Rick Bayless Quick Tostados -- Food Day Celebration

Clearly this post is a bit tardy considering Food Day almost a week ago but things have been a little crazy around here.  So better late then never I guess.  To celebrate Food Day I made the Rick Bayless Quick Tostados listed on the Food Day Website.

Last Monday when I made these I threw the chicken in the oven to bake while I went to the gym. It worked out nicely because they were ready to go by the time I got home.  I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and placed them in a shallow baking dish with a lid.  I seasoned them with salt, pepper, ground cumin and Mas Guapo seasoning.  The Mas Guapo is a seasoning that my husband found it has sea salt, paprika, garlic, onion, orange peel.  It's really tasty.  The nice thing about this recipe is that it really doesn't take much time at all to prepare. 

I have made tostados before but these were especially delicious.  I really liked the black beans.  I normally just leave the black beans whole but I think I preferred them mashed with the garlic. I also added a little tomato for garnish.

Chicken Fajitas

Yesterday we had a nice afternoon at the zoo with S. This was her first time actually being awake for a zoo visit. She seemed to really enjoy the animals especially at the children’s zoo; she thought the sheep were a hoot. This may have had something to do with me reciting Sandra Boynton’s “Moo, Baa, La La La!” as we were walking pass all of the animals. On our way home we decided it would be a nice night for grilling and mojitos; so we stopped at the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for fajitas and that is when our pleasant day turned somewhat chaotic.  Once we were home I unpacked the groceries, started to prepare our dinner and put S in the high chair to feed her.  Because I was trying to do too many things at once, I accidentally dropped a baby food jar on the granite counter top which caused the jar to break into 9 million little shards of glass. It was EVERYWHERE!  Thankfully, none of the glass got on the baby.  I ended up with cuts all over my hand and with glass in my foot.  While Chris vacuumed and washed the floor in the kitchen and hallway repeatedly, I brought S upstairs for a bath.  Needless to say the clean-up process royally screwed up the timing for dinner, now the food was going to be ready right as Stella needed to be put down for bed.  It also occurred to me that the new desk we attempted to put together on Friday night, which we later realized was damaged, needed to be carried downstairs, packed up and put in the garage so UPS could pick it up this morning.  As a result of all the commotion I didn’t have very high hopes for dinner last night; however I was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out.

Preparing the Chicken

In a zip lock bag add the following:

• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup (measured prior to chopping) of cilantro leaves, rough chop
• the juice of 3 limes
• freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
• 1 ½ tablespoon of Fiery Fajita Seasoning (I purchased this at Target; I believe it’s the Archer Farms brand.  You could use any fajita seasoning you have. I had intended on creating my own seasoning but due to the time crunch I used the already mixed seasoning.)
• a pinch of adobo chile powder  (I do think that the chicken could have used a little kick at the end so you may want to add a bit more if you like a little heat)
• 1 Tablespoon of olive oil

Vegetables

• Red, Orange, Yellow Bell Peppers (1 small/medium of each)
• Red Onion (1 medium)
• Poblano Pepper (1 Large)

Slice the peppers and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and a dash of the Fajita Seasoning.

I wrapped the veggies in aluminum foil and cooked them on the grill along with the chicken.

The vegetables and chicken both cooked for approximately 20 minutes at 375 degrees on a charcoal grill.

Garnish Suggestions

Sour cream, shredded lettuce, Chihuahua cheese, guacamole, fresh salsa

Sadly, we never made the mojitos so we will have to partake in those later in the week.  I even picked up some Guava nectar to try a Guava Mojito recipe I found. The mojitos may have to be on tonight’s menu especially if our power doesn’t come back on before I get home from work.

This recipe was rated 4 asparagus spears

Greek Chicken and Grilled Vegetables

The inspiration for last night’s meal was a Greek salad; however I knew my husband would want something more substantial for dinner, so the end result was the following menu.

Greek Chicken
Grilled Summer Vegetables
Near East Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil Couscous
Red Leaf Lettuce with a Red Wine Vinaigrette, Feta, Sliced Cucumbers and Kalamata Olives

Greek Chicken

In a shallow baking dish, salt and pepper two boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Drizzle the chicken with Grapeseed oil and the juice of one lemon. Season with ½ tablespoon of chopped fresh Greek oregano leaves and ¼ tablespoon fresh summer savory leaves. Top with slices of lemon.  Bake on 350 degrees. 

