Salsa Risotto

More risotto; creamy rice with a salsa kick. This is suppost to be rather spicy-- don't be shy about leaving the jalapeno seeds in when you dice the peppers!
Sorry about the sparse updates. Work has been hectic lately...hasn't left me much time to write things up.



Serves 2
35 minutes
- large saucepan with deep sides -or- large pot
Easy

INGREDIENTS
6 large green onions
2 cloves garlic
2 large jalapenos
1/2 of a large green bell pepper
1/2 of a large red bell pepper
1 Tbsp. corn oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 large tomatoes
1/2 of a large bunch of fresh cilantro
[1 large ear of fresh yellow corn-- optional]
1 c. aborio rice
1 tsp. corn oil
ground cumin
2 c. chicken -or- vegetable broth*
1/2. monterey jack cheese

*Swanson 14 oz. canned Natural Goodness chicken (and veggie) broths are GF, and hold about 2 cups of liquid

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash and remove dangling root ends from green onion. Slice up the whole green onion, separating the white and green parts. Peel and dice the garlic. Remove stem from the jalapeno and dice it up, leaving in the seeds for extra heat. De-seed the bell peppers and chop into small pieces. Cut tomato up into 1" cubes (don't bother peeling tomatoes). Wash and cut up the cilantro. [Husk corn and rinse, set aside.]
2. Pour rice into the pan with the white parts of the green onion, 1/2 of the diced garlic and all of the diced jalapeno. Add in the corn oil and cook over medium-high heat until crackling, about 2 minutes; season with lots of cumin (~1 tsp).
3. When the rice has developed a tiny, opaque starch spot in the middle, add in 1/2 c. of chicken broth and stir. Reduce heat to medium.
4. Wait until broth is almost all absorbed-- about 5 minutes-- then add in another 1/2 c. of broth. Stir.
5. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, then add in another 1/2 c. of broth plus the red and green bell pepper bits. Stir, again.
6. Let cook for another 5 to 8 minutes stirring occasionally. Throw in the remaining broth, tomatoes, and cilantro. [Cut the fresh corn straight into the pan.] Stir well.
7. Cook till broth is almost all boiled off and tomatoes are just starting to fall apart. Rice should be soft and creamy, but not mushy. Remove from heat and fold in plenty of monterey jack cheese. Eat warm.

Tex Mex Chicken Tenders

Very yummy, flavorful tex mex chicken strips. These turned out very very tender!! Needs more heat, though, so I added some here from the original recipe (it was so good I didn't have to change much else!). I did, however, cook them in a saucepan with the rest of the marinade instead of grilling.



Serves 2
20 minutes sauce prep + 1.5 hour marinate + 20 minutes cooking (2 hours and 10 minutes total)
- 2 heavy duty quart sized freezer bags (ziplock or similar brand)
[- meat mallet for pounding chicken breasts]
- large saucepan
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 cloves garlic
2 green onions
1/2 of a clump of fresh cilantro (um, about 4 Tbsp. chopped fresh)
1/4. c. corn oil
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
juice of one large lime
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. black pepper (for some heat!)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 lb. thin chicken tenders [-or- pounded chicken breasts]
1 cup precooked white rice

*Lea and Perrins original Worcestershire sauce is gluten free


DIRECTIONS
0. Open up a heavy-duty quart sized freezer bag and slip it inside the second heavy-duty freezer bag.
1. Peel and cut the tough end off of the garlic. Mince the garlic. Remove the root tips and finely dice up both the white and green part of the green onions. Pull off the cilantro leaves and finely chop them, almost into a paste. If you have a food processor, give it all a whirl before placing the pulp into the waiting hefty freezer bags. (I just diced everything up and it was fine!)
2. Pour in the corn oil and Worcestershire sauce. Split the lime and squeeze in as much juice as you can.
3. Add in the spices (cumin, chili powder, paprika and black pepper). Swirl to mix. Add in the brown sugar. Shake the bag well, and kneed with your fingers to break up any sugar clumps.
4. Rinse off the chicken tenders and place into the bag. [If you have chicken breasts, make sure you pound them down with a meat mallet to 1/4th inch thick and slice into moderately small chicken strips.] Close the bags tightly then squish the chicken around inside the bags, shaking and kneading to coat the breasts well. Lay the bag flat out in the fridge, making sure all the tenders are equally soaking up the marinade.
5. Marinate in the fridge for an hour and a half.
6. Pull out the bag and pour it's contents into the large saucepan, marinade and all. Arrange the tenders in the pan, forming a single uniform layer.
7. Cook chicken over medium heat, flipping after 10 minutes. Let cook 20 minutes total, or until the sauce starts to thicken and coats the chicken.
This was really really good served with regular, plain white rice or alongside some Salsa Risotto:

