Al Pastor Enchiladas with Pineapple Avocado Salsa

I went for a long walk this morning, longer than usual. Maybe it was the fact that is was finally cool with the promise of coming rain that kept me walking. It's Thanksgiving break so my kids were sleeping in and with them now in Middle school and high school, they are pretty self-sufficient now. At least for those 2 hours this morning, time was my own to do what I wanted without any other responsibility tugging at my minutes. As I crunched through fallen leaves, I thought about being thankful. Somewhat fitting with the Thanksgiving holiday where we all take stock in all our blessings. For me it was just happenstance of the timing, but today was the day I really felt thankful for being able to stay at home to raise my kids. Because they are now well on their way to being self sufficient, I've felt a bit lost and I've been feeling the pressure to get back to work. But today, I realized that my work, my job of being a stay-at-home mom was important and is still important. I gave up a career to be home with them. I gave up adult interaction and personal achievement to help guide my kids through, infancy, elementary school, now puberty with the promise into adulthood. I like to think that this time was not wasted. I like to think that my value as a woman, as a mother, and as a human being means something to my kids and to the world at large. Today, I felt proud of all that I gave up to be a good mom to my kids. As I look forward to going back to work and finding my own path outside of motherhood again, I'm excited for what lies ahead but I also feel sad that this time spent with my kids is coming to an end. 

Al Pastor Enchiladas

Makes 12

Main Ingredients
Ground Pork Filling (recipe below)
Al Pastor Enchilada Sauce(recipe below)
Pineapple Avocado Salsa (recipe below)
12 corn tortillas
Oaxaca cheese, grated

Cotija cheese, crumbled

Al Pastor Enchilada Sauce

Makes 3 cups

1 T canola oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T Mexican oregano

2 t  cumin

1/2 t black pepper

1/4 t ground cloves

4-6 dried Guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed

2 cups water or chicken broth

1- 15oz. can of pineapple chunks with juice (reserve 1/2 of the pineapple for the salsa)

2 T achiote paste

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

salt and cayenne pepper (to taste)

Heat oil over medium heat, then add garlic, oregano, cumin, pepper and ground cloves to a medium saucepan and heat until fragrant ~ 1 minute. Add water or chicken broth, dried chiles, pineapple, achoite paste, cider vinegar and boil 30 minutes. Cool and blend well. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside or it can be made ahead, just refrigerate in an air tight container. 

Pineapple Avocado Salsa
Makes ~ 1 cup

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely minced
1/2 reserved pineapple, cubed 
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 cup cilantro, finely minced
Juice of 2 limes
Salt and pepper
1 avocado, small dice

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Pork Filling
1 T canola oil

1/2 red onion, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 lb ground pork

1 cup Al pastor Enchilada sauce

salt and pepper (to taste)

Add oil and onions to a large skillet and saute until translucent ~5 minutes. Add ground pork and 1 cup Al Pastor Enchilada Sauce and cook until liquid is reduced. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. 
Heat tortillas in an oiled skillet and then keep warm in a tortilla warmer until ready to roll.

Pour half of the reserved enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 10 x 14 casserole dish. Spoon about 1/3 cup of meat mixture into tortilla, add a sprinkle of cotija cheese and roll up with seam side down. Repeat. 

Top with Oaxaca cheese and bake in a 350 degrees oven for about 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.   

Top with Pineapple, avocado salsa, additional cotija cheese or sour cream or all the above. Enjoy! 

Other recipes to try:

Michelada Pops

Albondigas with Chimichurri Pesto

Chilaquiles Corn Bread Stuffing

Corned Beef Tacos with Cilantro Lime Crema

Kale Salad with Strawberry Mango Salsa

The idea of topping salad greens with salsa has been bouncing around in my head for a while now. I can think of many times topping my so-so salad with salsa. So I guess the idea hadn't been in my head but rather in beta testing on my salad plates at countless Mexican restaurants.

But now that summer is near, fruit salsas are again topping grilled chicken and fish in most of the cooking magazines. Feeling inspired to top my grilled chicken with a delicious tropical fruit salsa, I bought some Mango Pineapple salsa from Trader Joe's to try and it was amazing! I imagined it on soy marinated, grilled salmon and chicken and as the finishing on so many dishes that I then thought of my favorite food...salad. I thought of the many times I used plain salsa to top my salads...Wouldn't it be awesome to top a salad with the whole container of this delicious salsa from Trader Joes? There would be no need for a dressing. The bright idea flashed as I looked down and realized I'd eaten the whole container of salsa. Not a drop left to top a salad with, but that didn't mean I couldn't make my own salsa, right? Inspiration comes many ways and just like the TJ's Mango salsa, my trip to SLO brought me Kale. The perfect marriage.

I love Kale. It is chewy and hearty and unexpectedly, floral in it's taste. I think it tastes best when paired with fruit. The Strawberry Mango Salsa is sweet and tangy and works perfectly with this delicious green. It's perfect for summer BBQs because you keep the salsa and the greens separate until ready to serve, that way your greens don't wilt after sitting in all that juice. Enjoy!

