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RECIPE: Easy Healthy Recipes With Salsa

Want a home-cooked meal that’s good for you and couldn’t be easier?

Cook with salsa!

These two recipes for Chicken Salsa and Fish Salsa show just how easy it is to take the protein, a jar of salsa, and create an easy and delicious dinner. They also work with tofu.

While the protein is cooking, make a green salad, steam a green vegetable and make some brown rice (microwave precooked frozen or cook it in the pressure cooker for the same 15-20 minutes that the protein takes.)

To Microwave Brown Rice

1. Add 1 cup brown rice and 3 cups cold water in a 2-1/2 quart microwave-safe dish. (We enjoy our square CorningWare casserole dish, which also looks nice at the table.)

2. Microwave uncovered for 10 minutes on HIGH.

Salsa Chicken is one of the easiest chicken
recipes to make. Photo courtesy McCormick.com.

3. Reduce power to 50%. Microwave uncovered 20 minutes.

4. Allow to sit for 5 minutes in the microwave (you can remove it if you need the microwave for another task).

5. Fluff with a fork and add any seasonings. For healthy cooking, don’t add butter, but look to herbs, spices and/or veggies: chives (or green onions), diced bell peppers and/or toasted sesame seeds, for example. A sprinkling of slivered almonds, walnuts or other healthy nuts also pairs well with the nutty flavor and chewy texture of brown rice.

 

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TIP OF THE DAY: Eat 1.5 Ounces Of Healthy Nuts


Seven nuts are heart healthy; but walnuts are the healthiest of all (photo courtesy © Superior Nut Company).

 

Many of us have been told to steer clear of nuts: They’re high in calories and full of fat.

Ah, but it’s good, heart-healthy fat.

The American Heart Association recommends eating four 1.5-ounce (about a handful) servings of unsalted, unoiled nuts per week.

However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that eating 1.5 ounces of nuts per day may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Walnuts are the healthiest nuts of all. See why.

And start to enjoy your 1.5 ounces per day of the “Magnificent Seven” of nuts:

  • Almonds
  • Hazelnuts
  • Peanuts
  • Pecans
  • Pine Nuts
  • Pistachios
  • Walnuts
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    FOOD HOLIDAY: National Peking Duck Day

    January 18th is National Peking Duck Day. We’ll be running out to our favorite Chinese restaurant for the real deal, which we’ve been enjoying since childhood. It’s our favorite Chinese dish.
     
     
    WHAT IS PEKING DUCK?

    Only white-feathered ducks are used in the preparation, what we call Pekin ducks (not to be confused with Peking, the name of the dish; the Pekin breed was introduced to the U.S. from China in 1873).

    The ducks live free-range for 45 days, and then are force-fed for 15 to 20 days. Once harvested with the head remaining on, the duck is plucked and washed.

    Air is pumped into the raw duck to separate the skin from the fat. This enables the extensive amount of fat found between the meat and the skin to drain out during cooking.

    The duck is then hung up to dry in the open air overnight before being glazed with sweet syrup and spices and roasted in an oven [source].

    The layer of air enables the skin to become very crisp while the meat inside remains succulent.

    Then, a skilled maitre d’ slices the duck in front of you, expertly converting the whole duck into thin slices of meat and slices of crisp skin.

    To assemble your food, wrap-style, you take a crêpe (some restaurants serve thicker pancake-style wrappers), add a slice of duck meat and skin, garnish with hoisin sauce, julienned cucumbers and scallions (green onions), roll and eat. It’s heavenly.

    The duck carcass goes back to the kitchen, where it is presumably used to make stock. We’ve dined with more than one friend who asked for the carcass “to go,” and did the same at home.

    By the way, Peking Duck, the roasted duck dish and Pekin duck, a breed of white duck that inspired the creation Donald Duck, are not the same. While Peking Duck is typically made with a Pekin duck, learn the difference between Peking Duck and Pekin duck.
     
     
    HOW TO APPROXIMATE PEKING DUCK AT HOME

    Here’s how to enjoy almost-there Peking Duck tonight.

