Vegetarian Mexican Salad

This is me trying something new in the hopes of posting more often.

When I cook something unfortunate or something that didnt work for me Im going to post it and link to the recipe in case you want to give it a try and in the hopes youll have better luck cooking it than I did.  Maybe you will cook it and love it then tell me where I went wrong.  I make plenty of mistakes I just dont usually take the time to post about them unless they are particularly epic.

And when I make something fabulous that was amazing but the recipe was perfect Ill just do an easy cheater post and point you in the direction of the talented blogger that created it.  This Mexican salad which is a knock off of a dish at Chipotle restaurant is a perfect example.  It comes from the Healthy Irishmen Blog  where chef Gavan Murphy, and sometimes his wife, post fabulous healthy recipes using fresh organic produce.  They  have some great recipes to browse through and aside from the potato and bread dishes most of his recipes are French diet friendly.

The recipe for Vegetarian Mexican Salad is especially worth checking out.  This is the kind of salad that always looks appealing at restaurants but I never think to try to make at home where I can control the fat and salt content.  Now that I know how I will be making this beauty all summer.  The super spicy and tangy dressing is my favorite part but if you arent into breathing fire youll want to take the amount of peppers down a notch.  I also cheated to make this salad even easier by buying some jarred salsa (because the fella wont eat raw tomatoes and I was lazy), mashing an avocado on my lettuce rather than making guacamole, and then sprinkling organic canned corn and some cilantro on the salad rather than making the corn salsa. And if youre on the weight loss phase youll want to skip the corn all together since it has a high GI but there are so many other tasty things on this salad you wont be missing anything.

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Avocado Salsa Chicken Recipe

Heres my amped up version of the Medi-Weightloss Avocado Salsa Chicken Recipe, it is WOW good!

Avocado Salsa Chicken  (serves 2)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh hot salsa
1/2 cup avocado, cubed (about 1/2 of an avocado)
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
juice of 1 fresh lime
salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a skillet until hot.  Combine cumin, garlic powder and coriander.  Rinse chicken & pat it dry.  Sprinkle spice mixture generously on both sides of chicken.  Place chicken in hot skillet and sear on one side for 5 minutes.  Flip chicken, add salsa to the pan, reduce heat and cook covered for 15 minutes.  Make sure that chicken is done cooking and remove from pan to individual dishes, leaving salsa in the pan.  Add avocado, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper and saute until avocado is heated through.  Top chicken breasts with salsa and serve immediately. 

The changes I have made to this recipe are not insignificant.  It originally did not have the lime juice or coriander (two additions that I thought were real flavor boosters).  It also originally called for 1 lb of chicken and served 4 people.  I found that the amount of salsa in the recipe was not enough to stretch for 4 servings so Ive kept the amount of salsa the same and changed the amount of chicken and total servings... so that you can have salsa with every bite of chicken!  Instead of counting the calories from the avocado as part of my "protein", I list the 1/4 cup avocado as my "healthy fat" for the day.  The salsa, spices and lime juice have very few calories overall so I do not "count" them as anything.  Of course, this is only possible if youre using a similar salsa.  Jarred salsas are high in sugar and additives, so I like to avoid those.  I use salsa that is found in the produce section of my supermarket and is 5 calories for each 2 Tbsp serving.  I buy the hot salsa but mild works just as well.  I also know that some people are not fond of cilantro, so its good to note that fresh parsley works just as well in this recipe.

Helpful Hint:  The easiest way to tell if your chicken breasts are done cooking (without cutting them in half) is to touch the top of the thickest portion and test the resistance.  If it feels similar to the middle of your outstretched palm then it should be done.  This is a trick I learned from a friend of mine who is a professional chef.

Enjoy!  Here are some photos I took while I was making this last night. 

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Prep Area

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Chicken after flipping & adding salsa

Chicken cooking, covered for 15 mins

Salsa after chicken is removed with avocado, lime juice, cilantro, S&P added

The finished product with 1/2 cup mixed veggies in a light cheese sauce, yum!

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Curry Glazed Chicken Legs and Walnut Apple Salsa

By now we all know Ill use any excuse to put curry on anything so curried poultry with a side of apple salsa screamed “make me now” and “oh my god perfect cold weather meal” all at the same time.  The original recipe called for duck legs which Im sure would have been delicious but Im simple and cheap so substituted in less fatty and far less pricey chicken parts with just as amazing results. 

And as the fella, the chef, and I found out before our wacky wine party last weekend this is the perfect recipe to make just before a get together because it is the gift that keeps giving.  The fella and I ate the chicken and a bit of the salsa for dinner the night before, the three of us ate the left overs, there was a gloriously large amount of salsa left over to serve the guests with some blue corn chips, and the curried chicken fat that we poured off the meat got added to a polenta the chef threw together.  Which isnt even to yet mention how amazing all of the parts of this meal were. 

The spicy tender lightly curried chicken is crispy and delicious.  The salsa is mind boggling in its greatness.  Its just spicy enough and the crisp apples mixed with the crunchy walnuts is something we all loved so much we were slapping our foreheads at not thinking of it before.  Walnut and apple salsa may be my new favorite condiment.  I cant recommend it enough.  And that polenta the spicy chicken fat went into was amazing not to mention purple.  I highly approve of all things purple.  But thats for Jacob to blog about (the polenta not my fetish for purple objects.)

 Curry Glazed Chicken Legs

4 to 6 chicken legs

3 cloves garlic

2 minced jalapeños

2 teaspoons curry powder

2 tablespoons minced ginger

1 orange, zested

Salt and pepper to taste

Extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup lime juice (from about 4 limes)

1 cup chicken stock.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and pat the chicken legs dry with paper towels.

Using a food processor blend the garlic, jalapeños, curry, ginger, zest and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Stir in enough olive oil to make a paste, 2 to 3 tablespoons.

Rub the paste into the chicken legs, season with salt and pepper and place in a large roasting pan. Roast for 1 hour to render the fat. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Pour off the fat and reserve for another use (such as creating a spicy chicken and blue corn polenta.)

Pour the orange juice, lime juice and chicken stock over and around the duck pieces and cover the pan loosely with parchment paper or foil. Return to the oven for 45 minutes to tenderize the meat.

Transfer the chicken legs to a platter. Scrape the edges of the pan with a spoon to incorporate the caramelized bits into the juices. Strain. Taste the pan juices and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Keep warm. Just before serving, crisp the duck in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Spoon the pan juices over the duck legs and serve with walnut apple salsa.

Walnut Apple Salsa

1/4 cup lime juice (from about 2 limes)

2 tart apples, peeled and cored

1 small onion, finely diced

A handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced, seeds reserved

1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced

2 tablespoons grated ginger

1 tablespoon agave nectar

Salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted.

Pour the lime juice into a medium bowl. Finely dice the apples and toss with the onion in the juice.

Add the cilantro, peppers, ginger and agave nectar, tossing until well combined. Season with salt to taste. Add back some of the reserved jalapeño seeds to adjust heat of salsa.

Just before serving, add the walnuts.

Original recipe from New York Times Magazine.

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