salsa

Pico de Gallo Recipe

June 14, 2017

For me, most Mexican food is incomplete without a little pico de gallo. The slightly sweet, spicy, and acidic salsa is the perfect condiment to go with my tacos, tortilla chips, burrito bowls, tamales, slads, chicken… the list goes on.

While I normally keep a container of store-bought pico de gallo in the fridge (the Walmart grocery brand is actually my favorite, believe it or not), I recently found myself with tacos to eat and no pico de gallo to go with them.

Thankfully, my over-buying at the grocery store came in handy for once and I happened to have everything I needed to make my own!

HOW I MADE IT

Pico de gallo is pretty simple. It consists of tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, garlic, cilantro, and lime juice. Don’t forget the lime juice. It ties everything together!

I started by seeding and chopping the tomatoes. Then chopping up half an onion so that the pieces of tomato and onion were similar sizes. To get rid of the harshness of the onion, I soaked the onion piece in water while I prepped everything else.

I wanted the garlic flavor to be evenly dispersed throughout the pico, so I “pureed” it with my knife. To do that, I first minced the garlic, then sprinkled coarse salt on top and scraped the blade of my knife over the salted garlic. I hold the blade at almost a 90 degree angle and go back and forth several times until it’s a paste-like consistency.

Then I finely chop up some cilantro and some jalapeno.

Everything goes into a bowl with the juice of 1 lime, some salt and pepper. Then it goes to the fridge to “marinate”. Pico de gallo is sooo much better once it’s had a chance to sit in it’s juice and get all happy

It only takes a few minutes in the fridge (30 at the least), then the pico is ready to eat!

Homemade pico de gallo is so much easier than you think, and its a heck of a lot better than the stuff at the store (even the stuff at Walmart). I forgot how much I like making my own because I can control the heat, and more importantly, the garlic! I like my pico to have a distinct garlic flavor (you’d be surprised at how many store bought picos leave out the garlic completely!). But if that’s not your speed, then you can pare it back!

Next time you find yourself without some salsa on hand, make your own instead of running to the store. Plus, it’s a good opportunity to work on some knife skills!

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Easy Shrimp Ceviche

June 5, 2017

Since returning home from Hawaii, I have been on a bit of a seafood kick (exhibit A). If you know me, you know I have never been on a seafood kick ever in my life. But I am embracing it with open arms. Unfortunately, due to my lack of experience with seafood, I am not the best at cooking it. Which is why I am drawn to recipes where I don’t have do too much cooking (again, see exhibit A).

Some shrimp ceviche recipes that you may see around the internet don’t actually the cook the shrimp AT ALL. Which is great if you don’t feel like cooking or don’t have access to a heat source.

However, I did have access to a heat source and I had no desire to use raw shrimp (and am a bit of a wuss), so I quickly cooked my shrimp in some boiling water before making my ceviche.

HOW I MADE IT

If you want to try your hand at “cooking” raw shrimp with lime juice, be my guest. Instead I “marinated” my already cooked and chopped shrimp in lime juice for about 15 minutes so I still had the limey-citrus flavor.

While the shrimp soaked in the lime juice, I chopped up an avocado, tomato, red onion, and jalapeno. Then I mixed all of those ingredients in with the shrimp.

It’s almost like making a chunky shrimp salsa.

And that’s exactly how we ate it! On it’s own with tortilla chips!

If you love shrimp and hate to cook, you will love this recipe. Just chop up a bunch of stuff and let it sit in some lime juice and you’ve got yourself a snack, an appetizer, or a meal!

It actually made a really nice, light dinner all on it’s own. But you could also eat the shrimp ceviche on a tortilla (like a taco), in a lettuce wrap; or on a cracker.

But I’m partial to the tortilla chips, because they make this dish that much easier!

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:165]

Sesame Crusted Tuna Bowl

May 31, 2017

After returning home from Hawaii last week, I have a new found appreciation for tuna. We ate tuna (ahi) at least once a day in the form of poke at least once a day. It was fantastic. I wanted to come home and make my very own version of poke, but oddly I can’t find super fresh ahi tuna anywhere around Charlotte. North Carolina (not a hint of sarcasm). So the next best thing was some fresh yellowfin tuna I found at my local Whole Foods.

Since I couldn’t confirm that it was “sushi grade”, and thus acceptable for eating raw, I decided to do something a little different with my tuna. I crusted it in some sesame seeds and then seared it very quickly to just barely cook the outside, leaving the inside completely rare. Trust me, it’s delicious!

First find yourself a good tuna steak! I recommend talking to the fish monger and asking how fresh the tuna is. You don’t want something that is anything over a couple days. Then you won’t be able to cook it and keep it rare.

Then marinate the tuna in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and ginger. Not long. Just long enough to get a little sticky so that the sesame seeds can adhere to it.

Speaking of which, pour out a bunch of sesame seeds onto a plate then press your lightly marinated tuna into the seeds so that you have a nice even layer on both sides.

Now it’s time to sear this bad boy. I didn’t take any pictures of this process because it happened so quickly! Literally, we popped it into a searing hot pan for about 30 seconds on each side. It was just long enough for the outside to cook, the sesame seeds to char a bit, but the inside stays nice and pink.

For the rest of this bowl, I kept it simple. I served the gorgeous tuna over a bowl of sushi rice, with a bit of avocado, and some mango-pineapple salsa. It definitely took me back to being in Hawaii!

