Charred Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa

This salsa turned out so yummy.  Sweet at first and then the spicy jalapeno hits.  It goes perfectly on the shredded pork tacos I'm going to post later.  This recipe is from one of my dad's favorite restaurants, Salsa Brava, in Flagstaff.  The restaurant was featured on Food Network, and their roasted pineapple habanero salsa was written in the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives book.  I had to try it!  I followed the recipe the first time exactly and it was SO spicy we couldn't eat it!  So, I made a few adjustments and now I've got it down.  

This salsa is more of a typical salsa than what you would compare to other fruit salsas, such as mango salsa.  I think it would go on a regular taco or salad too.

Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa

recipe adapted from Salsa Brava

3-4 fresh jalapenos (depending on how spicy you like it)

5 roma tomatoes, halved

1 large sweet yellow onion

1 16 oz can crushed pineapple, undrained

1/2 c. water

1 c. cilantro

salt

Move your oven rack to the top spot and turn on the broiler.  Cut the jalapenos in half and carefully remove the seeds and ribs, being careful not to touch your eyes! Cut the onion in thick slices.  Lay out the jalapeno halves, tomato halves, and onion slices on a cooking sheet and broil the vegetables until they are charring on the edges, flip the veggies over and broil the second side. (I broiled mine 10-12 minutes on the firsts side and only 5 minutes the second side.)

Once the veggies are charred add them with water, cilantro and pineapple into the bowl of your food processor (or blender) and pulse until the veggies and cilantro are chopped.  Season with salt to your liking. Enjoy with tortilla chips or on a taco.

Carrabba's Bread Dip Mix

We live in a somewhat new/smallish suburb of Phoenix and when we first moved out here, there wasn't much. When Carrabba's opened we were there.  Rob instantly became obsessed with their herb bread dip and insisted I find a way to make some.  Immediately.  So naturally I googled "Carrabba's bread dip mix" and up popped the copycat recipe!  I love this recipe because you mix up all of the dry herbs and it stays fresh pretty much forever so you can keep it on hand.  Mix some with fresh garlic and olive oil and you have an instant Italian appetizer.  I like to bring this to people with a homemade meal and everyone loves it.  Really, everyone.

This would make a great little gift for your neighbors in a small jar, and is super simple to throw together.  I usually buy my dried herbs in the little packets on the Mexican food aisle.  They are super cheap ($.89.)

Carrabba's Bread Dip Mix

recipe from food.com

1 Tb crushed red pepper flakes

1 Tb. black pepper

1 Tb. dried oregano

1 Tb. dried rosemary

1 Tb. dried basil

1 Tb. dried parsley

1 Tb. granulated garlic

1 tsp. sea salt

fresh garlic cloves & olive oil for serving

Mix all herbs & salt together in a small bowl.  Store in a jar or ziploc bag until you're ready to use.  To serve, crush or grate a clove of garlic on a plate and mix 1 Tb. herb mix in with the garlic.  Cover with desired amount of olive oil and dip a baguette or french bread in the oil mixture. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcrackedupkitchen.blogspot.com%2F2012%2F11%2Fcarrabbas-bread-dip-mix.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-Wn5DwD1fVPo%2FULO-Phw3MuI%2FAAAAAAAAAU8%2FPv2ZavINJ1I%2Fs1600%2Fcarabbas%2Bdip3.JPG&description=Cracked%20Up%20Kitchen%3A%20Carrabba's%20Bread%20Dip

Mango & Avocado Salsa

I had some mango avocado salsa at a friends house and I was sort of skeptical about the mango/avocado combo.  But I loved it!  The next week in my produce basket I got some avocado and mangoes so I whipped up a batch.  We love it!  My kids ate it with a fork too so that's always a good sign.  One tip is to toss this together quickly because if you stir too much the avocado will mash up.  I served this on honey-lime grilled chicken (as a marinade I used the dressing from this salad) and it was great.

 

Mango & Avocado Salsa

 

2 large mango, diced

2 avocado, diced

1/4 c. red onion, finely chopped

1/4-1/3 c. cilantro, chopped

few dashes of cayenne pepper

salt & pepper to taste

 

Toss it all together and serve with chips or on top of chicken or fish.  Yum!

