Mexican Shrimp Meatball Soup (Albondigas de Camerones)

Mexican Shrimp Meatball Soup

The snow will just not stop where I live! We are buried, I tell ya’! So of course I made more soup (spicy too!) to ward off the snow demons and hopefully melt them.

I made this earlier in the year from a recipe at Cooking on the Ranch, but the hubs said there was too much seasoning in the shrimp meatballs and he couldn’t taste the shrimp. So I made a notation on the recipe to make it again but with noted adjustments. I did, and the meatballs came out so much better this time! We really enjoyed it so I hope you do too!

Mexican Shrimp Meatball Soup
Adapted from Cooking on the Ranch

For the meatballs:

1/2 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (weight after peeling)
1 thick slice onion, quartered
1 tablespoon tomato paste
A pinch of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
2 heaping tablespoons flour
1 egg yolk
A pinch of salt

For the soup:

1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 roasted Hatch chiles, peeled, seeded and chopped (can sub 1 4-ounce can mild green chopped chiles)
3 to 4 cups shrimp, fish, or chicken stock
2 bay leaves
Ground black pepper and salt, to taste
Fresh chopped cilantro, for garnish

Shrimp Meatball Mixture

Add the shrimp, onion, tomato paste, spices and herbs, flour, egg yolk and salt to a food processor. Pulse until well combined. Cover and chill in refrigerator for a half hour.

Meanwhile, start making the soup. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven and saute the onion until translucent and soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more. Add the tomatoes and chiles and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes.

Simmering the Soup Base

Add the stock, bay leaves, and pepper and salt, to taste. Bring up to a simmer again, then simmer on low heat while you make the meatballs.

Get a bowl of water ready and add parchment paper to a large cookie sheet. Dip your hands in the bowl of water, and using a spoon, scoop out a large teaspoon of the shrimp mixture, and roll into a ball and place on the cookie sheet.

Shrimp Meatballs

Dip hands in water as needed, it prevents the shrimp mixture from sticking to your hands. Repeat until shrimp is gone. Drop the meatballs carefully into the soup, then bring to a simmer again heat the meatballs until cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Simmering the Shrimp Meatballs

Remove bay leaves, and serve soup in bowls garnished with chopped cilantro.

Mexican Shrimp Meatball Soup

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Mexican Poblano Burger Soup

Mexican Poblano Burger Soup

After we got back from our trip to the coast for our anniversary, I harvested the last of my chile peppers and the wee tomatillos and poblanos I managed to eke out with our short summer weather. Half the hot peppers had turned red while we were gone, but that’s OK as I like spicy!

Cooking is quite the challenge one-handed, but I’ve figured out some hacks to where I don’t ask for much assistance any more in food prep. Dicing a fresh onion is the hardest I’ve found, but luckily I have a bag of diced onion in the freezer that I brought home from a work potluck, which can be used in soups and stews.

Tips: A mini food processor can be used for a rough dice of carrots, celery, and onion, and a pair of kitchen shears does quick work on green onions. I do have limited use of my left thumb and forefinger, so I place the green onion between those two fingers and snip away!

This soup was the culmination of wanting to use my peppers and tomatillos in something as well as a large leek that needed to be cooked stat. I roasted the poblanos, tomatillos, and a serrano until charred, then had my daughter peel and mince them for me. I then scrounged the freezer and pantry and came up with a half pound of burger, black beans, and golden hominy. Combined with my homemade beef stock, a filling Mexican-style soup was on the horizon!

I’m still limiting my prep photos until I have two hands again but this is a pretty straight-forward soup recipe. Note: I used all my very small poblano peppers and tomatillos in this, but have adjusted the recipe below for standard grocery-sized produce.

Pepper and Tomatillo Harvest

Mexican Poblano Burger Soup

1 large leek, halved lengthwise and sliced
3 peeled, rinsed and roasted tomatillos
1 large roasted and peeled poblano, minced
1 roasted and peeled serrano pepper, minced
1/2 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
Ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Ancho chile powder
4 cups homemade or low sodium beef stock or broth
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can golden hominy, drained and rinsed
2 soft corn tortillas, diced large
Juice squeezed from a large lime wedge
Tortilla chips, sour cream, and cilantro for garnish (optional)

Roast and prep the peppers and tomatillos. In a soup pot or Dutch oven, brown the ground beef and leeks in 1 teaspoon olive oil until burger is browned and leeks have softened. Add the minced garlic in the last minute of cooking them.