Man it was good.

If you want to feel like you are eating lunch in a tropical paradise, make yourself this tuna bowl, turn on a sound machine (crashing waves), and close your eyes. You will basically be there with your toes in the sand.

Now I know fresh tuna isn’t always easy to come by, and it’s not all that cheap, but I promise it’s a lot cheaper than a trip to Hawaii!

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:163]

One Pot Turkey Taco Chili

May 2, 2017

Do you have those recipes that happen on complete accident? I have lots of them. Some of them are goods, some of them are definitely not good. Actually there is really no in between.

This taco chili happened on accident when I started making chili and realized that I didn’t have any canned diced tomatoes. What I did have was a jar of salsa….which is pretty much just a bunch of diced tomatoes (and a few other things).

I was skeptical at first, not knowing if the salsa (I used my favorite pico de gallo) would totally over power the salsa. But then I just decided to lean in and go with it, adding my favorite taco seasoning and turning this into a taco chili. The result: fantastic!

I had every intention of showing you every detailed step of this chili, starting with chopped veggies and every step along the way until you have a nice bowl of chili.

Well, my husband called and I got distracted, so instead I have a picture of chopped veggies and a bowl of the finished chili. You can fill in the blanks, right?

If you have made chili before, this is exactly the same. Except that you will be adding salsa in place of diced tomatoes and taco seasoning instead of your normal chili seasoning.

You could also add some black beans and corn, like I did, to really round out the taconess (Mariam-Webster, I have a new word for you!) of this taco chili.

Then to kick it up even more, you could add your favorite guacamole, maybe a few tortilla chips!

Thats exactly how I ate it. I ditched the spoon and dug right in with a handful of chips. It was just like eating a crunchy taco out of a bowl!

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:156]

Cilantro Lime Fish Tacos

March 10, 2017

Leave it to me to start appreciating fish tacos only after I have moved away from the fish taco capital of the world (I assume). Despite growing up a stones throw from the beach and surrounded by amazing taco spots all with their own take on the fish taco, I didn’t eat my first fish taco until moving to North Carolina. That just feels wrong, doesn’t it?

Now a days if I want a fish taco I have to make the haul to the only spot in town that makes a decent one, or I can just make them at home. Since I am lazy and cheap, I tend to choose the later.

And my go-to fish taco recipe? This easy and flavorful cilantro lime fish taco!

Start with some fresh (or thawed) fish. I used tilapia which is a nice light white fish that is great for fish novice’s like me.

Generously dust the fish with a mixture of chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper. Don’t be shy! In my opinion you can’t over season the fish. Then sprinkle on some cilantro; unless you are one of those weird people who hates cilantro, then skip it.

Now take a half a lime and squeeze the bejeezus out of it to get every ounce of juice over the fish. Then pop in the oven for a quick bake.

After about 10 minutes in the oven, the fish should be done and already flaking apart. All you have to do is take a fork to it to break it up into smaller chunks. Now they are ready to be made into tacos!

I like to top my fish tacos off with a fresh mango pineapple salsa, which is the same salsa I used in the Jamaican Jerk Shrimp skewers. There is just something about fish and tropical fruit. I don’t know what it is.

These tacos make such a nice fresh and healthy dinner that can be made in less than 30 minutes, easy! And if you are new to fish, kinda like me, this recipe will be great for you. Tilapia is a nice mild fish with that really takes on the flavor of whatever you season it with. It is also very easy to cook and practically fool proof.

Trust me.

But if you are a fish connoisseur and tilapia is too mild for you, you can definitely substitute in some ahi tuna, mahi mahi, halibut, and any other favorite fish! Make it your own!

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:139]

Roasted Corn Salsa

July 25, 2014

While corn is always readily available in the US, Summer is definitely corn season. Like a lot my recipes lately, I have been inspired by the produce at my local farmers market. I go without a list, and just pick up what looks good. This past weekend, there was an abundance of corn that looked amazing and I picked up a few too many ears. With a couple ears left over I mixed up a bowl of sweet, spicy, and zesty corn salsa.

Step one is to roast the salsa. I roasted it in the oven, then put it under the broiler until the it started to char. This can also be done on the grill.

Once the corn has cooled down, I cut the kernels off the ear and throw them in a bowl.

Then sprinkle in some lime juice…

What makes up the rest of the salsa is more or less a pico de gallo: onion, tomato, jalapeno, garlic, and cilantro. I chopped everything up and tossed them together with the corn.

You can serve the salsa right away, but I like to let it sit for a couple hours so that the flavors all meld together.

I will eat this salsa with anything. Its wonderful on chips, but also on tacos, fish, flank steak, you name it.

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Roasted Chipotle Salsa

April 7, 2014

Do you think there is anyone out there who doesn’t like chips and salsa? I am sure there is, but I can’t imagine my life without the tasty pair. Thank you Mexico for this lovely import!

To make this salsa a bit more interesting I decided to throw the veggies in the oven and roast them instead of using them in their raw state, like most pico de gallos. I quartered up 2 tomatoes and an onion then tossed them and a couple garlic cloves with olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Once roasted, I threw the veggies in a food processor with a chipotle pepper (from the can), cilantro, and lime juice and pulsed until almost smooth but with some texture.

What I ended up with was this sweet, smokey, and a little spicy salsa that was absolutely delicious. We served the salsa to a group of our friends who have very discerning pallets and they completely cleaned the bowl.

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