Grilled Pear, Walnut & Goat's Cheese Salad with a Citrus Vinaigrette

I could eat a huge bowl of this Salad! It's sweet from the pears and crunchy from the walnuts..a great side!

For the Salad toss together:
2 Bosc Pears, peeled sliced and grilled in a pan on medium heat until golden and soft.
Baby Spinach, washed and dried
Goats cheese (or try feta, or blue cheese)
Walnuts

For the Dressing whisk together:
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
Juice of 1 large Orange
Salt & Pepper to taste

Potato and Sweet Potato Cajun Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees c. Slice 3 Potato's and 3 Sweet Potato's thin like your usual potato chips and bake them on a non-stick tray for 15-20 minutes on each side until crispy and golden brown. As soon as you take them out of the oven toss evenly in Cajun spice and serve with Sour Cream and Chipotle Dip (sour cream mixed with 1 mashed Chipotle pepper and 2 tsp of Adobo sauce!)

Hummus and Crackers

To make the Hummus, blend together in a food processor: 1 can of chick peas (rinsed), 1/2 cup of tahini paste, about 1/4 cup olive oil, 4-5 roasted garlic cloves, juice of two lemons, 1 tsp cumin, salt and pepper.

You can add roasted vegetables like red peppers or jalapenos, or even add any hot sauce.

Eat with Crackers or Pita bread or even put it in a sandwich.

Chili Corn on the Cob

Boil corn for about 2-3 minutes or until bright yellow. Drain them and dress them with butter, salt, Chili powder or Chipotle powder, Parmesan cheese and a squeeze of lime.

Or put the corn on the BBQ and it would be even better!

Spicy Guacamole Salsa

At the taco stands in Zihuatanejo, the guacamole served on the side was a bit different than the regular "thick and chunky" guacamole that we're all used to. It was more watered-down. More like a sauce or salsa to pour onto the tacos. And a little Spicier!

Ingredients:
1 large avocado
juice of 1 lime
1 clove of minced garlic
1 ancho or passilla chili
1tsp cumin
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp chili powder (optional)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat a frying pan to medium heat. Drizzle small amount of olive oil into pan.
Place Ancho or Pasilla Chili onto the pan. When the chili starts to heat up flip it onto it's other side. Once it starts to puff up, remove the chili from the pan and place it into a bowl with 1 cup of warm water. Let sit for about 15-20 minutes. Then Scrape the seeds out.

In a blender, put in the avocado, lime juice, garlic, ancho/ pasilla chili, cumin, cilantro, olive oil, salt and pepper. Blend together. Start adding the water until you get a smooth consistency (like a creamy soup). Add some chili powder to taste.

serve as a side to any Mexican meal


*Gluten free

Real Corn Tortillas

2 cups masa harina, finely ground maize (corn) i.e; maseca
1 to 1 1/4 cups of hot water
pinch of salt

In a medium bowl, mix ingredients for about 2 minutes until smooth.
The key is to get the right consistency. If dough is too sticky add more masa harina. If dough is too hard add just a few drops of water.

Divide dough into 2 inch size balls. With either a tortilla press, a rolling pin, or even the counter top and a frying pan, press each ball of dough flat between two sheets of plastic wrap. Until tortillas are about 1 millimeter thick.

Preheat a cast iron tortilla pan at about medium to medium-high heat. Place tortillas onto the heated pan. Leave them until they start to turn a little golden one one side then flip them. Once they are cooked nicely all the way through on both sides (and not burned), about 2 minutes, set them aside wrapped up in a cloth. Tortillas will soften as they sit in the cloth.

Also try cutting tortillas into quarters, deep fry to make your own tortilla chips!

*Gluten Free

Try Pulled Chicken Tacos!