Grilled Steak Tacos

Grilled Cola Skirt Steak Salsa Tacos

Recipe by: Silvana Nardone- Rachel Ray's No Recipe section

Serves-4

Prep time- 30 min.









Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cola
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice of 2 limes, plus lime wedges for serving
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• Salt
• 1 pound skirt steak, cut into 4 portions
• 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 2 jalapeño chiles, finely chopped
• 8 crisp taco shells
• 1 avocado, cut into 8 lengthwise slices

Directions:

1. In a resealable plastic bag, combine the cola, olive oil, 2 tablespoons lime juice, the chili powder and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Add the steak and let marinate at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, toss together the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeños and remaining lime juice; season with salt.

3. Preheat a grill or grill pan to high. Grill the steak, turning once, about 15 minutes for medium-rare; let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak against the grain and toss with the tomato salsa. Fill each taco shell with some slaw mix, an avocado slice and steak with salsa. Serve with the lime wedges.

The Photo Play by Play:

Place the skirt steak in a plastic bag, then add cola, olive oil, chili powder, lime juice and salt.

Then mix chopped tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapenos and more lime juice.

Grill the steak, turning once, for about 12 minutes, then let it rest.

Thinly slice the steak,

and toss it with the salsa.

Add avo and some steak and salsa. Serve the tacos with lime wedges.

Brooke's Notes: This was incredibly tasty! I would suggest that after you cook the meat and slice it that you place it in a warm oven for a few minutes, otherwise your steak will taste cold. You have to let the steak cool down enough to cut, but once you toss with the salsa it becomes cold. I would also suggest tenderizing the meat before you marinate it. That will ensure that the meat soaks up all of the flavor and be mouth watering juicy!! :) Enjoy!

Brooke's Buitoni Pasta

Here is a super yummy but easy recipe to follow! Perfect for a beginner!

Brooke's Buitoni Pasta
Serves-4 (if you buy the big pack of noodles-2 if you opt for the smaller one)





Ingredients

• Buitoni pasta
• 1 bottle sun dried tomato pasta sauce- I use "Classico"
• 3/4 C. chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tbls. garlic- minced
  
• Aidell's Garlic & sun dried tomato sausage-cut up in small pieces and use the entire package in the skillet
• 1/3 C. sun dried tomatoes- chopped
  
• Fresh basil- chopped

Preparation Prepare the pasta as directed. While pasta is cooking, in a skillet over medium-high heat, saute garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and sausage. Cook for 5-7 minutes til the sausage starts to brown. Then add the pasta sauce and chicken broth and bring to a boil for 3-4 min. Add basil and cook for another minute. Then add the pasta and mix well. Continue on high heat til the pasta and sauce has been mixed together and the sauce coats the pasta. Move to a serving bowl, then enjoy! The meal was super fast and easy and wonderfully delish!

Chile Lime Chicken Fry

Chile Lime Chicken Fry
Serves-4
Recipe By: Rachel Ray

Serve with Tex-Mex Peperonata and Corny Polenta

Ingredients

• 4-6 Chicken fillets (ultra thinly sliced chicken breasts)
• salt and pepper
• 1 C. all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 C. bread crumbs
• 3 limes, zested and juiced
• 2 Tbs. chili powder, a couple palmfuls
• 2 tsp. garlic powder, 2/3 palmful
• 2 tsp. onion powder, 2/3 palmful
• 2 Tbs. dried or fresh thyme
• 1/4 C. vegetable, canola, or safflower oil

Preparation Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Arrange 3 shallow dishes. Put the flour in 1 dish, and add the eggs to a second dish. Combine the bread crumbs in the third dish and season with 1 Tbs. lime zest, 2 Tbs. chili powder, the garlic powder, onion powder, and thyme. Coat the chicken in the flour, then the egg and then the bread crumb mixture. Heat the oil, about 1/4 C, in a large skillet over medium-high heat. If your pan is not large enough to fry 4 fillets, in a single layer, heat the oven to 275 degrees F and put a baking sheet on a cooking rack. As you fry the chicken, transfer them to the sheet in the oven to keep them warm. Fry the chicken until deeply golden and crispy and transfer to a serving platter. Season with a little extra salt, and top with lime juice and serve.