Add the rest of the ingredients except the garnishes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook 15-20 minutes until the tortillas have dissolved and soup thickens, stirring occasionally.

Ladle into bowls and serve with desired garnishes. This soup was even better the next day!

Mexican Poblano Burger Soup

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Turkey Chipotle Posole

Turkey Chipotle Posole

As a lot of you know, I’m a spicy kind of gal, and I like spicy food. This posole, which is a traditional Mexican soup/stew, makes good use of leftover turkey or even chicken. I bought a deli-roasted turkey breast recently for a quick week-night dinner, but with the daughter not eating at home that night we were left with a bunch of leftover cooked turkey breast.

We had a cold snap, and what better thing to make in a cold snap is a nice spicy, warming stew? This ended up making more than I thought it would, but ate the rest for lunches.  Don’t scrimp on the toppings, as the cabbage, lime, and radishes really complete this. And you can always cut way back on the spices/chiles for a milder version.

After opening a few cans and a little chopping, dicing, and processing, this posole comes together in a snap all in one pot. I always freeze any leftover canned goods, clearly labeled, for future use. I can’t imagine ever using an entire can of chipotle peppers in a recipe unless I am feeding an army. And my local grocer only sells 30-ounce cans of hominy, which, after draining the liquid, yields about 2 cups of hominy. Hominy freezes well too.  Even if it’s already warm in your neck of the woods, do try this flavorful posole, if anything to warm your heart. Plus it also gives you good reason to open a bottle of Mexican beer to wash it down! UPDATE: A kind reader reminded me that Cinco de Mayo is coming up. So hey, why not make it for that day?!

Turkey Chipotle Posole

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 to 1 canned chipotle in adobo sauce (or less), diced fine
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons Ancho or Pasilla chile powder (or other or less)
2 cups cooked and shredded turkey or chicken
4 cups homemade or low sodium turkey or chicken broth
1/2 cup tomato puree
1 corn tortilla, processed fine
1 cup hominy, white or yellow is fine
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Ground black pepper and salt or Mrs. Dash, to taste
Shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, and lime wedges, for garnish

Puree, Peppers, and Hominy

Open up all those cans and chop/slice/dice all the veggies.

In a Dutch oven or soup pot, heat one tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add the next 6 ingredients (through the chile powder), and cook for 5 to 7 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Spicy Veggie Base

Add the remaining ingredients except the garnishes, stir to combine, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes or until ready to eat.

Posole Ready to Simmer and Cover

Ladle into bowls, and garnish with fresh sliced cabbage, sliced radishes, and a lime wedge to squeeze into the stew. (Don’t forget the beer to wash it all down!)

Turkey Chipotle Posole

 

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Homemade Chorizo Sausage

Sausage Patties

My husband bought an electric meat grinder a few months back. He justified his purchase by stating it would be a great use for grinding up a large batch of cheap steaks he bought into burger, as well as for another large batch of cheap pork he also bought into homemade sausage. We made the sausage “healthy” by also grinding in some chicken to the mix.

Grinding the Pork and Chicken

We made three types of sausage: Hot Italian Sausage, Breakfast Sausage, and Chorizo Sausage. We use the hot Italian sausage in Paul’s Spicy Spaghetti Sauce.

Mixing the Hot Italian Sausage

The breakfast sausage came out OK and the recipe could use some tweaking, but it did make a great quick breakfast the next morning stacked on a whole-wheat English muffin topped with a lightly fried egg.

Breakfast Sausage and Egg Stack

We decided to make sausage patties with the first two recipes. I rolled the sausage into an even thickness, covering it with plastic wrap first.

Rolling the Sausage

I then used a pint canning jar to cut out patties.

Cutting Out Breakfast Sausage Patties

I don’t exactly remember what else I was doing that day, but I never did end up with a photo of my chorizo! But I do plan on posting something I’ve made with it soon.

The chorizo sausage recipe I’m sharing with you today came from one of my dear foodie-blogging friends that passed away unexpectedly last year. I fondly remember him whenever I make anything with this chorizo.

