Recipe: Fiesta Fajitas and Fresh Pineapple Salsa

I found this recipe while I was waiting in a doctors office with some clients, it's from Family Fun Magazine and it's delicious!!! We've already made this twice and each time it's been excellent! I'm not too sure about the Pineapple Salsa - it's okay but we chose not to make it the second time around, I definitely prefer regular ol' tomato salsa.

I served the dish with grilled corn, salsa, sour cream, fresh cilantro, and avocado... Yum!

Fiesta Fajitas
For the marinade:
1/3 cup canned pineapple juice
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

For the fajitas:
2 pork tenderloins (about 2 pounds), trimmed of silver skin
2 large red onions, cut into 1-inch-thick slices and threaded lollipop-style on skewers
2 green bell peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into quarters
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into quarters
Olive oil for brushing
8 flour tortillas, wrapped in foil

1. Combine the marinade ingredients in a large ziplock bag, then add the tenderloins and toss them to coat. Place the sealed bag in the refrigerator and allow the tenderloins to marinate for at least an hour, but preferably overnight. 2. Prepare the grill for cooking. Brush the onion skewers and bell peppers with olive oil. Grill the vegetables until they are soft, about 20 minutes, and the tenderloins, turning them occasionally, until the centers register 145°, also about 20 minutes. Transfer all the food to a baking sheet and allow the tenderloins to rest for 5 minutes. 3. Meanwhile, remove the onion slices from the skewers. Chop them and the bell peppers, then arrange the vegetables on one side of a large serving platter. Slice the tenderloins into strips, then arrange them beside the vegetables. 4. Heat the foil-wrapped tortillas on the coolest part of the grill, turning them several times until they are warmed through. Serve the grilled vegetables, tenderloin strips, and tortillas with small bowls of the Fresh Pineapple Salsa, guacamole, and sour cream. Serves 8.

Nutritional Information

Per serving (1 fajita made with a tortilla, 1/8 of the meat and vegetables, and 2 tablespoons of salsa):Calories 304Total Fat 6 g (9% DV) Saturated Fat 1 g (6% DV) Cholesterol 74 mg (25% DV) Sodium 459 mg (19% DV) Total Carbohydrate 33 g (11% DV) Fiber 2 g (6% DV) Sugars 4 gProtein 29 g (58% DV) Vitamin C (90% DV)

Fresh Pineapple Salsa

2 cups fresh pineapple, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or less for a milder taste)
Salt

1. Place all of the ingredients but the salt in a blender or food processor and pulse until the ingredients are mixed but still chunky. 2. Transfer the salsa to a bowl, salt it to taste, then cover and refrigerate it until ready to serve. Makes 2 cups.
Nutritional Information

Per serving (1/4 cup):Calories 20Total Fat 0 g (0% DV) Saturated Fat 0 g (0% DV) Cholesterol 0 mg (0% DV) Sodium 148 mg (6% DV) Total Carbohydrate 6 g (2% DV) Fiber 0.2 g (1% DV) Sugars 3 gProtein 0.3 g (1% DV)

Original Collector: Me

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Recipes: Chipotle Chicken Kebabs, Sweet-n-Spicy Grilled Pineapple, Southwestern Black Bean Salad

Next to the Asian chicken, this was my second favorite meal. These recipes are pretty simple and the meal was an all around hit. I love how colorful the meal plated up but the chicken and pineapple are by far the stars of the show!

We used leftover chicken kebabs in pita and hummus sandwiches for the next couple of days. The pineapple was a great breakfast and the black bean salad would have been excellent leftover for lunch served with some tortilla chips.

Chipotle Chicken Kebabs

1/2 c. plain fat-free yogurt

1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, minced

1 large garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

Cooking spray

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Pour into a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken; seal bag, and toss to coat. Marinate in refrigerator 1 to 2 hours, turning bag occasionally. 2. Prepare grill. 3. Thread chicken onto 4 (10-inch) metal skewers; place on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 11 minutes or until done, turning once. YIELD: 4 servings.

Note: If using wooden skewers, soak them in water 30 minutes before grilling.

