Poblanos Stuffed with Turkey, Rice & Veggies

My friend who’s from Mexico surprised us with a fancy dinner called Chiles en Nogada, traditional in the south of Mexico.

With my mind and stomach on chiles, and some left over rice pilaf, I decided to make my own stuffed chiles dish, filled with ground meat, rice and veggies. I used this as another opportunity to sneak in as many veggies as possible. My hubby called me the ‘kale ninja’.

 

4 Poblano chiles
1 cup of cooked basmati rice (cooked in chicken broth)
¾ lb ground turkey
2 celery ribs, diced
1 large carrot, diced
½ small onion, diced
1 cup fresh kale, chopped
1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
1 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
½ can of corn
½ can kidney beans
Salt and pepper, to taste
Few dashes of Tabasco sauce
Grated Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese

Prepare each pepper by cutting across the top near the stem and down the middle of one side. Remove veins and seeds. On the grill over fire, or under a broiler, char all sides of the peppers until blackened and bubbly, turning until all sides are charred. When ready, place in a bag or covered dish and let steam. Then peel skin from the peppers and set aside.

 

In a large sauce pan over med-high heat, cook ground turkey until almost cooked all the way through. Add veggies, herbs, garlic, corn and kidney beans; cook until veggies are tender and turkey is no longer pink. Season with salt, pepper and Tabasco, to taste. Mix rice with turkey and veggies.

Using a large spoon, stuff each chile with the filling. Please stuffed chiles in a casserole dish and top with shredded cheese. Place under a broiler and cook until cheese is melted and starts to bubble and turn brown.

Serve with black beans and sliced avocado.

Spicy Green Curry Shrimp over Coconut Lime Rice

Coconut Lime Rice:
1 cup white long grained balsamic rice
2 cups coconut water
½ Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp salt
2 green onion sprigs, sliced
Juice from one lime

Spicy Green Curry Shrimp:

½ yellow onion, minced
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 large jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 lb raw shrimp, deveined and peeled
1 can coconut milk
2 Tbsp green curry paste
Salt
 
In a rice cooker, combine rice, coconut water, coconut oil and salt. Cook until ready. Stir in green onions and lime juice. Set aside and keep warm.

In a medium pan over medium high heat, sauté onion, bell pepper, jalapenos and garlic in EVOO until soft. Add shrimp and cook until pink. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside. Stir in coconut milk and curry paste; let thicken. Season with salt, to taste. Before serving, add shrimp back to dish to heat through. Don’t over cook.

Serve Spicy Green Curry Shrimp over Coconut Lime Rice in a shallow bowl. Garnish with minced fresh cilantro and enjoy.

Grilled Mahi Mahi over Coconut Lime Cilantro Rice with Mango Avocado Salsa

It was raining on this Cinco de Mayo so we decided to add a little sunshine to our meal with this tropical dish.
 

Coconut Lime Cilantro Rice:

3/4 cup white long grained basmati rice
1 1/2 cups coconut water or juice
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp minced cilantro
1 green onion sprig, minced
Zest and juice from 1 small lime

Grilled Mahi Mahi:

2-8 oz Mahi Mahi filets
Chile con Limon (Chili with Lemon) seasoning

Mango Avocado Salsa:

½ mango, diced
1 small avocado, diced
1 green onion sprig, diced
1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
½ Tbsp minced cilantro
Juice from 1 small lime
Salt to taste

Start with the rice, by adding rice, coconut water, EVOO and salt to a rice cooker. Once rice is cooked, stir in cilantro, green onions, lime zest and juice. Set aside until ready to serve.

Season Mahi Mahi filets with seasoning and grill each side over medium high heat for about 8 minutes per side, or until it easily flakes.

In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients for the salsa. Season with salt to taste.

Serve grilled fish over a bed of rice and top with mango avocado salsa.

 

Green Olives and Artichoke Rice

 

2-3 servings

 

¾ cup white, long grained Basmati rice

1 ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

¼ cup chopped green onions

¼ cup chopped green olives

¼ cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts

2 Tbsp chopped marinated sundried tomatoes

2 Tbsp chopped flat leaf Italian parsley 

 

In a rice cooker, add first 4 ingredients and cook until done. Mix in remaining ingredients. 

 

Serve with grilled sword fish and steamed asparagus. 

