Recipes Perfect for Cinco De Mayo!

Cinco De Mayo is Sunday and I just wanted to share a few recipes for anyone who may be entertaining or simply trying to be festive.  I, like most people, happen to love Mexican food so these recipes weren't written with May 5th in mind.  But they're perfect for the holiday and if I was entertaining this Cinco De Mayo, I would definitely make one, if not all of these!

Why am I not hosting a taco and tequila filled fiesta this Sunday?  Well, I've discovered that all of my entertaining has put a slight strain on my budget so I need to chill for a bit.  AND one of my friends invited me out to a party. And I need some fun!  So YES I will be partying but NO I won't be cooking. Which is why I'm posting some recipes in the hopes that YOU will do the cooking. ;-)

However, I only have a handful of Mexican recipes (all amazing though).  First is my Healthy Fish Tacos that I wrote recently for Ebony.com.  The beauty of this one is that inside that recipe is a Pico De Gallo recipe and a Cilantro-Lime Cole Slaw recipe in addition to the tacos. So you get 3 Mexican inspired dishes in one!

Then there's my Seafood Guacamole w/ Baked Tortilla Chips.  The tortilla chips are a fun snack to make, especially with little ones! And the seafood guac is so good, that is becoming my signature dish among my family and friends.  It is TO DIE FOR.  Especially if you love seafood.  But if you don't, I've included a classic "semi-homemade" Guacamole recipe as well.

Make one or make them all!

Healthy Fish Tacos w/ Cilantro-Lime Slaw & Pico De Gallo

Seafood Guacamole w/ Baked Tortilla Chips

Guacamole

Asparagus Wrapped in Chicken, Wrapped in Bacon

It's so very rare that I make a dish I love and get the recipe on here this quickly. But this shows how incredibly amazing this dinner was because here I am posting the recipe for a dish I made on Tuesday!

See Tuesday was my Dad's birthday.  He decided he didn't want to go out for dinner and since I needed to test a dessert recipe anyway, I thought I would go out to my parent's and treat my Mom and Dad.  I went to their local Wegmans after work with every intention of making a pasta primavera (which will get tested at some point this weekend) but once I picked up a beautiful pack of asparagus, I thought about bacon wrapped asparagus.  THEN (I guess my mind was in overdrive) I thought about a wonderful Rachel Ray dish I made YEARS ago where I wrapped the asparagus in chicken.  So then I thought, why not combine the two?  Wrap the asparagus in chicken and then wrap that in bacon!

This sounded way better, and of course more decadent, than my pasta dish, so I got the ingredients, drove to my parent's house, got busy and had this ready in under 45 minutes.  My mom even commented on how fast the meal came together. AND my mom even said it was the best dinner she's had in a long time!

So scroll below to see how I did it. And also check out Rachel's Recipe.  I didn't consult it once while cooking on Tuesday and yet my version came out almost the same, but with a few important additions.  Bacon being the best one!  Also, this is a pretty budget friendly dish, especially since asparagus is in season and cheap, so make this ASAP!

Ingredients: (makes 4 servings)
1 Bunch Fresh Asparagus, woody ends trimmed
2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Kosher Salt
Lemon Pepper Seasoning
8 Thick Slices Havarti Cheese, plain or with dill (Sharp White Cheddar works as well)
4 Strips Thick Cut Bacon
Olive Oil
1 Small Onion or Large Shallot, chopped (about a 1/2 cup )
1 Clove Garlic, minced
1 tbsp Flour
1 Cup Chicken Stock
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon chopped Fresh Parsley (dried works too)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bring a large pot of water to a boil (make sure the pot's wide enough for your asparagus to fit).  Meanwhile fill a bowl with cold water and add 5-10 ice cubes as well. Once water is boiling, add about 2 tablespoons of salt and then add your trimmed asparagus.  Boil for about 2-3 minutes, and then using tongs, transfer asparagus into the ice bath.  Then, drain the asparagus and set aside.

