bbq chicken sandwich

This sandwich recipe comes from the April 2012 issue of Cooking Light magazine.  It is made super fast by using a cooked rotisserie chicken.  I made ours open-face and topped with some flash pickled red onion.  http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/barbecue-chicken-sandwiches-50400000120689/

The side dish of is lemony sugar snap peas.  I just quickly sauteed some shallots in olive oil, added the peas and cooked briefly before adding some lemon juice. 

santa fe, nm farmers market

The colors, scents, and sounds of the vibrant Santa Fe Farmers Market are great to experience!  It feels like a concentrated bit of summer in the railyard.

summer market fresh salad & dessert

Taking advantage of the wonderful fruits and vegetables available at the local Farmers Markets, I flash-pickled some red onion to strew atop a Bibb lettuce salad.  I also included chopped tomato in the vinaigrette dressing and crumbled blue cheese on top.  For dessert I made a fresh peach upside down cake - basically just substituting peaches where I would normally use pineapple. 

pasta with garlic scape pesto

I really enjoyed the garlic scapes from the Farmers Market this spring and made some pesto to freeze and enjoy later.  For this dish I pan sauteed some chicken tenders, red and yellow bell peppers to toss with pasta and some of the garlic scape pesto. 

black bean enchiladas

These are time intensive but oh so tasty.  First I cook up a pot of black beans and then make them into a sauce - basically like thin refried beans.  Then I dip corn tortillas into the hot bean sauce to soften and coat; fold in quarters and place on the plate.  I pour a bit more of the bean sauce on top and garnish with white onion, parsley, chorizo, tomatillo salsa, and crumbled queso fresco.

pork soft tacos

I did a dry rub containing cumin on a pork tenderloin and grilled it, mixed sour cream with chipotle for a topping, and also made a black bean & corn salsa so these were delicious Cumin-Coated Pork Soft Tacos with Chipotle Cream and Black Bean/Corn Salsa.  The side dish was a sugar snap pea salad - just raw sugar snap peas thinly sliced on the bias and dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. 

margaritas and tacos, with a twist

We started with blueberry-basil margaritas, then grilled chicken & veggie soft tacos (with a side of slaw to add some extra tang), and finished with blueberry mousse.