Homemade Chorizo Sausage
Adapted from REMCOOKS Chorizo Sausage

1 pound lean ground pork
4 strips bacon
1 clove peeled garlic
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon chipotle in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
1/2 tablespoon Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon spicy Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Add the pork to a large mixing bowl. Add everything but the pork into a blender or food processor and pulse until well-combined. Scrape the mixture into the bowl with the pork. With clean hands, incorporate the seasoned mixture well into the pork until thoroughly combined. Divide mixture into even weights and freeze separately in zip-top freezer bags. I made 4-ounce portions, as the chorizo packs a lot of taste so you don’t need a lot of it when using in dishes.

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Mexican-Style Beef with Cabbage Soup

Mexican-Style Beef and Cabbage Soup

I have this awesome foodie friend named Adam. Adam J. Holland is his name and he cooks some crazy good food and shares it with the world on his website The Unorthodox Epicure. Not only is he talented food-wise, he is also a talented and witty writer. Do pop over to his blog at some point and check him out.

Now, on to this fabulous soup that I “stole” from Adam. His version of this recipe is not a soup, but since I am a soup fanatic I just had to transform it into one. I added a few other tweaks, but the base recipe is fabulous on its own. My family LOVED this soup, and the hubs declared it a soup that I MUST make again! How’s that for a complement? He tends to be wary whenever I spring something “different” on him. I am very happy to have a new soup to add into the rotation! After I took my photos my husband decided to crush up some tortilla chips and add it to the soup. It was a GREAT idea! It complemented the soup very nicely.

OH! And to those of you who celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, I wish you a very Happy Valentine’s Day filled with Love and Food! ❤

Mexican-Style Beef with Cabbage Soup
Adapted from Mexican-Style Beef with Cabbage at The Unorthodox Epicure

2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 jalapeño, chopped (I used my dehydrated jalapeños)
1/2 cup tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 teaspoon chile powder (I used Ancho)
Lots of ground black pepper and a wee bit of salt, to taste
3 cups beef stock, preferably homemade
2 cups shredded cabbage or chopped (I used my Ninja processor)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons fresh-squeezed lime juice
Tortilla chips, for garnish (optional)

In a Dutch oven or soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until starting to soften, about 5 minutes.

Making the Soup Base

Add the garlic, jalapeño, tomatoes, tomato paste, chile powder, and ground black pepper and salt. Stir and cook for about 7 more minutes.

Browning the Ground Beef

Add the ground beef to the pot, breaking it up with your spatula. Cook until the beef is no longer pink.

Beef and Cabbage Soup Ready for Stirring and Simmering

Add the beef stock, cabbage, cilantro, and lime juice. Bring up to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes more.  Serve in bowls and garnish with tortilla chips (optional).

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Chorizo-Based Carne Guisada

Chorizo-Based Carne Guisada

I don’t have any prep photos of this recipe, because I was almost certain we would be ordering pizza after we tasted this. I couldn’t be MORE WRONG! It was simply amazing!! I was so astounded that I did snap a shot of my bowl of it (sans the flour tortilla for dipping, because I was still so non-plussed how great this tasted.) Then for grins I took a shot of my hubby’s interpretation of how this should be eaten.

I was going through the freezer and found a half a tube of Mexican ground chorizo sausage and decided to do something with it.  I also had two gallon bags of frozen tomatoes from our last harvest and I had to use at least SOME of them soon. I had made brined pork chops the night before, which were a total failure, I tell you. Hardly anyone touched the pork, so you won’t get any info on that except for my brining shot of it, sigh. I will not make THAT recipe again. Kitchn website, you failed me this time…

Here I am brining pork, all fanchy schmancy. Little did I know….

I threw caution to the wind, and stuck the frozen chorizo, peeled frozen tomatoes, and almost a pound of the failed pork (cut up) into the crock pot, thinking if I just cook the hell out of something it might be decent. In went some chicken broth, potatoes, onions, spices and such. Just whatever sounded good. Then covered it up and cooked it all day long, hoping it wouldn’t be a last-minute pizza night.

I almost feel like I painted a masterpiece with this. Almost. This was INCREDIBLY delicious! My daughter and I couldn’t stop warming up more tortillas to slop up every last morsel of goodness. We also stirred in some cheddar cheese into the bowls, for garnish. My husband, on the other hand, made rolled up cheese quesadillas/burrito type things, stuck some of the mixture inside, and then slathered them over with more stew and mounds of sour cream. Mounds, I tell you. A little odd, but I let him do it. It’s his mouth.

