Avocado Chile Toast is super simple and kinda special as well as nutritious. You can make countless variations on it for an interesting appetizer tray
Avocado Chile Toast is very simple to make, yet can make a special appetizer that’s tasty and nutritious. You can really use your creativity here and come up with countless variations. Above you see the one in front topped with black olives and green onions. On the right we have one with tomato slices drizzled with balsamic reduction. The one in back has chopped radishes and green onions.
I have to explain the one on the left – it has a dark paste spread on top. That’s my balsamic chile spread. I put a cup of green chiles and a cup of balsamic reduction in the blender and blended it smooth. It tastes really good, but I haven’t figured out all the things I can do with it yet. I might want to experiment with adding some seasonings. It was great on top of the avocado toast. Basically I had extra balsamic reduction and extra chiles, so I couldn’t resist trying it. This is my inner mad scientist conducting experiments….
I think it’s important to use good bread for this, like a coarse, crusty whole grain bread – I used a Simple Truth Cranberry Batard from King Soopers. Perfect.
If you look at other Avocado Toast recipes, many add lemon or lime juice, more like a guacamole. I didn’t want that – I like having the avocado and chile flavors stand out. One great thing about this recipe is that you could easily come up with dozens of variations just by experimenting with the toppings … and it’s so easy!
Peel and seed avocados and place in a large bowl. Use a potato masher to mash into an almost smooth, slightly chunky consistency. Blend in garlic powder, salt and green chiles.
Toast bread and set aside.
Spread each piece of toast with the avocado mixture. Top each with your choice of toppings.
* For balsamic reduction, pour 1 cup of balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan. Bring to boiling, then reduce temperature and simmer for 10-15 minutes until it's about ⅓ the volume.
Cilantro Lime Pulled Pork is a spicy, tangy version of classic Southern pulled pork with that distinct flavor of lime and cilantro together – not quite like anything else.
Cilantro Lime Pulled Pork is my own version of classic Southern pulled pork with that distinctive Southwestern taste that you get when you combine cilantro and lime. I actually started with my Spicy Carolina Pulled Pork recipe. I’ve used that recipe for about a half dozen variations. It’s ideal for that – great flavor and very easy to make . One way I tend to vary is is using different combinations of fruit juices.
There are 3 ways to cook this: in a Dutch oven baked in the oven, in a slow cooker, or in an Instant Pot (pressure cooker). I made this one in the Instant Pot, but it comes out about the same no matter which method you use. It’s pretty much infallible.
After serving, hopefully there’s some left over. Plus it produces about a quart of bbq broth. I like to brown the pulled pork in a skillet to get it sort of crusty – I just like the texture when it’s browned. Then I pour on some of the liquid (about 1 part liquid to 4 parts pulled pork) and cook it just till liquid is absorbed. You don’t have to do this – it’s just a matter of preference. I generally freeze the leftovers, putting the pulled pork in freezer bags or plastic tubs and the broth in separate containers. That way, when I thaw it and fry it up in a skillet, adding the broth right before serving helps me control the flavor and crispiness; it seem as fresh as when it was first made.
There are so many possible variations – you might see how limited the store bought kind can be.
Mix the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle dry rub all over the pork roast, pressing into the pork. Cover with a plastic bag or wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Combine the orange juice, lime juice, Worcestershire, liquid smoke, garlic powder and serrano chiles. Pour into a blender and add the cilantro; blend on high about 15-30 seconds until fairly well blended. There may still be specks of chiles and cilantro but no big chunks.
Whichever cooking method you use, it helps if the pot is just a little bigger around than the roast. A 5 to 6 quart Instant Pot or round slow cooker is perfect. This is just so the roast is absorbing the flavor of the liquid. Alternatively, you can baste the roast with the liquid every half hour or so.
Dutch oven method: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place pork in the Dutch oven, pour the liquid over the top, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and then place the lid on top. Roast for 4 hours or until fork tender and shreds easily. Brush the roast with cooking liquid every half hour or so.
Instant Pot method: Place roast in at least a 5 quart Instant Pot. Pour the liquid mixure on top. Pressure cook per Instant Pot directions for 70 minutes, then allow to naturally depressurize completely.
Slow Cooker Method: Place in at least a 5 quart slow cooker. Pour the liquid mixture on top and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours until fork tender.
Remove the roast from the Dutch oven, Instant Pot, or slow cooker and let stand until cool enough to handle. Shred the pork with a fork or tongs into bite sized pieces and place on a serving dish. Pour the liquid into a separate pitcher or bowl so people can add some to their shredded pork.
