Tortilla Soup ~ by Sarah

I found this recipe on Pinterest after wanting to find a good soup to take to Mom's for Christmas Eve.  It was definitely delicious!  I did all the prep work that morning, so putting it together was really easy.  It smelled wonderful while it was cooking and tasted even better!

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup diced onion
¼ cup diced green bell pepper
¼ cup red bell pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (10 oz. can) Rotel Tomatoes And Green Chilies
32 ounces, fluid low sodium chicken stock
3 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups hot water
2 cans (15 oz. can) black beans, drained
3 tablespoons cornmeal or masa
5 whole corn tortillas, cut into uniform strips around 2 to 3 inches

Garnishes:
sour cream
diced avocado
diced red onion
salsa or pico de gallo
grated Monterey Jack cheese
fresh cilantro

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cumin, chili pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on chicken breasts, then sprinkle a small amount of spice mix on both sides. Set aside the rest of the spice mix. Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Use two forks to shred chicken. Set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add onions, red pepper, green pepper, and minced garlic. Stir and begin cooking, then add the rest of the spice mix. Stir to combine, then add shredded chicken and stir. Pour in Rotel, chicken stock, tomato paste, water, and black beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered. Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water. Pour into the soup, then simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Check seasonings, adding more if needed---add more chili powder if it needs more spice, and be sure not to undersalt. Turn off heat and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Five minutes before serving, gently stir in tortilla strips. Ladle into bowls, then top with sour cream, diced red onion, diced avocado, pico de gallo, and grated cheese. (The garnishes really make the soup delicious.)

(Not my picture...)

Beef Taco Bake~by Kelsey

I found this in my Campbell's Classic Recipes cook book.  I made it according to directions and it was good, but we all agreed that next time I should add beans and/or corn.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 oz) Condensed Tomato Soup
1 cup thick salsa or picante sauce
1/2 cup milk
6 flour or corn tortillas (small size), cut into 1 inch piecies
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

(Again, I would add a can of kidney or black beans, or some frozen corn, as well.)

In a medium skillet, cook ground beef until brown.  Add soup, salsa, milk, tortillas, and HALF of the cheese.  Spoon into 2-qt shallow baking dish.  Cover.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Taco Bake ~ by Sarah

I got this recipe from Tasty Kitchen. I LOVED it! I love all things bread and this has a bread-like crust. It was easy, too!

Ingredients:
FOR THE CRUST:
1/2 cup crushed corn chips (like Fritos)
2 cups flour
1 package (7g packet) yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons minced fresh onion
3/4 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup very warm (not hot) water
2 Tablespoons oil

FOR THE FILLING:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 envelope taco seasoning
water (amount according to taco seasoning packet's directions)

Directions:
Put crushed corn chips, flour, yeast, sugar, minced onion and salt in a food processor bowl. Pulse a few times to combine.  (Note: Next time I make this, I'm going to add a tablespoon or so of taco seasoning to give the crust a little more flavor.)

With processor running, add the warm water and oil in a thin, steady stream to the dry ingredients. Keep pulsing and mixing until the dough forms a ball.

Grease a deep, 9-inch cake pan or spring-form pan.

Press the dough evenly over the bottom and at least a couple of inches up the sides. This is a yeast dough and, while it doesn’t rise a lot, it’ll get puffy. You’re going to fill this shell with taco meat and want to give the dough room enough to puff and also to hold the meat.

Put it aside in a warm area, cover it with a towel and let it rise anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 hours.

About 20 minutes before baking, cook the hamburger and chopped onion. When the onion is translucent and the meat no longer pink, drain the fat and add taco seasoning and water.

Simmer 7-10 minutes, uncovered, then gently pour into the waiting dough shell.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until crust is a nice golden brown.

Top with anything you’d put on a taco: grated cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomato or avocado.

Zucchini and Corn Tacos ~ by Molly

Quick disclaimer: Your husband will notice the lack of meat. Your kids will notice the abundance of onions and vegetables. You will notice that these don't account for a day's worth of Weight Watchers Points (probably).

I based this recipe on one I found on Self.com and it is AMAZING. The picture is from their website, not my kitchen. You'll notice they included tomatoes, which I'm not a fan of, so I left out. They also didn't toast their corn and chopped the zucchini much finer that I like. Honestly, it's plenty filling and flavorful without meat, but you could easily add thinly sliced steak, if you can't go meatless for one meal. The recipe in the link says it feeds 4, but since I live alone, the recipe I wrote below is enough for my dinner and enough leftovers for lunch the next day.

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 zucchini, course chopped
1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup canned corn, drained
Oregano, salt and pepper, to taste
Corn or Flour Tortillas
Salsa
Cheese
Sour Cream

Heat olive oil, add onions and cook until caramelized. Add garlic and zucchini and cook until the zucchini is tender. Add corn and cook, stirring occasionally until toasted. Add black beans, oregano, salt and pepper, and cook until everything is warm. Heat tortillas and assemble with remaining ingredients. I'm going to assume you all know how to do that part...

Restaurant-Style Salsa ~ by Sarah

This is another Pioneer Woman recipe.  Get over it, Molly.  Yes, I'm her stalker.  But I like her recipes.  The ingredients aren't weird, the recipes are usually pretty simple, and they usually involve lots of butter.

This salsa was SUPER easy to make and is delicious.  My favorite part?  No chopping tons and tons of tomatoes!

**EDIT 4/24/2010--Wes and I ate at Casa el Mirador tonight.  We have always loved their salsa.  Tonight we decided that this salsa is way better.  We've been eating gallons of the stuff since I posted this recipe!

Ingredients:

1 can (28 ounce) whole tomatoes, undrained
2 cans (10 ounce) Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilies) *Note--you'd think these would be in the Mexican aisle, but at Fred Meyer they're in the tomato aisle. 
1/4 c. chopped onion (Do you have a Vidalia Chop Wizard?  If you don't, get one.  It will change your chopping life!)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole jalapeno, quartered and sliced thinly
1/4 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground cumin
1/2-1 c. cilantro (depending on your love for the stuff)
the juice of 1/2 large or 1 small lime

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender.  Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you like--about 10 to 15 pulses.  Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as necessary.  (You might think it needs a little more salt.)  Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.