonderful!  I'm a huge fan of anything that is covered in salsa verde.  The flavors are so intense, especially when the sauce is made fresh.  Now don't get me wrong, chile verde can definitely be made with salsa from the jar...I've done it many times.  But if you're in the mood for some authentic chile verde then give this recipe a try.  Just serve some flour or corn tortillas on the side to keep it simple, or roll it in a burrito, or enchiladas.  It's such a great filling for just about any mexican dish.  Now, if you don't want to use pork, I think chicken would work out just great too!  This recipe has been modified slightly from Simply Recipes.


Chile Verde {serves 8}


tomatillos, garlic, pasilla peppers ready to go in the oven

INGREDIENTS FOR SALSA VERDE:  

• 10 tomatillos, husks removed then rinsed
• 2 pasilla peppers
• 1-2 jalapenos 
• 1 Tbsp. fresh oregano
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 5 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• salt to taste
• 1 Tbsp. cumin

INGREDIENTS FOR PORK:  

• 4 lb. pork roast, trimmed of fat and cut into 2 inch cubes
• salt
• freshly ground pepper
• canola oil
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-2 cups chicken stock

DIRECTIONS:

Peel and rinse tomatillos.  Cut in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Place un-peeled garlic and pasilla peppers on baking sheet as well.  Broil in oven 5-10 minutes, or until tomatoes and peppers are nicely blackened and soft.  Once peppers have cooled slightly remove the blackened skin.  Discard stem and seeds from peppers.  Peel garlic...the skin will come off nicely!  Place tomatillos, peppers, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, oregano, and salt in blender.   I used about 2 tsp. salt.  Pulse until blended thoroughly.  Set aside.  

Cut pork into 2 inch cubes and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in large pot.  In batches, brown meat on all sides.  Move browned meat to plate and continue with the rest of the meat.  Be sure not to crowd the pot with the meat, otherwise it will not brown properly.  Once all meat is done and removed, add onions, minced garlic, 1 tsp. cumin, a little salt and pepper.  Soften onions and garlic for about 5 minutes.  Put meat back into pot, along with salsa verde and enough chicken stock to cover the meat.  I only added about 1 cup of chicken stock.  Bring to boil, then simmer on low for 2-3 hours.  Meat should be nice and tender.  Serve with warmed tortillas.

Meat and sauce getting ready to simmer

All done simmering...about 3 hours

shredded tri-tip taquitos

 I don't know why I don't make these more often.  They make for a super simple dinner and my kids absolutely love them!  I've made them before with shredded chicken and they are just as good!  I'm actually not much of a beef person, but there are a few kinds of meat that I like slow cooking so they get really tender and easy to use in many different ways!  The nice thing about making the meat this way, is you could make it the day before, shred it up, then just re-heat the meat and roll up your taquitos just before dinner time the next day.  I served them with lot's of sides for my kids to dip the taquitos in...sour cream, guacamole, and refried beans sprinkled with cheese.  A great quick meal!

INGREDIENTS FOR MEAT:

• 2-3 lbs. tri-tip roast {or any other meat you like}
• garlic salt
• black pepper
• 1 jar {12-15 oz. salsa}

DIRECTIONS:

  Place tri tip in slow cooker or a large dutch oven.  Season all over with garlic salt and black pepper.  Pour salsa on top of meat.  If you are using slow cooker, cover and heat on LOW for 10 hours or HIGH for 5-6 hrs.  If you are using a dutch oven; cook at 350, covered, for 1 hr. or until it shreds easily.  

INGREDIENTS FOR TAQUITOS:

• canola oil
• corn tortillas
• shredded tri-tip

DIRECTIONS:

  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add a small amount of oil and in batches, lightly soften tortillas {until pliable} and stack on paper towel lined plate.  Once all the tortillas are softened, place about 2 Tbsp. of meat near one side of tortilla.  Roll up tightly and place seam-side down on a large greased baking sheet.  Heat oven to 400 degrees and cook in oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.  Serve warm!   

ACCOMPANIMENTS:

• sour cream
• guacamole
• refried beans {try refried black beans, they're good!}
• shredded cheese

All rolled up!

