Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

Every time I've started a post recently, my first thought is, "I found this on Pinterest." Really, once I'm not potty training/selling a house/building a house/feeling better, I will do a sappy love letter post to tell those of you who aren't yet addicted to the site all about it.

So, I found this recipe on Pinterest :-) We aren't big fans of Mexican food, so we don't do tacos pretty ever, but I was intrigued. This was fantastic. I LOVED the cilantro lime pesto, so I'm sure we'll make it again, but maybe serve with rice or something.

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

Ingredients:

• cooking spray for sauteeing
• 2-3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in bite sized pieces
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup cilantro lime pesto (recipe follows)
• flour or corn tortillas
• preferred taco garnishes (salsa, sour cream, cheese, etc)

Cilantro Lime Pesto
recipe adapted from Food Network

• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves--do not include stems. (I used 1/2 cup dried cilantro, because that's what I had on hand)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sliced, toasted almonds
• 3 tablespoons chopped, fresh garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoon lime juice (I used 1 lime)
• 1/2 cup shredded asiago (I used Parmesan, but Romano can be substituted too)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup chicken broth (I used Better Than Bullion)

Instructions:
1. Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

We buy all our meat locally. We buy about 40# of chicken at a time, then spend an afternoon packaging it up. Recently, I started cubing several pounds before freezing it. It makes my life so much easier.

2. In a skillet sprayed with cooking spray, saute chicken over medium high heat and cooked through.

3. While chicken is cooking, make the awesome pesto, by mix together the cilantro, olive oil, almonds, garlic, lime juice, cheese, salt and chicken broth in a blender or food processor on low speed for 2 minutes.

I used the large bowl of my food processor, which is why my pesto is chunkier, which I like. If I would have used the small bowl, I'm sure it would have been smoother, especially if I let it go the full two minutes.

4. Toss cooked, seasoned chicken with the pesto.

 5. Fill tortillas with chicken and top with preferred garnishes.

Eet smakelijk!

Joelen, who created this recipe, offer this advice for making this recipe ahead as a freezer meal:
Cook chicken as directed as above and cool. Place chicken in freezer bag. Prepare cilantro lime pesto as directed below. Place a 1/2 cup of pesto in a small storage bag then place inside the freezer bag with the chicken. Freeze. When ready to prepare, defrost and heat chicken. Toss chicken with defrosted pesto. If desired, heat chicken and pesto together before filling tacos.

Crockpot Hutspot

I am so excited! Last night, I successfully converted one of my husband's favorite (time-consuming!) recipes into a crockpot recipe. Hello, crockpot hutspot! If you don't have a crockpot, you can still make this traditional Dutch dish the old-fashioned way).

I've written about hutspot before, but I'm so happy to be able to make it without standing in the kitchen for an hour and a half.

Ingredients:

• 6 onions (3 cups)
• 6 carrots (2 cups)
• 8 potatoes (5 cups)
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• salt to taste (I actually like to use garlic salt)
• pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Dice onions, carrots and potatoes and place in crockpot. This is still the most time-consuming part. If you really like this recipe, you could chop twice the amount and freeze the extra in a bag for the future.

2. Add butter, condensed milk, salt and pepper.

3. Cook on low for 3.5 - 4 hours.

 4. Vegetables should be very soft, and mashable with a fork when done.

 5. Use a potato masher to mash the vegetables. If you have an immersion blender, that would give your hutspot a smoother texture. 

6. Serve in bowl.

Many people like to enjoy hutspot with sausage. The Hubs doesn't care for it as much, so we often eat it plain. If you do want to include sausage, just puncture it with a fork and then place it on top of the vegetables before starting the crockpot.

Eet smakelijk!

Indonesian Pilaf

Sometime I'll have to make a post about how I organize my recipes, both online and at home. I started tearing recipes out of magazines long before I started cooking them, and this recipe for Indonesians Pilaf came from Real Simple a few years ago.

For a long time, I kept skipping over this one because I thought I had to buy the Kashi packet. Finally I read the fine print and realized I could use any grain I wanted. Dutch cuisine includes a lot of Indonesian foods, given the whole Dutch occupation thing. Politics aside, it sounded yummy and I loved all the colors.

Indonesian Pilaf

adapted from Kashi.com

*notes*

I halved the original recipe because it seems like a massive amount for the 2.5 of us. Both of the adults had two bowls (!) and we still had two generous servings for the hubs to take to work for lunch.

Also, we don't necessarily buy labeled organic produce, but we do buy from a great local grocery store/farmer's market-y type place.

