Quick and Healthy Series – Chipotle Turkey Tacos with Avocado Creme

I’m starting a new series based on how I’ve been cooking lately.  Fast. Easy. Healthy.  Between finishing up a post-doc, doing side projects, studying for licensing exam, well . . .  you get the idea.  While I still love cooking, I don’t have nearly as much time to cook anymore, so I’ve needed to find some ways to fit cooking into my schedule.  Of course, my tastes haven’t changed just because my cooking habits have, so these dishes also be delicious and seem like I spent hours cooking when I really only spent 20-30 minutes.

This is a great kick off to the series because it is a wonderful combination of delicious and complex flavors.  You would think that this would take someone hours of simmering, but takes very little time and effort.  The creme can be made ahead of time as well, cutting down your prep time even more!

I would like to preface this recipe with a note.  These are not real tacos.  Real tacos are a magical thing everyone should experience.  My favorites were from a food cart outside my old work place in the city.  If you have never had tacos from a food cart, don’t be afraid, they could change your life.

1 lb of ground turkey

3 chipotle peppers, in sauce, chopped

1 small (15 oz) can of chopped tomatoes

All Recipe taco seasoning mix

corn tortillas

Avocado creme (taken from Two Peas & Their Pod)

1/2 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt (I use Chobani)
2 ripe avocados, peeled and seeded
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 small Serrano pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Make Avocado creme by adding cilantro, Serrano pepper, and garlic to food processor.  Pulse a few times until combined and pepper is thoroughly chopped.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth. Refrigerate.

To make tacos

Season raw turkey with All Recipe taco seasoning mix.  No need to let sit.  Add seasoned turkey to a pan heated over medium heat.  Once meat begins to brown, add chipotle peppers and canned tomatoes.  Let simmer until cooked through.  You can add a little slurry of cornstarch and water if you want to thicken the mixture up a bit.

Serve over warm tortillas and top with avocado creme!

Vegetable and Tortellini Soup

After the chilly late fall weather, and stuffing myself on Thanksgiving, soup sounded lovely.  I like soup.  Especially in cold weather.  It’s the nice kind of warmth I need to feel like I can brave the outdoors again tomorrow.  Since I love cooking, I can’t just BUY soup.  No, no.  I need to MAKE soup.  Luckily for me, soup is incredibly easy to make.  There are some things I have learned over the process of writing this blog and that is there are some things you should rarely buy, because they are just too easy to make.

Exhibit 1: Cranberry sauce.  I had NO idea how simple cranberry sauce was until I made it for Thanksgiving this year.  Literally, you just boil cranberries in some liquid and add some sugar.  Just like that, you’re done.  Cranberry sauce.  Why would you ever buy it?  Plus, by making it, you can add some nice touches.  For instance, I boiled mine in orange juice and brandy.  I used some spices to liven it up.  I would post the recipe, but my fiance told me it tasted like a holiday candle (in other words, awful).  I didn’t think it was so bad  . . .

Exhibit 2: Creme Brulee.  I know, it sounds fancy and French, but its really just a custard with crystallized sugar on top.  Essentially, creme brulee is only 5 ingredients and a blow torch (or a broiler, if you know MY recipe).  Remember this the next time you order a $6 vanilla bean creme brulee for dessert.

Exhibit  3: Soup.  Now, creamy, blended soups are a little more difficult and require a little bit more work and some special equipment.  However, broth-based soups are pretty simple and can often be made from leftovers!  This soup is made from veggies most people have around the house and pre-made tortellini, but you could just as easily throw together soup from some leftover turkey or chicken, canned veggies, and broth.  Pasta and rice are great for another hearty layer.

This soup is really simple and delicous for a frosty winter night.

2 Tbl butter

1/2 large onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 large tomato, diced

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups of water

2 Tbl of marinara sauce (or 1 Tbl pest0)

1 package of fresh or frozen cheese tortellini

1 1/2 cup fresh spinach, washed and torn, loosely

Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Add onion.  Cook until just barely translucent.  Add garlic.  Cook until fragrant; this should only take about 2 minutes.  Add tomatoes, water, and broth.  Bring to a boil.  Add marinara sauce or pesto to season.  Add tortellini.  Boil for 5 minutes, then add spinach.  Cook for 2 more minutes and serve!

Moroccan Spiced Carrots

I’ve been experimenting with different ways to incorporate more vegetables into my diet lately.  After all, we are supposed to have 4-5 servings a day and I’m not sure I’m getting that.  After searching on the internet for some recipe ideas I stumbled across a recipe for Moroccan-style carrots that intruiged me.

Firstly, let it be known that I love carrots.  Back when I was a picky eater, and vegetables were a four-letter word to me, I was introduced to carrots.  They were one of the first vegetables I instantly liked.  They can be cool and crisp; a refreshing treat with a creamy dip.  Or they can be roasted, tender and complex.  Plus, carrots are one of the vegetables that can actually be better for you after they are cooked.

Now, I know some of you currently picky eaters are out there thinking, “Gross, cooked veggies.  I don’t like mushy, stinky cooked carrots.”  And this is where I say you are WRONG!  There are a couple of main reasons I have found some people claim they don’t like cooked vegetables.  1) They have only had badly cooked vegetables (ie: overcooked, dry, or mushy) or 2) They have not tried seasoning their vegetables.  Well, here’s my tips to ensure you will have delicious, healthy, nutritious carrots for dinner.

Step 1:  Cutting the vegetables.  It is very important that all of your vegetable pieces are approximately the same size.  Do not skip this step or you will have some mushy, overdone carrots, and some hard, underdone carrots.  If you cut them up so they are all approximately the same size, everything will cook evenly and they will all be done at approximately the same time.

