Simple Salsa Chicken

Hubby and I LOVE Mexican food, so we were shocked upon moving to Pennsylvania by the state's severe lack of Mexican restaurants. To appease our cravings (and coincidentally to benefit our wallets) we make Mexican cuisine at home instead!

We were AMAZED by this Tex-Mex dish and gobbled it down. The recipe says it makes 4 to 6 servings, and I'd say it leans more towards the 5 to 6 serving end, and that's a good thing! This dish's leftovers are just as nommy as the first day!

Simple Salsa Chicken
From the Better Homes & Gardens Biggest Book of 30 Minute Meals
Ingredients
1 green sweet pepper, cut into bite-size strips
1 red sweet pepper, cut into bite-size strips
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 cups cubed cooked potatoes
1 16-ounce jar salsa
1 15.5-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
1 15- or 16-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1.5 cups cubed cooked chicken (about 8 ounces)
(As usual, we thawed one of our frozen boneless chicken breasts, cut it into cubes, then cooked it over medium-high heat until no longer pink.)
Dairy sour cream (Optional.)


Instructions
1. In a large skillet cook sweet pepper strips in hot oil for 2 minutes. (If you're using the same skillet that you used for cooking your chicken, don't forget to drain the fat out of it!) Add potatoes, salsa, corn, black beans, and chicken. Stir gently.

All our ingredients together (left) and then stirred (right.)

2. Cover and cook over medium-low heat about 10 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally. If desired, serve with sour cream.

With the potatoes, corn, black beans, and chicken, this dish is filling, but we couldn't help but bake up some nachos with queso to go with it!

For our nachos, I spread out about half a family-size bag of tortilla chips onto a greased baking sheet then sprinkled about 1.5 cups of grated pepper jack cheese, about 3 Tbsp diced jalapenos, about 1/4 cup chopped banana pepper rings, and about half of a chopped red bell pepper on top. I baked them probably around 350°F until the cheese melted which didn't take very long.

I can't remember exactly what I did for did for the queso unfortunately, but I believe it involved about 1/4 cup cream cheese, red pepper flakes, probably 1.5 cups of grated cheese, and about 1/4 cup of milk, heated over medium heat until bubbly. I wouldn't swear by my memory on that, but ours turned out pretty satisfactory, so just throw in what you think sounds good -- that's what I always do for queso!

Pasta with Tomatoes & Ham

Unlike some other recipes I've been making recently, this dish pairs perfectly with summer! Grab those veggies and herbs out of your garden and get cooking!

Ingredients
1 medium onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices
(We used about 3/4 cup frozen chopped onions.)
12 red &/or yellow cherry &/or pear tomatoes, halved
(...we chopped up a couple of Roma tomatoes instead.)
8 ounces dried pasta
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
2 ounces thinly sliced cooked ham, cut into strips
(aka deli sliced ham)
3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
2 tablespoons garlic-flavor olive oil or olive oil

Instructions
1. Place onion on the foil-lined rack of a broiler pan. Broil onion 4 inches from heat for 5 minutes. Add tomato to pan; broil about 5 minutes more or until edges are brown.

As you can see, we broiled the ham along with the tomatoes and onions to heat it up.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions, adding crushed red pepper (if desired) to water.

3. Drain well. Return to pan; cover and keep warm.

4. Cut up onion slices. Toss onion pieces and tomato with pasta, ham, basil, and oil.

I'm thoroughly enjoying my basil plant that I've succeeded in not killing so far this summer!

This recipe was delicious, and I can't wait to make it again!

Salsa Fish, Squash, & Mushroom Cheese Bread

What could be intimidating about a recipe with "simple" in the title? And what could fail to be nommy when served over couscous that was cooked in chicken broth? Nothing!

This fish dish calls for orange roughy or red snapper fillets, but we used up some frozen tilapia that was swimming around in our freezer, and the substitution turned out fine for our taste buds. I also substituted the vegetable broth for chicken broth made from bouillon.

Simple Salsa Fish
Ingredients
1 pound fresh or frozen skinless orange roughy or red snapper fillets, 1/2 to 1 inch thick
1/3 cup bottled salsa
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic (1 clove)
1 14-ounce can vegetable broth
1 cup quick-cooking couscous
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions or coarsely snipped fresh cilantro
Lime or lemon wedges

Instructions
1. Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. Measure thickness of fish. Set aside. In a small bowl combine salsa and garlic; set aside.

2. In a small saucepan bring broth to boiling. Stir in couscous; cover and remove from heat. Let stand about 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in green onions or cilanro.

