Southwestern Chicken Tacos

The filling for these Southwestern Chicken Tacos includes corn, black beans, tomatoes, jalapeños, onions and cilantro so, to serve, all you need to add is cheese and the tortillas! (And extra cilantro, if desired.)

We are fans of pretty much any kind of taco in this house. In fact, Tex-Mex recipes of all kinds are popular. My typical taco is made with seasoned ground meat, either beef, pork, turkey or chicken but occasionally I like to be more adventurous and make something that is a little different.

The addition of beans and corn stretch your chicken budget, which is always a good thing, while adding extra protein and flavor, again both always welcome. Don't like black beans? Use your favorite bean instead!

Southwestern Chicken Tacos

This makes enough filling for more than a dozen generously filled tacos. We use either corn tortillas or the half corn/half flour ones my local grocery store sells freshly made in their bakery section, simply toasted in a dry pan over a medium flame. 

Ingredients

For the taco filling: 

1 1/2 lbs or 625g boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced thinly

Fine sea salt 

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups or 300g fresh sweet corn (cut off the cob or substitute frozen niblets)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, cut in thin wedges

2 ripe Roma tomatoes, cored and chopped

1 fresh jalapeño, stem removed, chopped

1 can (15.25oz or 432 g) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon tomato paste 

2 tablespoons taco seasoning

For garnish: small handful cilantro

To serve:

12-15 fresh corn tortillas 

grated extra sharp cheddar or Colby Jack cheese

cilantro, cleaned and hard stems removed (optional)

Method

To make slicing the chicken breasts thinly easier, I put them in the freezer for about half an hour first. This firms them up enough that a sharp knife can make clean cuts. 

Season the chicken lightly with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

In a nonstick skillet, pan-fry the chicken in batches, until slightly golden on both sides. Remove from the pan. 

Tip the corn in and fry until it gets browned, possibly with little charred bits. Add another drizzle of olive oil, if necessary. 

Add in the onions and sauté until they turn translucent and are golden. 

Add in the tomatoes and jalapeño. Stir well. 

Mash half of the black beans with a fork.

Add all the beans (mashed and whole) to the pan with the taco seasoning, tomato paste and 1 cup or 240ml water. Stir well to combine. 

Put all the chicken back in the pan and stir again. Heat to warm through. 

Garnish with some cilantro. Serve with pan-toasted tortillas, grated cheese and extra cilantro and let everyone assemble their own. 

Enjoy! 

Happy Sunday FunDay! As you can guess from the recipe titles below, today we are getting a head start on National Taco Day tomorrow. Why that’s not on a Tuesday, I have no idea but the important thing is that we will be celebrating! There may even be margaritas. ¡Olé! Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm!

• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Ancho Chili Chicken Tacos 
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Breakfast Tacos 
• Making Miracles: Honey BBQ Chicken Tacos 
• Palatable Pastime: Shredded Chipotle Chicken Tacos 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Grilled Tacos 
• Food Lust People Love: Southwestern Chicken Tacos
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Spiced Smashed Potato Tacos with Homemade Purple Corn Tortillas 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Tofu Tikka Tacos

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Cane Syrup Banana Muffins #MuffinMonday

These cane syrup banana muffins have no added sugar. The syrup and ripe bananas make them the perfect amount of sweetness for breakfast or snack time. 

Whenever I have extra of an ingredient that I used to make a specific recipe, it burns a hole in my pantry, rather like extra money in one’s pocket. 

After baking the (extremely popular) gateau sirop aka cane syrup Bundt cake, I decided to use some of the leftover syrup to make muffins. It was a good decision! These were very popular in my house as well. 

Cane Syrup Banana Muffins

If you don’t have cane syrup, you can substitute your favorite syrup or honey with the caveat that maple syrup or honey will add a bit of a different flavor. Both would be good though.

Ingredients

3 cups or 375g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

3 medium sized very ripe bananas (peeled weight: 9 oz or 255g)

1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil

3/4 cup or 180ml Steen's pure cane syrup

1 large egg

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by lining it with paper muffin cups.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Put the bananas into another mixing bowl and mash them with a fork until there are no large lumps.

Add in the oil, cane syrup and egg and whisk until smooth.

Tip the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients bowl and fold until just combined. 

Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes in your preheated oven or until lightly browned and a wooden skewer comes out clean. 

Cool on a wire rack then enjoy! 

It’s the last Monday of the month and in these parts, that means it’s Muffin Monday! Check out all the great muffins my blogger friends are sharing today. 

