This is a simple and easy condiment that can go on almost any taco, burrito, or tex-mex dish. The salsa is fresh and clean with just a hint of olive oil. It would go great with chips as well.
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Tex-Mex
Cochinita Pibil Tamales with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa and Queso Fresco
Tamales are a great traditional Mexican dish that is made with masa (corn flour), and stuffed with a meat or bean filling. They are then wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves and steamed. For the filling, I decided on a nice pork shoulder that I seasoned with savory annatto seeds, cumin, and allspice–the same recipe for the Cochinita Pibil Tacos. I made Chicken Tamales before, and I wanted to try pork. I decided to use a roasted tomatillo salsa and queso fresco again since salsa verde is so good with pork.
This dish is labor intensive and requires some planning–about 2 days. The first day is to get all the ingredients together and cook the filling. The second day is assembling the tamales and steaming them and of course eating them! When the tamales are in the steamer all you have to do is wait. Once the wait is over it is time to unwrap and enjoy some tasty tamales.
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Chipotle Lentil and Bean Chili
October and November, in my opinion, are the best months for soups and chilis. I can’t really get enough of a warm bowl of something tasty during these months. Since I had quite a few leftover ingredients from other meals (e.g. lentils, beans, tomato sauce, cilantro, etc) I figured I should try creating a chili out of what I had sitting around. I kept looking around for more things to throw in and noticed I had some frozen green peppers and jalapenos, so I cut them up and threw them in too. I was very happy with how the chili turned out! This chili does not need an ounce of meat as it is packed with protein from the lentils, kidney beans, and pinto beans. The ground chipotle chilis were great and gave it a more smoky, aromatic flavor. I garnished the chili with sour cream and cilantro, but yogurt would be a good substitute for the sour cream.
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Chile Verde Roasted Pork Stew
Since I had several pounds of shredded pork, I decided to make a stew out of the leftovers. This stew is an interpretation of a chile verde pork stew but with an addition of red chili flavors. Chile verde with pork is usually green and looks a lot like salsa verde. This stew has the flavors of a green chili with the addition of red chili flavors like paprika, chili powder, and ancho chilis. It turned out really well and I enjoyed all the layers of flavor this stew had. The recipe isn’t too difficult to throw together and it is a great way to use leftover pork roast. I recommend saving the bone from the pork shoulder and throwing it in this stew for added flavor.
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Chile Verde Pork Quesadillas
I am lucky to live in an area with such a wide availability of ingredients used in tex-mex recipes. My local grocery store, for example, has a 4 ft deep box full of tomatillos, tomatoes, and every pepper both fresh and dried on display. Ever since I tried salsa verde I have been a huge fan of its sweet and sour flavor and how good it tastes on pork, chicken, fish, etc. Because of its versatility I can enjoy it on a lot of different Mexican dishes. My favorite cut of meat lately has been pork shoulder, which cooks so nicely on low heat over a few hours. I buy a larger weight and double my salsa verde recipe so I can have lots of leftovers too! The quesadillas were super tasty and not too difficult to throw together.
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Chile Verde Tamales de Pollo
Tamales are a Mexican food made of masa (corn flour) and stuffed with any number of fillings. Tamales are an old food, meaning that it was probably eaten by Aztecs and Mayans as early as 8000 BC. Making them is a pretty involved process and it requires some time to get everything prepared and cooked–about 3-4 hours. I had a lot of fun making these, and when I was forming the dough into the corn husk I could picture someone from a different time and background doing this very same activity (which was pretty cool). The tamales turned out really well. The dough had a nice fluffy texture and the filling had a spicy, savory flavor. The filling was a tex-mex style shredded chicken and sweet corn. I seasoned the dough with cumin, paprika, and cinnamon. The chile verde was tasty and pretty simple to make too. I topped the tamales with a little monterey jack cheese and sour cream.
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Chile Verde
Chile Verde is a sweet, spicy salsa that is made most commonly with tomatillos and a number of different green chiles. This salsa goes well with chicken, pork and fish, and can be used as a topping for burritos, tacos, tamales, etc. The tomatillos provide a great sweet and sour flavor that I like a lot. Depending on how smooth you wish to puree the sauce, you could create a thicker version that would be great as a salsa dip as well.
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Tex-Mex Shredded Chicken with Sweet Corn
This is an all-purpose chicken filling that could be used in all kinds of mexican dishes. I used this as a filling for tamales but it would be great in tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, etc. The shredded chicken is pretty simple to make and has a nice sweet and spicy flavor. I only added the corn for the tamales so that is an optional ingredient.
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Roasted Corn and Red Pepper Salsa
This corn salsa is perfect for the summer sweet corn season. I made this to go with some Chile Verde Chicken Tamales and the pairing went together well. The salsa was mostly sweet with just the right amount of heat. It would go nicely on burritos and tacos too.
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Red Bean Chili with Cashews
This chili is one of those dishes that regularly makes it onto the menu. I used to make it in a big sauce pan, but since I got a crock pot I have slow cooked it ever since. I like the way all of the seasoning marinates slowly for hours and the way the veggies and cashews become tender. The cashews add a sweet, nutty flavor that tastes great with the beans and veggies. I garnished the chili with extra sharp cheddar and green onion.
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