Enchilada Quesadillas

I got the inspiration for this recipe from here

I also used this recipe to season the chicken breasts with

3 skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees

Then place the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper, salt, oregano and paprika in a bowl

and mix it all together

season both sides of the chicken breasts, very generously with the seasoning and place in a baking pan

bake in oven for about 35-45 minutes or until the chicken breast reach the internal temp of 165 degrees, then pull the chicken out of the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes and let it cool a little as well.

after you have let it sit for a few, then chop the chicken up into small pieces, set aside

for the dang quesa-dilluh! (Like how it’s said in the movie Napoleon Dynamite)

Flour Tortillas
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 whole Red Onion, Thinly Sliced
¼ teaspoons Salt To Taste
⅛ teaspoons Black Pepper To Taste
1 whole Yellow Bell Pepper, chopped into small chunks
1 whole Red Bell Pepper, chopped into small chunks
1 small can of Enchilada Sauce
(the refried beans were for normy and his quesa-dilluh)
1 avocado, chopped into small pieces
1 tomato, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup Black Olives, Chopped
1/2 cup Green olives, chopped (I don’t feel these actually went, but adding them here because they are in the pictures)
1 cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
¼ cups Fresh Cilantro, Chopped
jalapenos

Start by heating the enchilada sauce in a small sauce pan to low heat, and while that warms up cook the onions and peppers. You can do the beans at this point too.

In a cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and season with salt and pepper to taste,

cook the onions over medium high heat stirring every few minutes until the onions are translucent and browned on the edges a little, 10-12 minutes. When the onions are done cooking pull them out and set aside and use the same pan to cook the diced peppers in. I like my peppers still crunchy so I only cooked them for about 5 minutes. Then I added the onions back to the skillet and turn heat off. (I cooked the onions by themselves because I don’t know why? You can skip that step and just cook the onions 1st, then throw the peppers in).

At this point, I have a panini press and I plugged it in and got it warmed up while I made my quesadilla

spread 1-2 tablespoons of enchilada sauce over each of the tortillas.

then add the onions and bell peppers to half of the tortilla

Then add the chopped chicken

I didn’t measure, I just added what looked good to me

Then add the cheese

and then the olives

Then fold the other part of the tortilla over the part with all the yummies and place on Panini press, or you could bake it, or place it in a skillet and place another pan over it to help hold it together.

I closed the Panini press and just cooked it till the cheese was melted and there are nice panini press (grill looking) marks on the tortilla. How I could tell the cheese was melted is I heard it melting on the press and heard it sizzling.

Remove Quesadilla from Panini press and place on a plate and let it cool for a couple of minutes

Then use a pizza cutter and cut into slices, big or small, whatever your heart desires

I garnished mine with pickled jalapeno

I did chop up cilantro, tomatoes and avocado to top mine with as well, I also had a little bowl of the extra enchilada sauce on the side to dip my quesadilla in as well.

You could add salsa and sour cream too. I skipped the sour cream, trying to eat healthy.

Chicken With Olives

Adapted recipe from here

4 tbsp Butter
4 tbsp Olive Oil
6 pieces Chicken (I Used Thighs And Legs) With Skin on
2 small yellow Onions, Diced
5 garlic cloves, Minced
2 whole Green Bell Peppers, Seeded And Chopped Into Large Pieces
1 whole 28 Ounce Can Whole Tomatoes
1 cup of wine or chicken broth – I used better than bouillon and just add a cup of water and then added a tablespoon of the better than bouillon)
Kosher Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/4 greek yogurt
1 heaping cup Whole Green Olives
12 ounces, whole wheat Linguine, Cooked Al Dente And Drained

So I was trying to make this as healthy as I could and the original recipe calls for heavy cream and I cut heavy cream from my diet and decided to use greek yogurt. I recommend using heavy cream or no cream at all, as the greek yogurt just clumps up and it offered this dish nothing at all but bits of yogurt in it that didn’t taste like anything. I also used whole wheat pasta and I thought it went well with the tomatoes, and olives.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large dutch oven, melt the butter with olive oil over medium-high heat.

Add the chicken pieces and brown on both sides.

Remove chicken to a plate.

Turn heat down to medium. Add the onions, garlic, and green bell pepper to the pan.

Stir and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for a minute or two. (in the original recipe she says to drain the tomatoes and drain all juice from the actual tomatoes and then chop the tomatoes up, I think this dish is better with the tomatoes whole and adding all the juice to the pot as it adds extra flavor for the yummy sauce)

Season with salt and pepper. Pour in chicken broth/wine or better than bouillon and add water like I did.