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Apple Zucchini Muffins
• Jolene's Recipe Journal: Buttermilk Oatmeal Muffins
• Food Lust People Love: Cane Syrup Banana Muffins
• Zesty South Indian Kitchen: Prickly Pear Muffins
• Palatable Pastime: Sage Stuffing Muffins
• Magical Ingredients: Whole Wheat Apple Butter and Apple Cider Tea Muffins
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed Muffins

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Baked Cod with Asparagus Pesto

Baked Cod with Asparagus Pesto is delicious and pretty enough for company but simple enough for a weeknight family meal. The pesto adds loads of flavor while also protecting the cod from drying out as it bakes. Win-win!

We love asparagus, usually roasted or pan-fried with a little butter and lemon juice tossed in right at the end but when I heard that the theme of this week’s Sunday FunDay was pesto, I knew just what I wanted to make. 

I had seen the asparagus pesto recipe in an email from the New York Times Cooking section and had bookmarked it for “someday.” My only regret now is that it took me this long to get around to it. The pesto is so flavorful and you will have no regrets that it makes more than what you need to cover your cod in a nice thick layer. 

Ideas for leftover pesto: Stir the balance of the asparagus pesto through some cooked pasta, boiled potatoes or spread it on toasted slices of baguette and bake for a twist on bruschetta. Hum a couple of spoons in a jar and add a little more lemon juice and a splash of olive oil and water to make a rich vinaigrette. Pan fry shrimp and toss them in the asparagus pesto. I'm not kidding when I say that this stuff is good with almost everything. You might want to double the recipe. 

Baked Cod with Asparagus Pesto

This recipe was adapted from one by Mark Bittman in New York Times Cooking. It makes about 1 1/2 cups of pesto and you'll use perhaps a little more than half. See note above for what to do with the divine leftovers. 

Ingredients

For cooking the asparagus:

1 lb or 450g asparagus, hard ends trimmed

2 tablespoons olive oil

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For completing the pesto:

1/3 cup or 50g pine nuts

1 clove garlic, or more to taste

3/4 cup or 67g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 small red chili pepper

1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste

Water  

For the cod:

4 cod fillets (about 1.1 lbs or 500g)

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil for pan

Method

Put the asparagus in a large baking pan in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Broil (or grill) for 5-7 minutes on high. Set a timer, by all means, but do not leave the asparagus unattended or it can go quickly from roasting to burning. Remove the asparagus from the oven and set it aside while you prepare the rest of the dish. 

Toast the pine nuts in a dry non-stick skillet until golden brown, shaking the pan occasionally so they toast evenly. Remove from the pan and set aside a tablespoon or so for garnish. 

Chop the asparagus roughly. Put the pieces in your food processor and use a rubber spatula to scrape any olive oil or asparagus juice left behind in the pan to add in as well. 

Add in the bigger pile of pine nuts along with the garlic, chili pepper and the olive oil. Whiz until well combined. 

Add in the Parmesan and lemon juice and pulse again. If the pesto is too thick you can thin it with a little water or more lemon juice, according to your taste. 

Season with a little sea salt, if needed, and freshly ground black pepper and whiz again.

If you aren’t ready to bake your cod yet, spoon the pesto into an airtight container and then drizzle the top with a little more olive oil and store it in the refrigerator. 

When you are ready to cook the cod, preheat the oven to 400° F or 200°C.

Dry the cod with paper towels and place it in a lightly oiled baking dish. 

Coat the tops of the fillets evenly with a nice thick layer of the asparagus pesto. 

You will have pesto leftover. Store it in the refrigerator with a little olive oil on top, covered with cling film.

Bake the cod for 11-12 minutes in your preheated oven or until it is firm to the touch and pesto is starting to lightly brown. Put it under the broiler (grill) for 2-3 minutes to finish it off and add a little more color. 

Sprinkle the tops with the reserved pine nuts to serve. If I had been thinking, I’d have reserved four asparagus tips for garnish as well. Next time! I can assure you that I’ll be making this again. It was that good!

Enjoy! 

As I mentioned above, it’s Sunday FunDay and we are celebrating with pesto recipes! Check out all the links below. Many thanks to our host Sue of Palatable Pastime and Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm  for her behind the scenes help. 

• Avocado Pesto Sandwich by Mayuri’s Jikoni 
• Baked Cod with Asparagus Pesto by Food Lust People Love 
• Basil Pesto With Almonds & Walnuts by Sneha's Recipe 
• Carrot Greens Pesto-Topped Roasted Salmon by Culinary Adventures with Camilla 
• Pesto Cavatappi with Meatballs by Amy’s Cooking Adventures 
• Spinach Pesto Pasta by A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Swiss Chard and White Bean Soup with Basil Pesto by Karen’s Kitchen Stories 
• Vegan Mint Pesto by Sizzling Tastebuds

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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