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Food, Savory

Sucker Punch Mexi Dip

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Sucker Punch is the ultimate geeky guy’s dream. Yup, I said it. Don’t believe me, watch the movie closely. You’ve got zombies, robots, women in flattering clothing, giant samurai creatures, and more.

Now despite all that, I really love the movie. So for an evening snack while watching it, we decided to vamp up a chip dip. Give it a little punch, if you will.

Sucker Punch Mexi Dip

Need:
1 can of low fat refried beans
2 chicken breasts
1 jalapeno
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 small onion, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 tablespoon of each cayenne, chili powder, garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon of ground black pepper

Heavily season the chicken with spices and cook on medium until cooked through. Let cool and shred chicken. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 300 F. In glass baking pan (9 by 9 works well), put refried beans in bottom. Smooth out, then layer onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, and green peppers. Add the next layer of shredded chicken. Top with cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil, place in oven and back for 15 minutes. Remove cover and cook until cheese is golden brown, about another 10 to 15 minutes.

Dig in and serve with tortilla chips.

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Food, Savory

Broccoli Cheddar Quesadilla

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Sometimes a cheese quesadilla is just not enough. Life needs color, and so does a quick cheesy meal. For this light dinner treat, I took it upon myself to add some punch and vitamins.

Take a sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese, some cayenne, a dash of cumin, and a sprinkling of broccoli (diced) and place it into a flour tortilla. I usually have my frying pan on medium-low and place a tortilla in the pan. I place the ingredients in half of the tortilla and then fold over the other half. Flip it when the under side is crispy and the cheese is starting to melt. That’s usually about four minutes or so on each side.

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Food, Savory

Tex Mex Sweet Potato “Taco”

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I got suckered into watching a TV dating show the other day. Like any good single woman, I said, “I’m just watching it to make fun of this concept, again.” I mean, it seems hard enough to find someone, let alone find someone through a media frenzy. So I sat down and got suckered in, mostly because it seems slightly crazy to go on national television looking for love. How do you know it’s real? Are they just on the show to get publicity? To get money out of the high rollin’ dudes? Are the guys only willing to date/marry someone because the women are willing to throw themselves in front of millions of people and possibly make a fool out of themselves?

Gah! Just thinking about it makes my head spin. And the best way to clear my mind? Cooking.

So I set out to perfect the taco.. with a sweet potato? Yeah, you read that right. And I think it came out fabulously.

Tex Mex Sweet Potato Taco

Gathering:
1/2 pound ground chicken
1 can of low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 small can of yellow corn, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon cayenne
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup of white wine
Sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In a saute pan on medium heat, add olive oil, onions and peppers and cook for a few minutes until onion is softened. Add ground chicken and spices, and cook until chicken is cooked through. Add black beans and cook for another five minutes. Deglaze pan with white wine and once alcohol is cooked off, but mixture is still moist, add corn. Cook until warm.

Wash sweet potato and poke holes in the skin (so it won’t explode in the microwave). Cook for four to five minutes in microwave. Turn over, cook for another four to five minutes until soft through. Let cool, cut open, and pour on the taco meat mixture over the opened sweet potato and add shredded cheese. Enjoy!

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Food, Savory

Crispy Chicken Thighs

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The colonel has been calling. The fried, crispy, breaded chicken has been creeping into my dreams and I don’t know what to do. I can’t find myself at 10 o’clock at night pouring over a bucket of chicken. I just can’t let that happen. I have to avoid that crunchy crust, and get it without the carb overload. But how? Luckily, I think I found a way. Using skinless, boneless chicken thighs and sea salt.

Hear me out. I know I’m not going to actually get chicken breaded with the fabulous-ness that I want, but I’m going to try my best. So I salted and black peppered the heck out of some chicken thighs, then placed them in a warmed saute pan with olive oil in the pan.

The goal is to get the chicken cooked through on the first side so that it pulls from the pan easily, has a golden crust, and is cooked halfway through so you can flip it and cook it on the other side. I’d say this takes about 8 minutes or so on medium to medium-high heat. Cook through the chicken after flipping it.

When you take it out of the pan, place it on some paper towels to get rid of the excess oil. Let cool for a few minutes, then enjoy the golden, crispy chicken things. Simple, lovely, and totally gave me that crispy chicken need. Just remember, use chicken thighs. They won’t dry out like white meat and lets you keep it cooking longer. Also, a big plus is the thigh meat is cheap! Perfect for a single gal on a budget!

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