Thai Coconut Lime Soup

It was grocery day and I was searching for a new dish to make that featured some sort of seafood.  Came across this and was immediately interested not only because of the lovely photos, but also because three of the four words in the name of this dish are some of the best foods in my opinion.  I figured three out of four wasn’t bad, and I would try to get past my distaste for soup and give it a shot.  I am glad I did.  This soup definitely has a LOT of flavor between the fresh ginger, green curry, coconut, lime, shrimp, serrano, garlic, and cilantro.  It also packs a LOT of heat!  I think next time I will wimp out and dispose of the seeds from the pepper.

One of the reasons I don’t particularly like soup is because of the broth… it just seems like too much to me I guess.  Figuring I had probably already done a number on my stomach from the heat in this dish I didn’t finish my broth, but did find that dipping some bread in it was a nice way to mellow out some of the heat and make me not feel like I was drinking my meal.  Both my husband and I though agreed this soup would be better with a little less broth, and more stuff in it.  So I would suggest increasing the ingredients in the soup to about 1.5x or maybe even 2x the amount listed, and sticking with the listed amount of broth ingredients.  I had doubled the recipe and we ended up tossing a lot of the left over broth after filled our bowls with the extra shrimp, mushrooms and onions.  Or you could throw a bit of rice in it to make it a little heartier and get rid of that excess broth issue if you are like me.

Anyway, this was still a winner in my book, and smelled amazing.  I loved the blend of flavors, and I just love trying new things.  In particular I don’t think I had ever had green curry paste before this dish.

Serves : 2                 

Ingredients :

• 1/2 lb raw shrimp
• 2 T. vegetable oil
• 2 T. fresh ginger, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 serrano, thinly sliced, seeds and all
• 1/2 onion, sliced into thin wedges
• 3 T. Thai green curry paste
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• juice of 2 limes
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• zest of 1 lime

Directions :

1. Heat the oil in a pot and saute the shrimp just until pink on both sides.  Set aside.
2. In the same pan saute the ginger, garlic, hot pepper and onion for a few minutes on low to medium heat, until the onion starts to soften.
3. Add in the curry paste, brown sugar, and mushrooms.  Saute for a few more minutes.
4. Add the coconut milk, lime juice, and water to the pan.  Bring up to a simmer and cook gently for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the cooked shrimp and cilantro to the pot.  Heat through.  Taste for seasoning adjustments.
6. Serve hot with cilantro and lime zest as garnish.

Recipe from The View From The Great Island

 

Baked Fish Fillets with Lemon & Red Capsicum

Do you know what a capsicum is?  I do…. now.  I admit I had to look it up.  It is red bell pepper.  The recipe gives directions for roasting your own, but unless you really want to and have the time, I would just cheat and buy them from the store, which is exactly what I did because I DON’T have the time to be roasting red peppers on a weeknight after grocery shopping.  As it was we already had to eat dinner after 7, which isn’t something I like to do if I can help it.  Luckily once I got home and got things put away this dish came together fairly quickly.

I made some roasted red potatoes to go with it, which was a nice pairing, but it did take a little longer to get dinner on the table since they had to be in the oven longer than the fish.  The blog I got this from suggested steamed baby potatoes as a good side, and I don’t know much about steaming potatoes, but perhaps that is quicker if you really want to get dinner on the table in a short amount of time.

The colors of this dish were just gorgeous.  The sauce was a vibrant red/orange color and then you throw in the green of the parsley and the white fish and it’s just a piece of art really.  I don’t know that I have had many (if any) fish dishes with a red sauce, so this was different for me, but it was a good different.  I really liked the sauce, and felt it was a good balance of flavor with the lemon, coriander, garlic and of course the red peppers.  I have had red pepper sauce in a few pasta dishes before as well, and I really like the change from the usual tomato based sauces.  If you haven’t tried it before I suggest you do!

The only change I made to this recipe was to throw a bit of lemon zest over the dish before baking it to really brighten the flavor and bring that subtle lemon flavor out more.  Not my best picture, but as I said, it was getting rather late and fish really isn’t good cold lol.  Red sauces can be quite tricky to photograph and something like this where you can’t even really see the protein makes it even  harder!

 

Serves : 6       Time to make : 40 minutes (plan ahead to roast your peppers which will add to the time)

Ingredients :

• 1 large red capsicum, or 1 cup chopped store bought capsicum (I actually found one smaller jar of roasted red peppers to equal about a cup when chopped so used the entire jar)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 T. water
• 3 tsp. coriander seed (I only had ground coriander so used about 2-2.5 tsp.)
• 1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
• salt to taste
• 6 fillets of firm white fish such as cod or tilapia  (approx. 4oz each)
• salt and ground white pepper to taste
• 4 or 5 dried basil leaves
• lemon zest (optional)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions :

1. Heat oven to 200˚C (approx. 400˚F). Cut the capsicum into quarters, removing the membrane and seeds. Place onto a baking tray skin side up and roast until the skin has blackened. Immediately place the roast capsicum into a bowl and cover with a plate making sure it’s a tight fit.  Once cooled the skins will peel off the capsicum pieces.
2. Place the capsicum, garlic, olive oil, coriander seeds, lemon juice, water, salt and ground pepper into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth.
3. Season the fish fillets with salt and white pepper and place in an oiled baking dish. Pour the capsicum puree over the fish, scatter the bay leaves (also sprinkle on the lemon zest if you choose to use it) and place in the oven for approximately 20 minutes at 200˚C (approx 400˚F). Test fish is ready by inserting the point of a knife into the center of a fillet. If the fish is white and flaky it is ready. If not, place back in the oven for another few minutes.
4. Sprinkle the chopped parsley over the fish and serve at once.

