salsa – Page 2 – The Pajama Chef

Quinoa Black Bean Burritos with Southwest Sauce

August 9, 2013January 5, 2017 Sarah

We eat a lot of black beans around here–as a simple side with tacos, on salads, with rice. For some reason though, it’s rare that the black beans themselves are the star of the meal. And why not? They are so good and so filling! These Quinoa Black Bean Burritos with Southwest Sauce are the perfect example of that.

I honestly wasn’t expecting much of this meal, but it was so phenomenal that I just had to share. Quinoa and black beans are a natural combination, and when flavored with garlic and taco seasoning, are pretty amazing. I also added some cheese because duh. Cheese. It’s all melty and wonderful. You could certainly add the cheese separately to the burrito, but I kinda liked the gooey factor when it was stirred in with everything else.

As good as the burrito filling is, adding some guacamole and a quick Southwest Sauce makes this burrito. For sure. The sauce’s intriguing ingredients–salsa, mayo, lime juice, maple syrup, and spices–sound a bit off, but trust me. It totally works! This sauce is tangy, sweet, and has a tiny kick–but no real heat. You could spice this up if you wanted though! These Quinoa Black Bean Burritos make a wonderfully easy vegetarian weeknight dinner, and the leftovers last for days. Serve it with a side salad and chips and salsa for a complete meal. My kind of recipe! You can bet this will be part of our regular rotation from now on. Enjoy!

a year ago… Summery Squash & Chicken Lasagna
two years ago… Watermelon Coolers
three years ago… OTT: Brown Sugar Bacon Twists

Quinoa Black Bean Burritos with Southwest Sauce

Servings: 6-8
Time: 30 minutes
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adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed [I used 1/2 cup each red and white quinoa]
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 1/2 cups black beans [or a 15 ounce can], drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons taco seasoning
flour tortillas
chopped avocados or guacamole [I made a simple guac–1 mashed avocado, lemon juice, cilantro, salt, pepper]

for Southwest Sauce

1/2 cup salsa
1 tablespoon mayonnaise [I think sour cream or plain yogurt could be substituted too]
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Directions:

Place quinoa and broth in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook at a simmer until all liquid has been absorbed–about 12 to 15 minutes. Then, add black beans, garlic, cheese, and taco seasoning and stir until cheese has melted. Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes or until heated through.

Meanwhile, prepare Southwest Sauce. Whisk together salsa, mayonnaise, maple syrup, cumin, lime juice, and chili powder. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. If salsa is chunky, you may want to smooth sauce by pureeing in a blender or food processor.

Serve by spooning quinoa black bean mixture in a large flour tortilla. Top with avocados or guacamole, then roll shut. Drizzle Southwest Sauce on top immediately before serving.

Linked up with Foodie Friday and Weekend Potluck.

Main Dishes, Pizza, Recipes

Taco Pizza

May 24, 2013January 5, 2017 Sarah

Some people are pizza purists, and some people are me. I like trying the most ridiculous and random types of pizza ever. My most recent favorite at a local pizza place? Pecans, sweet onion marmalade, gorgonzola and fresh rosemary. So, so good. That is definitely a combo I will be ordering again and maybe even recreating at home! And I am sure it’ll be nothing but good. But for now, this Taco Pizza I made from Budget Bytes is my favoritest homemade pizza of all time. A high honor, and for good reason.

Tacos and pizza are amazing on their own, and together in one dish is a party you don’t want to miss! Each bite has layers of hot and cold ingredients and is just so flavorful!

When thinking about this pizza, it’s hard to tell what the best part is–the refried bean/salsa sauce? The crunchy corn? The cheese? [oooh cause you can’t have pizza without cheese!] Or the fresh, cold pico, cilantro, and sour cream on top of it all? I’m not sure, but you pretty much can’t go wrong with this idea because it’s so versatile. Any taco filling would be fabulous on this pizza. I think next time I might add some shredded chicken and sauteed peppers and onions for a fajita-type pizza. Oooh! And chunks of avocado and a drizzle of guacamole salsa. That’s what I’m talking about!!

Even without meat though, this veggie pizza is super filling, and your family will be fighting over the leftovers. Ben and I sure were! Haha. Just kidding. I think.

It’s a good thing I didn’t make this yesterday on our fourth anniversary! 🙂 Instead, we spent the day picnicking at a local winery and enjoying each other’s company. Better than squabbling over a delicious pizza, methinks. Teeheehee. Hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Taco Pizza

Servings: 4-5
Time: 30-40 minutes
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from Budget Bytes
Ingredients:

1 batch pizza dough
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 vidalia onion, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, minced + more for sprinkling
freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 [15 ounce] can refried beans
1 cup salsa
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
1 1/4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup corn
1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together tomatoes, onion, and cilantro for pico de gallo. Add black pepper to taste, set aside.

