Chicken Tacos

In most of the US right now it's turning to fall weather, but here in Texas it's still pretty hot.  We had a couple cooler days (as in below 90) but we're back up to the 100's so I'm going to continue cooking summer-y dinners until otherwise.  As a protest of sorts, but due to really enjoying all kinds of food it's not that upsetting.

Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium heat.  Crumble ground chicken into the pan.

Add chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, black pepper, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard to the meat. 

Cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until browned.  When the meat is almost finished wrap tortillas in a towel and heat in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to warm.

Place meat in the tortilla with any other toppings you enjoy on tacos.  I mashed up some avocado and added tomatoes and low fat shredded cheese.  This is a delicious and unique way to do tacos, as well as healthy.  It's a great thing to make if you don't have a lot of time to prepare because it takes less that 20 minutes to make the whole meal. 

Chicken Tacos

Adapted from OK Magazine - Bethenny Frankel (LOVE her!)

Serves 4-5 people, I cut in half for 2

1 lb. lean ground chicken

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

tortillas

Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium.

Crumble ground chicken into the pan.

Add all the seasonings to the chicken.

Break up the meat with a spoon and cook until browned.

Wrap the tortillas in a towel and heat in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to warm.

Place the meat in the tortillas and served with any additional sides you'd like.

Feta & Zucchini Pasta Salad

Although I like mayo, I don't like mayo-ish, creamy pasta salad.  I lean more toward the pasta salad with olive oil, and that's exactly what this is.  This was meant for my camping trip that I posted about yesterday, but I forgot it in the fridge.  Although it wasn't enjoyed in the great outdoors with a burger, it was still very tasty and refreshing!

A great way to make this even healthier is to use whole wheat pasta, I used whole wheat organic bow ties and they worked awesome.  Cook the pasta until done, drain and set aside until completely cool. 

Add olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.  Toss into the pasta to combine well.

Add the tomatoes.  I sliced grape tomatoes in half so they were more bite size.

Add zucchini, I actually used yellow squash because it's what I had in the house.  I cooked it over the stove in olive oil, let it cool then cut it up and put it into the pasta.

Then comes the best part: feta cheese.  Add more of any of the ingredients if you like, I added extra feta, pepper, lemon juice and some parsley.  Toss well to combine.

Cover in plastic wrap for at least a couple hours, as it's best when it's been chilled.  I kept it in a Tupperware for up to a week and it was still great!  This is the perfect side for a summer party or BBQ. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Feta & Zucchini Pasta Salad

Serves as a side for at least 14 people

12 oz bow tie pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil *possibly a little more

1 lemon

salt

black pepper

2 whole zucchini, cooked and cut into small wedges

10 oz grape tomatoes, cut in half

1/3 cup fresh parsley

6 oz crumbled feta cheese, cut into cubes

Cook pasta until done; drain, rinse and set aside until completely cool.

Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Toss to combine.

Add zucchini, tomatoes, feta, parsley and combine well.

Add more of any of the ingredients to your taste.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Fresh Tomato Sauce

As I said in this post a couple days ago, I had a lot of fresh tomatoes and wasn't sure what to do with them.  I knew I wouldn't eat that many salads by the time they had gone bad, so I used the wonderful world of twitter to see if anyone had any great ideas.  Traci (find her on twitter @heytrace) had a great recipe for fresh tomato sauce. Not a lot of ingredients, and wouldn't take long to make, so I thought it was perfect.  We both agree once you taste this sauce it will be very difficult to go back to canned store bought tomato sauce.

I had five tomatoes, but one took a fall on the way into my apartment, so I only used four, but that was plenty.  It turned out to be around three cups, and I had around 4-5 servings. 

Now, to all you stress-cases out there that are looking for an avenue to get some relief, this recipe will help.  Put your wine/beer down and smash up tomatoes with your hands, it's fun, messy, and sort of liberating.

Little messy, like I said, but totally worth it.  This was a really FUN recipe to make, because you get to get down and dirty!  I cut the tomatoes into four pieces and then squished them with my hands into a large pan that was coated with EVOO on the stove.

Then I added around three cloves of garlic minced to the sauce.

Plus a couple teaspoons of oregano, and some salt - to your taste.

Then simply let the sauce simmer for around 30 minutes. 

Ahh perfection!  I made whole wheat pasta to go with the sauce and added a little Parmesan on top, and it was so tasty!  It's light but full of flavor, and tastes so fresh.  I felt awesome after eating this.  Full, but not "ick" full.  Because it's a healthy dinner you feel great after eating it. 

I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend!  Talk to you next week :)

Fresh Tomato Sauce

Adapted from Traci @heytrace

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

~4 tomatoes, squashed up around 3 cups

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons salt

Squash up the tomatoes with your hands.

In a large pan on the stove heat the EVOO, then add the tomatoes.

Add the garlic, oregano and salt and stir to combine well.

Simmer for around 30 minutes.

Serve hot over pasta, and enjoy!

Road Side Farmer's Market

C and I took an adventure a couple weekends ago, and went zip lining in Athens, Texas.  It's around 2 1/2 hours east of downtown Dallas, and very country.  I loved it, reminded me of being back home in the UP.  I'll share the zip lining pictures I have soon, but one of the best parts of the trip was on the way home when we stopped at a fresh fruit and veggie stand on the side of the road.  They had a good variety for just being outside some one's house, so we dug in!

I didn't buy one of the watermelons, so I can't tell you if they were good or not (however, the peaches were amazing.)  I thought they looked really beautiful though, and the sign saying please put your money in the honor box made me smile.  Love the small town trust :)

Basket of peppers, and some kind of squash.  Although not really sure what kind of squash.  Anyone know?

The fresh tomatoes were so great!  I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with them, but got an idea from a fellow twitter friend to make fresh tomato sauce, and the tomatoes were perfect for it.  I'll post about that tomorrow! 

I'm always excited to find fresh veggies and fruit, I think it tastes so much better than normal store bought.  There are a couple Farmer's Markets around the Dallas area that I hope to be hitting up soon, anyone has any suggestions let me know!

Happy Wednesday, see you back here tomorrow :)