Roasted Salsa Chicken

 

Fresh ingredients are key to any amazing dish. If I can incorporate vegetables that my husband doesn’t like, without him knowing, it’s a spectacular meal. He isn’t fond of raw tomatoes, so I thought why not roast them for the salsa. It turned out so delicious that it turned onto a snack for a few days after. This salsa chicken recipe is easy to prepare and you can also use it for entertaining larger groups. Let’s take a look!

Roasted Salsa Chicken

4 servings

 

Roasted Salsa

• 3 Roma tomatoes (halved & roasted)
• 1 Roma tomato (chopped; set aside)
• 1 Large jalapeño (halved & roasted)
• 1 tbsp EVOO
• 1 Small red onion (chopped)
• 2 Garlic cloves (chopped)
• 3 Mini sweet peppers (chopped)
• 4 tbsp Fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp Fresh parsley or cilantro (your choice)
• S & P to taste

Chicken

• 4 Large chicken thighs (with skin and not deboned)
• 1 cup AP flour
• 2 tbsp Cornstarch
• 1 tsp S & P
• 1 tsp Garlic powder
• 3 tsp Olive oil
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 tsp Fresh parsley (chopped)
• Spanish rice and refried beans (optional and prepared)

 

Line a baking sheet with foil and preheat the oven to 375°. Put the tomatoes and jalapeno in a bowl. Add in the EVOO and salt and pepper. Toss and place on the sheet pan. The insides should face up. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.

Once the tomatoes have cooled enough to touch, remove the skins. They should just peel off the tomatoes easily. Put all the salsa ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix until your desired thickness. Poor into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until use.

 

Next, add the olive oil to a large non stick skillet or cast iron and heat on medium high. In a zip lock bag, add the flour, cornstarch, and spices. Add the chicken, one by one into the bag to coat with the flour mix. With tongs, move the chicken from the bag to the skillet and place the chicken fat side down. Brown both sides for several minutes to form a crust. Place the chicken in a large, deep baking pan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put a teaspoon of salsa on each chicken thigh and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove and add mozzarella cheese to each chicken high and bake for 5 more minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place the salsa chicken on a bed of rice and serve with cheesy refried beans. Sprinkle fresh parsley on top  As always, enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Guacamole & Salsa

Woah! Two delicious party recipes wrapped into one blog post! Please, try and contain your excitement.  My guacamole recipe is loved by my family and friends but mostly, by my mother in law.  It’s so simple to make along with the mild salsa, right beside it. Since my husband and I were stationed in Texas, we fell in love with several Tex-mix recipes. The foodie that I am, tries to replicate them to the best of my taste buds abilities. Both recipes take only a couple minutes to make and have only fresh ingredients and spices in them. The guacamole is to cool you off while the salsa only heats you back up. Keep a margarita close for these two party favorites!

 

Sandy’s Guacamole

Makes approximately 2 cups

• 1 large Haas avocado or 2 small avocados (dark skin and squishy)
• 1/2 medium White onion (chopped)
• 2 Garlic cloves (peeled and rough chopped)
• 1/4-1/2 Fresh Jalapeño (no seeds and rough chopped)
• 1 Roma tomato (diced and 2 tbsp separated for topping)
• 2 tbsp Fresh parsley or cilantro (chopped)
• 1 Lime (juiced)
• S & P to taste
• Dash of hot sauce (more or less to add additional heat)
• 1/4 cup EVOO

Put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender. Pulse for a thicker guacamole or mix on low for 30 seconds to 1 minute for a creamier texture (which I prefer). If the avocado is a little harder than desired, more EVOO and lime juice may be needed. Once the guacamole mixture to your preference, pour into a bowl and top with tomatoes and parsley. Keep in the refrigerator until serving.

Recipe 2 below

 

 

Texas Style Salsa

Makes approximately 2 cups

• 2 Roma tomatoes (roasted , skins removed, diced) + 2 Roma tomatoes (diced)
• 1 Red, orange, or yellow pepper (halved; one half roasted and diced, other half diced)
• 1/2 -1 Whole Jalapeño (chopped and de-seeded)
•  1/4 Fresh parsley or cilantro (chopped)
• 2 Garlic cloves (chopped)
• 1 Lime (zested and juiced)
• Dash of white sugar
• 1/2 Small red onion (chopped)
• 1/2 White onion (chopped)
• S & P to taste
• 1/8 tsp Dried oregano (optional)
• Dash of Liquid smoke (optional)

 

Roasting tomatoes and pepper- half the tomatoes and pepper. Toss is EVOO, S &P, and garlic powder. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes at 400°. Remove the tomato skins after roasting and cooling.

Put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and pulse until your desired texture. Texas style is thin and soupy. Serve with tortilla chips and the guacamole recipe above. As always, enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Summer Ratatouille

Talk about the ultimate veggie dish! First of all, what is ratatouille? It’s a mix of seasonal vegetables, cooked down with garlic and olive oil. In other words, heaven! You truly can use any vegetable of your liking and they don’t have to be baked. You can place them in a foil pan and grill them, which would be bring awesome flavor to summer meal! (Also, super easy clean up!) Below is what I used but feel free to substitute any veggies to what you may like.

 

Summer Ratatouille

Serves up to 4

• 2 large Red potatoes (sliced)
• 1 Long, skinny sweet potato (peeled and sliced)
• 1 large Yellow squash (sliced)
• 1 large Zucchini squash (sliced)
• 3 Roma tomatoes (sliced)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
• 3 garlic cloves (finely diced)
• 1/4 Olive Oil
• S & P to taste
• 3 tbsp Fresh parsley (chopped)

 

Spray a large casserole pan or foil pan with a non stick oil. Pre heat the oven to 400° and begin arranging the veggie slices to your liking. The slices for all the veggies should be the same width; about 1/4 inch thick or thinner. Work from the inside out so that way any empty spots can be filled in with extra veggies. Once they are arranged, pour the olive oil and garlic over all of the veggies. Sprinkle on your S & P, parsley, and parmesan cheese.

Cover the casserole dish or foil pan and bake the ratatouille for a half an hour. Remove the cover or foil and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Remove the casserole from the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes. This will allow everything to settle and also make it easier to remove from the pan. Note: if you are grilling, maintain the temperature on the grill to 325°-350°. Otherwise the bottom may burn. As always, serve and enjoy!