 

Even Better 7-layer Dip

I've always loved 7-layer dip.  But it's a real bummer when the good stuff is all scraped off and all that is left is the hard canned-refried beans that break your chip when you attempt a scoop.  That's been my experience at least.

This recipe solves that "problem" and I'm happy to say it was a giant hit at a Super Bowl party.

If you need to make this gluten free, skip the taco mix and add in some granulated garlic, salt, cumin and chili powder in place of it.

This makes a LOT so if you are making it for a smaller group of people, half it.

Even Better 7-layer Dip

1 28-oz can refried beans or 3 c. homemade
3/4c. - 1 c. salsa
1 1/2 c. sour cream
4 oz cream cheese, softened (half a block)
2 Tb taco seasoning OR 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2-1tsp granulated garlic, 1/4 tsp salt
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c. red onion, minced
2 large tomatoes or 3 small, seeded and minced
2-3 avocados, chopped (my taste-testers preferred more avacado)
1 small can chopped black olives, drained or 1/2 can whole black olives, chopped
1/2 c. cilantro, chopped

Mix together refried beans and salsa to your desired consistency.  Less salsa for thicker beans, more for thinner.  Spread the bean/salsa mixture on a large platter (or a cookie sheet if you don't have a big platter).  Rinse out the bean bowl and mix together sour cream, cream cheese and taco seasoning.  Spread the sour cream mixture over the beans.  Then sprinkle the rest of the ingredients in layers over the top of the sour cream. Serve immediately with tortilla chips or refrigerate until you're ready to eat it.

Cranberry Salsa

I spotted this recipe on Pinterest and really wanted to try it. I made a couple changes and we just love this stuff! It's great with tortilla chips on its own, or our favorite is spread over cream cheese with crackers. YUM.

This recipe is so simple and quick to make, I think I'm going to make it for the neighbors for Christmas. Making 10 batches of this would be WAY quicker than cookies. AND if I eat a whole bunch I wouldn't un-do all of my bootcamp hard work.
Cranberry Salsaadapted from bake-aholic

1 package of fresh cranberries (12 oz)
1/2 c. sugar
1 jalapeno, seeds removed, roughly chopped (I left in some seeds.)
3 green onion, roughly chopped
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp cumin

Pulse everything together in the food processer until chopped to your liking. I left in some chunks. Refrigerate 12 hours before serving. This will stay good in the fridge a long time (up to 2 weeks.) Serve with tortilla chips or over cream cheese with crackers.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

I've had buffalo wing dip many times.  I've always liked it but some are better than others.  This one is really, really good.  My friend made this at a party recently and I just loved it.  So of course I made it myself...and added a little extra cheese, because--why not?

I made this at my daughter's birthday dinner to go with pizza and we scraped out the crock pot!  This dip goes well with celery sticks or tortilla chips.  Or pizza crust too.  I made 1 1/2 the recipe for 5 adults so I would highly recommend doubling for a party.

Buffalo Wing Dip

2 c. shredded or chopped cooked chicken
1 block cream cheese (neufchatel works great), softened
1/2 c. Franks Buffalo sauce
1/2 c. Ranch dressing
1/2 c. shredded (sharp) cheedar cheese

Mix together all ingredients and either put inside a little dipper crock pot for an hour or bake in an 8'' square pan at 350 for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.  Serve with tortilla chips and celery.

Seven Layer Greek Dip

I've pretty much been cyber-stalking Our Best Bites.  I'm obsessed with that blog because everything is so good and most of the recipes are very "homemade" but simple which is my "style".  I was quite skeptical about this dip when I first read the recipe because I wasn't so sure about the cream cheese/hummus combo.  But-- it was a Monday and we have small group Monday night and I had everything to make the dip on hand, so I did.  I did not regret that decision.  It is SO good.  The pie plate was scraped clean afterwards. The dip itself is much more colorful than it looks in this picture.



Seven Layer Greek Dip

8 oz block cream cheese, softened
1 tsp dill or Greek seasoning ( I used Pampered Chef dill mix)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 c. hummus
1 c. seeded, chopped cucumber
1 c. seeded, diced tomatoes
1/2 c. chopped olives ( I used green, kalamata or black would be great)
1/3 c. green onions, chopped (or red onion)
1/2 c. crumbled Feta
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

Combine soft cream cheese, seasoning, garlic and lemon juice.  Spread that mixture in the bottom of a pie plate.  Spread hummus over the top of the cream cheese.  Sprinkle on cucumber, tomatoes, olives, onions, feta and parsley.  Chill for at least two hours.  Serve with pita chips or tortilla chips or even veggies.

Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa

I made a new salsa and it's really good if I do say so myself.  I was making this casserole and the recipe was so involved and time consuming and I ended up making this salsa as a result to save time.  It's my new favorite.  I'll post my version of the casserole tomorrow!

I used a couple poblano peppers (they are dark green peppers about the same size of bell peppers) in the salsa but you could just skip those and add a 7 oz can of chopped green chiles instead.




Fire Roasted Tomato Sasa

3 14.5 oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
2 poblano peppers cut into big chunks
6-10 garlic cloves, peeled
3 jalapenos halved, ribs & seeds removed (I reserved the ribs and seeds from one of the jalapenos because we like spicy)
1 onion cut into big chunks
3/4-1 c. cilantro
juice of a lime
salt to taste

Turn on the broiler to 500.  Place the peppers, garlic cloves, jalapenos and onion on a baking sheet and spray them with cooking spray.  Roast about 20 minutes, shaking the pan after 10 minutes.  You want the garlic to be browned and the other vegetables may have some black spots but not be completely charred.  Remove the veggies from the oven and let cool a few minutes.  In a food processer or blender combine cans of tomatoes, roasted vegetables, lime juice, salt and cilantro.  Pulse until chopped and combined.  Enjoy!!

Greek Salsa, Again

I made this for a meeting we had to go to Sunday.  It got rave reviews!  I remembered to take a picture this time and I thought it would be a great Superbowl idea....AND it's very healthy (It's healthy itself, the tortilla or pita chips you dip it with aren't super healthy though.)

Try the Greek Salsa!

*Disclaimer: This is best the day you make it so don't make it too far ahead of when it will be served.

Crab Dip

This dip is a Christmas tradition in my family.  My Aunt Michelle would always make it and I was so obsessed with it as a kid that she started making an extra plate of dip just for me.  (She loves me!) Which could be part of the reason I was the "chubby kid" but, hey I enjoyed it.

I love this recipe because it comes together really quickly and requires very few ingredients.  This is a great thing to whip up to take to a Christmas or New Year's party.

We like our sauce a little spicy so we add horseradish to the bottled cocktail sauce, which is completely optional for you.

Crab Dip

8 oz block cream cheese, softened
6 oz cocktail sauce (1/2 bottle)
1 tsp prepared horseradish, optional
8 oz imitation crab meat, chopped (or 8 oz baby shrimp works great too)

Using the back of a spoon, spread the cream cheese onto a small platter or large plate.  In a small bowl mix together the cocktail sauce and horseradish and spread the sauce on top of the cream cheese. Sprinkle crab meat over the top of the cocktail sauce layer.  Serve with crackers, I prefer Wheat Thins.

Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

I used to buy this bottled raspberry chipotle sauce at Costco and it is SO delicious.  I mean seriously.  It makes an awesome dip if you just pour some over a block of cream cheese (so does homemade pesto!).  People go nuts over it!  It's so great that my husband ate an entire block of cream cheese covered in this stuff and made himself sick.

This sauce is also really great if you put it on pork tenderloin while you're roasting it, or on chicken too.

I figured out how to make it and now I can eat it anytime!  Which is good and bad I guess.

Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

• 1 Tb. olive oil
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tsp adobo sauce *
• 1 c. raspberry jam (about half a 20 oz jar)
• 1/4 c. cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Heat oil in a small saucepan and cook jalapenos until tender, about five minutes.  Mix in the garlic and cook another minute.  Stir in the adobo sauce, jam, vinegar and salt.  Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 10 minutes.  You want it to thicken but it will get even thicker as it cools so don't let it go too far.  Cool and store in a jar in the fridge up to 3 months.  Put it one everything.

* Adobo sauce is the sauce in a can of chipotle in adobo, which can be found in the Mexican food aisle.  You can freeze the leftover chipotle peppers and sauce for future use.  OR just use it to make these fish tacos.

