Steelers are going to the Superbowl!

Here we go, Steelers, here we go!

Obviously this is old news but I'm a little behind on starting this Superbowl recipe post.  Since half the fun of the Superbowl is making a bunch of appetizers and snacking all day (at least that's half the fun for me) I've got some great recipes to share with you. 

To start off - here are six recipes from the archives in honor of each of the Steelers past Superbowl victories!

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Cheddar Ranch Cheese Ball

Beer Cheese Fondue

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Roll-Ups

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

Since the Steelers are attempting to win their 7th championship game, here's a 7th recipe for spicy sausage pizza roulade. 

This recipe is really easy and essentially a rolled up pizza, so you can change up the filling to whatever your favorite pizza toppings are.  I would recommend staying away from things with a high water content though, like pineapple if it's on the top of your list, so that you don't end up with soggy bread.  You can use any bread dough you want for this - a standard pizza crust from scratch or even roll out a dough like Pillsbury's French bread dough, they even have one that doesn't contain any high fructose corn syrup or trans fats.  That's what I used for this one since I didn't have any pizza dough ready to go and I had a coupon to try their Simply Rustic French bread dough. 

Spicy Sausage Pizza Roulade

12 oz hot ground Italian sausage
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pizza or french bread dough
1 tsp pizza seasoning
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup shredded pizza or mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 T butter, softened
1 tsp garlic powder
Pizza sauce for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a baking sheet with baking spray or line with parchment paper.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add sausage and crumble as it browns.  After about 2 minutes, add onions, peppers and garlic.  Cook until sausage is just cooked through and vegetables are softened.  Remove from heat and drain any grease off the sausage.  Lightly flour a smooth counter surface and roll out dough into a large rectangle, about 12x18 inches.  Evenly sprinkle pizza seasoning and crushed red pepper flakes over dough.  Spoon sausage mixture onto bottom third to half of the long edge of the dough, leaving an edge of about one inch open at the outside.  Next add cheeses directly next to the sausage mixture on the 2nd third of the dough, a little overlap is fine.  The final third should be open. 

Begin rolling from sausage side, rolling the dough gently into a long tube.  Pinch the seams to seal the dough and place the dough seam side down on prepared pan.  Fold the ends under slightly, pinching to seal the ends.  Bake about 25 minutes and remove from oven.  Add garlic powder to melted butter and brush over the top of the bread dough and return to the oven for about five more minutes until golden brown.  Cool at least 5-10 minutes before slicing into 1/2 inch thick slices.  Serve with warmed pizza sauce.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

It’s cold and gloomy here which is perfect soup weather. Especially when that soup has a little heat of its own from some spicy jalapeno peppers. I'm not really ready for winter weather yet -- I held out as long as I could before having to turn the heat on but with temperatures getting down in the 30s and 40s, this week was the end. The beautiful fall weather is over; it’s cold and dark before 6:00 at night, which means it’s almost winter. Have I mentioned that I really don't like winter? I look forward to the holidays, my birthday, etc but after that, I pretty much look forward to spring. I could do without the snow and gloomy dark days. But anyway, you're here for the soup recipe not to listen to me complain about the weather.

I'm calling this chicken enchilada soup because the flavors remind me of the enchilada soup at Chili's. This one has a few extras in it though with some corn and black beans. I used two kinds of cheese, a grated pepperjack cheese which adds some extra heat and melts beautifully and some crumbled cotija cheese which has a very mild flavor but adds a delicious creaminess to the soup. I poached the chicken in chicken stock with some spices and then shredded the chicken and returned it to the soup later in the cooking process. You can use boneless or bone-in chicken for this just remove the skin before cooking.

