Can Do Attitude: Easy Garden Salsa

 Yeah, all of those tomatoes are fresh out of my garden.  Everything else, not so much, but these ingredients made a double batch of salsa, so 16 and 3/4 quart jars.

Also, I only used one head of garlic, and one of those really large onions.
And yes, I did use all those peppers.  I wanted a nice variety of spice, so there are random hot red peppers and purple bells from my garden, Anaheims, poblanos, jalapenos, whites, and yellow bells.  You can use as much or as little as you'd want.  I love chunky salsas with lots of pepper.

As far as the tomatoes go, I just divided my crop in half (since I was doubling the recipe).  They're Roma tomatoes, so I seeded most of them, but there wasn't a lot to worry about.

For each batch, I diced half in bigger chunks, then used my slap chop to finely dice the other half.  The chopper also made quick work of the onions and peppers.  I still wore gloves, though, because that juice gets everywhere and I hate accidentally getting it in my eyes (or worse) when cleaning up.

So, the ingredients for one batch (about 6-8 quarts)
8 C tomatoes; chopped, diced, and drained
2 1/2 C onions, diced
1 1/2 C green peppers, diced
1 C jalapeno, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp ground pepper
1/8 C (or less) canning salt (optional)
1/3 C sugar
1/3 C vinegar
15 oz can tomato sauce
12 oz can tomato paste

Directions:
Mix everything together in a large pot.
Bring to a slow boil.
Boil for ten minutes.

Follow proper canning procedures.  Sterilized jars, boiling water bath for 10 minutes.  Let cool and wait at least 24 hours before storing.

Hint: to prevent the white grit from collecting on your tops, add about 1/2 C of white vinegar to your water bath.  It helps reduce/eliminate the residue.  ( I obviously forgot this step!)

Summer Salsas

I was trolling the internets in search of a more non-traditional sauce (read non-traditional as no-tomatoes), but something that was still good on a corn chip or pita chip.

Who knew that Oprah could solve my issues??

Luckily, these two base recipes are actually the same, it's just the two main ingredients that change, so let's put it up this way, shall we?

Ingredients:
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1/2 C chopped cilantro
1/4 C fresh lime juice
1/4 C cider vinegar
1 jalapeno, deeded and minced
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Variation One:
2 C chopped papaya
2 C chopped banana (slightly firm, underripe)

Variation Two:
2 C chopped, seedless cucumber
2 C chopped jicama

Directions:
Combine all ingredients*.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

*With variation one, add banana just before serving

Variation One: Banana Papaya Salsa

Variation Two: Cucumber Jicama Salsa

Avocado Chicken Puffs

 Another accidental dinner?  Sure thing!  Wasn't sure that there was another kind...

It started off with this inspiration for puff pastries.

I really hate working with puff pastries, and I'm not a fan of how they taste, so I took the same general principal and added it to some Pillsbury Rustic French Loaf.

 Ingredients:
1 roll of french bread dough
2 pre-cooked chicken breasts
salsa
avocado or guacamole
chopped bell peppers
Mexican cheese shreds (or your own fav flavor)

1. Preheat oven to temperature on bread package (350?), and grease a cookie sheet.
2. Cut the dough into 6 even pieces.
3. Take one piece of dough and form it into a bowl.

4. Spread avocado/guac on the bottom of your bread bowl.
 5. Add chicken and desired toppings.  For me, this was chopped bell peppers and then salsa.
6. Repeat this process for all bread bowls, and then place each bowl on your prepared cookie sheet.
7. Top with shredded cheese
8. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until your bread is puffed and lightly brown.
9. Gently remove with a spatula from pan and onto your place.  Enjoy!

Cucumber Cups

 I can't believe I haven't tried these before.  So painfully simple, and yet they are elegant in their own way.

Cucumber cups start with some great cucumbers.  I worked with English "burpless" cucumbers since I could get them at Costco in bulk, for cheap.

Then, I chose not to peel the entire cucumber, since that would make them too slippery.  I left little grips around the edges.

I then cut each cucumber into 12 pieces.  Some could have been smaller, but I was more interested in the number 12. Ideally, you should aim for a size that could easily fit in your whole mouth at once, but I just wanted a number I could tabulate quickly.

Whatever, we already know how odd I am.

No apologies.

Next, use that handy dandy melon baller and scoop out the middle of the cucumber, creating the cup.  I used the smaller end of my baller, but you can use whatever size you think makes the best scoop.

For fillings, I found several different recipes.  Spinach dip, crab dip, cheese dip, etc., etc.  A quick Google search will give you a ton of ideas.  However, I was making enough other appetizers that I didn't want to overlap any of my other flavors presented.

So, as I was perusing the aisles of the Costco, I discovered some Mango Pico de Gallo, and some Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.  I picked up a tub of each.

The mango pico was great to just scoop in by the teaspoonful.  However, for the hummus, I piped it through a broad frosting tip to give it a little swirl.

