Enchilada Casserole

This recipe is from Birmingham's Junior League Cookbook, Tables of Content.  I tried this dish at a recent meeting and then made it for friends after they had a baby.  It's a great recipe to make and take since it's a whole meal in one dish.  It's also a really easy way to make Mexican food at home - and who doesn't love that?!

Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients:
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (14-oz) can diced Mexican-style tomatoes
1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
1 (4-oz) can diced green chiles
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon sugar
10 (6-in) corn tortillas, quartered
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 cups (8-oz) shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream

Directions:
Squeeze any excess moisture from the spinach.  Brown the ground beef with the onion, garlic, cumin, red pepper, salt, and black pepper in a skillet, stirring until the ground beef is crumbly; drain.  Stir in the spinach, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, green chiles, lime juice, and sugar.  Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Dip the tortilla quarters in the melted butter.  Arrange 1/2 of the tortillas in a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.  Spread with 1/2 of the ground beef mixture and sprinkle with 1/2 of the cheese.  Layer with the remaining tortillas, sour cream, remaining ground beef mixture, and remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

Chicken and Avocado Salad with Lime and Cilantro

Kent and I made this the other night.  The original recipe says that it makes 4 servings, but it was really closer to just 3 lunch servings or 2 dinner servings.  But, it was super good!!  It definitely has a Mexican feel (Kent added a little tequila, too).  This recipe comes from a link to no-heat lunches, so I think I'll definitely be making this again to take to school!

Picture from: Kalyn's Kitchen

Chicken and Avocado Salad with Lime and Cilantro
(Recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen)

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded into large pieces
2 medium avocados, diced
1 T + 1 T fresh squeezed lime juice
salt, to taste (I didn't use too much salt because you can always add more at the table.)
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro (or chop it more coarsely if you prefer)
2 T mayo or light mayo

Instructions:
Shred the chicken apart until you have 2 cups of chicken shredded into fairly large chunks. Dice the avocados into medium-sized pieces, mix with 1 T of the lime juice, and season avocado with salt to taste. Thinly slice the green onion and finely chop the cilantro. Mix mayo and 1 T lime juice to make the dressing.

Put the chicken into a bowl large enough to hold all the salad ingredients. Add the sliced green onions and dressing and toss until all the chicken is coated with dressing. Add the avocado and any lime juice in the bottom of the bowl and gently combine with the chicken. Then add the chopped cilantro and gently mix into the salad, just until it is barely combined.

Serve right away or chill for a while before serving. This could be served inside pita bread or sandwich bread, but we just ate it as a salad. (I would imagine this would be fine in the fridge overnight but I didn't have any left over when I made it!)

Homemade Salsa - from Susan

My friend, Susan, makes wonderful homemade salsa - she even grows all of these ingredients in her garden!  She brought me a copy of the recipe this week, and I couldn't wait to share it! 

Homemade Salsa
Ingredients:
4 medium tomatoes
1 medium onion
1 jalapeno
Cilantro to taste
Juice of half a lime
2 tsp. minced garlic (or more)
Salt (lots to taste)

Directions:
Combine all indredients in food processor and serve.

Roasted Corn, Chicken, and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

My friend, Julie, told me about this recipe recently - and it sounds fantastic!  She got it from this cute blog, Keeping up with the Joneses (recipe originally published in Cooking Light).  Their website has step-by-step directions for this dish with pictures.  Julie says that this recipe is a sure hit and can be made any night of the week!


Roasted Corn, Chicken, and Goat Cheese Quesadillas
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh corn kernels

1/4 cup chopped green onions

2/3 cup (5 ounces) goat cheese, softened

10 tablespoons salsa verde (or salsa of your choice)

chopped, cooked chicken (this was our addition to the 'dillas)

soft tortillas of your choosing

Directions:

Cut the corn off of the cob (one cob should be enough).  Chop 1 - 2 green onions. In a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, roast the corn for about 2 minutes or until it starts to brown. Add the corn to the goat cheese and mix thoroughly.  Spread the corn mixture over the tortilla.  Add chicken, green onions, and salsa. Coat a skillet, with nonstick spray and add the quesadilla. Cook over medium heat and watch closely because these burn easily!  Flip it over and toast the other side. Remove from pan and slice into pieces.