Next prep the chicken by slicing each breast in half horizontally through the middle.  Then, after placing each breast between 2 pieces of saran, use a rolling pin to pound out each breast to about 1 inch thickness.  Arrange each breast flat on your cutting board. Lightly sprinkle each breast with lemon pepper seasoning and then place two thick slices of cheese right in the middle.  (In the picture you may note that my slices are pretty thin, and unfortunately the flavor got lost, so I would double the thickness)


Then place, 4-5 asparagus spears on the end of each breast, and gently, but tightly, roll each breast so that the asparagus and cheese are neatly tucked in the middle.  Then, sprinkle the outside with a bit more lemon pepper and wrap 1 piece of thick cut bacon around each breast.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat in a skillet until almost smoking.  Then place each chicken bundle, SEAM SIDE DOWN in the pan.  Allow to cook until brown, about 5 minutes and then flip over to cook for 5 minutes on the other side.  You will know the bundle is ready to turn when it releases easily.  If it sticks to the pan when you try to turn, it's not ready yet! Do NOT try to force it, because your bundles may fall apart.

Once bundles have been seared on both sides, transfer to an over safe dish and place in your preheated oven to finish cooking (about 20 minutes).  Meanwhile, prepare your pan sauce in the same pan you cooked your chicken in.  Add another tablespoon of olive oil, then add the onions to the pan and saute for 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for a minute more.  Sprinkle flour over onion and garlic and cook for a few seconds and then add in your chicken stock, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Stir in the dijon mustard, bring to a simmer and allow to thicken slightly for a few minutes.  Once thick, remove from the heat, stir in butter, lemon juice, and parsley to finish.

To serve, remove chicken bundles from the oven.  Spoon about 2-3 tablespoons of sauce on each plate and top with a bundle.  For extra special presentation, slice bundles down the middle to showcase the beautiful center (as pictured above).  Also, roasted fingerling potatoes made a great side dish!  You can see those pictured below with the pork free bundle for my dad.

 

Healthy Fish Tacos w/ Cilantro-Lime Slaw

My fish taco recipe...it's one of my crowning joys. This one has been in fairly heavy rotation in my house for years and when a twitter follower asked me if I had any taco recipes for "Taco Tuesdays" I decided to work on this one.  When it was finally done, I had to send it to Ebony.com because to me, they're THAT GOOD.  AND this recipe recently won a weekly "Taco Tuesday Challenge" where cooks were asked to submit pictures of their best taco dish.  My Fish Taco picture (see above) was selected last week as the best submission and the recipe is being featured on 3 culinary blogs! Yay me!

Now what makes these tacos so good, and what makes any taco good for that matter, are the toppings.  I top mine with a cilantro-lime cole slaw, a bright and tangy version made with Greek yogurt, and a fresh pico de gallo.  These toppings help to balance the spicy rub I use to season the fish.

So this is like 3 recipes in 1 because you get the fish recipe, the pico de gallo recipe, AND the recipe for cilantro-lime slaw; all of which can be used separately or together.  Serve the pico as an appetizer with tortilla chips or serve the slaw on the side of a heavier Mexican dish like enchiladas.

I hope you add one or all of these to your rotation!  Click HERE to view the recipe on Ebony.com. The recipe is also posted on N' Joy Eats website as last week's Taco Tuesday Challenge winner.  OR scroll below for the picture tutorial.

Oh and I almost forgot! For a carb-free meal, wrap these babies in lettuce instead of a tortilla for even more health benefits.  In the picture below, I used bib lettuce but I found that the leaves were too small. I would go with iceberg next time.

Ingredients: (Makes 5-6 tacos)

1 6 oz container Plain Greek Yogurt (about ¾ cup)

1 teaspoon Honey

1 tablespoon Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped

1 teaspoon Fresh Lime Juice (about ½ a lime)

2-3 Cups Pre-Shredded Cole Slaw Mix

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 teaspoon Chili Powder

1 teaspoon Cumin

1 teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoon Oregano

½ teaspoon Garlic Powder

¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

¼ teaspoon Black Pepper

1-2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 lb. Tilapia Filets

1 package 6” or 8” Flour Tortillas

Fresh Pico De Gallo, for topping (recipe follows)

Lime Slices and Cilantro for garnish

Directions:

To make slaw, whisk together Greek yogurt, honey, cilantro, lime and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.  Gently toss in 2-3 cups of the coleslaw mix, adding a little at a time until cabbage has completely been coated in the sauce.  Set aside.

Next, set oven broiler to high.  Wrap 6-8 tortillas in aluminum foil and place on lower rack in the oven to get warm.

