Salsa, Guacamole, and rice, oh my!

Here are a few of my favorite Mexican dishes! For my birthday, I requested these!

SSSSSSSalsa
1 (26 oz) can crushed tomatoes, or about 10 fresh tomatoes chopped (if you have a garden overflowing with tomatoes, this would be a great recipe to try!)
2 (7 oz) cans salsa verde (I use Herdez brand)
2 (4 oz) cans diced green chilies
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 anaheim chili, chopped (discard the seeds if you don't want it to be too spicy)
2 limes, juiced
1/4 t. salt

Mix all together, and refrigerate until ready to serve!

Guacamole
3 avocados--peeled, pitted, and mashed
1 lime, juiced
1 t. salt
1/2 c. diced yellow onion
3 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
2 tomatoes, diced
1 t. minced garlic

In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime, and salt. Mix in the remaining ingredients, refrigerate, and serve.

Black Bean Corn Salsa
1 large bag petite white corn thawed
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2-3 avocados diced
4-5 tomatoes diced
2 packets dry good seasonings Italian dressing mix
4 limes juiced
1/2 cup oil (I use EVOO)
1 bunch cilantro chopped

Mix all together until well blended. Refrigerate 1 hour. Makes a lot!!!

Cilantro Lime Rice
2 Tbsp. butter
1 1/4 cups rice (I used brown rice)
2 1/4 cups veggie broth (I added another 1/4 cup of water since it was brown rice)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
juice and zest of 1 large lime
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon cumin

In a skillet, melt butter and add rice. Let cook for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 18-20 minutes (I cooked it for about 45 minutes with brown rice). Fluff with a fork and serve.

Cilantro Dressing
1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make as per recipe...I substituted the mayonnaise with vegenaise, and I made buttermilk using 1 Tbsp. lemon juice + enough plain almond milk to make 1 cup)
2 tomatillos
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno (use the seeds if you like it spicy. I usually just throw in 1 or 2 seeds. You could also add a few drops of green tobasco instead of the jalapeno)

Use a food processor or blender to mix all the ingredients well. Refrigerate.

We piled all of the stuff listed above on top of fresh tortillas, lettuce, and a few tortilla strips. Yummmmm!

Hawaiian Haystacks

I'm WAY overdue in posting some of my favorite recipes of late. I just want to get a few on here for you to enjoy, so they'll have to do without any pictures!

Hawaiian Haystacks were a lifesaver a few weeks after my baby was born. I made the sauce on Sunday, and we ate them all week long!

Sweet and Sour Sauce
2 Tbsp smart balance butter
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
2 cups veggie broth
4 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1/4 vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
6 Tbsp. cornstarch

Combine ingredients in sauce pan without heat. Stir until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Heat sauce on high until it boils and thickens. Serve with fresh pineapple, mandarin oranges, olives, coconut, tomatoes, raisins, green onions, celery, chow mein noodles, any other fresh veggies you like, and rice/quinoa.

We all LOVED this meal. My husband would have liked having cheese and chicken on the side, but was actually really satisfied without! My kids liked choosing their own toppings and building their haystacks. The sauce makes a lot, but can easily be frozen for later!

Brussel Sprouts?

I HATED when we had to each mushy, microwave heated frozen brussel sprouts at dinner when I was a kid! Here's the solution: Chop fresh brussel sprouts to resemble chopped cabbage and saute with garlic and olive oil (Colby likes it best when the leaves are slightly charred). Serve with your favorite fish and the rice recipe below and you have a hit!

Possibly the best rice ever created...

For the 24th of July, I was treated to veggie kabobs and this rice pilaf at my Mom's house...
The kabobs included: pineapple, red potatoes, red/green/yellow peppers, whole mushrooms and red onions--all slathered in a sweet and light BBQ sauce.
She also made this rice, which is to die for! Here's the recipe:
Colby's Favorite Rice Pilaf (Mom):
Heat 1/2 cube butter, add 1/2 medium onion--diced and 1 bay leaf. Saute until tender--not browned Add 1 cup rice, stir to coat (don't brown) Pour in 2 cups hot stock, salt and bring to boil. Cover and simmer 18-20 minutes, fluff and remove bay leaf.
(My alterations: I used Smart Balance instead of butter and oregan instead of a bay leaf---Mmmmm. You could also sub veggie broth for the chicken broth...)

