Lemongrass Chicken Banh Mi

I consider myself a pretty big foodie and  I love trying new foods!
I am pretty picky so I don't always love everything that I try,
but when one of my best friend introduced me to Bahn Mi sandwiches,
I immediately knew I wanted to recreated it in my own kitchen!

I did what I do quite often and turned to Google in search of a recipe.
I found quite a few ideas, but decided to use this one,
and modify it slightly to make the sandwiches to my liking.
Keep reading to see how I made them!

The Goods:

Serrano Chilis

Jalapenos

Fresh Lemongrass

Green Onions

Coconut Sugar

Tamari

Rice Vinegar

Carrots

English Cucumber

Radishes

Tomatoes*

Spinach*

Limes

Fresh Ginger

Garlic

Chicken Thighs

French Rolls

*Include in your shopping list if wanting to make salad instead of sandwichs

In a blender, add the following:

2 Serrano chilies - thinly sliced

1 lemongrass stalk -smashed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 green onions - thinly sliced

1 teaspoon coconut sugar

6 tablespoons tamari

1 lime - zested

10 inch piece of ginger - peeled and chopped

2 garlic cloves - peeled and smashed

Puree for about a minute until paste like consistency.

Pour half of the mixture into a large lidded container.

Add your chicken thighs...

And cover with the remaining half of the mixture.

Cover and let marinade for at least 30 minutes,

but can be marinaded for up to 24 hours!

While meat is marinating, make your quick pickled vegetables.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the following:

2 Teaspoons Coconut Sugar, juice from one lime and 3 Teaspoons Rice Vinegar.

Add 2 grated carrots, 1 thinly sliced Serrano chili and 1/3 of an English cucumber.

Mix well and let sit at least 10 minutes, or refrigerate overnight. 

Heat your grill to medium high, wipe off excess marinade and place chicken on hot grill.

Grill each side about 5 to 7 minutes.

Let grilled chicken rest a few minutes...

And then chop it all up into bite sized pieces!

Make sure to grill your french rolls so they're nice and toasty,

and then assemble the sandwich to your liking.

Mmm mmm mmmm!

Looking at this picture, I can just taste the deliciousness of the sandwich!

Lemongrass Chicken Banh Mi Sandwich

Adapted from Goop

3 Serrano Chilis

1 Jalapenos**

1 Stalk Fresh Lemongrass

2 Green Onions

2 Teaspoons Coconut Sugar

6 Tablespoons Tamari

3 Teaspoons Rice Vinegar

2 Carrots Carrots

1/3 English Cucumber

2 Radishes**

3 Limes

10 inch Piece Fresh Ginger

2 Cloves Garlic

1 1/2 Pounds Chicken Thighs

French Rolls

**Used for Sandwich Garnish

1. In a blender, add 2 Serrano chilies - thinly sliced, 1 lemongrass stalk -smashed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces, 2 green onions - thinly sliced, 1 teaspoon coconut sugar, 6 tablespoons tamari, 1 lime - zested, 10 inch piece of ginger - peeled and chopped and 2 garlic cloves - peeled and smashed. Puree for about a minute until paste like consistency.
2. Pour half of the mixture into a large lidded container, add the chicken thigh and cover with the remaining half of the mixture. Cover and let marinade for at least 30 minutes, but can be marinaded for up to 24 hours.
3. While meat is marinating, make your quick pickled vegetables. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the following: 2 Teaspoons Coconut Sugar, juice from one lime and 3 Teaspoons Rice Vinegar. Add 2 grated carrots, 1 thinly sliced Serrano chili and 1/3 of an English cucumber. Mix well and let sit at least 10 minutes, or refrigerate overnight. 
4. Heat your grill to medium high, wipe off excess marinade and place chicken on hot grill. Grill each side about 5 to 7 minutes.
5. Let grilled chicken rest a few minutes,then chop it all up into bite sized pieces.
6. Grill the French rolls so they're nice and toasty,and then assemble the sandwich to your liking.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

I'm a biggggggg fan of eating soup.

It doesn't really have to be cold out either.

I eat soup year round and always have a bunch in my freezer.

So when I ran across this recipe last Fall I knew I would be making it.

Not too long after finding it, I made it and it was so darn delicious!

I've made it a few more times and knew I had to share because it's that good!

And the best part is that it's made in the slow cooker!

So not only is it really tasty, but it's super easy to make too.

Let me show you how simple it really is.