Spicy Sweet Bell Peppers (w/Beef)

A zesty, tasty beef fajita filling. The yellow bell peppers help tone down the heat of 2 large jalapeños. This was even better the next day inside a tortilla with melted colby jack cheese.
It's still satisfying to throw a few fresh things into a pan (without need of any GF 'substitutes') and get something good.



Serves 2 easily
40 minutes
- large saucepan with deep sides or a wok
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 large jalapeños
3 cloves garlic
1 large sweet yellow onion
1 large red bell pepper
1 large orange or yellow bell pepper
small bundle of fresh cilantro
1/2 to 1 pound beef steak (I used pre-cut stew meat because it was way cheaper than New York Strip)
1 tsp. Chili powder*
1 tsp. ground cumin*
sea salt + pepper*
1 tsp. corn oil

*McCormick spices are GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Cut tops off of the jalapeños and remove the seeds. Finely dice the chilis. Peel the garlic and finely dice. Set garlic and jalapeños aside. Peel the yellow onion; cut into quarter inch thick disks (as if you were making thin onion rings). Cut tops off of both of the bell peppers and remove the seeds. Cut them in half first, then slice into quarter inch thick pieces. Cut the long pieces in half once to make them more manageable. Wash and chop the cilantro leaves.
2. Rinse off the meat and cut into bite-sized pieces. Place them into the large saucepan and partially fill with water (no more than 1/2" deep in the pan). Simmer uncovered over medium heat, stirring meat occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
3. When the water is all but boiled off, add in the diced jalapeños and garlic, plus another 1/4 c. water. Stir in the chili powder, ground cumin and a dash of salt + pepper. Cook meat for another 5 minutes; it should be nearing done-ness by the end (juices running clear).
4. Pour in the corn oil right before all of the water boils off. Add in the onion rings, red bell pepper and yellow/orange bell pepper. Stir to coat the pieces with oil. Continue to cook the entire dish until the peppers are about crisp-tender and the onion has just 'wilted' (should take around 5 minutes). Things shouldn't be burning if left unattened, yet.
5. Add in the chopped cilantro leaves and turn the heat up to medium-high. Stir fry the meat and veggies for about 3 minutes, or long enough for the onion to become translucent and the peppers to brown and soften a little.
Serve inside GF rice tortillas or over a little bit of white (perhaps brown??) rice.

Mexican Chicken Rolls

My mother's recipe. Tender chicken covered in a toasty breaded exterior and filled with melted, spicy cheese. Excellent.
It takes a little more time with the make-your-own breadcrumbs and the pounding and rolling, but it's worth it. My mom suggests making quite a few at once while you're at it since the rolls freeze so well.



Serves 8
2 hr for breadcrumbs + 1.5 hours of pounding/rolling/dredging + overnight freezing + 1.5 hr baking (obviously these take awhile)
- blender or food processor
- Al foil
- 9" x 12" baking dish
- meat tenderizer (or a hammer)
- small saucepan
- 16 toothpicks
Difficult/Involved

INGREDIENTS
3/4 c. fine, dry prepared GF bread crumbs -OR- make your own with 4 slices favorite GF bread (I used Glutino corn-based frozen white sandwich bread and the crumbs turned out very fresh)
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese*
1 tsp. chili powder*
1/2 tsp. cumin*
1/4 tsp. pepper*
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 Tbsp. butter
1 (8 oz.) cube spicy Pepper Jack cheese