You could also make this soup in a crockpot, you'll just have to extend the cooking times - expect that it will take at least 3-4 hours on high and you'll probably want to use a 5 quart crockpot.  You can cook the chicken prior to adding to the crockpot or just put it all in together using chicken breasts cut into smaller chunks.  Add everything except the cheese and cilantro and cook.  Add the cheese and most of the cilantro just before serving to allow it time to melt, serve and top with cilantro.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

3 cups chicken stock
2 skinless, chicken breasts
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
4-6 jalapeno peppers, minced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups frozen corn
1/2 cup tomato paste
8 oz cotija cheese, crumbled
8 oz pepperjack cheese, divided
1 cup cilantro, chopped
Tortilla chips

In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, add chicken stock and heat over medium heat. Add chicken breasts, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Simmer about 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside. Add tomatoes, jalapenos, bell pepper, onion, and garlic to the pot. Simmer about 30 minutes, covered until tomatoes have begun to break down. Add black beans, corn, and tomato paste and stir to incorporate. Add cotija cheese and half of the pepperjack cheese and stir to melt. Return chicken to soup and cook about 20 more minutes until desired consistency.

If soup isn't as thick as desired, you can add strips of flour tortillas. They will dissolve into the soup to thicken the broth. Add cilantro, reserving some to top individual bowls if desired. Ladle into serving bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips, reserved pepperjack cheese and cilantro if desired.

Crab Queso Dip

This is a great appetizer for a game day tailgate or any fall party.  You can make it on the stovetop and serve or transfer to a crockpot to keep warm.  It's great with tortilla chips or pita bread. 

This is one of those places that you can save a few calories and fat grams and use the reduced fat cream cheese and sour cream as well.  I don't think you'll notice the difference.  Add in plenty of jalapeno peppers to give this a good kick.  Using canned crab meat will also save you a few dollars or comes in handy if you can't get fresh.  Getting fresh quality seafood for an affordable price in Kentucky isn't always easy so I went with canned here.

Crab Queso Dip
Recipe inspired by Paula Deen

1 T olive oil
1/2 large or 1 whole small onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4-6 jalapeno peppers, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 8 oz packages cream cheese, cut into 1 oz pieces (I used 1/3 less fat Neufchatel)
1 cup sour cream (I used reduced fat)
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated/shredded
12 oz lump crab meat (I used well-drained canned crab meat)
2 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

In a dutch oven or deep skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat and add onion, bell pepper, jalapenos and garlic.  Cook 3-4 minutes until slightly softened.  Reduce heat to medium and add cream cheese.  Stir to distribute and melt.  When melted, add sour cream and milk and stir to incorporate.  Mixture should be relatively smooth aside from the vegetables.  Add shredded cheese and stir to melt.  Add crab meat and spices.  Stir until well mixed and simmer an additional 5-10 minutes.

Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with chips or transfer to a crockpot and set on "warm" setting to keep hot.

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a perfect weeknight meal when you need something quick and easy to put on the table.  However, quick and easy doesn't have to mean boring.  These also work great as an appetizer.

These quesadillas are full of chicken, bell peppers, onions, jalapeno, cilantro, and cheese.  The chicken is flavored with lime juice, cayenne pepper, ground cumin and garlic.  The lime juice makes for an extremely quick marinade, especially when you cut the chicken into small chunks, which also speeds up the cooking time.  Make sure you use a good quality cheese for these - grating your own cheese instead of buying the shredded stuff will add so much more flavor.  I used a blend of about half each of sharp cheddar and pepperjack but if you don't want them to be as spicy, Monterrey jack would be a good alternative.

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

Chicken:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup lime juice 

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

Cut the chicken into approximately 1" chunks and sprinkle with salt.  In a large Ziploc, combine lime juice, garlic and spices, add chicken and let sit about 15 minutes while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Quesadillas:

4 large flour tortillas

1 bell pepper

1/2 onion

2 jalapeno peppers

1 cup cheese

Handful of cilantro

1 T canola oil plus more if desired for cooking quesadillas

Slice bell peppers and onions into long thin strips.  Grate cheese and set aside. 

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with 1 T canola oil, add chicken, peppers and onions and cook about five minutes, turning occasionally until cooked through.  Wipe out skillet with a paper towel and reduce heat to medium-low.  You can add a little oil to the pan, but I don't usually think its necessary and I prefer to save the calories and fat. 

