Corn with Roasted Red Peppers

The weather was beautiful last weekend here in North Carolina, that is until just after the guests arrived for my daughter's fourth birthday party. As the last people were coming in I looked up to see ominous black clouds blowing in from the West. That's when I thought "I better get the food on the grill!" It began to rain just as I put the first of the marinated chicken breast and pork chops on the grill. Within minutes the wind was whipping up and the TV was broadcasting tornado warnings for our area! I thought briefly of cooking everything in the oven, but with over 35 pieces of meat to cook and a cold oven I knew that this option would take way too long. Luckily my brother handed me an umbrella after I came in the house, because when I went back out to flip everything it began to hail. There I was holding the umbrella in one hand a spatula in the other while nickel sized hail clanged off of the grill hood and bounced three feet off of the deck to pelt me in my uncovered legs. With18 hungry people waiting for dinner I didn't even consider letting the meat burn, so I ended up being outside during the worst of the 20 minute storm scanning the horizon for a funnel cloud (luckily I didn't see one). I may have gotten wet and a bit bruised, but hey, I spent too much time and effort planning this dinner to let a little weather get in the way! I'm happy to report that once everything was served dinner went off without a hitch and was enjoyed by all.
(photo: me grilling in the hail storm)

The corn with roasted red pepper recipe is one I created for this party. Ever since staying for a summer in New Mexico when I was 20 years old, I have loved the combination of corn, cumin and chili peppers. In this recipe the spicy chili pepper is replaced with the sweet and rich, (but still peppery) flavor of the roasted red pepper. Like many of the dishes I make these days I've eliminated the spicy element, but didn't compromise flavor.

(photo: the back deck littered with hail after the storm)

I would normally add a bit of cilantro to this dish, but this time I left it out because I realized that my brother (who somehow blames an incident involving me and toothpaste for his dislike of cilantro!?) would be eating with us and many of the other dishes were already infused with the tasty herb. Evidently my brother is not the only one who does not like cilantro, it seems like many people have strong feelings about this strong tasting herb, I found a interesting poll and discussion on the subject at veggieboards.com, It seems that there are many more people who like it, but the few who don't really hate it! I'll leave it up to you whether you add it or not, either way this recipe makes a quick and delicious side dish!

Corn with Roasted Red Pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb. package of frozen yellow corn
1 roasted red pepper- skin and seeds removed and chopped
1/4 sweet onion (or red onion) - chopped
juice of one lime
1 tsp ground cumin
Sea salt and fresh crushed pepper to taste
1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro- optional

• Heat a pot with the oilve oil to medium heat , add the corn
• Cook the corn for 3 or 4 minutes until thawed, stirring occasionally
• Stir in the the chopped red pepper, onion, cumin, salt and pepper
• Stir well can cook for another minute or two then remove from heat
• Squeeze the lime over the mixture and add the cilantro, stir, serve and enjoy!

Corn with Roasted Red Peppers

Mojo pork chops with Mango salsa

I've been into making a lot of Latin American inspired dishes lately and I was looking for a more authentic Cuban flavor to add to meat so I asked a friend who was born in Cuba and grew up in Miami for a recommendation. She told me to get Mojo marinade,the name rang a bell and when I found it at the store I actually remembered having used it years ago. It has a great garlic-citrus flavor that is good with chicken, pork or beef. I've been hooked on the Goya brand Mojo Criollo (which is gluten-free, and can be found at most grocery stores) and have been using it almost every other day for the past few weeks.
Tonight I marinated some boneless pork chops in the Mojo and then pan fried them. It was the first time I used the Mojo with pork and it was awesome. The pork came out tender, juicy and bursting with citrisy flavor. My first choice would have been to grill the chops, but with no grill available I chose the stove.
I served the pork chops with a mango salsa. This salsa is a great blend of sweet, spicy and sour. It added a bright summery look and taste to the dish and was a great compliment to the pork. Just add a little rice and and this makes an excellent Cuban inspired dinner for a warm summer night.

Mojo Marinated Pork chops

Pork chops
Mojo Criollo Marinate
2 Tbsp olive oil
Fresh Cracked pepper

• To marinate: place the pork chops in a bowl, Shake the Mojo well, and pour over enough to just cover the pork, cover and let it marinade for at least 45 minutes, (preferably several hours)

• Heat a frying pan to medium high with the olive oil, add the the marinated pork chops, sprinkle with pepper
• cook on one side for about 7-10 minutes.
• Flip the pork chops over and add a splash of the Mojo to the pan, and continue cooking the pork chops until cooked through, about another 5-8 minutes
• Serve and enjoy!


Mango Salsa

1 ripe mango- chopped into 1/4" pieces- skin and pit removed
1/2 medium sweet onion (or red onion) - chopped
one poblano chili pepper- (or 2 jalepeno peppers) chopped and seeds removed
@ 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro - chopped
Juice of 1/2 lime
sea salt to taste
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• Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
• cover and let the flavors mingle for about 30 minutes, serve, enjoy!

