Blackened Tilapia with Avocado Salsa

This whole dish is very quick and easy to make, mainly because the salsa is all raw and requires no cooking time - but also because fish cooks extremely fast.


I made this with a sweet potato hash, which is basically just cubed up sweet potatoes lightly fried (not deep fried). And the Avocado salsa has a number of different vegetables, which is nice because it's not only a "sauce" for the fish it's also the vegetable side. 

Ingredients:
2 filets of boneless skinless tilapia 
blackening spice* - as needed
1 avocado
1 red bell pepper
1 zucchini 
2 radishes
1/4 red onion
1/2 orange juiced
a few sprigs of cilantro
salt and pepper as needed
canola oil as needed
1 large sweet potato
To make: 
Sweet potato hash - cut sweet potato into little cubes and fry in non-stick pan with salt and pepper. Avocado - in a mixing bowl put diced bell pepper, diced zucchini, shaved radish, shaved onion, diced avocado, chopped cilantro and orange juice (you could add a little extra virgin olive oil too), salt and pepper and toss. Tilapia - Sprinkle blackening spice evenly over both sides of filet, put in preheated pan with oil and cook on both sides. Assemble dish together and enjoy! 


*Blackening seasoning usually consists of paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, basil, black pepper, cayenne pepper and oregano. It is usually used as a blend for fish, chicken, or seafood.

Curried Mung Beans

This is this first time I've cooked mung beans, but they were pretty simple to cook - basically like any other bean. I made a curry type dish with them using coconut milk, garam masala & curry powder. I served it with basmati rice and a yogurt sauce - I love to have yogurt type sauces with spicy dishes, it cools your palate off and helps to digest your food! 

Ingredients:

1 cup of mung beans

1 grated carrot

1 grated squash

1/2 cup of edamame beans (frozen)

1 onion or shallot

4 garlic cloves

1 pinch of grated ginger

2 Tablespoons of coconut flakes (non-sweetened)

1 can of coconut milk

1 Tablespoon of garam masala*

1 Tablespoon of curry powder

Salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed

To Make:

Soak beans the night before, strain off liquid and put fresh water in with beans in pot.. simmer on low heat till done-approx 30 min. In a large pan saute onion, carrot, galic, squash, ginger, coconut flakes. Then add garam masala, curry powder, coconut milk, cooked beans and edamame. Simmer altogether for about 10 mins or so, check for seasoning... ie salt or more curry powder etc... and serve.

*Garam masala is a popular indian spice blend that usually includes these ground up spices...

black & white peppercorns

cloves

malabar leaves

mace blades

black & white cumin seeds

black, brown & green cardamom pods

nutmeg

star anise

coriander seeds

Quinoa Fried "Rice"

Instead of using rice for "fried rice" I substituted quinoa. Quinoa is pronounced "keenwah" in case you were wondering, or you can start a new trend by just pronouncing it as it sounds. ;) It turned out quite good, and quinoa is like crazy healthy. It's becoming more well known now which is great - because it's so incredibly good for you. You can usually find it in the loose dry goods section and buy it by the the lb or whatever amount you like. If not you should be able to buy it boxed in the pasta - rice type aisle at your grocery store. 

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup of quinoa
1 cup of water
1/2 head of broccoli 
Handful of mushrooms (any kind will do)
1 carrot
5 radishes
1/2 onion
3 garlic cloves
1 Tablespoon of ginger
1 egg
Cilantro and green onions to garnish
1 Table spoon of sesame seeds 
soy sauce - to your taste
fish sauce - to your taste
mae ploy - to your taste
Salt and pepper as needed
Canola or sesame oil as needed
To make:
Cook chicken breasts. To cook quinoa, combine water and quinoa, a drizzle of olive oil and salt - bring to a boil then turn down very low and cook for about 15 mins or until all water is absorbed into quinoa. Quinoa is always a 2-1 ratio... water 2 and quinoa 1. In a very large saute pan or wok saute onions and mushrooms together, then add garlic and ginger, next broccoli, carrots, and radishes. Don't cook too long, as you want a nice crunch still. Now it's time to assemble everything: add chopped up cooked chicken to vegetables in pan and 1 scrambled egg and quickly stir everything to combine the egg well. Next add in soy sauce, mae ploy, fish sauce and lastly cooked quinoa. Just flash everything quickly in pan because the quinoa will get mushy if left on the heat too long. Now garnish with sesame seeds, cilantro and green onions. You could even add some chopped peanuts, I didn't have any on hand or I would have. 

Homemade Ginger ale

It's always lovely to have some homemade ginger ale in your fridge, especially in the summer. You can drink it as is... or make a great cocktail with it. And you can this technique for other flavors too. 

