Tomatillo Ranch Chicken

I found this on Pinterest and decided to try it. I loved it and would definitely make it again. It would also be good to make in the slow cooker and use for chicken tacos. Also for Sarah, this is 13 ww points plus. (not including the rice)

Tomatillo Ranch Chicken

1 Cup Mayo (I used lite)
1/2 Cup buttermilk
1 pkg buttermilk ranch dressing mix
2 1/2 tsp garlic
1cup cilantro
3 tomatillos, husked and chopped
1/2 tsp lime juice
3-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1.Blend together the first seven ingredients.  Pour one cup of the dressing into a ziplock bag. Add chicken breasts.  Seal and chill at least 30 mins up or overnight.

2.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Discard marinade and place chicken breasts side by side in a shallow baking dish. Bake 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Top with additional dressing and serve with rice if desired. Enjoy!

Super Simple Chicken Fajitas

 Again, not a picture of these actual fajitas, but they look pretty much like this.  This is another recipe that someone in my ward contributed to the Relief Society newsletter.  They are so easy and quick and pretty darn tasty.

Chicken Fajitas- makes4-6 fajitas

Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken breast, cut into strips
Marinade:  2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
                  Juice of 1 lime
                  1 tsp. chili powder
                  1 tsp. ground cumin
                  1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 large onion
flour tortillas- warmed
2 cups shredded cheese

Directions:
Mix the marinade ingredients together in a bag or shallow dish.  Add the chicken and leave to marinade for 10-20 minutes.  Meanwhile, chop the red pepper and onion.  Stir fry the veggies in a little bit of oil, then remove from pan.  then stir fry the chicken.  When the chicken is cooked through, add the veggies back in and stir together.  Divide the chicken and vegetables onto the warmed tortillas.  Serve with cheese and other desired toppings.  We like avocado and sour cream.

Variation:
We like to add mushrooms to the vegetables.
 

Homemade Tortillas

The tortillas are not a must make, but they definitely add something delicious to the salad. If you really don't want to make your own tortillas, even though it is super easy, you should at least buy the raw ones from the store and cook them up. They are way better than the precooked ones you can buy.

Flour Tortillas

2 ½ C Flour

¾ t Kosher Salt

¼ C Plus 2 T Shortening

¾ – 1 C Hot Water

Combine flour and salt in a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add shortening and combine until crumbly.

Slowly add in water. Mix until the dough comes together like play dough. Divide dough into 8-10 balls. Roll out each tortilla as thin as possible and heat in a skillet.

Pico de Gallo

This is from Our Best Bites. It is delicious, and adds a nice kick to the salad.

Pico de Gallo

3 Medium Roma Tomatoes

½ Small Onion

1 Jalapeno

Juice of ½ to 1 lime

¼ C Cilantro

Kosher Salt to taste

Scrape seeds out of the tomatoes. Dice onion and tomatoes and toss together. Finely chop jalapeno and toss in. Add lime juice, cilantro and salt. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes if possible.

Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Dressing

What is a salad without this amazing dressing?

House Dressing

1 Packet Traditional Hidden valley Ranch Mix (Not Buttermilk)

1 C Mayonnaise

1 C Buttermilk

2 Tomatillos, remove husks and dice

½ Bunch of Fresh Cilantro

1 Clove Garlic, minced

Juice of 1 Lime

1 Jalapeno, optional

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until creamy.

Cafe Rio Black Beans

I wish I had taken a picture of how our Cafe Rio salads came together. They were delicious. Too delicious to pause for pictures. We already have the meat and rice recipes posted, so I'm going to try to finish off the salad. As a side note, you can buy the tortilla strips in the salad toppings section at Smith's.

I don't really like beans, but these beans were delicious in the salad.

Black Beans

2 T Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 t Ground Cumin

1 Can Black Beans, rinsed and drained

1 1/3 C Tomato Juice

1 ½ t Salt

2 T Fresh Chopped Cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

Cilantro Lime Rice

1 cup uncooked rice (long grain, white rice)

1 tsp butter

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp lime juice

1 can (15 oz) chicken broth

1 cup water

In a sauce pan combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for 15-20 min until rice is tender. While rice is cooking, in a small bowl, combine:

1 Tbsp lime juice

2 tsp sugar

1 Tbsp chopped cilantro

When rice is done stir in cilantro mixture and fluff rice.

Cafe Rio Enchilada Sauce (Medium)

I found this recipe on pinterest and it is delicious! just as good as cafe rio. This also makes a big batch so feel free to half it or make the whole batch and freeze the extra.

