Veggie Tacos

I'm a sucker for Mexican food. Like, big time. And while I really wouldn't call this "Mexican," it is INSPIRED by my favorite foods.

The night before I'd made this recipe, I had made some guacamole and shredded some cabbage for shrimp tacos. I think I've come to rely on different varieties of tacos as a quick, easy and tasty meal that you can really make any night of the week.

I used the guacamole I'd made, shredded cabbage, a few slices of lime I had left, and some salsa I'd bought. The only real "cooking" required were some onions I caramelized to put on top. SO GOOD. It killed two birds with one stone -- I got a yummy lunch, and I used up a lot of the stuff that was taking up space in my fridge. Enjoy!

Veggie Tacos
Makes 4 tacos

4 small flour tortillas
1/4 cup guacamole
shredded cabbage
shredded carrot
chopped tomatoes
fresh corn
black beans
1/2 cup sliced red onions
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup sour cream
4 lime wedges

Heat the tortillas on a gas stove top or grill. Spread guacamole evenly on center of tortillas. Distribute the cabbage, corn, carrot, black beans, tomato and sour cream to your tastes.

In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. When melted and the pan is good and hot, toss in the onions and move them around. Let them cook, stirring every couple minutes, until they are translucent and beginning to brown. Sprinkle the sugar over the onions (to help along the caramelization) and let them cook, stirring every minute or so, for another five minutes.

Top the tacos with the onions, and then with your favorite salsa. Garnish with a lime wedge. Enjoy!



*Salsa: You can use any kind you prefer, or even make your own. May I suggest... this recipe if you're looking to make your own. If you want to save time and buy salsa... generally, I'm not a HUGE fan, or wasn't until recently. I don't like the texture and taste of most store-bought salsas, and then I discovered Frontera. The brand is actually that of Chicago restaurateur Rick Bayless (yes, that one!), and they really are super high quality. The tastes are unique and as soon as I tried them, I was hooked. The flavors I bought were Roasted Tomato and Tomatillo. They're available at most grocery stores, and totally worth the money.

Recipe #14: Chicken Pot Stickers

For my husband's birthday last weekend, we took a trip to the Cheesecake Factory. I've actually only ever eaten there twice in my life but loved the food both times, so I was looking forward to it. We tried an appetizer that we've seen at restaurants and in stores, but never actually had -- chicken pot stickers. Oh my gosh, "amazing' doesn't quite do them justice.

So, since we can't make it to the Cheesecake Factory every weekend (maybe someday when we're rich, haha), I decided to make my own version. This isn't exactly the same. The "filling" in the CF version is JUST chicken. I added cabbage and green onions to give it a little more flavor because I knew my chicken would never taste like theirs! Enjoy! Please note -- wherever you see a (*) next to an ingredient or tool, there is a comment about it below the recipe. Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Stickers

Ingredients
2 green onions, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger*
wonton wrappers*
1/4 cup shredded red cabbage*
6 ounces plus two tablespoons soy sauce
8 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 pound chicken tenders*
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons sesame oil*
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups water

Tools
small skillet
small sauce pan
large non-stick pan
food processor

Heat small skillet over medium-high heat, add soy sauce and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.

Cut chicken into one inch pieces. Place in mixing bowl and toss with flour until evenly coated. Add to heated pan, cook about 10 minutes (turning to cook evenly) until both sides are browned and crispy. Drain.



When chicken has cooled enough to handle, food process using shredding blade (Use chicken pieces and any "breading" that has come off while draining). Add shredded chicken to a mixing bowl and add minced green onions and shredded cabbage. Toss to combine, add tablespoon of sesame oil and a dash of soy sauce for flavor. Set aside.



For sauce: In small saucepan, stir together soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and grated ginger. Heat over medium heat until bubbling. Allow to remain on stove for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside.

Remove wonton wrappers from package one by one. Place 1 tablespoon of the chicken/cabbage/onion mixture in the center of each wonton. Use your fingers and water to wet all edges of the wonton. Fold the ends diagonally across from each other up towards the top. Press points together, fold the other two ends up and press. You will end up with small, square "packages" off filling. (You will cook these in two batches.)



Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in the large non-stick pan. When heated, slowly add wontons around the edge of the pan. Cook for 2 minutes or until the bottom of each wonton is slightly browned. When this has happened, CAREFULLY, SLOWLY add 1/2 cup water into the center of the pan. Add lid to pan, and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes or until wonton wrappers become translucent. (Repeat with second batch.)





Place some of the sauce on the plate ahead of placing the wontons, then add more over the top once the wontons are fully plated. Serve hot, garnish with chopped green onion.



*Comments:
-Ginger: If you're not a fan of ginger -- I normally am NOT at all, but when grated on a microplane, it becomes more like a paste and therefore tolerable -- you can completely leave it out. It does give a depth to the flavor of the sauce though, and this is a very, very small amount to add.

-Wonton Wrappers: I used Nasoya brand wrappers. They sell these wonton wrappers, but also eggroll wraps and tofu. You can generally find their products in the organic food section. I know the process above for folding them sounds difficult, but trust me, it's not. I have very little hand-eye coordination, and I managed! Also, When you're not using the wrappers -- in between folding wontons -- keep them covered with a damp towel, to keep them from drying out.

-Cabbage: I used red... truthfully, because I forgot to buy Napa cabbage at the store, and to me the taste is no different. If you only have the regular green variety, just use that. No need to make a trip to the store for that!

-Chicken: Just to clarify, when I say "chicken tenders," I mean "chicken tenderloins," the raw chicken -- generally the most expensive, because you're only getting the best sections of the white meat -- in the meat section of the grocery store. I am NOT talking about breaded chicken tenders.

