FIX n' Shred Hatch Green Chile Chicken

Green Chile Pork Taco w/ Coleslaw

Here's Round 2 of my Hatch Chile love!  I don't know what it is I love about 'em.  Maybe it's because they're only around once a year that makes them special, but I find all kinds of tasty dishes to make with them.  This one is no different, except it is so easy to make, and so versatile, I anticipate this becoming a staple in your weekly meal prep.

Pork for team dinner

I first started out making a couple batches of Hatch Chile Pulled Pork in the Ninja.  The first batch was for my son's high school football team dinner.  It was so tasty and involved nearly zero prep, but I was a little sad that all of it was left with the team.  I really didn't expect the 9 pound pork shoulder to make it back home but I hoped it would.

Roasting chiles (plus red peppers)

Truly, it was only 1/8 of the what was necessary to feed the team, so I simply had to make another batch two days later for another football gathering in my home.  It was a hit!  After two rounds of pork, I figured the recipe should work with chicken too.  I bet it will work with a beef shoulder as well, but I have yet to try.  If you try it out, let me know how it turns out, please.  

As I share this delicious simple recipe with you, heed my warning.  Commit the seasonings to memory as this will become a weekly or bi-weekly staple in your house.  It is that SIMPLE and SO TASTY!

If you don't have hatch chiles available or want to save more time, grab 2 7 oz. cans of diced green chiles.  Total prep time with already roasted and peeled chiles is less than 10 minutes.

FIX n' Shred Hatch Green Chile Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 Ninja (recommended) or crock pot
• 3 pounds Chicken breast (can put in frozen)
• 1 Onion, sliced thin
• 3/4 C Pureed Roasted Hatch Green Chiles, peeled and seeded. (~8-9 fresh chiles)
• 1 tsp. Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
• 1 tsp. Dried Oregano
• 1/2 tsp. Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 Cumin
• 1/2 Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 Dried Sage
• 1 Hand Mixer

Directions:

1. Place the onions in the pot
2. Top with chicken
3. Top the chicken with green chiles and spices
4. Cook on low for 8-10 hours
5. Shred with hand mixer on low setting.

To serve: 

Night 1 Dinner

Add to corn tortillas with coleslaw for tacos, mix in soup, serve on top of salad or with veggies.  The first night I enjoyed with faux garlic mashed potatoes and green beans for a super delicious dinner.

FIX proportions: 1 Red.

Enjoy!

Ninja-Slow Cooker Pumpkin Coconut Chicken Curry - Fix Approved

It's funny sometimes how I come up with recipe ideas.  This one was actually quite simple.  I had some canned coconut milk from another recipe that I wanted to use up.  I also had some canned pumpkin from a completely separate recipe that I wanted to use up. I figured coconut and pumpkin would go well together and BAM!  I searched online, found a recipe and made it work for the 21 Day Fix.

The base for this recipe came from: http://www.tablefortwoblog.com/slow-cooker-pumpkin-coconut-curry/.  I used my Ninja, so I could only clean one dish because I do not enjoy dishes one bit!  Plus, for some reason, I do not prefer meat cooked in a slow cooker.  It must be cooked ahead of time and added to it.  Don't ask how I can tell, but I guess my taste buds are pretty picky.

This recipe was actually quite easy, but finding some of the spices were a bit tricky.  I ended up finding everything at Sprouts Farmer's Market.  I'm sure Whole Foods will carry them too, especially if there is not an Indian grocery in your area. 

Fix Approved Ninja-Slow Cooker Pumpkin Coconut Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

• 2 blue containers of coconut milk (you can opt to do 4, but I never like to use up all of my blue unless I'm making pizza)
• 1 C pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 C chicken stock/broth
• 1/2 Tablespoon curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon tumeric powder
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1/4 teaspoon pink himalayan sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 4 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 C 1-inch cubed sweet potatoes
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions:

1. Cook chicken over medium heat until lightly browned.  (Transfer to slow cooker, if not using a Ninja)  
   
2. Add coconut milk, pumpkin puree, chicken stock, curry powder, tumeric powder, garam masala, salt, and pepper.  Whisk together to make sure its all combined and spices are evenly distibuted.
3. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, sweet potatoes and lime juice to the mixture and stir.
4. Cook on low for 6 hours.
5. Serve over rice, quinoa (or cauliflower rice as I have shown, to add another green, over another yellow)

Servings: About 1 1/4 C is 1 Red, 1 Yellow, 1 Green and 1/2 Blue.  When served with cauliflower rice you add 1 more Green.

Enjoy!

Hatch Green Chile Extravaganza!

One way I stick with healthy eating is to enjoy fresh seasonal foods.  Fresh New Mexico Hatch Green Chile add a flavorful twist to nearly any recipe you may normally make.

I had to read up a little so I knew when to be prepared for this season to come up every year.  I've added a link to a blog that gives a small amount of info for my readers as I create this post: http://www.hatch-green-chile.com/when-is-hatch-chile-season/.  As I write this, I know that there is a slight bit of urgency to get this out.  I mainly want to share some of the items I created or 'spruced up' with green chile.  I hope it inspires you to create some of your own or try some of mine and enjoy the deliciousness this season has to offer!

If you haven't checked out my first "Green Chile" post, check out: Hatch Chile Mini Quiches.  So after creating breakfast, I moved onto dinner.  

Green Chile Sliders:

Green Chile Sliders are a delicious twist on your traditional slider.  Some recipes I saw topped a regular slider with green chile, but I prefer the chile mixed in.