*Kraft Parm. cheese is GF (and low in lactose), McCormick spices are GF

DIRECTIONS
Homemade Breadcrumbs:
0. Preheat oven to 180 F.
1. Arrange 4 slices of bread onto a cookie sheet and place in the warm oven for 1 hour.
2. Flip the bread to the other side and return them to the oven for another 40 minutes of drying.
3. Take dried (not burned) bread out of oven and break into pieces with your hands. The bread should be very stiff and you will get crumbs everywhere.
4. Place breadpieces into a blender or food processor and pulse several times until they become fine crumbs. 4 slices should get you around 3/4 cups of crumbs.
5. At this point I just mixed the Parm cheese and spices into the bread crumbs while still in the blender.. saved me from having to wash another bowl. Place spiced crumbs aside and skip to preparing the chicken.
Store-bought Breadcrumbs:
1. Mix prepared breadcumbs with Parmesan cheese, chili powder, cumin and black pepper. Place breadcrumbs aside.
Preparing Chicken:
0. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil (the chicken makes a mess when cooking).
1. Wash the 8 pieces of chicken and remove excess fat. Place 2 pieces of chicken into a heavy duty gallon size freezer bag. Place that bag into another freezer bag (double bag them). Lay the bagged chicken onto a counter and pound to 1/4" inch with a meat tenderizer mallet (or a wide hammer). The breasts will almost double in size. Take the flattened chicken out of the bags and lay onto the baking dish. Continue beating meat, 2 per bag, until all 8 pieces are pounded.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Bring the seasoned breadcrumbs over to the same area.
3. Cut the cheese cube crosswise (as opposed to lengthwise) into 8 equal pieces. Place each cheese slice onto the middle of a chicken breast. Start from the short side and roll the chicken breast up around the cheese. Secure the chicken roll tightly with two toothpicks at the seam of the roll.
4. Once all of the chicken is stuffed and secured, dip each roll into the melted butter, covering evenly with oil. Then dredge the chicken in the waiting breadcrumbs. Make sure they're well coated with crumbs (the homemade crumbs were so dry that they easily stuck to the chicken).
5. Arrange the breaded rolls onto the baking dish, cover and freeze until solid. I let mine freeze overnight and cooked them the next day. Alternatively, you could place the rolls into another freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 months.
Cooking the Rolls (the next day):
0. Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
1. Place frozen rolls (arranged on the prepared pan) into the oven, uncovered.
2. Cook for 1 hour, or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown, cheese is bubbling and chicken reaches an inside temp of 175 F. Mine needed 1 hour and 30 minutes.. best to just check at the hour mark and adjust from there. Serve warm with something good, like Rich Asparagus Risotto (pictured) or Spanish Rice.
**CAUTION!! Remind your family and friends about the embedded toothpicks!!!**

Zesty Quinoa

More quinoa, this time with a slightly tex-mex taste. Creamy tomatoes with hearty zucchini and a hint of jalapeño heat. Cooks up fast, tastes good.



Serves 2
35 minutes
-large saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 (14 oz) can Swanson Natural Goodness Chicken broth
2 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow or white onion
2 medium jalapeño chilies
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 medium tomatoes

DIRECTIONS
1. Chop zucchini up into 1/2 inch thick slices. Quarter each slice and set zucchini aside. Wash and finely chop up the onion. Remove top and seeds from jalapeno, then dice up the chilies.
Remove skins from tomatoes, either with your fingernails or carefully with a paring knife.
Chop tomatoes up into bite-sized chunks. Set tomatoes aside from rest of veggies, retaining as much juice as possible.
2. Pour quinoa into saucepan. Add in 3/4 can of Swanson chicken broth. Begin boiling quinoa over high heat.
3. Once broth comes to a rolling boil, decrease heat to medium high and add in zucchini quarters.
Boil for an additional 5 minutes.
4. At the 5 minutes mark, add in chopped onion and diced jalapeños. Season with ground cumin and sea salt. Also add in the olive oil; stir. Continue simmering for another 5 to 10 minutes. Pour in remaining chicken broth when necessary (will eventually use the entire can of broth).
5. Taste quinoa. When the grain is swollen and tender and liquid almost all absorbed,
turn off heat, but don't remove from the stove.
6. Stir in the tomato pieces. Continue stirring until the tomatoes are heated through.
You want them slightly cooked by the still-hot quinoa, but not falling apart.
Serve warm, in bowls.

Southwest Chicken

Cumin and chili powder seasoned lightly breaded chicken strips. Another one that's super quick. Good with Spanish rice.