Rolled Quesadillas with Chorizo Stew ~ or something like that. I really don’t know what to call this.

You may adapt however you like, because it’s not like I followed any semblance of a recipe to start with. (p.s. it is the ground chorizo that makes this recipe and sets it apart from my other Carne Guisada recipe, so at least don’t skip that ingredient!)

Hints: Whenever a recipe calls for a small amount of tomato paste or chipotle chiles, I freeze the rest (labeled) for later use. Just nuke for a tad and take what you need and refreeze. Yes, I got mine out of the freezer for this.

Now on to the (sort of) recipe!

Chorizo-Based Carne Guisada

Chorizo-Based Carne Guisada

1 pound of pork, cooked or uncooked, cut into small pieces
7 ounces ground Mexican pork chorizo, uncooked
2 cups diced tomatoes, frozen, from a can, fresh, whatever
1 medium potato, any kind, unpeeled, washed and diced
1/2 cup chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium, or water
1/2 cup chopped onion, any kind (I used red)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon of sauce from a can of Adobo Chipotle peppers
Juice from 1/2 small lime (maybe a couple of teaspoons?)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon Ancho chile powder (or any other kind)
Large pinch of cumin powder
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped (plus more for garnish if you want)
Warmed flour tortilla, for slopping up
Grated cheddar cheese, for garnish
Mounds of sour cream, for garnish (or not)

Prep your pork and veggies and such, throw them all in a crock pot, give it a good stir to mix, and cook on low about 8 to 10 hours or high on 4 to 6 hours. Give it another good stir at the end. That’s it! Serve with garnishes. Easy, huh?

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Garbanzo Bean, Spinach, and Spicy Chorizo Frittata

Garbanzo Bean Spinach and Spicy Chorizo Frittata

I was planning on starting out my recipe with “Make sure you prep all your ingredients ahead of time, since this all comes together quickly.” I take my prep shot, then start cooking. Here is my photo:

Prepped Frittata Ingredients (or so I thought!)

Where, you may ask, are the garbanzo beans? DOH! OK here they are, late to the show:

The Elusive Garbanzo Beans

After a quick rinse and drain, I measured out a cup and got them into the skillet with the cooked onions and garlic. Whew!

This is a protein-packed, quick and easy meal. YES, you heard me right. Another quick and easy meal, like under a half hour if you aren’t messing up taking photos without one of the star ingredients. This can be breakfast, lunch, dinner, OR an appetizer! Plus you can switch out the spinach with kale, or any other leafy green vegetable. Very versatile. If you don’t have an oven-proof or cast iron skillet (like in this closet kitchen I’m living with now) then you can do like me and stand there with the oven door open with the handle sticking out from under the heat source.

Setting the Top of the Frittata

Good thing it turned cold today— I wouldn’t want to do that in the summer!

Garbanzo Bean, Spinach, and Spicy Chorizo Frittata
Adapted from Chickpea, Spinach, and Chorizo Frittata by Hadyourtea? from the Food52 website

1/2 cup diced onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup diced jarred roasted red pepper
1 cup canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
4.5 ounces spicy Mexican pork chorizo (half of a 9-ounce package)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 large handful fresh spinach
5 eggs, beaten (or 4 if Jumbo sized)

Pork chorizo can be substituted with soy chorizo if you want this meatless. You can also freeze the rest of the garbanzo beans for a later use in a soup or stew!

Cook the onion in an oven proof or cast iron skillet in the olive oil over medium heat until soft, about 5 or so minutes, then add the garlic and cook until fragrant, just a minute or so more.

Add the red pepper, chickpeas, and smoked paprika. Add the chorizo, breaking it up with a spoon as you add it.

Sauteeing the Chorizo and Veggies

Sauté everything together until the paprika oil runs from the chorizo and it is cooked through at least 5 minutes or more.

Add the spinach and keep stirring until it wilts. Add the eggs and stir gently to incorporate into the mixture. Stop stirring and allow the eggs to set over the heat.

