I love finding new recipes and trying them out so it might sound weird to tell you that my favorite way to cook is without a recipe. There is just a bit more joy of creatively adding ingredients that, once completed, is a yummy concoction all your own. I also hate to measure and of course carefully read over all those directions! The secret to cooking without a recipe is taking foods and flavors you love along with the background knowledge of some favorite recipes to create your own mix. Did I explain that well? Well here is a dinner I made last night with no recipe cards in front of me. Cooking goes so much faster this way too! I made this entire dinner in about 20 minutes. I got some help getting it to the table though! Mark said my prego brain was in full swing last night and he was confused on the course of my cooking!! Of course I will give you the approximate recipe that I used, but once you get the hang of it feel free to go with the flow and create your own recipe off of mine!
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| chef in training taste testing... |
Chicken Quesadillas (I love making Quesadillas. They are as simple as grilled cheese... Mexican style!)
- Chopped cooked chicken (left-over chicken is great, but last night I just cut up some chicken into strips and cooked it in a skillet with a little olive oil and Monteray seasoning)
- Shredded Mexican style or cheddar cheese
- Chopped red onion
- Chopped cilantro
- Soft tortillas (I use the whole wheat kind found in the dairy section usually by the eggs)
- Sour cream- optional
- Guacamole- optional
- Salsa- optional
Once chicken is cooked and other ingredients are chopped your ready to assemble. It is kind of like making a pizza. Place chicken, onion and cilantro on tortilla and cover with cheese. Add another tortilla on top and place in a large skillet on low to medium low heat. Let cheese melt and tortilla toast, flipping after a few minutes to cook both sides. You can place the lid of the skillet on top to help cook.
Black bean and Corn Salad
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
- Equal parts frozen corn, thawed, to black beans
- Chopped red onion- chop enough for the quesadillas and salad at once
- Chopped cilantro- same as onion
- 3 Roma tomatoes chopped
- Juice of one lime
- Juice of one lemon
- Olive oil- eye ball how much, probably about 2-4 Tbs.
- Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix. Taste to see if you need more salt, pepper, oil or citrus juices. I like a lot of fresh lemon and lime juice. I think I may have added extra lime last night.
Guacamole (I know there are so many more fancy ways to make guacamole, but I love just making it simple with lots of citrus juice!! I am telling you this recipe with 4 avocados because our family can devour guacamole like there is no tomorrow, but the recipe can be adapted using fewer such as 2)
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| my avocados were a little over ripe therefore the guacamole is not as green but still tasty! |
- 4 avocados
- Juice of one large lemon
- Juice of one large lime
- Some garlic powder
- Ground red pepper
- Chili Powder
- Salt and pepper
Sorry, I have no idea on the measurements of the spices because I always just add a little and taste until I get it just right. You may want to add more lime or lemon juice too so buy extra! Some times I do.
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