Daily Unadventures in Cooking » mexican

Barbecue Chicken Enchiladas Recipe

katerina — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:59:16 +0000

I am not a fan of anything that falls into the barbecue chicken fad including pizza, burgers or pasta. The dishes tend to be cloyingly sweet, overly sauced or both. But last week I had this craving for that tangyness that only barbecue sauce can deliver and decided to create a barbecue chicken enchiladas recipe that was easy to make but wasn’t syrupy.

The chicken enchiladas were a big hit in my household and were very easy to make. Despite my snobbery against such things, I suspect I will make them again and as such, decided to share.

Mexican Quinoa Recipe

katerina — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:37:02 +0000

About a decade ago I was a vegetarian high school student who was too lazy to pack her own lunches. What with a steady part time job and an in-school cafeteria I purchased my food everyday instead. That meant I ate one of three things: a vegetarian hot dog, packaged kimchi noodles, or — the healthiest choice – a dish of mexican rice.

I love anything with cooked tomatoes, but mexican rice is a great tex-mex favourite. This recipe is a bit healthier as it is full of vegetables, uses wholesome quinoa, and is not covered in a thick layer of cheese. Of course, you can broil a layer of cheese on top, or omit it entirely for the vegan version. Either way, serve it hot with a bottle of Cholula hot sauce.

Beef Tostadas with Fresh Orange and Chipotle Marinade

katerina — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:50:15 +0000

Tostadas are like little Mexican pizzas, messy, fun to eat, and endlessly adaptable. This beef tostada recipe is all about the marinade on the flank steak. To celebrate the season of citrus, mix together this spicy orange and chipotle sauce — would be great on chicken too.

If you actually look at the calorie count of this recipe you will be pleasantly surprised, compared to pizza this is actually quite healthy — especially if you avoid frying the tortillas. Plus, if you have leftovers you can make a killer taco salad.

Mexican Pulled Chicken Recipe

katerina — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:49:42 +0000

I try not to write recipes that call for “a bottled” anything, but sometimes a truly easy weeknight meal is necessary; and what could be more necessary after a week of water-damaging home emergencies and take out?

This Mexican pulled chicken recipe is very wholesome to begin with, but I think it is as healthy as you make it. You can always use the meat to make chicken tacos, but for the healthy version serve the chicken “taco salad” style on a bed of lettuce with black beans, tomatoes, avocado and sauteed peppers or in a whole wheat wrap.

A more indulgent version could be made with chicken thighs instead of chicken breast and served as a “torta” with oaxaca cheese, guacamole, and hot sauce on soft bread. If you have more time, check out my pulled pork and carnitas recipes.

Mexican Chicken Soup Recipe

katerina — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:05:45 +0000

After I returned from the Yucatan last Saturday, I was making Sopa de Lima, a Mexican chicken soup recipe, before I’d even unpacked my suitcase. A side effect of being a traveling foodie is zero self control where new flavours are involved.

Like any homemade chicken soup this is a perfect recipe for a cold. The heavy dose of citrus from the lime juice makes it light on the tongue and gives you a nice dose of vitamin C.

I adapted this mexican chicken soup recipe from an Emeril Lagasse & Rick Bayless recipe, however I didn’t find it to have quite the depth of flavour I was looking for. Maybe it was the lack of Yucatan limes or just my jet lag, but this recipe deserves another attempt. That said, this Mexican chicken soup was absolutely delicious and it reheated well for several days. It is so lovely how small changes can give variety to chicken soup.

Tomatillo, Chicken and White Bean Chili Recipe

katerina — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:34:00 +0000

This recipe is a take on chili, using a big bag of tomatillos as inspiration. The chicken and beans make it light and fresh, and the roasted poblano gives it a nice smokey sweetness. If you can’t find poblano’s, try and substitute dried ancho chiles. (Poblano’s when dried are called ancho chiles.)

This is a fairly thin chili, next time I might use ground turkey or chicken, or blend up some of the tomatillos after it has cooked to make it thicker. It still came out delicious, and is a nice compromise for a September that hasn’t quite turned to Fall yet.

Tomatillo, Chicken and White Bean Chili
(serves 4-6)

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 chicken thighs, bones and skin removed, cut into 1″ pieces
1 medium onion, diced
1 serrano chile, seeds and ribs remove
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
salt and pepper
6-8 medium tomatillos, roasted and roughly chopped
1 poblano chile roasted, skinned and seeds removed, diced
1 can of chickpeas
1 can of white beans, I used navy
1 litre chicken stock
2 cups water
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
lime juice

Heat a large soup pot or dutch oven to medium. Add olive oil and chicken. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and cook the meat until lightly brown all over. Should take about 5-8 minutes. Move chicken to the side and add onion, serrano, cumin and oregano and stir. Saute until onion is translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add tomatillos, poblano chile, chickpeas and beans, stock, water and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30-60 minutes. Before serving stir in cilantro and fresh lime juice.

Similar Recipes:
Fresh Tomatillo Salsa
Chicken Tortilla Soup *Slow Cooker*
Black Bean and Turkey Chili

Green Enchilada Sauce (or Roasted Tomatillo Salsa) recipe

katerina — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:07:00 +0000

I absolutely love enchiladas, so with my second batch of tomatillos, one of the things I was determined to make were enchiladas verde, or green enchiladas. Since I have no ability to make authentic Mexican food I usually just stuff my enchiladas with whatever sounds good or we have around at the time. The reason I believe this works is a really yummy enchilada sauce made from scratch. Typically I make the standard red variety, or salsa roja, in big batches and freeze it. My experience with the canned stuff is that it tastes metallic, so I generally don’t make enchiladas unless I can make the sauce from scratch.

