Happy 2013!!
I've decided to take start a new chapter in my blogging, (I have two other blogs) and thought it would be a fun and tasty journey to share Pinterest Recipes in a blog format. I still haven't had a chance to make this blog PRETTY, but I'm going to work on that soon... but I'm excited about this nonetheless!
So, my goal for this blog is to try recipes from Pinterest, take photos of the process and the results, then share on here my "review" of the recipe, how easy or difficult it was and hopefully get YOU trying these recipes as well!
Why just Pinterest recipes?
Well, because you can find just about ANY recipe on Pintererst.. actually you can find multiple recipes for the SAME thing on Pinterest. Also because I'm probably addicted to Pinterest. Ya no, I AM ADDICTED to it. I {LOVE} it so, so much for all kinds of reasons, but why not use this amazing site to expand our repretoire of recipes while we're at it??
I've been trying a LOT of recipes from Pinterest over the Holidays and have quite a few recipes to bring to you soon, but I thought I would start with my OWN recipes first. I love cooking and have had a few lofty ideas of creating my own cookbook, trying out for the Next Food Network Star and being the next Giada De Laurentiis. (minus the Italian bloodlines, well more on that another time...) So here's a couple recipes of my OWN to start of this journey through Pinterest... and I'll be "pinning" these recipes so they will technically be Pinterest recipes soon enough.
I usually make both of these recipes together as a meal when we are trying to stay healthy and fit. And since this is a New Year and a NEW START I thought this would be a great place to start.
I want to add a side-note here: I'm about a 80% Organic cook. I like to try and buy as much organic as I can. Shopping at Trader Joes, Henrys and Albertsons helps with that, but there is no rule here that anything has to be organic. So if my recipe calls for something organic, don't fret... go with what you have and what your comfortable with.
OK, The first recipe is my Bean and Corn Salsa. I usually DOUBLE this recipe for a family of 5, and to have a little leftovers for my lunch the next day.
Laura's Bean & Corn Salsa:
1 Can Organic Black Beans
1 Cup Organic Frozen Corn
1 Avocado
4 Green Onions
3 Garlic Cloves
1/4 Cup Cilantro
2 Limes
Salt & Pepper
1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 TBS. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
To Start: Drain & rinse the black beans and put in large bowl. Cook the frozen corn in a small bowl with water in the microwave for about 1 minute or until soft and thawed. Drain the water and add to the large bowl with the bean. Dice the green onions and cilantro together (I usually use my Pampered Chef Food Chopper, pictured below) until they are very fine.
After the cilantro and green onions are diced, add to the large bowl. Press the garlic cloves through a garlic press and add to the bowl. Then dice up the avocado into small cubes and add to the bowl. Roll the limes on the counter, (to release their juices) then slice in half and extract the juice over the bowl of ingredients. (I usually use a fork to squeeze the juice out) Then add the red wine vinegar and olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Mix all the contents together and taste. This is where I usually take a Trader Joes Organic Blue Corn Tortilla chip and taste test. I like my recipe to have a little "kick" to it, so I usually end up adding a little more vinegar and lime. So you test and add to your liking...
and then enjoy with some tortilla chips or raw vegetables!
The next recipe is a chicken recipe I got from Sunset Magazine years ago. I have to say that I don't follow recipes to a "T"... like never. I don't know why this is, I'm not a rebel usually... but I just tweak them to our liking. Our family is kind of picky. We don't like tomatoes, white onions, mushrooms... and the list goes on. So I think that's why I usually come up with my own version of recipes. So this Sunset Magazine Chicken has been changed to our liking, and I hope you like it to.
Sunset Recipe's Tangy Chicken (my way)
4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
5 Green Onions
1/3 Cup Cilantro
4 Garlic Cloves
2 Limes
1 Tbs. Spanish Paprika
1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
To Make: Cut up the chicken breasts into about 1" cubes and put into large bowl. Chop the green onions, cilantro and garlic in a "food chopper" (Like the one I used in the recipe above) and add to the bowl. Squeeze the juice of the two limes into the bowl. Add the paprika (can be spanish or regular), the olive oil and salt & pepper to the bowl. Mix around and let sit for about 30 minutes to marinate. To cook, you can do this two ways. You can skewer the chicken on metal or wood skewers and BBQ them until cooked through. Or you can use a griddle on the stovetop to cook. This is an easier way and in cold weather it's the only way to go! You can see in the picture below that I've used the indoor method this time around. They come out the same, it's just how you prefer to do it.
These are all the pieces on my griddle pan on the stove. You can see the size and the marinate on them as they cook. They will cook on both sides for a total of about 8 minutes, or until they are cooked through. We normally eat these with the salsa and chips as a complete meal when we are trying to watch our weight and carbs. Here's a photo of the chicken when cooked through.
This is some TASTY chicken to be sure! I've doubled and even tripled this recipe and then used the left-overs for a chicken salad the next night! I LOVE this chicken in my "Chicken Tortilla Salad" that I tweaked from a Bon Appetit recipe about 20 years ago! Maybe I'll share that one some day too...
Ok, that's a wrap.
Hope you will keep me posted if you try my recipes. I would love to hear from you... the good, the bad and the YUMMY!!
Have a GREAT day,
Laura
P.S. If you are into creating ART for the home with your photos or if you love to travel AND be creative, you can take a look at my other two blogs:
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