Kale Salad with Strawberry Mango Salsa
Serves 4-6

3 large leaves of Kale, chopped
1 medium head of green leaf lettuce, chopped

Strawberry Mango Salsa
1 cup strawberries, diced
1 cup mango, diced
1/2 cup pineapple, diced
2 T cucumber, small dice
1 T red bell pepper, small dice
1 T jalapeno, small dice (optional)
2-3 green onion, sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 T agave syrup or honey
2 T orange juice concentrate
2 T vinegar
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T fresh ginger, grated
sea salt (to taste)

Chop, rinse and spin lettuce and kale and place in a large serving bowl. Set aside.
Prepare Salsa. The ingredients are approximate as I added a little here and there to get the right amount of sweetness so this is my closest approximations. Feel free to adjust to your taste. 
Add all fruit and vegetable ingredients into a medium sized bowl with tight fitting lid (for storage) and mix well. In another bowl add agave syrup or honey, OJ concentrate, vinegar, olive oil, ginger and salt and whisk together until well combined. Add to fruit, mix and chill covered in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight. (This is a good make-ahead salad)

When ready to serve, place Kale salad on a plate and top with this deliciously sweet Strawberry Mango Salsa. Enjoy!

Looking for a new salad recipe for Spring and Summer? Try some of these:

Sunflower Sprout Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette
Nappa Cabbage Salad with Ginger Garlic Dressing 
Caprese Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette
Green Goddess Primavera Salad
Vegetable Ceviche

Nana's Salsa

For this blog, I wanted to highlight our friend's family Salsa recipe, affectionately called Nana's Salsa. We've known the Ponce family for about twelve years. They are a warm and welcoming family who always make you feel like a part of their family. They are generous and kind and just plain fun! When I first met the Ponce's, I was astonished to find out that their family would host two big family events each year; their summer picnic and a formal winter dance held at a local hotel. 
The picnic was no 'bring a basket of food to the beach' kind of thing and the winter dance...well 'formal' says it all. You can imagine how much planning it would take to pull off a 'formal' anything. Both of these were organized events, which I came to understand, took a year of planning, every year. The duty of planning these events rotated through different family members each year. Incredible, because these were no small events. The family picnics were huge, with easily 300 people in attendance. Family, friends and neighbors all brought something potluck style. There were raffles, a mariachi band, beer trucks, food, games for the kids, water balloons, egg toss, the whole enchilada.  It was an amazing event, one which I was honored to attend a few years and always looked forward to attending. In fact, I remember, the first time I brought my husband (before we were married) to one of the Ponce's picnics. Afterward, he commented how awesome the Ponce Family was and how they made him feel like a part of their family.  I couldn't have agreed more.
So in honor of the Ponce Family, I thought it would be great to have my friend and writer, Paul Ponce, write up the story on how his Nana's Salsa recipe came to be and how he resurrected it when he thought the recipe was lost. The salsa is incredibly delicious and super fresh with lots of cilantro. I practically ate an entire bag of chips while I polished off the whole bowl of salsa. So here's Paul's family story and recipe. Enjoy! 

Thank you Paul and the Ponce Family for letting me share your story and recipe. 

Nana’s Salsa

by Paul Ponce

Back in the sixties, my grandparents opened up a Mexican food restaurant in Garden Grove, CA. They featured a full service menu consisting of what you might be accustomed to these days. Dishes such as tacos, enchiladas, and chile rellenos were some popular entrées, but before any of that came to the table, the first thing served was always a basket of chips and a bowl of fresh salsa.

Looking at grocery store shelves today, you might notice most jars and bottles of salsa have a red tomato base. A variety of chilies differentiate one product from the next but basically they are all about the same. Back in the day though, sometimes the price of tomatoes would be so high, the salsa needed to be stretched out a little. That is where Nana came in.

My great-grandmother a.k.a. “Nana” had her own salsa recipe that she brought to my grandparents new restaurant and it quickly became a local favorite. A couple years back, after not having tasted that salsa in over twenty years, I asked my Nino for the recipe. When he gave it to me he said there were no exact measurements, only ingredients and suggestions on “about” how much to use.

I remember the look and consistency of the salsa like it was yesterday but it wasn’t until I started blending it all together that the smell brought back a flood of memories. Then, when I took that first taste with a tortilla chip, I knew I had nailed that recipe right on the money. The process is fairly simple and the ingredients are few. The only culinary tool you really need is an emulsion blender and before long you can enjoy this recipe yourself!

Nana's Salsa

3 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 bunch cilantro, chopped (about 2-3 cups)

1 bunch green onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 yellow chile (chile guerito), seeded and chopped 

2 Serrano chilies, seeded and chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped (or 1 tsp. garlic powder)

salt, to taste

Clean and coarsely chop the three Roma tomatoes and place them in a deep bowl along with half of the canned tomatoes with juice. Clean and chop the cilantro. Don’t worry about taking each leaf off the stem, just throw it all in. Clean and chop the green onion, make sure to add some of the green part of the stem as well. Remove seeds and veins from the chilies.  Coarsely chop and add chilies to the bowl. Add the remaining half of canned tomatoes. Using an emulsion blender, slowly blend the ingredients together. Add salt to taste.

Refrigerate and serve. 

Note: Letting the salsa, refrigerate overnight will give you the best flavor allowing the ingredients to meld together, but it is not required. Enjoy!