Squash Quesadillas and Shrimp tacos

I used to make squash enchilladas with a mixture of roasted squash, roasted garlic, chipotle and cream cheese - i decided to use some left over squash that we had baked and make quesadillas with these. I used a similar mixture, and grilled them. I served them with a lime chipotle sour cream. I also made shrimp tacos which were tasty as always!

For a side dish i made a black bean and corn salad. I added some cucumbers, cilantro, jaleponas and red onions. I basically used the sour cream dip from the squash and dressed the salad, using more lime that in the dip.

the roasted squash

Quesadilla ingredients (and a spritzer for the chef)

shrimp on the bbq

grilled shrimp

salad

taco toppings

finished quesadillas

Weekday Healthy Taco Salad

A few days ago while i was running on the treadmill at the gym i switched the channel over to the food network. I was so sick of the Olympics, and i actually really enjoy watching cooking shows while i run - for some reason i find it inspirational. Well this was some show where they were making healthy versions of restaurant favorites. The one that really caught my eye was the taco salad. There is a great restaurant in Mississauga i often get the taco salad topped with salmon, but it certainly isn't healthy!!!

What really interested me was the way that they did the actual taco - they took a whole wheat flour taco and lightly brushed it with seasoned olive oil and formed it into a small baking dish. I thought i would give it a try, and it was really tasty, and although perhaps my pictures don't show, it was quite attractive.

I also decided what would make the dish a bit more interesting, was to make smokey black beans, which is a very easy recipe, that makes them a lot tastier.


Smokey Black Beans

One drained and rinsed can of black beans
Half a cup of veggie stock
1/4 cup of sliced red onions
one or two chipotles chopped

Bring the stock to a boil with the onions and chipotle, boil until soft
Add the black beans and bring to a simmer
Simmer until the liquid is mainly gone.

There you go.

As for the taco salad, i just chopped some lettuce, and made a fresh salsa of tomatoes, red onions, hot peppers, and avocados dressed with just lime juice. I also drained a low-sodium can of corn.

To assemble it, i put the taco bowl on the side, added the lettuce and topped it with the salsa, corn and black beans. You could dress this with a sour cream-lime dressing (equal amounts of both) but i found the beans to be moist enough to keep the salad from being dry.

It was a great dinner, and i had enough leftover for a good lunch the next day, which is always a bonus.

Above:

The taco salad
The ingredients
Taco bowl necessities
Making the bowls
The toppings

The Pulled Pork Experiment

Ever since i first tried pulled pork this summer at the truck stop i have been a little obsessed. This is in part of my love for all things porky, but the challenge of making pulled pork has always interested me. Luckily for me my friend Eric is always willing to help me out with my cooking, since i wasn't about the bust out the slow cooker for one person.

The most complicated thing about making it was actually getting the pork - most of the recipes i encountered recommended pork shoulder. Theoretically i understood what this was, but i'm a little unfamiliar with the meat counter, so this was daunting. Initially i went to loblaws to take a look at what they had - i didn't see anything called "pork shoulder" so i figured it was time to enlist a professional. The two times i've purchased red meat to cook myself i went to "Medium Rare" a really nice butcher in Etobicoke, i gave them a call and they were happy to help me. When i picked up the meat, they had already taken it off the bone, which is probably a good thing. The cute butcher was impressed with my idea of making pulled pork tacos and invited me back for meat lessons... (i didn't' know if this was a come on).

Wednesday morning i assembled the slow cooker ingredients: ketchup (which i've actually never owned), Worcestershire, apple cider vinegar, ground mustard, garlic powder, paprika, brown sugar, liquid smoke, red chili pepper flakes and salt and pepper. I then added the pork and a chopped onion, and set it to low for ten hours.

The best thing about the slow cooker is coming home to a wicked smelling house. Its such a sense of accomplishment. All i had to do in anticipation of the meal was chop the veggies i wanted to add and make coleslaw. (since i always associate pulled pork with coleslaw). The pork was amazing. It was super easy to shred (the part i had been dreading) and i put it back into the sauce to heat it up and coat it a little more, then we dined!

Above:

A taco prepared
The ingredients with Medium Rare's Berkshire Pork
"Pulling" the pork
The table

Double Duty

At my gym (with all that liquid cheese i do have to work out) they have subscriptions to "women's" magazines which i always take a look at for food ideas. Most of the recipes are a little too "kid-friendly" for my taste buds aka chicken, but i noticed that they would often try and make things that you could use the next day but in a entirely different meal. I only have to cook for myself, but i understand its tough to make every meal from scratch, so i decided to try making a little more of things, but using them in a totally different meal. It actually worked really well and made me think about what i was making in a different way.

Meal One: (Saturday)

Talapia with asparagus and roasted fingerling potatoes.

I picked up a couple talapia filets from the grocery store, talapia is pretty versatile fish and it can take a lot of flavour. I first melted butter and olive oil and spread it on the fish, then seasoned them with a mixture of cumin, red pepper, black pepper and salt. At the same time i roasted the potatoes in olive oil, rosemary and pepper. I broiled the fish, five minutes a side and threw some leftover asparagus in at the last minute.

Meal Two: (Sunday)

I took the left over potatoes and chopped them, sauteing them with garlic and adding a little taco seasoning. Once they were heated i put them into soft (flour) tacos with cheese, sour cream and some south west salad i had made for monday's lunch. (black beans, grape tomatoes, corn, red onions, jalapeno with cumin and chipotle flakes)

Mmmmm.... potato tacos (thanks New York Subway). If i had larger flour tortillas i would have grilled burritos, but i find the small ones too difficult to work with.

Meal Three: (Monday)

There was still the fish left, and i broke it up, heated it and also made tacos, this one topped with cabbage, avocado, tomatoes and a sour cream-lime sauce. I could easily have topped a salad with this fish, but i really like fish tacos. There was actually enough fish left for two people. Next time i'll get only one filet or pick smaller ones.

Mmmmm fish tacos! (there will be an entire post about this in the future)

So maybe these magazines are onto something. Instead of eating the same thing over and over, like i usually do making too much of one thing, this idea of making extra of one thing and using it in something different works well for weekday dinners.

Above:

Talapia Tacos
South west potato tacos
Talapia dinner
Seasoning the filets