    Ingredients

  • Pick up a cooked roast duck. We like Maple Leaf Farms Duck, which is fully cooked and frozen, ready to heat-and-eat. The skin won’t be thick and crisp like a specially prepared Peking Duck, but it’s close enough for your quick homemade dinner.
  • Get the crêpes. If your store has flat (as opposed to filled) crêpes ready made (often in the caviar case), pick them up. Otherwise, pick up some 8-inch tortillas.
  • Actually, tortillas are too thick and “bready” for us. When we can’t find crêpes and don’t want to make them, we’ll substitute lettuce leaves, in the manner of Korean and Vietnamese meat wraps.
  • Rice paper wraps, used for summer rolls, are another option.
  • Get the cucumbers and scallions.
  • Get a jar of hoisin sauce. You’ll find it in the Asian foods aisle.
  •  
    You’re almost ready to celebrate Peking Duck Day.
     
    Preparation

    1. HEAT the duck. While the duck is heating, julienne the cucumbers and scallions into sticks (see photo) and plate them. They can be in individual dishes or on the same plate. Put the hoisin sauce in a bowl.

    2. REMOVE the duck from the oven and slice. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look pretty; it’s ultimately going into a wrap.

    3. HEAT the crêpes/tortillas for 10-20 seconds in the microwave.

    4. SIT down and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Take a crêpe/tortilla, add some duck, cucumber, scallion and hoisin sauce; wrap and eat.

    The beverage choice is yours. We enjoy a cup of good black tea (no sugar needed, and definitely no milk) or a beer.
     
     
    A HOISIN SAUCE PRIMER

  • Hoisin sauce (HOY-sin) is a thick, sweet-and-pungent condiment that’s used much the way we use barbecue sauce (but the taste is completely different). It can be used to coat meat and poultry prior to cooking, it can be stirred into dishes and, as in the case of Peking Duck, it can be used as the principal condiment—a very elegant “ketchup.”
  • The flavor of hoisin sauce has always seemed pruny-plummy to us (in the sense of a sweet fruitiness of roasted plums). In fact, recipes for a hoisin sauce substitute can include prunes. However…
  • There’s no fruit in traditional hoisin sauce unless you count a touch of chiles, which are, by botanical definition, fruit.
  • The base of hoisin sauce is soybean paste, which is then flavored with garlic, vinegar and sometimes other spices. The resulting sweet-and-spicy paste is extremely flavorful and may overwhelm people who try it the first time. But keep trying; you’ll learn to love it.
  • Some restaurants serve a sweet bean sauce instead of hoisin sauce.
  •  

    PEKING DUCK HISTORY

    The recipe for Peking Duck dates back to the Ming Dynasty, the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644.

    Top cooks from all over China travelled to the capital, Beijing, to cook for the Emperor. The best cooks might even advance to the rank of a minister [source].

    In the royal kitchens, dishes of exceptional quality such as Peking Duck were created.

    Although Peking duck is named after Beijing (Peking is an older spelling), it originated in the earlier Chinese capital of Nanjing.

    In the Ming dynasty, the imperial court moved to Beijing, bringing the emperor’s recipes along with it.

    By then, Peking duck was an established staple of imperial menus. In the subsequent Qing dynasty (1644 to 1912), Peking Duck spread to the nobility. The dish was much praised in the writings of scholars and poets [source].

    With the fall of the Qing Dynasty (also spelled Ching and Ch’ing) in 1911, court chefs who left the Forbidden City set up restaurants around Beijing, bringing Peking Duck and other delicious dishes to their customers.

     


    [1] Beautifully roasted and ready to slice (photo © Red Stix [alas, permanently closed]).


    [2] Peking Duck starts with a beautifully roasted and glazed Pekin-species duck (photo © Jing Fong | NYC).


    [3] Peking Duck, waiting for the maitre d’ to slice and plate the duck meat and duck skin. The carved meat is presented with shredded scallions, hoisin sauce, and crêpes to hold all three (photo by Fotoos Van Robin | Wikipedia).


    [4] The most elegant plating displays the meat in the center, surrounded by piece of the crisp skin (photo © T. Tseng CC-BY-2.0-License).


    [5] Place the duck and scallions on the crêpe, add hoisin sauce and roll up (photo © Polina Tankilevitch | Pexels).