Fish Tacos

Kent and I wanted to try making something new when we were at the beach with his family for Labor Day.  So, when our night to cook came along, we made these delicious fish tacos.  I have never been a huge fan of fish, but these were amazing!  And the slaw is great too - not overly mayonnaisey.  We were able to get fresh Mahi Mahi, which worked well for the recipe.  If you cannot find Mahi Mahi, other types of fish - like Snapper - will work as well.  The jalapeno, lime, and cilantro give the whole dish a wonderful southwestern flavor.  We will definitely be making these again soon!

Fish Tacos
Ingredients:
2 lb Mahi Mahi
Tortillas (soft or hard shell)

Marinade:
1 jalapeño finely chopped
1 lime (juiced)
¼ cup cilantro finely chopped
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Slaw:
4 cups shredded cabbage
3 tbsp minced red onion
3 tbsp green onion, chopped
¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
3 tbsp mayo
3 tbsp sour cream
2 tsp lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:
Cut the fish into one inch cubes and place in a bowl.  Mix all of the marinade ingredients together.  Pour the marinade over the fish.  Allow the fish to marinate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix all of the slaw ingredients together in a large bowl. 

After the fish has finished marinating, pan fry it in a skillet with a small amount of vegetable oil on medium-high.  Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the fish is cooked through (opaque in the center).

To serve, have guests fill their shells with the fish and top it off with the slaw.

Southwestern Pasta Salad

This weekend Kent and I hosted a cookout for the folks that I graduated with from graduate school this summer. Sheree brought this amazing Southwestern Pasta Salad (recipe from allrecipes.com). It's a perfect side dish for summer cookouts and would make a great lunch with added grilled chicken. I will definitely be making this soon!

Southwestern Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 (16 ounce) package rotini pasta
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons chili powder, or to taste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups whole kernel corn
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup chopped roma (plum) tomatoes

Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. In a large bowl combine oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt and garlic. Stir in pasta and set aside to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in corn, beans, green pepper, red pepper and 1/2 of the cilantro leaves. Spoon onto a platter and garnish with tomatoes and remaining cilantro. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

La Paz's Guacamole

La Paz is a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Crestline Village in Mountain Brook. Their food is always really fresh. Kent came across this recipe so I thought I would share! If you've never made gaucamole, it's really easy and definitely better than buying it from the store.

La Paz's Guacamole

Ingredients:

6 Hass avocados, peeled and seeded

3/4 cup diced fresh tomatoes

1 cup diced white onions

1/2 cup diced green chiles

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 tablespoon granulated garlic

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/4 tablespoon black pepper

1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh jalapeno

1/8 cup fresh lime juice

Directions:

Mash avocados with fork or potato masher. Add remaining ingredients. Serve immediately. Note: Use avocados at room temperature

Notes from Anna - If you don't have granualted garlic, just mince one small garlic clove. Also, if you like guacamole creamier, add a little sour cream.

Tacozagna

This is a really unique recipe by Rachel Ray. There are a lot of ingredients in this recipe, but none are too expensive. There are some good veggies hidden in the meal. In fact, she made this as a healthy recipe for kids, but it works for adults, too! And it's not very messy since it's all in one dish!

Tacozagna
Ingredients:
tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 1/2 pounds ground turkey or ground sirloin
1 zucchini
2 carrots, peeled
1 onion, peeled
3 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tablespoons chili powder, 3 palm fulls
2 teaspoons ground cumin, 2/3 palm full
1 tablespoon coriander, a palm full
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup beef stock
6 (8-inch) flour tortillas
3 cups shredded Chihuahua cheese or Monterey Jack
4 scallions, chopped
2 hearts romaine lettuce, chopped
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat a large high sided skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Add the meat and brown, 5 minutes. While meat browns, grate the zucchini and carrots with a box grater. Add the vegetables to the meat and grate in the onion and garlic. Season the meat with chili, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper and cook 7 to 8 minutes more to soften vegetables. Stir in beef stock. Grease a 8 by 13-inch baking pan with vegetable oil. Layer in 3 overlapping flour tortillas and top with 1/3 meat, 1/3 cheese. Repeat the layers twice and bake 10 to 12 minutes to brown cheese. Top with scallions, lettuce and tomatoes, cut into squares and serve.