Cilantro-Lime Rice

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups water plus 2 Tbsp. water
  • 1 cup long-grain white rice
  • ¼ teaspoon coarse salt (we used kosher salt)
  • ½ cup fresh cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (we used extra-virgin olive oil)
  • 1 garlic clove

Directions

  1. Take a medium-sized saucepan out and pour the water into it, turning the  heat up high enough for boiling to occur. Once the water’s boiling, add in the rice and salt, putting a lid on the saucepan afterwards. Turn the heat down so it’s just at a simmer and let the rice cook for 16 to 18 minutes or until the water’s absorbed and the rice is tender.
  2. While the rice is cooking, get your blender and take the lid off of it. Add the cilantro, lime juice, oil, garlic, and the 2 tablespoons of water into the blender. Put the lid back on the blender and blend until the cilantro mixture’s smooth. Once the rice is cooked, stir the smooth cilantro mixture into it, fluffing the rice with a fork.
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We took a bite of this and it didn’t seem to pop with flavor so we added some more salt and we could really taste the lime and cilantro afterwards.

Recipe source unknown.

Take care everybody !

Cheese Enchiladas with Green Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg. (6 oz.) fresh baby spinach
  • 2 Tbsp. butter (we used salted butter)
  • 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup half-and-half cream
  • 1 cup 2% milk (we used ½ cup whole milk and ½ cup skim milk)
  • 1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chilies, drained
  • 3 green onions, chopped
  • 1/3 cup minced fresh cilantro
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1 ¾ tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 ½ tsp. ground coriander
  • ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • ½ cup reduced-fat sour cream
  • Enchiladas
    • 2 ½ cups (10 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese (we used sharp cheddar)
    • 1 ½ cups (6 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese (we used pepper jack cheese)
    • ½ cup finely chopped onion (we used yellow onion)
    • 1 Tbsp. minced fresh cilantro
    • 12 corn tortillas (6 in.), warmed

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Take a large nonstick skillet out and place it on the stovetop (they never say what to set the heat to so we just went with medium heat), once heated add in the spinach and stir until wilted. Drain the spinach (we didn’t have any liquid left in the skillet by the time the spinach wilted) and place it on a plate for the time being. Now that the skillet is empty, add in the butter and let it get completely melted. Stir in the flour until the mixture looks smooth. Gradually pour in the cream and milk, bringing it up to a boil. Stir constantly for 2 minutes or until it gets slightly thickened.
  2. Add the chilies, green onions, cilantro, garlic, spices and spinach into the skillet, stirring to combine*. Take the skillet off the heat and allow the skillet mixture to cool down a little before it gets placed in a food processor. Put the lid on the processor and process until the sauce mixture is pureed. Stir in the sour cream and leave the sauce off to the side for now (we put the pureed sauce in a mixing bowl before combining it with the sour cream so that we knew everything was completely mixed together).
  3. Take a large mixing bowl out and combine the cheeses together in it, scooping 1 cup of it out and leaving it off to the side for now. Add the onion and cilantro into the large mixing bowl with the cheese, stirring to make sure everything’s equally distributed. Take a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish and grease the inside of it (we used nonstick cooking spray). Take one of the warmed tortillas and place close to ¼ cup of the onion cheese mixture down the middle of it. Roll the tortilla up and place it seam-side down in the greased baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas**.
  4. Pour the sauce over the top of the enchiladas, followed by sprinkling that 1 cup of cheese afterwards. Stick the dish in the oven, uncovered, to cook for 25-30 minutes or until it’s heated through.

*We thought the sauce tasted a little bland so we added some salt and it tasted much better, really helped bring out the flavors !

**If you’re wondering how to get that many tortillas into the baking dish, we found it’s easy if you lay them this way:

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If you love cheese then you’ll love these enchiladas ! The onions add a crunch to the dish that would be missing otherwise.

Recipe source unknown.

Take care everybody !

Mexican Red Rice

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • ½ cup chopped onion (1 medium) (we went with the ½ cup measurement and we used a yellow onion)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground ancho chile pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup long grain rice
  • 1 (14.5 ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth (we used reduced-sodium chicken broth)
  • ¾ cup Roasted Salsa Roja or purchased salsa (we used the Roasted Salsa Roja)
  • ¼ cup water
  • ½ cup finely snipped fresh cilantro (we minced our cilantro)

Directions

  1. Take a medium-sized saucepan out and pour the oil in, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, add in the onion, garlic, ancho chile pepper and the salt.  Stir constantly for 2 minutes before adding in the rice, continuing to stir for an additional minute. Add in the broth, Roasted Salsa Roja, and the water. Bring the dish to a boil, turning the heat down afterwards so it’s at a simmer. Put the lid on the saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender.
  2. Take the saucepan off the heat, taking the lid off afterwards. Cover the top with a clean kitchen towel and put the lid back on afterwards. Don’t mess with the saucepan at all for 5 minutes so the towel can absorb any excess moisture. Take the towel and lid off and add the cilantro into the rice, using a fork to mix everything together and help fluff the rice.

Supposed to serve 6 (2/3 cup per serving)

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When we first took a bite of this, honestly we thought it was bland but when we added a little extra salt, it really brought the flavors out. We kept coming back to nibble on it before dinner, because it was just that good !

Recipe source unknown.

Take care everybody !

