Spicy Recipes

Zucchini Stir-Fry (from Allrecipes.com)

• 2 slices bacon (I use 95% fat free turkey bacon)
  
• 2 medium yellow squash, thinly sliced (I use zucchini)
• 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (optional - I de-seed the pepper first)
• 1 dash soy sauce
  
• salt and pepper to taste (I skip the salt - bacon and soy sauce are salty enough!)
  

1. Place bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until crisp.
   Remove bacon from pan, and set aside. Add the squash, onion, and
   jalapeno to the skillet. Fry in the bacon drippings until tender, but
   still firm, stirring frequently. Crumble bacon into the skillet, and
   season with soy sauce, salt and pepper. Stir, to blend in seasonings,
   and serve.

Spicy Mexican Black Beans

Often times, Adrian and I grill on the weekends, and he takes the leftovers to work the following week. But, "man cannot live by meat alone" (ahem - paraphrased), so I always am looking for good side dishes to send with him. Adrian likes beans, but hates plain flavors, so here's a quick and easy side dish option that I use alot:

1 can black beans, 15 oz
1 can diced green chiles, 4 oz
a sprinkling of shredded cheese (Cheddar or "fiesta" blends)
a sprinkling of Mexican seasoning

For the seasoning, I use homemade fajita seasoning from RecipeZaar (mind you, for actual fajitas I prefer the grocery store seasoning packets):

    * 1 tablespoon cornstarch
    * 2 teaspoons chili powder
    * 1 teaspoon salt
    * 1 teaspoon paprika
    * 1 teaspoon sugar
    * 3/4 teaspoon crushed chicken bouillon cube (I skip this if I don't have any)
    * 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
    * 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
    * 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    * 1/4 teaspoon cumin

Again, I skip the salt. I think even the plain canned items have salt added, and the cheese probably has some too. This is supposed to make the equivalent of three seasoning packets (about 2 T per packet). I just make a bunch and keep it in a jar to sprinkle as needed.

Wassail

OK - so this one is a "spicy" drink. Not spicy in the hot since, but in the... spicy sense! Anyway, my grandma sometimes used to make this at Christmas, and I remember thinking as a kid that it was the most wonderful drink...

2 quarts apple cider (I just use 2 cans frozen apple juice concentrate + water, and add a bit more of the other ingredients)
2 cups orange juice.
1/2 cup lemon juice
12 whole cloves
4 cinnamon sticks (I buy them in bulk from a local Mexican store - it's much cheaper than the pre-packaged sticks)
1 pinch ground ginger
1 pinch ground nutmeg

Simmer in a large soup pot on the stove, or crock pot, for several hours. The house will smell wonderful as well ;)