Add the chicken pieces back to pan,

cover with lid, and place into the oven for 45 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and remove the lid.

Add the green olives

and greek yogurt or cream.

I took a spoon and stirred the greek yogurt in as best I could, then return pot to the oven for 15 to 20 minutes to thicken the sauce. Remove from oven and keep lid on until ready to serve. (when using heavy cream it will thicken the sauce after placing the pan back in the oven, but doesn’t with the greek yogurt)

Place desired amount of pasta on your plate and top with chicken and tomatoes and sauce and olives

Yogurt Marinated Chicken

Adapted from this Recipe

12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 heaping cup of plain Greek yogurt
3 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

I placed the chicken thighs in a baking dish, and set a side. Then I grabbed a small bowl and mixed together the olive oil

Greek Yogurt

Lemon Juice

Parsley

dried oregano

cumin

Salt

and pepper into a bowl

and mixed together, and then poured it over the chicken thighs.

Once I poured the marinade over the chicken I flipped each piece and made sure each thigh was coated well with the marinade, then placed in the fridge.

In the recipe I got this from it states that you should marinade the meat in the fridge for 2 hours, but I didn’t have 2 hours this time around, so I marinated it for 30 minutes…This is the 2nd time I have made this dish, so I DO recommend marinating it for the 2 hours. As the 1st time I marinated it for 4 hours and it tasted better to me, than when I marinated it for the 30 minutes. Thinking even marinating it overnight would make it even BETTER!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Grab a baking sheet and line it with foil and set aside

Heat a skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat and I coated the bottom of my pan with some olive oil, to help the chicken from sticking.

Shaking off excess marinade, place half of the chicken thighs into the pan and brown for 2-3 minutes on each side.

Once the chicken has cooked 2-3 minutes each side, then remove it to the foil lined baking sheet

then continue cooking the rest of the chicken thighs. Once all the chicken thighs are cooked

finish baking them in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees. I cooked mine for about 20 minutes.

Let the thighs rest for a few minutes, then serve.

Roasted Red-Pepper Soup

I made this and I didn’t care for it so much. Not saying its bad, but I didn’t care for it.

recipe
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 shallots or 1/2 red onion, chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed
4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2/3 cup sour cream (I used greek yogurt)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat.

Add the potatoes, celery, shallots,

1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste and cook,

stirring frequently, until the potatoes begin to soften,

about 5 minutes. Add the red peppers,

vegetable broth

and 1 cup water.

Cover and bring to a simmer, then uncover and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Transfer the soup and greek yogurt to a blender

and, keeping the lid slightly ajar, puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper

and stir in half of the cilantro. Divide among bowls and sprinkle with the cheese and the remaining cilantro.

Blueberry Bundt Cake

Recipe

2 & 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 TBSP cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup milk, room temperature
2/3 cup heavy cream, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 & 3/4 cups vanilla superfine sugar *see note
1 & 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
5 eggs, room temperature
1 & 1/3 cups fresh blueberries

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour,

cornstarch,

salt

and baking soda;

set aside.

In another bowl, combine the milk,

cream

and vanilla.

Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the sugar and butter.

Add the eggs, one at a time,

scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.

On low-speed, add the flour in three additions,

(Flour gets everywhere)

alternating with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.

Scrape down the bowl between additions. Once everything has been added, run the mixer for an additional 20 seconds on low.

Coat a Bundt pan with baking spray. Pour the batter evenly into the pan.

Use a spatula to fold in the blueberries once the batter is in the pan.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Place on a wire cooling rack and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, place the wire rack face down on the cake. Invert and flip the rack; place on the counter. Give the cake a few seconds to let gravity do its thing, then, lift the pan off of the cake. Cool completely (or serve warm).

Before serving, dust with sifted powdered sugar.

(So when trying to get my cake out of the pan that I greased AND add floured, that was supposed to help it from sticking, Stuck really bad! So when I went to try to get the cake out of the pan the sides stuck to the pan. So my cake was not pretty so I tried to hide it with a LOT of powder sugar)

Oh and all the blueberries sunk to the bottom of the cake so they were all on the top when I flipped it.

Not perfect, but it works (I guess)

*To make the vanilla superfine sugar:

Place 3 cups of granulated sugar in the bowl of a food processor.

Scrape in the seeds of one vanilla bean. Process for about 1 to 1.5 minutes.

Voila! Superfine!

So I tried a little bite of this cake and I thought it was blah

So I decided to had a lemon glaze to it to add a little something extra, because lemon and blueberries go really well together!