Roasted Salsa Roja

Ingredients

  • 3 tomatoes (about 1 ½ pounds total), quartered and cored
  • 1/3 cup chopped onion (1 small) (we used a yellow onion)
  • 5 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1 fresh jalapeño chile pepper, stemmed, halved, and seeded (we left the seeds in)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (we used 2 tablespoons)
  • 1 cup snipped fresh cilantro
  • ¼ to 1/3 cup lime juice (we used ¼ cup)
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt (we used roughly ½ of table salt)

Directions

  1. Make sure your oven rack is set 5 to 6 inches from the broiler. Preheat the broiler. Take a large mixing bowl out and toss the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and chile pepper together in it. Pour enough oil in to coat everything. Take a 15 x 10 x 1-inch baking pan out (we lined ours with aluminum foil) and spoon the mixture onto the pan, spreading it out so everything is in a single layer.
  2. Broil the vegetables for 8 minutes, turning them over afterwards. Broil for another 6 to 8 minutes or until the vegetables start to darken around the edges (7 minutes did the job for us). Take the baking  pan out of the oven and let it rest on a wire rack for 10 minutes, letting everything cool down.
  3. Take the roasted vegetables as well as any juices on the baking pan and place them in a food processor, pulsing on and off until everything’s coarsely chopped. Add the cilantro, lime juice and sugar into the food processor, continuing to pulse until the salsa has reached your own preferred consistency. Season to taste with salt. You can either eat this right away or put it in a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 3 day.
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While this tastes good, we were surprised that this didn’t taste spicy at all since we left the jalapeño’s ribs and seeds in the mixture. We really enjoyed the lime flavor. It was just a nice blend of flavors that we enjoyed. As much as you might enjoy some salsa from jars, nothing can beat the flavors of a freshly made salsa ! We pureed our salsa more because I don’t care for the texture that bigger chunks of tomatoes have but whichever texture you choose, the flavor is there !

Recipe source unknown.

Take care everybody !

Chicken Pozole

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp. olive oil (we used extra-virgin olive oil)
  • 1 lb. boneless chicken breasts and thighs, cubed (we cut ours into 1-inch cubes)
  • 3 Tbsp. ancho chile powder, divided
  • Salt and pepper to taste (we used Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper)
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 jalapeños chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 8 cups chicken broth (we used reduced-sodium chicken broth)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp. dried thyme
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 (25-ounce) can hominy (we used Juanita’s Mexican Style Hominy)
  • 2 Tbsp. ancho paste
    • 5 dried anchos*
    • 1 Tbsp. olive oil (we used extra-virgin olive oil)
    • ¼ cup chopped yellow onions
    • 1 clove garlic, chopped
    • Salt to taste (we used table salt)
  • 3 ounces tomato paste
  • Lime wedges, for serving
  • Cotija cheese**, cilantro and sliced roasted jalapeños (we took out the ribs and seeds before roasting) *** for garnish

Directions

  1. Start off by making the ancho paste:
    1. Take a large skillet out and set the heat to medium, adding the anchos in afterwards. Cook the peppers for a few minutes on each side or until they become fragrant (our peppers puffed up while toasting). Place the anchos in a large bowl and top with boiling water (we actually just put our peppers in the saucepan with the boiling water and turned off the heat). Cover the bowl (or saucepan in our case) and let them sit for roughly 20 minutes to soften.
    2. Take the anchos out of the water. Remove the stems and then slice them open so you can get all the seeds out. Place the stemmed and seeded peppers in a food processor and puree them afterwards.
    3. Take a skillet out (we used the same one the anchos got toasted in) and pour the tablespoon of olive oil in, setting the heat to medium. Once the oil’s hot, add in the ¼ cup of onions, stirring constantly for 3 to 4 minutes or until softened.
    4. Add the chopped clove of garlic into the skillet, continuing to cook for one additional minute, stirring occasionally (we kept stirring constantly). Take the skillet off the heat and add the onions and garlic to the food processor, add in a pinch of salt as well and puree until a thick paste forms.
  2. Take a large pot out and pour the teaspoon of olive oil in, setting the heat to medium.
  3. Season the cubed chicken with 1 teaspoon of the ancho chile powder as well as salt and pepper. Sear the chicken for a few minutes until they get browned.
  4. Add the onions and pepper into the pot, cooking for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic in and stir constantly for 1 minute.
  5. Add in the following ingredients, stirring to combine: broth, bay leaf, thyme, cumin, remaining chile powder, hominy, ancho paste and tomato paste. Turn the heat down to low and let the soup simmer for 30 minutes or longer (30 minutes did it for us).
  6. Serve in bowl with lime juice squeezed over the top and add the garnishes on afterwards.

*Ancho chile peppers are actually just dried poblanos. If you’ve never seen one before, this is what they look:

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**We got our Cotija cheese to break apart by using a fork as seen here:

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***We roasted our jalapeños at 400 degrees for roughly 26 minutes but honestly, leaving the jalapeño raw might be just as good since they’d add a nice crunch to the dish which is missing otherwise.

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Overall this was a great dish but for ourselves, we prefer Bush’s hominy over this brand. The soup tastes good before even adding the lime juice but afterwards it adds a nice touch of acidity and brightness to the soup ! Surprisingly, this was not a spicy dish and our 2 jalapeños (which we left the ribs and seeds in) that we chopped up were both 4 ¼-inches long !

We know that plating is not our strong point….yet ! But this is tasty and we’ll be making it many more times in the future.

We got this recipe from Chile Pepper magazine.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Juanita’s, Bush’s, or Chile Pepper magazine.

Take care everybody !