Easy Quesadillas

Did I say easy?  I meant super-fast-and-easy-and-every-body-loves-them!  For weeknight dinners fast is an absolute MUST.  The entire mood of the house changes once the bellies are full (kids and adults)!

Here's how we do quesadillas on-the-quick.

Grab a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store (leftover chicken from the fridge works great, too!).

And some black beans... we used Bush's Grillin' Beans this time, they're tasty and it was faster than heating up beans and corn separately.  Use whatever you've got on hand that looks yummy to you!

De-bone the chicken and shred the meat.

Throw the shredded meat in a deep pan on the stove and heat it up with a packet of taco seasoning mix and water.

Grab a small skillet, spray with cooking spray and throw on a tortilla.

Add shredded cheese, seasoned chicken, beans and (you guessed it) salsa

Fold it over and smash it down with a spatula.

Flip to the other side for even heating/browning.  The one below is not brown.  The kids kinda freak out at the grill marks, so I try not to get theirs brown.  I like them, so I leave it a little longer.

Try these today.  You know you don't feel like cooking on a Friday night....it's been a long week!

Garden Fresh Salsa

If I were to hand one of my children a tomato slice as a snack, they would swear they don't eat those.  Put them in a chip-and-dip format though, and they're all over that!  Whatever works, right?  They love 'chip sauce' {salsa}!  They ask for it like candy.  This is the one I've been making lately.  You should try it.  It's the best condiment there is!

*If you're not a big fan of chopping, you can do this in a blender or food processor.  You'll probably have to do it in batches though, 'cause it's a lot.  Or you could just chop it.  I chop because I like my salsa chunky.*

You just need these guys:

Ingredients:

6-7 medium tomatoes (3 heaping cups diced)

1 jalepeno pepper

1 red onion (1 cup diced)
5 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp cilantro
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt

Here we go....................

First you char the pepper.  I put mine right over the open flame on my stove.  That's a cooling rack over the burner...because without it the pepper would fall into the flames.  You can also do this under your broiler.  Just let it hang out and get all black (don't be alarmed when it pops and hisses) then roll it over and make the other side match.



Now throw it in a baggie (use tongs) and let it sweat.



Meanwhile, chop your tomatoes; scoop out and discard the seeds.

Throw the tomatoes into a large bowl (you should have 3 heaping cups of dieced tomatoes, if you like to measure...but you're good to just eyeball it, too.)

PUT ON GLOVES:  Just a little note here.  When working with chile peppers of any kind, you should use gloves.  They can really burn.  I got some under my fingernail once.  For at least 2 whole days I kept looking to see if I had cut myself, it hurt so bad.  It's a seriously un-fun feeling that gloves quickly solve.  Like my pink gloves?  They're sassy!

Rub all the skin off the pepper.  It should slide off pretty easily.  Cut it in half from stem to tip.



Discard the seeds, ribs and stem.

Chop it up....teeny tiny.

Throw it in the bowl with the tomatoes.

Chop up the garlic, and throw that in...

Then the onion.  You can used white or yellow, I just love red ones.  The color and the flavor.  Isn't that a pretty bowl???

I guess I'm easily amused...back to the salsa...

Chop up some cilantro

 Add in the lime juice and spices

And stir it all up



!Fiesta!

Get the printable recipe here.

Chicken with Green Chiles and Tomatoes over Orzo

So May kind of snuck up on me.  Actually, a lot of things have been sneaking up on me lately.  I'm not exactly what you would consider "on the ball".  In fact, I'm not even sure where the ball is right now.  But I did notice (around 2pm....yea, it's that bad) that yesterday was the first {working} day of May.  And since I LOVE all foods Mexican, Cinco de Mayo is one of my favorite days!  So from now through Thursday I'll be posting Mexican recipes and dreaming of a fiesta.  Actually, thanks to two little boys with some serious congestion I'd much prefer siesta over fiesta...but I'm not likely to get either!

I remembered finding this recipe over at Delish.com and thought it would be great over orzo for a whole meal. 

So I gathered all my ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 can (4oz) diced green chiles
1 pint grape tomatoes, each cut in half
1 cup chicken broth
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper
Orzo

Cook the orzo according to package instructions.

Put the chicken breasts between 2 sheets of plastic wrap (or a ziptop baggie) and hammer them out to an even 1/2 inch thickness.  Season both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add breasts to pan.  Cook 6-7 minutes per side until browned and juices run clear (I do this in 2 batches).  Put on a plate, cover to keep warm and set aside.

In skillet add tomatoes, chilies, cumin, chili powder, garlic, chicken broth and any juices from the plate of chicken.  Cook for 3-5 minutes, until reduced.

Meanwhile, slice the chicken.

Stir cilantro into sauce, then return chicken to the skillet.  Serve chicken and sauce over orzo.

  

Make it tonight!!!

Get the printable here.