Crawchos!!! (aka Crawfish Nachos)

This is an invention of my cousin Primo’s, that he dreamed up back in the day when we were still roommates in Lafayette.  Of course, back then, it was just an idea, a loose concept.  But since that time, Primo’s had a chance to perfect it into a pretty tasty dish.  And while I was down in Louisiana for work last week, he was cool enough to teach me his recipe.  This makes a pretty big batch, so it’s great for a party, and a great way to use up leftover crawfish tails after a boil!


Ingredients: (this has been slightly health-i-fied from the original)
32 oz block of Velveeta (2%), cubed
8 oz fat free cream cheese, cubed
14 oz can sweet corn, drained
2 tbsp jalapeno slices, diced
1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
10 oz can of Mexican Rotel, drained
4-6 oz light beer (I’ll recommend Abita Light to keep it Cajun)
1 lb crawfish tails (preferably leftover from a crawfish boil so they have some good spice)
1 tbsp dry Crab Boil seasoning
Tortilla chips
Sliced green onions or cilantro (optional—we didn’t have them, but I think it would make a nice garnish & add another pop of flavor)

Directions:
In a large skillet, heat the corn over medium-low heat & season with the Cajun seasoning.  Stir occasionally.  This is to pull some of the moisture out of the corn, to give it a crunchier texture.  After about 5 minutes, add the jalapenos & continue to stir.

P.S.  Now’s a good time to have one of these:

(My favorite time of year—Strawberry Lager season!)

And of course, what’s an episode of FeauxCajun Kitchen without some canine sous chefs?

(“Furreals Dad…just ONE piece of cream cheese.  But don’t try stickin’ that heartworm pill in there again. I’m on to your schemes.”)

In a large pot, combine Velveeta, cream cheese, rotel, crab boil seasoning, and beer over medium heat. 

Stir periodically until smooth & creamy, then add crawfish & corn mixture.

Continue to cook until crawfish are heated through, stirring frequently to make sure the bottom doesn’t scorch.

Arrange your chips on a plate and then pour the crawfish cheese sauce over the chips.

Proceed to chow down!!!

Nutrifacts (makes 12 servings):

Calories 370.2
  Total Fat 13.7 g
  Saturated Fat 6.3 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 2.9 g
  Cholesterol 88.0 mg
  Sodium 1,869.9 mg
  Potassium 359.8 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 34.0 g
  Dietary Fiber 2.4 g
  Sugars 8.1 g
  Protein 26.7 g

Fresh Avocado Salad

On a gray, murky day like today, when I’m trapped inside an office for 9 hours, there’s a good chance that any of the following could happen:

- I succumb to the Winter Blues & conk out at my desk

- I attempt to fight the Winter Blues with coffee, overcaffeinate myself, and subsequently chuck a stapler at a coworker due to Print Errors at the copier

- I pass out while working on invoicing & wake up to discover I accidentally emailed an itemized Excel spreadsheet detailing costs for operating a food blog to my boss

…or, I can stop after one cup of coffee, avoid printing anything all day, and make myself a bright, happy, delicious lunch that is so bursting with color that I think I’m in Playa del Carmen rather than Missouri.

 

And that’s what I opted for today.

This is one of my favorite lunch options—although I don’t make it too often because there’s so much avocado in it…not that I don’t LOVE avocado (because I SOOOOOOO do), but you can have too much of a good thing, especially when that good thing is the 13 grams of fat that accompanies half of an avocado.  Granted—it’s mostly unsaturated fats which works wonders for your cholesterol, and our creamy green friend is chockablock full of vitamins like A, B, C, D, E, K, and even a healthy dose of fiber.  And they have a NuVal score of 89 (which is definitely better than the “Angry Birds” gummy snacks that I’m currently snacking on while typing this blog).  This is almost a bit like a deconstructed guacamole—since I love the creamy & acidic flavors associated with guac, but I don’t love the texture.

Ingredients: (makes one salad)

1/2 avocado, cubed

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

About 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

juice of 1/2 lime

dash of cracked black pepper (or Cajun seasoning, whatever’s handy)

NOTE: Sometimes I add diced purple onion or a wee bit of garlic powder when I make this—entirely up to you.

 

Directions:

Toss all of the ingredients together.  Nom to your heart’s content.

(JUST LOOK AT THOSE COLORS!!!)

