I was a little green yesterday.  With envy, not with a tummy ache don’t worry.  I was talking with a friend who was raving about all of the wonderful produce that her garden has produced this summer and how she has so much she doesn’t know what to do with it.  Boy, that’s a tough problem to have, isn’t it?  I live in a condo in the city with no outdoor space for a garden, but I can’t wait to someday have tomatoes and herbs growing out of my ears!  I think it must be such a wonderful sense of satisfaction and accomplishment to go out to your garden and pick the ingredients for your meals, come inside and wash them and just enjoy the clean, organic splendor of your own produce.  Someday sweet teeth, someday.

As for now, I love to support our local farmers’ markets.  Last week my mom and I bought all of the ingredients for salsa and spent a few hours of fun in the kitchen.  Again, I love that canning gives you the ability to capture the flavors of a season and enjoy them all year long.  Do you ever get attached to your ingredients or final products as you are baking or cooking?  For example, my imagination went wild while I was treating each tomato for the salsa with care.   In my mind, first, my tomatoes got to enjoy a few minutes in the hot tub (blanching them in hot water), then they were submerged in a refreshing pool (ice bath), then I gave their skin a peel (literally peeling the skin off) and massaged the little babies (crushed them with my hands to break them up).  I hope my tomatoes enjoyed their day at my spa and I think I have officially divulged way to much information about myself to you!!!

 blanch tomatoes in boiling water until skins split

place blanched tomatoes into ice bath

peel, core and remove blemishes from tomatoes

dice and mince other vegetables

place all ingredients into large pot

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Hola los dientes dulces!

I just returned from a lovely vacation in Mexico

and I couldn’t resist sharing some of the wonderful dishes that we had on our trip with you.

One of my favorite Mexican desserts is Tres Leches cake and when we requested this traditional Mexican cake for our last dinner, the chef at our resort was kind enough to Satisfy My Sweet Tooth and make the cake for us.

All of the food we had was amazing.  I especially enjoyed the different ceviches we sampled throughout the trip.  Ceviche is so simply prepared but so undeniably fresh and refreshing.

This is a sample of 4 different ceviches that we ate during a Tequila tasting at our resort.

And how could I leave Mexico without having some fish tacos and short rib enchiladas?

Now it would not be very nice of me to leave you drooling over all of the wonderful dishes I got to enjoy on my trip and offer you nothing for yourself would it?  So, here is my recipe for chicken enchiladas!  I know it may be tempting just to buy the enchilada sauce pre-made from the store, but this sauce is so simple that it will be finished by the time you have made the filling and wrapped it up in the tortillas and the fresh flavor is so worth it.

Chicken Enchiladas

Sauce:    (recipe adapted from The America’s Text Kitchen Family Cookbook)

• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp chili powder
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 (16 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water

1. Heat oil in medium/large sautée pan over medium heat until simmering
2. Add onion and salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes
3. Stir in chili powder, garlic and cumin (this mixture will look dry) and cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds
4. Pour in the tomato sauce and water and stir
5. Turn heat to medium-high, bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes

Onions tender and translucent

Mixture will appear dry after adding spices

Filling: 

• 1 rotisserie chicken (meat shredded, I used only white meat)
• 6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cups shredded colby-jack cheese
• 2 (4 oz.) cans diced green chiles

1. Mix all ingredients with spatula until well blended

Assembling the enchiladas:

• Filling
• Sauce
• Corn tortillas
• 1 cup shredded colby-jack cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Spray 9X13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray
3. Wrap 4 tortillas in moistened paper towel and microwave for 10 seconds (this makes the tortillas more pliable so they do not tear while you are filling them)
4. Place about 2 Tbsp of filling into each tortilla, roll it up and place it seam side down into the baking dish
5. Continue steps 2-4 until you have filled your dish with one layer of rolled and filled tortillas
6. Lightly spray the top of this layer with nonstick spray
7. Pour half of enchilada sauce over this bottom layer
8. Repeat steps 2-4 to make second layer of enchiladas
9. Pour remaining sauce over top of second layer and sprinkle with cheese
10. Spray a piece of foil with nonstick spray and cover baking dish
11. Bake 25 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes
12. Serve with sour cream, salsa, cilantro, lettuce, jalepenos, and any of your favorite Mexican toppings!

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