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Posts Tagged ‘recipe’

Super-easy enchiladas under $8

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on December 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Easy chicken enchilada recipe

I love “flexible” recipes. If it’s not flexible to start with, I make it that way. Maybe that’s because my mom always taught me to be creative in the kitchen. Or maybe it’s because I never have a complete set of ingredients in my refrigerator.

Regardless of my fluctuating pantry contents, this is one of those recipes. It got a resounding thumbs-up from my husband. The recipe listed is the version I whipped up most recently (x3) when we had a group of 14 (yes, 14) college freshmen over for dinner. The more the merrier, I say! Mix it up to suit your needs and create a custom-designed dinner for 6!

Ingredients

Pick these up at your local grocery store for less than $8. These enchiladas feed 6-8hungry people for less than $1-1.30 per person!

Enchiladas

The ingredients for the bare enchiladas add up to just $6. (These are approximate measurements, mind you.)

  • 10 corn tortillas: $0.50
  • 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded/pulled: $4
  • 3/4 cup sour cream: $0.75
  • Juice from 1 lime: $0.25
  • 1/2 cup chopped green chiles: $0.50
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Sauce

The ingredients for the sauce add up to less than $2.

  • 1 Tbs olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped: $0.50
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced: $0.10
  • 28-0z. can of crushed tomatoes (reduced sodium or salt-free, if possible): $1.25
  • 1 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro: $0.10
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

The most time-effective method for me is to get the sauce going, then start working on the enchiladas while the sauce simmers. Preheat the oven to 350° F.

To make the sauce:

Sauté the onions in the olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and sauté another minute. Add the can of tomatoes, cilantro, salt and pepper. Simmer, covered, over low heat for 20 minutes.

To make the enchiladas:

  1. Mix the shredded chicken, sour cream, lime juice, green chiles, chili powder, salt and pepper. (If you have time, make the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator so the flavors can blend.)
  2. Spread some enchilada sauce in a 9 x 13 casserole dish to barely cover the bottom.
  3. Spoon 1/10 of the chicken mixture into a corn tortilla and fold in the sides to make a tube. Place the tube, seam side down, in the dish. Repeat until all 10 tortillas are rolled up in the dish. (Note: The tortillas will break. They will not be beautiful. You will also not be able to tell when they are cooked and covered in sauce. Accept this and move on.)
  4. Pour the rest of the sauce onto the enchiladas. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.

Alternative ideas: Use a different meat, add some corn or spinach, create a cream-based sauce, sprinkle cheese on top or try wheat tortillas instead of corn.

On the side: Squash sautéed in butter, salt and pepper. One of Stephen’s favorites!

Chicken enchilada plate with squash

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Garlic butter shrimp with green chile chowder

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , on September 25, 2010| 1 Comment »

So basically, I was looking forward to this meal for a long time. All the ingredients were on sale, and the chowder actually lasted through several meals. It got a resounding thumbs-up from both Stephen and me. The shrimp was quick and easy, but I made the chowder the night before so I could just stick it in the microwave when I got home from work.

Garlic butter shrimp

Ingredients

It’s easy enough to figure out the amounts of everything based on how much food you want to end up with. This is just a guess from what I remember (sounds promising, huh?):

  • Shelled raw shrimp
  • Butter (REAL butter, not margarine)
  • Freshly minced garlic
  • Juice from one small lemon
  • A tiny bit of salt

Directions

Again… this is just approximate from what I remember (because, of course, I didn’t use a recipe).

  1. Melt some butter (maybe 2 Tbs?) and sauté garlic over medium heat.
  2. Add shrimp and a dash of salt. Cook until pink.
  3. Squeeze lemon juice into pan and sauté for about one minute more. Done!

Green Chile Chowder

I actually got this recipe from a blog called Homesick Texan. I had wanted to make it for a long time, and I finally got to! Then, a couple weeks later, I looked on my friend Tram’s blog, and found that she had recently made it and blogged about it too! We may not live five minutes away from each other anymore, but apparently we can still cook together in spirit.

Ingredients

I halved the original recipe and still ended up with quite a bit of soup. I think it might have made six servings, if I remember correctly. The listed ingredients are for the halved recipe, with a few of my own adjustments.

