I admit, I'm a little embarrassed to call this a recipe or post it as a new one here, but I figure if I don't, some of you may not figure this out and oh my goodness—-this was far too good NOT to share.
So here we are.
Often when I'm creating recipes, I take part of one, marry it with another, or come up with another component, put it all together and get something new. As in this case where I made Chipotle Maple Chicken thighs and Addictive Guacamole. Those two alone sound amazing enough, but stuff them in a tortilla and top with home made fresh salsa and some sour cream, and you have pure heaven.
I'm not joking people, my teenager ate three and then licked the plate.
Here is what you need to make these amazing wraps. Really, this is just a guideline. You can change things up as much as you want, add cheese, leave it out, use corn tortillas, or whatever strikes your fancy. The point is that the spicy chicken, married with the cool and creamy guacamole and some spicy salsa makes for a fantastic dinner. If you want to make this a super easy dinner, just slice up the cooled chicken, lay out all the ingredients on a counter, and let everyone make their own.
Ingredients:
2 batches of chipotle maple chicken thighs, made with boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Addictive Guacamole (double or triple the batch if you really love guacamole!)
12-16 fajita sized tortillas
Shredded lettuce
sour cream
5 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 cup finely minced red onion
handful of finely minced fresh cilantro
1/2 fresh jalapeno, seeded, cored, and minced finely
1 tbsp olive oil
zest and juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
In a medium sized bowl, toss together the tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, jalapeno, olive oil, lime juice and zest, and salt and pepper. Taste and adjust to your liking. Set aside.
Arrange everything on a counter/table for people to help themselves; tortillas, the chicken (make sure you slice it up), guacamole, the fresh salsa you just made, sour cream, and shredded lettuce. Step back. Let people pile up their tortillas. Bask in the glow when they tell you how wonderful dinner is.
Serves about six people, depending on how many they eat-and trust me, they will EAT.
Makes about 12-16 tortillas (with leftovers, I think)
If you were to ask Michael Smith what one of the most under used Canadian produced products was, he’d tell you without hesitation, “Lentils,” and he’s right. In fact, he’s so passionate about lentils and teaching Canadians about them that he jokes his friends often refer to him as, “The Lentil Guy.” Recently I had the opportunity to fly out to Saskatoon and spend a day with Michael Smith, Lentils Canada, and the winners of their annual Love Your Lentils contest.
Learning about lentils
Lentils are one of Canada’s best kept secrets, but if it were up to the Saskatchewan Pulse Farmers, they would be a secret no longer. Did you know that Canada is the world’s largest exporter of lentils, and that Saskatchewan is the top lentil growing province in the country? People often think of lentils as some kind of exotic food item, but the reality is that we are growing them in our own backyard.
What are lentils, anyway? Essentially, they are seeds that grow in the pods of a lentil plant. You may hear them being referred to as “pulse.” The plants produce the pods, which ripen in the late summer and dry, and then are harvested. There are different kinds of lentils, which are usually classified by color. When you go to the grocery store you will most often see green or red, but there are also French green or black. Each is slightly different—some are better for soups, on salads, or run through a food processor and then snuck into your favorite baked goods. For purists like me who cringe at the thought of anything else but butter, sugar, and eggs in your baked goods, let me tell you that I’ve tried this and you really can’t taste the difference. If you were looking for a way to sneak a little extra protein into a child’s diet, this could be the way to go.
Lentil Salad at Calories restaurant in Saskatoon was amazing
Lentils are really easy to cook; basically you just boil, rinse and eat them. There is no pre-soaking involved, like when you are cooking dried beans, for instance. Some lentils are sold split and have had the seed coat removed, which makes their cooking time far quicker. You can also buy canned lentils, which are pre-cooked if you want to skip the cooking step.
French Green lentils are just pretty, aren't they?
Nutrition wise, lentils are like little superheroes. They are high in fibre, complex carbohydrates and protein, gluten-free, low in fat and calories, low glycemic index, which makes them perfect for diabetics, great sources of manganese, potassium, iron, and folate.
Besides all this, lentils taste great and Yummy Mummy Club has all kinds of recipes to prove it just to get you started!
Slowcookier Lamb and Lentil Soup
Need more recipes? Check out the recipe box over at Lentils.ca. Don't be afraid to try lentils. Once you get used to cooking with them, you'll wonder how you ever did without!
When the mercury soars, sometimes the only thing that will bring a bit of sweet relief besides the pool is a bowl of something cold and icy. Sometime ago I bought an ice cream maker, and I must tell you—it's one of the most-used appliances in my house. Ice cream or sherbets from the store can be expensive and sometimes not even really that good, or full of strange ingredients. Homemade ice cream is really quite easy to make and once you taste what it's like to eat some that you've personally created from fresh, quality ingredients, you'll have a hard time going back. Once I started, I couldn't stop and tried everything from vanilla bean to coffee, chocolate coconut, mango sorbet, and chocolate with Guinness beer.
Don't have an ice cream maker? You can still make this! Just follow these great directions for making ice cream without a machine from David Lebovitz.
Last week I went to the market and found some locally grown strawberries. These strawberries were like nothing I'd seen before—smaller, and so red they were almost purple. If you can find local strawberries, they are so much better than those trucked in from far away places. Strawberries often are listed in the Dirty Dozen™ because they carry a lot of pesticide residue. Also it's great to support local berry farmers, who sometimes have small local operations and find it difficult to compete with larger farms south of the border. Here in the Fraser Valley you can stop at roadside stands for your berries, find some U-pick farms, or trek on out to Krause Berry farms where you can buy your berries already picked or pick your own. Right now raspberries are making an appearance so grab some while you can!
Well. Now on to making the sherbet.
Ingredients
4 cups strawberries (about a pound, maybe a little more. Buy 1 1/2 lbs because you'll eat some if you're like me)
1 cup sugar (you can reduce this a bit if your strawberries are very sweet. I would try 3/4 cup)
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (no beans? You can use about 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
1 1/2 cup full fat buttermilk (don't buy the 1% stuff, use the real deal)
1/3 cup full fat sour cream
pinch of salt
Pre-heat oven to 425 F. While it's heating up, gently wash, dry, and core your berries. The kids can help you with this. Cut them in half or, if they are large, in quarters.
Toss the berries with the sugar and scraped seeds from the vanilla bean in a 9x13 cake pan. If you don't have the vanilla bean, then just leave it out and we'll add vanilla extract later.
Roast your berries and sugar for about 15-20 minutes, stirring them every now and then to keep them from burning. The juices will be all bubbly and delicious looking. Resist the urge to eat it. The berries are pretty hot, so kids should skip this step. Let the berries and juice cool to room temperature.
Measure out the buttermilk, sour cream, salt, vanilla extract (if using instead of the bean), and cooled strawberries into your blender. Don't forget the lid. Whiz that baby up until everything is smooth. Chill your lovely mixture in the fridge for about an hour so it's good and cold.
Process your sherbet mixture in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer instructions. It takes a little longer to come together than ice cream, but soon you will be rewarded. Scrape the mixture into an airtight container and place in the fridge overnight so it's ready to serve. (if you don't have an ice cream maker, follow these instructions instead)
The sherbet should last about a week in the fridge if you keep it in a sealed, airtight container. To help with scooping, let it sit on the counter for about 5 minutes before you want to serve. I have a feeling it won't last long-ours sure didn't.
Makes about 6 servings
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Want more hot weather treats? Chocolate Rice Krispie squares really hit the spot. You can even sandwich those with ice cream. Or, how about some M&M cookie sandwiches?
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