Cuisine: Mexican

Crispy Shell Baked Tacos

Crispy Shell Baked Tacos are a family favorite and convenient to serve. These corn tortillas are filled with a mixture of refried beans and ground beef seasoned with taco spices. As they bake in the oven, they transform into crispy and golden brown tacos. Once they’re out of the oven, you can customize them with your favorite taco toppings, such as shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and more.

By Leslie Blythe

Pibil-Style Pork Chops

These Pibil-Style Pork Chops are inspired by the Mexican dish cochinita pibil. The recipe comes from Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling, by Bricia Lopez. The sauce is a blend of spices, citrus juices, and achiote paste, which gives it a rich, reddish color. It's a complex blend of smoky, spicy, citrusy, and earthy flavors. While traditional cochinita pibil is slow-cooked in an underground pit, these pork chops are cooked on the grill.

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Mexican Black Beans

These flavor-packed Mexican Black Beans got rave reviews from my family. Since I didn't have time to soak dried beans overnight, I used canned beans, which worked perfectly. I used a jalapeño pepper, if you want it spicier use a serrano. Serrano peppers are generally smaller and skinnier than jalapeños. Despite their small size, they can be up to 10 times hotter than a jalapeño, so beware.

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Chile Rellenos Soup

Chile Rellenos Soup is a creamy and cheesy soup inspired by the classic Mexican Chile Rellenos. Roasted poblano peppers, cheese, and chicken capture the flavors of the traditional dish in an easier-to-make format. To make it easier, I used rotisserie chicken and topped with with crushed tortilla chips. It's really delicious.

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Tex-Mex Style Lasagna

I made this Tex-Mex Style Lasagna which is a great option if you're short on time and low on energy. It’s so easy to throw this together for a busy weeknight meal. It’s taco style ground beef, with corn, black beans layered with tortillas and cheese. It was a big hit with my family.

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Chicken Tortilla Soup

This Chicken Tortilla Soup is from The New York Times. This is a nontraditional method. There are many variations of tortilla soup. This one is made in a slow-cooker, but I have also included the stovetop version. The soup gets its depth of flavor from roasting the tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, and garlic until they become charred. It's then put in a slow-cooker with the chicken for about 5 hours. To me the toppings are key. I like adding fried tortilla strips, avocado, cheese, cilantro, etc. I also have another version on this blog here.

By Leslie Blythe

Jalapeño Popper Chicken Chili

This Jalapeño Popper Chicken Chili is made with ground chicken, jalapeño peppers, corn, black beans, cream cheese, and a variety of spices. The chili can be cooked in either a pressure cooker or a slow cooker; I have given instructions for both.
The chili gets its heat from the jalapeño peppers, but you can adjust the spiciness to your liking by removing the seeds from the peppers or by adding more or fewer peppers. The cream cheese adds a richness and creaminess to the chili, and the spices give it a depth of flavor.
The chili can be served with a variety of toppings, such as shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, chopped bacon, and additional jalapeños. It is also great for meal prep, as it can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer.

By Leslie Blythe

Taco-Stuffed Avocado Boats

I was at CVS pharmacy with my husband and he picked up Cleaning Eating Magazine and opened to Taco-stuffed Avocado Boats. So, I decided that is what’s for dinner. It was really good. They are made by halving avocados, removing the pits and a little bit of the avocado, then filling them with a mixture of taco meat (I used ground Turkey), cheese, and your favorite taco toppings. You purée the scooped-out avocado with some sour cream and lime juice. Avocados are a good source of healthy fats, fiber, and vitamins.

By Leslie Blythe

Mexican Chicken Zucchini Noodles

I am on the east coast at my brother David's house. He made these Mexican Chicken Zucchini Noodles, which is healthy, delicious, low in calories and fat, and high in fiber. This dish is made with zucchini noodles, which are made by spiralizing zucchini into long, thin strips that resemble pasta. The zucchini noodles are then cooked in a skillet with chicken, cumin, and pico de gallo. It's a healthier alternative to traditional pasta dishes. Oh, and it's gluten-free.

By Leslie Blythe

New Mexico Stacked Enchiladas

Jessica here, guest-blogging for Leslie.

This is a photo of our tasty New Mexico-style stacked enchilada. It’s a family favorite, especially during this dark pandemic winter.

How to make it? Well, as we lawyers say, it depends. There’s an easy way and a hard way.

The easy way? Buy everything: shred a roast chicken, open a can of refried beans and another of enchilada sauce; layer it all evenly between three corn tortillas, bake at 400° F for 10-15 minutes, top with a fried egg – and there you have it.

The hard way is what you see in this photo. But it was actually a collaborative effort. My husband made green chile using Hatch chiles that he’d roasted, frozen, and defrosted.

I poached chicken breasts in white wine, water, and some aromatics (black and pink peppercorns, chile powder) and shredded them.

Then, I realized I had no canned refried beans. What to do? Well, I had a can of pinto beans, so I made my own. And may never use canned ones again, because these were so delicious.

By Leslie Blythe