Mexican Orzo Salad

Pasta Salad: good on the side or perfect for a light meal.

There are so many different types of pasta salad, how do you choose just one!?

This Mexican Pasta Salad is delicious enough to count as a light summertime meal while still being healthy (and vegetarian). Often you see pasta salad made with big chunky pastas but this version switches it up a little allowing the other fresh summer flavors a chance to shine!

[Crock Pot] Mexican Stuffed Peppers

The Summer Heat drives many of us out of the kitchen and onto the deck to grill.

Although I love grilled food (especially because that means Rich is doing a lot of the work), sometimes I just don’t want to eat Grilled Goodies everyday! So, this summer, when Mother Natures turns on the heat & you don’t want to turn your oven-heat on… turn instead to your Crock Pot!

Now, we often think of the Crock Pot for making thick and hearty Winter Dishes – but it can easily adapt to make delicious fresh flavored lighter summer dishes! The gorgeous Peppers that will soon be overflowing from your bountiful Summer Garden can easily be cooked up for your next great dinner in your Crock Pot.

Take your classic Stuffed Peppers and switch it up with the Mexican Flavors.

Black Bean Casserole

This Casserole is Delicious!

In the past I have made a side dish of Black Beans with Cilantro Rice but the other night I wanted a more substantial (and super easy to throw together) dish to serve my parents. We had this with some Mexican Marinated Grilled Steak, Guacamole, Salsa from last summer that I had in the freezer, and the Super Delicious Black Bean Hummus. Now if we were serving this just for the two of us we could have this for dinner, but Daddy Dearest insists that “Dinner must have Protein” (and the beans don’t count as enough of a protein for him).

Black Bean Hummus

I. Love. Hummus.

Tomatillo Salsa

Just the other day I was wishing that I had some Tomatillos because I was craving a green salsa! That day just happened to be a Friday and I was getting ready to go over to our CSA. Lo & Behold we got a pound of tomatillos in our pick-up that day. I let out a little cheer and got to researching some recipes so I could make the most of my salsa without screwing it up! This is a mixture of dozens of websites worth of research on Tomatillo Salsa, including Jersey Girl & Tyler Florence.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “Self – what is a tomatillo”.  I’m here to help! Tomatillos are a fruit (related to tomatoes) which grows in a paper-like husk that must be removed (and the fruit washed to remove the film from the husk) before using. They are most often picked and used green (although the husk often has a yellowish-brown color to it and like tomatoes, there are many different varieties with different colored fruits). When used fresh they have a slight lemony/acidic flavor to them so roasting them brings out the flavors and softens the skins, but also breaks them down (making them more soupy – not a problem for a salsa). Growing up working at Quiet Valley, we grew these things – but called them “Ground Cherries”. I do not remember what we used them for but I just recently found out they were the same thing! 

That was your lesson for the day, hope that you feel more educated & learned something new for the day (can we tell its back to school time & I will be once again just a “teacher by day” and only a “chef by night”).

This is awesome on chips, used to kick up your quesadilla, on top of grilled meats, eaten with a spoon, mixed into something to spice it up – just enjoy (we enjoyed it as an appetizer before my dad’s birthday dinner & cake celebration).

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• 1 pound tomatillos [husked & rinsed]
• 1 white onion [peeled, sliced, quartered or whole]
• 4 garlic cloves [in paper]
• 2 – 4  jalapenos OR 1 – 2 habaneros
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 1 T sugar (optional)

Pre heat oven to 400 On a baking tray, roast tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapenos for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices on the bottom of the tray to a food processor. Add the cumin, salt, cilantro, and lime juice and pulse mixture until well combined but still chunky.

One year ago: Grilled Fresh Veggie Panini 

Oh yeah & have you checked out my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY post from earlier his week about an AWESOME Chocolate Ice Cream Layer Cake I made to celebrate Dad’s Birthday and my Blog-iversary??

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And I leave you with this… What fruit/vegetable/etc have you seen at the market and have had no idea what to do with. (AND – did you buy it and experiment or just keep walking?)