Tag: fire roasted tomatoes
Coconut Chicken Curry
I have been holding cooking classes in my house for high school teenagers. I recently had a second one where I had three classes back to back and had a total of about 20 students. It was a lot of fun interacting with the kids and teaching them some delicious dishes. One of the dishes we made was this coconut chicken curry. Usually a chicken curry takes a while to make. My cooking classes last for about an hour and a half .. and so I wanted to make sure we have plenty of time to cook this dish as well as a rice pilaf. In order to make it quick, I used several tricks. One was to marinate the chicken over night with garlic, ginger, cilantro and lemon juice. The other thing I did was to roast a whole onion in the oven till it was soft and gooey.
When all the ingredients came together, it took no time at cook it up. The curry was delicious with the addition of coconut milk.
The kids really enjoyed the food and thought it was quite easy to replicate…
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Mushroom Enchiladas with New Mexico Red Chile
This is a fabulous meal to make for company or if you just want to impress your family. It is a vegetarian meal but you can substitute any kind of meat in here including chicken, pork, shrimp or even fish.
I made this fabulous meal for a friend who was coming over with her family. They are vegetarian so I had to be careful and use vegetable broth where ever I normally use chicken broth, etc.
I made a delicious stuffing for the enchiladas with cremini mushrooms, onions and garlic. I added paprika and unsweetened cocoa. I wanted to emulate the mole sauce flavor which is a very labor intensive dish to make requiring lots of ingredients. I decided to introduce just the cocoa part to the stuffing to bring out the earthiness in the mushrooms.
I used whole-wheat tortillas- and guess what- no one noticed. Once the tortillas are doused with the super flavorful sauce, you can’t tell the difference. A perfect, sneaky way to make the dish healthy without anyone knowing.
I also cooked up some green rice and some quick vegetarian refried beans- recipes to follow tomorrow and the day after.
Definitely try making the mushroom enchiladas with new mexico red chilies- you will be impressed with yourself.
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Rice and Beans with Shredded Chicken
I have started the new year with yet another one pot meal. How great is a one pot meal??- I love them. With this particular one, I served a salad and some store bought green salsa and it was a huge success.
I love not having to clean multiple pots and pans and not spending extra time cooking side dishes. This is a perfect week night meal.
Since I talked about brown rice yesterday, this dish would be ideal with brown rice. I would increase the cooking time, of course- but the flavor won’t be compromised at all. Especially in this dish, since there are lots of strong flavors going on, this dish might be perfect to experiment with- your family may not be able to tell the difference at all.
As most of you know, I love shopping at Trader Joes- especially for the new and fabulous ingredients they keep coming out with. I found a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies recently. I picked it up immediately and decided to use it for a south western style dish. I loved the flavor in this dish- it brings a smoky kick to the rice dish- really delicious. Please try it…
- 1 pound chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 14.5 oz can of diced and fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies (Trader Joes)
- 1 15 oz can of pinto beans
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1½ cups chicken broth
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. In the meantime, sprinkle paprika and salt on both sides of the chicken pieces. Place the chicken pieces in the heated oil and brown both sides- about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Add the onions and garlic. Saute on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, beans and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and add the rice and salt. Continue boiling till the broth begins to evaporate and bubbles form on the surface. Lower the heat to low and cover the saucepan half way. Once the all the broth has evaporated, cover all the way and cook for 20 minutes or till the rice is done.
Take the chicken pieces out and shred with a fork. Put back in the pan and mix with the rice and beans.
Serve with a green salad and freshly made guacamole.