You have two options for assembling the quesadillas.  You can use one tortilla and put the filling on half and fold it over - which does make it easier to flip the quesadilla - or build the quesadilla on the entire tortilla and then cover with a second tortilla.  I use both methods, it just depends on the day.  To assemble, layer on chicken, peppers, onions and jalapenos and top with cheese.  Tear cilantro and sprinkle over the top.  Fold or cover and transfer to skillet.  Cook about 3-4 minutes per side, until cheese is melted and tortilla is golden brown.  Cut into wedges and serve. 

Jalapeno Popper Dip

I have so many jalapeno peppers in my garden right now.  This spring I planted one jalapeno plant, one cayenne pepper plant and one Anaheim pepper plant.  So far I've harvested maybe 3 Anaheim peppers, about 100 cayenne peppers and for the past few weeks I've had tons of jalapenos and there are a lot more to come.  After picking roughly a dozen late last week, I remembered seeing a recipe for jalapeno popper dip a while back and decided to make it to take to the first football tailgate this past weekend.

I am so glad that its football season.  Fall is my favorite time of year and the kickoff to college football means its finally time.  Of course, football season and tailgating also gives me an excuse to make lots of great appetizers and dips.  Some of last year's favorite snacks included Goat Cheese Spinach Dip, Oktoberfest Dip, Stuffed Mushrooms, and Cinnamon Roasted Almonds - I'm really going to have to make some of these recipes again soon just so I can update the pictures!

Back to the jalapeno popper dip though, you may have to adjust the number of peppers to get the right level of spiciness depending on how hot your peppers are - usually I think the homegrown variety are a little more potent than the ones you buy in the store. 

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Recipe adapted from Jaime Cooks: Endevours in Eating & Entertaining

2 8 oz packages cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat Neufchatel cheese), at room temperature

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup roasted red bell peppers, chopped

6 jalapeno peppers, seeded, ribbed and finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 T cilantro, finely chopped

2 T lime juice

1 1/2 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese

1 tsp Ancho chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and mayo.  Add bell peppers, jalapenos, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, and half of the chili powder and cumin.  Mix well to combine to a uniform mixture.  Spread dip into a baking pan (I used a 1 1/2 quart oval Corningware baking dish but you can use any similar sized baking dish), smoothing into an even layer.  Top with remaining shredded cheese, cover with bread crumbs and sprinkle with remaining chili powder and cumin.  Bake approximately 30 minutes until cheese is hot and bubbly and the breadcrumbs are golden brown.  Serve warm or at room temperature with tortilla chips. 

Flank Steak Fajitas

I love fajitas, they might be my favorite dinner - it's hard to narrow it down to one favorite dinner but Mexican food is definitely my favorite and I always get fajitas. While I prefer chicken fajitas, my husband loves steak and I rarely make it for a couple of reasons - because I'm not a big red meat fan and because it's generally expensive.



Flank steak is one of the more affordable types of steak and making it into fajitas really allows you to stretch your dollar even a little further. Make chicken and steak fajitas like I did here and you can really cut back the cost. This whole plate of food consists of half of a flank steak and one chicken breast and was enough for both of us with enough leftovers for a second meal. For the chicken, I use the marinade from this recipe.


Flank Steak Fajitas

Steak:
1 flank steak
1/4 cup red wine
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 T olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Small handful of cilantro, finely chopped

Veggies:
1-2 bell peppers (any color)
1 onion (red or white will work)
1 tsp garlic salt (I prefer Lawry's)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
Juice of 1/2 lime

Tortillas and any desired toppings for serving.
Combine all ingredients except steak and cilantro in a large Ziploc bag, mix well and add steak. Refrigerate for approximately one hour.

Preheat grill to medium high heat and remove steak from refrigerator to come to room temperature while grill preheats. If you add steak to the grill straight the from the refrigerator, it will make the meat tougher.

