Inspiration: Well. With a nine month old who just learned how to crawl and having just purchased a new house, we certainly haven’t had as much time as we’d like to try new recipes and work on the blog. Things are finally settling down a little bit for us here, though (just in time for spring and summer!), so we’re hoping to get back into some semi-regular posting habits. This salad was born out of a bunch of random ingredients left in the fridge, and it turned out to be just the colorful, pretty, and simple dish that I needed to get back into the blogging spirit.

What We Loved: I think that this is the first time that I’ve had an orange in a salad, and I really loved the juicy citrus flavor. That bright summer flavor was my favorite aspect of the salad, and it really combined with the sweet strawberries and creamy avocado for a myriad of fresh flavors. With just a hit of salt and pepper, a touch of olive oil, and an herbal garnish of cilantro, this salad was just so light and refreshing. I enjoyed it alongside some cottage cheese for a nice lunch.

Tips: If you’re particularly hungry, I’d go ahead and throw in a whole avocado. This is not a filling salad, so that extra avocado might be nice. I also think that cashews would be a nice addition. I was going to throw some in, but I ate them all before I got the chance to make the salad (….I seriously have zero control with cashews….).

Strawberry Orange Salad
Source: Original recipe to serve 1

Couple handfuls salad greens
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
3 strawberries, sliced
1/2 navel orange, peeled and sliced
1/2 avocado, diced
Handful cilantro, minced

1. Drizzle the salad greens with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix everything together.

2. Top the greens with the strawberries, orange slices, avocado, and cilantro.

Inspiration: I’m a planner. I’ve been trying to break myself of that trait, but it sure is dying hard. When I go shopping, I like to have my grocery list all ready (organized by department, no less) with everything that I need for whatever meals that I have scheduled for the week. It’s just what works for me and my slightly ridiculous brain. Anyway, lately I’ve been trying to go to the store without my list and shop for dinners according to what’s on sale. While in a way it stresses me out (….why?), it really has resulted in a bit more creativity in the kitchen, which is always a great thing.

What We Loved: Chicken and white beans are a great combination, as both ingredients have very light flavor profiles that really play off of each other well. Combined together in burger form, there really is a lot of versatility with the toppings, as you can see from the two different ways that we prepared our burgers here. Mixed with cilantro and topped with shaved ham, avocado, and sharp cheddar cheese, the burgers were light and spring-like, with a nice tropical feel. And when we threw in some oregano and topped the burgers with marinara, mozzarella, and sauteed mushrooms, we ended up with an Italian-style burger that was rich and comforting. Using two simple ingredients as a base and building from there, we really ended up with two completely different but equally delicious meals.

Tips: Using ground chicken to make burgers is very messy. The burgers certainly don’t form together nicely as a beef burger would. Just shape it into a patty form as best as you can and throw it into the pan, though – it’ll come together and be easy to work with as soon as it starts cooking. Also – be sure to season the chicken mixture well with salt and pepper. Finally, I didn’t use any butter or oil to cook the burgers, and they cooked up just fine, but if you’d like more flavor imparted into the meat, you could certainly use your cooking fat of choice.

Chicken and White Bean Burgers with Ham, Avocado, and Cheddar
Source: Original Recipe

1/2 lb ground chicken thigh
1/4 cup navy beans, cooked
1/8 cup finely chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
Kosher salt and black pepper
Deli ham, shaved
Avocado, thinly sliced
Sharp cheddar cheese, freshly shredded

1. Mash the navy beans with a potato masher or fork until they are about 2/3 mashed, leaving some of the beans in tact for texture. Add in a little water as necessary to get a creamy texture.

2. Mix the ground chicken, beans, and cilantro together with a healthy pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Saute the burgers over medium heat until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes per side. A few minutes before removing the burgers from the pan, top the burgers with some shaved ham, thinly sliced avocado, and sharp cheddar cheese. Let cook for a few minutes to heat the ingredients and melt the cheese as much as desired.

