Tag Archives: avocado

Baked Taquitos With Avocado Sauce

Posted on July 2, 2012 | 2 Comments

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We are all about finger food around here and if any sort of dip is included, it’s a double whammy. This recipe fit that bill, 100%.

These particular taquitos I made using some leftover grilled pork that I had chopped up. I’m sure beef or chicken would work great in these as well if you are not a fan of the pig (gasp!) I baked these in flour tortillas to keep it a little healthier (rather than frying the corn tortillas in oil.)

We really enjoyed this avocado dipping sauce, it was creamy deliciousness. We have had variations of this at restaurants all over and always enjoyed it so I thought it would be a great dip to go with the taquitos. It’s not the sort of dip that can sit around so I would make it when you want to eat it. If you are so inclined, a nice salsa would also make a great dip for these taquitos.

This was very kid-friendly as well. Both my boys ate the taquitos. Foodie Jr. opted to dip his in ranch dressing as he does most other finger foods. Baby Foodie is not much of a dipper so he just ate the taquitos. And, as suspected, the biggest kid of them all, Mr. Foodie had no complaints.

INGREDIENTS

Taquitos:
1 package fajita sized flour tortillas (16)
2 Cups leftover meat (pork, chicken or beef)
~1/4 Cup Mexican Crema
~1/3 Cup Finely grated Cojita Cheese
Olive oil

Dipping Sauce:
1 avocado, pitted and mashed
1/4 Cup Mexican Crema
1/4 Mayonaise (I prefer the one with olive oil)
Splash of milk
2 Tsp white wine vinegar
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/4 Tsp Onion powder
1/4 Tsp Garlic powder
To taste: black pepper and chopped cilantro

DIRECTIONS

For Taquitos:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees and spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.

1. I a mixing bowl, add chopped meat, Crema and Cojita cheese and mix well. Add more Crema and cheese if necessary – meat mixture should come together and be sort of ‘sticky’.

2. Place a heaping tablespoon or two on each tortilla and spread into a line for rolling.

3. Roll up each tortilla and place seam
side down on cookie sheet.

4. Brush each taquito with olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes. Ovens will vary so check and take out when tortillas are browned and crispy.

For Dipping Sauce:

1. Put all ingredients in bowl and mix until they all come together smoothly. There will be a light green tint to the sauce. Play with the spices to suit your family’s taste.

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BLTA with Garlic Mayonaise

Posted on March 24, 2012 | 3 Comments

It gets plenty busy around here during the week and sometimes we just need a simple, quick dinner.  This one generally pleases our entire family and is not too overwhelmingly processed and unhealthy which can be a problem when you need fast, fast, fast!  This can be thrown together in an instant!  It’s sort of a non-recipe, really… but, hey, I was hungry…

BLTA WITH GARLIC MAYONAISE

Ingredients:

Sliced French Bread (or your favorite kind of bread)

1-2 Large Tomatoes, washed and sliced

1-2 Avocados, sliced

Romaine Lettuce, washed and torn

Your Favorite Bacon, cooked (we like the thick cut Applewood smoked stuff)

For the Mayo:

1/2-3/4 Cup Your Favorite Mayonaise

3 Tsp Garlic Paste

Juice of one large lemon

Salt and Black Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 Tsp each)

Directions:

1.  Mix all the mayo ingredients together well and refrigerate at least 15-30 minutes ahead of time.

2.  Toast French Bread

3.  Assemble sandwiches per your taste.

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Cali Roll Salad To Go

Posted on November 21, 2011 | 1 Comment

Foodie Jr. LOVES California Rolls.  He would eat them all day, every day, if I let him.  He isn’t too fond of salad though.  This was my attempt to compromise with him on a very busy night that had us on the go.  We keep a pretty busy schedule around here and being able to whip these up while he was at school for quick assembly  at dinner time was a big help.  I normally would make these with real crab but I had the surimi on hand the day I made these and no time to get to the store to buy lump crab meat.  (Shrimp would be just fine to use as well.)   Foodie Jr. will eat them either way, so I luck out there.  I do not think this is an earth shattering recipe or anything, but it might be a helpful idea to some, especially busy families.  You could easily replace the crab with tofu or simply load it with more avocado if you do not like seafood.  Mr. Foodie and I enjoy these as well and they make for a great, light meal or a quick appetizer for a gathering.  I generally make a platter of them at a time but it is fun to let your guests make their own as well.

CALIFORNIA ROLL SALAD TO GO

Ingredients:

-Lump Crab Meat (flaked) or Surimi (chopped), lightly tossed with Japanese or regular mayonaise.

-English Cucumbers, peeled, sliced thin and marinated in Mirin (or rice wine vinegar)  and black pepper for a few hours

-Avocado, chopped or slice per your preference

-Nori Komi Furikake (Japanese Rice Seasoning)

-Hearts of Romaine, broken in half to form a sort of lettuce cup to hold salad

Directions:

1. Layer ingredients onto romaine lettuce cup, I usually go crab, avocado, cucumber and top with furikake.

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Ricotta Gnocchi with Avocado Cream Sauce

Posted on June 7, 2011 | 1 Comment

I was lucky enough to be chosen to participate in Foodbuzz’ Tastemaker program for California Avocados.  We love avocados here in the Foodie household.  Foodie Jr. has loved them since he was a baby and they still serve as a go-to food for him.  Baby Foodie’s very first ‘real’ meal was a fresh avocado, which he just devoured!  I was very excited when my box of beautiful California Avocados arrived.  They were absolutely perfect – beautiful and perfectly ripe!

Like many people, we use avocados primarily for guacamole, in salads and on sandwiches, or we simply just eat them plain.  I have never really ventured into cooking them as part of a hot dish before so I definitely wanted to take the challenge.  I came up with this recipe.  Both Mr. Foodie and I enjoyed it. It was really rich and filling but I do think that gnocchi was the perfect fit for this type of cream sauce.   (If you don’t want to go through the step of making gnocchi, a store bought version would be fine to use as well.)

If you have not tried an avocado, I definitely urge you to get some California Avocados!  Not only are they delicious but they are good for you too.  They pack a heavy punch of Vitamin E and are a good source of potassium.  Get yours today and enjoy!

RICOTTA GNOCCHI

Ingredients:

16 oz. container Ricotta cheese, well drained

3 eggs

¼ Tsp salt

1 TBS Butter

1-2 TBS Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Flour for coating

Directions:

1.  Beat all ingredients together in a medium bowl, I usually use a hand mixture to get it blended really well.

2.  Scoop dough by tablespoon and form into small dumpling, coat lightly in flour.

3.  Drop in boiling water, they should sink to the bottom and are done when they float to the top.

AVOCADO CREAM SAUCE

Ingredients:

1 California Avocado, seeded and skinned

1 cup heavy cream

1 anaheim pepper, minced

1 tbs garlic paste

1 tbs fresh basil

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

1 TBS White wine vinegar

¼ tsp paprika

water

1/8 to 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, per your taste

Directions:

1.  Put  avocado meat, ¾ cup cream and all other ingredients except parmesan into a blend and blend until smooth.  This may be a bit thick so thin a bit with water to get a thinner consistency.

2.  Transfer mixture to a saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring in remaining heavy cream and parmesan cheese.  Heat through.  Serve over gnocchi.

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