MEXICAN EVERYDAY and MORE MEXICAN EVERYDAY - January 2023 COTM

Cooking Discussions Cooking, Cookbooks, Ingredients
101

GRILLED CHICKEN SALAD WITH RUSTIC GUACAMOLE, ROMAINE, AND QUESO ANEJO (p. 107)

I’ve been into salad lately so this one caught my eye while flipping through Mexican Everyday. I’m not a big fan of chicken in general but I am a fan of guacamole so I figured I’d give it a whirl.

First you cook halved garlic cloves and chile peppers in oil (vegetable or olive–I used veg) until the garlic is softened and lightly browned. You then put it all into a blender with lime juice, cilantro, salt, and pepper and process until smooth. You use 1/3 of the mixture to coat the chicken breasts. You then grill the chicken breasts and onion slices. The recipe states to grill the onions until well-browned.

When the onion is cool you chop it up and set aside. You pit the avocados, scoop them into a bowl, and then add the onion and another 1/3 of the lime/cilantro mixture. Mash everything together with a potato masher or fork and there’s the guacamole.

You then slice up the romaine lettuce and toss it with the remaining lime/cilantro dressing. Put that on the bottom of the plate, add some of the chunky guacamole, top with diced chicken, and then sprinkle with the cheese.

I made some alterations to the recipe as written. I live in a 3rd floor apartment so I don’t have a grill. I just pan-seared the chicken and onions. I also have never seen queso anejo (not that I looked in Mexican groceries) but I had queso fresco which I love on hand so I used that. It was SO GOOD. It was so much better than I was expecting. I was really looking forward to the leftovers (I only did 2 chicken breasts) for lunch the next day and was so mad when I got to work yesterday and realized that I forgot them in the fridge. I tried to have it today for lunch but. . . no. No bueno. Too watery and mushy. Next time I’ll still make enough for a lunch but I’ll keep the components separate until the day I want to eat it and then assemble. I even sent the recipe to my cilantro-hating work BFF. She is watching her macros and is struggling with carbs and new ways to eat chicken. I think the dressing would be fine without the cilantro though obviously not as delicious.

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102

CLASSIC TORTILLA SOUP WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS (p. 123 ME)

This was easy enough to make. Toast a dried pasilla chile over an open flame for a few seconds until fragrant. Break it up and put it into a blender with diced tomatoes and their juice. Cook 1 sliced white onion and 3 garlic cloves in veg or olive oil until golden brown. Scoop them out leaving as much oil behind in the pan and add to blender. Blend until smooth. Heat the oil up again and add puree to cook until the consistency of tomato paste. Add chicken broth and epazote with salt. Add diced chicken to broth just before serving (5 minutes). Serve and top with tortilla chips, diced avocado, shredded cheese, and finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

This soup was easy but not particularly flavorful or good. I had maybe half a cup of it today for lunch and then tossed it–container and all. I dumped out what was left today when I got back from work. Ironic that Julia Turshen’s version of tortilla soup is so much better (though you have to scale back the amount of chipotles). I wouldn’t make this again or recommend it.

https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/classic-tortilla-soup-with-all-the-trimmings/

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103

That is sad. Thanks for reporting!

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