Setting the Bottom of the Frittata

Turn your oven on broil, then slide the skillet under the broiler to set the top. This will only take a a few minutes, so keep an eye on it! Remove from the oven carefully with hot pads, then gently loosen from the edge of the skillet with a knife. Place a large plate over the skillet and invert the frittata onto it. Then place another plate on top and invert once again. Allow to cool slightly before slicing. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and/or salsa, or just eat as is!

Garbanzo Bean Spinach and Spicy Chorizo Frittata

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Unorthodox Enfrijoladas

Enfrijoladas ~ photo by Adam J. Holland ~ The Unorthodox Epicure

Well, these are not really unorthodox, they are actually quite authentic. But this new recipe came to me from my good foodie friend Adam J. Holland, who has a most interesting foodie blog called “The Unorthodox Epicure” with a fun sidebar called “Confessions of an Aspiring Food Snob.” He is neither unorthodox nor snobby, that I can tell. But he’s a fellow Texan and cooks some great authentic Tex-Mex as well as authentic Mexican food, therefore he’s OK in my book, ya heah????

I made these last night, and hoo-boy, were they delicious! My entire family enjoyed them. It took hardly any prep time and cooked up pretty darn quick. That’s a win-win in my book! I halved the recipe since there are only three of us, but it still ended up making 8 Enfrijoladas (although I did add both grilled chicken AND cheese to the insides of them). There was one left in the end. All thumbs up. Thank you Adam!

I did take some initial prep photos thinking I might actually do a blog with my own photos on this, but a crazy thunderstorm rolled through as we were cooking this all outside on the propane burner/grill, so by the time we got it all moved inside there was no time with a hungry family to do any more foodie shots after having do all that and preheat the oven.

So sit right back, click on the link below, and enjoy his blog and recipe:

The Unorthodox Epicure Enfrijoladas Recipe

Chicken Fideo Soup (Mexican Chicken Noodle Soup)

Chicken Fideo Soup

After two weeks of temps in the 60s and 70s, the weather plummeted into the 30s. Cold, chilly rain, mixed in with snow. So what’s better to ward off the chill than a pot of spicy, steamy soup?

I have to once again thank my friend Richard over at REMCooks. He lives in Texas, and is a man after my own heart for spicy food. When I saw this soup recipe he posted last week, I told myself I just HAD to make it. And with the colder weather, I did.

It was a tad too spicy for my hubby, but he tempered it with some sour cream. Me and my daughter ate it “as is.” But the hubs went back for a second serving and the daughter swilled hers down, so it rates two thumbs up in this household.

I used the method to add the broth that Richard recommended, which makes this longer to make, but it is sure worth it. I adapted his recipe by de-seeding the Serrano peppers to give it less heat and used fairly small ones, and I also doubled the tomatoes. I wanted to use my homemade canned tomatoes for it, so I picked my least-filled jar of them and ended up with about a cup. (You could use a 14-ounce store-bought can if you don’t have homemade, just drain it first.) I also used Mexican Oregano instead of regular and added a pound of chicken breast meat because the boneless breast I had was that size.

This makes a big pot of soup, and it reheated well the next day for a delicious lunch. And if you are feeling really feisty the day you cook this, you can do like I did and poach the chicken and make the homemade chicken broth for the soup at the same time!

Fideo Soup Ingredients

Chicken Fideo Soup (Mexican Chicken Noodle Soup)
Adapted from Fideo Soup with Chicken (Sopa de Fideo con Pollo) by REMCooks

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 cup onion, chopped
2 Serrano chiles, stemmed and de-seeded (use 1 if you don’t like too spicy)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup of homemade canned tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon dried Mexican Oregano, crushed
6 ounces Angel Hair Pasta, snapped into 1 to 2-inch pieces (or pre-cut Fideo)
6 cups homemade chicken broth, or low-sodium canned
1 pound cooked chicken, chopped
Cilantro for garnish

Add two tablespoons of the oil to a medium pot over medium heat and cook the onions and peppers for several minutes until starting to soften. Add the minced garlic, and cook for about another minute. Next add the oregano and the tomatoes, stir to combine, and cook for a few more minutes. Pour the mixture into a blender with 1/2 cup of water, and puree until smooth. Set aside.

Spicy Tomato Mixture

In a large pot or dutch oven, add the other 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-low heat, add the noodles and stir. And stir, and stir, and stir! You want to stir them constantly to evenly brown them, and if you walk away for a minute you might burn them! This took me about 10 minutes to get them to a light brown color.