4. Serve the burgers garnished with additional cilantro.

Chicken and White Bean Burgers with Marinara, Mozzarella, and Mushrooms
Source: Original Recipe

1/2 lb ground chicken thigh
1/4 cup navy beans, cooked
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Kosher salt and black pepper
Butter
Garlic powder
Handful baby portabella mushrooms, diced
Your favorite marinara sauce
Mozzarella cheese, freshly shredded

1. Mash the navy beans with a potato masher or fork until they are about 2/3 mashed, leaving some of the beans in tact for texture. Add in a little water as necessary to get a creamy texture.

2. Mix the ground chicken, beans, and oregano together with a healthy pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Heat some butter in a small sauce pan, and add the diced mushrooms. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and saute until cooked through and browned. At the same time, heat some marinara sauce in a separate sauce pan.

4. Saute the burgers over medium heat until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes per side. A few minutes before removing the burgers from the pan, top the burgers with some of the marinara sauce and shredded mozzarella. Let cook for a few minutes to heat the ingredients and melt the cheese as much as desired.

5. Serve the burgers topped with the sauteed mushrooms.

Inspiration: I sometimes run across a recipe that’s been on the blog for years (like this one) that I never returned to after first making it. With how much I love to cook, I sometimes just get overzealous with new recipes and forget about the tried and true. Since we’ve been really busy around here lately, I’ve been making it a point to go through the blog and focus on remaking and remaking again all of the recipes that we already love. While new foods are great, I think it’s also important and so nice to have an arsenal of reliable recipes up your sleeve.

What We Loved: There aren’t many foods that can’t be improved by stuffing them with avocado. Right? And in this particular recipe, the earthy, hearty flavor of the mushroom really pairs quite beautifully with the light, fresh avocado. It’s rather an unexpected but delicious combination. Rich but light, earthy but herbal and fresh. With a good touch of salt (always necessary to really bring out the flavor of the avocado, in my opinion) and some chopped citrusy cilantro, this is a simple meal that works well for lunch or dinner (or breakfast, come to think of it).

Tips: These are great as a light main course, but I imagine that they’d also be wonderful served alongside some simply sauteed chicken breasts or something similar for a meal that’s a little heartier. They pair really well with fried eggs, and I’ve also served them alongside refried beans and pico de gallo salad for a meal with more of a Mexican twist. You can go a lot of different directions with this one!

Portabella Mushrooms Stuffed with Avocado
Source: Slightly Adapted from Sweet on Veg

2 large portabella mushroom caps
Butter
1 avocado
Kosher salt
Cilantro, chopped, for garnish

1. Heat a good pat of butter in a saute pan and add the mushroom caps. Cook, flipping occasionally, until most of the water is released from the mushrooms and they start to brown, about 10 minutes.

2. Mash the avocado in a bowl with a good pinch of salt.

3. Serve the mushrooms topped with the avocado and garnished with cilantro.

Inspiration: Why not share another breakfast hash recipe? We’ve been enjoying having breakfast meals for dinner lately (see last week’s chorizo and sweet potato hash). Having breakfast for dinner is nice because night time provides a little more flexibility to make a breakfast that I normally wouldn’t make on an average weekday morning. Plus, Brandon loves anything and everything corned beef (….I think he could eat a reuben every day and be a happy man).

What We Loved: There’s something awesome about throwing all of your ingredients in a pan, sauteeing them up, and serving them in a big pile on your plate. It’s not very beautiful (to say the least), but it really is so comforting and tasty. This corned beef hash is a fairly standard recipe – just some nicely browned bacon, onions, corned beef, and potatoes with a good bunch of seasoning. It’s a great combination of rich and simple flavors, and the best part is the nice brown crust that you get on the pieces of potatoes and corned beef as you let it cook away in the pan.

Tips: I served this topped with sliced avocado, which was lovely, but I also think that a poached or sunny-side up egg would be a fantastic topping. Goat cheese would also be nice. A colorful topping works well – corned beef hash is not pretty.

