Mango salsa with lavender honey

Why have I even made this? Mangoes are nowhere near local, but they showed up in ripe little packets at the grocery store and I couldn't avert my eyes. I threw a burrito party (well a "tex-mex" party) but it was kind of hard to come by many of the standard ingredients such as corn tortillas and seranno chilies and good salsa, and sigh.

I've made mango salsa, peach salsa, strawberry-kiwi salsa, pineapple salsa, chipotle salsa, and just regular pico de gallo. Keep combining and trying until you find something you like. Tomatoes (or fruit), some onions or garlic for bite, bell peppers to increase volume, cilantro, a bit of salt, and lime juice for balance, and any kind of chili pepper for heat.

This is a chop and dump recipe. Chop everything finely (or food process) and then add to a medium sauce pan.  Heat up to get everything set. It will last up to a week in the fridge; it stores excellently in the freezer.

I cut everything by hand, but I'm sure if you have a food processor it would make everything easy.

Mango salsa with a touch of lavender honey
Yield: about 2 cups or more.

Ingredients:
1 jumbo ripe mango, or at least 2 medium ones, finely diced
3/4 cup very finely chopped red and green bell peppers
2 shallots, finely diced
1-2 serrano chilies, remove all seeds and veins using a knife and a small spoon (grapefruit spoons work very well); alternatively plastic gloves are a good choice. Discard the seeds and veins, but don't throw them in the sink because once you turn the water on the spices can aerosolize and make you cough badly.
1 tsp or less salt
juice of 1 small-medium lime, and a bit of grated lime zest
1 tsp of lavender honey (any honey will do fine)
2 tbsp or more chopped cilantro
splash tequila (optional)

Directions:
Put everything in a pot and heat up gradually over medium-high heat. I let it cook 10 minutes. If you leave it the bell peppers lose a bit of color. Adjust for salt, and stir in the honey once it's cooled down a bit. I funnel the salsa into glass jars and store remainders in the freezer.

Chipotle Salsa

Salsa ingredients + lazy Friday afternoon + bad photography = chipotle salsa!

orange bell peppers getting diced

green bell peppers getting prepped

After hand-chopping almost a dozen of these guys, I realized I needed a picture. Tomato love.

Jars of chipotle salsa

and since it's a lazy Friday:

Duds' shows off his stretching

Not sure if salsa is kitty appropriate

This is a delicious, hearty, spicy, tasty, slightly smoky fresh salsa and I can't wait to share it on here. I've been eating it this entire past month. The recipe comes from my family in NC, I can't remember when I copied it down, but I've held onto it for a few years. It's easy to prepare and freezes well. You can chop all ingredients by hand – it'll take about an hour; a food processor will certainly speed things up, and can be used as well.

S and K's Chipotle Salsa

2 and ½ lbs ripe tomatoes, chopped fine

1 onion, chopped fine

1-2 bell peppers (green, red, or yellow), chopped fine

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small can, 7.5 oz chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped fine

2 tsp of adobo sauce

1-2 tbsp lime juice

1-2 tbsp vinegar (e.g. white-wine vinegar is fine)

1-2 tsp salt

1-2 tsp cumin

1-2 tsp oregano (dried is fine)

½ cup cilantro, chopped fine

For a super hot salsa, count 1-2 chipotle peppers per tomato; for a medium salsa use 4-5 chipotle peppers for the batch, and for a mild salsa use 2-3 chipotle peppers for the batch. Use gloves to handle peppers. Start off adding half the chipotle amount, taste and adjust, and add extra as needed. The salsa can get spicy quickly.

If using a food processor you'll whip this up in no time. Attach the chopping blades and mince whole garlic first. Add in onions (prepped as quarters) and chop to combine. Chop until desired consistency is reached. Remove to a bowl, or a large soup stockpot. Add in bell peppers (prepped as quarters), chop then remove. Finally, add in tomatoes (prepped as quarters) with chipotle peppers (kept whole) and chop until desired consistency is reached. Add all chopped ingredients to a large mixing bowl, or a large soup stockpot. Stir in adobo sauce, lime juice through cilantro and combine. If adding additional chipotle peppers, just chop them in the food processor and add to the pot.

