Thursday was the staff appreciation lunch at my kid’s school and the PAC had planned a Mexican themed feast for all of the great staff in the school. I signed-up to bring a salad and of course, was looking for something that would fit with the theme. I came across this recipe on Divas Can Cook and it not only looked incredible, but had great reviews from their readers. I actually love both corn and black beans, but since going on The Plan have realized that neither would be considered “friendly foods” for me personally. Knowing my body and how it reacts to certain foods doesn’t mean I can’t eat them, it just means that I am aware and more mindful of what else I eat on the same day and the day after. So, you guessed it…..I made a double batch, one for the luncheon and one for dinner on Thursday night.
Let’s just say the Diva’s did not disappoint. I loved the vegetable combination and although I was a bit skeptical when making the dressing, it came together to make a really yummy dish. We ate it as a salad along side the Chicken Fajitas we had for dinner, but I can see it being a great topping on rice or even served over a chicken breast. I am sure it would make a great dip with nachos as well. Yummy!
Black Bean Corn Salad
This recipe was taken directly from the Divas Can Cook site and I followed it almost exactly. I did include the optional avocado and only used 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I also used freshly squeezed lime juice as the recipe suggests.
Ingredients:
11 oz sweet corn, drained (I used a can of Peaches & Cream)
15 oz black beans, rinsed & drained
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1 pint grape tomatoes, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, diced (Not optional if you ask me – delicious!!)
Chili Lime Dressing:
1½ Tablespoon fresh lime juice
½ teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon chili powder (can add more)
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cumin
Instructions:
Combine the beans and chopped vegetables in a large bowl.
Mix the Chili Lime Dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
Add the dressing to salad and toss to combine.
Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
I let mine salad sit for several and it was still great! (However, I only added the avocado and tomatoes about an hour before serving time.)
You can see in this picture that I didn’t have avocado on hand and didn’t add greens either…still delicious though!
This Chicken Fajita recipe is one of our family favourites and makes the menu at least twice a month. This recipe was taken from a collection of Mini Canadian Living Cookbooks that I got “free with a fill” at a local gas station when I was in university. When I look back now, I realize how lucky I was to have managed to collect the whole set ~ LOL! I tried to search for it on the Canadian Living archives, but couldn’t find it.
Chicken Fajitas
Serves 4.
Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 Tablespoons lime juice (preferably freshly squeezed)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 – 8 flour tortillas (depending on how much you stuff each)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 small sweet red pepper, cut in thin strips
1 hot banana pepper, cut in thin strips
salt
Slice chicken crosswise into strips. In a bowl, combine the stock, lime juice, garlic, cumin, coriander and pepper. Add chicken and stir to coat; set aside. (The recipe doesn’t really indicate how long to marinate, but I like to let mine sit a minimum of 10 minutes, but up to an hour).
The recipe suggests warming the tortillas by wrapping them in foil and placing them in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until heated through. (I always skip this step.)
Heat 1 Tablespoon of the oil in a skillet over high heat. Drain the chicken, reserving the marinade. Pat the chicken dry (I often skip this as well) and add it to the hot skillet. Stir-fry for 4 to 5 minutes or until it is no longer pink inside. Remove the chicken and set it aside.
Add the remaining oil to skillet. Stir-fry onion, red peppers and banana peppers for 1 minute. Pour in reserved marinade; cook, stirring for about 30 seconds or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Return the chicken to skillet and heat through. Season with salt to taste.
Garnish: Spoon salsa and tomatoes over the tortilla. Top with the chicken mixture, sliced avocado and a dollop of sour cream. Fold and serve.
This recipe has great flavour and is a pretty healthy meal. It is often included in our weekly menu plan because it is easy to make and liked by the whole family. Enjoy!
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It is has just been one of those days. I finally got a moment to sit down and post and it’s already 9pm. Actually, anyone who knows me well will be totally surprised that I am even attempting to string any words together on a page at this time of night. Most evenings, this is my bedtime. Occasionally I make until 10, but generally speaking I am completely out and dead to the world by 9 or shortly after. Really you say? Oh, yeah, after teaching between 40 and 50 kindergarteners all day, making the commute home across the city, cooking dinner, tidying, running the kids’ to their activities, refereeing the sibling rivalry matches and dodging my hormonal daughter’s “bullets”, I am done by about 7, but somehow manage to hang in there until 9. I try to blog ahead and post date if I can, but not this week. I was recovering from parent teacher interviews over the weekend and just didn’t have the energy to spend hours at the computer. So, this week, I am trying to fit my blogging into my already crazy schedule. Note to self….this doesn’t work well.
Anyways, the good news is that today was my day off and I managed to try two new recipes. I had “pinned” this recipe months ago, and finally decided to try it out. Of course, we were all going in different directions at supper time, so I don’t even know if my husband enjoyed the meal as much as Shay and I did or not. We both loved it! Eden refused to eat it because it was “green”. Eventually, she did eat half of an enchilada, but that was only because I told her she would get nothing else to eat unless she ate some supper. She said it wasn’t bad and apologized for not giving it a chance. She certainly didn’t rave about it, but I think they’d have to be smothered in chocolate sauce to get her stamp of approval these days. All of a sudden, she is very picky – ugh!!
This recipe was posted by The Holzmanns, but she offers credit to Give Me Some Oven as the original poster. These enchiladas are different from any I have tasted before. I was totally intrigued when I first found the recipe ~ I couldn’t wait to see how so many of my favourites were all brought together in such a unique way. Mmmm….cilantro, lime, avocado, chicken….what could be better. These almost have a “fresh” springy flavour – very different. Creamy, yet light and oh so yummy. I wouldn’t change a thing. I used the rotisserie chicken like Hannah recommended and from start to finish it took me about an hour and a half to have them ready to serve. Prep took almost an hour. Next time, I will follow Hannah’s lead and make a double batch, so I can freeze on pan for a future meal. I didn’t want to do this on the first go around in case they didn’t pass the family test.
Chicken Enchiladas with Avocado Cream Sauce
Enchilada Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced (I diced mine)
2 poblano peppers, stemmed and thinly sliced (I used one large jalapeno and omitted the poblano because I couldn’t find them)
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
8-10 flour tortillas (I used 8 large tortillas)
4 cups chopped cooked chicken(rotisserie works best)
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the flour, whisking until golden and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes.
Slowly whisk the broth into the flour mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
Stir in the sour cream, cumin, salt, garlic powder and pepper, whisking if necessary to remove any lumps.
Remove from heat and transfer mixture to a blender or food processor. Add avocados, cilantro and lime juice, and pulse until smooth and well-blended. (Be very careful blending hot liquids — the heat will expand! So be sure to remove the lid occasionally so that the heat can escape.)
Season with additional salt or pepper if needed.
Enchilada Filling:
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, poblano and jalapeno, and saute for 5-6 minutes until the onions are cooked and translucent.
Remove from heat.
To assemble the enchiladas, place a tortilla on a flat surface.
Spread a tablespoon or two of the avocado sauce down the middle of the tortilla. Then layer on some of the vegetable mixture, shredded chicken and cheese.
Carefully roll the tortilla and place it seam side down in the baking dish.
Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
Drizzle the top with about half of the remaining avocado cream sauce, then cover the dish with foil and bake for about 20 minutes, or until tortillas are heated through and begin to harden.
Remove from the oven, then serve individual enchiladas drizzled with the remainder of the avocado cream sauce. You can also garnish with additional cilantro, cheese, and/or sour cream.
I literally popped these out of the oven 4 minutes before we had to leave for hockey practise. No time to take photos, here is a quick snap shot of the half I managed to scarf down before racing out the door! Delicious.
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