Serves 2
25 minutes
-medium saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
6 long, thin chicken tenders
1/4 to 1/2 c. GF flour (I used white sorghum flour)
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 to 2 tbsp. olive oil

pepper jack cheese, for topping

DIRECTIONS
1. Rinse off the chicken tenders. Place the chicken pieces into the saucepan. Sprinkle the GF flour over the top of the chicken. Flip the chicken and coat both sides well with the flour.
2. Sprinkle the coated chicken pieces with chili powder and cumin. Flip and mix chicken again, evenly seasoning the chicken.
3. Drizzle the olive oil over the coated, spiced chicken. Carefully turn and mix the chicken with the oil. Be sure to scrape the loose flour from the saucepan and press onto the chicken.
4. Begin cooking the chicken over medium heat. Cook chicken on one side for 5 minutes, then flip and cook for 5 minutes on the other side. The oil should be sizzling. Keep cooking and flipping the coated chicken from one side to the other until it's fully cooked and outside a crunchy golden brown-- not more than an additional 8 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat, sprinkle chicken with pepper jack cheese (if desired) and serve warm.

Spanish Rice

This is not very authentic, but sure tastes good. Tomato, green bell pepper and bacon make this one flavorful side dish. Fast to make, too.



Serves 3 to 4
25 minutes
-large saucepan
-medium pot with lid
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 c. cooked white long grain rice
1/2 of a medium white onion
1/2 of a large green bell pepper
4 to 6 slices thick-cut bacon* ----> reserve 1 to 2 tbsp. bacon drippings
3/4th of a can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes* (not petite diced), undrained
salt and pepper, to taste
*Oscar Mayer bacon is GF; DelMonte canned diced tomatoes are GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Cook up rice according to directions on the package; you will need 2 cups cooked rice for this dish. Set cooked rice aside near range.
2. Veggies: Coarsely cut the onion into half inch squares. Also coarsely cut the green bell pepper into larger square pieces (inch). Place both onion and pepper pieces beside range.
3. Rinse off the bacon slices. Lay bacon into the large saucepan. Begin cooking bacon over medium heat, flipping and re-arranging frequently. Fry bacon until fully cooked, but not totally crispy-- about 5 minutes. Remove bacon pieces from pan and place on doubled paper towels to soak up some grease. Pour out all excess drippings from the pan except for 1 to 2 tbsp. bacon fat.
4. In the reserved bacon grease, saute up the onion and bell pepper over medium-high heat, until the onion is just translucent and pepper is tender (5 minutes).
5. Turn the heat back down to medium. Stir in the bacon and cooked white rice. Heat thoroughly for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently to keep rice from sticking.
6. Add in 3/4ths of the can of diced tomatoes, don't drain the can before adding to the saucepan... you want a little tomato juice. Mix the tomatoes in well with the bacon/rice.
7. Turn down the heat to medium-low. Cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until the juice thickens, but before the tomatoes fall apart. Serve warm alongside your favorite Mexican dish.

Black Bean Wraps

Truly travel-friendly.. all you need is a can opener, cheese and tortilla. If you can't tell, I've been excited about wraps ever since I discovered teff tortillas (La Tortilla Factory)-- they actually hold together and taste great warm. Heat these up for a hot lunch or quick snack. I loved the black beans/cumin combo.



Serves 3
15 minutes
-can opener
-medium saucepan or pot (-OR- just a bowl if mixing cold)
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1 (15 oz) can Bush Black Beans
3/4th of one (15 oz) can DelMonte whole kernel corn
1/2 to 1 tsp. ground cumin
[1 tsp. chives-- optional]
3 GF tortillas (rice or corn or teff)
Enough cheese for topping-- cheddar or mozzarella

DIRECTIONS
1. Open and drain the can of black beans. Rinse beans several times with cold water before placing in the saucepan.
2. Open and drain the can of corn. Pour 3/4th of the corn into the saucepan with the beans-- I think the whole can of corn would overbalance the beans.
3. Heat beans and corn over medium-low heat. Stir in ground cumin and washed, diced chives. Don't let the beans burn to the bottom of the pan; these don't need more than 10 minutes of heating.
4. Heat up GF tortillas until they are pliable; microwave will work: 20 seconds on 'high'. Fill with hot beans and corn. Sprinkle with cheese of choice. Roll up and eat warm or cold**.

** These freeze really well... make a couple wraps in advance, then roll up finished product in tin foil. Take frozen wraps with you on a trip and eat chilled when they finally defrost. I've had these keep cold for ~5 hours before when I covered the tin foil in a towel (or newspaper) to reduce the heat transfer.