I’m sure this goes without saying, but I’m a fan of fresh produce, and I’m a fan of jamming as much (natural) color into your food as possible (again, unlike these gummies sitting next to me…I know, I’m such a hypocrite).  And while this particular mix is a bit high on the fat content, it’s full of texture and the richness of the avocado is really filling & satisfying. And at under 180 calories, it’s a really reasonable, decadent side dish for a quick lunch.  (Another note:  Once I’ve juiced the lime, I throw the lime half in with a big glass of water—there’s usually just enough juice left in the wedge to give a nice hint of flavor to an otherwise boring cup o’ eau.)

I try to keep my meals at about 400 calories each (with 2-3 100-calorie snacks scattered between meals).  With the above salad, I had 3 oz of venison summer sausage (150 calories, 15g protein, 1.5g fat) and a 2% milk mozzarella string cheese (50 calories, 6g protein, 15% daily calcium).  If I had wanted a more substantial protein portion of my meal, or a starch, it would be very easy to only use 1/4 of an avocado, add 1/2 – 1 cup of mixed greens & the juice of a whole lime, and this salad would drop to about 100 calories. There’s so much flavor in the cilantro & lime juice that no real “salad dressing” is needed.

 

NutriFacts:

Calories 179.2

  Total Fat 13.4 g

  Saturated Fat 1.8 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.6 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 8.5 g

  Cholesterol 0.0 mg

  Sodium 7.3 mg

  Potassium 880.8 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 15.9 g

  Dietary Fiber 8.0 g

  Sugars 5.1 g

  Protein 3.4 g

  Vitamin A 34.2 %

  Vitamin B-12 0.0 %

  Vitamin B-6 13.0 %

  Vitamin C 63.6 %

  Vitamin D 0.0 %

  Vitamin E 6.6 %

  Calcium 1.7 %

  Copper 8.4 %

  Folate 20.7 %

  Iron 3.7 %

  Magnesium 16.7 %

  Manganese 7.4 %

  Niacin 18.7 %

  Pantothenic Acid  13.4 %

  Phosphorus  4.9 %

  Riboflavin 8.1 %

  Selenium 0.5 %

  Thiamin 4.9 %

  Zinc 4.4 %

Kitchen Improv: Chicken Chili Bake

I was craving some Tex-Mex the other night so I threw this recipe together after work.  I originally wanted to make it with ground beef & a cornbread crust; however, I came home to discover that we had neither beef nor cornbread in our stockpile.  So…I improvised, and the result was this quick, delicious, and rather healthy two-pan dish:

Ingredients:

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 tablespoon cajun seasoning

1/2 tablespoon Pampered Chef Chipotle Rub

1/2 cup dark beer (for steaming)

(1) 8oz can Zesty Rotel Tomato Sauce

(1) 8oz can mushroom pieces, drained

(1) 14 oz can Mexican style chili beans

(1) 14 oz can petite diced tomatoes & onions, partially drained

(1) 14oz can creamed corn (you can use regular canned corn if you prefer or don’t have creamed corn)

1/2 tablespoon dried onions

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeno, seeded & diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Seasonings to taste: chili powder, cayenne, cumin

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 package refrigerator biscuits

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

 

Directions:

Season the chicken with the cajun seasoning & chipotle rub, then place into a skillet over medium-high heat.  Once the chicken is browned on each side, cut a few slices into each breast, and then pour the beer into the skillet & cover with a lid, to allow the chicken to steam.  This will help the chicken to cook through thoroughly without drying out.  We used Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown Ale:

            

Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pan & chop.  Add the canned ingredients, onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and garlic to the skillet.  Re-add the chicken & stir thoroughly.  Cover & simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

While that’s going, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Once your peppers start to soften, taste test the chili to determine if you need to add any additional seasonings.  Then transfer the mixture to a glass 9x13 baking dish.  Cover with the shredded cheese and drop the biscuits evenly across the top.  Bake for 10 minutes.

When it comes out of the oven, sprinkle the top with cilantro and serve!

 

 

NutriFacts: (Makes about 8 servings)

Calories 453.8

  Total Fat 13.2 g

  Saturated Fat 4.3 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.3 g

  Cholesterol 64.4 mg

  Sodium 1,535.4 mg

  Potassium 402.9 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 47.5 g

  Dietary Fiber 5.5 g

  Sugars 5.8 g

  Protein 35.4 g

Shared on 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesday and The Sweet Spot.

Homemade salsa!

 

The base recipe for this comes from a handy little book called "100 Calorie Snack Cookbook”.

This book has come in handy when I have a craving—tons of good ideas divided conveniently by “craving type”: Crunchy, Salty, Creamy & Cheesy, Frozen, Beverages, etc.

