Looking for a Mexican side-dish that’s full of vegetables and great flavor?  Look no further than calabacitas, which traslates to “little squash.”   This dish goes together easily and showcases fresh summer flavors – zucchini, summer squash, corn and fresh oregano.   Throw in some onions, season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (if you want the heat), sauté for a few minutes and you’re good to go!

Calabacitas

olive oil
1 small zucchini, sliced thin
1 small yellow squash, sliced thin
1 Roma tomato, diced (I omitted)
1 small red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. frozen or fresh corn
1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
red pepper flakes, to taste
cumin, to taste (around 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Coat sauté pan with olive oil
2. Lightly coat a sauté pan with oil. On medium heat, cook onion, zucchini and squash until slightly softened – about 5-10 minutes.
3. When zucchini has almost reached desired consistency, add corn and heat through.
4. Season with oregano, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper before serving.

Chicken fajitas are a summer staple in our house. Throw together some tasty marinade, grill up chicken and vegetables and serve them together on warm tortillas. It’s the perfect summer meal: no indoor cooking, minimal dishes and maximum flavor.  Serve them on the deck with an  ice-cold margarita and you’re faced with pure perfection.

While tequila-lime marinade has been my go-to choice for all things Mexican-related, I decided to shake things up a bit last weekend and searched AllRecipces.com for a new chicken fajita marinade.   Success!  The lime juice provides a bit of tart sweetness, while the liquid smoke and cayenne pepper imparts a smokey zing.  I was in a rush and only let the chicken marinate for about an hour, but that didn’t seem to cause any problems.

I use a grill basket like this one for my grilled vegetables, so it’s just as easy as sauteing on the stove.   I don’t use an actual recipe;  chop up mushrooms, peppers and onions and toss them in either olive oil or Italian dressing and then season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Coat your basket with cooking spray and place on the grill during pre-heating.  Cooking times will vary, but 5-8 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes, will usually do it.

Chicken Fajita Marinade

1/4 cup lime juice
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. In a small bowl whisk together the lime juice, water, olive oil, garlic, soy sauce, salt, liquid smoke, cayenne and black pepper.
2. Pour marinade over meat and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Cook as desired.

My husband and I planned a Mexican-themed dinner to celebrate Mother’s day with his Mom.  We served all of our favorites:  margaritas, chips and corn salsa, tequila-lime chicken fajitas with grilled vegetables and calabacitas.

Margarita cupcakes are usually my go-to dessert for a celebration like this, but this time I wanted something light and summery.  A quick search on AllRecipes.com yielded this Margarita Pie.  The original recipe did not contain any alcohol, so I added tequila and triple sec to give it a true margarita flavor.

The margarita pie was a hit!  Everyone, including the guest of honor loved it!  The pie was cool and smooth with just the right combination of sweet and tangy flavors.  Using crushed pretzels for the crust added contrasting texture and the saltiness enhanced the margarita flavor – I for one love salt with my margarita!  I only allowed the pie to chill for three hours, so it was still a bit soft when I served it.  In the future I’d give it more time, but that certainly did not detract from the flavor.

Given the rave reviews and the ease with which this dessert came together, I’ll be adding it to my list of go-to summer desserts!

Margarita Pie

1 1/4 cups crushed pretzels
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup white sugar
2 limes, zested and juiced
1/4 cup orange juice
4 tsp tequila
1 tsp triple sec
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
(8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. In a medium bowl, combine crushed pretzels, melted butter, and sugar. Press mixture into a pie pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together lime juice, lime zest, orange juice, tequila, triple sec and sweetened condensed milk. Fold in whipped topping.
3. Spoon filling into pretzel crust. Place in refrigerator and allow to set for at least 4 hours.  (6+ hours or overnight is better)

When we were engaged, my husband and I registered for the Cuisinart Duet, a combination food processor and blender. Beyond making frozen beverages, I had no idea what I would use these small appliances for, but I registered for them because it was the thing to do and they seemed potentially useful. While unpacking our shower gifts, I thumbed through the enclosed recipe booklet and was surprised to see that many recipes called for the blender, including salad dressings and (Mike’s favorite!) salsa. Thinking that Mike would be equally interested, I shared the news with him: “Guess what? We can use our blender to make more than just frozen margaritas!” Mike responded with “Like frozen daiquiris?” While I ended up using the food processor to make salsa, I often remember this exchange and smile.

We go through lots of salsa in our house. Not only does my husband love it, we often serve it as a simple appetizer when friends visit for dinner. While I think there are plenty of excellent jarred salsa, homemade salsas remain my favorite. I started making this particular salsa a few years ago based upon a Chili’s salsa copycat recipe. Over time, I’ve modified it to suit our particular tastes. That’s the beauty of salsa: it’s completely customizable, super-easy to make and almost impossible to run.

Now go grab your food processor or blender, a bag of chips and maybe even a frozen margarita!

