Best Ever Chip Dip

This chip dip is my mom's recipe and it is BY FAR one of the easiest things to make.  You literally dump everything into a bowl and that's it.  For an easy last-minute appetizer, tailgate, or potluck dish, I love making this because despite being made from mostly canned foods, it tastes so fresh and vibrant.   

Best Ever Chip Dip  

Ingredients:

• 1 can whole kernel corn 
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can Rotel (the Mexican variety is best, but that's not always easy to find) 
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (I actually used a variety called culantro that lasts longer/stays fresher than normal cilantro) 
• drizzle of olive oil
• drizzle of red wine vinegar 

Directions:

1. Combine everything - that's it!  Enjoy

One Pot Chicken & Sausage Cajun Pasta

I recently started following Buzzfeed’s Tasty page on Facebook.  They post tutorial videos every day of simple recipes summarized in about a minute or less.

I tried out my first one of their recipes and it was a huge success!  And it was incredibly simple – you just throw a bunch of ingredients in one big pot until it all cooks down into creamy delicious Cajun goodness.

This would be a great recipe when having guests over for dinner since it’s hassle free and makes enough to feed a crowd.  Next time I might do a bit less pasta & add more veggies, but we were very impressed with how this turned out.

One Pot Chicken & Sausage Cajun Pasta (adapted from Tasty)

Ingredients:

• 2 T olive oil
• 2 diced chicken breasts
• 8 oz. Andouille sausage, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ yellow onion, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 16 oz pasta
• 5 cups chicken broth
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan
• 1 T Cajun seasoning (or equal parts cayenne pepper, onion powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper)

Directions:

1. Pour olive oil into the pot. Add diced chicken breast to the pot, cover with Cajun seasoning, and stir until the chicken is evenly seasoned. Then, add sliced sausage and stir. Cook the meat on medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

2. Once the meat is cooked, add in the garlic, onion, peppers, and mushrooms, and stir. Continue stirring for 3-5 minutes as the veggies cook down.

3. Add the dry pasta to the pot (if using long, thin noodles, break in half), then pour in the chicken broth. Stir until everything is well-mixed. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, keep covered bring the heat down to a simmer for 10 minutes (stirring every two minutes). If there still extra chicken broth, you can discard it, cook longer until the liquid evaporates, or add a little cornstarch to thicken the liquid.

4. Lastly, add heavy cream and parmesan and stir until your pasta is well blended. Garnish with green onions, more parmesan, a sprinkle of Cajun seasoning (if you want some extra spice), and salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Southwest Pomegranate & Avocado Salad

Pomegranates and avocados are two of my favorite ingredients – if I see a recipe that incorporates either, I almost always save it to my Pinterest. This salad had both, plus bacon, so I figured it had to be good. 

I had trouble finding a whole pomegranate this trip to the grocery store, so I bought just the seeds, which are a bit pricier.  If they do have a whole pomegranate, I usually buy that and seed it myself.  It’s a little messy, but once you do it a time or two it's pretty easy. 

Make sure you’re wearing clothes that you don’t mind getting juice on (since it gets everywhere).  Cut the pomegranate in quarters and submerge it in a large bowl of water.  Gently break it apart in the water – the seeds will sink to the bottom, while the flesh floats to the top.  I usually do this right when I come back from the grocery store so I already have fresh pomegranate ready to go when I want it. 

Then a trick I’ve learned when choosing your avocados – if you remove the stem, a perfect avocado will be green inside. If it has already turned brown, it is too ripe.  You want one that has a little bit of give when you squeeze it, but not too squishy. 

The original recipe mashed the avocado into sort of a guacamole – I kept mine in large slices instead.  If you slice yours, cut it in half, then press your knife into the pit and give it a spin to remove it.  You can slice it up while it’s still in the skin, and then use a spoon to scoop it out. 

This salad doesn’t even need a dressing since the goat cheese and lime combine to create a creamy coating over the veggies.  The original recipe called for 4 slices of bacon – we doubled it (why not?).  It also called for 8 ounces of goat cheese, but I cut that in half – I think 4 ounces was the perfect amount to not overpower the other ingredients.  Other than that, everything else that goes into this salad is very healthy, so it’s a relatively guilt-free meal.  We served ours with a side of cheesy garlic toast.  It was fresh, filling, and super simple to put together - I'll definitely make it again.  

Southwest Pomegranate & Avocado Salad (adapted from Cooking and Beer)

Ingredients:

·        2 large avocados, sliced

·        1 red  bell pepper, sliced into bite sized pieces

·        1 jalapeño pepper, sliced (I only had ½ a pepper but use as much as you’d like – remove the seeds if you don’t like it spicy)

·        1 can whole kernel corn, drained

·        1 can seasoned black beans, drained

·        ½ cup pomegranate seeds

·        8 strips bacon, cooked and broken in bite sized pieces

·        4 ounces crumbled goat cheese

·        ½ tsp salt

·        ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

·        1 tsp lime juice

·        ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped (cilantro would be better but I didn’t have any on hand)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss.  It’s that easy!