Add oil to a small saucepan over medium heat, add garlic and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Then stir in beans, salsa, and taco seasoning and cook until heated and smooth. Remove from heat.

Roll out pizza dough on pizza pan, par-baking crust if desired for 5-7 minutes [I usually skip this step!]. Then remove from oven and top with bean mixture, cheese, and corn. Bake for another 10-12 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Top with pico de gallo, cilantro, and a drizzle of sour cream [spoon into ziploc bag, cut off the corner, and squeeze over pizza]. You can also add a dash of hot sauce if that’s your thing. Enjoy!

P.S. SHAMELESS PLUG! Please check out and like my new blog Facebook page… thanks!

Beans, Main Dishes, Recipes

{Green} Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

April 22, 2013April 21, 2013 Sarah

Oops. After sharing that awesome guacamole salsa last week I never came back with these yummy vegetarian enchiladas! I was too busy finishing what I hope to be the FINAL draft of my thesis! Woohoo. But here they are now. GREEN enchiladas! How fun, methinks.

These enchiladas are pretty simple, but full of flavor. Refried beans–a healthy version–plus a dab of cream cheese for creaminess makes up the filling for the soft tortillas. Then these tortillas are basically bathed in that fresh guacamole salsa and topped with more cheese. Yum and yum and yum, right? Ben and I found them to be ridiculously addictive and filling… they were gone in three days, tops.

I know these enchiladas are far from traditional–no real enchilada sauce and flour tortillas instead of corn… but I hope you don’t mind too much, because they just taste so darn good. Plus they are pretty. Can’t beat pretty food! Enjoy! 🙂

{Green} Bean and Cheese Enchiladas
click to print

Ingredients:

1 batch Guacamole Salsa
2 1/2 cups refried beans – I used this awesome healthified version from Rachel Cooks
4 ounces cream cheese – I used Neufchâtel
8 soft tortillas
4 ounces shredded cheese – I used half Extra Sharp Cheddar, half Monterey Jack

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread 1 cup Guacamole Salsa in the bottom of a 9×13 pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together refried beans and cream cheese [microwave the beans first so the cream cheese melts]. Then divide the beans between the tortillas, roll up, and line in pan.

Top with another 1 1/2 cups Guacamole Salsa [or more if desired], then cover with shredded cheese.

Bake for 22-25 minutes or until heated through and cheese has melted.

Time: 30 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings.

Chicken, Main Dishes, Recipes

Mexican Cornbread Pot Pie

January 9, 2013January 14, 2013 Sarah

So, when I shared my Chicken Tinga Tacos on Monday, I also mentioned that I made some pretty awesome leftovers with them. But here’s the catch: this doesn’t look like leftovers!! Score! Because, who really likes leftovers, anyways? I tolerate them, [though some are pretty tasty]… but seriously. It’s always more fun to make something new. This Mexican Cornbread Pot Pie does not resemble leftovers to me at all though. Not one bit. I mean, come on. Look at it! It’s a whole new meal, baby. Would this fool you? It’s just so beautiful! And it tastes good too. 🙂

Think spicy, juicy meat plus crisp vegetables, and flavorful black beans. That’s like, all my favorite things right there. But you know what really took this leftover makeover from tolerable to fabulous? That thick, cheesy layer of cornbread smack dab on top. Ohhh yes. I’m kind of on a cornbread kick lately. We made a batch for a party last Thursday, and it was all gone [except three sad little pieces, which I promptly ate immediately] by the time we got home, so when I was searching for dinner ideas on Friday, cornbread was my first thought. Problem was, I had used up all the honey for the cornbread the day before!! Oh man. What kind of cornbread doesn’t require honey?!? Oh, that’s right. CORNBREAD pot pie topping! Much better than regular ‘ole crust, and probably healthier for you. Or something like that.

I know this recipe isn’t original [though I proudly didn’t consult any recipe, except that off the side of the corn meal packaging]. I know my photos were taken in the waning daylight, and are not all the impressive. I know that the veggies are frozen and maybe not the most gourmet. But this is just good food, people. And I think you should try it soon! That’s all.

Enjoy! 🙂

Mexican Cornbread Pot Pie [cornbread adapted from the Kroger package of corn meal]
click to print

Ingredients:

1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup shredded cooked chicken [I used this recipe]
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup water
2 teaspoons taco seasoning
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons corn meal
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 egg white
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 10 inch round baking dish with cooking spray.

