Smoky Green Deliciousness, that’s what I call it. This guacamole is simple yet very tasty! Many guacs call for chopped jalapenos but this recipe uses chipotle chilies (smoked jalapenos), which not only provides a little heat but a subtle smoky flavor, too. While the recipe calls for using a molcajete (the large, 3-legged mortar & pestle made out of stone), you can just as easily use a potato masher or fork to make the guac. Serve as a topping on your favorite Mexican food or just scoop it up with chips. Olé!

Chipotle Guacamole
-recipe from williams-sonoma.com

Chipotle chilies add a jolt of heat to traditional guacamole. A dried and smoked jalapeño chili, chipotles are sold in cans or jars, packed in an oniony tomato mixture called adobo sauce.

2 Tbs. finely minced white onion
1 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1 to 2 chipotle chilies in adobo, drained and minced
1/2 tsp. sea salt, plus more as needed
2 large avocados, preferably Haas
2 Tbs. finely minced fresh cilantro
1 Tbs. small fresh cilantro leaves (optional)
1 Tbs. finely chopped white onion (optional)

Put the minced onion, lime juice, chipotle chilies and the 1/2 tsp. salt in a molcajete or small bowl, and smash with a pestle or fork to a coarse paste. Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits and scoop the flesh into the molcajete. Add the minced cilantro and mix and mash, leaving some lumps. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt.

Sprinkle the guacamole with the cilantro leaves and/or chopped onion and serve immediately, if possible. To keep the guacamole at room temperature for up to 1 hour, cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface. To keep the guacamole for up to 3 hours, do not add the cilantro until just before serving, and cover and store in the refrigerator. Makes about 2 cups.

Tags: avocados, chipotle chilies, chipotle guacamole, cilantro, Dip, Mexican, onion

These tacos are quick, super easy, healthy and very tasty! The recipe calls for Tabasco Chipotle sauce (not to be confused with regular Tabasco sauce). Tabasco Chipotle sauce can be found next to regular Tabasco sauce (and other hot sauces) in the grocery store. Regular Tabasco sauce would probably be much too spicy and vinegary for this recipe. Cholula Chipotle hot sauce can also be used if you can’t find the Tabasco Chipotle sauce.   

Turkey Tacos
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

Round out these quick tacos with your favorite toppings—try grated sharp Cheddar, sliced avocado, and finely diced sweet or red onion. Serves four.

2 Tbs. Tabasco chipotle pepper sauce
1 Tbs. tomato paste
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 to 1-1/4 lb. ground turkey (not ground turkey breast)
Kosher salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
12 taco-size (6-inch) flour tortillas, heated

In a small dish, whisk the chipotle Tabasco, tomato paste, and 2 Tbs. water. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring very frequently, until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the turkey and sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt. Cook, using a wooden spoon to break the meat into small pieces, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste mixture and let cook until the liquid is almost absorbed, 1 to 2 minutes.

Off the heat, stir in the cilantro and season to taste with more salt if needed. Serve folded in the tortillas with your favorite taco toppings.

Tags: Mexican, Quick Cooking, tacos, turkey

This recipe rocks! The whole meal can even be cooked on the grill (meaning no kitchen mess…always a bonus). The tacos call for skirt steak which is a long, thin cut of beef. Flank steak or rib-eyes would work great, too, if you can’t find the skirt steak (you will need to alter the cooking time if you use a thicker cut). The skirt steak I bought was folded in half for packaging. After unfolding the meat, I cut the skirt steak into shorter pieces for grilling (adjusting the cooking time for smaller pieces of meat). After cooking, I let the steak rest then I sliced it thinly against the grain (the meat will be very chewy if you slice it with the grain). You can substitute corn tortillas for the flour tortillas if you prefer.

Although the steak tacos were good, the Grilled Tomato Salsa is the real star of this recipe. The salsa was quite spicy so I recommend using 1 serrano or substituting a jalapeno chile which has less heat (you can always add more chile if you want it hotter). The recipe calls for sautéing the chiles with the onions and garlic. However, I decided to grill everything (chiles, onions, garlic) on my gas grill since I was already using the grill for the tomatoes and steak. Grilling all the veggies worked great and I didn’t have a pan to wash afterward. I left the tomatoes and chiles whole but I cut the onion into big slices. For the garlic, I removed several cloves from a whole head, leaving at least six cloves intact to the root and rubbed the whole thing with oil. I then rubbed all the other veggies with oil and then I put everything on the grill at high heat. The garlic took the longest to cook so next time I’d start it first. I removed the veggies when they had softened and had a nice char.  Once the veggies were cool enough to handle, I removed the skin from each clove of garlic and cut the stem ends off the chiles and tomatoes. I then put all the veggies into the food processor to blend. Remember to use less chile to start with if you want a milder salsa. As a final touch, I added 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke to add just a hint of smokiness to the salsa. Olé!

Skirt Steak Tacos with Grilled Tomato Salsa
- Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay – foodnetwork.com

Makes 4 servings

8 (6-inch) flour tortillas
1 1/2 pounds skirt steak
2 tablespoons canola oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 head romaine lettuce, thinly shredded
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, halved and diced
Grilled Tomato Salsa, recipe follows
8 ounces sour cream

Directions:
Heat grill to high.

Wrap tortillas in aluminum foil and on the top rack of the grill while the steak is grilling.