Cumin & Lime Salsa

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can tomatoes and green chilies
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can whole canned tomatoes (plus the juice)
1 tbsp teaspoons chopped (canned, not pickled)
1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 – 2 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp sugar

1. Pulse japapenos and onions in food processor.
2. Add both cans of tomatoes, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, lime juice and sugar.
3. Process all ingredients until well blended, but do not puree.
4. Place in covered container and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

My husband I love grilling pizza because it’s quick, easy and the topping possibilities are endless. I first made this Southwestern Chicken Grilled Pizza when I was faced with leftover Tomatillo Salsa, Tequila Lime Chicken and lots of fresh cilantro.

Using tomatillo salsa in place of traditional tomato sauce gives this pizza a light, fresh taste. The flavors of the tangy, bright salsa, smokey chicken and mellow caramelized onions blend beautifully. The pizza is full of flavor, but not overly spicy, so it will appeal to a wide variety of palates.

Southwestern Chicken Grilled Pizza

Pizza dough
Corn meal
Olive oil
1/2 large sweet onion, sliced thin
1/4 – 1/2 cup tomatillo salsa (store-bought or homemade)
1 grilled chicken breast, chopped (I used Tequila Lime chicken)
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese
2-4 tbsp chopped, fresh cilantro

1. In a saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions for 7-10 minutes or until soft and translucent.
1. Place pizza stone on cold grill. Preheat grill on high for about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, stretch your dough by hand or roll it out on a lightly floured surface.
3. Sprinkle pizza peel liberally with cornmeal. Place stretched dough on top of cornmeal-covered peel.
4. Spread tomatillo salsa over the dough.
5. Distribute chopped chicken and sauteed onions evenly over the salsa.
6. Top with shredded cheese.
7. Reduce grill heat to medium-high. Slide prepared pizza onto preheated stone,close lid and grill for 8-10 minutes (for thin crust) until crust is golden and slightly crispy. Thicker crusts will require more time.
8. Remove pizza from stone and allow stone to cool on the grill.
9. Sprinkle chopped cilantro onto finished pizza.

I had been wanting to try my hand at tomatillo salsa for quite some time, but was unable to procure fresh or canned tomatillos at several local, suburban grocery stores. Last week while perusing the fresh produce, I excitedly spotted the small husked tomatillos alongside the vine-ripened tomatoes and assorted hot peppers. My purchase caused quite a stir at the front end, as it took awhile for several cashiers to come up with the correct produce code. Apparently my local Stop and Shop doesn’t move large volume of tomatillos.

Now that I had the produce in hand, I had to settle on a recipe. After looking over several recipes to get a general idea of standard ingredients and preparations, I settled on this recipe from on allrecipes.com. I was pleased with how quickly the salsa came together. While the tomatillos were cooking, I chopped and measured the rest of the ingredients into the food processor work bowl. Less than a minute after removing the tomatillos from the stove, the salsa was done.

I will definitely be making this again. The salsa had a tart fresh tang, with an aromatic hint of garlic. Just add chips and a frosty margarita and you have a perfect Mexican-inspired snack.

Tomatillo Salsa

1 pound tomatillos, husk and stem removed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 tbsp lime juice (juice of 1/2 lime)

1. Place husked, washed tomatillos in a saucepan. Fill the pan with enough water to cover the tomatillos and bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until tomatillos are soft.
3. Transfer tomatillos to the work bowl of a food processor. Reserve cooking water in case additional water is needed to thin the salsa.
4. Add remaining ingredients onion, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, oregano, cumin and salt) and process until smooth. If salsa is too thick, add small amounts of cooking water until desired consistency is reached.

I do not like tomatoes. While I love the taste of tomatoes, I won’t touch anything that resembles a fresh tomato. As you might imagine, this limits my options for fresh salsas. Enter corn salsa. When I tried it at Chipotle, it was love at first bite. It’s crisp, fresh, flavorful and contains no trace of tomato.

Inspired by my love of Chipotle’s corn salsa, I set out to create a reasonable approximation at home. When I first started making the salsa, I used this recipe from About.com as my guide, but now I just eyeball all of the ingredients. This is a non-particular recipe that can be easily adjusted to suit individual preference. I can safely say that I use more jalapeno, cilantro and onion than called for in the original recipe.

You can certainly use frozen corn to make this salsa, but it tastes even better with fresh, native corn stripped from the cob. When I use fresh corn, I boil a few ears as if I were going to serve it and then slice the kernels from the cob. The fresh corn lends a crisp sweetness to the salsa.

I’m growing jalapeno peppers this year, as well as cilantro. The starter pepper plants look good, as long as the squirrels leave the tiny peppers alone! I started the cilantro from seed, and it just sprouted a few days ago. Every few weeks, I plan to sow a new batch of cilantro so I will have a continuous supply. By the time my favorite farm stand is selling their native corn, I hope to have jalapenos and cilantro from my garden to use in this salsa!

