Salsa Roja

Here's a simple recipe I picked up during my time living in Mexico. Just a few ingredients, but the charring in a dry skillet adds an amazing depth of flavor. It's my go-to red salsa for fajitas, tacos, breakfast tacos, eggs, and more. Enjoy!

Salsa Roja

Ingredients:

• 6 roma tomatoes, rinsed and left whole
• 2 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• 1-2 serrano chiles, stemmed and unchopped
• Salt

Directions:

1. Heat a dry, 12 inch, cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium heat. Place tomatoes, garlic cloves, and chiles in the pan and allow to char on one side. Flip tomatoes, garlic, and chiles until majority of sides are charred. 
2. Remove from pan and place whole tomatoes, garlic with husk removed, and chile into a food processor. Pulse until as smooth or chunky as you prefer. I recommend adding chiles one half at a time until desired heat is achieved. 
3. Stir in pinches of salt to taste. 

Anna's Chili

I had been making chili for years, tweaking it along the way. Then I moved to Texas and was semi-forced into entering a workplace chili competition...long story. This was pretty intimidating because this is Texas, people! I was blown away when it won and started to believe in my recipe a little bit. It's one of those recipes that I make by "what tastes right" and haven't monitored the amounts I use until I decided to type it up here. I love to make this meal on days when I don't have a lot of time to cook and want to make something filling. Enjoy!

Anna's Chili

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. ground beef (or ground turkey for leaner chili)
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1-3 jalapenos, deseeded and chopped fine
• Salt
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 5 garlic cloves
• 2-4 chipotle chiles to taste, diced
• 1 28oz can petite diced tomatoes, with juice
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 2 15oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 15oz cans pinto or kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 c frozen corn
• 2 T adobo sauce from can of chipotle chiles, or to taste

Optional garnishes:

• sour cream
• shredded cheese
• Fritos corn chips (to make the ever-popular regional favorite "Corn Chip Pie")

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot over med-hi heat, brown the ground beef or turkey. Set browned meat aside and drain off fat.
2. Add oil to the pan. Heat over med-hi heat until oil is shimmering. Add onions, jalapenos, and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add chili powder and cumin, toast for about 60 seconds.
3. Add garlic and chipotle chiles. Saute for 30 sec or until fragrant. Add tomatoes with juice and red wine vinegar. Stir until combined and beginning to simmer.
4. Add beans and corn. Taste for heat. Add adobo sauce to taste. I used a whopping 2 T of it. We like it spicy around here. :)
5. Add salt at the end to taste and to round out flavor.
6. Spoon into bowls and top with sour cream and shredded cheese. Serve hot.

*Optional: Corn Chip Pie- Place a handful of corn chips in the bottom of a bowl. Spoon chili over top of chips. Top with cheese and sour cream. For those uninitiated, this may sound like a strange combination. I may have even scorned it when I first moved to south Texas. But oh. my. goodness. delicious.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

I just bought a ton of broccoli and was tired of just roasting it in different ways, as delicious as that is. So I looked in the fridge and had some leftover goat cheese that needed to get eaten too. I planned soup for dinner and bread spread with goat cheese as a side. 

This soup isn't complicated to make, is packed with lots of broccoli goodness, and not overwhelmed with too much cream. Enjoy!

Cream of Broccoli Soup

from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• Salt
• 2 T flour
• 4 c chicken broth
• 1 1/2 lbs broccoli, finely chopped by hand or in food processor
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• Pepper
• Cayenne pepper
• Optional: sauteed crispy bacon pieces

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and 1/2 tsp. of salt and saute until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. 
2. Stir in flour and cook for about 1 minute. Slowly stir in broth and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom (those brown bits add tons of flavor!).  
3. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
4. While broth cooks, chop broccoli in food processor. Add to the soup and simmer until the broccoli is tender, about 8-10 minutes. 

   

   I hand chopped these, but food processing pulses would be much faster

   
   
5. Set another empty medium pot on the stove. Puree the soup in batches until smooth in your food processor. ***take the "food pusher" out while blending hot foods to avoid pressure build up and spewing hot food. Also, only fill half way and pulse a few times before running the processor to avoid leaking hot foods from under the lid. 
6. Pour the first pureed batch of soup into the empty medium sized pot. Continue until all the soup is pureed. Stir in the cream.
   
