Chipotle tacos and salsa and Indian dal

So far this week we've made two recipes. First, Rick Bayless' Chipotle Chicken Salad Tacos with Avocado, Red-Skin Potatoes and Romaine. As you probably know by now, Gina and I LOVE Mexican food, especially Rick's recipes. So this was the next one we picked out of the Mexican Everyday recipe book.


Chipotle Chicken Salad Tacos with Avocado, Red-Skin Potatoes and Romaine & Chipotle Salsa With Pan Roasted Tomatillos

So, this recipe we tried was pretty simple. Just used some chicken that we had on hand, along with some leftover chipotle chilies and a potato. Unfortunately, the avocado that we had was not ripe enough to use in this recipe. We also decided to use the rest of the canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce we had to make some chipotle salsa with pan roasted tomatillos (who doesn't love tomatillo salsa?). We'll start with the salsa:

Who knew making salsa was so simple? Just basically roast the tomatillos and some garlic until the tomatillos are soft. Throw them into the food processor (or blender) w/ some chipotle chilies, and it's done and amazing. The recipe can be found here: http://ellysaysopa.com/2009/08/30/chipotle-salsa-with-pan-roasted-tomatillos/.

Picture of the roasted garlic and tomatillos

The finished product!

Now for the tacos, as I said they were very simple to make. We used balsamic vinegar and omitted the avocado (although it may have been better with it). The recipe for the tacos can be found here: http://www.sidewalkshoes.com/2009/05/chipotle-chicken-salad-tacos-with.html. In any case, the dish was still very good. We also decided to reheat the corn tortillas Rick Bayless style and a new margarita recipe that we found online (http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/margaritas/Detail.aspx). The margaritas were extremely simple: limeade concentrate, tequila, and triple sec. And also, they tasted just as good as most restaurant margs! I had to go back for a second! The tortillas were easily reheated by wrapping in a moist paper towel, then loading into a plastic bag (sandwich bag). We put it in the microwave to steam for ~4 minutes on 40% power. The tortillas came out very moist and pliable (they didn't fall apart like corn tortillas do sometimes). Made for very good tacos.

Below are some pictures:

Finished tacos

Tacos with Margarita in the background

Margarita close-up

 We like the simplicity of Rick Bayless recipes. There aren't too many ingredients, and they're pretty inexpensive. The flavor of the tacos was interesting, the balsamic vinegar with the potatoes made for an interesting combination. After refrigeration, the flavors of the vinegar and chipotle chilies really came out, I would recommend at least some chilling before serving. Overall, Gina and I would give this recipe 4/5 stars.

Next, we decided to try something new. Even though we love Mexican, we talked with a friend, Teja, this weekend who recently moved here from India. He recommended that we try Dal, which is a traditional Indian lentil dish.

Dal over Rice


This recipe was relatively adventurous for us, but we found a simple recipe on allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Masoor-Daal/Detail.aspx). Even though this recipe got good reviews, we wanted to go with something a little bit more authentic. We found one review on the website that had their own version of the Dal recipe, which we recreated below:

1 cup Lentil
2 diced carrots
1 medium onion
1 large tomato
Olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1.5" peeled minced ginger root
1/2 cup chipped cilantro

1. We soaked the lentils for ~4 hrs before cooking (drain before cooking)
2. Boil the lentils and carrots with about 1 inch of water covering them with the cayenne pepper, salt, 1/4tsp of the turmeric, and 1/4 tsp of the garam masala until cooked
3. Meanwhile, cook your white rice (we used a rice cooker)
4. Then sautee the onion in the oil until soft
5. Add the garlic, ginger, and remaining spices to the onions, sautee ~5 min
6. Add tomato to the onion mixture with the cilantro, cook until tomatoes are soft
7. Add onion mixture to cooked lentils (should still have quite a bit liquid in the lentils), simmer for 5-10 mins
8. Serve over rice, salt if necessary
9. Enjoy!

Pictures below:

After adding the onion mixture to the lentils (with a little extra cilantro)

The finished product (garnished with cilantro)

Honestly, this was my first time eating or making Dal. I was very impressed with how much the spices really stood out. In particular, the clove flavor/smell from the garam masala really made the dish. The dish perfectly spicy (you can always add less cayenne if needed). I am a huge fan of fresh cilantro, so that's an added bonus. I felt it needed just a little bit more salt, so add it as necessary! Additionally, the dish is loaded with nutrients and low in calories. I highly recommend Dal for anyone who hasn't tried making this yummy, easy-to-make Indian dish. Thanks Teja!

Happy Cooking!

Gina and Zach