Shrimp Tacos with Poblano-Avocado Salsa

What a great weekend!

Drove up to Shaver Lake for a fun, but super relaxing weekend with some great friends.

We ate WAY too much, but I think it had to do with that mountain air! Since I have food

on the mind, I thought I'd share a recipe that is all about summer grilling!

We've been grilling like crazy this summer and the last couple meals from the grill have been really easy! A couple weeks ago I barbecued some baby-back ribs for my son's campout party and a couple days after that I grilled up these shrimp tacos. They were delicious! I didn't want to skimp on the shrimp, so I went ahead and bought the large prawns (uncooked), then had the daunting task of peeling all of those suckers! Once they were all cleaned up, the prep for this dinner was super simple! Just about everything went on the grill, which made it one of those dinners where I didn't have to spend more time cleaning up then it took to prep the meal...ever had those nights??

Anyway, I know summer is pretty much officially over, but these are simple enough to make on the grill or on a stove-top grill pan. Oh, and this poblano-avocado salsa would be killer with some tortilla chips! The poblano chiles don't have much heat at all and they give the salsa such great flavor! If you aren't a shrimp person, I think that a marinated flank steak would make a great substitute!

Shrimp Tacos with Poblano-Avocado Salsa (Makes about 8 tacos)

(adapted from: Webers Real Grilling Cookbook)

SALSA INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ear corn, husked (I made 3 ears & gave my kids each some corn to eat separately)
• 3 scallions, white and light green parts only
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 medium poblano chile
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 large Hass Avocado, cut into 1/4 inch dice
• 1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh Cilantro
• juice from 1 lime
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, divided

32 large shrimp (UNCOOKED), about 1 1/2 lbs. peeled and deveined

8 flour tortillas (8 inches)

DIRECTIONS:

To make the salsa: Brush the corn and scallions with olive oil. Grill the corn until browned in spots and tender, the scallions until lightly grilled, and the chile until black and blistered in spots, over direct medium heat, turning occasionally. **The corn and chile will take 10-12 min. and the scallions will take 3-4 min. Trim the root ends off scallions; finely chop the remaining parts and put them in a medium bowl. Cut the kernels off corn and add to the bowl. WHen cool enough to handle, peel off the loosened bits of skin from the chile and discard, along with the stem; finely chop the remaining parts of the chile and add to bowl. Add the remaining salsa ingredients, including 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Drizzle 1 Tbsp. of olive oil into the bowl and mix thoroughly. Set aside.

Brush shrimp all over with oil and season with the remaining 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Grill over direct high heat until the shrimp are firm to the touch and just turning opaque in the center, 2-4 minutes, turning once. Grill the tortillas over medium heat just until warm (30-60 seconds).

Corn, scallions and Chile just off the grill

Juicy shrimp

Zesty Refried Bean & Veggie Burrito

It feels like I haven't blogged a recipe in ages! After that detox thing, I needed a couple weeks to catch up on my eating...gain back some strength too! This is sort of my first week back to cooking since I had a hall-pass last week. We had a "Ultimate Family Week" at church, which included dinner for 5 nights...a mom's dream come true!

We are officially in the home stretch of summer as school starts in a week and a half, so we are living life at the beach this week! Enjoying the spouting Whale's & jumping dolphins as we sit and watch my oldest son at Surf Camp. Today was AMAZING, I mean how often do you see dolphins & whales all in a one hour time period?

Anyway, because of all the excitement this week, meals have been quick and easy. This burrito recipe can be made any way you like, with meat or without. We had leftover Tri-Tip that my husband wanted in his burrito, but I like mine best without meat AND I also really like Black Refried Beans, but I used up what I had in the pantry.

INGREDIENTS:

• Large Burrito-size Flour Tortillas
• Sharp Cheddar & Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
• 2 Cans Zesty Refried Beans, or Black Refried Beans (I used Trader Joe's brand)
• 1 pkg. mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large Bell Pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 Zucchini, cut in half moons
• 1 yellow squash, cut in half moons
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• I had 1 cup of leftover corn I added to the veggie mix
• Sour Cream
• 1 Avocado, mashed w/ garlic & lime juice

DIRECTIONS:

Heat Beans in saucepan over low heat. In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil and add cut veggies. Saute' veggies over med-high heat about 5-8 min. You want a nice golden color on the outside of the veggies without them getting too well-done.