Mango Salsa

Here's another summer recipe I have to sneak in real quick before the mangos are all gone!  These mangos were another treasure from our produce basket and they were so juicy and delicious.  Rob loves mangos just diced up on top of vanilla ice cream.  We've decided next summer we'll get an ice cream maker and make our own vanilla ice cream and the mangos will be even better with that!
I was always leery of trying fruit salsas because something about it just creeped me out, but I did it and we all LOVED this salsa.  It's sweet and spicy all at the same time.  My almost 2 year-old ate this with a spoon.

Mango Salsa

1 large ripe mango, peeled and diced
2 Tb red onion, minced
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeno, minced (leave the seeds in if you want it spicy, take the seeds out if you want it mild)
juice of a lime
salt & pepper to taste

Mix it all together and refrigerate at least an hour. Enjoy!

Creamy Black Bean Burritos

I found the idea for this recipe on a blog and I cannot find the link to save my life--so please forgive me for not giving credit...If I find it I'll show you! (Found it! Here's the original recipe!)

These burritos are super simple to throw together and VEERY inexpensive so a super saver. This is perfect for coming home from the pool and having hungry kids and wanting dinner on the table immediately. (to make this into a yummy dip for tortilla chips, use only one can of black beans, smashed)



Creamy Black Bean Burritos
1 can black beans, drained rinsed and mashed (I use a potato masher)

AND 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 c. salsa, drained well (you can substitute a can of rotel, drained well)

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp granulated garlic

1/2 tsp cumin

salt & pepper to taste

Tortillas of your choice

 

Toppings:

shredded lettuce

diced red onion

diced tomato

cilantro

sour cream

shredded cheese

taco sauce

Mix beans, cream cheese, salsa and seasonings together either in a glass bowl or in a small sauce pan. Heat on the stove or in the microwave until hot. Assemble burritos with any of your desired toppings. Yum! **Note: I believe that really, truly taco sauce makes this. Not to be confused with salsa, which is also great....but sooo different.

Apricot Brie

I love brie. I would eat it cold. I remember when Rob and I were first dating someone threw a birthday party for him and made brie with strawberry jam...I was a little skeptical, but it was so good! My friend is a Pampered Chef consultant and she had a recipe really similar to this and I just adapted it to make it a little bit easier, cheaper. It's yummy.

I usually get my brie rounds at Sam's Club or Costco for a great price. Also, there's jalapeno in this but don't be afraid it just gives a tiny kick, you can hardly taste it. If you like more spice, add more jalapeno.

Apricot Brie

1 lb brie round

1/3 cup apricot preserves

3 Tb minced jalapeno

1 baguette or other dipping options

olive oil

Preheat oven to 425. Mix together the brie and jalapeno. Slice the brie in half lengthwise. Spread half the apricot mixture on the bottom half, place the other half of the brie on top and spread the rest of the apricot mixture on the top of that. Place the brie on a baking sheet or stone and surround with baguette slices. Drizzle the baguette with olive oil. Bake 10-12 minutes or until bread is toasted and the brie is soft.

Bacon Cheddar Dip

So this is a strange story, but my in-laws made LOADS of bacon for Christmas morning and my father in-law was going to throw the pan of leftover bacon away....well, of course being the frugal person I am that would actually cause me physical pain so I took home the two full gallon-sized ziploc bags of cooked bacon and froze them in smaller baggies. All that to say, I had some bacon in the freezer I needed to use up so I invented this dip for Super Bowl using ingredients I already had on hand. Turned out really yummy and I think it would be DElish stirred into some mashed potatoes!

Bacon Cheddar Dip

1 8 oz block cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or more if you're feeling daring)
1/2 cup mayo
6 slices bacon crisply cooked and crumbled
3 green onions, chopped

Mix everything together and either bake at 400 until hot and bubbly OR toss everything into a little dipper crockpot and turn to high until all melted and hot and then turn to keep warm for up to three hours. Serve with bread (or on top of a baked potato). Yum.

Spinach Dip

Yum. I love spinach dip. When I was pregnant with my first I craved pumpkin...and spinach dip. I ate lots of it, not even the really good stuff...the pre-made stuff at the grocery store. My friend Cindy would buy it for me every week at our small group bible study and I would eat half a baguette and half a bowl of dip.

Anyway, I digress. I have a long history with spinach dip. This recipe is super simple and based off of the recipe on the back of the vegetable soup mix. My neighbors and we inhaled this entire bowl-full at a football party a few weeks ago when the Cardinals died a slow and painful death.