Optional: If you like the shredded pork crispy around the edges, brown it in a skillet and pour on a small amount of the liquid; then cook a bit more until liquid is absorbed. This is my favorite way to serve it - bursting with flavor and a more interesting texture.
Parmesan Chile Crisps are super easy tasty and unusual appetizers – just 2 ingredients and only takes minutes to make
These Parmesan Chile Crisps are not just really tasty and easy, but they were fun to experiment with. This version is my very first experiment. The basic recipe is just about a tablespoon of shredded parmesan cheese on a cookie sheet baked for 5 minutes at 400 degrees. That’s it, it’s that simple. Well, I’ve made many recipes with parmesan cheese and green chiles, and they go together like soup and sandwich. It’s hard to mess that up.
You start with good shredded parmesan; I used BelGioioso Parmesan Romano. It comes in a 2 lb bag at Costco. In this case, I used diced green chiles that were sitting in their liquid. Each one is a tablespoon of parmesan placed on the cookie sheet. You pat each one down so it’s a layer instead of a mound (or it will be gooey on the inside and crisp on the outside). Then I took a tweezer and placed one piece of diced chile at a time on top of each flattened pile of cheese. You see how these are brown on the outside and yellow (and soft) on the inside? The more chile juice there is on each piece of chile, the softer and more melted the inside of each crisp will be. If you want each crisp to be mostly brown and crisp, then put the diced chiles on a paper towel before you place them on top of the parmesan cheese. Personally, I like them either way. I think having them soft in the middle makes them seem more like appetizers; when the whole thing is crisp, these seem more crackers.
You bake these for all of 5 minutes – really infallible. And very yummy! But they are also fragile. You’ll can’t use them like a tortilla chip for scooping up guacamole – they’ll break. You might get away with putting a bit of guac on top of each one, though.
This is just the start of my experiments with parmesan crisps – I’ve already come up with over a half dozen variations. Stay tuned and I’ll be publishing others!
Simple appetizer made with just parmesan cheese and diced green chiles
Author: Anita
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Southwestern
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup diced green chiles
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Lightly coat a nonstick cookie sheet with cooking spray.
For each crisp, scoop 1 tbsp of parmesan cheese and place it on the cookie sheet with about 2 inches between each. Flatten each one so that they are about 3 inches in diameter. You'll be able to see the cookie sheet though small holes in each one.
For crispier crisps, drain the chiles and put them on a paper towel first. Using chiles that are sitting in chile juice will give you crisps with softer middles.
With a tweezer or knife, place pieces of chile on top of each crisp; I used about 4 pieces per crisp, but you can use as many as you want.
Bake 4-5 minutes, keeping your eye on them and taking them out when they are brown around the edges and starting to brown toward the center.
Green Chile Sauce with Bacon is a classic New Mexico green chili with tomato, a smokey taste, and that special touch of bacon, ideal for smothering or by itself
Green Chile Sauce with Bacon is one of my go-to green chiles that is great either for smothering burritos or meats like pork or chicken or just in a bowl by itself, maybe with cheese on top. It seems so common to have green chile sauce with pork and sometimes chicken, that I thought a bacon variation would be awesome. It’s a really nice version – the combination with that hint of worcestershire goes together well. The flavor is distinctly different from more mainstream versions of green chile sauces.
In the photo, you can see it served on top of a pork loin. I used a Member’s Mark 2 1/2 lb pork loin filet from Sam’s Club (or Walmart); it’s a “prepper crusted pork loin filet wrapped in applewood smoked bacon.” I roasted in in the oven exactly per the directions, and then sliced it and poured the Green Chile Sauce with Bacon over each serving. Nice and bacony! It was a perfect pork loin for this sauce. It’s a no-fail, brain-dead easy way to make a good pork loin.
I’d use this sauce over just about anything – chicken, pork, meatloaf, burritos, eggs, nachos, whatever. Plus you can always freeze it. I generally keep several tubs or freezer bags of green chili and green chile sauce in my freezer all the time. It comes in handy at unexpected times. I’ve had friends show up and ask for green chili (or nachos, quesadillas, whatever) and I can serve something special in minutes.
An easy, smokey and spicy green chile sauce ideal for smothering meats or burritos and also good in a bowl by itself.
Author: Anita
Recipe type: sauce
Cuisine: Southwestern
Serves: 5 cups
Ingredients
8 slices bacon
¼ cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups water
2 cups diced mild or medium roasted green chile
1 14.5 oz can diced or stewed tomatoes
1 tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in ¼ c water
additional salt and white pepper to taste
Instructions
Brown the bacon over medium heat in a large pot or high-sided skillet until starting to crisp; remove bacon onto a paper towel and pour off all but about a tablespoon of bacon fat.