-Sesame Oil: You might think you can do without it for this recipe, but I beg to differ. I had never in my life cooked with sesame oil until now. I had smelled it and tasted it, but never cooked with it myself. Trust me, it's worth the $5 for the 8-ounce bottle. If you've ever had a Chinese dish and thought that you could probably make it at home if not for that ONE unidentifiable ingredient... that ingredient is sesame oil. It is deep and nutty, and you only need a little to get a lot of flavor. It's worth it!

Recipe #12: Fish Tacos

If you've never lived on or visited California, I know what you're thinking -- "That sounds disgusting." That's what I thought too. I was so wrong.

What I pictured was a fillet of broiled fish in a hard shell taco with lettuce and tomato. The Californian (Baja style) fish taco could not be any more different. It's actually beer battered cod, minus the lettuce and tomatoes. One delicious, crispy, salsa and cabbage-laden taco from Rubio's was all it took -- I was hooked for life.

When I moved from California (Hi Mary, Keala, Traci, Christin and Savannah!), I can't tell you how much I missed fish tacos. I tried a bunch of times to replicate the recipe, but before I had a deep fryer, it was really difficult to try to get the fish crispy but not drenched in oil. Finally, I have.

Many of the ingredients below are just what I serve with the tacos. A proper fish taco from Rubio's is fish on a corn tortilla (though you'll see I use flour -- none of the corn tortillas I have tried from around here have the same consistency as theirs. Better to just go with flour), cabbage, a dab of white sauce, smothered in one of their salsas from the salsa bar (I prefer the hot. If you'd like the recipe I make, you can find it here). Trust me, it takes a little effort, and you *do* deal with your kitchen smelling oily for a few hours, but it's TOTALLY worth it.


Fish Tacos

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes (for all fish)

Ingredients
1/2 pound cod* (this is about one fillet)
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons onion salt
1 12-ounce can of beer*
1 lime*
2 cups grated cabbage
8 flour tortillas*
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons unflavored plain yogurt

Tools
deep fryer (or shallow non-stick pan with at least 3" sides)*

For batter: In a small mixing bowl, mix flour, garlic powder, minced onion, paprika, onion salt. Add can of beer 4 ounces at a time, mix until the batter coats the back of a fork or spoon.



Heat deep fryer or oil in pan to 375 degrees. Place fish in batter bowl, coat liberally with batter. Slowly place into oil/deep fryer. Be careful not to drop or oil will splatter. Use a fork and carefully release fish from fork to avoid splatter or fish sticking to the bottom of the pan or basket. Cook until golden brown, and drain on a plate covered with paper towels.



To serve with the fish: Grate or finely chop cabbage -- red or green -- and cut a lime into 8 even pieces. In a ramekin, mix yogurt and mayo to make white sauce. If making larger proportions of fish, use equal parts yogurt and mayo, mix until the mixture is thinned.

Heat tortillas in microwave for 20 seconds, serve all ingredients -- tortillas, fried fish, cabbage, salsa, limes -- on a platter. Guests can assemble their own tacos. Optional: serve alongside chopped cilantro. Makes 8 tacos.



*Comments:
-Fish: I used cod fillet, because that's what Rubio's uses, and what we had at the grocery store the day I made this. If you cannot find fresh cod at your seafood counter, use any white fish. I've also made this with flounder, and it worked very well. Don't bother buying frozen boxed fish, as the fish's texture has totally changed, even during the thawing process. Frozen fish from the seafood counter is okay though. But do NOT let this thaw at room temp, unless you enjoy a very fishy-smelling house. Let it thaw, still wrapped, in the refrigerator for a day. Also, I used one fillet (1/2 pound) for this dinner, and got 8 tacos out of this. This is because I cut the pieces small, knowing they'll puff significantly during frying. Here's how big each piece of fish was, and this made 8 good sized tacos:



-Beer: We happened to have Budweiser in our house, but you can use any beer you have lying around (not actually lying around -- eww, skunky). I have used Bud, Bud Light, and Corona to make this, and they were all equally good. As common sense would tell you -- lighter beer, lighter-tasting batter. Darker beer, heavier-tasting batter.

-Tortillas: If you really prefer store-bought corn tortillas, go ahead and use them. While that is what Rubio's serves, none of the ones I can find at any store here are worth it. They are all far too powdery and dry. I used Old El Paso flour tortillas made for "Soft Tacos and Fajitas." According to the package, they're 6-inch round tortillas.

-Deep fryer/hot pan with oil: Just a few safety tips here, because I have made some mistakes before getting the hang of how to fry things withOUT ending up with burn marks.

*First off, if you've washed your hands, have water boiling or handle a damp cloth while frying or before frying. When water comes into contact with boiling lava hot oil, you have a splatter and the potential for a NASTY burn.

*Don't drop food into it. You drop food, you get burned.

*Do not OVERFILL your fryer. This means actually reading the instruction book. It will tell you the fryer's oil capacity, so you can make sure you're not putting too much or too little. For example, mine has a minimum capacity of 2 liters of oil and a maximum of 3 liters. I generally cook with about 2.5. If you overfill or under fill, you can cause serious damage to the surface you're cooking on (please, please, please make sure it's heat-resistant), to the fryer, and to yourself. Read: this is the stuff stories on the news are made of.

*When you're done cooking, don't discard of oil down the drain. Save it. Otherwise, it can harden in the drain and clog it. Then you have to pay a plumber and... that's just a lot of hassle you don't need.

*Lastly, don't put too much in the fryer at one time. With this recipe, I stick to two pieces of fish at once. Otherwise, the temperature of the oil will drop, and you end up with soggy, oil-logged fish. No one wants that. Keep your fish happy. Don't add too much at once.

Enjoy!