Recipe: Lite Tex Mex Salad

As my hero-of-a-hubby and I embark on an "eating-fresher-and-getting-healthier-in-the-process" adventure we're finding all sorts of new food combinations, cooking methods, tasty tricks, etc... and this salad was one of the first things we discovered. It will be a staple for us through the summer...

Here's the recipe we started with... it was originally in Eating Well magazine, but most recently featured on Cooking.com. As you'll notice, the recipe doesn't include the fried tortilla... we just crumbled up a few tortilla chips on top of the salad for some extra crunch. The meat has so much flavor... so, so much flavor! What a great salad...

Tex-Mex Taco Salad

We decided to use ground turkey (obviously a leaner meat which also contains more protein by ounce and isn't as high in cholesterol as ground beef)... and then we changed up the dressing to a lighter yogurt version.

The original Southwest Dressing post... Southwest Dressing




But NOW we are replacing the Ranch dressing with Fage greek yogurt. This reduces the calories and carbs dramatically. (And with all the extra seasonings in it you can't even taste the difference. It's a perfect substitution!)



Come with us as we dig deeper into the topic of nutrition and as we commit to eating fresher and being healthier!

Below is my "lite" version of Eating Well's Tex Mex Salad recipe...


Lite Tex Mex Salad
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
½ cup prepared salsa
3 tablespoons Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
10 ounces ground turkey
1 large plum tomato, diced
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
2 teaspoons chili powder, divided
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Kosher salt
4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
¼ cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

Instructions
Make the lite southwest dressing first. Compbine Fage yogurt, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, pinch of cayenne pepper and kosher salt. Whisk together until combined. Add salsa to yogurt mixture and stir well. Set aside.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, until onions start to turn translucent. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute or so, stirring often. Add ground meat and cook until cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes. Add kidney beans, cumin, chili powder and a pinch of salt. Stir well, lower heat and place lid on skillet. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes to ensure the beans get cooked. Remove lid, add tomato and cook for a few more minutes, until the tomato begins to break down (about 2 minutes). Remove from the heat, stir in cilantro and 2 tablespoons of the salsa mixture.

In a large bowl add lettuce and remaining salsa mixture – toss until all lettuce pieces are coated with salsa. Divide lettuce among two plates; top with the cooked meat/bean mixture, shredded cheese and a few crumbled tortilla chips.


enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Perfect for Saturday brunch...

Thank you Pillsbury for making my Saturday morning! A girlfriend was coming over for brunch in about an hour and I opened the refrigerator to pull out the ingredients to make a frittata... and I realized I had forgotten to purchase more eggs when I was at the grocery store. As you may or may not know, you can't make much of a frittata with only 2 eggs... hmm... NOW WHAT?!

Pillsbury to the rescue!!! I went searching online and found the perfect recipe: Hashbrown Egg Cups.

Brunch ended up being a complete success ... we got to choose from fresh fruit, fresh baked banana muffins and my personal favorite... oh yeah, and the piping hot hasbrown egg cups.



So, in this post I'll show you how I made the hashbrown egg cups... it's so easy! And my friend can vouch for how yummy they were... and comforting and filling and cute ... all at the same time!



I started by combining prepared hashbrowns, grated cheese, green onions and salt/pepper.





Then I greased the oven-safe bowl and added the hashbrown/cheese mixture by shaping it and pressing it aganst the walls, to create a cup shape.



I placed the bowls on a baking sheet and slid them into a preheated oven...



Following Pillsbury's instructions, the hashbrowns baked for a while. In the meantime I scrambled the eggs and counted the minutes...

When the time was right I added the scrambled egg and topped it with a tad more grated cheese.







You want to make these... I promise!



And yes, I do believe we'll be having some for dinner this week too... 'cuz we're "breakfast for dinner" kind of people.





enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Sinful (perfectly sinful) Cheesey dip

I don't really know who to say THANK YOU to ('cuz I'm not real sure where this recipe actually came from)... so thank you to Campbell's, Kraft, Pace and Jimmy Dean!!! They create the perfect marriage of cheesy-spicy-creamy goodness!

(On a personal note, a huge shout out to Mardee for introducing me to this dip! You're going to make me look really good today when I take this to the Superbowl party today! And I just know my hero-of-a-hubby will LOVE it!)

Here's where I started...



I know, I know... it's not the healthiest (nor is it fancy or something you want to brag about, really...) And thankfully no one cares about calories on Superbowl. But this will also be great for Fight Night, poker night, a kid's birthday party... the list goes on.




Stir together the condensed coup and salsa...