Corned Beef Hash
Source: Original Recipe

5-6 slices bacon, diced
About 1 lb leftover cooked corned beef, finely diced
1 small onion, diced
1 large russet potato, grated
Kosher salt and black pepper
Garlic powder
1 avocado, sliced or diced

1. Heat a nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Add the bacon, and cook until crisp. Remove the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate, and set aside.

2. Add the diced corned beef, grated potato, and onion to the pan. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Stir to combine.

3. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are softened and everything is beginning to get nice and browned, about 15 minutes.

4. Serve topped with sliced or diced avocado.

Inspiration: I’ve seen a lot of chorizo and sweet potato hash recipes all over the web for a few years, and it’s one of those ideas that I’ve always wanted to try. It’s a recipe that could be great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Excellent.

What We Loved: This was one of those dishes that was a great contrast between spicy and sweet. The chorizo had a great spicy kick, and the sweet potatoes and peppers were both nice and sweet. I thought it was interesting that the two sweet ingredients provided different kinds of sweet – the peppers had a nice, tangy sort of sweet, while the potatoes were more in the line of sugary sweet. Combined with the spicy sausage, some browned onions, and a nice bit of salt, the flavor profile was really quite lovely.

Tips: I really went simple with this dish, which is good if that’s what you’re looking for. If you’d like to complicate things a bit, though, I think that cilantro or black beans would be a good addition, and sour cream or goat cheese would be nice toppings.

Chorizo and Sweet Potato Hash with Pimiento Peppers
Source: Original Recipe

1 lb chorizo sausage
2 small sweet potatoes, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 4 oz jar pimiento peppers, diced
Kosher salt and black pepper

1. Place the chorizo, sweet potatoes, onion, and peppers in a large saute pan over medium heat. Season to taste with Kosher salt and black pepper.

2. Cover and cook, stirring often, until the chorizo is cooked through and the sweet potatoes are softened, about 15-20 minutes.

Inspiration: It’s a balmy 31 degrees here today, and it was something similar on the day that I made this recipe. Sometimes you just need a nice summery meal with a good island feel to it in the midst of winter, you know? It won’t be long until we’re back in flip-flops, celebrating Ben’s first summer with him. But until then….well, we’ll just eat some avocados and some citrus every now and then, right?

What We Loved: Usually with pulled meats or meats that are slow cooked in the crock pot all day, I think of the end result as being very rich. What was nice about this recipe was that the pork was citrusy light and summery, with a nice touch of sweetness. We really loved the bright orange and lime flavors. I served this with avocado slices and coconut ginger rice, which made lovely accompaniments and really complemented the pork well. I might just list a good pulled pork as my favorite meal, and this one didn’t disappoint. 

Tips: The pork mixture is very thin/watery at the end of cooking, so I would recommend cooking uncovered on high for about an hour to reduce the liquid. I have a stove top-safe crock pot insert, so I was able to just put the insert on the stove and boil away until the mixture was nice and thick. I will include instructions for a normal slow cooker below.

Cuban Pulled Pork
Source: Adapted from Elly Says Opa, originally from The Partial Ingredients

2.5 lbs pork shoulder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon oregano
1 large onion, thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
Juice from 2 limes
1/4 cup chicken broth

1. Rub the pork shoulder all over with oil and mustard. Season liberally with salt and pepper.

2. Combine the cayenne, allspice, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, and oregano in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over the pork. Wrap the pork in plastic, and refrigerate overnight.

3. Place the pork in a slow cooker. Add the onions, garlic, honey, orange juice, lime juice, and chicken broth. Cover and cook on low for seven hours. Shred the meat, and then uncover and cook on high for about an hour, until most of the liquid evaporates and the mixture is thick.

Inspiration: I have been wanting to try out a mole at home for so long now, but I’m always a little leery of the laundry list of ingredients. I’m ambitious with my cooking a lot, but somehow I just never got around to driving to a million markets to find all of the right peppers and then devoting an entire day to whipping up the meal. And now that we have Ben, that’s pretty much an idea that will be put on the back burner for the foreseeable future. When I ran across this recipe a few weeks ago, though, I knew that I had found a simpler, more manageable mole that could work for us right now.

