Salsa Chicken Flautas

As you know, I am all about the super simple, easy-to-prep meal. It doesn't get much easier than what we call "Salsa Chicken." Dump a few things in the InstaPot, set it, and forget it!

Once it comes out of the InstaPot, there are so many dishes you can make with this shredded chicken, but our current favorite way to enjoy it is in the form of crispy flautas!


Salsa Chicken Flautas

Stuff You Need:

• 3 chicken breasts or 4 chicken thighs, skinless
• 1 - 15 oz. jar salsa
• corn tortillas
• canola oil
• tooth picks

What To Do:

1. Place chicken in bottom of InstaPot, top with entire jar of salsa and 1 cup water;
2. Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes, natural pressure release for 15 minutes.
3. Remove chicken and liquids from instapot and shred with 2 forks.
4. Add enough oil to a cast iron pan to give you about .5" of oil and turn heat to medium. Oil is ready once it starts to slightly shimmer.
5. Lightly fry the corn tortillas to soften them up - it takes only a few seconds, maybe 10-15 seconds per tortilla and it just softens them enough so they don't break when you roll them.
6. Put about 2 Tbs of the shredded chicken on each tortilla, roll, and secure with a tooth pick. I like to roll out all of my flauta before I begin frying them so I can pay full attention to them while they cook.
7. When you are ready, place your rolled flauta in the oil, seam side down, and fry about a minute per side, rotating until you reach desired crunchiness.
8. Transfer cooked flautas to a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil.
9. Serve with your favorite salsa, queso, or other dipping sauces and ENJOY!

This shredded chicken is so versatile. I like to use it for salads, enchiladas, to stuff empanadas or as a topper for tostones. Hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Al Pastor Pork

We tried this recipe for the first time about 3 years ago and it instantly became a family favorite. We affectionaly call it the "Meat Tower" and it is one of those dishes that will make your mouth water from the moment you whisk up the marinade until you are able to take that first bite!

These days we generally cook this outside on the Big Green Egg, but it can also be done in the oven. It takes a couple of hours to cook though, so if it were not for the Big Green Egg, we would only make this during the cooler months.

We like to serve this on tortillas, corn for Wonder Dad and myself, flour for the kiddo. We top it with fresh pico de gallo and/or salsa. My favorite was a pineapple relish/salsa we threw together with leftover fresh pineapple. YUM!

We made this one of the signature dishes we prepared for a family Christmas meal a few years ago and we still get requests to bring it to get-togethers. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do!


Al Pastor Pork

Stuff You Need:

• 5 lb boneless pork shoulder
• 3 tablespoons achiote paste
• 2 tablespoons ancho or chipotle chili powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• ¾ cup white vinegar
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1 pineapple, skinned and sliced into 1-inch rounds
• tortillas (corn, flour, etc.)

What To Do:

1. Slice the pork shoulder into about 1-centimeter (¼ in) slices, then transfer to a large dish or bowl.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the achiote paste, chili powder, garlic powder, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, vinegar, and pineapple juice, mashing and stirring until smooth with no lumps.
3. Pour the marinade over the pork slices, then toss to make sure they are coated on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
4. Place a slice or two of the pineapple on the meat skewer. I've been using this Brazillian Gaucho Skewer since it is free-standing. I like to place it in an aluminum pie plate or something like that to catch the drippings on the grill.
5. Remove the pork from the fridge and push the slices through the skewer, layering one after the other until there is a 1-inch (2 ½ cm) gap at the top. Push another pineapple slice on top.
6. Get your grill up to about 300F and place your meat tower in the center of the grill, indirect heat if at all possible. Cook for 2 to 2.5 hours. I like to baste with extra pineapple juice every 20-30 minutes.
7. If you are preparing indoors, heat oven to 350F, remove all be the lowest rack and bake for 2-3 hours. As with the grill, I like to baste with extra pineapple juice every 20-30 minutes.
8. Once the pork reaches an internal temperature of at least 160F, rest the meat for about 10 minutes, then carve off thin slices of pork.
9. Serve on tortillas (corn or flour, your choice!), top with salsa, pico de gallo, or cilantro and diced onions as desired.

     

Mongolian Meatball Ramen

Who here can recall the song that goes ... "One of these things is not like the other. One of these things is not the same."? If you can, you are O-L-D like me!

But regardless, this recipe is going to be one of those things. Up until now I have used this space for gluten-free, "Paleo" recipes. We gave up on sticking to that eating plan a few years ago. We still eat many of these recipes, but we don't focus on staying within those guidelines any more.

And as such, the recipes I am planning to share here will not necessarily be of that ilk going forward. However, they are still some of my favorites and I want a place to keep them in case the bookmarks on them expire or I just forget the changes I made.

Today I'd like to share a recipe that has quickly become a family favorite! Wonder Boy is not a fan of ground beef (I have no idea where that came from) so for him, I typically prepare some other form of protein and only serve the noodles to him. He LOVES the noodles though, so it's really not a big deal that the meatballs are not his favorite - that just means more for his dad and I! And if we run out of noodles before we finish the meatballs, they serve well with rice or even zoodles (see! I can still twist things to be Paleo friendly)


Mongolian Meatballs

Stuff You Need:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• ½ cup Panko bread crumbs
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced, divided
• 1 egg
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp sesame oil, divided
• red pepper flakes
• black pepper
• ¾ cup low-sodium chicken broth
• ½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbs Hoisin sauce
• 3 pkgs Instant Ramen
• toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

What To Do:

1. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, panko bread crumbs, about half of the green onions, egg, garlic, and 1 tsp of the sesame oil. Season with red pepper flakes and pepper to taste.
2. Mix until well combined. To form meatballs, scoop a heaping tablespoons of mixture and roll into balls. Alternately, I've been using this meatball try. It really speeds up the process of forming the meatballs and makes certain that they cook evenly.
3. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat a thin layer of vegetable oil. Add meatballs and sear until each side develops a crust, about 2 minutes per side.
4. Remove meatballs from skillet, and add remaining sesame oil.
5. Add chicken broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, and hoisin. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
6. Return meatballs to skillet and cover skillet with a lid. Cook until meatballs are cooked through, about 10 minutes more.
7. Meanwhile, boil the ramen noodles according to the package instructions, but omit one of the 3 flavor packets.
8. Once the meatballs are done, remove temporarily from the pan.
9. Drain the noodles, add them to the meatball pan and toss to coat with the sauce.
10. Return the meatballs to the pan, garnish with remaining green onions and toasted sesame seeds, and serve! Be ready for a flavor explosion!

The original recipe called for a lot more salt, both in the meatballs and by using all of the flavor packets with the ramen noodles. It was too much for us, but feel free to add it back if you like.