Ground Turkey & Mexicorn over Fresh Spinach

I think Target's bathing suit sizing is out of control, off the charts, and unnecessarily unflattering. The bottoms run so goddamn small. Orrrrrrr maybe I'm just not ready to commit to bathing suit season yet. 

But today, as I looked at the medium bottom pinching me in all the wrong places (the day after I got over a stomach bug when I was feeling otherwise slender) and thought about trading it in for a large, my inner narcissist took over and I bought a nail polish instead. And people wonder how we ended up with 00 sized clothing. Go ahead, roll your eyes at me.

I know it doesn't really matter. But it's totally something that happens in my head. I never understood small, medium, large sizing anyway. Why can't clothing just be sized by measurements. So that I don't have to check a size chart when I shop online. And no one has to call themselves "large" or double zero. And it makes sense? Pfttttt.

Cue Whatshouldwecallme...

Putting on a bathing suit for the first time this season...

Whenever I put on a bathing suit...

When I try to avoid being seen at a pool party... <--- favorite

When I realize I have to be in a bathing suit in less than a month...

Anyway I hope that brought about some laughs. And if I've made you feel nice and uncomfortable as well, you can rest easily knowing that this recipe is not for bacon s'mores cookie bars or dark chocolate peanut butter bacon truffles. It's refreshingly healthy and tastey. A good dish for feeling a little like you want to change the way you eat for the next month or so. Or a good dish for feeling like you want to eat something light, yet flavorful. It's sweet with a touch of spice. It's the way I really like to eat dinner during the week. It won't weigh you down or take up too much of your time either. (Super quick... as always!)

And relax! We look great.

Soundtrack:  

Ground Turkey & Mexicorn over Fresh Spinach

serves 3-4

1/2 tbsp EVOO (I used jalapeno-infused EVOO; regular is fine though)

2 lbs ground turkey

1 c. chopped sweet peppers (I bought a bag of minis for color variety)

1 can sweet corn

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp chipotle seasoning

1 tsp chile powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tbsp agave (or honey if not available)

1 c. grape tomatoes, halved

juices of 1/2 lime

baby spinach

cheddar cheese, grated for topping (optional)

Heat 1 EVOO over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add turkey, season with some salt and pepper, and cook, breaking apart with the side of a large spoon, until completely browned. 

Add the corn and sweet peppers and season with cumin, oregano, chipotle, chile powder, paprika and agave. Continue to cook another 3-4 minutes, until heated through. Add tomatoes and cook 2 more minutes. Remove from heat.

Dress with lime juice and serve over a bed of baby spinach. Garnish with shredded cheddar, optional.

Gift from Becca at DPC
<3<3<3<3

Ah! Look at this gross little invader!

Red Wine Chicken Fajitas with Cilantro & Avocado

Ok, so there are chicken fajitas. Big whoop. (90's <3)

But these have been drinking.

They started out purple. I was a little nervous.

(Don't be nervous if your fajitas are purple at first.)

This overwhelming purple-ness did reminded me of a time when I made purple risotto though. I didn't have any white wine and thought it was an obvious substitution. Wine.. wine.. same... right? The risotto was delicious, but there's something about certain colors that just makes foods weird.

Anyway, no one likes a purple risotto. Fail.

 

These are deeee-licious and totally not purple. Phew. A mostly sweet flavor with a hint of smokiness and a touch of spice. And so much more interesting than boring sober fajitas. But then again, so aren't we all?

Speaking of the '90's I really wish I still had my copy of the original Now. Like, a lot. But.. did you know they're still cranking those out? 'Tis true! Numero 41! Are people still buying these things? Please, someone tell me you know someone who is still buying these things.

I'm a Barbie girl. Foreva.

Soundtrack: Funk is back and boogie is alive.






Red Wine Chicken Fajitas with Cilantro & Avocado


1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large green bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 c. red wine
1 Roma tomato, diced
1 avocado, sliced
cilantro
flour tortillas
EVOO, salt & pepper


In a large saute pan, heat a drizzle of EVOO over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Add chicken and season with salt and pepper. Continue to saute until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.


Add bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, paprika, and brown sugar. Stir to coat.


Pour in red wine and stir again. Try to make chicken and peppers as level as possible to submerge in the wine. Season again with a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Bring the dish to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and continuing to cover the chicken as much as possible in the sauce. 