So I mixed up about 2 pounds of 96/4 ground beef with a little pink Himalayan salt, black pepper, oregano, cumin and marjoram to taste.  Just sprinkle it in!  I never truly measure my seasonings and if anything, you'll add too little over too much.  I diced 4 large roasted chile.  I definitely took a short cut on all my recipes by buying the chile already roasted.

After thoroughly mixing all ingredients, I formed on huge patty so I could divide the burgers evenly by scoring the huge patty into even sections, just like slicing a pie.  I learned that trick from an episode of Rachel Ray as a way to prevent "the runt" burger.  Another trick I learned from the same episode was to make the center of the patty thinner than the edge of the patty.  This ensures the burger is cooked evenly through and without crispy edges.

I formed all the burgers and cooked them for about 5 minutes at 400 degrees on my panini grill press.  One of the tips I learned from the "Good Stuff" cook book is that the key to a good burger is the bun.  I served these sliders on butter toasted Kings Hawaiian rolls.  The book also suggests to use a higher fat content in hamburger meat, but as you can see, I chose 96/4 so that I could toast the buns with a little bit of butter instead.  With the seasonings and the green chiles the lower fat content of the meat was just fine for this tasty treat.  1 slider with a salad was enough for me.  My football playing son, however had 3 sliders and salad.  It was absolutely delicious and I was proud of this quick and tasty meal!

Green Chile and Flank Steak Breakfast Tacos:

A couple days later, I went back to breakfast.  On a whim one morning I whipped up some Green Chile and Flank Steak Breakfast Tacos!  I'm not sure why I call them breakfast tacos.  I grew up eating breakfast burritos in Colorado.  When I moved to Texas, all I heard about were breakfast tacos.  All the same ingredients, just slightly different folding and or rolling!  So don't get upset if I'm completely wrong about this, but I believe the burrito is folded at the ends and rolled.  The taco is folded in half and then most times folded again, but since its a soft flour tortilla it really seems like a roll to me.  Either way it's YUM!!  My son ate 3!


This recipe is as simple as the burgers.  Dice up some green chiles, onions and cooked flank steak (ours was left over from dinner the night before).  Heat in a spayed skillet with 1 TBSP olive oil.  I cracked 10 brown eggs, but if I didn't have brown eggs, I would have done 10 egg whites plus 2 eggs.  Season with oregano, basil, black pepper and a pinch of sea salt.  The more seasoning the better for eggs.  I absolutely love basil and/or oregano with my eggs.  When the eggs are finished, heat the whole wheat flour tortillas and fill with your ingredients.  I added cheese for my son's tacos and salsa for both.  Since I love to have my breakfasts prepared ahead of time, breakfast tacos/burritos are great to make and reheat.  

New Mexico Hatch Green Chile Stew:

Finally, back to dinner with a New Mexico Hatch Green Chile Stew.  I can't take credit for the recipe, though.  I found it at: http://mjskitchen.com/2013/01/new-mexico-green-chile-stew/.  I froze 2 containers for 2 easy and delicious dinner or lunch in the future.  This stew was a little too spicy for my son's liking, but it was delicious and super easy to make.

 Since you have the recipe at the link, I don't need to elaborate on it too much.  Except for some of the small changes I had to make.  I don't typically make changes to a recipe the first time around, but I did choose to use my own homemade stewed tomatoes because they are delicious!  I even added Hatch Green Chile to the tomatoes.  I also had to use a meat tenderizer to pound the coriander seeds as I did not have a mortar and pestle and wasn't certain I needed to buy one.  

I also used my Ninja for everything, except toasting the coriander seeds, because its so easy.  Just one pot.  I prefer the Ninja over my Crock pot simply because I can sear or brown meat in it.  I also think meat has a distinct 'Crock pot' taste that I'm not too fond of, but I do not get that taste with my Ninja.

What kind of dishes do you love to make with New Mexico Hatch Green Chile?  I'd love to find more healthy dishes to make when I get that New Mexico Hatch Green Chile craving, so share, please.  Thank you!

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas - 21 Day Fix Style

One of my challengers shared this recipe with the group in our 30 Day challenge.  I changed it up a bit since I have been tracking my portions with the 21 Day Fix so I could make it easy track my containers.  This has the be the simplest recipe EVER!  When you read the instructions, you'll understand.

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts (I put them in frozen)
4 cloves of pressed garlic
2 tsp of chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp. cilantro
4 bell peppers, any color (sliced)
1 large onion (sliced)

1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes (use a low sodium version or check out this easy recipe for stewed tomatoes - http://brooklynfarmgirl.com/2013/08/14/the-best-stewed-tomatoes-ever/)

Instructions:

Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

If your time will allow it, add the bell peppers to the slow cooker in the last hour so they aren't too soggy.

When the cooking time is over, shred chicken with a fork.

To Serve:

Place 1 Red container of the chicken mixed with tomatoes and garlic onto a whole wheat flour tortilla.  Top with 1 Green container of sliced peppers and onion.

Optionally serve with 1 Tbsp. of Non-fat Greek yogurt, a blue container of shredded cheese or a blue container worth of avocado, i.e. 1/4 avocado  (or mix them).

1 fajita is 1 red, 1 Green, 1 Yellow and an optional blue.

Enjoy!

I must give a shout out to my friend who inspired this recipe.  Her family owns Center Greenhouse, Inc. in my home state of Colorado.  They have some amazing information for those of you with green thumbs and those of you who wish they had them.  Check out their blog at: Power Flowers Blog