Per Serving: Cal 206; Fat 2.3g; Pro 40.7g; Carb 3.4g; Fib .2g

Sweet-n-Spicy Grilled Pineapple

1 peeled and cored pineapple

1 1/2 tbs pineapple juice

3 tbsp light brown sugar

1 tbsp adobo sauce from canned chipotle chiles

Cooking spray

1. Prepare grill. 2. Cut pineapple into 8 slices. Combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, and adobo sauce in small bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended. Blot excess moisture from each pineapple slice with paper towels. Brush 1 side of each slice with brown sugar mixture. 3. Place pineapple slices, brushed sides down, on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 3 minutes or until browned; brush with remaining brown sugar mixture, turn, and grill3 minutes. YIELD: 4 servings

Per Serving: Cal 87; Fat .2g, Pro .6g, Carb 22.7g, Fib 2g

Southwestern Black Bean Salad

1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

9 oz frozen corn, thawed

1 tomato, chopped

1 small hass avocado, diced

1/4 c. red onion, chopped

1 scallion, chopped

1 lime, juice of

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp fresh cilantro

salt and fresh pepper

Combine beans, corn, tomato, onion, scallion, cilantro, salt and pepper. Mix with lime juice and olive oil. Marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes. Add avocado just before serving. YIELD: 12 (1/2 cup) servings

Per Serving: 106 Calories

Original Collector: Me

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Recipe: Cheese Pops with Herbs, Pecans, & Bacon

There must be a new trend in serving food on sucker sticks - well, not that new but they are all shaped like these pops. Forget the cake pops, these look even better and again, perfect for a party or shower. While these are essentially individual size cheese balls, I'm 900% sure you can't go wrong by making them! Maybe I'll collect enough of these recipes to have a whole party with the theme of food pops - that would be incredibly.....dorky.

Click here for recipe and instructions.

Original Collector: Me

Recipe: White Bean Dip

I love hummus and other bean dips to the point that I could eat them almost everyday. I've never made my own hummus or bean dip but I've been dying to for the longest time. Reason why I've never made it: I don't own a food processor. Sure, I could do small batches in a blender but it would be more trouble that it's worth. Remedy: Food processor is definitely going on our wedding registry... I'll make hummus and dips and pestos until they are coming out of our ears! This recipe looks simple so it's on the list for tryouts.

Recipe from Cookbook Catchall

White bean dip

1 lb dried white beans such as cannellini beans

1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 sprigs fresh thyme

Olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Sea salt

Italian flat leaf parsley for garnish

Soak beans overnight in a generous amount of cold water. Rinse and pick out any debris. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, sauté onion and garlic with thyme in a few tablespoons of olive oil until onions are translucent. Add beans and cold water to cover beans by a few inches. Bring to a full boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until beans are tender 1-2 hours. Remove thyme.

Drain beans and place in blender with ¼ cup olive oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Purée, adding additional olive oil slowly to adjust texture as desired. Finish with a sprinkling of chopped parsley, sea salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Original Collector: Me

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Recipe: Pickled Eggs and Beets

This recipe is possibly the only reason that I'm willing to try the Chinese Tea Egg recipe below. Pickled Eggs and Beets -- they too are strange looking eggs but they taste wonderful! My family has been making this recipe forever...well, since before I've been alive...and I must admit that I haven't always been a fan. It's a taste I've acquired and to admit something else, I still don't like the beets! (but you definitely need them for the flavor!) Anyway, these are super easy and great to munch on all year. I love slicing them up and eating them with crackers for lunch.

Pickled Eggs and Beets

Pickled Eggs and Beats
12 Hard Boiled Eggs, shelled
2 #303 Cans of Sliced Beets (standard size cans)
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Vinegar
1 Cup Liquid from Beets*
2 Cinnamon Sticks, broken
6-8 Whole Cloves

Drain liquid from beets and set beets aside. Add Sugar, vinegar, cinnamon and cloves. Boil mixture together for 10 minutes. Place eggs and beets in glass container. Pour in liquid.

Let stand in refrigerator for several days before eating (the longer, the better!) Also, when you have eaten all of the eggs you can place more in the leftover liquid and wait a few more days for another batch!