 

Helpful Tip:

Do you ever buy jarred artichokes, but don’t know what to do with the marinade after the artichokes are gone? I like to buy dried sundried tomatoes and add them to this marinade, then store in the fridge until ready to use. It softens them, making them available to use immediately, and adds great flavor.  You can also use the leftover marinade as a salad dressing too.

 

 

 

Grilled Chicken with Green Olive Salsa Verde

I found another awesome recipe from my favorite cooking blog, Closet Cooking. This would make a great topping for chicken or fish, or just use as salsa for chips.

 

 

Makes 1 cup

 

½ lb tomatillos, husks removed

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and deveined

¼ cup green olives

½ small onion, chopped

1 large garlic clove

Juice and zest from one lime

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

½ cup cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Place the tomatillos on a baking sheet under broil until skins blacken and bubble. Remove from oven and place in a covered container for 15 minutes; remove skins. Add tomatillos and remaining ingredients in a food processor and puree.

Served over grilled chicken with rice and beans, or enjoy as a dip for chips.

 

Chimichurri Salmon with Roasted Cauliflower

Chimichurri Sauce & Marinade:
½ cup firmly packed fresh flat leaf parsley, remove stems
3 garlic cloves
¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp red pepper flakes

In a food processor add parsley and garlic; process with a few pulses. Stir in EVOO, vinegar, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

Use half of the sauce to marinate the salmon filets for at least 30 minutes. Save the rest to use as a topping once fish is grilled.

Roasted Cauliflower:

2 cups of cauliflower florets
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Salt and pepper
Fresh lemon juice
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place cauliflower on a baking tray, drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast cauliflower for 15 minutes. Using tongs, flip florets over, spinkle with lemon juice and cook for an additional 10 minutes, until florets are browned and just fork tender. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

 

Serve grilled fish over a bed of rice with cauliflower. Drizzle fish with extra chimichurri sauce.

If you like this recipe, try these:

Chimichurri Steak

Chimichurri Chicken Pita

 

Honey Lemon Chicken

I found this recipe on a blog that I follow – Closet Cooking. It was so easy to make and super tasty. I look forward to making it again.

 

2 chicken breasts

Salt and pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger

1 lemon (juice and zest)

2 Tbsp honey

¼ cup chicken stock

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 green onion sprigs, chopped (for garnish)

 

Cut chicken breasts into cube sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. In a frying pan over med-high heat, drizzle EVOO and brown all sides of chicken; cook until almost done. Remove chicken from pan; set aside. 

 

In the same pan, add ginger and cook for about one minute. Add lemon juice, zest, honey, stock, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and allow to thicken. (NOTE: if sauce is too thin, whisk in a tablespoon of cornstarch.) 

 

Add chicken breast, coat with honey lemon mixture and let chicken finish cooking all the way through.

 

Serve over rice and sprinkle with chopped green onions.

 

Kung Pao Chicken

In the spirit of Chinese New Year, I decided to make this spicy Asian dish. I always enjoy a trip to the Asian market because there are so many different things to check out (and they have cheap veggies!). On this visit, I had to pick up the dried red chilies for this dish. You can also pick up some fortune cookies for a fun, festive dessert.

新年快乐！

For Chicken Marinade:

2 ½ tsp soy sauce

1 tsp corn starch

½ tsp sesame oil

 

1 lb chicken breasts, cubed

 

For Sauce:

1 ½ Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp chicken broth

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

 

3 Tbsp oil

½ cup diced red bell pepper

½ cup diced yellow onion

10 dried red chilies

1 Tbsp fresh cracked black pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

4 green onions, sliced

¼ cup peanuts

 

In a small bowl , whisk together ingredients for the chicken marinade. Marinate chicken cubes in sauce for at least 30 minutes.

 

In a separate small bowl, whisk together ingredients for the sauce; set aside.

 

In a large frying pan over high heat, add oil and cook chicken until almost done and all sides are browned. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

 

In the same frying pan, sauté peppers and onions for about 3-4 minutes. Add dried chilies, pepper, garlic and ginger. Sauté for about 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Mix in sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Add chicken, green onions and peanuts, turn heat to low and mix together. Continue to cook until chicken is cooked all the way through.

 

Serve over rice.