Brooke's Notes- I served the Tex-Mex Peperonata on top of the chicken. I topped the peperonata mix with lots of cilantro and used the polenta as our side dish. This was a fantastic meal! We had leftovers, and it served well the next day too! Enjoy!

Tex-Mex Peperonata & Corny Polenta

Tex-Mex Peperonata
Serves- 4
Recipe By: Rachel Ray

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 jalepenos, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tbs. tomato paste
• 1 cup beer or chicken stock
• handful fresh cilantro, chopped for garnish

Preparation

Heat the EVOO in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, the peppers, garlic, and the salt and pepper, to taste. Saute the onion mixture until crisp-tender, 5-6 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cook 2 minutes. Add the beer or stock and stir for 1-2 minutes more. Transfer to a serving bowl or platter, garnish with cilantro and serve.

Corny Polenta
Serves-4
Recipe By: Rachel Ray

Ingredients

• 2 ears fresh husked corn on the cob or 1 cup frozen kernels, defrosted
• 1 Tbs. EVOO
• 3-4 thin scallions, finely chopped
• 3 C. chicken stock
• 1 C. quick-cooking Polenta
• 2 Tbs. butter
• 2 Tbs. hot sauce
• Salt

Preparation

Scrape the corn from the cob by balancing the cob on a small inverted bowl nested in larger bowl. Using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the cob from the top to the bottom.

Heat the EVOO, a turn of the pan, in a sauce put over medium-high heat. Add the corn and saute until it starts to brown at the edges, 3-4 minutes. Add the scallions and cook for one minute, then add the stock and bring to a boil. Whisk in the polenta and cook until thick, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the butter and season with the hot sauce and salt, to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

The Recipe Swap

I am by no means a professional chef, but I do LOVE cooking and I love trying out new recipes, and then sharing those with friends. I was talking with my BFF Jaime, and we decided that we wanted to have a recipe swap, and WAH-LA-
The RED Recipe Box was born!

I will be hosting a recipe swap (if you are in the Provo, UT area) in September, and will be featuring those recipes on this blog, as well as any new recipes I try in the future.

I hope to broaden my cooking horizons, and in the meantime help those out there looking for a fresh new recipe as well. I generally take recipes from the web or cooking shows I see and then put a little twist on them, but will definitely let you know who the recipe is from, and where you can find it too! I hope that over time, I can expand my cooking resume and learn new and fun ways to feed my family. I hate the monotony of cooking the same 4 recipes, and can't wait to get my apron dirty with all new ingredients!

Ok so how will the "Recipe Swap" work?
Each time our group (no matter how big or small) meets, we will have such a variety of recipes there to share, I get so excited just thinking about it! I want to have each person bring different recipes. For example, when we meet in September, I would bring 2-4 soup recipes. Jaime would bring 2-4 salad recipes. "kate" would bring 2-4 appetizer recipes and so forth. We would ask that each girl that comes brings enough copies on 8.5x11 paper for each girl that will be there. That is the easiest way to keep everything the same, but I am open to suggestions if any has them. On the invites that I am so excited to send out, I will ask each girl on her invite what would be a great recipe category for her to bring and share with everyone.

Who wants to come to the "Recipe Swap"?

If you would like to come to the swap or know someone that would want to come, please send an email to theredrecipebox@gmail.com. Please include your email, and address that I can mail you an invite! We would love to have a steady group of girls that would come to our swap, and promise it will be worth your time and you will have so much fun! You can also email any of your recipes to The Red Recipe Box, or any of your questions as well.


We hope that you will come and join in the cooking fun!

The Beginning

This is the beginning of The Red Recipe Box. Where I will take recipes I love and share them with friends all over!