Pilfered From The Internet: Pico De Gallo & Joy Bauer's Buffalo Dip

Photo credit: All over social media - You figure it out.

Recently this recipe popped up on my Facebook feed, piquing my interest and appetite. I must eat some! The Mexican-inspired recipe is all over the internet and seems to have been around since the 1950s so I have no idea who to give credit to, and there's a debate going on that it's plain ole salsa. 

I agree with the camp who thinks the recipe needs lemon juice, salt, and pepper, so below is the recipe I'll make. Be sure to give the recipe that was on my Facebook feed below, over to the right, a glance too. It looks to be one of those dishes everyone can improvise and adjust to his/her own tastes and spice tolerance. I can also see tossing some fresh or frozen cooked corn and/or celery into the mix.

Pico De Gallo

Ingredients:

6 tomatoes - I often buy plum tomatoes so I'll likely use 10 to 12.

3 jalapeno peppers - I like hot (although they will be less hot if you remove the seeds and aren't cooking them). Also, feel free to use fewer jalapenos for milder heat. In variations of this recipe, people substitute banana peppers, poblano chiles, or serrano peppers, listed in order of their hotness. Jalapenos fall after poblano chiles in hotness on the list.

1 large onion, chopped - I'll eyeball the amount as I like onions and might use more.

1 cup cilantro, chopped

5 cloves garlic, chopped, or 1 tablespoon dried garlic

1 tablespoon cumin - I'll reduce the cumin to 1 teaspoon. I like it, but a little goes a long way.

3 lemons or limes, juiced

1 teaspoon salt to start with, then taste if more is needed.

1 teaspoon pepper = 24 turns of the peppermill (or chili powder)

Directions:

1) With a sharp knife, dice all the ingredients medium fine (eyeball them, not too big or too small) and toss them into a mixing bowl. 

2) Spice, mix, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

If you're lucky enough to have a tomato garden, this recipe is for you! You'll know exactly what to do with your abundance of tomatoes in late summer.

After making the Pico de Gallo if you desire to keep it for longer than a week, I suppose it could be tossed into a stockpot to blanch for 5 minutes to can in Mason jars. Although far from an expert, I don't see why not.

Golly, I'd love to dip my spoon into the overflowing jar at the top of the blog! It's waiting to be eaten!!!😋

🌶🍅🍽🍽🍽🍽🌶🍅🍽🍽🍽🍽🌶🍅🍽🍽🍽🍽🌶🍅🍽🍽🍽🍽🌶🍅

This weekend I made Joy Bauer's Buffalo Cottage Cheese Yogurt Dip, a healthy condiment you can use as a vegetable/chip dip, sandwich spread, or to flavor chicken. Usually, I use low-fat mayonnaise, or hummus as a sandwich spread with ham, beef, or turkey, but this is cheaper and packed with protein, so in the future, I might keep a batch of it in the refrigerator. I'll save the more costly hummus for snacking on crackers. If you're curious, Buffalo sauce derives its name from Buffalo, New York.

Buffalo Cottage Cheese Yogurt Dip

Ingredients:

1 cup low-fat cottage cheese

Photo: Joy Bauer's website

1/2 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt

3 tablespoons hot sauce

2 1/4 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Optional ingredients - what I added to Joy Bauer's original recipe: 

1 teaspoon dried garlic

1/2 of teaspoon onion powder

a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar, next time I'll use white vinegar

A sprinkle of Worscheshire sauce

A sprinkle of cayenne pepper

Extra salt to taste

Directions:

Toss all the ingredients into a food processor and blend.

I love how healthy the dip is, however, when I tasted it finished, it was too bland. The hint of heat was fine, but to give it more zest I experimented by adding the above optional ingredients. After you make the original recipe, taste and adjust it to your own liking. 

Next time I prepare the dip, I'll replace the lemon juice with white vinegar because it's traditional in real Buffalo sauce. Frankly, Joy's Buffalo dip doesn't taste as good as hummus or low-fat mayonnaise but it's certainly healthy and packed with protein. I think the dip is worth keeping and experimenting with to improve its flavor. Perhaps adding a little low-fat mayonnaise and Dijon mustard or Wasabi or American horseradish to the mix is the answer (reduce if you can't eliminate the mayonnaise).

Now that these condiment recipes are on THE SAVVY SHOPPER we can return here instead of searching all over the internet to make them time and again.

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Ground Turkey Seaoned For Tacos And Burritos

Photo: Tylt -  With vegetables and lettuce, a hodge-podge of textures is delicious baby!

At the supermarket this week I bought a 48-ounce package of 85% lean ground turkey, a manager's special, for $5.99. Many people like to substitute ground turkey for beef. Truthfully I'm not usually one of them, as ground turkey is wetter and blander than ground beef, but sometimes I give in. Can't beat the price! 

Here's a spicy, flavorful way to season ground turkey that can be used for tacos and burritos. Ground turkey is rich in protein, low in fat, and tasty with spices and textures added.  Of course, ground beef or vegan soy "meat" could be used instead if you wish.

Feel free to freeze the leftovers for another day, or simply half or quarter the recipe.*

Ingredients:

Photo: grillsforever

48 ounces of ground turkey
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon ground paprika
1 Jalapeño pepper, diced (If you don't have the fresh pepper, substitute 1/2 teaspoon Cheyanne pepper)
1 tablespoon salt 
1 tablespoon dried garlic
2 teaspoons dried onion 
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/4 cup cider vinegar
Sprinkle of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of brown sugar

Optional: I diced a small onion to toss into the meat. I like the texture of some cooked vegetables; you don't need this extra onion for flavor.

Directions

Photo: simplrecipes

1) Toss the ground turkey into a large frying pan and cook for 5 minutes. Break it up into small chunks. Turn the heat off.

2) Measure and combine all the dried spices in a bowl, then add it to the meat. You may wonder if all the dry powder spices are too much for the recipe, but it all cooks together.

3) If you are also using a Jalapeño pepper and onion, dice and toss them into the pan.

4) Turn the heat back on and add the cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar.

5) Continue to break up the meat into small chunks (With beef, you need to add a cup of water to the pan, but ground turkey usually releases water as it cooks.)  So add water only if needed. Simmer on medium-low for another 15 minutes.

Ah, the rewards of my labor.

Use for tacos, taco bowls and burritos. You will need tortillas, cooked rice (or a baked potato for a bowl), diced lettuce, diced onions, diced tomatoes, hot or medium salsa, beans or refried beans, avocados or guacamole and lots of melted cheese! Oh yeah ... ¡Buen provecho!

Extra tip: If you only make 1/4 amount of the recipe (12 ounces of meat for about 3 servings), where you see to add a tablespoon of seasoning, cut the measurement to a teaspoon of the seasoning. A 1/4 cup has 12 teaspoons. A tablespoon equals 3 teaspoons, so reduce accordingly. If you make a large quantity, you can freeze a portion for quick microwave meals later.


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