Meanwhile, heat the tortillas in the oven at 200 degrees for 2-3 minutes.


Adjust seasoning on chicken to taste. Serve in warm tortillas, topped with a hearty amount of avocado, tomato and cilantro.

Millet Stuffed Red Bell & Poblano Peppers

Millet. Remember that stuff? We tossed it in these breakfast cookies. It added a nice crunch and some healthy stuff... and then we dreamed about all the other quick breads and breads and muffins we could add it to. 

No? That last part was just me? Huh... funny. 

Well, we definitely debated how to pronounce it. Mill-ette or mill-ay... or something else? 

No? Just me again? Huh...

Interesting.

The genius idea to stuff it into peppers came from this recipe, on A Couple Cooks (just an adorable blog that I follow that shares lots of healthy and tasty recipes). It's a fabulous recipe if I do say so myself! Not only delicious, but quick and easy too! I customized according to what I had in my fridge and pantry, and you could do the same.

I actually declared this the most delicious thing I've made in the past couple weeks, if that entices you at all! It should.

Speaking of enticing, roasting peppers in the oven fills the air with such an amazing aroma. By the end of the 30 minutes, I had already been asked twice what the delicious smell was (and I only live with 2 people) and I'm fairly sure we were all drooling in anticipation.

.... No, that definitely wasn't just me.

Soundtrack:


Website Feed by Little Dragon  


Millet Stuffed Red Bell & Poblano Peppers
Inspired by Quick Stuffed Bell Peppers by A Couple Cooks

3 red bell peppers
3 poblano peppers
1 1/2 c millet
3 c water
4-5 green onions
1 jalapeno pepper
1 can light kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 c freshly grated Monterrey Jack cheese
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
dash of Chile powder
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt, Pepper, EVOO

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Cut bell and poblano peppers in half, trim the edges and remove seeds. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray. Lay the peppers insides facing up on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes. (This smells amazing, btw.)


Meanwhile, prepare the millet. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, toast millet for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 3 1/2 c of warm water, 1/2 tbs EVOO, and about 1/4 tsp of salt. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Cook, covered, over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until grain is soft and the water is absorbed.


While millet and peppers are cooking, dice the green onions and jalapeno peppers. Combine in a large bowl the onions, jalapenos, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, and cheese.


Once millet is finished cooking, fluff with a large spoon. Add to the bowl with the rest of the filling ingredients and stir until combined and cheese is melted.


Stuff each pepper with a heaping spoonful of filling, squeeze lime juice over stuffed peppers, and serve immediately, while hot.

Halved.

Cleaned.

Stuffed. (Ok, ok, I skipped ahead)

 

Tofu, Black Bean & Corn Burritos

You know what's tricky?? Showing off a delicious burrito!

I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome myself back from my mini-vacation, aka the good life. Oh hey reality, nice to see you again. You sorta suck. Not completely, but comparatively speaking you just can't hang. With your responsibility. And your schedules. I'm not getting any younger people! Reality, you're just sucking the life outta me here!


But let's just all calm down for a moment and focus on burritos. Because they can take away our lives, but they will never take our freedom.... to eat burritos.


Aaaaathankyou, aaaathankyou, aaaathankyou.


Let me admit here first that I rarely ever cook with tofu unless I'm throwing it in a stir fry. It's just one of those foods that is for some reason perplexing to me. I can't take it out of it's element without feeling slightly uncomfortable myself. It's the texture. I'm terrified of the texture (eee-aaa-eee-ooo). Something about this recipe works though. It's mush, but in all the right ways. Spicy, yet flavorful mush. With a slight crisp of corn and fresh lettuce.


Soundtrack: Four Tet (Saw this guy this weekend and it was fan-friggin-tastic)

Tofu, Black Bean & Corn Burritos
Serves: 3-4


1 clove garlic, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cut into large strips
1 medium onion, wedged into eighths
splash of chicken stock (or vegetable!)
1 package extra-firm tofu, pressed for 20 minutes and cut into small pieces
1 c. sweet corn, cut from the cob (preferred!) or canned
1 c. black beans
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp chipotle seasoning
3 tbsp hot salsa
EVOO
Salt & Pepper
3-4 flour tortillas
cheddar cheese
romaine lettuce, chopped


Drizzle EVOO in a medium saute pan and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and toast until it begins to brown. Add onions and bell peppers, season with salt and pepper, and saute until cooked (about 7-10 minutes). Remove to a bowl and cover.