Cube the cheese block... and throw it in the crock pot, on high heat to start with.





Top the cheese with the salsa mixture, and toss the cooked sausage on top.



Place the lid on top and cook on "high" heat for about an hour (depending on your crock pot). Here you'll see I have another crock pot going as well... I'll do a separate post on that Superbowl dish later...



After about an hour, give it a stir. If you don't see any cheese chunks then lower the heat to "low".



When ready to serve, drizzle over tortilla chips (or pour into a bowl and serve up with chips) ... and get ready to fall in love with the most sinful cheese dip you never knew you needed to make!




What you need:
2 lbs Velveeta Cheese
Pace Picante Salsa, medium heat
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 lb breakfast sausage, cooked

In a Crock Pot, heat on "high" for about an hour. Stir well and adjust heat to "low". Serve over tortilla chips...




enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Because-It-Makes-My-Hubby-Happy Hash

My hero-of-a-hubby woke up and informed me he's taking today off of work... WHAT?! We could've gone out last night and danced until the sun came up?! And you didn't tell me?! (HA!!! YEAH RIGHT!!!)


So, I guess we should do breakfast together... hmmm, what to make?! What to make?! Wait - what's in the pantry?!


Between the fridge, freezer and pantry we had the items for this hash... so it all came together quickly. What a nice surprise!!!



And once again, I'm the hero of the household...



My pantry shortcuts for this? They are the farthest from fancy/culinary cuisine... but I still believe in keeping "ready-serve" bacon and freeze-dried hash browns in the pantry. They always seem to come in handy in a pinch... especially this morning! Yay for pantry power!!!


Now he's jamming on his guitar and I'm in day-off heaven! life is good...



Because-It-Makes-My-Hubby-Happy Hash
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced
5 slices bacon, diced
1/4 pound breakfast sausage, cooked/crumbled
5 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup cheddar cheese
½ cup Monterey Jack cheese
1 ½ - 2 cups shredded hash brown potatoes
1 cup cottage cheese
Pinch kosher salt/red pepper flakes

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Warm large cast iron skillet over medium heat.

In cast iron skillet, cook bacon and onion in butter. Add pinch of salt to help draw out onion juices. If using already cooked/crumbled sausage, add to mix at end of cooking. Mix well.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add cheddar, Monterey jack and cottage cheeses. Stir in hash browns. Add onion/bacon/sausage mixture; mix well. Transfer ingredients back to skillet and place in oven. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool/stand for 10 minutes before serving.



enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Trader Joe's Chocolate Lava Cakes

Two nights ago my hero-of-a-hubby asked for a favor ... he wanted some chocolate treats in the house. Which means he wanted me to bake his favorite = brownies. But I had a full day on Friday and knew I wouldn't be able to get any baking in...


So I stopped by Trader Joe's. And I found these... Chocolate Lava Cakes!



They are packaged two to a box... already cooked, packaged and then frozen individually.



Remove the packaging, including the cup ... and then you can either cook them in the microwave (one at a time) or bake them together in the oven.



In hindsight though, I think I should have turned the cups over and so the cake was "upside down"... right? Not sure if the packaging instructed me to do so... but I seem to remember seeing them that way... right? Who knows... (admittedly, they won't taste any different)



My Friend Debbie also suggests to cook these about 3 minutes less than the box says... this will ensure that the "lava" flows freely from the center when they are broken into...



And of course she was right... the lava flowed. And my hero-of-a-hubby was happy to have chocolate.


Someday I'll bake these from scratch... but Trader Joe's version was a lifesaver last night!




enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Homemade Flour Tortillas

When I was about 6 years old I had a babysitter named Ms. Ramirez. She was my favorite babysitter EVER! She was an adult, she was a cool adult, she was happy and bubbly all the time... and her mama made homemade tortillas!!! One day Ms. Ramirez sent us home with some fresh tortillas tightly bundled in foil... and the rest is history.

A few years later we moved out of town. But when we would go back for a summer camping trip we got to stop by and pick up some more homemade tortillas to rewarm over the campfire! Oh ... those camping memories... full of great food, laughter, good people... more than anything, our family camping trips built into me a sense of adventure (that now scares some people... mainly my Mom and my Husband). But let's get back to the kitchen...

For the tortillas this is all you need... flour, kosher salt, vegetable shortening, vegetable oil and warm water.



But first let's take a step back and see what my workspace looks like today: flat board, ingredients and trusty cell phone. Most of the time I work off of the recipes in my email.... is that funny or just down right weird?