 

Shrimp Etouffee

Happy Mardi Gras...now let's eat!

 

4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
1 cup diced onion
½ cup diced celery
½ cup diced bell pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups shrimp stock (If you don’t have this just boil the shrimp tails in vegetable broth for about 20 minutes)
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 Tbsp Creole or Cajun seasoning
1 Tbsp Worcestersire sauce
1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
Tabasco sauce to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp lemon juice
½ cup green onions, sliced
½ cup minced flat leaf Italian parsley

In a large pan over medium heat, melt butter until it starts to brown and then sprinkle and mix in flour; mix and simmer. Add onion, celery and pepper and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Whisk in stock, tomatoes, creole seasoning and Worcestershire sauce; simmer for 20 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for about 5 minutes, until pink or heated all the way through. Season with hot sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Mix in lemon juice, green onions and parsley. Serve with rice.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

 I think some people are turned off by cabbage but my mom always made it growing up so it was normal in our household. My husband said he was pleasantly surprised by this dish and didn’t even douse it in Frank’s hot sauce (total compliment!). I even hid mushrooms in the filling and he didn’t notice. Score!

If you like this version, you can also try this version stuffed with beef and topped with mushroom gravy - Stuffed Cabbage Rolls in Mushroom Gravy.

 

1 head of green cabbage, leave leaves removed

Filling:
1 lb ground chicken
½ yellow onion, finely chopped
2 baby Bella mushroom, chopped
1 large carrot, shredded
2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
A few dashes of red pepper flakes

water

Gravy:
1 packet of gravy
Juices from cabbage rolls, after cooked

¾ cup of water

In a large pot of boiling water, add the cabbage leaves and cook for about 3-4 minutes until soft. Drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for the filling. Lay each cabbage leaf flat and place a little loaf of chicken mixture in the middle; tuck in ends and roll. Place in a casserole dish, seam side down. Add 1/2” of water. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes or until meat is cooked all the way through.

 

Once rolls are cooked, pour juices into a small sauce pan over high heat, add 3/4 cup of water; whisk in gravy mix. Once gravy boils, remove from heat and set aside.

Serve cabbage rolls on rice. Spoon gravy over dish.

Creamed Spinach and Artichoke Rice

 

1 cup of white long grained basmati rice (Royal Basmati Rice is my favorite brand)

2 cups chicken broth
½ stick of butter
1 small onion, diced
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups chopped frozen spinach
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ cup quartered artichoke hearts

In a rice cooker make rice using rice and chicken broth.

In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter and cook onion for about 3 minutes. Add flour and mix to coat onions. Cook for an additional 3 minutes. Add cream while whisking, to prevent lumps; turn heat to low and simmer, whisking, for about 3-4 minutes. Stir in spinach and salt and pepper, to taste.

Once rice is cooked, mix in creamed spinach and artichokes.

Enjoy with grilled salmon and steamed asparagus.

Caribbean Coconut Chicken with Lime

We went to the British Virgin Islands in November and I came across a book in the airport called 'A Trip to the Beach' about a couple from the US that moved to the Caribbean to open a restaurant. I loved the book and the tales of their adventures as they chased their dreams of opening a small restaurant on the beach of Anguilla in the BVI. I loved the book so much that I also bought their cookbook, At Blanchard's Table.

On our last night with all the family together for the holidays we decided to make their Calypso Chicken with Lime. It was a huge hit with everyone! We changed it a little to add a kick of spice, but this certainly didn't distract from the tropical flavors and memories of the Caribbean that it brought us back to.

Caribbean Coconut Chicken with Lime

Serves 6

1 lb chicken tenders, or slice 4 chicken breasts into strips
3 Tbsp plus 1⁄4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
1 1⁄2 Tbsp fresh lime zest
3 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 1⁄2 tsp salt
1⁄2 tsp black pepper
1⁄3 cup chopped cilantro
3 Tbsp shredded coconut, toasted

Preheat the broiler or prepare the grill.

In a large bowl, coat the chicken with 3 tablespoons lime juice, EVOO and jalapenos. Marinate for 30 minutes.

In a medium saute pan, whisk together 1⁄4 cup lime juice, coconut milk, cream, lime zest, ginger, salt, and pepper. Cook on medium heat until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan and set aside. Turn heat to low.

Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade, and broil or grill them until just about cooked through, 2-3 minutes per side. Add chicken to coconut sauce on stove top over low heat. Mix in cilantro. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, or until chicken cooks all the way through.

Serve over Cilantro Lime Rice (recipe below), spoon extra sauce over chicken and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

For dessert, we selected another recipe from the cookbook for a fresh Lemon Mousse.

Cilantro Lime Rice

2 cups basmati rice
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 green onion sprig, chopped
Juice from 1/2 lime

In a rice cooker, combine rice, broth, salt and EVOO. Once rice is ready, mix in cilantro, green onions and lime juice. Mix well and set aside until ready to serve.

Variations - Think think this dish would also be wonderful with the following revisions:

• Sub the chicken for sauteed snapper.
• Sub the chicken for grilled swordfish.
• Kick up the heat by adding diced jalapenos into the rice when you add the cilantro and green onions.

Spicy Rice & Beans

I love this rice because it's so easy to make and delicious.

 

 

1 cup rice

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 packet of taco seasoning

1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1 can black beans, drained

1 large jalapeno, seeded and diced

Juice from 1/2 lime

 

In a rice cooker, combine rice, broth, seasoning and EVOO. Cook until tender and done. Stir in beans, jalapenos and lime juice, until heated through.

 

If the jalapenos are too spicy then add to the rice when it's cooking.

Jalapeno Crab Stuffed Salmon

I wanted to do something different for dinner with my salmon, so I opened up my cupboard to see if any brilliant ideas would jump out at me. A can of crab and a can of diced jalapenos caught my eye. I love crab stuffed jalapenos, so I wondered what would happen if I stuffed that inside of salmon. Viola! Jalapeno crab stuffed salmon…delicious!

2 salmon filets

1 can of white lump crab, drained
2-3 oz of canned diced jalapenos
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 green onion sprig, chopped
 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine crab, jalapenos, cheese and green onion, but do not over mix. Set aside.

Season filets with salt and pepper. Using a sharp knife, cut a slit in the middle of each filet. Stuff filets with crab mixture. Place filets on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Turn to broil, move fish to the top of the oven and broil for an additional 5 minutes.

Serve over rice or mashed potatoes.

Helpful tip: To know if your fish is cooked, it should easily flake with fork and no longer be translucent in the center.

Grilled Shark with Summer Relish

This grilled fish dinner has a Latin flair and uses fresh summer ingredients.

2 Thresher shark fillets
Fish seasoning: Cajun, seasoned salt or lemon pepper

Relish:
¼ cup corn (roasted and cut off the cob)
About 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
½ large avocado, diced
1 Tbsp diced canned jalapenos (or one fresh jalapeno, seeded and diced)
1 green onion sprig, diced
Juice from one lime
Salt

Rice & Beans:

½ cup rice
1 cup chicken broth
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
½ can of black beans

In a rice cooker, cook rice in broth and EVOO.  Once rice is cooked, stir in beans to heat through.

Meanwhile, season and grill heat over med-high heat. Depending on thickness, grill for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until cooked all the way through.

While fish is grilling, make relish. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Season with salt and set aside.

To plate, create a bed of rice and beans, top with fish and spoon relish over fish.

Helpful hint: Make sure you rub the fish with oil before seasoning or spray the grill to prevent the fish from sticking.

Wild Rice

I found this gourmet blend of wild and whole grain brown rice from Lundberg Wild Blend at the grocery store. I’m not usually a fan of brown rice since the texture can sometimes be tough. I cooked the rice according to the directions and it this was actually tasty (and of course healthy, which is the point of eating this in the first place, right?).

½ cup Lundberg Wild Rice Blend

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 large carrot, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
¼ small yellow onion, diced
1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Salt to taste
Freshly cracked black pepper

In a pot, add rice, broth and EVOO. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, turn heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan with EVOO, sauté carrots, celery and onion. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for about 5-7 minutes.

Once rice is done, stir in veggies and fluff rice. Set aside and let sit covered for 10 minutes.

Serve with grilled salmon and asparagus. Garnish salmon with a lemon slice.

Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa over Mango Rice

This colorful dish is the perfect combination of sweet and spicy with a tropical flare.