You will need:

1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons freshly grated ginger root 
juice of one lemon
1/4 tsp baker's yeast
2 Liters cold fresh spring or filtered water
Plastic bottle with twist off lid
To make:
Put sugar, and yeast in bottle, add ginger, lemon juice, and water. Shake well. Now leave bottle out in a warm place in your house for 48 hours, refrigerate - strain and enjoy. 

Quick Fridge English Cucumber Pickles

                             Quick Fridge English Cucumber Pickles

I love these pickles! They go very well with basically any kind of BBQ meat, cured meats, cheese, sandwiches, burgers, or just eat them by themselves. They are sweet, salty and tangy. English cucumbers have very small seeds, and the skin is much thinner than most cucumbers. I sliced the cucumber very thin using a mandolin. 

Ingredients:

1 English cucumber

1 cup of red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar

1 1/2 cup of water

2 Tablespoons of sugar

2 teaspoons of kosher salt or pickling salt

a pinch of chili flakes (optional)

1 teaspoon of mustard seeds (optional)

1 large jar

To make:

Bring vinegar, water, sugar, salt, chili flakes, mustard seeds to a boil in a pot, turn down to a simmer and let it go for about 5 mins. Taste the pickling liquid, you may want it sweeter or saltier depending on your taste. Turn off and let water cool down, you can add luke warm liquid to sliced cucumbers. Once completely cold, put in jar and refrigerate. Your pickles will be ready for eating in 24 hours. Use within a month. Trust me though...they will go fast, these little pickles are pretty addicting. 

Crispy Potatoes & Squash and Red Bean Lettuce Wraps

Crispy Potatoes, Squash and Red Bean Lettuce Wraps with Chipotle Mayo

Ingredients:
2 large russet potatoes
1 squash
1 cup of cooked red beans
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 shallot (or onion)
4 garlic cloves
a few sprigs of fresh oregano
Iceberg Lettuce
Tumeric 1 teaspoon
Cumin 1 Tablespoon
Paprika 1 teaspoon
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup of mayo
1 canned chipotle (in adobe sauce), you could use fresh as well
1 Tablespoon of red wine vinegar

To make: cut potatoes up into little cubes and fry in a non-stick pan with canola, once pretty much done add thinly sliced squash, tumeric, oregano, s&p and cook squash. This is what is should look like when done.

 For beans: Saute carrots, celery, shallot, garlic, add cooked red beans, cumin, paprika, s&p. Chipotle mayo: put mayo, 1 garlic clove, 1 chipotle, red wine vinegar in a blender and blend well into a sauce. Now assemble your lettuce wraps: lettuce, beans on bottom, potatoes and squash, drizzle chipotle mayo.

My favorite Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Everyone loves spaghetti even children, it's just one of those totally comforting and delicious things to eat. Most of us ate it growing up and everyone has their own version of how they like to make it. This is something my mom made quite often as a child, and it was definitly one of her winning dishes - and for an embarassing amount of time I just could NOT pronounce the word "spaghetti" as my siblings will still tell anyone who will listen. This is my version, and hopefully one day my son will have fond memories of eating it. It doesn't look that pretty in the picture here, but trust me it was so good. 

Ingredients:

1 lb ground chuck 

1 yellow onion (diced)

1 celery stalk (diced)

1 carrot (diced)

Handful of button mushrooms (chopped)

5 garlic cloves (finely minced)

2 cups of red wine

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 beef bullion

A few sprigs of fresh basil (chiffonade) and fresh oregano

1 can of crushed tomatoes

Red chili flakes as needed

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

1 lb of spaghetti

To make:

Get a large pot of water going for pasta, once on a rolling boil add salt. In a large heavy saute pan add a generous amount of olive oil (don't be shy), and onions, celery, carrots (this combination is called "mirepoix"), after it's cooked down a bit add in your ground beef, once it's pretty much browned throw in mushrooms, garlic, oregano, chili flakes, bullion. Make sure you are salting food as you go, so it cooks in with your food. Pour in red wine and reduce till there is barely any liquid left (this is called "au sec"). Next add can of crushed tomatoes, add teaspoon of sugar. Simmer sauce for about 20 mins, stirring every so often. Add basil to meat sauce when done. Cook pasta to al dente, (I like to use tongs to stir pasta around while it's cooking) drain pasta - throw back into pot and drizzle in some olive oil, mixing well so pasta doesn't stick. Add most of meat sauce to pasta leaving a little to put on top of pasta when you plate it.  And viola, it's done. I like to add a lot of chili and garlic to mine, love it spicy.