In baking dish, combine black beans, chicken, and vegetables. In a measuring cup, mix together water and taco seasoning. Pour water over the black bean mixture.

Next, stir together corn meal, flour, sugar, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk with the egg white, then add oil. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined, then spoon over black bean mixture.

Top with cheese, then bake for 25-30 minutes or until cornbread is golden. Serve immediately.

Time: 45 minutes.

Yield: 5-6 servings.

Note: If you don’t have leftover shredded chicken, you could just cook up a chicken breast and shred it for this recipe, then mix in some salsa or spices for some extra flavor.

This recipe is linked up with: Weekend Potluck.

Chicken, Main Dishes, Recipes

SRC: Chicken Tinga Tacos

January 7, 2013January 5, 2017 Sarah

Whoa, it’s been awhile since I’ve done a recipe post! Since before Christmas, in fact. Between Christmas, and my little sister’s wedding[!!!], and a quick trip to Chicago with my parents and Ben for New Years’… I’ve been busy. And got sick. 😦 But now it’s back to real life… and that means plenty of recipes! To start off the new year, it seems fitting to begin with a dose of the Secret Recipe Club! We took a break in December, but I’m so happy to be back in the swing of things. I absolutely love being part of the SRC. It’s a fun way to try new blogs and recipes and be part of a great community. If you’ve missed my past SRC posts, the premise is this: you’re assigned a different member’s blog every month. You visit their blog, choose any recipe you want, then make it and share it on your blog… all while keeping your assignment a secret! Everyone else posts about their secret blog the same day. It’s fabulously fun to try out new blogs. If you have a blog, definitely check it out and consider joining! I highly recommend it.

This month, my assignment was for Holly’s blog, PheMOMenon. Holly is a mom of three, and uses her blog as an outlet to “conquer [her] world, one recipe at a time.” Sounds like a good thing, if you ask me!! I had a hard time deciding which recipe to choose, because it’s no lie to say that everything I looked at sounded so amazing! If I had my act together and made this recipe in December, before I OD’d on sweets, I probably would have made these crepes or this Sugar Plum Puff Pastry. YUM. Definitely pinned.

Instead of sweets, I decided to make a flavorful, spicy taco dish as our first home-cooked meal of 2013. Holly’s Chicken Tinga Tacos are absolutely incredible, and so super easy. I had never heard of chicken tinga before, but I had a suspicion that it was something legit, so I turned to the powers of Google to learn that it is a traditional Mexican dish of shredded chicken in a tomato and chili chipotle sauce. The source of that knowledge, Muy Bueno Cookbook, is definitely a site to check out too. But back to Holly.

Normally, to make a shredded/marinated chicken dish like this, I would throw these ingredients in the crockpot to marinate and cook all day long. In fact, I’ve made many similar Mexican-inspired shredded chicken recipes that way…and they are good. But sometimes the crockpot leaves everything tasting kinda the same, if you know what I mean. Or is that just me? Regardless, there’s just something to be gained by preparing this meal on the stove.

Instead of all day like a crockpot would take, the whole meal came together in less than an hour, most of which was idle simmer time. The taco meat was smoky, juicy, and pretty much perfect. And while our first-day tacos were super, I must say the leftovers may have been even better, as these flavors got better over time. As a special bonus, I’ll be sharing one of my leftover recipes on Wednesday… so be sure to come back for Mexican Cornbread Pot Pie. It is so good! Enjoy!

Chicken Tinga Tacos

Servings: 6-8
Time: 60 minutes
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from PheMOMenon as appearing on Smart Balance’s blogger recipe contest on Facebook

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chipotle salsa or 2 chipotles in adobo, pureed with a 6 ounce can tomato paste
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts [Holly used thighs]
tortillas
lettuce, cheese, sour cream, salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, etc. for serving as desired

Directions:

Melt butter in a large skillet or dutch oven set over medium heat. Then add onions and garlic, and season with black pepper before cooking until soft, about 5-6 minutes. Next, reduce heat to low and add salsa and chicken broth. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add chicken to the pan.

Spoon salsa mixture completely over the chicken, then cover pan with a lid. Simmer, covered, for 35 minutes or until chicken can be easily shredded with a fork.

Shred the chicken in the sauce with two forks, then simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve in warmed tortillas with toppings of your choice.

Be sure to check out the other fabulous recipes posted today [click below] for this week’s SRC reveal. Have a great day!