Cook onion a few minutes until soft, then add the garlic and cook another minute.
Still over medium heat, add the water, green chiles, tomatoes, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Crumble the bacon into small bits and add. Add the cornstarch, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes more; the sauce should be thickened, but pourable.
Serve warm with burritos, enchiladas, eggs, nachos, or by itself as a stew.
Keeps well in the fridge for 3-4 days and freezes well.
Bacon Chile Potato Bites are a bite sized version of twice baked potatoes (sort of) loaded with sour cream, bacon, green chiles, and sharp cheddar. Super yummy, always a hit!
If you want a killer party appetizer or an easy potato side dish, try these Bacon Chile Potato Bites. They are basically a bite-sized version of loaded baked potatoes, except I didn’t bake them; I steamed them (love my steamer!). I used small red potatoes about the size of small plums or apricots. Note you can easily adapt this recipe for full-sized potatoes; just measure the potato that you scoop out and adjust all the proportions accordingly. These are great for a party appetizer. About 3 of them make a good side dish at dinner. These freeze very well – you just reheat in a microwave and serve.
I like to serve these with salsa and guacamole. This dish just goes so well with Southwestern foods it belongs on a taco buffet or a Mexican pot luck. If you have kids, you might want to make extra and freeze them in small batches so they’re easy to serve at a moment’s notice.
This is definitely a comfort food and not a diet dish – hope you like them!
Small potatoes loaded with cheese, sour cream, bacon, and chiles - yummy!
Author: Anita
Recipe type: Side dish or appetizer
Cuisine: Southwestern
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 lb small potatoes (~12, apricot or plum size)
3 strips bacon
½ cup sour cream, or to taste
½ cup diced mild or medium green chiles
1½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1-2 tbsp diced green chiles for garnish
optional: for mashed potato rather than baked potato consistency, blend in milk to get desired consistency
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°.
Lightly spray 8"x8" or 9"x9" baking dish with cooking spray
Steam or slow boil the potatoes, covered, for 30-45 minutes until soft. Remove from pot and set aside to cool.
While potatoes cook, fry bacon strips until just starting to crisp. Put on paper towels to drain.Save the bacon fat. When cool, crumble into pieces roughly ¼ inch and smaller.
When potatoes have cooled, cut each in half; then scoop potato out of each half with a spoon or large mellon baller leaving about ¼ inch of potato. Put the potato insides into a medium bowl. You should have about 1½ cups of potato. You'll have about 2 dozen potato skin cups to fill.
Add 1-2 tbsp of the bacon fat and sour cream to the potatoes and mash together with potato masher or mixer. Blend in the salt, pepper, green chiles and about half the bacon. If you want a smoother texture, add milk to get desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed.
With a spoon, fill the potato skin cups and place them into the baking dish. Top with the shredded cheese, remaining bacon pieces and green chiles.
Bake about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and starting to lightly brown.
Serve and enjoy!
These keep well in the fridge and can be reheated in a microwave. They also freeze well.
Chipotle Maple Mayonnaise is a tangy spicy sauce that adds an awesome kick to all kinds of dishes – french fries, hamburger, chicken wings, veggies, soups – it goes way beyond traditional mayo
Chipotle Maple Mayonnaise may sound like mayonnaise, but as you see it served in the photo, it is actually a sauce that kicks up many different dishes big time. In the photo, I’m serving it on miniature crabcakes (from Costco). It’s also great on burgers, sandwiches, fries, veggies, lots of things. It has an amazing spicy tangy flavor. My initial thoughts after trying this is that it’s perfect as a wing sauce. If you like your wing sauce super spicy, I’d probably double the chipotle powder (to taste); but this was a good level of spicy-tangy for me. The maple flavor is subtle; you may not realize it has maple syrup in it.
This is not as thick and spreadlike as typical mayo; unlike mayo it can be poured but is somewhat thick. If you want it thicker and more like mayo, just cut the lime juice in half. It will be a little less tangy but still very tasty and more like a spread. Also the flavors blend more as they sit.
This will keep a few months in the fridge, so you may want to make a bigger batch and use it on sandwiches, omelettes, game day snacks, whatever. For me this is a real keeper because I always have the ingredients and it takes 5 minutes to whip up something that can add special pizazz to all kinds of snacks, appetizers, and main dishes. Try it and let me know how you like it.
Turkey Fajitas are a quick, super easy, healthy way to use leftover turkey from that big Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Easy to scale and throw together in 5 minutes.
