Playing for Time

A cheeky friend asked me yesterday if I’ve become Martha Freaking Stewart, just because she’s seeing recipes on my site.  The sheer impudence made me laugh out loud.  She knows I voluntarily surrendered my kitchen privileges when I married Kim, so of course the cooking thing does seem a bit suspect.  The trouble is, what the heck else am I gonna do with 1,787 food & drink pins on my Pinterest boards, besides present them to my husband one by one with a hopeful look on my face?  It’s unlikely that I’m going to work through the list on my own — I cooked for a solid thirty-five years, often for field hands and harvest help, and to quote the inimitable Madeline Kahn, “I’m tiiiiiired.”

Kim and I have actually put together quite a few of the ideas I’ve pinned, and rarely met with disappointment.  HOWEVER.  There’s no way we would ever get through them all in this lifetime … so I was thinking … we bloggers and friends could institute a sort of test kitchen amongst ourselves!  Whaddaya think, huh? huh??  Fun, right?!

The only rule would be that if you make one of the recipes you find here or on one of my Pinterest boards, you MUST come back and file a report.  Delicious, so-so, definitely not worth the time, that sort of thing.  I’m hearing no objections!  So … let’s start, appropriately enough, with an appetizer.  GO!!

Chipotle Chicken Tostada Bites
inspired by Z’Tejas

Ingredients:
1/4 c. plus 2 TBSP chipotle salsa, pureed (I like Herdez brand)
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 avocados
zest and juice of one lime
2 TBSP red onion, finely minced
1 clove garlic, pressed or finely minced
1 Roma tomato, seeds removed, finely chopped
2 TBSP fresh cilantro, minced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed, finely minced (optional)
1/4 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
24 round tortilla chips
24 cilantro leaves, for garnish

Directions:
1.  The night before serving, pour 1/4 c. pureed chipotle salsa over the chicken breast and allow to marinate, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.  Turn once during marinating time.

2.  Cook the chicken, covered, in a saute pan.  Allow to cool, then shred.  Mix shredded meat with remaining two TBSP salsa.

3.  While chicken is cooling, make guacamole by combining all remaining ingredients (except chips) in a nonreactive bowl.  Mix together with a fork, leaving only small chunks.  Adjust salt and pepper as desired.

4.  Just before serving, top each chip with a generous TBSP each of guacamole and chicken.  Top with a cilantro leaf and arrange on a platter.

A word of advice on these–wait to assemble them until the last second.  The chips get soggy if the guacamole sits on them too long.  Luckily, all the components will be fine if made the night before or morning of serving.

And for those whose tummies do not play well with cilantro, substitute creatively!