It is almost impossible to find good Mexican food in Germany unless you cook it yourself, so when we decided to have a dinner party for Kenny's work people that's the theme I chose. My recipes were fairly simple because I wanted to make a variety of things and also be able to spend time with my guests as soon as they arrived rather than be frantically working in the kitchen.
Here's how I split up the preparations throughout the week to make sure everything was ready to go and panic free for our Thursday evening dinner:
Monday - Clean house and plan menu
Tuesday - Shop for groceries
Wednesday - Prepare desserts, salsa, and chop veggies for the rest of the dishes, set table including serving dishes
Thursday - Touch up house, prepare the rest of the food
Friday - Clean up
Menu:
Chips, Simple Red Salsa, Guacamole
Mexican Chopped Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing
Skinny Tortilla Soup
Easy Taco Casserole
Lemon Cheesecake Squares
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Caramel Chocolate
Simple Red Salsa
Serves 4-6 (I tripled this recipe)
adapted from
1 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons onion
1/2 to 1 jalapeno (I buy extra in case I end up with mild ones)
2 tablespoons cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Chop onion, 1/2 jalapeno, cilantro, and lime juice in the small bowl of a food processor. Combine mixture with the tomatoes in a medium bowl and add salt. Taste. If it's not hot enough ladle about half a cup of the salsa into the small bowl of the food processor and add more jalapeno. Repeat until you reach the desired heat.
Guacamole
Makes 2 cups
This is a base recipe. Add more garlic, jalapeno, salt, lime juice, or cilantro to your taste. I added more lime juice.
Coarsely mash 2 medium peeled, pitted, and diced Hass avocados, and 1/4 teaspoon each minced garlic and jalapeno with a masher until the avocados are creamy but still very chunky. Add 1/4 cup chopped tomato, and salt to taste, and stir together. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons each fresh lime juice and cilantro, then stir and taste once more. Serve with tortilla chips.
Mexican Chopped Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing
makes 4 servings (I doubled the recipe)
I've prepared this as an entree salad before, but for a dinner salad I left out the beans and the avocado. I didn't use a jicama this time because I couldn't find one. And, I chopped up some Gouda cheese because I couldn't find queso fresco.
2 1/2 cups torn leafy lettuce (I used a combination of green and red)
1 15.5 ounce can black beans, rinsed and well drained
3/4 cup chopped tomato
3/4 cup chopped peeled jicama
3/4 cup fresh corn kernels, uncooked
3/4 cup thinly sliced radishes
Half a ripe avocado, diced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup crumbled queso fresco
Honey-Lime Dressing
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon chopped jalapeno pepper
Toss all salad ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix dressing ingredients. If you expect leftovers, serve the dressing on the side, otherwise pour dressing over mixture and toss. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Skinny Tortilla Soup
makes 7 servings (I doubled this recipe)
adapted from
1 16-ounce can vegetarian refried beans
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14-1/2-ounce can vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
3/4 cup taco sauce
1/2 cup water
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
Crumbled tortilla chips
In a large saucepan, combine the beans, broth, corn, taco sauce, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add 1 cup cheese; cook and stir over low heat until melted. Crumble enough tortilla chips into soup bowls to cover bottoms. Ladle soup over chips. Top each serving with crumbled chips; sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Easy Taco Casserole
serves 6 (I doubled this recipe)
Note: We ended up eating a little later than I had thought. I had cooked this for 25 minutes and let it sit in the warm oven, but the cheese had begun to harden. It would be better to serve this immediately.
1 pound vegetarian burger crumbles (I use Morningstar)
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Colby Jack cheese
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 cups shredded lettuce
In a saucepan, brown the burger crumbles. Add salsa, mayonnaise, and chili powder; mix well. In an ungreased 2-quart baking dish, layer half of the meat mixture, chops and cheese. Repeat layers. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Just before serving, top with tomato and lettuce.
Lemon Cheesecake Squares
Serves 20
3/4 cup butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam (this time I used plum jam that my neighbor made)
Filling:
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1/3 cup lemon juice
4 teaspoons grated lemon peel
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Combine the flour, oats, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Press dough into a greased 13 in. x 9 in. x 2 in. baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Spread with jam.
For filling, beat the cream cheese, sugar and flour until fluffy. Add the eggs, lemon juice and peel just until blended. Carefully spoon over jam. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and store in the refrigerator.
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Makes 30
from
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups pecans, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Beat the butter in a large bowl until it is light and fluffy, then beat in 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar with the vanilla.
Gradually add the flour and salt to the creamed mixture until it starts to form a dough. Add the finely chopped pecans with the remaining flour. Knead the dough lightly. It will be crumbly.
Use a scoop to remove dough. Then press into balls with your hands. Space about 1/4 inch apart on baking sheets. Press each ball lightly with your thumb to flatten it slightly.
Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes, until they are starting to brown. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Put the remaining confectioners' sugar in a bowl. Add a few cookies at a time, shaking them in the confectioners' sugar until they are heavily coated. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container.