- For the lemon glaze I juiced a couple of lemons in a small bowl and then stirred in spoonfuls of powder sugar until the glaze got a nice thickness, I didn’t measure anything I just did juice and sugar until the glaze was nice and thick and then drizzled it over the cake…

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Recipe

For the soup:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. paprika
1 Tbs. olive oil, divided
1 large red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

1 lime, juiced and zested
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (10 oz) can green chilies
1 (14.5) oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 Tbs. tomato paste
32 oz low sodium chicken broth
Salt & Pepper to taste

for garnish
sliced limes
diced avocado
Tortilla chips
salsa
chopped fresh cilantro
shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper, kosher salt, oregano and paprika.

Brush both sides of each chicken breast with light coating of olive oil.

Sprinkle a small amount of the spice mixture onto both sides and each chicken breast

and transfer to a non-stick baking sheet. Roast the chicken in the oven for 20-25 minutes, turning once, until the chicken is cooked through. Allow the chicken to cool for 10 minutes,

and then shred. (I cubed mine).

While the chicken cooks, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch Oven.

Add the onions

and garlic,

along with a pinch of salt, and saute for 3-4 minutes until the onions are very fragrant and they begin to soften. Add the bell pepper, jalapeno pepper,

lime juice

and zest and cilantro

and stir well. Cook for another 3-4 minutes until the peppers begin to soften. Add the remaining spice mixture, black beans,

green chilies,

diced tomatoes

and stir well.

Cook for about 6 minutes until all the vegetables are tender. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine.

Slowly stir in the chicken broth

and add the cooked chicken

and bring the soup to a boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for another 15 minutes. stirring occasionally. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Serve!

(I served mine with chopped tomatoes and sliced avocados)

Broccoli al la Stacey

I LOVE Broccoli! I usually make it with soy sauce and garlic and that is my go to recipe. But then my good friend Stacey Marie told me how she cooks her Broccoli and its super easy and DELICIOUS!

2-3 pounds of fresh broccoli florets
olive oil
kosher salt

Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees and grab a sheet pan/cookie sheet

Then wash your brocoli florets and cut them up and place them in a medium to large size bowl

then drizzle a little olive oil over them, don’t drench the florets but I drizzled a little over the top and then stirred the broccoli all together to make sure all the florets got a little olive oil on them

then pour the bowl of broccoli onto a sheet pan and make sure the florets are all spread out

pop that baby in the oven that your preheated to 425 degrees. I baked mine for 10 minutes and then flipped the broccoli and shook the pan a little
then I cooked it 10 more minutes and it comes out with little crisp ends

then as soon a you pull it out of the oven sprinkle a little kosher salt over the florets, to taste

that browness is Yummy flavor!

sooooooo freaking delicious! If you don’t like broccoli, make it this way and you LOVE IT!

MMMMM

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Recipe

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 quart chicken stock or water (I used Vegetable Broth)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil,

salt, and pepper.

Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions

and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter,

and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes,

until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes,

basil, thyme,

and chicken stock.

Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet.

Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. (I used my handy-dandy hand blender)

Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold.

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 quart chicken stock or water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold.

Salmon with Dill, and Garlic

Got the inspiration for this recipe from http://www.foodrepublic.com/

6 (1- inch thick cut) salmon, steaks

6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (I love garlic so I did 1 clove for each piece of salmon)

2 tablespoons dill, fresh, roughly chopped

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons for the butter sauce and 2 for the fish

4 tablespoons butter, unsalted

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1.Preheat grill and clean with a grill brush. (I Baked mine in the oven at 425 for 10-12 minutes, at this point preheat oven if you are baking it)

2.In a food processor, place garlic,

dill,

3 tablespoons of oil,

and the butter and pulse until combined. Set aside. (I skipped the butter part here)

3.Rub the remaining oil over steaks and season with salt and pepper.

generously spread the dill mixture over the fish.

Bake and then Serve immediately.

 

Green Salad and Napa Wine Vinaigrette

This dressing is SOOOO good! I made it for the 1st time and loved it! (So good that I made a double batch)

Recipe

3 tablespoons sparkling wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon whole grain mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil
Baby salad greens for 6 to 8

In a 2-cup glass measuring cup, whisk together the vinegar,

Dijon mustard,

whole grain mustard,

garlic,

egg yolk,

salt,

and pepper.

Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. You should have about 2/3 cup vinaigrette. (So I whisked this and tried it and I felt it was a little to tart, so I added in honey and it took that edge off and actually make this dressing taste like a honey mustard dressing, so I suggest adding honey)

When ready to serve, place the salad greens in a bowl and pour on enough vinaigrette to moisten. Serve immediately.