When life hands you limes, make lime chicken street tacos

One thing professional bakers are good at that I clearly am not is buying appropriate amounts of ingredients for large-batch baking — unlike me, who has a pantry full of limes even after serving Key Lime Cheesecake with Patrón Sauce to 230 guests.

And although margaritas would be the no-brainer, I’m-a-mom-let-me-drink way to use up the extras, I squeezed their zesty little selves into two fresh, flavorful chicken dishes. Before filling a large bowl with Chicken Black Bean Salsa, we enjoyed Lime Chicken Street Tacos for an entire weekend. Can YOU resist a soft corn tortilla warmly blanketed around tender shredded chicken, melty cheese, and the warming taste of cumin? Me either.

The inspiration for these came from Taste of Home Lime Chicken Tacos. I’ve followed the recipe exactly a few times and loved them. But this time I wanted to use soft corn tortillas and I wanted to throw in crispy peppers and red onions, and use fresh red tomatoes instead of using salsa. Now that I’ve become a cumin addict thanks to Beer Chili Spaghetti, you’ll find a warm, smoky heat to these as well. You can take or leave any of the ingredients, and you can add your own favorite traditional Mexican toppings.

Technically, street tacos should be wrapped in two soft corn tortilla shells. [Unlike pictured above.] That way, you won’t need to eat them hovering over the kitchen sink.

You’ll like making these on Saturday mornings because if you pop the chicken in the crockpot right when you get up, these tasty tacos will be ready for a late lunch. (That is, if you weren’t partying like it’s 1999 the night before.) Once you have the chicken in the crockpot you can dice up the tomatoes, jalapeño pepper, red onion, and cilantro and shred the cheese for the garnish. At that time if you want, you can go back to bed.

Once the chicken is done, you’ll take it out of the crockpot and shred it.

Then, you’ll toss on your frozen corn and diced tomato and jalapeño. I also dash on more cumin and onion salt. Slide it all back into the crockpot. Pour the remaining 1/4 cup lime juice over the chicken and vegetables and stir thoroughly. Put the lid back on and cook on low for 30 minutes until everything is hot.

You’ll find many ways to use the red onion and cilantro sauce. I like it on my favorite tortilla chips, nachos, and on scrambled eggs.

Lime Chicken Street Tacos

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3/4 cup lime juice, divided into (3) 1/4 cup portions (I used approximately 16 small Persian limes which was most of a 2-pound bag. Ten or twelve large, regular limes would give you approximately 3/4 cup. Or, you can use bottled lime juice.) If you don’t want to make cilantro and red onion sauce, you can omit one of the 1/4 cups of juice.

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon onion salt

1 cup frozen corn

1 tomato, diced

1 jalapeño pepper, finely diced

24 soft corn tortillas

1/2 large red onion, finely diced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

sea salt to taste

2 cups shredded cheese, Monterey Jack, Sharp Cheddar, or your favorite cheese

sour cream

Make the taco filling

Place chicken breasts in a crockpot. Combine 1/4 cup of lime juice, chili powder, cumin, and onion salt. Pour over chicken, put the lid on the crockpot, and slowly cook the chicken until cooked all the way through and no longer pink, approximately 5-6 hours.

Remove the chicken from the crockpot and place on a plate. With two forks, shred the chicken into pieces small enough to fit in your mouth. If you desire to add a little more flavor, sprinkle a few additional dashes of cumin and onion salt over the chicken.

Dump the frozen corn, diced tomato, and diced jalapeño pepper on the plate with the chicken. Put it all in the crockpot and pour 1/4 cup lime juice over it all and stir. Cover and cook at low temperature for another 30 minutes or until everything is hot.

To serve: place a couple spoonfuls of chicken on a warm tortilla. Top with cilantro and red onion sauce (see recipe below), shredded cheese, and sour cream.

Serve with margaritas, mojitos, or my new favorite ice-cold adult beverage, Cayman Jack hand crafted margaritas.

Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Cilantro and Red Onion Sauce

In a small bowl, combine the diced red onion, chopped cilantro and 1/4 cup lime juice. Add sea salt to taste. Keep refrigerated.

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{Chicken Black Bean Salsa Moonlights as Summer Meal}

You may not think a big bowl of salsa makes a meal, but you won’t be able to stop eating this hearty condiment until your belly is full. If you have a garden, run out and pick a few tomatoes, green onions, and as many varieties of peppers as you can. Sauté a pound of chicken seasoned with Mexican spices, throw a few beers on ice, and in 30 minutes you’ll have a perfect summer meal.

Our favorite sidekick for scooping up this salsa is a big bag of Margaritaville Sea Salt Tortilla Chips. (Thanks to my sister, Kalli, for the recommendation a couple of years ago.) For those of you in the Midwest, you can purchase the chips at Hy-Vee, Fareway Foods and Schnucks.

Of course, no meal is complete without something sweet so we topped off this spicy summer meal with a light and creamy, no-bake dessert — Summer Breeze Lime Pie.

Chicken and Black Bean Salsa

1 – 1-1/2 pounds unbreaded chicken breasts, cooked, diced and seasoned with Southwest Seasoning Mix or any combination of Mexican spices

3 large tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (or lime juice from a bottle), to taste – you may want to add more to make it juicier

1/4 cup green onions, finely chopped just past the white part

2 (15 oz. each) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

1/4 tsp salt, or more to taste

1/4 tsp pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup diced pepper (red, green, orange, yellow, whatever kinds you like)

2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped

Sauté the chicken until fully cooked.

Cut up all the vegetables, cilantro, garlic, and stir together in a large bowl with the salt and lime juice. Drain and rinse the beans and add to the vegetables.

When the chicken is done, stir it into the vegetable and bean mix. Serve with chips. Store in the refrigerator and serve leftovers cold.

Happy summer!

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{Magic Chicken Noodle Soup}

It’s a mystery to me why chicken noodle soup warms the soul and seems to have healing powers that even the kids recognize. The first time I made a batch of homemade chicken noodle soup, my son happened to be sick. But after he ate the soup, he felt so much better that he started calling it magic chicken noodle soup. Hmmm. Sounds like the making of a new children’s book…

Now, I use store-bought chicken broth so it’s not truly homemade soup. But, it’s better than any canned soup, and with the fresh carrots and celery, it’s a meal you’ll be happy to serve your family. (Just don’t forget the dash of magic.)

{Chicken Noodle Soup}

2 to 3 cups cooked chicken (1 large rotissarie chicken shredded, OR 1 pound unbreaded chicken breasts cooked and shredded)

3/4 cup diced carrots

1/2 cup diced celery

1/4 finely diced white or yellow onion (If you use a red onion, the kids will “see” it floating in the soup and the soup will lose all of its magic.)

2 Tablespoons butter

10 cups (80 ounces) chicken broth

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3 cups uncooked medium egg noodles

Cook egg noodles according to package directions. Drain, dump into a large soup pot and set aside.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute the carrot, celery and onion in butter until tender.Stir in chicken, seasonings, and 4 cups of the broth. Bring to a boil. Pour the soup into the large soup pot and add the remaining 6 cups broth. Cook 15 minutes or until completely heated through. Makes 12 servings.

This recipe makes a large enough batch for a couple of family meals and a few lunches.

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