The Goods:

Chicken Breasts

Yellow Onion

Garlic

Jalapenos

Corn

Bell Pepper

Black Beans

Cilantro

Diced Tomatoes

Tomato Paste

Chicken Broth

Cayenne Pepper

Chili Powder

Cumin

Pepper Jack Cheese

Place your raw chicken breasts at the bottom of your slow cooker.

Add your diced bell pepper, jalapeno, onion and garlic.

Next add your dice tomatoes, black beans and corn.

Now time to add the chicken broth.

And finally the spices and tomato paste.

Stir everything up until it's mixed well.

Cook on high for four and a half hours.

Stir in minced cilantro and shredded pepper jack cheese.

Cook for about 30 more minutes.

Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred.

Return to soup, mix in and serve yourself a bowl!

Dig in and enjoy as is!

Or add something extra like soup cream or avocado!!!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Adapted from Carolina Charm

2 large Chicken Breasts

1 Large Yellow Onion - Diced

4 Cloves Garlic - Minced

2 Large Jalapenos - Minced

2 Cups Frozen Corn

1 Bell Pepper - Diced

1 Can Black Beans - Rinsed and Drained

1 Bunch Cilantro - Minced

(2) 14.5 Ounce Cans Diced Tomatoes

1/2 Cup Tomato Paste

3 Cups Chicken Broth

1/2 to 1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

2 Teaspoons Chili Powder

2 Teaspoons Ground Cumin

1/2 Cup Pepper Jack Cheese - Shredded

1. Place your raw chicken breasts at the bottom of your slow cooker.
2. Add your diced bell pepper, jalapeno, onion and garlic.
3. Next add your dice tomatoes, black beans and corn.
4. Now time to add the chicken broth.
5. And finally the spices and tomato paste.
6. Stir everything up until it's mixed well.
7. Cook on high for four to four and a half hours.
8. Stir in minced cilantro and shredded pepper jack cheese and cook for about 30 more minutes.
9. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred. 
10. Return to soup, mix in and serve yourself a bowl!

Spicy Turkey Nachos

MMMMM nachos!!!

Boy do I love me some nachos.

If I'm craving them, I have to have them.

Otherwise the craving just never goes away.

I will seriously crave them until I have some!

And now that I've gone on and on about my love of nachos,

let me show you how to make some that are super easy and tasty!

The Goods:

Tortilla Chips

Taco Meat

Spanish Rice

Black Beans

Shredded Cheese

Avocado

Pickled Jalapenos

Green Onions

Plain Greek Yogurt

Fresh Lime

I like to layer all the goodies, so I don't end up with all the hearty stuff on top,

and just sad, dry, boring chips left alone on the bottom.

For this batch, I did the following:

A thin layer of chips, followed by meat, beans, and rice.

Then sprinkled some cheese on top of that layer.

Followed by two more layers done the exact same way.

Lastly, I added some jalapenos to the top layer.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees,

then pop your nacho dish in the oven for a few minutes.

Keep an eye on it, and pull it out when the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Once it's nice and hot, remove from the oven and

add fresh squeezed lime, avocado, green onions and greek yogurt.

Now grab a ton of napkins (this IS finger food) and dig in!!!

July Garden Update - 5 Favorites!

Happy last day of July you guys!!!

This month's garden update is extra special,

because it's a Five Friday Favorites post too!

Yup, a two for one on this fine Friday.

And like my usual Five Friday Favorite posts,

I'm linking up with THREE different groups.

Make sure to check them all out at the bottom of this post!

If you're new to the blog,
my garden is kinda what got this thing going,
but my cooking has sorta taken over for the most part.

A few months ago I made a point to post about my garden more.
And I even started a monthly garden update the last day of every month!
If you missed them, check out: March, April, May and June.

Ok - now onto the Five Friday Favorites Update!

Jalapeno Plant

When I posted last month's update,
I said I hadn't seen any buds or blooms recently.
Well wouldn't you know - I have a few of each now!!!

Lemon Tree

Last month I pruned the heck outta my Lemon Tree!
It it still looking pretty bare, but seems to be doing quite well.
I want more leaves already, but I know that will take some time.

Herb Garden

I recently added two new plants to the herb garden.
I hadn't had parsley for quite some time,
and I replaced the dying thyme plant I did have.

Coconut Liners

(Photo Source)
I haven't had liners in my window boxes for months!!!
In fact, I STILL don't, but I have new liners and that's the first step.
I'm hoping to have new flowers planted very soon!

