Chili Verde

Chili verde is one of those dishes that seems so mysterious and dark when encountered on a taqueria menu. You know what I'm talking about: you go into Tequila's thinking you'll get a taco or something, and for one second, your eye strays over to The Dark Side of the Menu, where all the scary dishes go.

That's where you'll find shrimp cocktails, chile relleno, even cabeza or something crazier. And for one second, you consider what it would be like to be so fearless, so daring, to order something from The Dark Side of the Menu. Then you wuss out and order a bean-and-cheese burrito with extra sour cream.

But don't fear, because this is California, and mexican cuisine is everywhere. Take this recipe, for example: I never, in a million years, would order this at a taqueria. And that's wrong of me, because this is a spicy, tasty, easy dish. You serve it with with some fresh pico de gallo, or even some guacamole with cumin in it, and you got yourself a feast worthy of any fiesta. (DW)

This is probably one of the easiest recipes to make, it only requires two ingredients, and it is so good. You can serve it on corn tortillas or over rice. I prefer the latter, but my husband likes the corn tortillas.

1.5 lb pork, cut into 2" pieces
2- 7oz can Herdez salsa verde (or any brand of salsa verde you like)

Put pork and salsa verde in a 3-quart Crock-Pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 4-5 hours. Once cooked, remove pork from the Crock-Pot, shred the pork with a fork, and return shredded pork back to the Crock-Pot.

Serve with corn tortillas or rice. (AW)

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

I have this fantasy that my wife's cooking and baking skills are going to take us right to the top of our particular social class. Everyone will want to be around us, and think we're the coolest. I believe that with crazy recipes like this one, we're well on our way.

I had some friends over the other night. We wanted to do manly things, like smoke pipes and spit, but the second Amy brought these cupcakes out, that was all out the window. All of a sudden, it was "hey, do you guys have milk?" and "I want one more, but i really shouldn't". Manhood averted!

No one believes that these have zucchini in them, because it just doesn't have that zucchini taste, but man, these things are moist, dense, and rich. Which, come to think of it, is all you could really ask for in a cupcake. Just be ready for those suspicious, unsure looks when you tell your guests that these have zucchini. They'll disappear once your friends have actually tasted them. (DW)

I have an abundance of zucchini from our garden right now. I am always on the look out for new zucchini recipes. I ran across this recipe several months ago, and couldn't wait to try it. They were so good. The zucchini and chocolate go perfect together. Then you top it with chocolate cream cheese frosting and walnuts. How could these not be good? You should seriously try them right now! (AW)

Cupcakes
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled(or you can use 6 tablespoons cocoa power mixed with 2 tablespoons oil)
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I used regular chocolate chips)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar for about 5 minutes, or until thickened and pale. Blend oil and chocolate into the egg mixture. Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour and mix until well blended. Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips until well incorporated. Spoon batter into 24 lined muffin cups (about 2/3 cup full). Bake for 20 minutes, or until center comes clean when toothpick is inserted in the center of the cupcake. Once cupcakes are cool, frost with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below) and chopped walnuts.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8oz) package of cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), room temperature
1 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon milk
3 cups powdered sugar (if frosting is too thin, you can add more powdered sugar)
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and milk until smoothy and creamy. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 cup cocoa powder until smooth. Then add remaining powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until well mixed.

*This recipe is modified from Real Mom's Kitchen. (AW)

Bruschetta Salad

Bruschetta is pure magic. We can all agree on it. If you’re at some sort of Italian restaurant, and they don’t offer some sort of bruschetta or bruschetta-based appetizer, you end up feeling slightly cheated, because Bruschetta Is Magic.

But what if we started deconstructing these dishes that we love so much? What if we replaced the grilled bread with wonderful, glorious mozzarella cheese?

Then you would have this amazing side dish, which blew the heck out of my mind and went like gangbusters alongside those fabulous little stuffed mushroom sliders from a few days back. (DW)

4 medium sized tomatoes, diced
1 handful of basil, chopped (based on preference)
¼ cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pkg of fresh mozzarella cheese, drained, and thinly sliced
Salt, to taste
Balsamic vinegar



In a medium bowl, add tomatoes, basil, onion, garlic, and olive oil. Mix until combined. Refrigerate for 1 hour, to allow all flavors to marinate together.



