Salsa

This dip turned out quite zesty....I was pleased.  It's probably not usual to grind the roasted veggies in a food processor, but I wanted all my flavors to really blend together.  I used the second can of diced tomatoes to return a bit of chunky texture to the final mix.  It was kind of a cross between my mole sauce and salsa really.

The sauce ended up quite a dark color....but that will happen when you have a ton of peppers and cilantro...ehehehe.  Hmmm.....I bet this would make an amazing pizza sauce....but then I think just about anything would make a neat pizza sauce.  ;)


Salsa

1 sweet onion
1 banana peppers
3 ancho peppers
6 jalapeno peppers
1/2 cup cilantro
1 tbls diced garlic
1 14 oz can no salt added petite diced tomatoes
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp Mrs. Dash chipotle seasoning
1 tbls sugar*
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 14oz can no salt added petite diced tomatoes, drained

Slice up peppers and onions and roast under the broiler for about 10 minutes, until they have a nice color. Toss roasted vegetables into food processor with garlic, cilantro, and tomatoes and grind until relatively smooth. Transfer mixture to a saucepan adding in all remaining ingredients except the second can of drained diced tomatos and stir well. Over medium heat bring mixture to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes or so. Stir occasionally.  Remove from heat and stir in drained petite diced tomatoes.  Serve with tortilla chips.  Dip away!

*Instead of using sugar I tossed in a pack of Truvia.

Mole Sauce 2.0

This should be the final version of the mole sauce.  You never can tell when I'll get the urge to tinker with it again though....I fear I'm a hopeless tinkerer.  I'm happy with the flavor though.  It has a slow heat that is quite yummy. This recipe makes about 4 cups of sauce which I like to freeze in cup servings.  It makes it easy to grab and go down the road.


Mole Sauce 2.0

2 sweet onions
2 banana peppers
3 ancho peppers
2 tbls diced garlic
1 14 oz can no salt added petite diced tomatoes
2 cups low salt/fat chicken broth
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cocoa powder
2 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp Mrs. Dash chipotle seasoning
1 tbls sugar*
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp black pepper

Slice up peppers and onions and roast under the broiler for about 10 minutes, until they have a nice color. Toss roasted vegetables into food processor with garlic and tomatoes and grind until relatively smooth. Transfer mixture to a saucepan adding in all remaining ingredients and stir well. Over medium heat bring mixture to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or so. Stir occasionally.

*Instead of using sugar I tossed in a pack of Truvia.

Cranberry Kiwi Sauce

This is a variation of my usual cranberry sauce.  The kiwi doesn't stand out, but it adds an extra bite to the sauce.  The blow the top off your head tart flavor is a little more pronounced...ehehehe.  I love the way the kiwi seeds look in the sauce too.  ;)  It makes a wonderful drizzle for various baked goods.  I also think it would be a fabulous addition to one of my chocolate frostings.  I'll have to play around with it.


Cranberry Kiwi Sauce

12oz bag fresh cranberries, rinsed
4 Kiwi, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 tbls orange zest
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Combine everything in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  When berries have cooked down and the sauce has thickened, remove from heat.  Pour mixture into a blender (or use an immersion blender...which is my preference) and process the mixture until it's nice and smooth.  Cool.

Cranberry Sauce

I think my sauce is closer to a preserve, but I like my berries cooked down a bit.  It's a texture preference.  ;)  If you like your berries chunkier just reduce the cook time.  This sauce is very, very tart.  You can up the sugar is you need a bit more sweetness to it.  Personally, I like the whole exploding taste bud sensation.


Cranberry Sauce

12oz bag fresh cranberries, rinsed
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 tbls orange zest
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Combine everything in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  When berries have cooked down and the sauce has thickened, remove from heat.  Cool.

Cilantro Pesto

It's sooooo greeen.  I adore the color of this pesto.  Adore it!  It turned out a bit thick though, but it's easy enough to thin out to the consistency you are looking for.  I've always wanted to try out a pesto with cilantro and it is quite delicious.  Oddly enough the hubby says it tastes like our hummus....I'm still boggling over that one.  ;)


Cilantro Pesto

2 cups cilantro
1 sweet onion
1 banana pepper, seeded
1 tbls diced garlic
2 tbls olive oil (spicy if you have it)
1 tbls unsalted roasted sunflower seeds
1 tbls lightly salted cashews
1/4 cup goat cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp coarse salt

Slice the banana pepper in half and place on a cookie sheet or foil.  Cut the onion into slice and add to the pepper.  Broil in the oven for about ten minutes, at 425 degrees.  Throw the roasted vegetables, and everything else into a food processor and chop until smooth.  Add to pasta, pizza, ect.

