I admittedly have a lot of “favorites” when it comes to food, but one constant favorite of mine is Mexican food. I could eat at our local Mexican restaurant every night for dinner and I’d be delighted to have Taco Bell for lunch each day. Yes, yes I did just admit to loving Taco Bell on a food blog. I kinda have a thing for drive thru food. Don’t hate.

Anyway, my love of Mexican food is deep and never-ending. I once told my husband that I wanted a divorce so that I could instead find an old Mexican grandma to marry. It would have been a match made in heaven.  However, I also have a love of pasta. It’s so carby and delicious. You can dress it up any way you like and one of my favorite ways to dress it up is with my other favorite…tacos.

And, okay, I probably shouldn’t call this Mexican food, but it’s my American version of Mexican food and man, is it ever tasty.

My daughter who routinely declares that she hates Mexican food, doesn’t want tacos, won’t eat that quesadilla, and WHERE IS MY CHEESEBURGER, MOTHER? ate this for lunch today. It’s all about presentation and this one is quite impressive.

You need a bit of extra time to prepare this as the pasta doesn’t just stand up in the pan all by itself, but it was much simpler than I anticipated. Smooshing the meat down into the tubes of pasta was pretty simple as well and the sound it made as it was sucked in was quite entertaining.

If, however, you are a normal person with a busy life who does not have the time to stand a pound of rigatoni noodles at attention, then just go ahead and toss this all together in a baking dish (9×13 would be good) and then cover with cheese and bake it that way. It’ll still taste good…it just won’t be as entertaining.

Y’all are gonna love this.

Taco Pie

• 1 lb rigatoni
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 package taco seasoning (or your own recipe)
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups salsa
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups monterey jack cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil the pasta until not quite al dente. I let mine boil for 2 minutes less than the package suggested for al dente. When the pasta is done, drain and rinse. Toss the pasta with 1/2 cup of monterey jack cheese.

While the pasta is boiling, brown the ground beef and drain. Add the taco seasoning and however much water is needed, per the directions on the taco packet. Cook for a few minutes over low heat and then add in the cream cheese. Allow the cream cheese to fully melt into the meat mixture. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of salsa.

Grease a springform pan and stand the rigatoni noodles up tightly in the pan. It may help to hold the pan at an angle to get them to stand when you’re first standing them up. This step really is easier than you would think!

Spread the meat mixture on top of the noodles and use a straw to poke the meat down into the holes of the noodles. When you’ve poked the meat in as much as you can, pour the remaining half cup of salsa over the top. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 2 cups of cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before removing the sides of the pan and cutting. Enjoy!

I mentioned last week that I have a bit of a thing for Mexican food. I wasn’t lying. I love it. I love cooking it and I love eating it and I love thinking about it.

I also love going to Chipotle, but the closest one to me is a good 45 minutes away. I don’t cry about it too much though. I just recreate my favorite dishes from there at home. Take, for example, this cilantro lime rice. It’s a Chipotle favorite of mine.

This rice is good served as a side with tacos, but it’s really good served inside the taco. Or inside the burrito. Or in a burrito bowl. Or on chocolate cake.

What?

Just making sure you were paying attention.

Cilantro Lime Rice

• 1 cup extra long grain white rice
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lime
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (or more, to taste)
• salt, to taste

Pour the rice, water, and 1 tbsp of the olive oil into a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and continue boiling over medium heat until the water just skims the top of the rice. Reduce heat to low, cover the pan, and continue cooking for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off after 15 minutes and keep covered for 5 more minutes. Remove lid and transfer the rice to a large bowl. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, the juice of the lime, and the finely chopped cilantro to the rice. Mix well and salt to taste.

It’s March. That means it’s almost Spring. Spring means warm weather. Warm weather means being able to grill. Being able to grill means I am happy.

The End!

Oh, no, wait. I had more to say.

I just stumbled across a recipe for chicken cooked in a skillet on the stove, but it TASTES like it’s been grilled. Weird, huh? After months and months of being all cooped up in my house without access to my grill, I just had to try it.

The verdict? Why the heck didn’t I try this sooner? It really does taste like barbecued chicken cooked on the grill! But, even better than that, this recipe is EASY! And simple! And quick! You can get it all ready in the morning before work and then just head home and get it cooking. I love recipes like that.

All you need is a pound of chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins, a cup of italian salad dressing, two teaspoons of lime juice and two or three teaspoons of honey. I know, you’re wondering how the heck THAT is going to turn into gorgeous grilled chicken. I don’t know how it does either. I think it’s magic.

The first thing we need to do is slice up the chicken breast into strips. You can buy tenderloins if you like, but there’s just something I don’t like about them. They are stringy and the texture is just, well, not right. So I just slice up my chicken breasts and call it a day. I am using two large breasts for this recipe, which should be just about one pound of chicken. I sliced each breast into thirds.

Set those aside and we’ll make the sauce.

In a small bowl, whisk together one cup of italian dressing, two teaspoons of lime juice and two or three teaspoons of honey, depending on how sweet you want your sauce. After you’ve got that all mixed up, place the chicken strips into a bag and dump the sauce on top. Squish it all up and stick it in the fridge for at least one hour. I mixed mine up in the morning and let it sit in my fridge all day long.

