The BEST Guacamole EVER

I went to a Whole Foods cooking class with a chef from Rosa Mexicano and he shared this recipe. It is simple and delicious!

Ingredients Part 1:
For Chile Paste:
1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
1 firmly packed tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeno (I usually use 3-4 slices of jarred jalapeno)
1 teaspoon salt

Grind the above ingredients in a "molcajete" (wish I had one). You can also use a fork to smash the ingredients to a paste. It takes about 3-4 minutes and everything gets wet, but not thick.

3 Ripe, but firm AVOCADOS:
The chef said to look for black, with a hint of green. They should give to the touch, but not soft. I spend a lot of time checking out the avocados when I make this, but haven't had too much bad luck.
To cut the avocados: Cut them in half and remove the seed. Carefully "score" the avocados, making 3-4 evenly spaced cuts lengthwise and crosswise. Then scoop out the pieces with a spoon and add to the paste. This is apparently the key to the Rosa Mexicano guac. Nice, big pieces of avocado.

The Rest of the Ingredients:
3 tablespoons diced tomato
2 firmly packed tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
Salt to taste

Add the rest of the ingredients to the chile paste and avocados. Fold gently to keep the avocado pieces large. Serve immediately with chips.

Roasted Shrimp and Orzo

Ingredients:
Kosher Salt
Good olive oil
3/4 pound orzo pasta
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
Ground black pepper
2 pounds (16-18) shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts
1 cup fresh chopped dill (I don't use this. I hate dill.)
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium diced (I think a regular cucumber would be good, too)
1/2 red onion, small diced
3/4 pound feta cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 400 F.
Fill a large pot with water, add a splash of salt and oil, bring water to a boil. Add orzo and simmer for 9-11 minutes. Drain and pour into a large bowl.
Whisk together the lemon juice, 1/2 olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. I whisk the lemon juice, salt, and pepper and slowly pour in the oil while continuing to whisk. Pour over hot orzo and stir well.
Meanwhile, place shrimp on a sheet pan, drizzle with oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 5-6 minutes until shrimp are cooked through.
Add the shrimp to the orzo. Add the scallions, dill, parsley, cucumber, onion, salt and pepper to taste. Toss well. Add the feta and stir carefully. Set aside at room temperature for an hour to allow flavors to blend, or refrigerate overnight.
Serves 6

**I made this at the beach without shrimp, parsley, or dill and refrigerated before serving.

Recipe from Barefoot Contessa at foodnetwork. com

Greek Chicken with Tzatziki Sauce

Marinade Ingredients:
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Tzatziki sauce:
1 cucumber peeled--then use the peeler to make "ribbons" of cucumber. Keep making the ribbons until you get to the seeds.
1/2 cup plain yogurt (one regular sized yogurt container=1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic glove, minced

Put all of the marinade ingredients (except the chicken) into a large ziploc bag and shake well. Add the chicken and shake again. Keep bag in the fridge until you are ready to cook. I usually do this about 2-3 hours beforehand and shake the bag a few times during that time.
Grill the chicken or broil in the oven until done. Discard the extra marinade.
Put all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well. I usually do this when I make the marinade and keep the sauce in the fridge because I like it cold. You can prepare right before you eat, though.
Serve the sauce on the side with the chicken and have some with every bite. Yum!

***This is an adaptation from a recipe I found in Cooking Light, years ago. I always serve this chicken with grilled zucchini and roasted potatoes with rosemary. I can also see adding some Feta cheese on the chicken, but I've never done that.

Easy White Chicken Chili

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 packet taco seasoning (not chili seasoning)
1 can chopped green chilies (drained)
2 small cans chicken broth (I think the 15 oz size, you know, like a soup can)
2 cans chicken flaked chicken breast (drained)
1 can great northern white beans (drained)
1 can white navy beans (drained)
1 can white corn (drained)
1 medium onion (chopped)

Put everything in a crock pot and slow cook for several hours. You can serve with sour cream, chopped scallions, bacon bits, or shredded cheese.

Crock Pot Macaroni & Cheese

Lori made this for Thanksgiving and it was sooooooooo good!

Ingredients:
8 oz. box of elbow macaroni, cooked in salted water and drained
1 ½ cup milk
1- 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
½ stick of butter
4 cups of grated cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Cook the macaroni in salted water. Mix all ingredients together in the crock pot, retaining 1 cup of cheese for the top. Sprinkle the cup of cheese on top after everything mixed together.

Cover, and cook on Low heat for 3 hours. DO NOT OPEN OR STIR until after the 3 hours. When ready to serve, stir.

Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 of a bag of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, pumpkin, eggs, and applesauce until smooth (I put these in my Kitchen Aid for about a minute).
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and beat until smooth and well combined. The batter will be thick. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Do not over mix. Spoon the batter into loaf pan.
Bake until the top is brown and crusty looking, about 60 minutes. A knife inserted into the center should come out clean.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for ten minutes. After ten minutes, carefully take the bread out of the pan and allow it to cool completely on the wire rack.
Makes one loaf, adapted from Pumpkin Bread with Dates recipe on williams-sonoma.com

one more thing to do with chicken

I threw this together last night and it was tasty and easy and quick. I like cooking with brown rice and black beans; with the chicken and corn it was a complete meal, high in protein low in fat and filling. Did I mention it was quick?
here it is:

• 4 cooked chicken breasts cubed (leftovers work perfectly if you are in a hurry and who isn't)
• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• 3 cobs of corn cut off the cob (i bought it at the farmers market and had to use it up quick and didn't want to eat it off the cob ) or frozen corn equaling about 3/4 cups.
• 2 cans of black beans 14oz cans
• 1/2 package of chili seasoning like chili-o by French's or to taste.
• 1tsp liquid smoke ( i love the flavor of liquid smoke (i bought it at Kroger) but just use a small amount or omit all together cause the dish is good without it too.)

1. start with the chicken if it's not cooked already saute it in a large skillet or throw in the cubed chicken
2. dump in the tomatoes, black beans, corn and chili mix and liquid smoke.
3. serve over brown rice. (the package of frozen brown rice at Trader Joe's is the best rice I have eaten including rice i cook myself. it takes 3 minutes in the microwave and it is easy and quick and delicious.)

Love to all my Georgia friends, Sally