In a small bowl, add the chili powder, cumin, salt, oregano, onion powder, cayenne pepper and black pepper and stir to combine. Place fish filets on a foil lined baking sheet and brush both sides of the fish with the extra virgin olive oil.  Then rub both sides of the fish with spice mixture.  Broil fish on high for 17-20 minutes, until firm.  Remove the fish from the oven, squeeze the juice from half of a lime over the fillets and cut them into 3-4 inch chunks.

Lastly, remove the tortillas from the oven.  To build the tacos, place 3-4 pieces of fish on a tortilla.  Top with cilantro-lime slaw and some fresh pico de gallo.  Serve with a slice of lime and a sprig of cilantro for garnish.

Pico De Gallo

Ingredients: (Makes about 2 Cups)

5 plum tomatoes, seeded, diced

½ cup red or white onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

Juice of ½ a Lime

Salt & Fresh Black Pepper, to taste

Directions:

After you have removed the seeds and diced your tomatoes, add them to a bowl.  Then add the finely chopped onion and cilantro and stir to combine.  Next squeeze half a lime over tomatoes and season liberally with salt and freshly cracked black pepper.  Give mixture a final stir, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.  Serve with tortilla chips or as a topping for tacos, quesadillas, burritos, eggs, you name it!

These were even better the next day!

April's Lasagna

This recipe is called "April's Lasagna" but let me start by saying that it isn't exactly MY recipe.  A while back (and I mean a couple of years ago) my Mom called me and told me she made the best lasagna EVER and I had to try it.  Turns out it was The Barefoot Contessa's Lasagna with Turkey Sausage.  I can never get enough of Ina Garten so one Sunday I made the lasgana, and Mom was not lying.  It's an amazing dish!

However, it contained ALOT of cheese.  And don't get me wrong, I love cheese.  AND I'd never seen a lasagna recipe that called for goat cheese and this just seemed genius.  But it also seemed immoral!  I mean I do have a figure to watch and including 4 types of cheese in any dish can be so fattening, not to mention expensive.  So when I went to make it again, I modified it by cutting out most of the cheese and here we are!

I make this lasagna all the time and recently when I made it and posted the pictures on Instagram, alot of my followers asked me for the recipe.  And though Ina is the true author, I decided to go ahead and write my version because 1. I think it's better (sorry Ina) and 2. it is different from hers in a few ways.  There's the cheese thing, also the meat thing (I use HOT turkey sausage instead of sweet-way better!) and then there's the noodle thing. I'm not sure when the "no boil" lasgana noodles were invented but to me, they are the best foodie creation since sliced bread! So I included them in this recipe because no one should ever boil a lasagna noodle again.

So here's MY recipe! A while back I wrote a great Vegetable Lasagna recipe that you should check out, but if you're looking for the traditional, comforting lasagna with meat sauce, this is it!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb. Hot Italian Turkey Sausage
1 28oz can Crushed Tomatoes
1 6oz can Tomato Paste
6-8 Basil Leaves, chopped
1/4 cup Parsley Leaves, chopped, divided
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 15oz container ricotta cheese
1 large egg
3/4 cup grated parmesean cheese, plus 1/4 cup for the top
1 bag mozzerella cheese
1 box "no boil" lasagna noodles (easily found in the pasta isle)
Non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a pot or large sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat, add in diced onion and sautee until soft, about 5 minutes.  Next add in the minced garlic and sauté for another 30 minutes.  Then, one at a time, remove the casings from each sausage and add them to the pan.  Use the edge of your spoon or spatula break up the sausage, and cook until no longer pink, about 7-8 minutes.

Once the meat is done, drain off the fat (a step I usually skip, but it's necessary here) and then add in the can of tomatoes, followed by the can of tomato paste.  Stir everything together, season with salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, and then stir in the chopped basil and half of the chopped parsley.  Remove the sauce from the heat.

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg.  Then add in the ricotta cheese, the rest of the chopped parsley, 3/4 cup of parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir everything to combine and set aside.

To build the lasagna, first spray your baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Then ladle 1/3 of the sauce into the dish, spreading the sauce over the bottom. Then cover the sauce with the no-boil lasagna noodles, breaking them as needed to fit.  Cover the noodles with 1/3 the mozzarella, 1/2 the ricotta and 1/3 of the sauce.  Repeat the layers, noodles, 1/3 of the mozzarella, the remainder of the ricotta and then the last of the sauce.  Top with one final layer of noodles and then sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese on top.  Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes, remove foil and bake uncovered for 10 minutes.

Allow lasagna to stand for at least 10 minutes before serving. 