Turkey Fajitas are probably my favorite way to use leftover turkey, easy, healthy, and really tasty. When I cut leftover turkey up, I shred lots of it and generally mix the dark meat and light. I like to pack it up in 1 cup plastic bags and freeze it for later use. So this recipe uses 1 cup of turkey, about right for 2 servings and you just multiply the recipe for more servings.
This is a very forgiving recipe – the only proportion I think is really worth paying attention to is the 3 tablespoons of Chili Lime Hot Sauce per 1 cup turkey. That gives a nice robust flavor that’s not very hot so it’s a good foundation. I used O Organics Chili Lime Hot Sauce, the Safeway brand. The Cholula brand is also good. I might use more or less bell pepper and onion in proportion. The first time I made this I actually used about twice as much onion and pepper and served the fajita on top of a salad. It makes a great salad; top it with tortilla chips if you want that restaurant flair. [Note: Chili Lime Hot Sauce is one of those staples that’s good to keep on hand!]
I’ve also packed up the leftover cooked fajita mixture and frozen it. It reheats well. If you want this dish spicier, you can increase the green chiles or the hot sauce, and it’s also good with cumin and chili powder added to taste. It’s a good recipe to experiment with – hard to mess up. Hope you like it!
Easy healthy way to use leftover turkey, flexible and infallible.
Author: Anita
Recipe type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Southwestern
Serves: 2 servings
Ingredients
1 cup leftover shredded turkey
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp O Organics Chili Lime Hot Sauce
1 small onion cut in strips (1/2 cup)
½ red bell pepper cut in strips
½ green bell pepper cut in strips
¼ cup diced green chiles
4 6 inch flour tortillas
fresh lime slices, sour cream, guacamole or avocado slices, shredded lettuce for garnish
Instructions
In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil for a minute, then add the turkey. Pour on Chili Lime Hot Sauce and stir in. Add the onion and bell pepper and saute for about 5 minutes over medium high heat, stirring every 30 seconds or so.
Cook until peppers are getting soft and charred in places and turkey has some crispy parts. Stir in the green chiles.
At this point, if you want it spicier, add more hot sauce, green chiles or spices (chili powder or cumin) to taste.
Serve on flour tortillas with desired garnishes (sour cream, guacamole, lime slices, tomato, etc)
Spicy Apricot Stuffing is a classic turkey stuffing with tangy sweet bits of dried apricot, medium hot green chiles, and sliced almonds – a tasty variation.
Classic turkey stuffing is great, but I love experimenting with variations that have bits of tangy sweet fruit, crunchy nuts, and just a bit of heat and chile flavor from one of my favorite chiles, the Big Jim; that’s exactly what we have with this Spicy Apricot Stuffing. Plus it’s super easy as it’s just a stuffing mix prepared per the directions , then adding the apricots, almonds, and diced green chiles. Easy peasy and rather elegant. For this recipe, I used one box of Mrs. Cubbison’s Stuffing Mix.
In this case, I prepared the stuffing per the directions, then divided it in two and added the apricots, almonds, and chiles just to one half. Why? Well, some folks just gotta have classic stuffing. They just don’t go for messing with tradition. Well, it’s very easy to accommodate them with this recipe. Did I taste the traditional. Oh, yeah, and it was good; but I’ve gotten to the point where I really prefer stuffing that has some interesting contrasts like this. Needless to say, it all got eaten.
I used just a cup of the Big Jim chiles. That’s the right amount to get some heat and chile flavor without it coming out hot. I thought it was just right. You can always blend in some chiles and taste it to get the right amount before stuffing the turkey.
You might want to experiment with this like I did. Hope you like it!
Spicy, nutty, tangy sweet version of classic turkey stuffing - for 8 to 15 lb turkey - double for larger turkey.
Author: Anita
Recipe type: Side dish
Cuisine: American
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 12 oz package Mrs. Cubbison's Traditional Stuffing mix *
1 cup butter
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onion
1 cup chicken broth
1½ cup chopped dried apricots
1½ cup sliced almonds
1 cup diced medium hot green chiles (Big Jim)
*note - other brands stuffing mix are ok, just include celery & onion when following directions
Instructions
Prepare stuffing mix per directions on the box; this means cooking celery and onion in butter until soft, then adding chicken broth and seasoned bread cubes.
Stir in the dried apricots, almonds, and green chiles.
Stuff the turkey with the stuffng and roast turkey per directions.
After removing turkey from oven, scoop stuffing out, place in shallow baking dish and return to oven for about 20 minutes to lightly brown and crisp it on top.