Christmas Tree

Now that we're less than FIVE months from Christmas,
it's time for me to start thinking about the holidays
(I'm only partly joking folks...)
And I can't wait to decorate this monster again in a few months.

Now for more Friday Link Up Fun, check out the blogs below!

Andrea and Erika's blogs from Friday Favorites.

April's blog from 5 on Friday.

Karli and Amy's blogs from oh hey friday!

And lastly, as a quick reminder -

I will be blogging about garden updates 

every last day of each month.

It may not be a complete update each month,

but it will be about something in the garden.

So keep coming back to see what I have growing!

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde

I recently ran across a recipe for a Salsa Verde that sounded amazing and looked super easy to make! I saved the recipe and said to myself I'd make it soon. 

Less than a month later, I was roasting tomatillos, jalapenos and garlic to make this delicious salsa!  As I suspected, it WAS super easy to make and required very little effort! 

Take a look below and give it a try yourself! I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The Goods:

Tomatillos

Jalapenos

Garlic

Lime Juice

Salt

Apple Cider Vinegar

And not pictured...

Cilantro!

(OOPS!)

Before, After,

And all ready for Blending!

All done!

Now time to dig in!

Go make it yourself.

Seriously!!!

Pioneer Woman Guacamole

Last night I went over to my wonderful neighbor's house for some wine, beer, appetizers and a whole lot of fun! I decided to bring some Restaurant Style Salsa and to go along with it, I threw together Guacamole based on a recipe from The Pioneer Woman. 

Man I love her food! 

Now let me show you how to make the guacamole that everyone seemed to love! 

The Goods!

I knew I wasn't going to make as much as the original recipe called for, so I used 2 avocados, 1 medium hot house tomato, 1 jalapeno, 1/4 of a medium red onion, a lime and salt and cilantro to taste.

Chop up the tomato, jalapeno, onion and cilantro.

Toss with lime juice and salt.

Add the avocado and mash everything together.

Finish it off with a little more lime juice and salt.

Keep the avocado seeds in until ready to serve to limit browning.

Homemade Restaurant Salsa

I looooooove salsa and now I can say I really enjoy making it too. I enjoy it so much that I haven't used salsa from the store in months!

I blogged about one recipe I made less than a year ago, and have tried multiple different things since then. I tried roasting everything once, then tried roasting everything but the tomatoes another time.  My most recent attempt was making a recipe from The Pioneer Woman. I am never disappointed when I make her recipes and I was not even close to disappointed with this salsa! It is by far my favorite of all the ones I've made and it doesn't involve ANY fresh tomatoes. I thought that was the trick all along, but boy or boy was I wrong!

Before I forget - a little word of caution - this recipe makes a HUGE batch! I always do it in two separate batches in my food processor and then combine it into one in a giant bowl!

Now let me show you just how to make this amazing salsa!

The Goods!

Add half the can of Peeled Whole Tomatoes and 1 can Rotel.

Now half of the onions, garlic and jalapeno.

Mix it all up!

Add salt, sugar, cumin, lime juice and cilantro.

And mix it all once again!

All done!!!

Now time to enjoy with some homemade tortilla chips.

Happy 2012!!!

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a fun and safe New Year's Eve and that you had a nice relaxing day celebrating the New Year!

For years I've heard that people eat Black-Eyed Peas on New Years Day, but I was never sure why. I still wasn't sure when I decided I wanted to make a Black-Eyed Pea Dip either. It wasn't until this evening when I searched Google that I found out WHY the tasty food is consumed on January 1st.  

So here it is folks... directly from the every so trusty Wikipedia...

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day is thought to bring prosperity.

Even before finding out about the prosperity part, I made and enjoyed the tasty dip I mentioned above. It is a Pioneer Woman recipe. 

Are you surprised I made a PW recipe?

Are you surprised it was tasty?

Are you surprised I enjoyed it?

I hope you answered NO to all the above because nothing about any of that is surprising! :)

Here's how you make the Black-Eyed Pea Dip!!!

The Goods!

Drained Black-Eyed Peas

Mashing The Black-Eyed Peas!

Mashed Peas Covered In Chopped Onions

And Now A Layer of Sour Cream

Followed By Some Jalapeno Slices!

And Fresh Shredded Cheese!

A Lil Bit Of Homemade Salsa and Hot Sauce On Top.

After Baking At 350 For About 20 Minutes.

YUM!

This will probably become a New Years Tradition.

Especially if it DOES bring me prosperity!!!