While grill preheats, slice bell peppers and onions into long thin strips. Lay out a large square of foil, add vegetables to the center, sprinkle with garlic salt, cumin and chili powder and squeeze lime juice over the top. Toss to coat the vegetables and fold foil around the vegetables to make a foil packet.

Add steak (and chicken if you are making both) to the grill. Cook steak directly over medium high heat to sear the outside for about five minutes per side, move to a cooler part of the grill and cook as desired, approximately another three to five minutes for medium. Cook vegetables over medium heat for about ten minutes until tender. Warm tortillas on grill over indirect heat. Let steak rest, covered with foil for an additional five minutes before slicing. Slice thinly, top with cilantro and serve.

Healthy Grilled Tacos

Mexican food isn't usually the first thing you think of when you think about eating healthy, but there are ways to still enjoy Mexican food without all the fat. Starting with grilled chicken, a healthy tortilla (either low fat corn tortillas or whole wheat) and losing most of the cheese and high calorie sauces will result in a good-for-you taco. Add flavor with queso fresco, Mexican spices, cilantro and lime. These tacos are full of flavor, good for you and they are ready in no time. You don't even have to dirty a pan.

This recipe makes about double the chicken that I needed for 2 people, come back tomorrow and I'll show you what I did with the leftovers.



Healthy Grilled Tacos

2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1.5 pounds)
2 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp + 1/2 tsp garlic salt (I like Lawry's)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Juice of 1 lime
2-3 roasted piquillo peppers, sliced into strips
1/2 -1 cup black beans
1/2 -1 cup corn kernels
2 oz queso fresco
2 T cilantro, roughly chopped
Tortillas

Trim any fat off chicken breasts, cut each breast in half horizontally to make chicken a uniform thickness, pound flat if necessary. Combine chili powder, garlic salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Coat both sides of chicken pieces with spice mixture. Squeeze juice from half the lime over chicken. Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Preheat grill on medium-low heat. Grill chicken about 6 minutes, flip and grill 5-6 minutes more, until cooked through. Remove to a plate and cover with foil. Turn the grill off and place tortillas on the grill for 20-30 seconds per side to warm. You don't want the tortillas to char or crisp up or you will have tostadas instead of soft tacos so watch them carefully.

Combine corn, peppers and black beans in a small microwave-safe bowl and add 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt, microwave about 2 minutes until hot. Slice chicken thinly and assemble tacos with chicken and bean mixture. Crumble cheese over the top and add cilantro. Squeeze remaining lime juice over tacos. Serve with fresh salsa or pico de gallo if desired.

Note: Queso fresco is generally found in the dairy case with other specialty cheeses or in an ethnic food section of the grocery store. Roasted piquillo peppers are similar to roasted red peppers but are really good if you can find them; if not, you can substitute roasted red peppers.

Tequila Lime Chicken

For as long as I can remember, I've always loved Mexican food. Good chips and salsa is definitely a weakness for me, no matter how much junk food I gave up, I don't think I could give up chips and salsa. When I don't know what to make for dinner and I need something fast, we inevitably have tacos. If I'm in a bad mood, my husband often suggests we go out for Mexican and I start to feel better. So it should come as no surprise that my experimenting often leads to Mexican-inspired flavors. I love adding spicy peppers, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, and other Mexican flavors to dishes.



I love ordering tequila lime fajitas when we go out to dinner so I thought I would make my own at home. Of course I decided this while inviting friends over for dinner when walking around the grocery store at 4:30 pm on a Saturday. So I picked up some chicken, some garlic, limes, and a couple of jalapeno peppers. We didn't end up making it into fajitas that night but ate it with a salad and some grilled potatoes but I turned the leftover chicken into fajitas a couple nights later and it was fantastic with a little avocado, grilled bell peppers and onions and warm tortillas. You're going to want to make extra so you have leftovers of this - grill out on Sunday, make double and you're 90% done with a weeknight dinner.