When you’re ready to get dinner started, just drag out a large skillet and turn the heat to low. Dump in the bag of chicken and sauce and let it cook. You’ll want to stir it every 5 minutes or so.

I know, I know. It doesn’t look like that sauce is going to turn into anything but a soupy mess, but it will. Promise.

Let your chicken cook over low heat until it is cooked all the way through. If the sauce is still milky looking, just take the chicken out and set it aside. Keep cooking the sauce, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown and then pop the chicken back in the pan.

Start rubbing the chicken around in the sauce and get every last bit of it covered. The sauce is pretty darn yummy. I’d hate for you to waste any of it.

I don’t know how it happens and, really, I don’t care. This tastes like grilled barbecue chicken. Have I mentioned that I like grilled barbecue chicken?

Grilled Chicken on the Stove
Adapted from RecipeZaar

• 1 lb chicken breasts
• 1 cup Italian dressing
• 2 teaspoon lime juice (fresh or bottled)
  
• 2-3 teaspoons honey

Slice chicken breasts into strips and place in plastic bag. Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour into bag. Allow to marinate in refrigerator for at least one hour. Dump into large skillet over medium heat. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until chicken is done and sauce starts to brown. Stir to coat the chicken in sauce.

What would you all say if I told you that I had never, NOT EVER, eaten a meatball until October 25, 2008. It’s true. October 25. I’ll remember that day fondly for as long as I shall live.

(Okay, so I should mention that my first ever taste of a meatball was at a wedding and THAT is how I remember the date. I don’t generally remember the dates of the first tastes of food.)

I’ve made meatballs quite a few times since then. I like meatballs. Teryiaki meatballs. Served on a toothpick. Because I’m fancy.

I made these meatballs for a New Year’s Eve get together and then I ate them all. You should make them for your next party. But save some for your guests. Or just make them for dinner like I did the other night.

Let’s get started.

Let’s start with a pound of ground beef.

Alright now. Hold on to your hats. When I make meatloaf or meatballs, I don’t use bread crumbs. I use Stove Top Stuffing. That’s right. Stove Top. It is SO good. Measure out about a cup of dry stuffing and add just enough water to moisten it. You don’t want it soppy wet, but you don’t want it dry either.

Dump that on top of your meat.

You can make your own sauce if you like, but that’s too much work for me. I LOVE this teriyaki sauce, so that’s what I use. Use whichever brand you like most. Or make your own, you over-achiever.

Dump in about 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce and crack one egg right on top. You can sprinkle in a bit of garlic powder or any other spices you like right about now. I usually keep it simple and go for salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.

If you don’t live with a bunch of picky eaters, you can also add in some chopped onions at this point. Or some bell peppers. Or some grated carrot. It’s all good. Unless you are married to my husband and then it’s all bad.

Now go ahead and stir everything together. At this point I decided that I had too high of a meat to stuffing ratio and so I threw in some oats. Oats make me feel healthy. If you prefer you can add a bit more stuffing. But the oats are good too. I promise. I added about 1/2 of a cup.

Mm, mm. Raw meat. (Gag.)

Now get your hands back in there and gently form it into little balls.  I shoot for golf ball sized meatballs, but you can make them a bit smaller or bigger if you prefer. Just remember, the bigger they are the longer it will take to cook them.

If you have a bright yellow plate, use it. Arrange your meatballs in the shape of a smiley face. It’ll make you happy. I promise.

Add about 1/4 inch of oil to a deep 10-12 inch round skillet. Get it good and hot and then add your meatballs.

Fried meat. It’s good.

I believe I cooked these for about 8-10 minutes, flipping them over once halfway through.

When they are finished cooking, put them on a paper towel lined plate and let them drain for a minute or two.

If you’re like me and you have a good, healthy fear of raw meat you can crack one of these open and check to be sure it’s done. If it is, go ahead and eat it. If it’s not, weep.

Add another batch of meatballs to your skillet. While those are cooking you’ll need to keep the others warm. I like to dump about 3/4 cup of teriyaki sauce into the bottom of my crock pot, set it to low, and add the cooked and drained meatballs to that. It keeps them warm and it lets them soak in the teriyaki sauce. Trust me…a teriyaki sauce bath is a good thing.

Serve ‘em on a bed of rice. Or next to rice. Or with a toothpick stuck in the middle of them. Or with a fork. Or just get a shovel and start scooping them right into your open mouth.

Teriyaki Meatballs

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 cup Stove Top Stuffing for Chicken
• water, to moisten stuffing
• 1 cup teriyaki sauce, divided
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• oil for frying

1. Mix together all ingredients except oil.

2. Form into golf ball sized balls.

3. Add meatballs to hot oil. Don’t overcrowd pan. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until meat is fully cooked.

4. Drain on a paper towel and transfer to a crockpot (or dish in the oven) with 3/4 cup teriyaki sauce. Roll meatballs around to coat in sauce.

5. Serve as an appetizer (with fancy toothpicks!) or as a main dish.