What We Loved: This dish was fantastic. It was the best new recipe that we’ve tried in quite some time, and I immediately filed it away in my “awesome Mexican recipes” file for plenty of use in the future. The sauce is truly incredible, both in texture and in taste. Texture-wise, it is incredibly velvety and creamy, which is quite surprising considering the fact that it wasn’t even pureed. A bunch of ingredients thrown into a pot magically melted down into velvet after six hours of cooking, and the chicken just fell apart. And taste-wise, the flavor was rich and complex with notes of dark chocolate, earthy peppers, and bright tomatoes. Plus, it wasn’t bitter at all, which is something that I usually dislike about a lot of moles. As this was cooking away, the aroma in the house was divine. Brandon came home and asked if there was chocolate in what I was making, because he could smell it, which was awesome. The mole really had a rich chocolate scent without tasting too much like chocolate. Perfect.

Tips: If you’re looking for a really authentic, time consuming, involved mole, I’d recommend turning to Rick Bayless. He’s got several mole recipes in his cookbooks (and probably online) that seem to be the real thing. Also – the one recommendation that I’d make for improvement in this recipe would be to either rehydrate the peppers first so that they can be very finely diced, or throw them into a food processor. I chopped them into big chunks, and I wasn’t overly thrilled with the texture of those big chunks in the finally dish. They were the only thing that didn’t (and couldn’t) melt down.

Slow Cooker Chocolate Chicken Mole
Source: Rubies and Radishes

Butter
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 lbs chicken (I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 28 oz can whole fire-roasted tomatoes
5 dried New Mexico chiles, stems and seeds removed and chopped into small pieces
1/4 cup almond butter
2.5 oz dark chocolate (I used Endangered Species brand 88%)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Avocado, cilantro, and jalapeno, for garnish

1. Add a pat of butter to a saute pan over medium heat. Saute the onions until softened, and then add the garlic. Stir to combine, and transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.

2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the saute pan, and brown on all sides. Place the chicken in the slow cooker.

3. Add the tomatoes, chiles, almond butter, chocolate, cumin, salt, cinnamon, and chili powder to the slow cooker. Mix everything together well, making sure that the chicken is nestled down under the sauce.

4. Cook for 4-6 hours on low.

5. Serve garnished with avocado, cilantro, and jalapeno.

Inspiration: While I love drawing recipes from all sources – all over the internet, cookbooks, TV chefs, my head – sometimes one of the best places to go to for recipes is our childhoods or our families. There’s just nothing like a recipe that my Mom made for me when I was a kid or that Brandon can remember eating for as long as he can remember. Food with memories attached is just the best. This recipe comes from Brandon’s Mom, and for me, it speaks of warm summer evenings at their cabin in the mountains and the time in my life when I was first dating Brandon nearly a dozen years ago, learning the ins and outs of his family. This was actually one of the first recipes that I posted on the blog, and needless to say, it needed a serious revamp.

What We Loved: Spicy peppers and salsa, ground beef flavored with taco seasoning, and gooey cheddar cheese are simply a fantastic combination. Those ingredients are the stuff of tacos and enchiladas and quesadillas – everything that I think of when I want something Mexican and cheesy for dinner. The salsa that we use for these is Brandon’s Mom’s homemade salsa, and it is spicy, so we really love the great spicy bite that comes from both that salsa and the peppers themselves. A cooling dollop of sour cream and/or guacamole to go along is the perfect complement. And really, I don’t think that you can ever go wrong with seasoned beef and cheese. Rich, gooey, cheesy, delicious.

Tips: Ground turkey is also great with these if you prefer that over ground beef. And the accompaniments that you can use are endless. I like sour cream, guacamole, and cilantro, but in the past we’ve used chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, Mexican rice, etc.

Stuffed Hot Peppers
Source: Brandon’s Mom
Serves: About 4

10 Anaheim peppers
1 lb ground beef
Chili powder
Paprika
Oregano
Ground cumin
Ground coriander
Garlic powder
Kosher salt
About 1 cup of tomato-based salsa
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Sour cream, guacamole, and cilantro, to garnish

1. Slice each pepper in half, and remove the ribs and seeds. Place the peppers cut-side up in two baking dishes.

2. Saute the ground beef until cooked through. Add a splash of water and season generously with chili powder, paprika, oregano, cumin, coriander, garlic powder, and salt.