One more thing while I'm talking about chicken - I'm not sure about your grocery store, but whenever I buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts, the pieces are always huge. I generally remove the tender and butterfly each breast, so I have 2-3 pieces from each one. They cook up much faster and more evenly on the grill, so you don't end up with dried out chicken waiting on the middle to be done. It also helps make it easier to gauge one serving which is 3-4 ounces rather than a whole chicken breast.


Tequila Lime Chicken

4-5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup tequila
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup honey
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ancho chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1 tsp salt

In a large ziploc freezer bag, combine all ingredients, except chicken. Shake to combine. Add chicken, making sure to distribute marinade over the chicken. Refrigerate about 1 hour.

Preheat grill to medium heat. While grill heats, remove chicken from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature about 15 minutes. Spray grill with grilling spray or rub lightly with vegetable oil to prevent sticking. Add chicken and grill about 5 minutes on first side. Turn chicken and grill about 5 minutes more until cooked through. If chicken is sticking when you try to turn it the first time, give it another minute or so, it probably just isnt ready. Once cooked through, remove to a plate, cover tightly with foil and let stand for about 10 minutes so juices re-distribute.

Serve as is or use for fajitas, in enchiladas, tacos, chicken rollups or for sandwiches or salads.

Black Bean Salsa

I have to admit that I've published this recipe before... but I did it way back when I didn't really know where I was going with this blog or what would be the best way to organize these recipes. The old recipe is buried in a post with several recipes and there isn't a picture included. Since I make this recipe so often and it's requested all the time, I decided to update the entry.


This recipe takes no time at all to put together and it tastes even better if you make it in advance.

Black Bean Salsa

1 can black beans
2 cans Ro-tel tomatoes
1 each red and green bell peppers, diced
1 red onion, diced
1 can white shoepeg corn
1 cup Italian dressing (I use fat-free)

Rinse and drain the beans and corn and add to a bowl. Add tomatoes, with juice to the mixture. Add diced bell peppers and corn and stir together. Pour 1/2 the dressing over the mixture and stir to combine. Add remaining dressing as desired. Perfect with tortilla chips. This is also great as a relish for quesadillas or tacos.

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Roll-Ups

When looking for an appetizer one of the key requirements is often that it can be prepared in advance. No one wants to be stuck in the kitchen throughout their party and no one wants their guests to be eating cold food that should be hot. This recipe meets both of these criteria. You can assemble these a few hours ahead of time and keep them refrigerated. You could even make the filling the night before. Because it only takes a few minutes to assemble, these come together really easy, so you can make them even if you only have a few minutes of prep time to spare.

And best of all, they are always a big hit. Experiment with the tortilla variations for variety or just use your favorite. For these, I used a mix of spinach, sun-dried tomato and cheddar jalapeno. If you are going to use plain flour tortillas, I would change the cheese to pepper jack just to add a little bit more spice. One note is that you want to make sure your tortillas are at room temperature before you roll them so they are nice and flexible.

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Roll-Ups
Adapted from Sing For Your Supper

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can Ro-tel diced tomatoes, drained
12 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt (I like Lawry's)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
6 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
6-8 large flour tortillas

Season the chicken breasts with salt, half of the cumin, and 1 tsp of the chili powder. Add chicken to a skillet and add about 1 cup of water. Cover and cook on med-high heat until cooked through. Add more water if necessary. Once the chicken is cooked, cool slightly and shred with 2 forks.

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, drained tomatoes, cheese, remaining spices, garlic, cilantro and scallions. Mix together until well-incorporated. Add cooled chicken and stir together.
Lay out tortillas and divide mixture evenly in the center of each. Spread into a thin layer leaving the edges clean. Roll each tortilla tightly. Do not fold in the ends like you would with a burrito but leave them free. Use a sharp knife to cut into 1" thick slices and transfer to a serving platter. (The end pieces will likely unroll a little so just eat the extras). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

I am addicted to Mexican food. Seriously... not joking. I love it. Good chips and salsa are my favorite snack. I'm picky about my Mexican food too. None of that ketchup-y flavored salsa and such. Around here, good Mexican food is pretty hard to come by so I often make it myself. I usually feel like my salsa is better and its no where near as greasy.