Turkey Meatloaf w/ Spicy Balsamic Glaze

This isn't the first turkey meatloaf recipe I've written.  Last year I did a Mini-Meatloaf recipe which was a huge hit!  I wrote it for "the single cook" because I read that the individual meatloaves could be frozen and re-heated later.  But I ended up getting more messages and tweets from parents who loved the idea of making the mini-meatloaves for their kids which was great!  

I mentioned in the post that I used my Mom's turkey meatloaf recipe and it came out well but there was one problem.  A problem that plagues most dishes made with ground turkey meat: it was a bit too dry.   Straight from the oven, the mini-meatloaves were perfect but when I went to reheat them, they were kind of tough.

With all of this in mind, I sat down last week to write a new turkey meatloaf recipe, for the single cook, that was moist and delicious. I came across lots of ideas for keeping the meatloaf moist.  Grate in a zucchini. Use oats instead of bread crumbs. And then there was my favorite: mix in a chipotle pepper and some adobo sauce.

All of these were good ideas, and I guess I could have used them all, but because I am scaling down the meatloaf recipe by half for the single cook, I didn't want too much going on in the filling.  I talked this over with my mom and she told me she recently tried adding the chipotle pepper in her meatloaf and it came out really good.  I took her advice, added the chipotle pepper to the usual ingredients, and the meatloaf I created was moist and delicious.  Exactly what I wanted! AND it reheated really well.

So find the recipe below. I used 1 pound of ground turkey instead of the usual 2 which makes about 4 servings.  Perfect for the single cook.  And we have my mom to thank for the spicy balsamic glaze.  We both had been using Bobby Flay's idea to mix balsamic vinegar with ketchup but my mom said she had the extra chipotle pepper on hand so she figured she would throw it in the sauce.  The results were DELISH!! Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

½ bell pepper, any color, finely diced

1 small onion or shallot, finely diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lb. ground turkey

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons oregano

2 chipotle peppers in adobo, minced, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce

1 large egg

1/3 cup breadcrumbs, plain or Italian

Salt, to taste

Spicy Balsamic Glaze, recipe follows

Directions:

Preheat Oven 350 degrees.

In a small sauté pan, heat olive oil and add the chopped onion and bell pepper. Sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until soft, add garlic and cook for a minute more.  Remove pan from heat and allow to cool while you prepare the meatloaf.

In a bowl add ground turkey, cumin, oregano, salt, egg, breadcrumbs, and chipotle peppers, and adobo sauce.  Then add the pepper and onion mixture to the bowl and, using your hands, mix all the ingredients together.  Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and press the turkey mixture into a loaf in the middle of the pan (see picture to the right).  Remember it will not fill the entire pan.  Spread half of the balsamic glaze over the top of the meatloaf, and put pan into the oven and bake for 1 hour.

Remove meatloaf from the oven and using 2 spatulas transfer the loaf to a plate or serving platter to prevent from drying out.  Serve with the remaining spicy balsamic glaze.

Spicy Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons Balsamic Vinaigrette

3 tablespoons Ketchup

1 small Chipotle Chili Pepper in Adobo Sauce*

*If you only want a hint of heat, add 1-2 tablespoons of adobo sauce.  For more heat, add a larger pepper.  I think 1 small pepper is just right.  Also, the glaze is great with just vinegar and ketchup so eliminate the chipotle altogether if you don't want any heat.

Directions: Finely mince the chipotle pepper and combine with vinegar and ketchup in a bowl.

Tortellini w/ Spinach & Mushroom Cream Sauce

If you're counting calories, this isn't the recipe for you.  BUT if you're looking for a rich, delicious and comforting dish that can be ready in under 30 minutes and is portioned for the single cook, then HELLO!

This recipe is an adaptation of a Pumpkin Tortellini recipe that I made around the holidays from The Food Network Magazine.  After I'd made it, I realized how versatile it was.  Even though it's a cream based sauce, the recipe intro talked about adding the pumpkin to add flavor and vitamins.  With flavor and vitamins in mind, I decided to try spinach and mushrooms, instead of pumpkin, and here we are.

This dish is incredibly simple and delicious which is why I had to share it.  Not to mention, you all asked for it! ;-) And even though it may be a bit indulgent, stay tuned for a lighter recipe that can be made with the same ingredients!