On a flat serving tray, lay the mozzarella cheese slices in rows (overlapping slightly) until the serving tray is covered. Sprinkle a small amount of salt, to taste, over mozzarella cheese. Spoon the tomato mixture over the mozzarella cheese. Drizzle Balsamic Vinegar over the cheese and tomatoes. Serve immediately. (AW)

4-Cheese Spinach Mushrooms Sliders

There are honestly times where I wish I had the strength and endurance to be a vegetarian. I look at friends of mine who are vegetarians, and they seem so at peace with the world. They look healthy, and friendly, and they’re only occasionally smug about it.

I also know some vegans. Those people can’t eat cheese, however, and I can’t stress how much that bums me out. This post isn’t for them.

Who is this post for? It’s for the vegetarians who know, deep down in their hearts, that they’re missing out on the Culture of the Barbecue.

Because, make no mistake about it, that’s what is...a Culture. Standing around a hot grill, draining a ice cold Blue Moon, and burning the high holy crap out of some brats or a burger.

So you can imagine my shock and surprise that such a meat-focused culture is so easily translatable into purely plant-based terms. But that, of course, is the magic of my wife, who I’m 98.8% sure is some sort of wizard.

By the way, I’ve never been a fan of sliders, but I’ll allow these because they’re so dang tasty. Also, what if we started calling midgets “sliders”? That would be funny, yeah? (DW)

8 baby portabella mushrooms
5 oz frozen spinach, defrosted, and drained of any excess liquid
4 tablespoons cream cheese
4 tablespoons feta cheese
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons green onion
1 clove of garlic, minced
Salt & Pepper, to taste
8 Slider Buns

Clean and remove the stems from the portabella mushrooms.

In a medium bowl, mix defrosted spinach, cream cheese, feta cheese, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, green onion, garlic, salt and pepper.

Spoon equal portions of spinach-cheese mixture into each of the portabella mushrooms. Grill on BBQ for 5-10 minutes, or until mushroom is tender (I grill my mushrooms on a piece of aluminum foil).

Serve on toasted slider buns.

*These mushrooms can also be served without the slider bun as an appetizer (AW)

Farm Fresh to You Friday!

Here is what we get in our Farm Fresh to You delivery this week: Yellow Peaches, Oranges, Tomatoes, Galia Musk Melon, Blueberries, Bing Cherries, Baby Broccoli, Beets, Cauliflower, Arugula, Snap Peas, Rosemary, Yellow Onion, Sweet Gypsy Peppers

We have been so busy lately, that we have not really had time to blog. I am hoping next week that will change. I have lots of good ideas for dinner thanks to our fruit and veggie delivery this week! I plan on making salmon with a caprece salad (tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), blueberry pancakes, a roasted beet salad served with arugula and an orange champagne vinaigrette (it sounds fancier then it really is!), and some stuffed peppers. Can’t wait for all of this good food!

Now let’s just hope we have time to make it all and report back to you on how it came out! Have a great weekend. (AW)

Our night: Nachos. Eating them straight off the pan. Lost finale.

Farm Fresh to You Friday!

Here is what we got in our Farm Fresh To You Delivery this week: Oranges, Peaches, Corn, Avocados, Romaine Lettuce, Carrots, Lemons, Strawberries, Apricots, Broccoli, Zucchini, Bok Choy, Cabbage, Baby Lettuce, Beets, Celery, Onion.

Tonight for dinner, I made some fresh herb chicken, spicy sugar snap peas, and fingerling potatoes (recipes will be posted soon). The sugar snap peas, and the the fingerling potatoes were the last two items I had to use from our deliver two weeks ago. Now I am ready to use my new fruits and vegetables that arrived today!

I was so excited to see apricots and peaches in our box this week. I had already eaten two apricots before I even got all of the fruits and vegetables unpacked from the box. I think I will make some whole wheat pancakes with fresh strawberries on top for dinner one night this week. Who doesn't like breakfast for dinner!? I also have some ribs that I am going to BBQ, and then grill the corn to go on the side. (AW)