Shrimp and Bulgar Wheat with Mexican flavors

The hubs declared this dish one of his favorites I've ever made, which is high praise for something that falls in the healthy category!!  It was really easy and took no time at all.  I did a true "mise en place," meaning having everything chopped and ready ahead of time because it only takes about 15 min to cook and I didn't know when the hubs would get home from work.

I have never cooked with bulgar wheat, but thankfully I decided to give it a go with this Epicurious recipe.

Here's what I used-

Clockwise from the top:
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3 chopped cloves of garlic
1 lime worth of juice
1 lime cut into wedges
1 red pepper, diced
2 fresh ears of corn, cut off the cob
1 lb of wild shrimp (trying to stay off farm raised seafood), shells off and deveined
and in the middle,
1 cup bulgar wheat (purchased from Fresh Direct)
and 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Start with a large pot and add a swirl of extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 min.  Meanwhile, add 2 cups of water to your microwave for 2 min so that it boils.  Add the bulgar wheat to the garlic in the pot and cook for a minute or two until you can smell it getting toasted a bit.  Add about 1/2 tsp of salt as well.
Then, add the first 1/2 cup of boiling water.  Stir until the wheat has absorbed the liquid and continue adding the water a 1/2 cup at a time. After the 2 cups are incorporated, the wheat will be just slightly soupy.  This should take about 7-8 min in total.  The rest of the water will continue to be absorbed over the next few minutes.

Then add the shrimp to the pan and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the shrimp are JUST cooked. They still needed a few minutes here.

Then add the corn, red pepper, lime juice, and red pepper flakes and cook for another 2 minutes.

Finally, turn the heat off and add the cilantro and serve with a lime wedge.

This would make the easiest dinner party ever. I would prep everything before your guests arrive, and then it just needs 15 minutes to cook and voila! A Mexican flavored, healthy dish.
I would serve chips and salsa and a nice manchego cheese while guests arrived, and serve the dish with a slice of avocado on top and a crostini on the side.  It pairs beautifully with a light Sauvignon Blanc or fruity Pinot Grigio.

Enchiladas Suizas with Tomatillo Sauce

It was my good friend Caroline's belated birthday celebration, so I wanted to make something that would fly with the mostly Texas crew (4 Texans, 1 Bermudian, and me!) I ventured into Tex Mex territory, which I don't do a lot of, so for once, I followed a recipe almost verbatim.  It was good, but with a few alterations, I think next time it would be excellent.

From SELF Magazine, May 2006
1 1/2 lb bone-in chicken breasts, skin removed (I used boneless for simplicity)
2 teaspoon salt
4 cloves garlic
5 peppercorns
1 lb tomatillos (about 8), husked (I would double the tomatillo sauce, so use 16)
2 serrano chiles (4 for doubled sauce)
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro (1/2 for doubled sauce)
2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup nonfat sour cream (1/2 for doubled sauce)
8 corn tortillas (6" each) (I used 12, which is probably why I ran out of sauce - 6 is probably right for the amount of sauce they say)
1 1/2 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

First, get the chicken cooking.  Trim the chicken and put in a large pot and cover the chicken with water.  Add 1 tsp salt, 2 garlic cloves, and the peppercorns.  Boil the chicken and then reduce heat to low and cover.  Simmer for 15-20 min until chicken is cooked through.  Remove and shred the chicken so it can soak up the sauce.  Set it aside for now.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the tomatillos and the chiles in a saucepan.  I chopped the chiles, but you should probably leave them whole and let the food processor chop them up in the next step.  It was hard to chase all the chile pieces around the pan with my slotted spoon! I did like that chopping them up meant they got cooked pretty well and lost a little of their heat (I am NOT from Texas....) So maybe rough chop them into 2-3 pieces at a maximum?   Cover the tomatillos and chiles with water and boil over medium high heat for 8 minutes.  The tomatillos will turn from a bright green to a dull green.  That's when they are done.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a food processor with 2 cloves of garlic and cilantro, in case you need to add any of the water to thin out the sauce (I didn't need to.) 

Pulse until smooth, adding any liquid if necessary. Heat a TB of oil in a saucepan and pour the tomatillo/chile/cilantro into the saucepan. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes until sauce reduces by about 1/2. Reduce heat to low and add 1 tsp salt and sour cream.  Stir until sour cream is incorporated. Set the sauce aside.

So the recipe says to then heat the tortillas in a skillet over medium heat, but I just popped them in the microwave until they were a bit pliable - 30-45 seconds on high.

Take a 9x13 pan and add 1/3 of the tomatillo sauce in the bottom. Divide the shredded chicken evenly among the tortillas, roll up, and place seam-side down into the prepped 9x13.  Arrange the enchiladas in one layer and cover with the rest of the sauce.  Sprinkle a generous layer of cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown.

I served with red rice and black beans:

With double the sauce and a little more cheese, this would be a keeper.  I thought my version was a little dry and we ended up adding some salsa on top (which was a shame because the sauce was delicious! There just wasn't enough of it.)
Just a little bit of a bite, but not to spicy for my wimpy tastebuds.