Homemade Chili Sauce & Party Salsa

Ingredients:

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

2 TBSP brown sugar

2 TBSP vinegar

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp dry mustard

3 dashes Worcestershire Sauce

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.

I have a hard time finding this chili sauce in stores, so I found a couple of recipes on pinterest and combined the parts that I liked to make this one. It was perfect! I use it to make Party Salsa, a sweet salsa my mom made when we were growing up.

Party Salsa

1 recipe chili sauce

1 1/2 cups of your favorite chunky salsa (I like Medium because the chili sauce is sweet.2)

half a bunch of chopped cilantro

4-5 chopped green onions

1 cup grated medium cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients except the cheese. I don't like how the cheese gets mushy, so I just sprinkle in a little cheese in the bowl of salsa I will eat for that snack or meal right then.

This is a salsa I love to make with our New Year's Eve dinner. Love how fresh tasting and sweet it is.

Avocado-Crab Dip (or just avocado dip)

I found this recipe in a Food Network magazine and made it last night and LOVED it. I served it with baked sweet potato chips. It was healthy and delicious! I didn't put the crab meat in and it was great without it.


3 avocados
1/4 cup diced white onion (I used the white parts of 2 green onions)
1/2 cup diced plum tomato (I used grape tomatoes)
1/2 cup diced fresh mango
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
4 ounces lump crab meat, picked through (I didn't put this in)
Juice of 1 lime
Kosher salt

1. Halve and pit the avocados; scoop the flesh into a large bowl and mash.
2. Stir in the onion, tomato, mango, cilantro and jalapeno; fold in the crabmeat. Add the lime juice and season with salt.

Tandoori Chicken

My current "favorite meal" on our regular food rotation is this Tandoori Chicken. Our good friends, Steve and Rachael, made it for us a while back and I feel totally spoiled when we eat it for dinner...and lunch the next day...and lunch the day after that. Yesterday I passed up a delicious meal out in order to come home and eat these leftovers. Hopefully you enjoy it too!

Ingredients:

1/2 T curry powder

1/2 T red pepper flakes

1/2 T salt

3/4 t ground ginger

3/4 t smoked paprika (I just used normal)

3/4 t cinnamon

3/4 t ground turmeric

1 T minced garlic

2 T lemon juice

1 1/2 cups (1 can) coconut milk

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

9 chicken thighs or 4 chicken breasts (I cut mine in half so they weren't as thick)

Directions:

1.  Whisk together above ingredients and place them in a gallon ziplock bag, add 9 chicken thighs (you could also use chicken breasts).  Close ziplock and massage marinade into chicken.  Place mixture in fridge to marinate for 6 hours (I did for 12 hours because I had errands all day and it was fine).  

2.  Preheat oven to 350.

3.  On the stove top, heat a cast iron skillet (or oven safe skillet) on med-high heat with a few Tbsp of olive oil (I used coconut oil).  Brown the chicken, skin side down (mine was boneless, skinless) for approximately 5 minutes or until the chicken is a nice golden brown.

4.  Turn the chicken over.  Pour remaining marinade over chicken.

5.  Bake chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees, which is approximately 20 minutes.

This week I made it with this butternut squash and I loved the 2 together. 

I served it with Basmati Rice. Yum!

Also, I have found my children think it is too spicy, so I won’t put as much, if any, red pepper flakes in next time.

Cilantro Hummus

Combine the following in a food processor or blender:
2 cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
½ cup tahini (I didn't have any and it was really good w/o it too)
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of two lemons
½ bunch cilantro
½ cucumber, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup of pickle juice
1 tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. each salt and paprika

I found this on pinterest and my whole family loves it! I changed a couple of little things. Enjoy it with pretzels, on homemade bread, or in your sandwich wrap.

This is the site it was on:
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/cityofate/2009/02/appetite_for_instruction_hummu.php

Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

Super flavorful, easy, healthy, and inexpensive . . . I think this is the perfect recipe!  It says it takes 45 minutes, but 30 minutes of that is just letting it simmer. If your local grocery store doesn't carry red lentils on the same aisle as the beans and rice, check the ethnic food section.  I bought mine at Wal Mart, so they should be readily available and easy to find.  I usually double this, just because we love it so much and go through the left-overs really quickly.  According to my cost analysis, one serving costs only $1!  I would highly recommend this one.