As you can see, we used green onions!

3. Grease rack of an unheated broiler pan; place fish on rack. Broil about 4 inches from the heat until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork (allow 4 to 6 minutes per 1/2-inch thickness of fish). Turn 1-inch-thick fillets over halfway through broiling. Spoon salsa mixture over fish; broil about 1 minute more or until salsa is heated through.

4. Arrange fish on couscous mixture. Serve with lime or lemon wedges.

Perhaps you'll notice our lack of lime or lemon wedges; we drizzled a little lime juice over the end result instead. Perhaps you'll also notice that our fish is not in nice little fillets; we tore the fillets into pieces instead since we had a little less fish than the recipe calls for. Smaller pieces mean more to go around right....?

We enjoyed our salsa fish with squash and peppers and mushroom cheese bread, both featured below!

Summer Squash with Peppers
Ingredients
2 pounds zucchini and/or yellow summer squash, cut into bite-size chunks
1 green sweet pepper, cut into strips
2 tablespoons olive oil
1.5 teaspoons Greek-style or Mediterranean-style seasoning blend
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions
In a large shallow roasting pan combine squash pieces and sweet pepper strips. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with seasoning blend and pepper; toss to coat. Roast, uncovered in a 425°F oven about 15 minutes or just until tender, stirring once.

Mushroom Cheese Bread
Unlike the other two recipes which were taken from my BH&G 30 minute meals cookbook, this simple, toasty recipe was found in my winter guard's fundraiser cookbook. Sorry I forgot to take photos of the process and end result. You'll just have to look at it in the photo of the salsa fish and take my word that it's delicious!

Ingredients
4 oz. shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
4 oz. sliced mushroom
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
1 1-lb. loaf unsliced French bread

In a small bowl, combine the mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese and onion. Cut the bread in half lengthwise; spread cheese mixture over cut sides. Grill, covered, over indirect heat or broil 4 inches from heat for 5-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Slice and serve warm.

I must admit that we broiled the bread instead of grilling it since our oven was on the broil setting for the fish anyway. Consequently, we forgot to set a timer for the bread and forgot it was in the oven which resulted in the slightly burnt edges visible in the photo. Luckily the damage was minimal and we still enjoyed the nommy cheesy toast!

Mu Shu-Style Pork Wraps

I believe this might be my last wrap recipe for a while. Seems like I have more stir-fry and...call me crazy...soup ahead of me now, according to my BH&G 30 minute meals cookbook. I'm going to give the soup a try this week, but with rising temperatures and a lack of air conditioning, I'll probably hold off on those heart-warming recipes until the fall.

Right now, let's just focus on this wrap. With pork, sesame oil, and hoisin sauce, it's hard to not be nommy, so this recipe was obviously a success! Plum sauce is listed as an alternative to hoisin sauce, and, having never even hear of plum sauce before, I'd be interested to try that option. Needless to say, I stuck with my tried and true hoisin this time.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon sesame oil
12 ounces lean boneless pork, trimmed and cut into thin bite-size strips
2 cups loose-pack frozen stir-fry vegetables (any combination)
4 10-inch flour tortillas, warmed
1/4 cup bottled plum or hoisin sauce

Instructions
1. In a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or just until meat is slightly pink in center. Add the vegetables. Cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.

2. Warm your tortillas, two at a time, between two paper towels for about 15 seconds in the microwave. This will help you roll them!

3. Spread each tortilla with 1 tablespoon of the plum or hoisin sauce. Spoon one-fourth of the meat mixture onto each tortilla just below the center. Fold the bottom edge of each tortilla up and over the filling. Fold in the sides until they meet; roll up over the filling.

Oops! I didn't follow the directions to fold the ends of my wraps! I felt confident about these little wraps not losing too much filling. I'll be honest and say that this cookbook taught me how to fold tortilla ends even though the process may sound like a no-brainer. Having a nice tucked-in tortilla helps for those large, unruly wraps one frequently encounters!

We enjoyed our wraps with fried rice, and I must admit that I did not make the rice from scratch.... I bought a box on clearance at our super market! Sometimes it's ok to give yourself a meal prep breather!

Curried Chicken & Corn Chowder

This is another great recipe for cooking on a budget, again from the BH&G Biggest Book of 30 Minute Meals. All we had to buy was the can of creamed corn and can of cream of chicken soup. You probably have everything else in your pantry, and if you don't, then well...you will after this meal! (Ok, so maybe you don't have green or red sweet peppers lying around, but we always seem to have a jar of roasted red peppers in the fridge, and they come in handy for recipes such as this!)