    [6] Rolled and ready to eat (photo © Marcin Krakowiak CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0-License).

     

      

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    TOP PICK OF THE WEEK: Chef Gerard & Chuck’s Salsa Verde

    Salsa verde is made from the green tomatillo
    berry, which is not a tomato. Photo by
    Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

     

    We’re a nation of salsa lovers; but much of that is salsa roja, red salsa.

    In Mexico, the land from which we obtained our love of salsa, it’s the opposite. Only the northern states of Mexico, closest to the U.S. border, have red salsa as their tradition.

    Green salsa is based on the tomatillo, which is a distant relative of the tomato (the difference between tomatoes and tomatillos).

    We’ve had salsa verde from jars, but only recently experienced the joys of fresh salsa verde, from Chef Gerard & Chuck’s. It made us ask, why isn’t there more fresh salsa verde on the market?

    Of course, that’s the very question that got Chef Gerard into the business!

  • Read the full review.
  • Watch the video and learn how to make salsa verde.
  • Check out all the different types of salsa in Latin America, including 20 types you’ve probably never heard of.
  • The history of salsa, all the way back to the Aztecs.
  • How did salsa, the food, become salsa, the dance? The origin of salsa dancing.
  •   

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    Salsa Verde Recipe, Made With Tomatillos

    May is National Salsa Month. Most people think of salsa as red; but how about green salsa?

    Some people think, logically, that salsa verde—green salsa—is made with green tomatoes (photo #1).

    Actually, it’s made with tomatillos toe-mah-TEE-yoes, a distant cousin of the tomato, a green berry the size of a small cherry tomato. It grows covered in a papery husk (photo #3), like the cape gooseberry (a.k.a. ground cherry).

    A tomatillo does look a bit like a little green tomato, but the comparison ends there. The tomatillo is naturally tart, compared with the sweetness of a tomato.

    Both plants developed in Mexico, but they are not close cousins. Both are in the Nightshade family*, It’s not in the same genus as tomatoes, though both are in the nightshade family (along with eggplants and peppers).

    > HERE’S THE SCOOP ON TOMATILLOS

    > HERE’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TOMATOES & TOMATILLOS
     
     
    RECIPE: SALSA VERDE

    Spanish for “green sauce,” salsa verde is made from a base of tomatillos, seasoned with chiles, cilantro and spices.

    A salsa verde can be fresh or cooked. It is typically much thinner than a tomato-based salsa roja, and often used as a sauce instead of a dip.
     
    Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 pounds tomatillos
  • 1/2 cup chopped red or white onion
  • Optional: 2 cloves garlic (more to taste)
  • 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 2 jalapeño peppers or serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded and chopped (for more heat, leave the seeds)
  • Salt to taste
  •  
    Preparation

    1. REMOVE the husks from the tomatillos. Rinse well and pat dry.

    2. BOIL the tomatillos. Place the tomatillos in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the tomatillos with a slotted spoon and pulse in a blender with the other ingredients.

    3. SEASON to taste with salt. Chill in the fridge to let the flavors meld.

    4. SERVE as a dip with chips, or as a sauce for chicken, fish (photo #2), lamb, pork and vegetables (photo #3).

     
     
    MORE TOMATILLO RECIPES

  • Ají Sauce (a favorite hot sauce in Ecuador and Peru)
  • Enchiladas Suizas
  • Gazpacho Verde
  • Green Bloody Mary With Tomatillos
  • Mexican Dip
  • Salsa
  • Tomatillo Guacamole
  • Tomatillo Guacamole With Roasted Corn
  • Tostadas
  •  


    [1] Ready to make salsa verde (photo © Empellon Taqueria)?

    Baked Salmon With Salsa Verde
    [2] Baked trout with salsa verde. Here’s the recipe (photos #2 and #3 © Good Eggs).


    [3] Drizzle salsa verde over roasted vegetables, or give everyone a ramekin of the sauce for dipping.

     
    ________________

    *While both are members of the Nightshade family, Solanaceae, they have a different genus: Physalis for tomatillos (P. philadelphica) and Solanum for tomatoes (S. lycopersicum).

      

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