3. Fill each pepper with a scoop of the ground beef mixture, and then top each with a scoop of salsa.

4. Cover the dishes with foil, and bake in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes.

5. Remove the foil from the dishes. Sprinkle the peppers with the cheddar cheese and return to the oven for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

6. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and cilantro.

Inspiration: While I was pregnant with Ben, I whipped up a bunch of meals to throw in the freezer, and one of the items that I made was a big batch of pesto. I thought that a casserole like this – so perfect and comforting in the winter time – would be a great way to use up the last of it.

What We Loved: I always find that spaghetti squash is something that needs a lot of add-ins to make it really flavorful, and the good thing about this dish is that it really has a lot going on. It’s cheesy (cream cheese is just the best in casserole-type dishes like this); it has plenty of rich, garlicky pesto; and the chunks of nicely browned chicken add great texture and protein. Brandon remarked that he always loves casserole-type dishes that contain diced chicken, and I have to agree with him – there’s just something about chicken in a dish like this that really turns it into a comfort food meal. And to finish it off, the roasted tomatoes add a nice pop of sweet flavor.

Tips: As is usually the case, I don’t think that more cheese would be a bad thing. Next time, I might up the cream cheese to about 6 ounces for an even creamier texture.

Cheesy Pesto Spaghetti Squash Bake with Chicken and Tomatoes
Source: Original Recipe

1 small spaghetti squash, cooked and seeded
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
4 oz cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons pesto
Kosher salt and black pepper
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, each sliced in half
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Scoop out the spaghetti squash strands into a large mixing bowl.

2. Add the chicken, cream cheese, and pesto to the bowl. Mix well to combine.

3. Season well with Kosher salt and black pepper. Be liberal with the salt – spaghetti squash needs it. Taste test until you’re happy with the seasoning.

4. Pour the mixture into a baking dish. Top with the grape tomatoes and the Parmesan cheese.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F until the casserole is heated through and the cheese on top is melted and beginning to brown.

Inspiration: I can always get behind a good pinto bean or black bean side dish when it comes to Mexican food. And lately, I’ve been loving to throw a bunch of ingredients into a sauce pan and see what happens. It’s awesome when a great recipe results, and as always, one-pot dishes are truly the best (especially with a new baby in the house!).

What We Loved: You can’t quite tell from the photo since the sauce seeps down into the dish, but these beans have an awesome creamy texture that we just loved. This is definitely a dish to eat with a spoon! And there are a lot of great flavors going on, too – zucchini and onion sauteed in bacon fat is always a good thing, especially when combined with crispy bacon pieces, fresh cilantro, and gooey, spicy cheese. That’s not a bad list of flavors to add to the already creamy and rich pinto beans. And everything is tied together with a simple seasoning blend of chili powder and cumin, which really adds a nice Mexican flair.

Tips: In order to get that great, creamy consistency with these beans, don’t drain the can before adding them to the pan. I also like to make sure to chop the zucchini very finely. That way, it doesn’t get mushy as might happen with large chunks.

Creamy Pinto Beans with Bacon and Zucchini
Source: Original Recipe
Serves: 2-3 as a side dish

3 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 small zucchini, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can pinto beans, undrained
chili powder, to taste
cumin, to taste
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
1 oz pepper jack cheese, cut into small cubes
Cilantro, chopped

1. Saute the bacon in a sauce pan over medium low heat until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2.Add the onion and zucchini to the bacon fat in the pan, and cook until softened and beginning to get nice and browned. Add the garlic, stirring to combine.

3. Add the pinto beans to the pan (undrained). Season to taste with chili powder, cumin, and plenty of salt and pepper.

4. Simmer over medium heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.

5.  Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the reserved bacon.

6. Serve topped with pepper jack cheese cubes and cilantro.