Heat grill pan over high heat. Brush steak with oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill on one side until golden brown and slightly charred, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the steak over and cook to medium-rare doneness, about 3 to 4 minutes longer. Let rest 5 minutes then slice against the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices.

Fill each tortilla with some lettuce, 3 to 4 pieces of meat, onion, grilled tomato salsa, sour cream, and avocado.

Grilled Tomato Salsa:
2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for brushing tomatoes
2 serrano chiles
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
6 plum tomatoes, halved and seeded
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Heat grill to high.

Heat oil in a small saute pan and saute the chiles, onion, and garlic until soft.

Brush tomatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill on both sides until slightly charred and soft.

Transfer tomatoes and serrano mixture to a food processor; add the lime juice and salt and pepper and process until smooth. Add the cilantro and pulse a few times (there should be flecks of cilantro in the salsa.) Transfer to a bowl.

Tags: Beef, grilled tomato salsa, Grilling/BBQ, Mexican, Quick Cooking, skirt steak, tacos

Now don’t let the word casserole scare you away. Festive Chicken Casserole is simply a chicken, cheese and tortilla dish, similar to enchiladas only layered instead of rolled and served with salsa instead of baked with enchilada sauce. I substituted chile powder for paprika and cheddar cheese for the jack cheese. I also added some thawed frozen white corn for added flavor. To add a little color to the finished casserole, I garnished with chopped red peppers and green olives. Serve with plenty of good salsa.

Festive Chicken Casserole
-recipe from The Big Book of Casseroles by Maryana Vollstedt

Serves 6.

This is a good casserole to make for a party because it should be assembled several hours ahead or even the night before baking. Layers of tortillas, chicken, chiles, and cheese in a creamy sauce will get you “raves” on this casserole dish. Serve with a salad of orange and jicama slices.

2 cups light sour cream
1 can (7 ounces) diced green chiles, drained
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped green onions, including some tender green tops
2 cloves garlic, minced
9 corn tortillas, softened*
4 cups cubed cooked chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
4 cups (about 1 pound) grated Monterey Jack cheese
Salsa for topping

In a medium bowl, mix sour cream, chiles, paprika, cumin, salt, onions, and garlic. In a 9-by-13-inch baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray or oil, place 3 tortillas so that they overlap slightly. In layers, add one third of the chicken, one-third of the sour cream mixture (it will not cover chicken completely), and one third of the cheese. Repeat layers 2 more times, beginning with tortillas. Cover and refrigerate sevral hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350F. Bring casserole to room temperature and then bake, covered, until bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve with salsa as an accompaniment.

*To Soften Tortillas: There are a number of easy methods for warming tortillas. Wrap them in paper towels and microwave for 15 to 20 seconds. Wrap them in aluminum foil and place in a 350F oven for 6 to 7 minutes. Fry them one at a time over medium heat in a small nonstick skillet or griddle lightly coated with cooking spray or oil. Heat on a grill turning once with tongs. Stack tortillas and keep warm until ready to use.

Tags: Casserole, Chicken, Mexican, tortillas

I like the traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner but I don’t like it so much that I want to eat the same meal multiple days in a row. After the main Thanksgiving meal and a meal of leftovers the next day, I’ve pretty much had my fill of turkey and stuffing to last me until next Thanksgiving. At that point, I’m ready for something new. That’s exactly why I like to use the leftover turkey in a different dish like these delicious, creamy enchiladas. I brought them to a potluck and they were gone in no time. I doubled the recipe but probably should have tripled it.

Pretty much the only thing I did differently was to soften the tortillas in the microwave instead of frying them in oil. To do this, I wrap the stack of tortillas in a damp kitchen towel and microwave them at 30 second intervals until warm and pliable. Not only is this faster but it slims down the recipe. I like to garnish the enchiladas with sliced green olives because I love the salty flavor and color that they add to the dish. You can substitute cooked chicken for the turkey if you like. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to feed a crowd.

The Great After-Thanksgiving Turkey Enchiladas
- recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine - epicurious.com

Yield: Serves 6

3 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups finely chopped onions
1 28-ounce can enchilada sauce
5 plum tomatoes, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped canned chipotle chilies*
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 cups coarsely shredded cooked turkey
2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
12 5- to 6-inch corn tortillas
*Chipotle chilies canned in a spicy tomato sauce are sold at Latin American markets, at specialty foods stores and at some supermarkets.

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 1/2 cups onions and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add enchilada sauce, tomatoes and chipotles. Cover; simmer 20 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup cilantro. Season sauce with salt and pepper. Mix turkey, 11/2 cups cheese, sour cream, 1/4 cup onions and 1/2 cup cilantro in bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 1/2 cup vegetable oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Cook 1 tortilla until pliable, about 20 seconds per side. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Spread 1/2 cup sauce in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Spoon 1/4 cup turkey mixture in center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas. Arrange seam side down in dish. Spoon 2 1/2 cups sauce over enchiladas. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Bake enchiladas until heated through, about 30 minutes.

Rewarm remaining sauce in saucepan over medium-low heat. Transfer to sauceboat. Serve enchiladas, passing sauce separately.

Tags: Casserole, Christmas leftovers, enchiladas, holidays, leftover turkey, Main Dish, Mexican, Thanksgiving leftovers, turkey