 I think the hummus was my favorite.  Not because I eat it, but because it was fun to pipe on.

To top it off, I was going to sprinkle some paprika for color, but I didn't have any.  Instead, I used some Chipotle red pepper sprinkled over it instead. Same color, still spicy, but not so much to be over powering.

(And no, Mom, I didn't serve it on a red paper plate.  This was just my plate to refill from.)

Crock Pot's Finest

 Okay, Crock Pots hate me.

True story.

I'm the only person in this world that could mess up a crock pot recipe, unless it's for an apple butter or chutney.

However, I found this recipe for Cilantro Lime Chicken, and it looked so good I could resist.

 I also couldn't resist tweaking it a bit.

First off, instead of plain salsa, I used a generic brand of Peach Pineapple Chipotle Salsa, still 24 oz.

And instead of 2 jalapenos, I used 1 and 1 bell pepper.

And then it looked super chunky - like the picture to the right, so I added a can of Rotel Tomato and Chili sauce.

 Once the mixture looked more liquidy, I added the chicken.

Oh, but I used 8 chicken thigh tenders instead of 4-6 breast halves.  I just like dark meat more, okay?!

And then I put it on high, because I wanted it done in two hours.

HAHA!  Didn't happen.

 Our Crock Pot, well this one, rather (we have 4 or five of various sizes) has a timer function where it cooks for the time you set it for.

I set it on high for 4 hours, and by the time I had prepped everything and added it to the pot, it was at 3:47 remaining.  That's an easy prep, yes?

Ended up with that as the cooking time, too.

However I had eaten by then, so it made 6 hearty lunch/dinner portions when added to my cilantro brown rice.

Sorry, no pretty shots, just Tupperware.

But when I did eventually try it, it was completely worth the wait!  I can't wait to have this again, and maybe serve it with tortillas next time, too.  So juicy and tender, you should try this one ASAP!!

Easy Chicken Fajitas!

It has come to pass, in my short decade or so of cooking, that if a recipe claims to be "easy," AKA, easy is part of the title, then I'm hooked.  I don't think I (necessarily) look for the easy way out of life, I just know that when it comes to my limitations, I don't want to spend my time making flop meals.  I'd rather make a meal that I'm almost guaranteed success in then to try one too difficult and fail spectacularly.



 
Hence, tonight's Easy Chicken Fajitas.  We make all sorts of wraps all the time, so I'm no stranger to the taco/fajita game.  I know what's going to tast great, and what I could probably skip on.  This recipe was easy enough, and it pretty much followed through on the way I normally make fajitas.  Since we had just about everything in the house, it was the winner winner chicken dinner of the night.  I can also say that I pretty much stuck to the recipe on this, although I also added some taco seasoning to the chicken for kick.

They say there's no wrong way to eat a Reese's.  I'd like to contend that there's no wrong way to build a wrap, just pile it on and enjoy!

A cool summer pizza

I had an awesome recipe planned for tonight's dinner.  As part of my triumphant return from New Orleans (look for the food post later), I told Thomas I would make dinner.  He only had one requirement: something light.  Now the recipe I had in mind was from June's Everyday Food magazine.  I get in on my Nook and figured it was worth a try.  (No, I'm not revealing what it was until I actually get the chance to try it out. Well, I knew today was going to be a busy one, so I left my reader at home, and subsequently enough information that I couldn't find the recipe online.  Of course, I turned to Pampered Chef to see what I could find.  Luckily, I found this.  Thomas is not such a fan of a protein-less meal, so I did add some chicken to my shopping list.

I was able to use one of my new favorite toys - the garlic press.  It's so easy to use, it has a huge hopper to fit multiple cloves, and it comes with a little Barbie-brush looking cleaner that helps clear out the little holes when you're done.  No peeling necessary, just pop it in and squeeze it out!

I also was able to use my PC huller to gut the tomatoes.  I'm not going to lie, I hate tomatoes.  However, it's not for the taste, it's for the goopy insides.  With my huller, I can clear it out without any real touching or goop-related incident.  Score!  The recipe was remarkably easy to follow, and other than adding some slightly warned (pre-cooked) chicken, I pretty much did everything it told me to.  I mean, they told me to have cream cheese on a croissant crust.  

Who would I be to argue with that kind of yumminess??                                                                                                   

It didn't take too long to put together, and it was just as refreshing as I could hope.  Thomas loved it, so this is going to be put on the "let's try that again" pile.  (and I can't wait!!)

On a completely unrelated note...

I had Thomas pull out my lone, remaining carrot from the garden yesterday.  I didn't think it would be any good because it's left over from my late winter planting.  All of the white and purple ones are still coming up, but this was the last of the orange danvers.

Yes, my husband has a good sized paw, and yes, that carrot is truly thicker than the sweet corn we had with dinner.  And, surprisingly, the carrot worked really well with some early zucchini as a stir-fried side.