As fans of Indian food, we loved this recipe. It's hard to go wrong with curry, in my opinion, but we felt that this dish was even more satisfying with a sprinkle of garlic salt mixed in. It helps to ground the curry's intensity if I may use such an abstract description!

Ingredients
1 17-ounce can cream-style corn
2 cups milk
1 10 3/4-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup chopped green or red sweet pepper
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
2 to 3 teaspoons curry powder
1 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
Coarsely chopped peanuts (optional)
Garlic salt to taste

1. In a large saucepan stir together undrained corn, milk, cream of chicken soup, sweet pepper, dried minced onion, and curry powder. Bring to boiling, stirring frequently.

2. Stir in chicken; cook about 2 minutes or until heated through. If desired, sprinkle with peanuts.

As you can see, we enjoyed our curry over rice. Perhaps July wasn't the best time of year to try this dish because it's really a comfort food with curry that slaps you in the face a bit. But if you don't mind that combination on a hot summer day, go for it! It is still so nommy!

Maple-Pecan Glazed Pork Chops

Yes, you can have maple syrup with dinner, and no, this isn't your typical breakfast for dinner! Really it's only a little hint of breakfast with your dinner, but who knew maple syrup could be so nommy on pork chops?

We can usually find small pork chops on sale at our supermarket, so they're a great option for meals on a budget. This recipe calls for very few ingredients so your wallet can rest easy.

Ingredients
4 boneless pork loin chops, cut 3/4 inch thick (about 1 pound total)
4 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or maple-flavored syrup
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Instructions
1. Trim fat from chops. Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper. In a 12-inch skillet melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Add chops; cook for 8 to 12 minutes or until tender (160°F) and juices run clear, turning once.

2. Transfer chops to a serving platter.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the remaining 3 tablespoons butter and the maple syrup. Spread butter mixture evenly over cooked chops. Let stand about 1 minute or until melted. Sprinkle with pecans.

Don't be scared of the golden/yellow liquid -- that's just the delicious butter and maple syrup! If you're concerned about calories, I think you could cut the butter and syrup amounts in half and still experience the desired flavors. As you can see we had a lot of the mixture for our little chops.

We rounded out this meal with Veggie Mash & Garlic Cheddar Biscuits so I could share those two nommy recipes with Justin since he was out of town when I first tried them.

As usual, this recipe is from the Better Homes & Gardens Biggest Book of 30 Minute Meals; I hope you enjoy!

Dried Tomato & Basil Chicken Wraps

This post has been a long time coming! Even though Justin and I have been cooking together since his return and I have (for the most part) still been photographing our process and results, I've just been downright lazy in posting our food to my blog!

Like a truly good wife, I fed my husband leftovers on his first evening home after his being gone for a month. He didn't complain however because these wraps still taste amazing even after the filling has been refrigerated for a day or two.

We appear to have reached the wrap section of our cookbook because we've made three different wraps this month. Summer necessitates wraps, in my opinion, and I'm happy to relate that all three wrap recipes, including the Asian Chicken Wraps, this recipe, and the soon-to-blog Mu Shu-Style Pork Wraps, have all been satisfyingly nommy!

Dried Tomato & Basil Chicken Wraps
(From Better Homes & Garden Biggest Book of 30 Minute Meals)
Ingredients
about 3/4 cup dried tomatoes
(Not oil-packed. I found mine in my supermarket's international section.)
3 cups (about 1 lb.) shredded roasted or grilled chicken
(Again, we always keep frozen chicken breasts stocked in our freezer, so I just roasted a pound in the oven then pulled it apart with a fork.)
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese
(I used both! Why not?)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/3 cup bottled creamy Italian or ranch salad dressing
(Again, I used both and didn't regret it!)
6 10-inch dried tomato, spinach, and/or plain flour tortillas, warmed
(Microwave tortillas, 2 at a time, for 20 seconds between paper towels to warm them.)
1 cup large fresh basil leaves

Instructions
To toast your pecans, spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread out the nuts on it. Bake them on 350° for about 5 minutes or until they're nice and aromatic.

1. Soak dried tomatoes in enough hot water to cover for 10 minutes. Drain and chop tomatoes.

2. In a large bowl combine chopped dried tomatoes, chicken, cheese, pecans, and salad dressing.

3. Line each tortilla with some of the basil leaves. Divide chicken mixture among the tortillas. Fold in sides and roll up; cut each diagonally to serve.