Who doesn’t love nachos? I mean seriously, what is not to love about a big plate of chips covered with cheese, meat, beans, tomatoes, olives and jalapenos? Now, imagine with me for a moment that you remove the chips from the equation and take all of those wonderful goodies that you usually pile on top of the chips, layer everything in a casserole dish and bake until hot and bubbly. That my friends is what I like to call Hot Nacho Dip. 

Whenever I go out to Tex-Mex or Mexican restaurants I often see the menu item “sizzling hot fajitas”. I see servers flying around avoiding the sizzles and the smoke coming from their hand while leaving a lingering scent of deliciously cooked meat and veggies  in their wake.  Sounds good doesn’t it? Now, I will tell you that I have never ordered them. Not once. I’m not sure why, I just always find something else on the menu that grabs my eye. Most likely enchiladas. But cheesy goodness aside, these fajitas always smell amazing and those that do order them seem to be happy with their choice. So with no visit to a Mexican restaurant in the near future, I decided to pick up some skirt steak and make my own sizzling fajitas at home.

Ryan and I do not eat a lot of big salads. Sure we eat salad as a starter but very rarely is that all we have for dinner. However, this week has been really busy both at work and at home so I was looking for some quick fix meals and this taco salad fit the bill. It is loaded with all of my favorite taco fixin’s like beans, tomatoes, cheese, tortilla strips and seasoned ground turkey. But the star of this salad is the spicy avocado dressing that it is tossed in.

Last week I mentioned that I was on a little bit of a dip craze so it shouldn’t be surprising that I have another dip to share with you today. This time however, I strayed away from the creamy variety and decided to go in the chunky salsa direction. But this is not just any salsa. Sure it has tomatoes in it, but alas they are not the stars. Instead black beans take the stage. There are also special appearances by onion, fresh cilantro, chili powder, cumin and, just for a little kick, some cayenne pepper.

Last week when I shared my recipe for Slow Cooker Pulled Pork, I mentioned that I had a couple of recipes up my sleeve to utilize the scrumptious, tender meat. I shared that it is good in sandwiches, salads, omelets and tacos. But my oh my is it ever good in enchiladas. Especially when you add plenty of shredded cheddar and Monterey jack cheese and top them with homemade enchilada sauce.

Do you ever buy one of those big packets of chicken because it’s on sale thinking to yourself that you will use some but put the rest in the freezer for later use? It appears that I do. While I was cleaning out the freezer the other day I found that I had quite a few of these packets. Apparently I bought one, used a few pieces of chicken out of it, put the rest in the freezer and the next time I went shopping I bought another one. It appears that this happened more than once, its a vicious cycle.  With this over abundance of chicken, I decided that I should cook some, shred it and use it in a variety quick and easy dishes like chicken salads, sandwiches, tacos and these cilantro lime chicken tostadas.

Yesterday was pretty warm, well by Seattle standards anyway, and today is going to be even warmer. For some reason warm weather always makes me crave tacos. Who doesn’t love tacos? To me they just scream summer time. Perhaps it is all of the bright flavors or the fact that they go so well with a cold bottle of Corona. Either way, these shrimp tacos are definitely the perfect summer time supper. They are quick, easy and light. They also showcase some of my favorite flavors: cumin, chili powder, cilantro and lime.

Okay let me give you a little warning about this salsa: It is not for the faint of heart. Its spicy. Make your eyes water spicy. With that said, it’s not all about the heat, this salsa has a wonderful flavor.  Despite the fact that my mouth feels like its on fire, I often find myself eating the whole bowl. It is full of fresh tomatoes, cilantro, onions and garlic. All you need is perfectly salted tortilla chips and you have one of my favorite summer time snacks.