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of Kashi™ 7 Whole Grain Pilaf (I used 2 cups dry couscous--4 cups when cooked)
• 1/2 cup whole peanuts
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1-1/2 cloves organic garlic, sliced
• 1/2 medium organic red onion, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 cup organic raisins
• 1 small organic carrot, cut into match sticks (1 diced mine)
• 1/2 cup organic red cabbage, diced (buy the smallest one you can find, because you'll have a ton left over. The hubs helpfully pointed out that in Holland you can get this pre-shredded in small amounts).
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/8 cup water
• 1/2 organic red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/4 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped (I used a couple teaspoons dried)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoons brown rice vinegar (I used white rice vinegar, because that's what I had)
• 1 teaspoons fresh ginger root, grated (I used ground ginger)
• 1/2 teaspoons crushed red chili flakes
• 1 teaspoons evaporated cane juice crystals (I used raw sugar)

Instructions:

• Cook Kashi Pilaf (or couscous, or quinoa, or rice) according to directions on the package and set aside.

• Dry toast peanuts in a small skillet until golden brown and set aside.

• Sauté garlic and onion in first 2 teaspoons of sesame oil in a large skillet until limp.

The food processor went a little nuts with the red onion.

• Add cumin, coriander and stir.

I love my cute little steel bowls from Ikea.

• Add raisins, carrots, cabbage, salt, water and stir well.

• Cover with lid, reduce heat to low, simmer for 3 minutes then remove from heat.


• In a large mixing bowl, combine sauté mixture with cooked Kashi Pilaf, red bell pepper, cilantro, toasted peanuts and mix well.

• In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients, whisk together, add to pilaf mixture, stir well and enjoy.

Nutrition Facts:

Serving Size: 2/3 cup

Calories: 180

Chicken Fried Steak

We eat fairly healthy around here. Between the overwhelming responsibility of teaching a child to have a healthy relationship with food and my need to lose a few, we've been fairly intentional about reducing the amount of processed foods, snack foods and fatty foods we eat.

This arrangement has worked out pretty well for D and I. Our son is a great eater, often getting a good healthy snack of the raw ingredient of dinner (especially sun dried tomatoes), and I have lost thirty pounds since I started cooking at home.

My husband, on the other hand, has a freakishly high metabolism, so keeping weight on is a struggle. Not the most inspiring person to have around while you're counting calories, but he's cute, so that makes up for it a little bit. In general, he eats about a double portion of what I eat, and while he eats full calorie leftover lunches, I eat yogurt with fruit. He has gained about ten pounds since we married 3 1/2 years ago, but every once in a while, he drops a few pounds. That's when I need to throw in a more substantial dinner for him.

Whenever we go out to dinner (not often, usually only when we travel), the hubs will often order a chicken fried steak, which is similar to the European schnitzel. I found this recipe by Alton Brown. Since Chef Brown has yet to steer me wrong, I decided to give it a whirl.

What I learned is...I really don't care for fried food anymore, and my lifelong lack of love for gravy is affirmed again. Even the hubs, who helped with the cooking tonight, wasn't a huge fan. Wonder how long the leftovers will sit in the freezer before they get tossed....

Chicken Fried Steak
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2006

Prep Time:45 min

Inactive Prep Time:10 min

Cook Time:30 min

Level: Intermediate
Serves: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef bottom round, trimmed of excess fat
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 whole eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

• Cut the meat with the grain into 1/2-inch thick slices. Season each piece on both sides with the salt and pepper.

I started with just over two pounds and thought it made a LOT of cuts.

• Place the flour into a pie pan. Place the eggs into a separate pie pan.

I like these Gladware containers for breading.

• Dredge the meat on both sides in the flour. Tenderize the meat, using a needling device, until each slice is 1/4-inch thick.

I really didn't think I'd use this thing as much as I do!

After the fact, I realized that I forgot to dredge the meat in flour before tenderizing. Oops.

• Once tenderized, dredge the meat again in the flour, followed by the egg and finally in the flour again. Repeat with all the pieces of meat. Place the meat onto a plate and allow it to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before cooking.

Since I had so many slices, I could have easily used a little more flour.

• Place enough of the vegetable oil to cover the bottom of a 12-inch slope-sided skillet and set over medium-high heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the meat in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook each piece on both sides until golden brown, approximately 4 minutes per side.

Cooking the flip slide.

• Remove the steaks to a wire rack set in a half sheet pan and place into the oven. Repeat until all of the meat is browned.

I love my tongs, too.

• Add the remaining vegetable oil, or at least 1 tablespoon, to the pan. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of the flour left over from the dredging.


• Add the chicken broth and deglaze the pan. Whisk until the gravy comes to a boil and begins to thicken. Add the milk and thyme and whisk until the gravy coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5 to 10 minutes.

• Season to taste, with more salt and pepper, if needed. Serve the gravy over the steaks.