  • 1 jalapeño
  • 2 poblano peppers
  • 1/2 Tbs butter
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 large clove of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I love cilantro, but you might want a little less if you’re not a huge fan)
  • 1 1/2 lbs. potatoes, diced (you can peel them, but I usually don’t)
  • 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1/4 tsp. chili powder (or cumin)
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup half-and-half
  • Juice from half a regular lime, or a whole small lime
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

It’s a bit time-consuming, so make sure you don’t plan it for a night when you’re going to be in a rush. It’s SO worth it, though.

  1. Blacken the poblanos and jalapeño under the broiler (usually there’s a selection on your oven to go straight to the broiler) for about five minutes on each side.
  2. Place the poblanos in a paper bag, roll down the top and let them steam for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, remove the seeds from the jalapeño and chop it up. When the poblanos are done steaming, rub off the skins and do the same thing. Be sure to wash your hands before you touch your eyes!
  3. Melt the butter on medium heat in a large pot. When it melts, add the onions and cook them for about 10 minutes, or until they become translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
  4. Add the chiles, potatoes, broth, cilantro, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring it to a boil, and then reduce it to medium-low heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft and crumbly.
  5. This is where I really deviate from the recipe, simply because I don’t want to wash the blender. If you want a really smooth soup, take out about two cups of the soup to set aside, and purée the rest in the blender. Mix the two cups back into the soup. If you’re like me, simply mash everything up with a potato masher.
  6. Add the milk and half-and-half and cook on medium-low heat until warm. Squeeze in the lime juice and stir. Serve immediately or put it in the refrigerator/freezer for later.

The recipe isn’t very spicy to me, but it had a bit of a bite for Stephen. If you’re not a huge fan of spicy food, take out one of the poblanos peppers. Here are some pictures to show you how it went down.

And this is what we were left with in about 10 minutes….

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Coffee rub roast

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , on August 24, 2010| 1 Comment »

First off, I’d like to announce that I purchased this huge chunk of beef (originally $8.37) for a mere $3.30. Hooray for Kroger Manager Specials!

Secondly, the reason half the roast is gone and the vegetables are sparse in the picture is because Stephen dished out our portions before I even had a chance to grab my camera. I guess I can’t blame him for having to smell it for so long before I finally pulled it out of the oven.

But isn’t coffee for early mornings and fancy desserts?

Apparently it’s also for various slabs of meat. This coffee rub roast was amazing. My Mom got the coffee rub for me, and I was a little curious about what to do with it. After a quick phone consultation with the Momma Chef, however, I couldn’t wait to use it!

Ingredients:

The amount is really up to you, but here’s a rough estimate of what I used. It will feed four people (or two people for dinner and lunch the next day).

  • Beef roast, rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
  • 4 small new potatoes
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 large handfuls of sliced mushrooms
  • 2-4 Tbs. cooking sherry (this is a major guess; I just splashed some over the veggies)
  • 1 Tbs. coffee rub (I realize you probably don’t have this. For a makeshift rub, toss together some coffee, salt, pepper, sugar, garlic, cumin, thyme…. you get the picture. As long as it contains some coffee.)
  • 1 Tbs. flour

Directions

Set the oven for 350 degrees.

  1. Place the rinsed, patted-dry roast on a plate and sprinkle the coffee rub onto the surface of the meat. Press it in with your fingers. Once it is covered, do the same with the flour.
  2. Put a small amount of oil in a sauté pan on high heat and sear all sides of the roast. Basically, you’re barely browning the outside so it seals in the flavors. This process is very quick, so don’t walk away from it. When you’re done, place the roast in the pot.
  3. Wash the vegetables and chop them into chunks. Sauté them for a minute or two in the same pan you used for the beef, then dump them into the pot around the roast.
  4. Splash the cooking sherry into the pot and cover. Place in the oven for one hour to one hour and 15 minutes, depending on how well-done you like your meat.

Theoretically, you could do this in a pot on the stove, in a crock pot or in the oven, but I did it in the oven with my cast-iron pot and lid. Whatever you use, make sure the lid stays on to seal in the flavors! If you’re using  crock pot, follow the manufacturer’s directions. If you’re using a pot on the stove… well, I can’t help you there. According to a quick Google search, try bringing it to a simmer, turning the heat down to low and leaving it there for 3 1/2 – 4 hours.

Here is a photo guide. I didn’t include all the steps, but hopefully this will give you an overview.