Tex-Mex Lasagna

This was GREAT! One of those dishes where you can add and subtract ingredients. I went 'all out' (extra 5 minutes) and made up my own refried beans, but if you were in a hurry, go ahead and use the canned version. Could use a square 9 x 9 pan and extra layers of tortillas, but I opted for a 9" pie pan (since the tortillas were round). Any tortillas would do, rice, corn.. I tried 'new' dark teff tortillas and liked them. Be sure to keep the first step, with the tortillas in the oil.
Adapted from "Simply Recipes".



Serves 4
10 + 30 + 5 + 15 minutes (1 hour total)
preheat 400 F
-large saucepan
-9 inch round pie/cake pan
-small pot
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Tortillas
4 large corn or rice or teff tortillas
2 tbsp. peanut oil (or olive oil)

Meat
1 medium white onion
½ of a red bell pepper
½ of a green bell pepper
1 fresh tomato
[Handful of fresh cilantro; optional]
¼ lb. ground beef
2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. ground cumin

Refried Beans
**skip this if using a can of pre-made refried beans
1 can drained Bush pinto beans
1 tsp. peanut oil
1 tsp. water
Garlic and onion powder

½ c. cheddar cheese
½ c. mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS
Tortillas
1. Defrost your tortillas and place your pie/square baking pan besides the range. Heat up 2 tbsp. of oil, over medium heat, in the large saucepan. Drop one tortilla at a time into the hot oil. Allow the tortilla to soak up a little oil on both sides (flip; no more than a minute on each side). Remove softened tortilla and place in the baking dish. Repeat for remaining 3 tortillas. Let them all sit in the baking dish.
Meat
--At this time, be sure to pre-heat your oven.--
2. Cut up vegetables: Coarsely chop the white onion. Wash and core both the red and green bell peppers. Coarsely chop up the bell peppers and set aside with onion. Coarsely dice up the tomato (don't bother to peel it). Wash and cut the fresh cilantro, if you have it on hand. Keep the tomatoes and cilantro separate from the onion/bell peppers.
3. Rinse off the ground beef. Place beef into the empty large saucepan used previously for the tortillas. Cook beef over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the outside of the meat is no longer pink.
4. Add in the onions and bell peppers. Cook the meat and veggies for another 10 minutes. Add in a generous amount of chili powder and cumin. When the beef is cooked and the onion pieces are translucent, stir in the tomatoes and cilantro. Cook tomatoes for an additional 3 minutes-- don't let them break apart. Remove pan from heat when tomatoes are heated through.
Refried Beans
5. Open and drain can of pinto beans. Place beans into the small pot and mash with the back of a large spoon as best you can (mine still had bits of pinto beans). If you want totally creamy refried beans, use a potato masher. Begin heating beans over medium-low heat. Stir in the oil and the little bit of water. Season with whatever you want-- I used garlic and onion powder, but feel free to add chilies or cilantro. Heat through until beans are nice and spreadable ~5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Assemble
6. Remove top two tortillas from the baking dish (I used 2 tortillas per layer). Spread half of the refried beans evenly over the bottom layer of tortillas. Spoon half the meat/veggie mixture over the beans. Sprinkle generously with half of the cheddar and mozzarella cheese.
7. Place the last two tortillas on top of the cheese. Spread with beans, meat and top with a bunch of cheese.
8. Slide the dish into the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes-- just want the cheese layer to melt and flavors to blend. Remove from the oven, serve hot; top with sour cream or avocado and serve alongside Spanish rice.

Stuffed Bell Pepper, Tex-Mex style

You will need a sweet bell pepper for this, orange or yellow-- they really compliment the spicy hot sauce and rice. I intended on baking the stuffed peppers, but found out I preferred them tender and still crunchy. Cook em at the end if you want the peppers even softer. Without the baking step, this was a quick, finger-food dinner that's easily doubled to feed 2 people.