Time:  45 minutes

Yield:  4 servings 

3 tablespoons olive oil, more for drizzling

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp salt, more to taste

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Pinch of chili powder or cayenne, more to taste

1 quart chicken or vegetable broth 

1 cup red lentils (found at most grocery stores in the dried beans section)

3 large carrots, peeled and diced

Juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste (I used concentrated lemon juice, 1 tsp)

3 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (I used more to taste b/c we love cilantro)

1.  In a large pot, heat 3 Tablespoons olive oil over high heat until hot and shimmering.  Add onion and garlic, and saute until golden, about 4 minutes.

2.  Stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder or cayenne, and saute for 2 minutes longer.

3.  Add broth, 1 cup water, lentils and carrot.  Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to medium-low.  Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes.  Taste and add salt if necessary.

4.  Using an immersion or regular blender or food processor, puree half the soup then add it back to the pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky.  (We like our soup chunky, so I skipped this step completely.)

5.  Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice and cilantro.  Serve soup drizzled with olive oil and dusted lightly with chili powder if desired.

Image courtesy of www.figswithbri.com 

Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup

This soup is very easy to make and very nutritious.  Serve with a crusty bread,  garlic bread, or grilled cheese sandwiches.  It's delicious with croutons in it, too.

Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup
36 ounces peeled, seeded butternut squash, cubed (the size Costco sells)
4 teaspoons olive oil
Salt
1 onion, chopped
3 cups chicken stock
3 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon red curry paste
1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 can coconut milk
chopped cilantro for garnish
Sirachi sauce, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400.  Line a cookie sheet with a silpat or foil.  Spread the squash cubes on the sheet and drizzle with about 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil.  Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.  Roast in the hot oven until the squash is soft and just starting to turn brown.  Heat some oil in a large soup pot.  Add the chopped onion and cook until soft.  Add the stock, roasted squash, and curry paste.  Bring all to a boil.  Cover and turn to simmer.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add the lime juice and coconut milk.  With an immersible blender (or you can do it in batches in your regular blender), blend all together.  Add Sirachi( go easy; a bit at a time.  This stuff is hot!) and salt to taste.  Garnish in bowls with cilantro and croutons, if desired. Though not pictured, the croutons really make it good.  You can also serve with lime wedges.

Pasta Taco Salad

I tried this recipe from another food blog and tried it while Kristen was here visiting. It was really good, and the leftovers were yummy for several days after. I love dinners like this in the summer when it's just too hot to heat the oven.

Pasta Taco Salad

1 pound pasta ( farfalle, wagonwheel, spiral, whatever you like)

Salt

1 (10 oz pkg.) frozen corn (I used two cans of drained canned corn)

1 1/2 cup salsa

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

3 roma tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3 T. fresh lime juice

1 large avocado, peeled, seeded, and diced

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

Freshly ground pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

Dash of Tabasco

Cook Pasta in salted water until Al dante. Drain pasta and stir in frozen corn to cool the pasta and stop the cooking. Toss the pasta with the salsa, beans, tomatoes, cilantro, and cheese. Make a dressing with the lime juice, spices, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well, then whisk in the olive oil and Tabasco. Add the dressing to the pasta. In a small bowl, toss the avocado with some more lime juice. Serve the salad with the avocado on the side to be added. If you don't add the avocado, the salad will keep for several days and makes great leftovers.

Red Bean Salad

I found this recipe in a magazine a couple of years ago. It was good, but it seemed to lack substance and moisture, so I changed several things in it and Blake and I just love it now.
Ingredients:
3 1/2 TBSP Red Wine Vinegar
2 1/2 TBSP olive oil
2 cups Dark red kidney beans, drained (or 1 can)
3 TBSP candied pecans (original called for toasted walnuts, use what you like, I candied ours and it was yummy)
3 TBSP chopped cilantro
1 cup chopped apple
8 oz. cooked pasta (I did a mix of rotini and penne, use whatever you have)

Combine ingredients and serve. Add vinegar and/or olive oil as needed to satisfy your moisture texture needs.