Step 2:  Do not cook vegetables for long!  Veggies (unless very starchy) rarely take longer than 20 minutes to cook.  You should be watching vegetables carefully anytime you cook them because they will go from almost done to overdone fast.  Make sure to keep an eye on them and test them with a fork for tenderness.  Take your vegetables off the heat the second BEFORE you think they are done.  This is because all food cooks for a short while after you remove it from the heat.

Adapted from Pikelet & Pie

Approximately 2 cups of carrots, trimmed, washed and peeled.

1 1/2 Tbl olive oil

1 Tbl butter

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp corriander

1/4 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil and butter in a pan over medium heat.  While the oil and butter are heating through, combine all of the spices together in a bowl.  Once the butter is completely melted, add carrots.  Cook until almost fork tender, approximately 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your carrots.   Add the spice mixture to the carrots and cook for a couple of minutes are coated and the spices are slightly toasted.  Turn heat off and splash lemon juice over carrots.  Cover with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Mix well and serve warm.

Fish Tacos

An old friend recently requested more fish or seafood recipes on the blog, and I am happy to oblige.  It’s funny that I have not posted more about seafood, as it is a favorite of mine.  Whenever I go out to eat, I often order fish because it is so rare to get truly fresh seafood in the midwest.  That being said, I do like cooking fish, almost as much as I love eating it, so I suspect there will be more posts like this to follow. (Especially as summer arrives, and fish becomes a little cheaper to buy!)

I had recently bought some halibut that has been sitting in the freezer.  I had some ambitious plans for it.  I wanted to recreate an Iron Chef recipe I had seen.  Unfortunately, I hadn’t taken the time to note what I had seen, or how I planned on making it.  So, as the halibut sat in the freezer, I became anxious to have some, but unsure of what to do with it.

Finally, I decided to do an old standby – fish tacos.  I have made these before, and fish with a cabbage slaw makes excellent tacos.  It’s easy too!  I based my recipe from this website.

For Tacos:

1 teaspoon  ground cumin

1  teaspoon  ground coriander

1/2  teaspoon  smoked paprika

1/4  teaspoon  ground red pepper

1/8  teaspoon  salt

1/8  teaspoon  garlic powder

For Slaw:

1 cup shredded cabbage

1/3 cup sour cream

2 Tablespoons mayo

1/2 tsp garlic powder

dash of salt

1 teaspoon of lime juice

Corn tortillas

1 Tablespoon of oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Place the fish in an dish sprayed with cooking spray.  In a separate bowl, combine the cumin, corriander, paprika, red pepper, salt and garlic powder.  Sprinkle this mixture over the fish.  Cook for approximately 9-10 minutes or until fish flakes easily.

Thinly slice 1/2 to 1/3 of a head of cabbage.  In a bowl, mix mayo, sour cream, garlic salt, and lime juice and a dash of salt.  Add cabbage to mixture and combine well.

While fish is cooking, heat oil in a pan and fry one side of the corn tortillas.  This makes them slightly crispy, but still able to be folded to eat.

Assemble tacos and enjoy!

Red Chicken Curry

I grew up in the Midwest.  So, it is surprising that the most delicious, comforting foods I always go back to when I’m feeling blue are usually . . .  well . . .  asian.  My family was not the most adventurous of eaters.  I never even tried asian food until I was 16.  In fact, at one point, my father convinced me Chinese food was made of cat.  It was a bleak time in my childhood.

Fortunately, I eventually ate Chinese food and loved it.  Since, I have been pretty enamoured with all different types of asian cuisine.  Give me saag paneer.  Feed me char siu.  I crave it.

One of my favorite dishes is red curry.  Now, let me explain myself.  Curry can mean different things to many people, depending on where you live and what you’ve eaten.  I’m talking about traditional Thai red curry.  This type of curry typically uses curry paste and coconut milk.  This type of curry is usually eaten with lots of broth as a soup-like dish with rice.  And I particularly like my own recipe.

1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 green pepper, seeded and sliced

1 small onion, sliced

2 Tbl olive oil

1 can (14.5 oz) of coconut milk

1 and 1/2 Tbl red curry paste

1/2 tsp of chili powder

2 tsp chopped garlic

1 Tbl crushed ginger

2 cups chicken broth

1 Tbls soy sauce

2 tsp of lime juice

Many of these ingredients can be swapped out for others.  I have used tofu instead of chicken.  I have used carrots instead of peppers.  This is a very verstaile recipe, as many curries are.  I would say stick with the basic broth ingredients, as they are what really make this recipe a curry, and make the flavor pop.  But feel free to toy around with what you add to the curry sauce.  I also like my curry with a little kick.  If you don’t like your curry that spicy, don’t add the chili powder.

Start by chopping the chicken into smaller pieces.  Warm the oil in a frying pan.  Salt and pepper the chicken generously.  Begin to cook chicken in 1 Tbl of oil.  When the chicken peices are white on the outside, but still pink inside and not fully cooked, add the chopped vegetables and garlic.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook all ingredients until nearly done.  This means, onions should begin to become transluscent, chicken should be just white all the way through.  It is important NOT to overcook any of the chicken or vegetables.  They will cook some more in the broth.  If you cook them all the way through, the chicken will become tough and vegetables will be soggy when added to the broth.

Remove chicken and vegetables from the pan and transfer to another dish.  In the SAME pan, warm additional tablespoon of oil on medium-low heat.  Add ginger, chili powder, and red curry paste.  Warm until fragrant.  Stir in broth slowly, until curry past mixture is fully incorporated.  Add coconut milk.  Keep heat low.  Do not boil.

Finally, add chicken and vegetables to broth.  Add soy sauce and lime juice to taste.  Let cook on low together for at least 15 minutes.  Serve over rice.  If you have fresh basil, chopp and garnish.