Makes two stuffed pepper halves -OR- one 'whole' stuffed pepper (a half is shown above).
25 minutes; (45 minutes with baking)
Preheat oven to 350 F
-medium saucepan
-medium (or large) pot
-cookie sheet covered with Aluminum foil (if baking)
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1 large orange or yellow bell pepper
1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 c. uncooked white long grain rice
1/2 c. water, for cooking rice
1/4 lb ground beef
+6 heaping tbsp. favorite GF salsa (I used my own, but I think Pace Picante sauce is GF)
2 tbsp. chili powder*
1 tbsp. ground cumin*
cheese for topping
*McCormick spices are GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Coarsely cut onion into small-ish pieces. Wash and core the bell pepper.. either remove the stem and leave as is (hole on top, forming sort of a mug) -OR- remove the stem and cut downward lengthwise, so that the pepper is halved into shallow-er bowls. I liked the bowls, since you could eat it with your fingers and they will for sure cook with the rice.
2. Begin cooking rice: pour uncooked rice into water and heat over 'high'. Place bell pepper halves into the same pot just when the rice begins to boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer gently, uncovered, for 10 more minutes, stirring every so often to evenly cook the bell pepper.
3. While rice/pepper is cooking, place washed ground beef into medium saucepan. Start cooking over medium heat. When the meat is browned (outside no longer pink ~ 5 minutes), add in the chopped onion. Season generously with chili powder and cumin. Cook onion and meat until meat is fully cooked and onion just starts to wilt (not totally translucent, yet; another 5 minutes).
4. Rice and bell pepper should be done by now. Carefully remove hot bell pepper from rice and rinse under cold water. It should be firm, but slightly soft. Set on prepared cookie sheet. Make sure to re-drain any more water that's collected inside the peppers once again before filling.
5. Turn back to rice.. add in 6 (or more, if you wish) heaping spoonfuls of salsa to the warm rice. Stir to combine well and heat thoroughly.
6. Also add in cooked beef/onion mixture to rice and salsa. Re-heat briefly over medium heat of a minute or two if you desire. Remove from burner and mix in cheese of choice.
7. Spoon rice/salsa/beef/onion mixture into waiting, drained crisp-tender bell pepper halves (or stuff all into the top of one whole bell pepper), distributing equally. Smother top again with more cheese.
8. Immediately serve hot with some chips and dip, or refried beans, or continue on...
9. Pop the stuffed bell pepper into the preheated oven. Cook for an additional 20 minutes, or until bell pepper is fully tender and cheese is melted.

Fajitas

Truth be told, I didn't use any marinade for the meat shown below, but I'll include the recipe I was going to use. Instead, I was frugal (lazy) and cut up Friday's remaining steak and dumped on a bunch of spices-- it was still incredibly good.



Serves 2
5+40 minutes
Overnight prep
-large saucepan or skillet
-large, heavy-duty freezer bag
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Marinade (for beef or chicken):
1 lb steak, favorite cut, or 1-2 chicken breasts; uncooked
1/3 c. beef or chicken broth*
6 cloves garlic, washed, peeled and crushed (I think a Ziploc baggie and hammer works just fine)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce* (for beef only)
1 tsp. ground cumin*
1 tsp. chili powder*
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper*
juice of 1/2 lime
handful fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Rest:
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 medium white onion
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt-- all to taste, use what spices you have
Cheese of choice-- I used DF rice shreds (mozzarella!)
3-4 soft brown rice tortillas*
*Swanson canned plain chicken and beef broths are GF. Lea and Perrins worch. sauce is GF. McCormick spices are GF. Food for Life GF brown rice tortillas are big and tasty. Warm them up on the microwave so they'll be nice and pliable.

DIRECTIONS **
Night before:
1. Pour broth, crushed garlic, 1 tbsp. olive oil, Worch. sauce, cumin, chili, cayenne pepper, lime juice, and fresh cilantro into a heavy duty freezer bag. (I'd use said freezer bag to first carefully crush my garlic, then add the rest of marinade ingredients)
2. Shake, then add 1 lb of raw chicken or beef into baggie. Seal tight and let marinade overnight in the fridge.
Day of:
1. Wash bell peppers and onion. Core bell peppers and cut into 1/4th inch thin strips.. keep them nice and long. Likewise slice onion into 1/4th inch thick O's and cut slice in half (once). Set veggies aside.
2. Pull marinated meat out of baggie, place in large saucepan and turn range on to medium heat.
3. Cook meat until it reaches desired done-ness.. about 20 minutes or so. Don't let it burn.
4. Remove meat from saucepan (turn off burner) and carefully slice meat width-wise into 1/4th inch strips. Keep cut meat near range.
5. Reheat saucepan over medium heat and add in bell peppers and onion. Add 1 tbsp. olive oil into cooking veggies. Let them sizzle in the oil for 5 minutes.
6. When onion just begins to turn translucent, add sliced, cooked meat back into saucepan. Smother mixture in more chili powder, garlic powder, and cumin-- your onions should be colored!
7. Let spiced meat and veggies cook for another 5 minutes, adding in more olive oil if necessary.
8. When meat begins to 'crisp' and peppers are tender, spoon into waiting rice flour or corn tortillas. Top with cheese and eat hot.
**The quick way is using leftover, pre-cooked, unseasoned beef or chicken. Skip meat cooking step, instead cut meat as directed and throw in with partially-cooked veggies and more olive oil. Season generously with above spices.