   Bring to a simmer just for a few seconds, then remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper. Add some cayenne pepper if you want a little heat. 
7. I didn't have time for this when I made it, but finely chopped, sauteed bacon sprinkled on top of this soup would work really well. What's not better with a little bacon??

Panzanella (Bread Salad)

Several years ago, my friend Joey introduced me to panzanella and I am forever grateful. Thank you, Joey!! It was such a fresh and bright side salad, easy, and addicting! A few years ago, the original link to the recipe I had been referred to no longer existed. And alas, I had never printed it, so I was left to make up my own recipe. Enjoy!

Panzanella (Bread Salad)

Ingredients:

• One loaf of day-old (slightly stale) hearty/crusty bread, sliced into 1 in. cubes
• 4-5 roma tomatoes, sliced into wedges or chopped
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped into small cubes
• 1/2 c. red onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange), chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• salt 
• pepper
• 1/4 c. fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine cubed bread, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and bell pepper. Mix gently. 
   
2. In a smaller bowl, mix garlic, vinegar, and oil until well combined. Pour dressing over the salad ingredients. Gently mix until combined. 
3. Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes to marinate. 
4. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle basil over the top, toss to combine and serve. 

*This salad is most presentable served immediately. Store leftovers in the fridge. It won't look as pretty the next day, but will still taste delicious. :)

Bánh mì (Vietnamese Hoagies)

I mentioned this sandwich in the previous blog post. Second only to the hoagies I grew up eating in Philly, Bánh mì (or Vietnamese Hoagie, as I like to call it) is one of the sandwich-loves of my life. There are many variations, but generally the sandwich includes a baguette-like roll that is crusty on the outside and soft and airy on the inside, meat, cucumber, cilantro, pickled carrot, jalapeno, and mayonnaise and/or butter spread. 

This recipe's protein filling is a scratch-made pork meatball. Originally I used a recipe from Chef Charles Phan's cookbook, Vietnamese Home Cooking. However, there was way too much involved in that recipe to make it a practical recipe to make for my family AND live life with my kids. So I've simplified it and my husband still gives it two thumbs up, so I'm satisfied. :) 

Also, the type of bread you use is important and will probably change regionally. If you live in or around Philly, good hoagie rolls such as Amoroso's or Conshohocken will work well. Down here in San Antonio, I use the popular Mexican sandwich rolls, bolillos, which work well too. You can also try cutting a baguette to personal size and use that. 

Also, this recipe makes 36-48 meatballs. So you could half this recipe or make it all and freeze a bunch to have another time, which is what I do. Enjoy!

Bánh mì

Adapted from Vietnamese Home Cooking

Makes 36-48 meatballs, depending on size

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 4 c. chicken broth
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1/4 c. minced garlic
• 1 T. red pepper flakes
• 3 c. diced onion (I pulse chunks of onion in the food processor)
• 1 c. stir-fry sauce (in Asian food aisle)
• 1 c. ketchup
• 1 1/2 T light soy sauce (I have also used regular soy sauce as a substitute)

Meatballs:

• 3 lbs. ground pork
• 1 1/2 c. jicama, peeled and dice (again, in food processor), or water chestnuts
• 2 c. onion, diced (food processor)
• 1/2 c. scallion, sliced thinly, green and light green parts only
• 1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 T. light soy sauce

Garnishes/Spreads:
Mayonnaise
Cucumber, sliced into long 1/4 in. wide slices


Jalapeno, sliced into long 1/4 in. wide slices


Pickled carrot
Cilantro
Sandwich roll (bolillo, a good hoagie roll, baguette cut into personal size), sliced 3/4 of the way through


Directions:

To make the sauce:

1. In a large stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and stir until toasted for about 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and toast for 30 seconds. 
   
2. Add onions, and cook until softened, for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
3. Add stir-fry sauce, ketchup, and soy sauce. Stir to combine. Add 4 c. chicken broth and mix well. 
4. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Then decrease heat until sauce is simmering. Simmer for 15 minutes. 