This recipe will make about 4 half-cup servings.  Important note- the color of your tomato will determine the end result of your salsa, so if you want a nice, beautiful red salsa, get ruby red tomatoes, lest you end up with pink salsa (like I did).

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs ripe tomatoes, seeded & diced

1 small red onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 bell pepper, any color

1 jalapeno, seeded & chopped

1/4-1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/4 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp onion powder

Juice of 1/2 lime

Combine all ingredients together in a blender & stir,then Pulse 3-4 times to combine.

Let sit for 2 hours before serving (this is what the book calls for, however I think it tastes good right away, so it’s up to you!)

NutriFacts:

Calories 52.2

  Total Fat 0.7 g

  Saturated Fat 0.1 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.1 g

  Cholesterol 0.0 mg

  Sodium 304.5 mg

  Potassium 405.8 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 11.7 g

  Dietary Fiber 2.5 g

  Sugars 1.4 g

  Protein 2.0 g

Shared on 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesdays

Cilantro Lime Pesto Tacos & Shrimp Pasta!

I was craving Chipotle earlier in the week, and this creation was the result.  The original recipe was just for tacos, but I, like so many people in this world, am addicted to the cilantro lime rice at Chipotle/Qdoba.  There are few things in the world better, IMHO.

 

This post involves two recipes from my collection that I’m using together in the same meal.  I suppose tacos don’t usually have rice with them…that sort of makes them burritos, am I right?  Ah well…guess no one ever told that to the peeps at C & Q. 

 

Hey—poTAYto, poTAHto.  We’re making Cilantro-Lime Rice, and Cilantro Lime Pesto, which we will use not one, not two, but THREE ways.  I got THREE nights’ worth of dinners out of what I’m about to present to you in ONE blog post.  I know—MIND blowing, isn’t it?  So versatile. (And so…cilantro-y & limey.  AKA, deelishuss.)

Okay---Rice first.

Ingredients:

1 cup instant brown rice, prepared according to package

Juice of 1/2 lime

3 tbsp freshly chopped cilantro

2 tsp olive oil

 

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the cilantro, lime, olive oil, & rice.  Toss until completely mixed.  BOOM—DONE. 

 

Makes four 3/4 cup servings (more if you’re using it in tacos/burritos—I think we stretched out over 8 tacos, total).

NutriFacts (based on 4 servings):

Calories: 200

Fat: 3.4g

Carbs: 37.4

Protein: 4g

 

Now, onto our pesto.  This recipe will make a cup or so of pesto, which was plenty for the three dishes I’m about to show you.  And I have to tell you right now—if you like cilantro & lime, you are going to LOVE this.  Seriously—SO good.  We are big fans of fresh cilantro.  I know cilantro is one of those foods that people either love or hate—my father-in-law says it tastes like soap.  But one thing’s for sure—it’s chock full of nutrients, it’s an anti-inflammatory, it aids in digestion, reportedly lowers blood sugar…I could go on.  But instead…let’s cook.

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves

2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp sliced, toasted almonds

4 cloves fresh garlic

Juice from 1/2 lime

1/2 cup shredded asiago, or Parmesan or Romano (we went with Parm, since that’s what we had in the house)

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

 

Directions:

Using a blender or food processor, mix together all the ingredients on a low speed for 2 minutes.  The end result should look like this:

 

Then, for your first dinner, heat up a large skillet.

Cut up 2-3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or about 6-8 chicken tenders, just depends on what you have around the house) into bite size pieces.  Sprinkle with black pepper & cajun seasoning, then saute the chicken over medium high heat until cooked through.  Then toss about 1/2 cup of the pesto with your chicken.

Serve with flour tortillas, the cilantro rice, and your favorite taco fixin’s.

(Sauteed peppers & jalapenos, avocado, and tomatoes…that’s my taco, alright!)

 

This made enough for about 4-6 tacos.

 

The second night, I cooked a pound of shrimp and tossed it with the remaining pesto.  With half of it, we had 4 shrimp pesto tacos (MMMMmmmm…)

Then the THIRD night, I boiled some pasta (chop 2 cloves of garlic & throw it in the boiling water, along with a teaspoon of olive oil) & tossed the leftover shrimp + pesto with that.

Top with cracked black pepper & more parmesan.

 

Wow.  Just…wow.  I have to say, this pesto is one of the tastiest things I’ve made in a LONG time.  Big, HUGE flavor, with hardly any fats other than what’s naturally in the meat.  I mean, there’s only 2.5 tablespoons of oil in the whole BATCH of pesto.  Sure, you have a bit of fat from the cheese, but again—once it’s been split now through three meals—pretty negligible.