Southwestern Rice and Bean Salad

5 cups cooked rice, warm or at room temperature
2 teaspoons salt
1 (16-oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (16-oz.) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
1 (12-oz.) can corn, drained
4 green onions, chopped

Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
4 pickled jalepeno pepper rounds (found in the glass jars next to the olives, usually)
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin

Combine all of the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine dressing ingredients in blender until peppers are finely minced. Toss with salad. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Thanks My kitchen Cafe!

Mexican Chicken

Chicken, cooked and cubed (2 to 4 chicken breasts)

1 can Cream of Chicken
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1 can Cream of Celery
1 can Nacho Cheese (Fiesta, if you can find it)
1 can sliced olives (drained)
Warm the above ingredients on stove top until warm.

Flour tortillas
Shredded Cheese (mozzarella or Mexican mix)

Spray 9x13 pan. Put a little of the soup mixture on bottom of pan. Then layer tortillas, mixture and cheese over and over (3x), just like lasagna. Cook for 20 mins. or until warm on 350*

Mexican Lasagna

9 Lasagna noodles (Cooked and drained)
1 lb. Hamburger
1 clove garlic
1 can refried beans
1 can sliced olives (drained)
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes
Shredded cheese (Cheddar, Mozzarella, Mix..)

Brown hamburger meat with garlic. Drain. Mix olives, refried beans, and tomatoes with hamburger. Spray 9x13 pan. Layer with Noodles, meat mix and cheese (3x). Top with cheese. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until bubbly and brown on top.

Crock Pot chicken tacos

1 24 oz jar of Pace Picante sauce (medium or mild)
1 -2 cups brown sugar
4 chicken breasts
stir all together in crock pot and cook for 4-8 hours remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to crock pot and cook an additional hour.

Make tacos with flour tortillas, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, olives, beans, and anything else your little heart desires!

White Chicken Enchiladas

Mix in a bowl:
1 cup onion
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups chicken (I usually do 3 chicken breasts, shredded)
4 oz diced chilis
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)

In a saucepan:
3 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup flour (add to melted butter)
1 tsp coriander
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups chicken broth

*allow this mixture to come to a boil and thicken a little

Add to sauce pan mixture:
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups monterey jack cheese (more if you really like cheese)

Put about 1/2-1 cup of liquid in the chicken mixture
Wrap chicken mixture in flour tortillas(soft taco size) and line up in 9x13 pan. Cover tortillas with remaining sauce.
Bake @ 350 for about 20-25 minutes.

Southwest egg rolls and Avacado dip

Southwest Egg Rolls

2-1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend
2/3 cup frozen corn, thawed
2/3 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
5 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
20 egg roll wrappers
Oil for deep-fat frying

Avacado Dip

1 cup ranch salad dressing
1 medium ripe avocado, peeled and mashed
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon grated lime peel or 1 tsp lime juice

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the first 10 ingredients. Place 1/4 cup of chicken mixture in the center of one egg roll wrapper. (Keep remaining wrappers covered with a damp paper towel until ready to use.) Fold bottom corner over filling. Fold sides toward center over filling. Moisten remaining corner with water; roll up tightly to seal. Repeat.

In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°.

Fry egg rolls, a few at a time, for 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Meanwhile, combine the dip ingredients. Serve with egg rolls. Yield: 20 egg rolls (1-1/2 cups sauce)

Pork n Beans Chalupa Filling

3lb. pork roast or pork tenderloin
1 lb. dry pinto beans
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. salt
4 oz. can chopped green chilies
water

Cover beans with water and soak overnight in slow cooker (do not turn slow cooker on)
In the morning, remove beans and their water (don't throw away the water!), and put pork in bottom of cooker. Add remaining ingredients (including the beans and their soaking water) and more water if needed to cover all the ingredients.

Cook on High 1 hour, and then on Low 6 hours. Remove meat and shred with two forks. Return meat to slow cooker.
Cook on High 1 more hour.
Serve with tortillas, or over a bed of lettuce and top with grated cheese, chopped onion, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream.