Burritos/Tacos

I used cheap ground beef, since I was making a ton of tacos for a gathering of hungry boys, and I think the extra fat made the burritos extra juicy. This is the halved recipe, but if you want to cook all 2 lbs of beef, freeze the rest of the meat and rice and reheat later for several quick dinners.



Serves 8-10, more with fillers
40 minutes
-large saucepan
-medium pot
-baster or paper towels to remove excess grease
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Taco Meat:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 red bell pepper, cored
1/2 green bell pepper, cored
1 medium white onion
1 small can of diced green chilies (optional, for a spicier taste)
2+ tsp. chili powder*
2+ tsp. garlic powder*
1+ tsp. dried cumin*
Rice w/beans:
1/2 c. uncooked white long grain rice (makes 1 c. cooked)
1 15 oz. can pinto beans
10 corn taco shells or 10 large, soft, brown rice tortillas (I used Food for Life, but you can make your own)
*McCormick spices are GF

Fillers:
CHEESE!! (I used Galaxy Nutritional Foods rice shreds- they melt great; DF and GF, but not CF)
sour cream
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes
guacamole
salsa

DIRECTIONS

Rice:
1. Cook 1/2 c. white rice according to directions in package; use a medium pot. Let it simmer gently, covered, for 15-20 minutes, while the meat is being prepared.
Meat:
1. Wash and finely dice both bell peppers and onion. Set aside.
2. Place beef in large saucepan or skillet. Turn heat to medium and begin cooking meat.
3. If you are using fatty beef, like I did, be sure to pour off excess fat. You shouldn't need more than a tablespoon left.
4. Once meat is fully browned (barely cooked on the surface, 3-5 minutes), add in all diced veggies (plus chilies, if desired). Season generously with chili powder, garlic powder and cumin, to taste. Add a little salt if desired.
5. Cook another 8-10 minutes over medium heat or until meat is done and onions are translucent. Set meat aside.
Rice, continued:
6. Check on rice, it should also be cooked, fluffy and tender. Turn burner down to low once rice is done.
7. Open can of pinto beans, drain, and rise 3 or 4 times with cold water. Pour washed beans right into pot with rice. Stir/fold beans into rice until they are heated through.
8. Defrost/soften tortilla shells by placing them in the microwave for 30 seconds or so. Top with meat, rice and favorite cheese.

Chunky Salsa

Unlike many salsa recipes, this one doesn't involve a food processor. Instead, ingredients are shortly saute'd, allowing the flavors to blend. Adjust spicy-ness to suit your own taste.



Makes about 2 cups.
35 minutes
-medium pot
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1 medium-sized fresh jalapeno pepper
1 small bundle of fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar*
juice of ½ fresh lime
1 tsp garlic powder*
dash of salt
½ finely diced yellow onion
½ finely diced green bell pepper
½ finely diced red bell pepper
1 14.5 oz can petite/finely diced tomatoes, undrained*
*Heinz red wine vinegar is GF, McCormik spices are GF, DelMonte canned veggies are GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Finely dice up fresh jalapeno and chop cilantro and place in medium-sized pot. Add olive oil, vinegar, lime juice and sprinkle with garlic powder and a bit of salt.
2. Dice up onion, green and red bell peppers, but do not add them, yet.
3. Cook jalapeno, cilantro and juices over medium-high heat until oil sizzles and cilantro becomes limp (about 2 minutes).
4. Add onion and bell peppers. Cook for another 1 minute—do NOT cook too long, want onion and peppers to still be crisp.
5. Add in whole can of diced tomatoes, liquid and all. Stir to mix thoroughly, then turn off heat.
6. Place in a plastic or glass container and refrigerate. Serve with corn, tortilla or rice chips.