Beef Fajita Bowls

On a cutting board, chop vegetables and beef into small pieces.

In a frying pan over medium-high heat, add oil. When oil shimmers, add vegetables, beef, and 1 cup salsa. Season mixture with salt and pepper and cook, tossing occasionally, until vegetables are tender and beef is just cooked through, 6-8 minutes.

In 4 bowls, divide rice, vegetable and beef mixture. Top each bowl with tortilla chips, remaining salsa, sour cream, guacamole, and cheese.

Turkey Lasagna Mexican Style

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a 9″x13″ baking dish.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, add turkey and cook until opaque, about 3 minutes. Add bell pepper, poblano, onion and olive oil and continue to cook until meat is cooked through and vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomato puree, stirring to combine. Reduce heat to low and cook, 3-5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Add to turkey-vegetable mixture and continue to cook, about 5 minutes.

Spoon 1/3 of turkey-vegetable mixture evenly onto bottom of baking dish. Layer 6 tortillas over turkey mixture. Spoon another 1/3 of turkey mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle 1/2 of corn, 1/2 of beans and 1/2 of cheese over turkey. Layer remaining 6 tortillas over cheese. Repeat with remaining turkey, corn, beans and cheese. Bake in oven until cheese is melted, 25-30 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

Chilaquiles Verdes

In a large frying pan over medium heat, add salsa and cook until warmed through. Add tortilla chips, and toss to coat.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat eggs, salt and pepper. In a nonstick frying pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add eggs and chiles and let set, about 2 minutes. Shake and stir eggs, cooking until set and soft, about 5 minutes. Divide coated tortilla chips and salsa among 4 warmed plates, divide eggs between 4 plates. Top each with dollops of chevre. Garnish with avocadoes, onions, and radishes.

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Chile Rellenos

Turn a gas burner on high. Place chiles on burner and cook, turning with tongs, until blackened all over. Alternately, preheat broiler on high. Place chiles on a rimmed baking sheet and broil until charred.

Transfer chiles to a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap or place in a paper bag and close. Let stand 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove blackened skins from chiles, trying not to tear chiles. Do not rinse. Using a paring knife, slice lengthwise down chile, cutting through only one layer. Open chile like a book and carefully pull out seeds and inner membranes. You may need to use a paring knife to loosen top of seedpod. Repeat with remaining chiles.

In a blender, add tomatoes, onion, garlic and jalapeno and blend until smooth. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, warm olive oil. Add puree, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes.

In a small bowl, add cheese and oregano. Season with salt and pepper and mix to combine. Fill each chile with about 2 tablespoons cheese mixture. Fold in sides to cover filling, then thread toothpicks across seam to seal.

Beat egg whites with a mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Add egg yolk and beat 3 more minutes.

Heat canola oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees.

In a shallow dish, add flour and season with salt and pepper. One at a time, coat stuffed chiles with flour. Holding each chile by the stem, lower it into egg batter to cover completely. Let any excess batter drip off. Add chiles to hot oil, 1 or 2 at a time; fry, flipping once with tongs, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Place a fried chile on each plate and pour warm sauce over it. Serve immediately.

Baja Grilled Corn on the Cob

Prepare a grill over medium heat.

Add corn to grill, not directly over coals. Let cook, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. When cool enough to handle, shuck corn.

Slather corn with sour cream, season with chile powder, and sprinkle with cilantro and lime.

Fish Tacos With Cilantro Crema

For the crema, in a small bowl, add sour cream, cilantro, chives, lime and salt and stir to combine. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil and spread in an even layer.

For the tacos, in a small bowl, add cumin, chile powder, coriander, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Dredge fish pieces in spice mix. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Bake until fish is no longer translucent and is flaky, about 5 minutes per inch of thickness. Let rest 5 minutes then flake with a fork and set aside.

In a frying pan over medium-high heat, add 3 tablespoons oil. Add 1 or 2 corn tortillas and warm until sizzling around edges, about 1 minute. Turn over and warm until sizzling on second side. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Fill each tortilla with equal portions of fish, cabbage and top with cilantro crema. Garnish with lime wedges.

From Tastykitchen

Chilaquiles

In a large frying pan over medium heat, warm 1 cup of oil. Working in batches, fry tortilla segments until crisp, about 2 minutes per batch, letting them drain on paper towels as they are done. Discard oil, then wipe out skillet and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, add tomatoes, jalapeños and garlic. Reserve 1/4 cup onions for garnish and add half of remaining onions to pot. Fill pot with water and boil over medium-high heat until tomatoes are very soft, about 20 minutes.

Add half of cilantro and cook for 1 minute more. Drain tomato mixture in a colander. Peel and core tomatoes and stem jalapeños (for a milder sauce, remove and discard seeds), then put into a blender. Add cooked garlic, onions, and cilantro and purée until sauce is smooth.

In a frying pan over medium heat, warm remaining 1/2 cup oil. Add remaining half of onions, still reserving ¼ cup onions and chorizo and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato-jalapeño mixture and, if using, chicken bouillon, increase heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Add tortillas and chicken, stirring and turning in sauce until well coated. Simmer until tortillas are tender and chewy, about 3 minutes.

Transfer chilaquiles to a warm serving platter, top with crema and cotija cheese, and garnish with remaining 1/2 bunch cilantro and reserved 1/4 cup onions. Serve hot.

Adapted from Saveur magazine, 2005

Campechana (Shrimp Cocktail)

In a large bowl, combine shrimp, season with salt and pepper, add lime zest and juice and toss to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes.

In another bowl, combine salsa, cucumber, Clamato juice, ketchup, avocado, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.

Evenly divide shrimp between 4 parfait glasses. Pour salsa mixture over each and stir to combine. Serve with tostadas.

The Queen’s Ceviche

Marinate shrimp in 3 cups of grapefruit juice for an hour. In a bowl, add Salsa Queen pico, frozen mango, Clamato, shrimp and coconut cream.

Mix all together.

Enjoy on tostadas. Top with your favorite toppings including cilantro.

Mexican Lasagna

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly spray a 9” by 13” baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add oil. Add vegetables and meat and cook until just slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add 1 cup salsa to bottom of baking dish. Spread 6 tortilla halves evenly on salsa. Spread more salsa on tortillas. Spread ½ meat-vegetable mixture on top of salsa. Add ½ black beans and 1/2 cup black olives. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese over olives. Repeat with remaining 6 tortilla halves, remaining ½ of meat-vegetable mixture, remaining ½ of black beans, and remaining 1/2 cup of black olives. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese.

Bake in oven for 25 minutes. Serve with sour cream.