Avocado Salsa:

I large avocado, diced
1/2 small red bell pepper, diced
1/2 small yellow bell pepper, diced
1 small jalapeno, seeded and diced
½ small red onion, diced
Juice from one lemon
Salt to taste
(I would have added minced cilantro too, except I didn’t have any on hand)

Mango Rice:

I cup of white long grained basmati rice
2 cups coconut water
1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
½ tsp salt
1 mango, diced

Salmon:

2 Salmon filets
Cajun seasoning (or I also like to use Lemon Pepper on one side and crushed red pepper flakes on the other)

For salsa, combine all ingredients, toss with lemon juice and season with salt to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For rice, in a rice cooker, combine rice, coconut water, EVOO and salt; cook until ready. Stir in mango; set aside.

For grilled salmon, heat grill to med-high. Season salmon. Skin side down, cook salmon until skin is charred. Flip filets over, turn heat to low, remove charred skin, season other side and grill until salmon is cooked through. The filets should flake easily with a fork and still be a little translucent in the middle. Depending on thickness, cook time should be approx. 6-8 minutes per side.

To plate, make a bed of mango rice topped with salmon. Spoon avocado salsa over salmon. Enjoy!

Sautéed Swai with Spinach Mushroom Rice

Swai is a farmed river fish from Asia, which is light and flaky, similar to catfish.

2 Swai fillets

2 Tbsp parmesan cheese

½ tsp minced parsley

Lemon pepper seasoning

SaltExtra Virgin

Olive Oil (EVOO)

Rice:

½ cup white long grained Basmati rice

2 Tbsp dried mushrooms

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup chopped fresh baby spinach

2 green onion sprigs, sliced

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

In a rice cooker, add rice, mushrooms, chicken broth and 1 tsp EVOO; cook until tender. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, drizzle EVOO and cook spinach until wilted. Add cooked rice to pan, add green onions and mix together; set aside.

(Note: if you don’t have dried mushrooms, sauté fresh mushrooms with spinach.)

In a large frying pan over high heat, drizzle EVOO and heat until oil starts to ripple. Season both sides of fish fillets with cheese, parsley, lemon pepper and salt. Fry first side for 2 minutes, flip fillets, turn heat to medium and cook for 3 minutes, until crispy and flakes easily with a fork.

Spicy Asian Chicken with Sriracha Cream Sauce

2 Chicken breasts

¼ cup Ponzu sauce

1 tsp dried ginger (or use fresh ginger if you have it)

1 tsp dried pepper flakes

2 Tbsp mayo

2 tsp Sriracha sauce

In a small bowl, combine Ponzu sauce, ginger and pepper flakes. In a bowl or bag, add chicken and Ponzu sauce mixture. Marinate for 30+ minutes.

Over med-high heat, grill chicken for about 5-7 minutes on each side, or until cooked all the way through. Let chicken rest for a few minutes before slicing.

While chicken is cooking, whisk mayo and Sriracha sauce together in a small bowl; set aside until ready to use.

Serve chicken over rice mixed with sautéed vegetables. Drizzle with Sriracha cream sauce.

Helpful hint: To drizzle sauce over chicken, spoon sauce into a small Ziploc bag. Using scissors, snip off the edge of one corner. Try to get the air out of the bag, then use as a piping bag.

Grilled Teriyaki Salmon with Vegetable Stir Fry Rice

2 salmon filets
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Juice from one lime
1 cup white long grained basmati rice
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 large carrot, peel of ribbons
½ yellow onion, sliced
About 5 asparagus, cut into ½” pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Sea salt
EVOO

In a small bowl, whisk soy sauce, brown sugar and lime juice until combine. Marinate salmon for 30+ minutes.

Cook rice in chicken broth in rice cooker until done.

Preheat grill to med-high heat. Grill salmon skin side down until crispy. Flip filets and turn heat to med-low. Remove skin and cook until just flaky, but not over cooked.

In a wok or large sauté pan over med-high heat, drizzle EVOO and cook vegetables, garlic and cilantro for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and drizzle with a few dashes of extra soy sauce. Add cooked rice and mix together.

Serve grilled fish over a bed of vegetable stir fry rice.

Note: If you’d like to spice this up a bit, add freshly sliced jalapenos to the vegetable stir fry or add pepper flakes when seasoning.