Cowboy Salsa

Hi guys --

Here's a tasty recipe I picked up from some friends. It's great eaten all by itself with a giant soup spoon, on fajitas, taco salad, or with chips. I've used garbanzo beans and kidney beans as substitutes -- I'm pretty sure it would work with most legumes.

drain and rinse the following:
1 can black eyed peas
1 can black beans
1 can shoepeg corn

mostly drain:
1 can Ro-Tel tomotoes (or any other tomatoes w/ chilies), I use "medium" heat
(or, of course, 1-2 diced fresh tomatoes and a few T green chilies or a grated jalapeno)

add:
large handful chopped cilantro
1 1/2 t salt (more or less to taste)
1 whole avocado, in small cubes

That's it. Enjoy!

Flank Steak Marinades

Flank Steak Marinades

Mediterranean Marinade:

Smash 4 garlic cloves with the leaves of 4 rosemary sprigs,
1 tsp salt, and plenty of pepper. Mix in 5 tablepoons extra-virgin olive oil,
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar, and 1 tsp sugar

Latin Marinade:

Smash 4 garlic cloves with 2-3 tablespoons fresh oregano, 1 tsp salt,
and plenty of pepper. Mix in 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1/4 c lime juice (from 4 limes)
and 1 tsp sugar

Marinate steak in resealable bag, refrigerated, for four to 24 hours. Flip the bag occasionally.

Preheat grill, broiler, or stove-top grill pan to high. Cook steak, flipping once, to desires doneness (preferably medium-rare); total cooking time ranges from six to 10 minutes, with an average of four minutes per side. Let meat rest for about four minutes before cutting across the grain into thin slices. Each pound of meat serves about 4 people with sides.

We haven't tried the Mediterranean marinade, but the Latin one was fabulous! Enjoy!

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Dressing:
1 lemon
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/3 c sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon poppy seeds

Salad:
¼ c sliced almonds, toasted
8 ounces (1 ½ c) strawberries, hulled and quartered
½ medium cucumber, sliced and cut in half
¼ small red onion, sliced into thin wedges (1/4 cup)
1 pacakge (6 ounces) baby spinach

1. Zest lemon to measure ½ tsp zest. Juice lemon to measure 2 tablespoons juice. Combine zest, juice, vinegar, sugar, oil and poppy seeds in a small bowl. Whisk until well blended. Cover, refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For salad, spread almonds in single layer on a baking sheet. Bake 10-12 min or until lightly toasted. Remove from oven; cool almonds.

3. Meanwhile, hull strawberries and cut strawberries into quarters.

4. Slice cucumbers and toss with remaining salad ingredients.

I had this at a Pampered Chef party. The dressing is awesome, so I thought I'd post it. Enjoy!

Chicken Saltimbocca

Tried this chicken marsala recipe today out of the New Best Recipe family cookbook. Great dish, and quite a bit easier than the chicken marsala recipe we posted earlier. The trick is finding good proscuitto. We used the stuff from Costco, which is a bit of a splurge ($12 for 12 oz; the recipe uses 4-6 oz.) Also helps to have huge fresh sage leaves from the garden, which we have in abundance.

Won't repost the recipe, since I assume you all own that cookbook. We varied the recipe a bit by adding fried mushrooms and a little more fresh sage right to the reduction right at the end. The chicken plus proscuitto plus sage is da bomb, though. Make sure it browns well, which makes the proscuitto and sage a bit crispy. Yum.

Hi-Speed Asparagus

If you like stir fried asparagus--the smoky, roasted kind Janet likes to make--we've discovered a way to shorten the process from 10-12 minutes to about 5. Wash and dry the asparagus, then put it in a glass bowl, pop it in the microwave uncovered and set the microwave to cook "fresh vegetable" "less done." (Those are the settings on our microwave, you may have to adapt to yours.) From there, pop it into a hot, lightly oiled pan and finish it. Salt and pepper to taste. Takes just a few minutes in the pan to basically sear the outside of the asparagus (the microwave takes care of the inside), and voila! Please note: one can screw this up by overcooking the asparagus in the microwave, which we did recently when Nate, Jeni, and the kids were over for dinner. That time, however, we covered the asparagus with plastic wrap and did not remove the wrap as soon as the microwave finished up.

steak fajitas and cilantro dressing

Hi all --

This is our latest favorite company dinner because it feeds a *lot* of people w/out too much meat. We got the steak so-easy-it's-not-really-a-recipe from "New Best Recipes: International" Incidentally, their tomato salsa recipe is also tasty and practically fool-proof. Let me know if you'd like it.

Flank Steak
for half a flank steak:
pat completely dry
put steak on preheated grill at med / med-high heat
drizzle 1-2 T lime juice over entire surface
sprinkle generously w/ salt and pepper
grill 5 ish minutes, flip, and repeat on other side
let stand at least 5 min before slicing very thin

Chicken Tenders
marinate 6-8 tenders in 2-3 T balsamic vinegar and 3 T McCormick Taco Seasoning
grill 3-4 min/side

Cilantro Dressing
1/2 c cilantro
3 T lime
3 T almonds
3 T water
1 jalapeno, no seeds or membranes
1 clove garlic
1 t cumin
1/2 t salt
process above in cuisinart til smooth, then add 2 T sour cream

Black Beans

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1-2 T lime juice or red wine vinegar

to-taste amounts of the following:

minced garlic or garlic powder

minced onion or onion powder

cumin

ground coriander

plenty of cilantro

Can also add 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes, or corn, or whatever you have in the pantry. Serve cold as a salsa or warm w/ fajitas

Cilantro Lime Rice
1 cup uncooked rice

1 teaspoon butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon lime zest

1 can (15 oz) chicken broth

1 1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro


In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, lime peel, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice.


Serve the above with those scrumptious Tortillaland tortillas from Costco we can't get here in PA, salsa or pico de gallo of your choice, black beans, cheese, Cholula (not optional!), and sour cream. You won't be able to close your tortilla, but you'll enjoy every scrumptious bite :)

Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits

Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits

This is by far my favorite way to do strawberry shortcake these days. The biscuits are tender and tasty and I like them far better than angel food cake or any other alternative. They're quick and easy as well--a simple drop biscuit. Enjoy!


1 ½ cups flour
¼ c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
1/3 c cold butter
1 egg slightly beaten
½ c sour cream
2 T milk


3 T sugar
Strawberries

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Lightly great baking sheet. Combine flour, ¼ c sugar, bp, salt and baking soda. Cut in butter. Combine egg, sour cream and milk in small bowl and add to flour mixture stirring w/ fork until just moistened.

Drop dough into 8 mounds onto prepared sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Cool on rack.

Combine 4 cups of strawberries with sugar. Top biscuits with berries and cream .