Grilled Vegetables

You can really use any vegetables you have on hand. I used 2 mini red, yellow and orange bell peppers, 2 baby eggplants, 1 zucchini, 1 summer squash, a couple of scallions, and several cherry tomatoes.  To prepare the vegetables:

·         Halve and seed the peppers

·         Cut the tops off the eggplant, zucchini and squash and then slice lengthwise

·         Keep scallions and tomatoes whole

·         Drizzle all of the vegetables lightly with olive oil. Salt and pepper.

I cooked my vegetables using a grill pan on the top of the stove.   It’s important to have the stove at a pretty high heat so that you can get the grill marks. Last night I decided to chop the vegetables into cubes however you can also nicely display the vegetables on a platter in the larger pieces that you grilled.

As far as the couscous goes I used the Near East Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil Couscous that cooks in 5 minutes. It’s quick and easy!

The salad is where I fit in the remaining ingredients from Greek Salad that I enjoy so much, Feta Cheese and Kalamata olives.  I made the vinaigrette by mixing 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard with 1-2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar.  As I was whisking together the vinegar and mustard, I added Grapeseed oil until I had the consistency I was looking for.  I seasoned it with a dash of salt, fresh cracked pepper and some thyme.  I don’t like an over abundance of dressing on my salad, unfortunately last night I added too much since I was in a hurry. If time would have allowed I would have preferred to grill the vegetables and the chicken on the charcoal grill to get the additional flavor.

This meal was rated 3 asparagus spears

Basil and Oregano

I had quite a bit of basil and oregano left from our first bushel; the only thing that came to mind to use it up was homemade pizza night! This of course is not a very original menu idea, especially for a Friday night but it's quick and easy!

Menu
Chicken Pesto Pizza
Italian Sausage and Fire Roasted Tomato Pizza

Chicken Pesto Pizza

To make the pesto sauce I followed the Barefoot Contessa's Pesto Recipe found on foodnetwork.com. This recipe yields 4 cups which is way more than you need for this so I cut the recipe in half.

Toppings

I used 1 large boneless chicken breast and seasoned it with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and some Montreal Steak seasoning.  I also chopped about a tablespoon of fresh oregano.  To prepare the chicken, heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil along with 1/4 of diced red onion in a saute pan. (I would suggest increasing the red onion to 1/3 cup as I wasn't completely happy with the chicken to onion ratio).  Add the chicken to the same pan and brown on either side.  Remove onion and reserve once the they have softened. Continue to cook chicken until it is cooked thoroughly.  Once the chicken is done, dice into small bite size pieces and let cool.  I also sliced 3 roma tomatoes and had about 4oz of goat cheese and 2 tablespoons shredded of Parmigiano Reggiano on hand.

Preparing the Pizza
For the crust I used 365 Everyday Value Organic Pizza Crust from Whole Foods.  Cover the crust liberally with the prepared pesto sauce.  I used about half of the pesto sauce on this pizza (approximately 1 cup). Season with a dash of salt and fresh ground pepper.  Add the diced chicken and the cooked red onion.  The next layer is the slices of roma tomatoes. Crumble the goat cheese and sprinkle the shredded Parmigiano Reggiano.  Chop some fresh parsley and fresh oregano and sprinkle to the top of the pizza for color.  Cook at 400 degrees for approximately 12 minutes.

Italian Sausage and Fire-Roasted Tomato Pizza

The Italian sausage I used was something we purchased from Lemon Tree Grocer in Downers Grove. It's their Italian sausage with giardiniera and mozzarella. I removed the sausage from the casing and browned it.

I also used the 365 Everyday Value Organic Pizza Crust for this pizza.  Lightly coat the crust with a little olive oil and sprinkle with minced garlic (approximately 2 large cloves).  I also added a bit of the pesto sauce from prior recipe and spread it out on the crust.  I would say I only used about a tablespoon on this pizza.  Add a 14.5 oz can of Muir Glen Organic Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes. Be cautious with how much tomato juice gets on the crust as you don't want the crust to get soggy. The next layer should be the Italian Sausage.  Let it cool some before adding it so that you can crumble it into some smaller pieces as you are layering it onto the crust.  Sprinkle with some chopped oregano leaves and thyme leaves.  Add 1 1/4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese and a few small dollops of the pesto sauce to the top.  Finish the pizza with a couple leaves of chopped fresh basil and oregano.  This pizza also cooks at 400 degrees for approximately 12 minutes or until the cheese is browned.

My food critic rated the pizzas individually.

The Chicken Pesto Pizza was rated 3.5 asparagus spears

The Italian Sausage and Fire Roasted Tomato Pizza was rated 4 asparagus spears