Heather's chicken enchiladas

4 cups cooked chicken
1 cup s. cream
2 cups cheese
1 can chili's

mix well spoon into tortillas and place in baking dish

Topping:

1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup green taco sauce
1/3 cup milk

mix and pour over enchiladas

bake at 350 for 30 minutes

GREAT TO FREEZE AND Re-heat!

Dry Rubbed Pork Tacos

Approximately 4 lbs. of your favorite pork roast (I buy whatever happens to be on sale.)
2 limes
Don Julio corn tortillas
2-3 Tbs. dry rub (recipe follows)
Optional: cheese, tomatoes, salsa, beans, guacamole, sour cream, etc.

Dry Rub
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. onion powder
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¾ tsp. cayenne
1 Tbs. chili powder
Mix spices together and store in an airtight container. This dry rub recipe will be enough for multiple uses.

In a skillet, brown pork roast in a little oil. (This step can be skipped, if you don’t have time). Cut one lime, squeeze juice, and rub on roast. Rub 2 Tbs. of dry rub over entire roast. Place roast in crock pot on high for 6 hours or on low all day. Remove roast from crock pot, reserving the juice in the crock pot. Shred the meat. Pour ¼ - ½ cup of leftover juice in crock pot over the shredded meat, just enough to moisten, not to make soggy. Add 1 – 3 tsp. dry rub to meat, depending on your taste. Heat corn tortillas over stove top or in the microwave. Cut lime into quarters. Place meat in tortilla, squeeze lime juice on top. Serve ‘as is’ or add favorite toppings.

Freeze the remainder of the meat for another taco night!

Tasty Variations:
Pork quesadillas

Beef & brown sugar enchiladas

1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 can black refried beans
1 can red enchilada sauce, divided
1/3 cup brown sugar-- or to taste
1/2 tsp. onion powder
2 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided
10-12 flour tortillas

Brown ground beef in a large pan. Drain off fat & add refried beans, 1/2 of the enchilada sauce, brown sugar & onion powder. Mix well & bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.
Fill one tortilla with about 1/4 of a cup of filling & 2 Tbsp. cheese. Roll up & place in a 9x13 pan. Repeat process until pan is full. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over prepared enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream, chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, diced onions, shredded lettuce, avocado or guacamole.

Sweet lime chile enchilada and sweet pepper rice

sweet lime chile enchiladas

4 chicken breast, cooked & shredded
1 12-15 oz. bottle salsa verde
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup lime juice
1 TBSP chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup heavy whipping cream
8-10 flour tortillas
5 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

in a large bowl, whick together honey, lime juice, chili powder, garlic powder & salt. add shredded chicken to the lime mixture. let sit 10 minutes.
in a 9x13 pan pour 3/4 of the bottle of salsa verde, just to cover the bottle of the pan. reserve the rest.
take each flour tortilla & fill with a chicken & cheese. a couple of tablespoons of each. roll up & place, seam side down in the salsa verde. repeat process until all tortillas are filled.
after you remove all of the chicken, there will be remaining lime sauce in the bowl. to that sauce, add heavy cream & the remaining salsa verde. pour this mixture over the filled enchilada & cover with all the remaining cheese.
bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until cheese is brown & bubbly.
serve with sweet rice.

sweet pepper rice

3 TBSP butter
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup long grain white rice
3 cups chicken stock

in a large saute pan, melt butter & add onion & pepper. cook until soft & onion is translucent. add cilantro & salt & garlic powder, cook another minute. add rice & brown. watch closely as not to burn.
dissolve sugar into chicken stock. when completely dissolve, add to rice. bring to a simmer, turn to low & cover. cook covered for 30 minutes. fluff with fork.

Creamy Spinach and Chicken Enchiladas

1 cup chopped onion (I used green onions)
3 cloves garlic (you can substitute garlic powder)
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded
3 cups fresh spinach
1 cup sour cream or cream cheese
1 can enchilada sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
12 tortillas-corn or flour
Add 1 T olive oil to pan, cook onions and garlic until softened then add spinach till slightly wilted. Add cream cheese, sour cream and 1 cup cheese cook until melted, then add shredded chicken and mix well.
Spoon chicken mixture into tortillas and roll up. Place in 9×13 pan. Top with sauce and cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 for about 25 minutes.