*If liquid is less than 1 cup, add water to make full cup

Original Collector: My mother's family

Recipe: Chinese Tea Eggs

Okay, I know this recipe doesn't look appetizing in any way, shape, form or fashion but I bet that these are wonderful. I was hoping to post egg recipes on or before Easter but obviously that didn't happen. This recipe would be great to make when you have left over eggs from Easter or just to clean out the fridge when you have too many! I definitely want to try these sometime!

Recipe from Nook & Pantry

Chinese Tea Leaf Eggs
6 - 8 large eggs
1/4 C soy sauce
2 Tbsp black tea leaves or 2 black tea bags
1 star anise
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Roughly 2 C water

Put the eggs in a saucepan that can fit the eggs snugly and cover with water. Bring to a boil and gently simmer for 7 minutes. Drain the eggs and rinse them with cold water until they have cooled off enough to handle. Use the back of a spoon gently tap the shell all over or just hit them against the counter top.

Return the eggs to the saucepan, add the soy sauce, tea leaves or tea bags, star anise, salt, and enough water to cover. You'll want to use a saucepan that can fit the number of eggs you're cooking perfectly. You don't want to use a saucepan that's too big otherwise, you'll need a lot of water to cover the eggs and it will dilute the tea brew. Simmer them in the tea soy sauce brew for 2 - 3 hours. You can even cook them for a few hours in a slow cooker. Halfway through the cooking time, turn the eggs over, add more water if necessary.

After cooking, store the eggs in the brew at least overnight so the flavors can permeate the eggs completely. I like to cut them in half and spoon a bit of the soy sauce brew onto the yolk before eating, it makes the yolk creamy and more flavorful.

Original Collector: Me

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Recipe: Crunchy Peanut Slaw

Since I've been so bad about posting these last few days you get a two-for-one today. I love the idea of this next recipe and I've been wanting to try it for awhile. I think I've had similar dishes but I haven't made anything like this. I'm posting it today because I think this one would also be a great cookout dish for springtime!

Recipe found on The Kitchn

Crunchy Peanut Slaw

1 big bowl of slaw, serves at least 8

1 medium head green cabbage, outer leaves removed

1 1/2 cups roasted, unsalted peanuts

1 bunch green onions

1 cup chopped cilantro (about two big handfuls unchopped)

Salt and pepper

Dressing:

1/2 cup light oil, like canola

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar (or more, to taste)

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce (or more, to taste)

Shred the cabbage very finely. The fineness of the shredded cabbage is really what makes this salad; you want it in in threads, almost, and with the threads chopped into bite-size lengths. Toss with the peanuts in a large bowl. Chop the scallions, including the green and white parts. Toss the scallions and chopped cilantro with the cabbage, seasoning very lightly with salt and pepper.

Whisk the dressing until emulsified, then taste and adjust to your own preferences of sweetness and saltiness.

Toss with the cabbage. Garnish with a few more peanuts and serve.

Original Collector: me

Recipe: Spiced Apple Butter

For my first real entry I wanted to post a special family recipe: my grandmother's spiced apple butter. I must admit that I've never made this by myself (yet) but it's always been a family staple. Each year we'd have a homemade stock pile of jars to share, all made from the apples out of my grandfathers garden. I doubt there was a day our fridge was without an open jar because I could, and most likely did, eat it straight with a spoon. Who am I kidding?...I still eat it straight out of the jar because there is NO better apple butter on earth! Come to think of it, it was really the only apple butter I knew for most of my childhood (I was lucky!) This fall, when apple-pickin' time is here, the following recipe will be top priority:

Ingredients
12 cups sliced apples
3 cups apple cider
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Peel, core and slice apples. Cook apples in cider on stove until soft. Transfer cooked apples to a heavy roaster-type pan, add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in oven at 300 degrees, stirring occasionally. Will need to bake a minimum of 2-3 hours until thick (use your best judgment) and then ladle into pint jars leaving 1/2-inch head space. (Makes approximately 6 pints.) Process in water bath for 10 minutes after water starts boiling.

Original Collector: My Grandmother