Summer Tostadas with Chicken and Vegetables

One of the best things about summer is the abundance and freshness of vegetables. The season is perfect for fresh, local cilantro, corn, zucchini, lettuces and many types of fruit. Creating recipes that use these seasonal ingredients is the perfect way to combine the tastes of summer with the healthy lifestyle we all crave. This week's recipe has all that, and is delicious to boot.

Norton Fitness is based just outside of Houston, Texas, and so we often have a hankering for spicy Tex-Mex flavors. We created this recipe in honor of our Texas heritage, and in homage to the freshness of this hot-weather produce. This recipe only takes about 15 minutes, but can be prepared even more quickly if you don't want to broil the tortillas for the tostada part of the recipe, instead leaving them soft for tacos. Your choice, either way is delicious!

Chicken + Summer Vegetable Tostadas

Ingredients:

1lb chicken breast, cut into strips

1 cup chopped red or sweet onion

1 cup fresh corn kernels (sliced from the cob)

1 cup zucchini, chopped

1/2 cup salsa of choice, (we like a fresh summer mango salsa, or vine ripened tomato salsa)

3 tbsp cilantro (or as much as you want)

4 flour tortillas ( or corn, but they won't crisp the same in the oven)

3 oz Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

2 tsp olive oil

Method:

Preheat Broiler

Add oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. 

Combine cumin, pepper, and salt and then sprinkle spice mixture over chicken. 

Add chicken strips to pan and cook for 3 minutes. Add corn, zucchini and onion to pan, sauté for another 2 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. 

Stir in salsa and 2 tbsp of the cilantro. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until all liquid evaporates.

Arrange tortillas onto a single layer on a baking sheet, lightly coat tortillas with a little bit of oil or cooking spray.

Place tortillas in broiler for about 2 minutes, allow to lightly browned.

Pull tortillas out of broiler, and spoon about a cup of the chicken/veggie mixture in the center of each tortilla, and sprinkle with cheese.

Broil an additional 2 minutes, or until cheese melts. 

Serve immediately. 

Enjoy and make sure to relish the flavors of summer, because before you know it...they'll be gone! 

Be well!

recipe inspiration from Cooking Light, 2006.

Lemon Basil Grilled Shrimp Skewers

When we are having people over, we always like to have a little something for them to snack on while they enjoy their summer drinks, or waiting on the main meal.

But, we don't like to serve up fatty cheese and crackers, or the old staple chips and salsa. It's been done. It's tired. So we do a step better, with fun, delicious, grilled shrimp skewers. And trust us, it's always the first appetizer to go. (People grabbing two or three skewers at a time...)

But this easy, prepare-ahead recipe is great for warm weather and the flavors have just the right amount of savory citrus, and enough satiating protein from the shrimp to keep our appetites in check. 

Lemon Basil Shrimp Skewers

Ingredients:

1 pound of shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
2 lemons, juiced
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 teaspoons of sea salt
1 teaspoon of cracked pepper
wooden skewers

Method:
1. In a bowl, combine garlic, basil, parsley, dijon, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Combine well with a fork.  Add shrimp and toss.  If time allows, let the shrimp marinate for 1 hour or over night.

2. Soak wooden skewers in water for 1 hour.  Skewer shrimp onto the sticks.  Grill for 1 minute on each side until pink.  Serve warm, at room temperature, or refrigerate and serve cold.