Crock Pot Salsa Chicken - 2 Ingredients!

Husband and I love Mexican food.  I love to make it at home, but I especially enjoy a night out at a great restaurant.  I'm pretty predictable when we eat Mexican - I'm either going to get a Chicken Chimichanga (no rice or beans), or a taco salad.  They're my favorites!

I've always wondered howwww they get their chicken to be so delicious and tender...and now I've figured out how to replicate it at home.  AND it's the easiest thing you could make - it takes two ingredients, and you do it in the crock pot!  It's a fantastic "meat base" for any Mexican dish.  Add it to a salad, use it to fill burritos or enchiladas, or top nachos...whatever you want!  It's called Salsa Chicken, and I first saw this idea on a past coworker's blog, SarahFit.  Here's what you need...

Ingredients
3.5 pounds chicken (breasts or tenders)
2.5 cups your favorite salsa (I use a peach mango salsa)

Directions
Combine chicken and salsa in a crock pot, and cook on low for 6-8 hours (or 4+ on high).  Halfway through, chicken will be "fall apart" tender.  Remove chicken from crock pot and shred with a fork.  Return chicken to crock pot, mix with salsa, and continue cooking as long as you'd like.  Depending on what salsa you use, you may want to add a little salt at this point.

This is a fantastic base for any Mexican recipe - we made fajitas and taco salads, but you could also make nachos with this salsa chicken!

Salsa Chicken Fajitas - Saute one onion an orange pepper in a little olive oil.  Spread light sour cream on the center of a large wrap.  Place a heaping half cup of salsa chicken on top of the sour cream, then a half cup of onions/peppers.  Finally, add a few diced tomatoes and some shredded cheese.

Taco Salad - A slight variation of my regular taco salad (check it out!).  Layer lettuce, broccoli slaw, diced tomato, refried beans, salsa chicken, shredded cheese, and sour cream.

Nachos with Salsa Chicken - Layer tortilla chips, shredded cheese, salsa, black olives, and salsa chicken on an oven-safe dish.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or just until cheese melts.  Top with guacamole and/or sour cream and serve!

7 Layer Dip

Last weekend, I went to a surprise party for our friend Bette's 88th birthday.  Bette loves Mexican food, so of course that was the theme of the night.  Ann fixed enchiladas, rice, and beans for dinner, so I decided to make a 7 layer dip to go along with it.  A 7 layer dip is basically a Pyrex dish full of everything delicious.  In one swoop of your chip, you'll have the best of the best of Mexican fare.  Not sure whether to have salsa or guac at your BBQ?  Easy! Make this instead and have both (and then some).

Ingredients
2 cups refried beans
2 Tablespoons taco seasoning
16 ounces sour cream
8 ounce cream cheese
16 ounce guacamole
16 ounce salsa
2.5 cups shredded lettuce
Large tomato, chopped
1 cup shredded cheese (4 Cheese Mexican Blend)

Directions
In a medium bowl, mix refried beans and taco seasoning.  The spread evenly on the bottom of a 13x9 Pyrex dish.

Cream together sour cream and cream cheese.  Spread on top of refried beans.

Then layer guacamole, salsa, lettuce, tomato, and cheese - in that order.  (Check out this yummy guacamole recipe!)

You can also add black olives to the top, but since I'm not a fan I left them off.

Enjoy with tortilla chips.  It's highly addictive, so be careful!  :)

Isn't it pretty from the side?  I just love it.

Making finger foods?  Buy some clear, 2 -4 ounce cups and layer a dollop of each ingredient in the cup so everyone will have their own serving!

Looking for a sweet Mexican main dish?  Try this Taco Salad.  Mmmm...

Follow Much Ado About Somethin on Facebook for more fantastic recipes!

Enjoy!

The Perfect Taco Salad

Last week I was chatting with my sister-in-law Sarah, and she told me she and her boyfriend had been enjoying making taco salads lately.  Taco salads are one of my favorite things to get at a Mexican restaurant (that and chicken chimichangas...mmmmm), but I've never thought to make one at home.  After our conversation, I was inspired to make my own!

It was tasty, filling, packed full of veggies...and should be added to your dinner routine STAT.  Even better, since everyone gets their own, you can specialize them to their taste.  Love salsa? Double yours!  Hate tomatoes? Skip 'em!

Ingredients
2 pounds ground turkey
1 large onion
1 pepper (I used yellow)
8 ounces mushrooms
3/4 cup Taco seasoning
1-1.5 cups water
Refried Beans (1/2 cup per salad)
Shredded Lettuce (2 cups per salad)
Broccoli Slaw (1/4- 1/2 cup per salad)
Tomato, chopped
Shredded cheese
Salsa, Guacamole, Sour Cream etc
Garlic Powder
Olive Oil
Salt

Directions

Heat can of refried beans in a small pan.  Mix in some garlic powder and taco seasoning to give it a little extra flair.  Then make your taco meat.  We packed ours full of veggies.  The below makes about 6 cups.

1 - Chop your onion and pepper into small pieces and sauté in olive oil and salt.
2 - Brown ground turkey, strain, and return to pan.  Put mushrooms into food processor and pulse until they're fine.  Then add them to the turkey.
3 - Add in your sauteed onion and pepper.
4 - Add 3/4 cup taco seasoning and 1-1.5 cups water.

(The mushroom trick is one of my favorites we've been doing for a long time - it's a great way to lighten up ground beef!)

Now it's time to layer your taco salad!  I decided to use a deeper bowl so I could move things around easily, but this also works well in a soup bowl.  It's kind of fun if the bowl is clear so you can see the pretty layers!

Here's the salad I made, from bottom to top:

2 cups shredded lettuce
1/4 cup broccoli slaw (give is a crunch!)
1 small tomato, sliced
1/2 cup refried beans
1 cup taco meat mixture
1/4 cup shredded cheese
1 Tablespoon sour cream

Travis added a layer of salsa, but you could also add guacamole, olives...or anything else your heart desires!

Travis also crumbled up some chips on top of his salad - everyone can do their own thing AND enjoy the same dinner!

YUM.

What are your favorite taco toppings?

Sneaking Veggies into Dinner - Healthier Tacos

Everyone loves a quick and easy weeknight dinner.  One of our simplest (and most fun) has become known as Taco Tuesday.  Travis and I love tacos, but I've gotta tell ya...I don't love the idea of 75% of a meal being  meat and shell.  Sure you can add veggies to the top, but lettuce and tomatoes can only do so much.  In an effort to remove some of the guilt from the meal, I add a secret ingredient that helps dilute the meat/carb factor (making them healthier)...and no one will ever know.

The secret ingredient - mushrooms!

You just need three things from the store:

1-1.5 pound package ground beef (90% lean)
8 ounces mushrooms
A "Taco Dinner Kit" (that contains the shells, seasoning, and sauce)

Directions

Finely dice the mushrooms so they are about the same size of a "crumble" of the cooked ground beef so they'll blend in nicely.  I would think this one time a "slap-chop" would come in handy, but since I don't have one, I just chop away on a cutting board!

Brown and strain your ground beef.  Return ground beef to the pan and add the mushrooms.

Then prepare as you would normally - add water and seasoning packet and simmer until combined.  By the time it's done, you'll have to look pretty hard to tell the difference between the ground beef and mushrooms.

Such a sly way to sneak veggies into dinner - your family will be non the wiser.  ;)

What are your favorite ways to make everyday dinners healthier?