Heat your tortilla, add some beans, cheese, sautéed veggies, sour cream & mashed avocado. Wrap up as best you can...they'll be messy, but really good!

ENJOY!

Chicken Enchilada Verde Casserole

Yesterday was a blistery, cold, rainy day and all I could think about was this casserole for some reason! My family isn't big on casseroles, but I love a good casserole every now and then! This particular recipe has been in the family for years and I won't repeat what my dad "nicknamed" it, but it's one of my all-time faves! I tweaked the recipe this time because I had been trying to figure out a way to get rid of the canned soups it called for..well this time I tried it without, made my own sauce and it was REALLY successful! Hope you give it a try & let me know what you think!

Chicken Enchilada Verde Casserole {family recipe}


INGREDIENTS: {Serves 10-12}

• 3 half chicken breasts w/bone & skinned (or 4 boneless, skinless)
• 1 dozen Corn Tortillas...cut in quarters
• 8 oz Sharp Cheddar, shredded
• 8 oz. Jack Cheese, shredded
• (seems like a lot, you don't have to use all of it)

Sauce:

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 Cup flour
• 1 Cup chicken broth, reserved from cooked chicken
• 1 Cup Milk
• 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
• 1 small can diced green chiles
• 26oz. jar Salsa Verde (I use Herdez brand, but it does have a kick, so if the kiddos don't like that, make sure you try to find a mild salsa)

DIRECTIONS:

*I bake my chicken in a baking dish, seasoned with salt & pepper, covered with foil in a 350 degree oven for 1 hr. 10 min. I turn the oven off & let it sit in oven for close to an hour. The chicken will just fall apart that way, so tender...try it! Shred chicken and reserve 1 Cup broth for sauce. Cut up tortillas into fourths and set aside, then shred cheese, set aside.

*For the sauce, melt butter on med-low heat in large saucepan. Whisk in flour to make a paste. Slowly add in chicken broth, while whisking to avoid clumps. Next whisk in milk & sour cream. Once sauce has come together, turn off heat, then add chiles & Salsa. Mix completely.

Now your ready to assemble. Spray a 9 by 13 baking dish. Layer half of tortillas, half Chicken, half Cheese, half Sauce. Repeat layers, ending with Sauce.

Bake in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 1 1/2 hrs. or until golden & bubbly!

***This is a great dish for company or large gatherings & perfect to make ahead then pop in oven! *Serve with beans & salad

Just out of oven

Ingredients, ready to assemble

Steak Nachos

Who doesn't love a heaping plate of loaded Nachos? We had a ton of Tri-Tip leftovers the other day and I decided I was going to make a quick and easy dinner with it. I just raided the pantry & fridge to find what I needed to make these yummy, cheesy nachos...the kids went crazy for them! The great thing is that you could use any leftover meat: ground beef, turkey, cooked chicken, shredded pork. The possibilities are endless...

Steak Nachos

• 2 Cups leftover Tri-Tip, diced & quickly heated in frying pan (or any other cooked meat)
• White Corn Tortilla Chips
• 1 Can Black Beans, drained (or) 1 can refried beans
• 2-3 Cups shredded cheddar & jack cheese ( I like lot's of cheese)
• 1 small can sliced olives

Garnish:

• 1 tomato, seeded & diced
• sour cream

Recipe for Guacamole:

• 2-3 ripe Avocados
• 1/2 jalepeno, seeded & finely diced
• juice of 1 lime
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• sea salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

*(If I have time, I will add fresh cilantro (to taste) & 1 small tomato (diced) to the guacamole)

PRE-HEAT oven to 375 degrees. Arrange chips on a large oven proof platter. I used 2 large, deep pie plates (one plate for us & one for the kids). Top chips with black beans, some of the cheese, steak, rest of cheese & olives. Place in oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and chips are starting to turn golden. Once the nachos are out of oven, top with tomatoes, sour cream and guacamole. Sprinkle some fresh cilantro for garnish.

Super easy & super yummy...