Mojo pork chops with Mango salsa

Roasted Garlic Salsa

The season for salsa is here! We got together with our neighbors for a Cinco de Mayo dinner last week. The following salsa along with an avocado salad, my black bean salsa, and roasted chicken over arroz amarillo (yellow rice), washed down by Jose Cuervo Margaritas was a great way to welcome the warm weather. Although our cuisine was more Cuban that Mexican, our little get together, which we held outside, inspired me to want to make this an annual event.
I've tried making salsa with raw garlic before, and it tastes great while it's fresh, but once it sits for about thirty minutes, the garlic slowly starts dominating the flavors. I wouldn't recommend any close conversations with anyone after eating raw garlic, it gives you just about the worst breath possible. Not to worry though, you can have a deliciously fresh salsa with garlic, without the dominating flavor by roasting it. There are a few different methods to roasting garlic, but the way that has been easiest for me is to simply put it in the broiler of my toaster oven, turning it over once. The result is a sweeter and milder garlic.

When I made this salsa the other day I knew that I couldn't make it as spicy as I normally would. I knew that my daughters, ages 3 and 18 months would be eating it, as well as my neighbors, who have stated several times that they can't eat spicy food. So instead of using a jalapeño pepper I choose to use a hungarian wax pepper. It was just a little hot, but after I removed the seeds and roasted the peppers (using the same method as the garlic) they were perfectly harmless. In the past I have made similar salsa recipes and blended them in the food processor, which works great, but since I had more time and wanted this salsa to present well I took the time to chop everything by hand using my chef's knife.











Roasted Garlic Salsa
4 cloves of roasted garlic- minced
2 hungarian wax peppers (or jalapeño) - roasted, skin and seeds removed and chopped
4 Roma tomatoes- chopped
2 small tomatillos- peeled and chopped
1/2 sweet Vidalia or red onion- chopped
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro- chopped
Juice of one lime
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• Peel the garlic cloves and cut the peppers on half length-wise removing the stem and seeds
• Turn on the broiler of your oven or toaster oven, place the garlic and peppers (skin side up) on a pan and place under the broiler
• Flip the garlic over after about a minute, careful not to let it burn, let it cook another minute or so on the other side, ideally it will be golden brown on both sides when done
• Broil the peppers until the skin starts to turn brown and bubbly, let the peppers cool a minute and remove the skin
• You can either chop all of the ingredients by hand, or simply cut them small enough to put them in the food processor. The resulting textures will be different, but the taste will be about the same. If chopping the ingredients everything should be between 1/8 and 1/4 inch in size, except for the garlic which should be minced
• Squeeze the lime juice over the ingredients, careful not to get the seeds in the salsa (I like to squeeze it over a fork or sieve)
• Stir (or mix in the processor for about 15 seconds) everything together, place in a covered bowl and set aside for about 20 minutes to let the flavors mingle
• Serve with corn tortillas. ¡Comerse y disfrutar! (eat and enjoy!)

Roasted Garlic Salsa

Black Bean Salsa

I wanted to make a good dip to eat while watching The Big Football Game this weekend. I first thought of the always delicious fresh salsa, or guacamole, but then I settled on black bean salsa, which is more hearty and seems to be a better match for the Buffalo Chicken Wings that I was also making. I've made several different variations on this salsa, including cooking it, but this simple recipe proved to be a winner. As with most salsas the most important thing is to use good fresh ingredients for a clean fresh flavor.


Black Bean Salsa
Serves 2-4

2 cups cooked black beans, or one-15 oz can cooked black beans (drained and rinsed)
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 Jalapeño pepper- seeds removed and chopped small
1 medium tomato- chopped small
1/4 cup fresh cilantro- chopped fine
juice of one lime
Salt and pepper to taste

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• Mix the beans, onion, pepper, tomato and cilantro together in a bowl
• Cut the lime on half through the center and squeeze each half in to the mixture
(tip: squeeze over a fork or through a small sieve to keep and seeds from dropping into the salsa.)
• salt and pepper to taste
• (optional) if jalapeño peppers are too spicy for you use 1/ 2 of a bell pepper (de-seeded) instead
• Serve with corn tortillas, enjoy

Black Bean Salsa

Baked Acorn Squash stuffed with Bean Salsa

After reading Gluten-free goddess' blog about acorn squash I got inspired to finally cook the acorn squash that was starting to gather dust on my counter. Her recipe looked awesome, but somewhat complicated, and as usual I didn't have a lot of time with two little ones running around my legs.
I sometimes make bean salsas to go over my baked sweet potatoes, so I thought why not over an acorn squash? Also this seemed like a good paring since beans go well with with brown sugar, and brown sugar is a natural with acorn squash. I made this last night and brought it to work to eat for lunch. As I was heating it up I was getting eager to see if it would be a success or a failure. Well I'm eating it now (on my lunch hour) and I'm pleased to announce that it's as good as I hoped! I just wish I had taken a picture of it before I ate it because it was so colorful, but I really didn't know it would turn out so good!


Baked Acorn Squash stuffed with Bean Salsa
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 Acorn Squash
Butter

1 Jalapeno pepper- de-seeded and chopped fine
1/2 sweet onion - chopped fine
1 tomato - chopped small
1- 1/2 cups cooked pinto beans (or one can of beans - rinsed and drained)
1-1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
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Directions:
• Preheat oven to 350º
• Cut the Squash in half in so that the top and bottom are on separate half's.
• Scoop out and discard the seeds using a spoon.
• Place the squash open side down, on a baking dish in 1/2 inch of water.
• Bake uncovered for 35 minutes.
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•Mix the jalapeno pepper, onion, tomato, beans, cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt and pepper in a bowl, set aside.
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•After the squash is cooked drain the liquid,
•Turn the squash open side up and put a few pats of butter (or to taste) on each piece.
•Scoop the salsa over the squash, return to the oven for 15 minutes and serve.

Baked Acorn Squash stuffed with Bean Salsa