Chicken Taco Salad

I decided to switch things up with my taco salad the other night. I usually just use ground turkey (which is still amazingly yummy) but decided that I wanted to use up some chicken breasts I had sitting in the fridge. This has to be one of the quickest, meals I have ever put together in my life. How simple. I personally like to throw some homemade Pico De Gallo (gave the recipe yesterday) on top to give it that extra homemade feel. This meal will come together in 10 minutes or less, so its the perfect weeknight, I don't feel like cooking but want something delish meal!
Also, down below in my side notes I have a homemade recipe for Taco Seasoning if you don't have any or you can't use the store bought ones for one reason or another!

Pico De Gallo

Oh yes. Look at me getting all creative in my picture setup! Ha...not really.
I absolutely LOVE fresh homemade salsa! Oh boy. In fact I love it so much that my "taster" chip..usually turns into half of it disappearing before it makes it to the fridge. Oops. The thing I love about it, you can adjust the heat of it all depending on your own personal preferences!
Serve this deliciousness on top of Taco Salad (recipe to follow tomorrow), in burritos, nachos, alone..you name it...it will be good on it!

Emerald Chicken

Oh man! I have been waiting to try out this recipe. If you haven't been to the hole in the wall restaurant Chino Bandido, you need to. It is the weirdest combination of Mexican and Chinese fusion food I have ever had and it is FANTASTIC! We stopped there the other night and ordered a large assortment of different meats in many combinations but my favorite was their Emerald Chicken.
Now the chicken alone was nothing great, in fact it really wasn't even that good BUT they had this relishy sauce that they put on top of it that completely changes the flavor and knocks it out of the ball park! I recently made this relish(?I guess thats what I will call it?) to go on top of some of my roasted chicken breasts and it was BOMB! The simplicity of it is unbelievable and is full of flavor. But you will have to check out the ingredients to see just how simple this thing is! But I'm telling you...this one...is one you NEED to try!

Roasted Chicken Breasts

Last night I had a complete recipe fail on a recipe that looked and sounded absolutely fabulous! I had such high hopes for it and honestly couldn't wait to post it because the pictures looked sooooo beautiful and delicious. I'm glad I can always rely on this recipe to turn out good :)
I have really been enjoying going back to basics with my cooking. When I first started this blog I posted a lot of the recipes I used to have when I was younger that had a lot of "pantry" items in them and really didn't have anything fresh. I used to think that you couldn't eat a chicken breast unless it was coated and deep fried, or covered in soupy goodness, or don't forget the trusty marinade. Now don't get me wrong, I love recipes that use all of those different ways of cooking, in fact I have many recipes on this very blog that use those same techniques, but I will tell you what. When I take a piece of chicken, and leave it alone with the bare minimum of seasonings, it always turns out to be the best chicken ever. Its all in how you cook it. This recipe is more of a method of cooking because I have started using this method on pretty much everything; fish, vegetables, etc.

Give it a try. It won't let you down. You will be amazed at how incredibly juicy and flavorful it is just by keeping it simple! 

Lime, Coconut, Curry Chicken

Yes. You take the Lime and the Coconut and stir it all up.  I know you were thinking it, and frankly I was singing it as I typed it.
This is a fantastic marinade for chicken. At first I was a little skeptical because it marinades in coconut milk but I'll tell you what...Its like chicken curry without all the soupy mess! Grill it, fry it, bake it, who cares. Just cook it and get that jazzy bit of song in your belly! I bet you money that while you are zesting your lime and have that can of coconut milk sitting next to it, you will be humming that tune just like me. (Okay I won't actually bet you money because frankly I always lose bets and don't really feel like dishing out a bunch of money to people I don't even know)
Top it off with some fresh squeezed lime juice and cilantro and you've got yourself a tangy delicious bit of chicken!

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Yes another side dish my friends. OR a great replacement for spaghetti noodles or really any other kind of pasta.
I absolutely love spaghetti squash. Growing up I never liked squash at all, and even now I'm not a huge super fan....BUT spaghetti squash has always been a squash that I do enjoy. Its kind of funny how many people have no idea how to cook a good vegetable side dish. Growing up I learned that you boil everything, not that that is bad, but it sucks all the flavor out of your food. Here is a secret to amazing vegetable sides...
ROASTING! Roasting vegetables adds so much amazing flavor.
Now, back to the squash. I really think you should give it a try even if you say you don't like squash. Spaghetti squash has such a different flavor then other squashes because it isn't mushy like others when you cook it. It pulls apart into strands, which not only is fun to do, but makes it have more texture.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Oh corn! Sweet delicious corn. I love living in Arizona. Why you may ask....because I can get corn all summer and fall  for a fairly decent price. Where I grew up, I swear you could only buy corn on the cob in September and then it would only be available for like a month.
As I was looking through the corn at the grocery store I was contemplating which method of corn on the cob I would be using. Boiled, baked, steamed, or grilled! DING DING...grilled!
I LOVE grilled corn on the cob! I have come to realize that it isn't as scary as I always thought it was. Grilling the corn adds so much flavor to it. Getting those nice char marks...mmm. I have found that there are three typical methods of grilling corn on the cob, in foil, in the husk, and directly on the grill itself. So here is a mini tutorial on how to grill corn on the cob all three ways! Enjoy!