With a little pre-prep, Chicken tacos with fresh Pico de Gallo is a quick, tasty dinner that comes together in no time at all.  It would also be lovely with fresh cod.  The amounts here can certainly be doubled to feed a bigger group.  You can also used store bought taco seasoning, this one below gave extra special flavours with the chipotle chili powder and smoked paprika.

Here we used corn tacos, but any tortilla can work nicely too.

Taco Seasoning mix:

1 Tblsp. chili powder, garlic powder

1 1/4 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

1 lb. chicken breast or tenders cut into small 1 inch pieces

salt to taste

2 Tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil

1 Tblsp. Taco Seasoning mix - sprinkle over the chicken toss well to coat, and refrigerate 1 - 2 hrs.

Pico de Gallo:

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

1 large roma tomato, finely chopped

1/4 of a large green pepper finely chopped (can used jalapeno included if you want extra heat)

handful of chopped cilantro

juice of 1 lime

Chipotle Chili Sauce:

2 Tblsp. Mayonnaise

1 Tblsp. plain yogurt

1/8 tsp. Chipotle Chili

Additional toppings:

chopped avocado, chopped lettuce, grated cheddar cheese

Add all of the Pico de Gallo ingredients to a bowl, mix well and refrigerate - at least 2 hrs. ahead of time.

Mix chipotle chili sauce ingredients in a bowl, and keep in refrigerator till needed.

Add 1 Tblsp. of the taco seasoning to the chicken tossing well to coat, and refrigerate 1-2 hours.

Heat up a pan with the EVOO on medium heat.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees to warm up the taco shells for 10 minutes, or until heated through.

Add the chicken to the heated pan and cook through - about 8 minutes.

Add the chicken to your taco, followed by pico de gallo, cheddar cheese, lettuce, avocado and a drizzle of the Chipotle Chili sauce.

 

Recently I stumbled upon a youtube video made by Food Around The World.  The videos were of 3 different young women living alone in the mountains, or in small villages (in Ukraine) where they cook local food, are self sufficient in all manners of living.  Often they have a couple of cows, sheep, chickens, they make home made sausages, breads, render lard, make homemade cheese, churn butter, preserve food, forage wild mushrooms, grow gardens, chop wood for wood stove cooking, and carry water from wells.

I love their simple self sufficient lifestyle, and the food looks wonderful.  The videos show what foods/ingredients are being prepared, although there is no recipe.  I would have to guess at some of the seasonings.

There are a some interesting recipes I would like to recreate, so you will from time to time see a few of these national dishes in the coming weeks.  As there is no actual recipe given, I will have to take a guess at the amounts used in the recipes  Therefore, I will do my best to interpret a few of the recipes based on what ingredients we have and what we can get.  And of course, in this household it will all be gluten free.  Hopefully I can do justice to these incredibly strong, resilient, and self sufficient lovely women and their national recipes.  If you are interested in pursuing these stories/recipes further, check out You tube Food Around The World, Ukraine.

Their breads look amazing.  So with that thought in mind I started with Fermented Buckwheat Bread, the recipe can be found here.

Recipes to come....

This hearty satisfying vegetable packed split pea soup is delicious for lunch or dinner.  You can make this completely vegetarian using vegetable stock or you can use chicken or beef broth.  We used vegetable stock with about a cups worth of chicken broth just to use up what we had on hand.  Also, a word about Za'atar.  I have never used it before, and when I opened the jar the aroma was heavenly.  So it definitely was going into this soup.  If you do not have Za'atar, some fresh or dried thyme and rosemary would be lovely.

With yellow split peas you do not need to soak them after a good rinse, but I chose to soak mine for 3 1/2 hours, drained and rinsed them well.  Your cooking time will take longer and need to be adjusted if you do not pre soak the peas.

2/3 cup yellow split peas, rinsed well, and soaked for 3 1/2 hours

1-2 Tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For the vegetables, chop them small the same size

3/4 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped turnip

1 large shallot diced

3/4 cup chopped potatoes - I used roughly peeled small red and yellow gem potatoes

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

chopped fresh parsley

1 large bay leaf

1 tsp. tumeric

1 1/2 tsp. Za'atar

salt to taste

Heat up a dutch oven on low/medium heat the the EVOO.  Add in all your vegetables except the potatoes.  Saute 5 minutes, then add in the seasonings except for the parsley and salt.

Continue to saute another 3 minutes, then pour in your stock and the rinsed soaked peas.  Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low lid on and simmer 35 minutes.  At that point remove the lid and add in salt to taste, and the potatoes and cook another 15 minutes lid off until the peas and and potatoes are tender.  In total my soup took 45-50 minutes till cooked.  When done, sprinkle in the parsley, give another stir and serve with good gluten free bread.

 

 

If you read my blog, you know I am a huge lover of soups - all kinds.  With winter coming and colder temperatures in our neck of the woods this was perfect - lunch or dinner.  Although, I could eat soup any day!  Here we used homemade Turkey bone broth - highly recommend homemade chicken, beef, or turkey bone broth if you have it, or if not a good quality store bought brand can work in a pinch.

A word about Pasatta. It is more readily available at grocery stores now compared to some years ago.  It is peeled, de-seeded and strained uncooked tomatoes - heaven in a jar and so versatile.  Really adds a nice tomato punch of flavour in any dish. (plus, it freezes nicely if you do not use a whole jar)

This was a tasty, healthy, soup loaded in nutrients, and vitamins, with packed goodness in a bowl.