Easy and filling salad (kandis)

I needed to use my lettuce before it went bad, so I did as follows:
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 bag lettuce
1 tomato
Colby's guac (in burrito bar post below)
cilantro
freshly toasted tortillas
home-made ranch dressing This was good and filling--and easy! It would be even better with this dressing:
Creamy Tomatillo dressing:
Combine in blender: buttermilk ranch dressing package, 1 can diced green chiles, mayo, 1 lime, 1 jalapeno, 2 tomatillos, ½ bunch cilantro, 1 yellow onion. So yummy! (but spicy!)

what to do with boc choy... (kandis)

Ok, here is yet another meal made with what I had around (no, I don't usually have boc choy in my kitchen, but Robyn gave me a bunch and I couldn't let it go to waste!). I found a recipe online (below), didn't have all I needed and made this up as follows:
Ingredients:
chopped fresh broccoli, carrots, onion and boc choy, 1tsp garlic.
chow mein noodles
teriyaki sauce
olive oil (and sesame if you have it handy--if not, you probably won't miss it!)
Boil noodles (you only need to cook them about 3 minutes--if you do it too long you won't like them as well!) first and set aside on plate.
Heat olive oil (and a little sesame oil) in skillet, put in garlic and veggies and stir-fry until desired 'crisp-tenderness.' Remove from skillet and set aside.
Add more oil and place noodles in skillet to 'pan fry' (you may need to turn the heat up for a minute) with a few shakes of Teriyaki sauce.
**for kids: at this point I put some noodles on their plate with some broccoli and carrots from the veggie plate.
Return veggies to skillet with noodles, add more Teriyaki sauce (around 1/4 cup) and toss--serve.

**alternatives: add peanuts or cashews, toss with hot chili sauce for some kick. You could also add some shrimp if you needed a sea food meal for the week.

Here is the original recipe I found online (I'll be trying this next--minus the meat and wine--you can sub chicken stock for wine):

Szechuan Noodles recipe:

Serves 3 to 4
Ingredients:
1 pound fresh noodles (Shanghai thin noodles are good)
1/2 pound chicken breast, cut into strips
4 ounces shrimp, shelled and cleaned
1/2 bok choy, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup carrot, cut on the diagonal
1/2 cup broccoli or cauliflower, trimmed, cut on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, shredded
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 tablespoons hot bean sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cooking oil for stir-frying
Marinade:
1 teaspoon wine
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Sauce:
1/2 cup stock
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon chili oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Preparation:
Mix together marinade ingredients. Marinate chicken for at least twenty minutes. While marinating chicken, mix together sauce ingredients. Set aside. Also while marinating chicken, parboil noodles in a pot of boiling water for three minutes. Loosen up noodles with chopsticks as they are boiling. Drain.

Heat wok. When heated, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add garlic and chicken and stir-fry. When the chicken is nearly done, push the chicken up to the side of the wok and add the shrimp in the middle of the wok. Stir-fry. When the shrimp are done, mix the chicken and shrimp and remove from the wok to a platter.

Reheat the wok and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add onions, bok choy, carrot and broccoli and stir-fry until tender and crisp. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of salt over the vegetables and mix it in. Remove the vegetables to a platter.

Clean out the wok with a paper towel. Heat wok again and add 3 tablespoons oil. Place noodles in the wok, using chopsticks to break them up. Add 2 tablespoons hot bean sauce and 1 tablespoon light soy sauce. Stir-fry until the noodles are heated through. Add cooked chicken, shrimp and all the vegetables. Restir sauce mixture and add. When it comes to a boil, test and adjust the seasoning if desired, then remove and serve.

Veggie enchiladas (kandis)

Here is my lazy attempt at simply using what I had on hand...


I chopped the veggies, steamed rice and toasted fresh tortillas--then mixed whatever sounded good (beans, rice, cilantro, olives, onion, canned chilies)--rolled into tortillas, placed in pan and topped with enchilada sauce. I baked it at 350 for 30 minutes--then topped with cilantro and tomatoes before serving.

**alternative suggestions: topping with Colby's home-made guac (recipe below in 'burrito bar'), using sliced peppers as well. (If you don't want super crunchy veggies--sautee onion and peppers for a few minutes to bring to 'crisp-tender' state before mixing all ingredients and baking).

**one more variation: I also love to omit the enchilada sauce and brush rolled tortillas with olive oil and sprinkle with salt before baking--it makes them crunchy and delicious!

**for my kids: I didn't put enchilada sauce on theirs and simply put rice and beans inside their tortillas and served with ketchup.