Browned Angel Hair Pasta

Next add the tomato mixture from the blender, increase the heat to medium, and add 2 cups of the chicken broth. Bring up to a simmer and boil for about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure the noodles don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Now cover, and lower the heat and gently simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, add 2 more cups of chicken broth and bring back up to a simmer for another 15 minutes. Finally, add the last 2 cups of broth and simmer covered for yet another 15 minutes. Uncover, add the chicken, and simmer for a few more minutes until the chicken is heated through. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. Spicy goodness in a bowl!

Chicken Fideo Soup

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Grilled Steak Salad with Roasted Tomato Salsa and Cotija Cheese

Spicy Grilled Steak Salad with Roasted Tomato Salsa and Cotija Cheese

I went twice — mind you TWICE — to my local store that caters to the Hispanic community each day this past weekend to find flank steak for this salad, and both times they said they had sold out already! I obviously need to get to the store earlier in the day if I want that cut of meat.

Nonetheless, I didn’t want to travel to another grocery so I settled on super-thin cut bottom round, which was labeled “for Carne Asada” so figured that would work just fine. I was planning on marinating the meat anyways in a lime juice concoction, which helps tenderize the meat. The idea to make steak salad started with wanting to use up the rest of my Roasted Tomato Salsa  from the other day. It’s been in the high 70s/low 80s  here the past few days and just love to grill in this kind of weather.

Beef Marinating in Chile Lime Sauce

There are so many things you can do with a salad like this! Some grilled corn would be great on it,  but it’s not quite yet corn season here yet, but settled on adding avocado, black beans seasoned with cumin and some of the salsa and lime juice, halved grape tomatoes, grilled red and yellow peppers, green onion, and black olives. Oh! And the finishing touches of my Roasted Tomato Salsa, crumbled Cotija cheese, cilantro, and tortilla chips.

Fresh Red Leaf Lettuce and Baby Spinach

This was the first time I’d ever bought Cotija cheese, but had seen it used in many Mexican recipes. It’s a brick of cheese that crumbles up like blue cheese, and my first taste realized why it goes so well with Mexican cooking! Such a fabulous “tang” to it! From what I researched it keeps really well too, so my somewhat spendy purchase for 10 ounces of it should keep in the fridge for quite a while and am looking forward to using it in other dishes.

Steak Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or regular vinegar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon New Mexico Red or Ancho Chile powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Black pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 pound thin-sliced bottom or top round steak (or flank steak if you can find it!)

Whisk all the ingredients except the steak in a medium glass bowl.  Add the thinly sliced steak and let marinate in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour but up to 3 or 4 hours. Mix around when you can. A half hour before cooking, remove from the fridge and let set to come to room temperature.

Zesty Grilled Southwest Steak Salad

Grilled Steak Salad with Roasted Tomato Salsa and Cotija Cheese

1 bell pepper (we used 1/2 red and 1/2 yellow), deseeded and halved
Spray olive oil
Garlic powder
Marinated steak (recipe above)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained and seasoned with 1 tablespoon salsa, squeeze of lime wedge,  and 1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 cup of mixed greens per person (we used red leaf lettuce and baby spinach)
1 6-ounce can black olives
3 green onions, chopped roughly
1/2 carton grape tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
Roasted Tomato Salsa recipe, for dressing, or any salsa you have on hand
Crumbled Cotija cheese, for garnish
Cilantro, for garnish
Corn tortilla chips, for garnish

Preheat grill to high, spray the bell pepper with olive oil both sides and sprinkle with garlic powder.  Place on grill 20 minutes before ready to assemble the salad.  Meanwhile, mix up the black beans, salsa, lime,  and cumin, and set aside. After 10 minutes flip the peppers over. Now place the thin-sliced marinated steak on the grill and cook each side 3 to 4 minutes, then remove and tent with foil. Remove the peppers from the grill and slice  thin.

Now take the steak and slice thin across the grain. Add your greens to a bowl, assemble the vegetables over it (don’t forget anything, that’s easy to do!), then top with the steak. Add the Roasted Tomato Salsa for dressing, then the cheese, cilantro, and tortilla chips for garnish. This is a great dish to mix and combine any number of fresh vegetables you may have on hand. Olé!