Since the recipe I swear by is from a Mark Bittman cookbook, I also used his recipe for the roasted tomatillo salsa and green enchilada sauce. The tomatillos were a little more mild after being cooked, and were delicious in the sauce with the roasted poblano chilies. The sauce was also a nice condiment in general and I used the leftovers on a variety of vegetables and sandwiches until it was used up.

Beware, I have a lot of tomatillos, you will likely see more tomatillo recipes from me in the next week or two!

Kale, Zucchini, and Pinto Bean Enchilada Recipe

katerina — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:10:00 +0000

As we all know, I love kale. I love how it holds it’s texture after cooking, and I love its slightly bitter flavour. In fact, I just bought two massive kale plants to put in the garden, do you know you can harvest it all winter?

After a bit of excess last weekend I was looking for something comforting but healthy that was easy to throw together. I am still loving enchiladas and this recipe also uses the local and abundant zucchini. Put the enchiladas together, throw them in the oven, then sink into a bubble bath, go for a run, or a walk and they will be ready whenever you are. I like mine served with hot sauce and plain yogourt or sour cream. They also make great leftovers.

Kale, Zucchini, and Pinto Bean Enchilada Recipe
(makes 2-4 servings)

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 small zucchinis, grated
salt and pepper
1 bunch kale, roughly chopped
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced
1/2 cup enchilada sauce (you can also use canned if you are in a rush)
4 tortillas, I used WW
1/2 cup Monterrey jack cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350F. Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil and jalapenos and stir for one minute. Add zucchini, cumin and a big pinch of salt. Cook the zucchini until it loses it’s liquid it will take about 3 minutes, meanwhile continue to stir it regularly. Add kale and stir until wilted. Remove from heat and stir in a good amount of pepper, beans, green onion, cilantro, and a tablespoon of enchilada sauce.

Now put together the enchiladas. To do this prepare the tortillas by warming them in a hot skillet for about 30 seconds per side. (Note: this is a step I frequently skip when I am in a rush.) In an 8×8 square pan spoon one third of the remaining enchilada sauce over the bottom. One at a time form each enchilada. Put one quarter of the filling and a sprinkling of cheese in each tortilla, roll up and place in casserole. When you have all four done spoon the remaining enchilada sauce on top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa Recipe

katerina — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:35:00 +0000

Tomatillos are like sweet, but slightly sour, aggressive tomatoes with a firmer texture. This is my first time cooking or tasting them directly and honestly, they are very good but hard to describe. The flavour is truly unique.

After our visit to J’s parents last weekend we were lucky enough to leave with a bag of tomatillos straight from the garden. Since it was my first time using them I decided to make something simple – a fresh tomatillo salsa.

I did learn a few things about tomatillos in the process. Firstly, that although the fruit is edible tomatillos plants are entirely toxic, including the husk. Next, I assumed that storing them in the husks was the way to go, (natural tupperware?) but it is actually recommended to remove the husks and put them in the fridge for any long term storage. Lastly, I had to decide if I should skin them and if I should cook them, but after our tasting I chose to do neither. Apparently they can be quite acidic if left raw but I really enjoyed the freshness and I didn’t notice the skins. I will definitely try roasting them next time, to see how it changes the flavour. Anyone have any other favorite ways to use tomatillos?

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa Recipe
(makes ~1 cup)

1 clove garlic, minced
1 small wedge of onion, about a tablespoon and a half worth
1 jalapeno, remove the seeds and ribs if you don’t like the spice. We do.
1 cup tomatillos, husks and cores removed, roughly chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
the juice of 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt to taste

Turn the food processor on and put garlic, onion, and jalapeno through feed tube. Process for 5 seconds and turn off. Scrape down the sides.Put in tomatillos and cilantro and processed until combined but still chunky. Scrape down the sides again and give it one more pulse. Transfer to a bowl and stir in remaining ingredients. Season to taste. Cover and chill for 20 minutes.

Carnitas Recipe

katerina — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:57:00 +0000

Two years in a row now I have gone to Mexico in December and then totally wanted to learn more about Mexican cuisine. (See last January’s post: Meatballs in a Tomato Chipotle Sauce.) A little birdie even put the idea of a tortilla press in my head, because I need another kitchen appliance, yeah… riggghhhtt. So when I saw a recipe for Carnitas on Confections of a Foodie Bride‘s year round up I jumped on it.

The recipe didn’t go exactly as planned, for some reason the sauce turned out exceptionally bitter. I think it must have been the orange I used – the pith\rind for some reason. I had a slice of the orange before I used it and it was really tasty but it must have been that. Next time I will juice the orange and zest it and add that instead. Should’ve been fine though I have added full orange wedges to braises before and it has been fine so it must have been just that particularly one.

I did save it the sauce though. I sauteed some diced onion in some olive oil with a bunch of cumin, salt and pepper. Added some water and fresh lime juice and then tossed it with the pork which I then broiled as the original recipe called for.

In the end it was very tasty, however I did think that it could use some more sauciness. In the end we decided we could have improved on it with either: saucier pork, better tortillas, a riper avocado mashed into guac (ours was about a week away from ripeness) or serving it with some yummy refried beans.

That said I will definitely be making this again. For lunch today I made a salad with the leftover veggies then topped it with cheese and leftover pork and broiled for five minutes. So good!