Ingredients:

1 9oz Package 3 Cheese Tortellini

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup sliced baby portabella mushrooms (1/2 an 8oz package)

2 cups fresh baby spinach (two large handfuls)

Salt & Pepper, to taste

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup heavy cream

¼ cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese, plus more for garnish

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Once water is rapidly boiling, add tortellini and cook for 3-5 minutes and drain.  Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat, add the olive oil and the finely chopped shallot.   Sauté the shallot for about 3-4 minutes add the minced garlic and sauté for a minute more.  Next add in the mushrooms and sauté until softened.

Next, add in the two cups of spinach, the nutmeg, and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Stir until the spinach has just wilted and then add in the heavy cream. 

Once the sauce begins to bubble, reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.  Add in the cheese, stir to combine and check for seasonings.  The cheese will add saltiness, but the sauce may need some additional salt and pepper. Lastly, add drained tortellini to the sauce and stir to combine.  Serve pasta with additional parm for garnish.

Tiramisu

This time last year, I was over the moon excited because my very first recipe was published on Ebony.com.  The digital content editor happens to be a Howard Alum and, lucky for me, she enjoyed the work I was doing on this blog.  She told me she would like to me to contribute to Ebony.com's Food section and gave me my first assignment: A Valentine's Day Dessert.  I wrote not one, but two recipes: Strawberry Shortcake and Chocolate Dipped Bananas & Pineapple.  I may have gotten a little carried away but for my first time I can say they were both really good dessert recipes!

So here we are a year later and even though I've been doing alot of savory recipe testing, I figured that my one year commemorative recipe submission to Ebony.com should be a dessert.  I mean it's only right!  And I knew that my tiramisu would be perfect for Valentine's Day.

I scaled down the tiramisu recipe significantly, to about 4 servings, for all the happy couples.  You can make it in one bowl or divide into two bowls as I did in the picture.  But be warned, this tiramisu is very rich so two people can share one of those bowls.  My roommate and I shared one, and the word that kept going through my head, was sinful.

You can click HERE to view the recipe on Ebony.com or scroll below to see the process in pictures.  Hopefully the pictures will show you all how easy it is to make.  Simple and sinful tiramisu! How can you go wrong with that?

Tiramisu

Ingredients: (Makes 4 servings)

3 Egg Yolks, from large eggs

½ cup Finely Granulated Sugar

1 cup, 8 oz Mascarpone Cheese*

½ teaspoon McCormick Pure Coffee Extract

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1 Package Ladyfingers

¼ Cup Coffee Liquor

Coco Powder for Dusting, about 3 tablespoons

1 Milk Chocolate Bar for Shaving

2-4 Strawberries for Garnish

*BelGioioso makes a Tiramisu Flavored Mascarpone.  If you can find it, definitely USE IT and omit the coffee extract.  If not, plain mascarpone with the extract works fine.  You should be able to easily find the coffee extract in your baking isle. Or click here to order online: Neilsen Massey® Coffee Extract (Google Affiliate Ad)

Fill the bottom pot of a double boiler with 2-3 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce heat to low. Combine the egg yolks and sugar into the top pot, place pot on top of the boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly with a spatula.  You want all the sugar granules to dissolve and the mixture to be a thick lemon color.

Next, remove the bowl from the heat and add the mascarpone cheese and coffee extract.  Mix with a handheld mixer on medium-low speed until everything is combined.  

In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream with a hand held mixer until stiff peaks begin to form.  Then, with a spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture and set aside.

Now pour the coffee liquor into a shallow dish or pan and dip one side of the lady fingers into the liquor, one at a time, and then begin to arrange them along the bottom of your serving dish (liquor side up).  Spread half of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers using a spatula.  Then, dip a few more ladyfingers, one side only, into the liquor and place them over the mascarpone to make a middle layer.  

Cover those ladyfingers with the other half of the mascarpone mix and spread with the spatula to create a flat, smooth surface.

Lastly, use a sifter to dust the coco powder on top of the mascarpone, being sure to cover all of it.  I laid down tin foil to help with the mess.

Then, use a carrot peeler to create the chocolate shavings.  Run the peeler down the edge of the chocolate bar and sprinkle the shavings over the top of the tiramisu.  Cover with saran and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Right before serving, I suggest slicing and fanning a strawberry over the top of the tiramisu.  They look like little hearts making it a festive garnish for Valentine’s Day or any day you want to show some love. :-)