Chicken Tacos with Cherry Pico de Gallo

chicken taco with cherry pico de gallo

Doesn’t that just look scrum-dilly-umptious?

cherry-salsa-3

I bought a new kitchen gadget. Actually, it’s not a gadget. It’s a piece of stoneware — cookware from Pampered Chef — that, had I not had a Pampered Chef party, would never have purchased. But I saw this puppy in action and was quite impressed, especially given the fact that I’m a single mom, often cooking for two, often with little time. Here she is:

stonewear_coveredbaker_pamperedchef

She’s just as beautiful on the inside:

stonewear_coveredbaker_pamperedchef2

Here’s why I bought this particular ceramic cookware:
  • she’s made (locally) in the US in Chicago
  • she can cook chicken in the microwave (a place I’d never, not ever, cook chicken}
  • to perfection
  • she keeps foods ultra-moist and ... without the need for added fat. No olive oil, butter or anything is needed
  • she uses less cooking time
  • she’s easy clean up, nothing but the pot to clean!
  • other recipes can be made in her too such as one pot meals
  • and if I need something to be crispy, she’ll bake a nice crust for me
You can order one for yourself here. I also ordered the rectangular baking sheet for pizzas, cookies, potatoes and what not.

I also bough this little gadget from PC, a pick. Now I don’t have to touch the chicken. :P

chicken pick

Here’s the chicken, spritzed with lime juice prior to going into the microwave:

chicken, raw

I spritzed it with fresh lime juice. Threw it in the mike. Here it is 3 minutes later, completely done!

chicken in pot

Pretty evenly cooked.

In the mean time, I diced up all the ingredients. Looking into my fridge, I spotted the cherries. I couldn’t resist and am glad I didn’t.

chopped-cherries

Here are most of the players:



I asked Peanut to help me photograph the yummy salsa I made for him. Reluctantly, he agreed to help.

pouty-face-2

Usually he’s such a good kitchen sous chef! But being called away from whatever it was that he was into was not much appreciated by him. Alas, I got my photo:



Now here’s my recipe. I have two versions, one where I added sugar, and one without. I also made a chipotle sour cream mayo that truly was not needed on the tacos, altho Oliver loved it.

Chicken Tacos with Cherry Pico de Gallo

INGREDIENTS (cherry salsa):
  • Red onion, small, chopped fine
  • Grape tomatoes, quartered, 1 containter
  • 2 handfuls of bing cherries, pitted and diced
  • handful or two of chopped cilantro
  • Fresh lime, the juice of one
  • a sprinkle of salt
  • a sprinkle of sugar

INGREDIENTS (tacos):
  • corn tortillas (you can use flour, I prefer a good, organic corn)
  • 3-4 steamed or grilled skinless, boneless chicken breast, chopped
  • lime juice, fresh
  • cilantro (if you like more ... there is cilantro in the pico de gallo)
  • chipotle mayo / sour cream (optional)
  • fresh corn on the cob
  • black beans (optional, not pictured)
  • fresh avocado (optional, not pictured)

INGREDIENTS (chipotle mayo):
  • 2 T mayo
  • 2 T sour cream 
  • 1/4 lime juice
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 t fajita or taco seasoning (I use Paul Prudomme’s)

METHOD:

Sprinkle chicken breast with seasonings and lime juice. This time around, I only used lime juice, but your chicken will be more tasty if you add fajita seasoning or something to spice it up. Cook until just done. Do not over cook or you will have dry chicken. I placed pot in microwave for 3 minutes. I let the chicken sit in the pot while I prepped the other veggies, which allowed the chicken to steam a bit longer.* It also let the chicken “settle” a bit.

Diced the chicken once it has been cooked. Set aside. Cook the corn. Shuck the corn after it has been cooked; scrape the kernels off the cob. (I used a knife and left some of the kernels connected to each other.) Set aside. Warm the tortillas either on an open flame or in the oven until they are pliable.

For the cherry salsa, chop all ingredients finely. Put all ingredients into a bowl, then sprinkle sugar and salt. Squeeze fresh lime juice into bowl. Mix well, set aside to let flavors meld a bit.

For the mayo, mix all ingredients together. Mayo should be somewhat runny. Better if made the day before.

Assemble chicken and corn (and black beans and avocado) onto a warm tortilla. Add salsa, chipotle mayo, lime juice and more cilantro, according to your tastes.


YIELD:

4-6 tacos

Enjoy!


* I am not a fan of over-cooking chicken. I have never gotten sick from cooking my chicken at a lower temperature than most recipes recommend. I leave this up to you.


chicken taco with cherry pico de gallo

chicken taco with cherry pico de gallo


Comments

  1. They look yummy! I like my PC dish also.
    Take care!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks sue! they were good! even oliver loved them!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Your comments are helpful! Thanks!