Spinach Dip
1 c mayo (I used light)

2 c sour cream (light again)

1 package Knorr vegetable soup mix

1 box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry

3-4 garlic cloves, grated

2 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Mix everything together in a medium mixing bowl. Refrigerate at least few hours. Serve with veggies and/or bread.

Chorizo Queso Dip

Sorry for the delay in recipe posts this week. I caught this cruddy cold/flu that was miserable and I didn't get dressed or leave the house several days this week. I'm feeling better now so I'm posting my favorite recipe so far in 2010...it's so good. Great for a party, Super Bowl, or just to stuff your face with on a Saturday. The dip isn't very good for the typical New Year's weight loss Resolution, but I DID use 2% milk Velveeta and it turned out just as good, with half the fat! I've always been a big queso dip fan, but when my friend Amber made hers with chorizo...it was love. She used half chorizo, half ground beef so of course I had to take it to the next level and this is what I came up with...the whole neighborhood loved it at our bonfire last week!

Chorizo Queso Dip

1 lb fresh pork chorizo (don't buy the stuff in the tube...too greasy)
2 cans pinto beans, drained (or use your own frozen pintos)

2 cups salsa

1 4 oz can chopped green chiles

1 4 oz can chopped jalapenos (drained very well)

1 2 lb block Velveeta cheese, cubed

Tortilla chips for dipping

Brown the chorizo and drain well, then drain again on paper towels. Layer all the ingredients in a medium-large crockpot and cook on high for 35 min-hour stirring occasionally until the cheese is all melted. Turn the heat down to "warm" to keep hot and gooey for as long as you need. Serve with chips and a dollop of sour cream if you like.

PS I'm uploading the pic of caramel rolls now so check it out if you're wondering. (It's the pre-baked picture only so I guess I'll just have to make them again.)

Olive Nut Spread

Growing up my family always had crab dip, olive nut spread and various other snacks and appetizers on Christmas Eve. Then when we're thoroughly stuffed we would have ham & cheese soup to top it off. Oh, and a piece of fudge and some Christmas cookies. I could never find the recipe for the olive nut spread but my mom pulled out the oldies a few years ago and started making this again. I tried one batch and it was too salty so I think I added too many olives. So then the second round I figured it out.

If you don't like green olives, I can guarantee you will not like this dip. If you do like green olives...you will like it. We serve it with triscuits and rye bread. I put exact measurements for the olives and nuts but if you like it extra salty & olive-y add more.

Olive Nut Spread
1 8 oz block cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup green olives with pimento, roughly chopped

3/4 cup pecan halves

Set cream cheese out and let come to room temperature. In a food processer process the nuts until they're small and toss in the olives and process another couple rounds. Add in the softened cream cheese and mix.

If you don't want to bust out the entire food processer you can chop the nuts and olives with a food processor or finely with a knife and mix it together in a bowl.

Creamy Jalapeno Dip

This stuff is good. Spicy, but good. The possibilities are endless with this stuff. Mix it in with some beans and make a bean dip. Put it on a burrito. Use it as a dip alongside chips. Dunk your taquitos in it. Baby carrots. Pretty much anything. Rob insists that I have this in the fridge at all times.

I usually use fat-free cream cheese and low-fat sour cream to even it out a bit.

Jalapeno Dip

2 cups sour cream (or a whole 16oz container)

1 block cream cheese, softened
1 small can green chiles, drained
1 small can jalapenos with carrots, drained well (in the Mexican food aisle)
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp. taco seasoning (if you're gluten-free check for that)

Toss the jalapenos & garlic in the food processer and pulse until mostly chopped. Add everything else into the food processer (or if you have a super-power blender). Blend until everything is incorporated.


 

Greek Salsa

This is sooo delicious that it all disappeared before I could get a picture. I made this yesterday for Elise's birthday party and all the adults loved it. We had something like this at a party once and Rob insisted that I figure out how to make it, so this is what I came up with. It's really good with tortilla chips or pita chips! And somewhat healthy.

Greek Salsa

6-7 Roma Tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 red onion diced finely
2 cucumbers, peeled and diced
1 c. crumbled feta cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 T vinegar (I used red wine but anything will work)
1 T olive oil

Mix everything together and let sit in the refrigerator at least an hour before serving. But, don't make it too far ahead either, it gets runny and ugly!