4 cups Turkey bone broth

2 cups tomato Pasatta

2 leeks, sliced, rinsed and chopped

2 large cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped

1/2 cup chopped:  turnip, rutabaga, carrots, celery, frozen green beans

2/3 cup chopped frozen spinach

1 cup shredded cabbage

1 tsp. dried rubbed Greek oregano

1 tsp. dried rubbed basil

1 tsp. organic tumeric

salt and pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients to a good sized pot.  Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer, cooking 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are tender.  Serve with your favourite gluten free bread or bun.

 

This hummus veggie dip came together very quickly, and packs a big level of flavor.  With this recipe you could use a black bean style of hummus if regular hummus is not your choice.  Whether store bought or homemade hummus, these flavors really compliment one another.  This makes a great dip for any vegetable platter as well as making a tasty easy lunch. (someone even said it tasted great on an open face cheese sandwich lol)

3/4 cup garlic roasted hummus - store bought or homemade

3 big Tblsp. salsa, plus extra to drizzle on top

1 Tblsp. plain yogurt

1 green onion, chopped finely

big handful of cilantro, minced (include stems)

To a bowl, add all the ingredients and mix to combine, then drizzle extra salsa on top of the hummus.  Serve with any assortment of veggies, or corn tortilla chips.

With the summer bounty at our farmers market, plus a rainy grey day, soup was on the table for lunch today!

2 pints of mixed heritage cherry tomatoes, sliced and quartered if on the bigger side

a good splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

a good splash of White Balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup sliced red/green pepper

1/4 of a red onion, sliced

season with salt and pepper

Add to a pan and roast at 400 degrees in an air roaster oven for 30 minutes.

While roasting prep the other vegetables:

1 cup mixed green and yellow beans, cut to 1 inch pieces

3/4 cup chopped yellow zucchini squash - 1/4 inch thick pieces

3 small/medium sized swiss chard, stems chopped, and slice the greens into ribbons

big handful of chopped basil

4 cups chicken stock - homemade or store bought

Add the vegetables to a pot and lightly steam until tender.

When the roasted tomatoes and peppers are done, add 2 cups of the chicken stock to a food processor then the roasted veggies and blend until smooth. OR Add in the 2 cups of chicken stock to a dutch oven then the roasted veggies and blend with a stick blender until smooth. Pour in blended veggies and remaining 2 cups of chicken stock to the pot and add in the drained, lightly steamed vegetables, a big handful of chopped basil, season with salt and pepper, and turn on low to heat bringing to a light simmer.

Serve with fresh bread of choice or grilled cheese.

 

This is a lovely side dish to have with any main dish or lunch, especially in summer.  While not a big fan of sweet coleslaw, there is a bit of sugar in this recipe, but it is not overpowering at all, and by all means add more if that is to your taste.  The dressing makes about 3/4 cup, and in this recipe we used 1/4 dressing for the coleslaw, so leftovers can be used again on just about any salad you make.

DRESSING:

1/2  cup Mayonnaise

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tblsp. White vinegar

1 1/2 tsp. white sugar

1/2 tsp. ground celery seed

1/2 tsp. paprika

fresh cracked pepper

COLESLAW:

1 1/2 cups finely sliced, shredded green cabbage

rounded 1/2 cup finely sliced red cabbage, or a bit more if you prefer

1 small to medium grated carrot

2 green onions, diced

Whisk up all the ingredients listed in the dressing recipe and set aside.

To a bowl, add the green and red cabbages, grated carrot and green onions, tossing with a fork to combine.  Pour in 1/4 cup of the dressing, mixing well.  Refrigerate 1- 2 hours before serving.

With the number of chili recipes on this blog, I realized I never seem to make chili the same way each time.  Guess I love playing with flavors, textures of food, lol, and chili offers a perfect opportunity to do just that.  This chili was simple to put together, yet there is definite complex flavors going on.  In this recipe you can certainly play around with different peppers depending on the heat you like.  We always do mild, but this chili offers a nice "smokey" flavor with the extra cilantro added.

1 Tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 lb. ground beef (I like to mix my ground beef - 1/2 lb. lean, 1/2 lbs. extra lean)

1 medium onion chopped

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 celery stalk with leaves, chopped

1/4 of a red pepper, diced

1/2 of a green pepper, diced

1 small can, 5.5 oz. of tomato paste, plus 1 can of water

1 can tomatoes and green chilis like Rotel

salt to taste, 1 Tblsp. chili powder, 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. dried rubbed oregano

one 14 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed

huge handful of chopped fresh cilantro

grated cheddar cheese

tortilla chips, on the side

Heat up a dutch oven on low medium heat with the EVOO.  Add in the onion, garlic, peppers, celery saute for 5 minutes.  Then add in the ground beef, breaking up with a spoon to brown well - about another 5-6 minutes.  Sprinkle in the seasonings, then pour in the can of tomatoes with green chili, tomato paste with water, stirring well to combine.

Add the drained/rinsed black beans, and fresh cilantro.  Lid on, turn down to a low simmer, cooking for for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Check for seasons and adjust if necessary, serve topped with cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips on the side.