An unusual, tasty, slightly hot take on classic mashed potatoes with a smooth silky texture
Silky Garlic Chile Mashed Potatoes are definitely an usual, but very tasty garlicy version of mashed potatoes. The green color comes primarily from the green chiles but a little bit from the avocado. It’s got a nice garlicy flavor with a bit of heat and chile flavor from the chiles, rounded out to make it more of a Southwestern flavor with some cumin. If you blend it smooth in a food processor like I did, you’ll find it’s very different from traditional mashed potatoes. The texture immediately struck me as “silky” and I didn’t even detect a potato flavor even though it’s mainly potatoes. You might not even recognize that you’re eating potatoes. I think it would make a great addition to a Thanksgiving feast, but if your family expects mashed potatoes, you might want to serve the classic version also.
One thing about the texture – if you increase the amount of avocado, you’ll start getting a slimy texture. I don’t like a slimy texture. This amount of 1 avocado for 4 lbs of potatoes is pretty good and gives you a silky texture that is clearly different from typical mashed potatoes. If you want a classic mashed potato texture, cut the avocado in half or eliminate it and don’t use a food processor – use a potato masher or mixer instead.
Personally, I’ll definitely make this again and again; plus I’ll experiment with some variations. I actually made a meal out of a big bowl of my first creation of my Silky Garlic Chile Mashed Potatoes; I can’t say it was a balanced, nutritious meal, but it was sure satisfying!
A silky-smooth, garlicy, slightly hot version of classic mashed potatoes.
Author: Anita
Recipe type: Vegetable
Cuisine: Southwestern
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
4 lbs potatoes, peeled & cut in large chunks
2 tsp chicken bouillon
8 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tbsp butter
1 avocado, peeled & seeded
½ cup diced mild or medium green chiles
½ cup sour cream
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground cumin
~ ¼ cup milk, or to desired consistency
salt & pepper to taste
additional sour cream & butter to taste, if desired
Instructions
Place the peeled potato chunks in a large saucepan, add water just to cover, add the chicken bouillon, and cover. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to just below boiling; cook just until soft, about 20 minutes or so. Test with a knife to make sure they're soft.
Sautee the garlic in the butter over medium heat just until soft, about 2 minutes. Set aside.
Place the avocado, chiles, sour cream, cumin, and sauteed garlic in a food processor. If you are making the potatoes to serve hot immediately, heat this avocado sour cream mixture in a microwave or sauce pan. Also heat the milk. Otherwise, you'll want to microwave the finished dish to serve hot.
For a smooth version, blend this avocado sour cream mixture with the potatoes in a food processor. You may have to do it in batches to fit in the food processor.
For a chunkier version, use a potato masher; mash the potatoes with some of the milk and then blend in the sour cream mixture.
Kale with Shredded Pork can be a one-dish meal – full of flavor, nutrition, tasty pork … satisfying!
Kale with Shredded Pork may not be the most exciting name, but this is my idea of a great one-dish meal. Very easy to make, tasty, nutritious, and really satisfying. It’s a variation of a kind of dish I really like a lot – vegetables and seasonings sauteed up in a skillet with some kind of meat. I’ve done entrees similar to this with chicken. I made this with shredded pork that I had been using in tacos and burritos. Yeah, I might put this in a tortilla, but with less kale in proportion to the pork.
For this particular recipe, I used already cooked shredded pork from the store. There are many brands that are very good, and it’s super easy. I also usually have tubs of my homemade shredded pork in the freezer. These are from my pulled pork recipes – when I freeze my pulled pork, I put the sauce and the shredded pork in different tubs or plastic bags. You can check out my interesting variety of pulled pork recipes here.
Back to this recipe. Sometimes I like to buy a big bag of fresh kale, and I like to make a recipe like this one with about half the bag. If you have ideas for variations on this, I’d love to hear them!
An easy one-dish meal that's tasty and nutritious with fresh kale and shredded pork
Author: Anita
Recipe type: Main dish
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1½ cups shredded cooked pork
3 cloves garlic, sliced
4 cups fresh kale, chopped & rinsed
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1-2 tbsp water (to steam kale)
½ tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp diced green chiles
Instructions
In a large skillet, coat bottom with olive oil and heat to medium high heat. Spread pork over the bottom, add the garlic and sear for about 5 minutes, stirring every minute or two.
Add the kale, balsamic vinegar, water, ginger and chiles. Turn down the heat to medium, cover, and steam for about 5 minutes, stirring once or twice until kale is fully cooked.
If desired, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