This is after I seared the meat:

I used a small sauté pan because it doubled as a lid for my pot:

I’m not a fan of raw celery, but in roast or soup it’s delicious! And it’s healthy too:

The plate I used for the dry rub doubled as the veggie roots-and-ends plate:

Uncooked roast looks awfully dry and crunchy. This was pre-mushrooms and onions:

But the magic happens in here:

Feel free to play around with different ingredients. Let me know what you try!

Enjoy!

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Homemade granola

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on August 18, 2010| 2 Comments »

I have great memories of a time one or two years ago when two of my friends and I got the urge to make homemade granola. After a “quick” Whole Foods run, a pecan-chopping adventure (involving two cans, a bowl and some saran wrap) and a lot of taste-testing, we ended up with some of the best granola I’ve ever eaten. This all occurred in Tram’s kitchen with my two favorite journalism students.

Groceries

I got the taste for homemade granola last week, so I worked it into my grocery budget. The main ingredient (rolled oats, aka oatmeal) is incredibly cheap, but I had to dance around some prices for the nuts (a necessity). I had about a cup of slivered almonds in my pantry, so I just needed to buy a bag of walnuts. I had everything else on hand in my pantry.

Recipe

As with everything else, I worked with what I had and ended up with my own version of a granola recipe. I’m currently munching on still-warm oatmeal mixed with unsweetened plain yogurt, and it’s delicious.

Ingredients

  • 5 cups rolled oats
  • 3 cups chopped or slivered nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts…)
  • 2 1/2 cups dried coconut flakes (I only had sweetened, but I definitely recommend unsweetened)
  • 1 1/2 cups raisins and/or craisins
  • 1 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
  2. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  3. Add wet ingredients to the mixture. Hint: If you use the same cup to measure the honey that you already measured the oil with, the honey will come right out! Mix well.
  4. Place 1-2 inches thick in cake or loaf pans and bake.
  5. Gently mix approximately every six minutes. Take it out when it’s a light golden color. Don’t overcook!

Approval

As always, Stephen got to do his official taste test, and he even waited until it had slightly cooled. He ate a bowl with yogurt as well and proclaimed it delicious. I think I can take his frequent trips to the kitchen to grab extra bites of granola as a good sign…

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Zesty peach relish

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on August 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Well, it’s been about six months….. I’ve missed you, blog. I’ve gained a strange obsession with food blogs, and I decided this one should have elements of that as well. So here we are.

Fresh summer produce

As I’ve mentioned, I love to experiment in the kitchen! Stephen had separate dinner plans tonight, so I was left all by my lonesome — which, for me, means that I can try all the extra-weird kitchen experiments that I want to test before I serve to Stephen. Which means it must be REALLY weird, because I’m not shy about my random creations. I am a really big proponent of using what you have, even if it seems like it won’t go together.

Fortunately, this one turned out to be a winner, and I even saved some for Stephen! Unfortunately, it also means I had to come up with a name and measurements for it.

Ingredients

  • 1 large ripe peach
  • 1 ripe Roma tomato
  • 1 clementine (sometimes called “cuties,” they look like tiny oranges)
  • 2 green onions
  • 1-2 Tbs raisins
  • 1-2 Tbs chopped pecans
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp smoky chipotle powder
  • 1 Tbs jalapeño jelly (I’m sure you have this on hand, right..? If not, you can substitute some fresh jalapeños or 1 Tablespoon of chunky salsa)

Directions

  1. Chop the peach and tomato into small chunks (about 1/4″-1/2″). Slice the green onion into tiny slices. Place it all into a bowl.
  2. Peel and separate the clementine, and cut each wedge into three pieces. If you’re feeling adventurous, cut the clementine wedges over the bowl so the juice drips on the mixture.
  3. Add the remaining ingredients and stir gently once or twice, just enough to mix.
  4. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes so the flavors can blend.

It was great on a salad with Romaine lettuce, sprouts and some mozzarella cheese. I didn’t use a sauce, but you might want to add a sprinkle of some vinaigrette if you like your lettuce wet. Don’t douse the flavor, though!

Experiment

As always… experiment! The ingredients I used for this “recipe” were pretty random, and you may not have that exact combination in your refrigerator. Try different fruits. Try different nuts. Try different seasonings. Plums, almonds and chili powder might be a whole new taste sensation!

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