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients together in a large soup stockpot. Stir to combine and adjust for taste.
2. Heat up salsa over medium heat and simmer 10-15 minutes. Once cool, ladle into jars and set in fridge. You can freeze extras, thaw overnight in the fridge and it's ready to eat.

The Best Portobello Mushrooms. Ever.

Guffawing at my overinflated title post much? Well go on, try it and see for yourself.

Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 medium to large portobello mushrooms, wiped clean
2 T olive oil and cooking spray
1/2 to 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 clove garlic, minced fine or shredded
1 T parsley, chopped
1/2 t marjoram, chopped
1/2 t thyme, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar of hot salsa
1 14 oz can of white beans, rinsed and drained

Directions

1. Preheat broiler to the hottest setting. 
2. Pick clean firm portobellos, and wipe off any spots. Carefully trim the stem off and scoop out the gills with the side of spoon. 
3. Arrange the mushrooms cap side up on a large baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Drizzle 1 T of the olive oil over the tops. 
4. Broil 3 minutes.
5. Flip mushrooms over, drizzle with the remaining 1 T olive oil, and broil 3 minutes.
6. Meanwhile combine ricotta with herbs, and season with salt and pepper. Adjust herbs as needed. 
7. Once mushrooms are done, flip over so the gill-side is facing you. You will be layering the salsa, ricotta cheese and beans. 
8. Spoon about 1-2 T of salsa in the inside, top with 2 T of the herbed ricotta cheese, and about 2 T of beans. You may be able to use more or less depending on the size of the mushroom. When all are finished, broil 3-4 minutes. Check often to make sure they don't burn. The beans should be barely golden once finished. Serve with some steamed green beans and focaccia.

Potato and Black Bean Burritos with Fresh Salsa

Belgian Burritos! So not really, but I'm really missing Mexican and Tex-Mex foods. I even bought a casserole dish just for this. Well the casserole was advertised as being on sale, but I couldn't understand the Dutch well enough to read that I needed to have 8 Carrefour (the local grocery chain) stamp/tickets to get the "sale" price. Sara - You would LOVE this dish. Miss you lots.  Make the salsa first so the flavors can steep.

Ingredients:

For the burritos

1 large baking potato (or 2 medium sized ones, or 4-6 small ones), diced and cooked. Sweet potatoes are even better in this dish than regular potatoes.
2 cups black beans cooked, or 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 package 8" tortillas (this made enough for 8 burritos)
1 cup shredded cheddar, you can use more or less if cheese is your thing (use monterey jack or whatever yummy US mexican cheese blend you can find)
1/2 cup onion, chopped (you can use the other half in the salsa)
2 cloves garlic, chopped and divided (1 clove in the potatoes, the other in the black beans)
2 tsp cumin, divided (1 tsp in the potatoes and the other in the black beans)
1 tsp ancho chili powder or regular chili powder, divided (yep, same as above)
pinch cayenne
salt to taste
1/2 of a lime (probably one of the halves used to make salsa)

Ingredients for the salsa

3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
1 large green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 T chopped onion
1 large garlic clove chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and deveined, and chopped
juice of 2 limes
salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 F, and oil a casserole dish.
2. Cook potatoes either in microwave or boil them. Once done cooking, add in 1 tsp cumin, salt, pinch cayenne, 1/2 tsp of ancho chili powder, and 1 garlic clove. Mash together and set aside. Adjust seasonings if necessary. You can reserve some of the cooking water to make the mashing easier. 
3. In a saucepan, heat 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat and add onion and the other garlic clove. After 5 minutes, add in cumin, salt, and ancho chili powder. 
4. Next, add in black beans and stir to combine, adding water if it gets too dry. Squeeze 1/2 a lime over the black beans, stir and set aside. Adjust with salt and pepper if necessary.
5. Meanwhile, set out tortillas to warm in the oven to soften them up. Once warm, like a burrito, layer the tortilla with potatoes, cheddar cheese, and black beans. Roll up and place in casserole dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes. 

For the Salsa

1. Combine the tomatoes, garlic, onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, lime juice and salt. Mix well. You may need more or less lime juice, so squeeze in 1 lime, then taste and adjust. 
2. Stir in cilantro and avocado. Adjust seasoning with salt if needed.
3. Serve with burritos.

And one last pica:

Luggage Duds: