If you have a few boneless chicken breasts or a package of boneless thighs and jar of Salsa, you are all set. You can omit the onion and veggies if you don’t have them around, and just stew the chicken in a salsa/water mixture. We served this over rice with a handful of cheese on top. It’s also great topped over chips as a nacho topper, or a simple base for soft or crunchy tacos.

4 large chicken organic breasts or a package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs , cut into bite sized, 4 inch cubes.

drizzle olive oil or lump of butter.
A handful of cheese
½ finely chopped onion
A handful of baby spinach
1/2  jar GourGanics organic Salsa (mild or spicy)
¼ cup water (add more if needed)
some sort of starch (rice, pasta, taco shells or soft rolls will all do the trick)

Cut the chicken into bite sized cubes.
Add oil to pan and wait for it to heat until shimmering (2 minutes or so in the pan on medium heat).  Cook the onions in the oil on medium/high heat for a few minutes, add the chicken and brown until you get a slight sear on both sides (about 2-3 minutes). Add a 1/2 jar of salsa and about a half cup of water and let it stew for 5-7 minutes or so (until chicken is cooked through). During the last  minute, toss in the spinach and let it just melt into the sauce. Serve in a soft taco shell with cheese and salsa, over rice or as a spicy sandwich on soft rolls.

tip: if you add a spoonful of organic sourcream into the cooking mixture at the last minute, you get a creamy, dreamy amazing meal.

Enjoy! The Girl Scouts sure did!

GourGanics Girl Scout Guacamole

After going over basic knife skills and sanitary kitchen practices, we got down to business.  I taught the girls the secret to really good gaucamole. It’s this simple: ripe avocados. If they are not ripe, be patient! They should be perfectly tender to the touch, not too mushy, not too firm. When you handle them, you should get a tiny bit of spring back from that green alligator skin.

If you buy them and they are rock hard, give them two or three days in a brown bag on your kitchen counter. Mash, add two ingredients and enjoy the fruits of your labors!

All you need is love, oh, and these ingredients:

4-6 organic avocados, mashed (about 3 1/2 cups)

4 tablespoons (or so) of GourGanics mild or spicy (remember the recipe is a guide, use your own tastes to add a little less or more)

2 teaspoons organic sour cream (optional for you dairy-free folk)

Using the back of a fork or a potato masher, mash diced avocados in a medium bowl, leaving them a little chunky. Add salsa and sour cream, stir to combine. Enjoy!

They first suggest making your own fried tortilla strips, and while this is a flavorful way to go, I think a good organic store bought chip can be crushed and added as a garnish. So here goes the recipe for the soup. I will also add a recipe for fried tortilla strips, in case you want to go that route.

Ingredients:

2 (12 ounce) bone-in split chicken breasts or 4 (5 to 7 ounce) bone in chicken thighs (remove the skins and trim off any excess fat)

If you find boneless thighs or breasts, they are fine, too just may impart a little less flavor

8 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 large white onion, peeled and quartered

4 garlic cloves, peeled

2 large sprigs fresh epazote if you can find it. I could not so I used the alternate 8 to 10 sprigs fresh cilantro

salt

1 dash dried Mexican Oregano

1 dash salt (to taste)

1 tomato (cored and quartered)

1/2 jalapeno pepper chopped

1/2 jar GourGanics (spicy is great here)

1 tablespoon veggie oil

Garnishes:

Lime wedges

1 chopped avocado

8 ounces cotija (authentic) or Monterey Jack or Mexican Cheddar blend Cheese

Fresh cilantro

Mexican crema (authentic) or sour cream

Here’s how to make this easy soup:

Step 1. This takes about :20 minutes:

Bring broth, chicken 2 onion quarters and 2 cloves of garlic herbs and 1/2 teaspoon or so of salt to a boil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Reduce to low, cover and simmer. This should take about 20 minutes. Pull out the chicken with long togs and set it aside. Pour the broth through a fine-mesh strainer throw away the “floating stuff”. When it is cool enough to handle, pull the chicken off the bone and cut into nice, bite sized pieces. If using boneless breasts, just pull the poached chicken breasts apart by

hand or cube them.

Step 2. takes another :30 minutes or so.

Puree tomatoes, salsa, remaining onion, garlic and herbs in the food processor until smooth. Heat oil in your Dutch oven over high till it shimmers. then add the puree above and stir constantly until you get a rich, warm brown color. This should take :10 minutes.

Stir the strained broth into this dark mixture and boil for :5 minutes, then reduce the heat for :20 minutes and allow to slowly simmer as flavors meld. Add shredded chicken and warm till heated through.

Step 3. Garnish, serve and eat.

Place a small portion of crushed tortillas or homemade strips (see recipe) in a bowl, ladle in soup, add lime wedges, finely chopped chunks of avocado, cheese and herbs on top.

Enjoy!

Bonus recipe:

To make gluten-free homemade tortilla strips you will need:

8 (6 inch) corn tortillas cut into strips (about 1/2 inch wide)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

salt to taste

Adjust your oven rack to the middle position and heat to 425 degrees

Spread tortillas and rimmed sheets, drizzle with oil, toss evenly till coated.

Bake until strips are deep golden brown and crispy. (13 minutes or so)

rotating pan and shaking strips to redistribute halfway through baking time

Season to taste and transfer to a plate line with paper towels.

I checked in with my good pals Laura and Chris at the Fairfield Cheese Company and asked what they would recommend as a tasty and easy cheese that you can mix with salsa to make a fast Queso for the big game this weekend. They suggested Yancy’s Fancy Cheddar. It has a buffalo wing flavor that adds another layer of flavor to GourGanics. You can buy it at the cheese shop. My first recipe was good, but I felt a little sour cream would smooth things over. Give it a try and see what you think. 3 ingredients and 5 minutes to yummy  Queso:

1/4 pound Yancy’s Fancy Cheddar

1/2 jar GourGanics mild or spicy

Melt on the stove top, stirring on medium/low heat.

Add a large dollop of sour cream and smooth in.

Serve warm with chips, crackers and rustic french bread

Watch the Giants or Patriots win. I have no control over this, but I can help comfort with food.

Here’s what you need:

1 pound broccolini, trimmed

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 jar GourGanics salsa

1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs, bone in or out. up to you

Here’s what to do:

Place trimmed broccolini in a bowl and pour boiling hot water over it. Let sit for 5-7 minutes until bright and blanched tender. If they aren’t soft enough, you can microwave them for just a minute until perfectly tender. Microwave 2 tablespoons of olive oil, chopped cilantro and 3 tablespoons of salsa for one minute. Set this cilantro-salsa-oil aside to drizzle over chicken as a last step just before serving.

The key to this dish is the way you cook your chicken. So follow these steps carefully and cook your chicken thighs skin side down and covered so you get a crisp skin and well-cooked meat in just 20 minutes or so.1. pat chicken dry with a clean paper towel and season with a touch of salt and pepper. Mix olive oil with 4 tablespoons of salsa and place in a 12 inch skillet or larger, heat over medium heat until the oil is just smoking, then cook chicken skin side down until well browned, 5-7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook until meat is cooked through, 15-18 minutes. Place cooked chicken on a plate and cover with foil. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of oil/fat mixture from pan. Add broccolini, and cook 2 minutes, until browned. Add salsa and cook another 30 seconds. Drizzle cilantro-salsa oil over chicken and serve.

This is a perfect meal as is. Add a scoop of cooked rice or pasta is you miss the starch.

Here’s what you need:

1 4-5 lb organic pork butt or shoulder

1 bag frozen organic mango (16 oz)

1 organic apple (in chunks)

1 large organic onion (rough chopped)

1 jar GourGanics Spicy

1 can organic black beans

1/2 cup organic shredded cheese (optional)

Unwrap the pork and pat it dry. Place it in crock pot and cover with water, add apple and onion, and cook in slow cooker on low for 8 hours.

Remove all liquid ( you have rendered the fat so throw it out) plus the apple and onion from slow cooker and discard

Use two forks to shred the cooked pork

Add mango, beans and salsa, swish 1/2 cup water in salsa jar to add extra bits of salsa goodness and a little liquid.

Cook 45 minutes or more and serve with white rolls or soft taco shells and shredded cheese if desired

Here’s what you need

1 tbsp Organic olive oil
1/4 cup Organic yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup GourGanics
1 cup Organic baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup Organic mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 local  organic eggs
1/4 cup organic milk
1 tsp kosher salt
fresh pepper

Here’s what to do

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin tin with foil baking cups and spray with cooking spray (or simply spray the muffin tin directly with cooking spray). In a medium frying pan, heat olive oil over medium-low heat, then add onions. Saute, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add spinach leaves and stir until spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes. Add salsa.  Transfer vegetable mixture to a bowl and allow to cool slightly. Add cheese.

Whip up your  eggs, milk, salt and pepper, then pour over the vegetable-cheese mixture and stir to combine. Divide evenly among 6 muffin cups.

Bake until eggs have set, about 20 minutes. The cups will puff during cooking and then flatten just a bit as they cool.

Here’s what you need:

3 tps. butter, 1/2 jar spicy GourGanics, 2 cups chopped leeks, 24 oz. bag new potatoes, 1 qt veggie broth or chicken stock, 7 oz shredded white cheddar (I buy mine at the Ffld Cheese Company near Harry’s) 3 teaspoons sour cream.

Here’s what to do:

Cook leeks in butter for 2-4 minutes

Add potatoes and cook for 7 minutes

Add veggie broth or chicken stock

Add salsa

Bring to a boil and simmer until you can pierce the potatoes with a fork.

Remove 1/2 of the potatoes and hold on the side

Add 1 cup of water

Puree the soup with an immersion blender or in a blender until smooth and velvety

Stir in remaining potatoes, sour cream and cheese

Garnish with croutons and enjoy.

Got leftover dark meat? Simply serve this quick and hearty pulled-turkey chili:

2 1/2-3 pounds turkey meat (white or dark, pulled off the bone and quickly shredded or cubed)

It’s great as chili, or as a simple taco filling, nacho topper, you can also pile it on a fresh roll for a Spicy Sloppy Joe. It freezes well in small containers and lasts for 2 1/2 months when frozen. So, you can take into work or heat up for a child’s thermos.

• 1 cup chopped organic onion
• Do you have leftover fresh veggies from your crudités? Carrots, red peppers? Broccoli? Dice them up and add with the onions. Try to use organic whenever possible.

• 1/4 cup olive oil or organic butter or dairy-free replacement
• I small can organic crushed or diced tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can of organic cannellini beans or organic garbanzo beans (organic red kidney beans are fine too, I just like white beans with turkey)
• 3/4-cup turkey stock if you have it, if not add water to the empty jar of GourGanics and swirl it around, this broth will add spicy goodness.
• A handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips added as the last ingredient will add an amazing depth of flavor

Here’s what to do:

1 In a large, 8-quart pot, add olive oil or butter, cook the onion, green pepper or other fresh veggies over medium high heat, stirring, until onions are a little golden in color, about 5 minutes.

2 Add GourGanics Spicy or Mild, canned tomatoes, cooked turkey meat and remaining ingredients. Bring mixture to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for an hour. Or put it in your crock-pot on low for a few hours. If the chili is a bit too thin, add another pound of a leftover turkey or a few tablespoons of tomato paste to the stock. Let it cook for another 10-20 minutes or longer before serving. Too thick? A splash of water should thin it out without taking away from the concentrated flavor.

Here’s what you need:

1 pound organic ziti

1 cup (half jar) GourGanics Salsa

2 tablespoons organic extra virgin olive oil

1 cups organic ricotta cheese

1 sprig parsley or cilantro

Here’s what to do:

Boil the pasta and drain

Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the salsa and heat for about three minutes or so. Add the cheese and cook for a moment. Add the warm pasta to the pan and stir together. Remove from the heat add sprig of parsley or cilantro. Serve it up and enjoy.