Taco Lasagna

This recipe is from a concept I first learned from my friend Erin Marr. I could easily eat Tex-Mex at least once per week. I am fairly health conscious, so you'll see some healthy tweaks I added myself. I recently switched from ground turkey to ground chicken. I find ground chicken retains spices better than ground turkey, which I tend to add a lot of salt to. It's still leaner than beef, and less expensive than ground turkey.

Ingredients:

Olive Oil to coat pan
1 tsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 lb. Ground chicken
1/4 C Diced onion
3 tbsps Finely diced jalapeno
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
2 pinches oregano
1 tbsp. paprika.
 4 flour tortillas, soft taco size
1 jar pace medium taco sauce
1 bag 2% Mexican cheese blend
1/2 tomato, diced
Several sprigs of fresh cilantro

Directions:

Coat skillet with olive oil. Saute diced onion until golden. Add ground chicken, breaking up with a spatula.
Add jalapeno, salt, cumin, chili powder, oregano, and paprika. Stir occasionally, turning the meat as it browns.

Meanwhile, brush melted butter on the first flour tortilla. Place buttered side down in a cake pan. Using a tablespoon, apply liberal amounts of taco sauce to the tortilla, as you would tomato sauce with traditional lasagna.

Strain ground chicken mixture in a hand strainer. Add the first layer of chicken to the tortilla.
Add a handful of tomato. Add a handful of shredded cheese. Cut cilantro into fine pieces and add to the top.

Repeat this process, creating four layers total. The top tortilla should only contain cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 until cheese melts. (About 15 minutes)

Serves 4.

Shrimp and Veggie Stir Fry

This is an easy weeknight dish you can pull together with minimal prep time. I've recently been visiting Asian markets on my days off, and experimenting with new ingredients.

Ingredients:

Olive Oil to coat wok
1/4 C Yellow onion, diced
1 C Brown Beech mushrooms
1/4 Crown of Broccoli, chopped
1/2 Jumbo carrot, shredded
1/3 C Baby Salad Shrimp
1 package Tofu Shirataki noodles, spaghetti style
1 tsp. fresh chopped lemongrass
2 tbsps. Reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. fish sauce

 Directions:

 First, coat the bottom of the wok with olive oil. Add onion, and saute until golden.

 Add mushrooms and shrimp.

 While shrimp is cooking, removed shiritaki noodles from package. Rinse and strain.

 Add noodles to pan, coating with soy sauce and fish sauce.

 Stir occasionally, gradually adding broccoli and carrots. Let simmer for five minutes.

 Serve