I learned to make enchiladas a long time ago in my high school Home Economics class of all places. Back then we made them with ground beef and cheese and little else, dipped the tortillas in enchilada sauce and smothered them with cheese. Sure they were good but I've played with this recipe many, many times and there have been some definite improvements. This current version is delicious. This dish has the required "red sauce" you'll usually find in restaurant versions of enchiladas but I mixed it with sour cream and green chilis and lime juice to make it creamier and add more flavor. The filling is juicy, shredded chicken breast that I made in my crockpot with some black beans and corn thrown in as I put it all together. Don't be put off by the number of steps - you can make the chicken in the crockpot while you're at work or the day before and the rest comes together very quickly.

Traditionally enchiladas are made with corn tortillas, but I'm not a fan so I use flour tortillas, use whichever you prefer. I generally use 6" whole wheat flour tortillas.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

For the chicken:
2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
Juice of 1 lime
Approx. 1 cup water

Add chicken to crockpot insert, add tomatoes, seasoning, and lime juice and add water. Make sure there is at least 1" of water in the crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. When the chicken is cooked through, drain off the water, reserving the tomatoes, shred chicken with 2 forks, mix with tomatoes and set aside.

For the enchiladas:
Cooked, shredded chicken from above
1 cup black beans
1 cup corn
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, quartered and sliced into thin slices
1 T olive oil
1 cup colby jack cheese, coarsely grated
8-12 tortilla shells, depending on size
1/4 cup red enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish lightly with cooking spray. Spread enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook about 5 minutes until softened and translucent, add beans, corn, and jalapeno and stir to combine. Add chicken and cook until hot. Add 1/2 of the cheese and stir until melted and remove from heat.

Warm tortillas wrapped in a paper towel for about 20 seconds in the microwave so they are flexible. Add a couple spoonfuls of filling in a line down the center of each tortilla. Fold over one end and roll up tightly. Lay seam-side down in prepared baking dish. Place enchiladas tightly together, continue until pan is full.

For the sauce:
1/2 cup red enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso but substitute homemade if you want)
1 can green chilis
1/2 cup sour cream
Juice of 1 lime

In a food processor, combine all ingredients and puree until smooth. Pour sauce over enchiladas.

Top with remaining grated cheese and bake about 30 minutes until bubbly. Top with salsa, more sour cream or guacamole as desired.

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

Here's a recipe for an easy weeknight dinner when you want something a little different than the usual pasta skillet meal or chicken/side dish combo. Stuffed peppers are often made with Italian flavors but I think they work really well with Mexican/southwestern flavors too.

Use a lean ground turkey or turkey breast in place of ground beef, brown instead of white rice, and 2% cheese to make this a healthier meal.

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

1/2 pound ground turkey breast
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup black beans
1 cup corn
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles (I use Ro-tel)
1/2 cup brown rice
4 bell peppers (I used green but any color will work)
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1 lime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, cook rice with water as directed on package (I used Uncle Ben's quick brown rice and it takes 1 cup water per 1/2 cup rice and cooks in about 15 minutes). Meanwhile, brown turkey in a large skillet over medium high heat, crumbling as it cooks. Add 1/2 tsp cumin, cayenne, and half of chili powder. After about 5 minutes, add diced tomatoes and reduce heat to medium low. Add onions, black beans and corn and simmer until rice is cooked.

Meanwhile, prepare peppers by cutting in half through the top, remove stem, seeds and ribs. Rinse and set in a large baking dish. When liquid has cooked off rice, add remaining spices and fluff with a fork. Stir into turkey mixture. Squeeze juice of half of lime over the mixture and add half the cilantro. Spoon filling into pepper halves. Add a couple tablespoons of water to pan, cover the pan with foil and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Uncover, peppers should be softened. Sprinkle on cheese and return to oven for about another 5 minutes until cheese is melted. Top with remaining cilantro and sour cream, if desired.

