Day 252 – Enchilada Nachos

Epicure’s Enchilada Sauce, from this summer’s Mexican What’s For Dinner collection, is quite delicious on a lot of other things besides enchiladas! Actually, I have yet to discover how it is on enchiladas, because I have not made any yet. I have been trying out the sauce on lots of other things, and it is great on these easy nachos.

Fill up a baking sheet or oven-safe plate with plain tortilla chips, add your usual nacho fixings (pulled chicken or pork are great to add as well) then cheese. Drizzle the enchilada sauce on top and bake until the cheese melts. Delicious!

One of my favorite brands of tortilla chips is Que Pasa organic hand cut tortilla chips. They are available at most grocery stores. Right now you can get them in red and white, just for Canada Day!

Day 246 – Chicken with Enchilada Sauce

The trend this summer is for fun Mexican cooking and Epicure’s answer to this is the new What’s For Dinner Mexican collection. There are a number of quick and easy meals you can make with these and experience authentic Mexican flavours.

Today we tried the Enchilada Sauce, which of course should be served over enchiladas. The fact that I didn’t have any wraps wasn’t going to stop me from trying it though, so we used it over straight chicken to make a chicken enchilada bunwich. Tasted great all the same. I think this would make a good dipping sauce as well.

That is takes only five minutes to prepare doesn’t hurt either. To good eating, Christine

Day 232 – Monica’s Mango Pineapple Salsa

Another recipe from the inspired mind of Monica, an inspirational person in so many ways. She has a solution for every topic, especially in the kitchen. This is a great salsa and Monica’s suggestion is to use it on a mild tasting pan fried fish. Take equal parts of mango and pineapple, mix with any of Epicure’s salsa mixes (about 2 tsp per cup of fruit). Vary the amount of salsa mix to suit your taste, and use either the Fruit Salsa, Poco Picante or Caliente.

Day 171 – Pulled Pork Nachos

Mmmm, I love nachos, and these were even tastier than I was expecting. I didn’t have any sides on hand as one would usually have with nachos but these were fine just the way they were.

In Epicure’s dip baker or a parchment covered cookie sheet, spread out the tortilla chips. Top with diced tomatos, onions, colored peppers, prepared Epicure’s Pulled Pork from Day 162, and grated cheese of your choice. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of Epicure’s Nacho Cheese Dip Mix and bake for about 10 minutes at 350F. Delish!

 

 

Day 168 – Pickerel with Cuban spices

Wow, as I write this title, how much further apart could prairie pickerel or walleye be from Cuba? Walleye is great tasting fish no matter how it’s prepared. This recipe would work well with any type of white fish.

Marinate 1/2 pound of fish with 2 Tbsp lime juice (about half a lime) and 1 Tbsp Epicure’s Cuban seasoning. Let sit for 2o minutes or so, then pan fry both sides in butter until done, about 4-6 minutes per side depending on the thickness.

Day 160 – Chicken with taco spices and rice

Wow, this recipe packs a lot of flavour, and most of it comes from 1 Tbsp of Epicure’s Taco Seasoning. So flavourful and without the suspect ingredients of many store brands. No wonder Taco Seasoning is a perennial best seller.

• 1 chicken, cut up with skin removed
• Epicure’s Sea Salt and Black Pepper, to taste
• 2 tsp grapeseed oil
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 Tbsp Epicure’s Taco Seasoning
• 2 cups Epicure’s Chicken Bouillon, prepared
• 1 cup prepared salsa of choice (I made one with Poco Picante, French Onion and 1/2 corn)

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown with oil in a large heated pan or wok. Add brown rice and Taco Seasoning. Stir often to lightly toast rice for a couple of minutes. Add bouillon, stir and bring to a gentle boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 30–40 minutes, or until rice is tender and chicken is fully cooked. Spoon rice onto plates and place chicken on top. Serve with salsa on top if desired.

Day 129 – Roasted Chick Peas with Arriba! Sansel

This is a crunchy snack made with Epicure’s new Arriba! Sansel, a salt free blend that goes with the Latin American theme for the 2011 catalogue. Chick peas are full of fibre and good stuff, and make a great alternative to some of the high fat snacks out there.

Take 2 cups cooked chick peas (or one can, drained) and mix with 1 tbsp grapeseed oil and a few shakes of the Arriba! Sansel. Stir and place on a parchment covered cookie sheet and bake at 375F for approximately one hour, or until starting to turn darker brown in color. Cool and eat!

Day 126 – Mexican Beef and Beans

This one is great for Mexican Mondays! A very nice filling for a tortilla shell and great on its own as well. You will use Epicure’s Taco Seasoning, Poco Picante salsa mix and 3 Onion dip mix. This one could probably go vegetarian with a substitution for the ground beef. Try Caliente salsa mix if you like it really hot. This copyright recipe can be found at Epicure Selections website by using their recipe search engine.

Day 110 – Mucho Fun Tonight

We haven’t had tacos for a long long time, browsing through Epicure’s 2010 catalogue inspired me to make some. That, and because they are so easy to make and great on short notice when you have nothing planned for dinner!

Brown ground beef with Epicure’s Taco Seasoning, then add 1 cup water and simmer 15 minutes. Serve with shells, tomatos, salsa, guacamole, cheese and whatever else you think is great in a taco!

 

Day 95 – Salsa Meatloaf

This one is a nice twist on same old, same old meatloaf. I’ve never been a big fan of meatloaf, hubby however loves it. So I get asked to make it a lot. This recipe has made me a fan of meatloaf. Includes prepared Epicure’s Poco Picante Salsa and Beef and Steak seasoning. Takes just a few minutes to prepare and I found out that if you make it quite flat on a cookie sheet, it doesn’t take much time at all to bake. This is especially great when you start preparing dinner at 5:10 p.m……..not that I would ever do anything like that.

This recipe is copyright Epicure Selections, you can find it on their website by using the recipe finder tool.