Mole Sauce 1.0

I ran across this recipe and had to give it a whirl. I changed the peppers out to some of my favorite ones, but I'm thinking I need to toss at least one ancho back in the mix. It seems like a lot of the peppers that make up mole sauce have a smokey taste to them and I don't want to get rid of that element. Mmmm....tinkering ahead!


Mole Sauce 1.0

1 1/2 sweet onion
2 banana peppers
3 anaheim peppers
1.5 tbls diced garlic
1 14 oz can no salt added diced tomatoes
2 cups low salt/fat chicken broth
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cocoa powder
2 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp Mrs. Dash chipotle seasoning
1 tbls sugar*
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp black pepper

Slice up peppers and onions and roast under the broiler for about 10 minutes, until they have a nice color. Toss roasted vegetables into food processor with garlic and tomatoes and grind until relatively smooth. Transfer mixture to a saucepan adding in all remaining ingredients and stir well. Over medium heat bring mixture to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or so. Makes about 3 3/4 cups.

*I just used a pack of Truvia instead of sugar.

Mushroom Gravy

I have been making this gravy quite a bit lately. It's really a nice all purpose sauce to ladle over meat and potatoes. We make it spicy of course....though it's easy enough to crank the heat way down by reducing the red pepper flakes. I try to stay away from pan drippings to make gravy these days....no question that drippings make some amazing gravy.....it just doesn't really fit into the healthier eating style so well. ;)


Mushroom Gravy

1.5 tbls olive oil
1 container mushrooms, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 tbls garlic
2 tbls flour
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp Mrs Dash Chipotle Seasoning
1/8 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cajun seasoning
2 cups chicken broth (reduced salt/fat)
2 tbls apple cider vinegar

Cook the mushrooms, onion, garlic, and olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat until vegetables are tender. While the veggies are cooking combine the flour, red pepper flakes, Mrs Dash, paprika, black pepper, and cajun seasoning in a small bowl. Add to the ingredients in the skillet and stir to combine. Pour in the chicken broth and the vinegar. When the liquid is bubbly reduce the heat to medium low. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the gravy cooks down to the thickness you desire.

Marinara Sauce

This is my all purpose marinara sauce...man I love this sauce. I use this for my pizza sauce, as well as, the usual dipping marinara. It keeps nicely in the fridge so it's easy to make this a day ahead of time if you need to. Freezing tends to make it a wee bit watery but it will still taste yummy. Overall though....super quick to whip up....which is pretty much a theme of a lot of things I make...ehehe. The diced tomatoes give a little extra kick in flavor, but I originally started using them because tomato sauce has insane amounts of salt in it.


Marinara Sauce

1 small onion, chopped
1 tbls garlic, diced
1/2 tbls olive oil
14.5 oz petite diced tomatoes, no salt added
1 tbls lemon juice
2 tsp sugar*
1 1/2 tsp sweet basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tbls corn starch dissolved in water

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. When the vegetables are tender stir in everything except the corn starch. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes over medium low heat. Stir in corn starch. When sauce has thickened, remove from heat.

*Generally I just use a packet of Truvia

Hot Pepper Sauce

So very many hot pepper sauces and condiments are loaded with salt that I decided to try out my own quick hot pepper sauce. Salt content has really motivated a lot of experimentation in the last year....ehehehe. Anywho, this is a super fast and tasty recipe. Generally I don't keep it in the fridge beyond a week, but it rarely lasts that long. This recipe makes around half a cup give or take.

Hot Pepper Sauce

20 dried hot red peppers
2 tbls apple cider vinegar
1 slice sweet onion
1 tbls garlic
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp salt (or to taste)

Hydrate peppers in hot water for about an hour. De-stem and squeeze out excess water from the hydrated peppers as you toss them into a blender. Add in remaining ingredients and blend everything together until smooth. Pour container and chill. (You can also simmer the sauce after you blend everything together if you want to go a step further...sometimes I do this and sometimes I don't.)


Hydrating peppers the easy way...so much harder for me to keep all the peppers pressed under the water in a bowl rather than a mug. Do you have to use dried peppers in this sauce? Heck no. You could use fresh peppers, but the volume would be a problem if you are using larger peppers. I think you would end up with less heat in the end. I usually don't see fresh peppers in the cayenne style, but that could just be my grocery.



I love the little bullet blender type deal for this sauce. It's a relatively small amount of ingredients so I get a smoother blend.