Since it’s so easy to put together, this salsa has become a summer staple in my household. It’s delicious as an accompaniment to corn chips, or grilled meats. In face, it complements tequila lime chicken beautifully. However you sever it, this corn salsa is simple, fresh and flavorful.

Corn Salsa

2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed (2-3 medium ears of fresh corn)
1/3 cup chopped red onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (juice of one lime)
1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.
3. Can be served cold or at room temperature.

The last time we grilled, I wanted to do something other than the usual BBQ sauce. A Mexican inspired marinade sounded good: tequila, lime, cilantro… something along those lines. A quick search of allrecipes.com produced this recipe for Tequila Lime Chicken.

The original recipe includes instructions for baking the chicken, and for an accompanying Mexi-Ranch dressing. I was only interested in the marinade. Based upon recommendations of reviewers and my personal tastes, I changed a few of the proportions. Since it is Tequila Lime Chicken, I increased the amount of tequila to 1 teaspoon, and will probably add more next time. The recipe produced an ample amount of marinade and would easily work for more than the suggested four chicken breast halves.

The chicken was delicious and tender! It had a tangy, smokey flavor that went very well with the cilantro lime rice I made that night. The leftover chicken was delicious on it’s own and on grilled pizza. This marinade will be added to our regular grilling rotation this summer!

Tequila Lime Chicken

1 cup water
1/3 cup Teriyaki sauce
2 tbsp lime juice (juice of 1 lime)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp liquid smoke flavoring
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp tequila
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1. Combine all ingredients, except chicken, in non-reactive bowl. Mix well.
2. Add chicken and turn to coat.
3. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.
4. Grill chicken.

I was searching for a Chipotle-inspired rice to serve with tequila lime chicken when found this recipe for Cilantro Lime Rice on allrecipes.com. Sadly, it’s not the same as Chipotle’s rice. It’s still delicious.

This is an easy recipe that uses very few ingredients. The rice has a nice lime flavor, and I love the earthy cilantro. I used more than the two tablespoons of cilantro called for in the original recipe. I don’t know how much I used, as I just sprinkled in extra cilantro until it looked right.

After I made this rice, I found a Chipotle Fan site that provides copy-cat recipes that promise to emulate Chipotle staples. I will be trying their chicken marinade and rice soon.

Cilantro Lime Rice

Yields 6 Servings

1 cup long grain white rice
2 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp lime juice (juice of 1 lime)
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
salt to taste

1. Bring rice and chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan over high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender.
3. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice, cilantro and salt. Fluff with fork and serve.

This was my first foray into slow-cooker meal preparation. Just about everyone I know received one or more when they got married. I didn’t register for one because I couldn’t see the need. I still don’t think that it falls in the “can’t live without it category”, but I can tell that I’m really going to enjoy this “set and forget” form of meal preparation.

While I was chopping vegetables, defrosting chicken and measuring ingredients this morning I thought to myself “What’s the point? I have to do all this prep work when I make dinner on the stove top.” But then I loaded everything in the slow cooker, set the temperature and walked away. It was at that moment that I realized I was really going to like not having to babysit the stove.

I consider myself very fortunate, in that I work from home most days. Since I save time by not commuting, I often have ample time to prepare dinner. Just because I have time to hang out in the kitchen in front of the stove, doesn’t mean that I need to!

I picked up a 5.5 quart Rival Crock Pot at Target using a gift card from Christmas. This is the gift that will keep on giving. My model is very basic, but manual controls make sense because I am home all day. This is only my first recipe, but I think the size is just about right. Even though I only cook dinner for two people, I like to have leftovers.

My friend Carolyn sent me this recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup after she tried it and loved it. I followed her recommendations of adding a can of drained and rinsed black beans, and adding 2 raw chicken breasts to the pot and allowing them to cook in the soup. I shredded the chicken shortly before serving. Since I didn’t have a can of whole peeled tomatoes or enchilada sauce in the house, I made my own substitution. I mixed a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes with some honey, garlic powder, cumin, cilantro and poultry seasoning and use this blend in place of the tomatoes and enchilada sauce. I also used half chicken broth and half vegetable broth so I could try some of my home made stock.

This soup was SO good! I served it with crushed tortilla chips and a sprinkling of Mexican blend cheese. My husband said that it reminded him of Panera’s Chicken Tortilla Soup. It was warm and hearty with a nice kick. The original recipe states that it yields 8 servings, and I think that’s pretty accurate. We’ll probably have this again for dinner and lunch and then freeze the remaining portions.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
Yields 8 servings

1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed *
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce *
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
2 cups frozen corn
1 tbsp chopped cilantro

* can substitute 28 oz. crushed tomatoes (seasoned with chili powder, cumin, garlic powder etc.) for tomatoes and enchilada sauce

1. Place raw chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker.
2. Pour in chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf.
3. Stir in corn and cilantro.
4. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
5. Before serving, remove chicken breasts and shred. Return shredded chicken to pot and allow to heat through before serving.