Splash chicken stock into the saute pan to wet the bottom. Add tofu, beans, and corn. Cook in stock for 1 minute. Season with coriander, chipotle, chili powder, salsa, and salt & pepper. Cook about another 5 minutes until heated throughout.


Meanwhile, heat tortillas in a fry pan until warmed. Into each tortilla, scoop a healthy amount of tofu, corn & beans. Top with sauteed onions and peppers, cheese and lettuce. Wrap into a burrito and serve!

Saute stuff!

Filling!

All wrapped up and ready to go!

Eek! My insides!

(Mine fell all apart... eyes to big for my tortilla)

Huevos Rancheros

I love. love. love. breakfast. And by that I mean I could eat it for lunch and dinner as well, something I'm sure we all do sometimes (and if you don't, you're missing out). One of the best things about the weekend, in my not-so-humble opinion, is having the time to prepare a delicious breakfast for myself and anyone else who's face I can shove food in. Huevos Rancheros is up there on my list of favorite breakfast (and lunch and dinner) dishes.

Eggs and Mexican food = match made in heaven

Until today, it wasn't really a dish that I made for myself so much as something I ordered in almost every brunch-serving restaurant in Philadelphia and beyond. But a little leftover guacamole and some fresh ingredients inspired me to try it this morning. And I'm really glad I did, because, as I discovered, it's not a difficult dish to make at all! The basic "must-haves" are of course the eggs, a "ranchero" (tomato based chile) sauce, beans, and tortillas. Everything else is gravy on the cake. Icing on the mashed potatoes. Wait...


Just a side note about Americans being fat before we get started: cheese and sour cream don't even exist in traditional Mexican food. So we can add them to our burritos, tacos, etc, but it's only because we are fat Americans. I learned that today and I feel proud. Other than that, this recipe is really healthy. Make the ranchero sauce yourself to control oil and sodium, use black beans rather than refried beans, and everything else is pretty much fresh. Ok ok, tortillas. But the way I did this, the portion size includes only half a medium sized tortilla, so no harm, no foul. It's like eating ice cream standing up from the carton. If you don't eat a whole serving, it doesn't count! (Please don't try and tell me otherwise, I firmly believe this to be true and live by it.)


Soundtrack: Ain't nothin' like a disco dance party to start the day off right! Seriously. Best. mood. ever.


Huevos Rancheros (serves 2)

1/4 c. chopped tomato

1/8 c. chopped red onion

1/8 c. chopped red bell pepper
2 tbs chopped cilantro
1 med. flour tortilla (corn is more traditional and can be used as well)
4 eggs
Ranchero Sauce (I used this recipe with some slight adjustments. Cut in about half serves 2. My changes: I used 1/2 a fresh large tomato, chopped, for the diced tomatoes and just enough oil to saute - no need for a whole tbsp)
1/2 c. black beans, drained and rinsed
guacamole
cheddar cheese (optional)
salt and pepper


Combine tomato, red onion, bell pepper and cilantro to make a fresh salsa. Set aside. Cut the flour tortilla into quarters. Place pieces in a toaster oven or preheated (350) oven to warm. Crack 4 eggs into a medium, greased, frying pan, so that all 4 yokes are separate (the whites will run together, it's ok you can separate them out once they cook). Salt and pepper eggs. Cook eggs over medium (to do this, cook eggs until whites are hardened, except right around the yoke. Separate into four pieces (each with a yoke, obvs) and then flip. Cook another minute or so). Remove tortillas from oven and plate (2 per plate). Flip 1 egg onto each tortilla piece. If using cheese, apply now. Add desired amount of Ranchero Sauce, black beans, salsa and guacamole. Serve and enjoy! Ole!

Fresh salsa! Ok, I didn't have cilantro :(
But I'm still drooling for it

Eggs in frying pan. Sizzzzlllleee!

Naked tortillas. Omg it's like tortilla pornography!

Eggs done over-medium - don't break those yokes! 

Freshness!