Chicken Fajita Bowl

This dish was inspired by my craving for chicken fajitas and my lack of motivation to go to the store and pick up tortillas. This recipe serves 4 (perfect for tonight's dinner and tomorrow's lunches).



Ingredients
2 chicken breasts sliced
2 peppers sliced (red & orange)
1 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tomato chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 lime zest and juice
1 tbsp chopped pickled jalapenos
2 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
Saute the garlic in a hot skillet until fragrant. Add cumin, chili powder, lime juice, lime zest and chicken and stir until coated and cooked through. Add onions, peppers, jalapenos and tomatoes and saute until tender crisp. Stir in sour cream to create a sauce. Serve over rice and top with cheddar cheese and extra sour cream.

This was a very good concoction. When I stirred everything together in my bowl it looked like this...YUM!!

Jerked Pork Tenderloin with Rice and Peas

I happen to love the 'Memories of..." sauces from Loblaws. I know I usually like to make sauces from scratch, but I have my exceptions, especially on weeknights. For this quick and easy Caribbean supper, I picked up a 'Memories of Montego Bay' jerk sauce and marinated a 1.25lb pork tenderloin with it in a large Ziploc bag. I baked it for 45 minutes in a 375 degree oven. I served this with some rice and peas cooked in the rice cooker. Here's the recipe for the EASY rice and peas.

(I didn't really plate this nicely because I was hungry and in a rush!)


Ingredients
3 cups of rice
1 can of kidney beans
3 cloves of garlic crushed
1 chili (You're supposed to use a habanero pepper, but I only had a thai chili, so I used that)
2 tbsp minced onion
1 cup of coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
2 teaspoons of dried thyme

Put everything into a rice cooker and wait until the light goes off!
I would have served this with some fried plantain if I had more time.

Baked Maple Dijon Salmon with Tomato Rice Salad

I am definitely not a picky eater, but for the longest time, I did not like salmon. But I kept on trying it because it looks so beautiful and appetizing on a plate. One night we went to our friends' Sam and Jeff's house for dinner and Jeff cooked maple glazed salmon on the BBQ. I loved the sweet maple taste and found it toned down the strong flavour of the salmon. Amanda still laughs at me for this because when I was at her house for a bbq one summer, I poured maple syrup all over the beautiful salmon she made. Luckily the taste of salmon has grown on me a little more and I won't have to drench it in maple syrup. Here's a more sophisticated way to eat salmon with maple syrup. It's super quick and easy too!



Baked Maple Dijon Salmon

Ingredients
2 fillets salmon
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3 tsp maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
freshly ground pepper
sesame seeds

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Lay salmon on foil lined baking sheet skin side down.
Mix Dijon mustard, maple syrup and soy sauce together in a small bowl and brush mixture over salmon.
Sprinkle with pepper and sesame seeds.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until salmon is cooked through.

Tomato Mushroom and Rice Salad

Ingredients
2 cups leftover cooked rice
6 small button mushrooms diced
1 tomato diced
2 tbsp minced onion
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp dill
salt and pepper

Directions
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. (If it has the chance to rest in the fridge for a little bit, all the better.) Serve alongside baked salmon. Enjoy!

Fried Rice

Fried rice is probably one of Sharl's favourite comfort foods that I make. I usually use whatever I have on hand to make fried rice. Today it was shrimp, eggs, asparagus, celery, carrots and onions. You can always use chicken, Chinese BBQ pork (cha-siu), ham, shrimp, or any combination of meats and vegetables that you like.



To make Chinese food at home, you should always keep the following key items (at a minimum) in your pantry:

Light soy sauce (I use Pearl River brand)
Chinese cooking wine
Oyster sauce
Sesame oil
Red Vinegar (not used in this recipe)

Ingredients:
10 small shrimp defrosted
1 celery rib diced
6 baby carrots diced
6 asparagus spears cut into 1cm pieces
1/2 small onion diced
2 cups cooked rice (day old rice is best)
2 eggs lightly beaten

Directions:
Chinese food is cooked on high heat, so ensure that all of your ingredients are prepared and set aside ready to throw in the hot wok/pan.
Heat 1-2 tsp cooking oil in a large frying pan or wok on high heat until smoking.
Throw in the chopped veggies and stirfry until softened. (2 mins)
Add shrimp and cook until they turn pink (1 min)
Add about 1 tbsp of chinese cooking wine and continue stiring until the wine starts steaming and evaporating.
Add rice and mix everything together.
Pour eggs over the rice and keep stirring so that everthing gets coated and the eggs cook through.
Add soy sauce to taste (about 1 tsp)
Add about 1 tbsp of oyster sauce.
Mix well and season with salt if needed.
Turn off heat and drizzle with sesame oil before giving the fried rice a final stir.