Day 1: A Fresh Gluten-Free Start....Black Bean and Chicken Tacos with Cabbage & Lime Dressing

I broke down. I couldn't stay away much longer or my hubby would have gone on a hunger strike. I haven't exactly been cooking all that much since starting this journey into Gluten-Free territory over 2 months ago. Truth be told I'm still adjusting to the whole having-to-read-every-label-on-the-earth thing. And I still misstep often and end up in agony sometimes but at least now I know what it's from! I have been diagnosed as severely Gluten-Intolerant and I'm still in the process of a diagnosis for Celiac Disease.

Anyway... back to my reason for posting, I was inspired once again by my organic food goodies. I get a nice little 'recipes of the week' list with my bag of goodies and saw this recipe, and I was immediately intrigued. The ingredients were eclectic and happened to include cabbage which I'd been debating for weeks how to use, so I decided to give it a whirl. Except I added my own twist... like I always seem to do. The chicken wasn't in the original recipe and I had some left over from a previous meal that I needed to use, and I'm allergic to Cilantro, so I replaced the original call for Cilantro with chopped Parsley. (Sorry for the cruddy image quality. This was a posting on a whim and pictures weren't taken in natural light, so I'm claiming that as my excuse.)

Black Bean and Chicken Tacos with Cabbage & Lime Dressing
What you'll need:
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained
1/2 c. shredded chicken
1/2 t. ground cumin
5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 T fresh lime juice
2 c chopped cabbage
2 green onions, chopped
1/3 c chopped fresh parsley
4 white or yellow corn tortillas
1/3 c crumbled feta cheese

Place beans and cumin in small bowl; partially mash. Mix 2 teaspoons olive oil and lime juice in medium bowl; add cabbage, green onions, and parsley and toss in a large Ziploc bag, shaking until well coated. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Heat 3 teaspoons olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add tortillas in single layer. Spoon 1/4 of bean mixture and a 1/4 of shredded chicken onto half of each tortilla; cook 1 minute. Fold tacos in half. Cook until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Fill tacos with feta and cabbage mixture. Pass hot sauce alongside. 

Ratings from the Experts*: For me, 10/10. These tacos rival one of my favorite local restaurant's puffy tacos and have a richer flavor than most traditional tacos.

Hubby agreed with me because what he could taste was good, but rendered himself incapable of voting due to a stuffy nose. (Wonderful Oklahoma Weather).

Day 3: Recipe 2- Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

This simple, delicious recipe was given to me by my mother. It's very easy to put together, but is packed with flavor. Two enchiladas was a bit much per person for us and the recipe yields 8 enchiladas, so it's a dish fit for a crowd.

Another wonderful thing about this recipe is that the ingredients are simple enough even if your cupboards are bare (much like mine today), you're likely to be able to scrounge up enough to fix this! This pairs wonderfully with Spanish rice.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
What you'll need:
2 c cooked chicken, cubed
1 can low sodium Cream of Mushroom or Cream of Chicken
8 oz. low fat or fat-free Sour Cream
1 c picante sauce
1 c shredded cheese
2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. oregano
8 fajita size flour tortillas

Mix soup, sour cream, picante sauce, chili powder and oregano in a large bowl. Mix 1 cup of the picante sauce mixture, chicken and cheese. Spread about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture down center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam-side down in a 9 x 13" baking dish. Pour remaining picante sauce mixture over enchiladas and top off with extra cheese if desired. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.



Rating from the Experts*: Hubby rates it 9/10 (he doesn't like any part of the tortillas to be crunchy, preferring it to be completely smothered in sauce- picky, picky!) I say 10/10 for the fact that I would order it on repeated occasions if it was at a restaurant.

Day 2: Salsa Cube Steaks

I raised an eyebrow at my husband when he brought home a package of cube steaks from the grocery store the other day, but I shouldn't be surprised considering the fact that every time I send him somewhere for something he always comes back with more than I asked him to. Most of his extracurricular selections are suspect, but some of them are quite genius and inspire me to search for new recipes. I think this was more of the latter!

I love Mexican food, but I also dislike the effect of beans on my husband so I found a happy medium with this vaguely Mexican concoction. Like anything else, smothering it in cheese makes it better, so I added that to the recipe, but I followed everything else to the letter except for some small preferential things like dicing instead of slicing the veggies.

Salsa Cube Steaks
What you'll need:
1 lb. pkg. cube steaks
1/2 t. ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
8 oz. salsa
2/3 c shredded cheese  (I used taco cheese)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the steaks in a 9 x 13" baking dish season both sides of steaks with cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Scatter diced onion and bell pepper over the steaks, smother with salsa, and cover with foil.

Bake for 30-40 minutes. (I added the cheese about 20 minutes into baking so it wouldn't get overdone.)


Rating from the Experts*: 9/10 It's incredibly quick, simple and smells yummy! The cumin brings out a rich flavor I wasn't expecting. Great when paired with rice (and/or beans if you don't mind the aftereffects).