To make the meatballs:

1. While the sauce simmers, make the meatballs. You can roll them by hand or use a 1-2 inch ball scoop. 
2. In a large bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients. 
   
3. Using your hands, gently mix ingredients together. Don't overwork the mixture or it may become tough. 
4. Form into 1-2 inch diameter balls and add gently to the simmering sauce. The meatballs will be crowded in the pot, but should all be below the surface of the sauce. Cook, without stirring, for 45 minutes. So not let the liquid boil, or the meatballs may begin to fall apart. After 45 minutes, remove a meatball and cut it open. There should be no pink inside. 
   
5. Remove from heat and serve. Or you can let them cool and and reheat later in the sauce. 
6. To freeze leftovers, use a tupperware container. Fill 3/4 full with both meatballs and sauce. I like to freeze in batches of 12 meatballs each. Cover and freeze. 

Assembling a sandwich:
Lightly toast the roll in a toaster oven or oven. Spread both sides of the roll inside with mayonnaise. Layer with carrots, cucumber, and jalapeno. Add warm meatballs. Enjoy!!

Pickled Carrots (AKA the perfect sandwich toppers)

These might seem like a strange idea if you've never had them. But the first time I had pickled carrots years ago was on a Vietnamese sandwich called banh mi, which I promptly called the Vietnamese hoagie. I am a die-hard-it-has-to-be-the-perfect-hoagie girl. For the same reason I NEED dill pickles on my hoagie, a banh mi sandwich NEEDS pickled carrot. Pickled deliciousness is the perfect balance to the rich saltiness of all the meat.

These are simple to make, speedy quick, and keep well in the fridge to use on all kinds of things to brighten them up and add some zip. I've used them on sandwiches, banh mi, tacos, salads, and more. Enjoy!

Pickled Carrots

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 c. white vinegar
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 c. carrots, peeled and cut into 4 in long sections, shredded through shredding blade of a food processor or shred by hand on a grater

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir until dissolved.
2. Add carrots and stir until combined. Let stand for 30 minutes before using.
3. Refrigerate for later use and drain well before serving.

Chipotle Salad Bowls

For more reasons than one, we haven't been to Chipotle in a while. But one of the main reasons is because I started making their salad bowls at home, and we all love them. I made them for my whole side of the family for dinner over Christmas break, and it was gobbled up. Also, this is a great dish to use that green salsa recipe I posted!

There are several components to get together for this dish. But what I love about it is that I can make/prep all components a day ahead or as I have time. Then I just pull them all out at dinner time. 

I'd also like to say that for years I fought the idea of putting salad dressing on my Chipotle bowl. I would think, "Who needs it when I already have delicious salsa?", and I'd never use it. Then one day, I DID use it. And it entirely changed the whole salad bowl for the better. Enjoy!

Chipotle Salad Bowls

Serves 4

Basic Bowl Ingredients:

• Lettuce, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 c white rice, cooked according to package instructions
• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed well
• 3 c shredded rotisserie chicken, warm (or if you have access to someone who smokes chicken in a BBQ, like my husband, use that. It's amazing!) 
  
• Corn salsa

Corn Salsa Ingredients: Mix following ingredients together in a bowl. Refrigerate for 30 min or more to allow flavors to combine.

• 12 oz bag frozen corn, thawed and drained
• 1/8 c red onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 serrano peppers, finely chopped (add according to how spicy you want it. While I love spicy, I don't put too much in the corn salsa because I don't want to lose the delicate sweet flavor from the corn)
• Juice from 1 lime, or to taste
• Salt/Pepper to taste

Garnishes (amount according to taste):

• Shredded monterrey jack cheese
• Sour Cream
• Salsa Verde Cruda (or your other favorite salsa)
• Chipotle's Honey Vinaigrette Dressing (this blogger's copycat recipe tastes SO much like the restaurant dressing)
  
  
  
  

Directions: 

1. You can layer and combine components any fun way you want. This is just how I do it. :)
2. Place a layer of lettuce in the bottom of each bowl. Top with a layer of rice, black beans on top of that, and shredded chicken. Add salsa and corn salsa. Top with shredded cheese, sour cream, and dressing.