Mix together flour and salt... cut in the shortening (or lard) and mix well until the mix is like a coarse sandy texture.











Then add the vegetable oil... and slowly drizzle in the water, stirring with a fork until it all forms a dough.









Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and begin to knead...





Knead it about 30-40 times. With the palm of your hand press the dough into the board and push it away from you. Fold the dough over on top of itself... and repeat.



Continue to knead until the dough comes together and turns into a smooth ball of dough.






Set the dough aside and cover with plastic wrap, for about an hour.



Next, let's talk about the griddle for a hot minute...

You can use a large flat skillet (no oil or butter or anything) or an electric griddle or a cast iron skillet/griddle. Here? I have a cast iron griddle that my hero-of-a-hubby bought me several years ago (our first Christmas together).

My life wouldn't be the same without it (or him). ::: grin :::



Let's turn our attention back to the dough... when you're ready to cook them cut it into 12 equal size pieces and work the dough a bit more by squeezing it into your palm a few times and rolling it into a ball. Then they need some time to rest again... another 10 minutes or so. (While you're waiting you can set the griddle to just a tad over low heat.)









And for the rolling...

Just barely sprinkle flour on the flat surface and prepare to roll...



I have found that by flattening the dough ball with heel of my hand it helps to keep the circular shape once you start rolling.





And then once the dough starts sticking to the rolling pin then I add just a light layer of flour to the rolling pin itself (not to the dough - because you don't want too much flour ont he outside of these tortillas).





Continue to roll until the dough is very, very thin... thinner than you think it should be. Aim for a 7 inch round... it will be slightly mishapen. If you're ok with imperfect tortillas then great... if not, roll it out a bit more and then cut off the rough edges.

Transfer the dough to the hot griddle... and watch the first one closely. Within about 30 seconds it will start to bubble and rise - this is when it will start to brown. Cook time for the first side will be about 55-75 seconds. When it's done to your likeness flip it over. It will cook for slightly less time on the second side.





Remove from heat and start a pile on a dish towel... and repeat...


And repeat by transferring to the pile... oh wait... what happened to the "pile"? Well, anyway...

(ahem) again, what happened to that "pile"? the previous tortilla keeps disappearing somehow!

repeat the above steps... what can i say?


continue to repeat... the cooking part, that is... afterall, you will eventually want to share these with the ones you love tonight.

But grant me one more minute for another glance back to the campfire memories... my favorite way to enjoy these is with some butter and salt. Thank you Ms. Ramirez... you left quite an impression on my life. While my tortillas don't taste QUITE like your mom's ... they'll have to do...

Homemade Flour Tortillas
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
¼ cup vegetable shortening (or lard)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or butter)
½ cup warm water

OPTIONAL: 2 teaspoons baking powder
(Note - if you prefer thicker/plumper tortillas then add baking powder to the dry mixture.)

Instructions
In a large bowl, stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening (or lard) with a pastry blender or your fingertips until the mixture resembles meal. Drizzle vegetable oil over flour and slowly stir in warm water with a fork until a dough forms. Turn dough out onto very lightly floured surface. Knead dough 30-40 times until dough becomes smooth. If dough is sticky, lightly dust hands with flour while kneading.

Form dough into a ball, return to bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rest for at least 1 hour. Heat a dry well-seasoned cast-iron griddle, or skillet, over medium-low heat until hot. Turn dough onto flat surface and cut into 12 equal pieces. Knead each piece a few times and roll into a ball. Allow balls to rest for about 10 minutes.

Very lightly sprinkle flour on a flat surface and roll out the first ball. Use a standard rolling pin or wooden dowel (tip: use a 1 1/4 inch diameter wooden dowel cut to a 14 inch length. Use just enough flour to prevent dough from sticking. (Too much dough will make tortillas taste more dry.) Roll out each ball into a very thin round. (Thinner than you think you want it.) While rolling the tortilla turn it in quarter turns until you have rolled the tortilla flat, near to 6-7 inch rounds. Attempt to keep the thickness the same as you roll. Cook 1 tortilla on the griddle while you roll the next one. Within 25-30 seconds the tortilla will start to bubble and puff. The bottom will start to brown in spots in 45 seconds. Cook time on each side will be between 55 – 75 seconds. Using tongs or a flat spatula, turn tortilla once browned to your liking. Cook second side in same way. Remove to dish towel to cool. Stack and cover tortillas while cooking the rest.

Homemade tortillas are best enjoyed fresh. If you will be using them later that day wrap them in aluminum foil. But they can also be frozen (after cooling thoroughly). Warm thawed tortillas on griddle before using.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...