2-3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Large onion, minced (I used half a jumbo onion)

5-6 cloves of garlic

2-3 green bell peppers, chopped

1-2 jalapenos, seeded and ribs removed and chopped

1-1.5 lb tomatillos, husked and quartered

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro chopped coarsly

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 tsp cumin

4 cups chicken broth

2-3 Tbsp sugar

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute garlic and onions until tender and fragrant.

While onions are cooking, combine tomatillos, green bell peppers, jalapenos, and cilantro in your blender. Process until smooth. You may have to blend in batches or add some chicken broth so that it's blendable.

Pour the tomatillo mixture over the onions and garlic and add the chicken broth, salt and pepper, and cumin. Simmer 15 min to 1 hour depending on the consistency you want.

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

I'm sorry for the next few posts because they do not have pictures, but i will take some the next time I make this. Also, this first recipe is credited to Michelle since she is the one who gave this recipe to me.

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

1 lb pork roast (can do up to 3 lbs with this recipe)

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp powdered ginger

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp dried minced onions

Cook all ingredients in crock pot all day. 1 hour before serving, shred pork. dump out juice and return pork to the crock pot and add:

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup red enchilada sauce

Mexican Rice

I've been meaning to post the recipe for the rice we had with our taquitos and now I finally have some time. I love this recipe because it is so easy and delicious. I found it one Sunday afternoon when we were trying to figure out what to make for dinner. We didn't have much on hand and we couldn't go to the store. I was excited when I saw this and we had everything. It comes from Allrecipes, and we have adapted it just a tiny bit.

Ingredients:
3 T Vegetable Oil
1 C Uncooked long grain rice
1 t Garlic Salt or Powder
1 t Chili Powder
1/4 C Chopped Onion
1/2 C Tomato Sauce
2 C Chicken Broth

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add rice. Cook, stirring frequently until the rice is golden brown. While the rice is cooking sprinkle the seasonings on top.

Stir in onions and cook until tender. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Baked Chicken Taquitos

This has become one of our favorite meals. We had to stop eating it while I was pregnant because, like everything else in the world, it gave me bad heartburn. But now it's back and it's so yummy. To make these we combined 2 recipes. First we cook the chicken using a recipe for Spicy Chicken Tacos, then we use the taquitos recipe. We have had both recipes on their own and it was a bit of a let down. Together they are delicious.

First off we have to cook the chicken.

Ingredients:
3 Cans (12 oz.) of shredded chicken juice and everything- The last time I made these I had 2 chicken breasts I needed to use up and it worked out fine, you just have to add some water or broth so it doesn't get all dried up.
2-3 T Chili Powder
1 T Cayenne Pepper
1 T Cumin

Cook on high for about 4-5 hours until water is gone. That's it. This should make enough for you to make some taquitos tonight and then freeze enough to make them again another night.

Next we taqutio!

Ingredients:
4 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 C Green Salsa
1 T Fresh Lime Juice (I never use fresh.)
1/2 t Cumin
1 t Chili Powder
1/2 t Onion Powder
1/4 t Garlic Powder
3 T Chopped Cilantro
1 Green Onion, sliced finely
2 C Shredded Chicken
1 C Cheese
Tortillas- We have started buying the raw tortillas that you have to cook up yourself. They are a little more, nut well worth it. They are like a million times better than the already cooked tortillas. We get them at Wal-Mart.
Kosher Salt
Cooking Spray

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Mix cream cheese, green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic powder. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

Heat up tortillas a couple at a time so they are pliable. Place 2-3 tablespoons of chicken mixture in the tortilla and roll up as tight as you can. Place them seem side down in a 9x13 pan. I squish mine in tight so they can help hold each other shut. When they are all put together spray the tops with cooking spray and sprinkle some kosher salt on top. It really adds a nice flavor to them.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the ends turn a golden brown. We like to dip ours in ranch, but you can use salsa or guacamole. These are pretty spicy. If you aren't up for that cut your spices in half.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

1 cup cooked rice

1 cup cooked chicken, shredded

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 green onion, finely chopped

1/2 red or green bell pepper

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

juice of 1 lime

1/2 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp garlic salt

2 cups shredded cheese

sour cream

6 flour tortillas

Mix rice with chili powder, cumin, and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2 inch border around the edges, then arrange rice mixture down the center of each tortilla. roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open. Spray the tortillas with cooking spray. heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for about 1 min. Arrange 2 wraps, seam side down, in pan and cook until golden brown and crispy, about 2-3 min. on each side. Serve with sour cream.

Just a side note: I would add a little salt to the mixture to give a little more flavor. We had left over tomatillo dressing that we dipped the wraps in and was so good but they would also be yummy with ranch.