Jalapeno Cheddar Bread

This stuff is ridiculously good. It takes about 10 minutes to put together and most of that is chopping up the peppers.

Quick breads are about the easiest form of baking imaginable. Mix together the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients, barely mix and pour into a pan. That's about as easy as it gets and your whole house smells like fresh bread. In this case, a cheesy, spicy bread.

Jalapeno Cheddar Bread
Recipe adapted from Pink Parsley, originally from Savory Baking

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1 T baking powder
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup milk (I used skim)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup roasted red pepper, diced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8" x 4" loaf pan with baking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, pepper, salt, and cheese. Toss together and make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, combine milk, oil, and egg and whisk together. Pour mixture into well in center of flour and stir mix together lightly with a wooden spoon. Add peppers and stir just until dry ingredients are all combined. The batter should be lumpy.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.


Bake bread for approximately 45 minutes until golden brown. Bread should spring back when touched. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, run a knife around all sides and turn out of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Tostado Pizza

Another healthier alternative to pizza... with a Mexican twist. These are a lower fat, lower calorie alternative for either Mexican night that still gives you plenty of Mexican flavor. The pizza sauce in this case is a black bean sauce mixed with enchilada sauce. I've also used black beans mixed with Rotel tomatoes and either one works. The enchilada-bean sauce is a little smoother.

Tostado Pizza

2 whole wheat flour tortillas (8" size)
1/2 cup black beans
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken or turkey breast
1/2 cup bell peppers, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa or sour cream, if desired

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly spray 1 side of tortilla with cooking spray and place oiled side down in skillet. Heat about 1 minute until lightly toasted, spray the other side and flip the tortilla. (If you have a gas stove, don't spray over the burner.) Cook about 1 minute longer, until toasted and golden brown. Repeat with second tortilla and transfer tortillas to a baking sheet.

Preheat oven broiler on low. In a food processor, combine black beans and enchilada sauce. Pulse several times until a thick, smooth paste is formed. Spread sauce over tortillas. Add shredded meat, peppers, onion, corn, and cheese.

Place pan under the broiler and cook about 10 minutes, check every couple minutes to make sure the pizzas don't burn. Cut into wedges and top with salsa and sour cream as desired.

Fiesta Chicken Salad

This is a salad that I make quite frequently as a main dish. You can add or subtract based on what you have on hand, if you marinate the chicken and add corn and beans, you'll get the main idea. Avocados and eggs add healthy fat and a nice creaminess, so I generally use one or the other. The tortilla chips give you a little extra crunch. If you have a red or green bell pepper on hand, chop some up and throw it in. Like tomatoes, add a diced tomato to the salad. You get the idea.


Fiesta Chicken Salad

Chicken:
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 T lime juice
1 T olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Salad:
4 cups romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
1/4 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup corn (I used shoepeg corn because I had some open, but frozen or yellow corn is what I normally use)
1/4 cup red onion, roughly chopped
1/2 avocado, roughly chopped
1/4 cup shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar, but often use colby jack or Mexican blend)
Cilantro-Lime Dressing (see below)

Cut chicken into thin strips and add marinade ingredients to a plastic food-storage bag. Add chicken slices and mix around until chicken is well-coated. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Heat a skillet to medium-high heat, add chicken and cook through. Turn heat to low and add corn and black beans and stir gently, cook for about 1 minute to heat corn and beans. Distribute lettuce on plates, add cheese, avocado and onion. Add chicken mixture to salads and top with crushed tortilla chips and dressing.


Cilantro-Lime Dressing
Adapted from All-recipes

1/3 cup lime juice
2 T honey
1 clove garlic
2 tsp apple-cider vinegar
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup packed cilantro
1/2 cup olive oil

Add first 6 ingredients to a food processor and pulse until garlic and jalapeno are finely chopped. Add cilantro and pulse a few times. Once blended, slowly stream in olive oil with food processor running and process until incorporated. Pour over salad.