Recipe from The Cook Who Knew Nothing

Healthy Sweet & Sour Fish

I don’t know about you, but when I am browsing for new recipes and I see the word HEALTHY in the title I automatically pay attention.  Of course, sometimes upon further investigation of the recipe I decide it’s either just not for me, or not nearly as healthy as it claims, but lucky for me I decided to give this one a try.  I honestly don’t even care if it’s healthy or not because it was just so good!

It has all the elements of a nice Hawaiian type sweet and sour with the vinegar, peppers, pineapple, etc, but then you get the kick from the chili sauce and this just takes on a whole new level of goodness.  I really liked the use of fish in this rather than something like chicken, which I would typically do.  It was so soft and flaky and the flavor was perfect.  You just have to be a little more careful in the cooking process so as not to break up the fish too much.  Besides being full of flavor, this dish has a lot of color and would be sure to impress at your next dinner party.

This dish does take a little longer to prepare, but it’s worth the extra effort, and having everything prepped and ready to go from the start really makes things go smoothly.  The recipe says to serve over rice, but you’ll probably notice I just mixed it all together in the picture.  I was just saving myself the hassle and mess of trying to do it later on my plate lol.

Serves : 8          Time to make : 40 minutes

Ingredients :

• 2 lbs. tilapia
• 2 T. olive oil, divided
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• salt and pepper
• 2 yellow onions
• 2 each,  red/yellow/green bell peppers
• 2-3 cups fresh pineapple
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup sweet chili garlic sauce, or more to taste
• 2 T. + 1 tsp. cornstarch
• cooked brown rice
• sesame seeds

Directions :

1. Fish: Cut the fish into bite-sized pieces and mince 1 onion. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute for 1 minute. Add the fish and sprinkle with cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. Cook, flipping occasionally and draining any excess liquid, for 5-10 minutes or until the pieces are golden brown on the outside and white all the way through. Set aside.  (Be careful with the fish to avoid breaking it up too much)
2. Vegetables: Chop the bell peppers and 1 onion into bite-sized pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet and saute the peppers and onions for 5-10 minutes, until golden brown on the outside and tender-crisp. Chop the pineapple into bite-sized pieces and add to the pan, cooking for another few minutes. Set aside.
3. Sauce: Combine the vinegar, ketchup, sugar, salt, pineapple juice, orange juice, and sweet chili garlic sauce in a large skillet over medium low heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Whisk the cornstarch into a few tablespoons of water until smooth. Add to the sauce in the skillet and bring to a low boil. Cook for a few more minutes until the sauce is thickened.
4. Combine the fish, vegetables, and sauce (you might not want all of it – just eyeball whatever looks good) in a large pan or bowl. Serve over brown rice and sprinkle with sesame seeds. I liked mine with extra sweet chili garlic sauce.

Recipe from pinch of yum

Fettuccine with Salmon, Mushrooms & Apsaragus

I love smoked salmon, but I don’t buy it very often.  So when I came across this recipe I knew I had to try it.  I have had smoked salmon in pasta dishes before, and feel it works really well because of the concentrated flavor, as opposed to fresh salmon.  It’s also super easy to just flake already prepared fish into a quick pasta dish, and you can buy it in advance rather than having to make whatever fresh fish you purchased the day you buy it to preserve the freshness.

The recipe I followed was formatted for the metric system, and so I had to do a bit of converting.  This isn’t a big deal with the help of some of the online converters.  But aside from that I find that there are also often differences in things like produce sizes.  Specifically for this recipe, it called for an entire bunch of asparagus, for a pasta that is meant to serve two.  I didn’t think much of it until I started to cut it all up and then it seemed like a LOT!  To my surprise it turned out ok (though I did make a bit more linguine than it called for), but I still have to wonder if I was meant to use that much.  The original recipe also called for swiss brown mushrooms, which I am unfamiliar with (at least by that name) so I used crimini mushrooms, and about 8 oz of them.  One other thing I wasn’t quite certain of was the call for “hot smoked salmon”.  I have no idea if that meant spicy, or if you can perhaps purchase smoked salmon heated or what, but I just went with a nice thick smoked salmon I found in the seafood section of my local grocery store.  To make things easier for all of you, I am just going to share my conversions/alterations when I type up the recipe.

The dish itself really was fantastic by the way.  Full of flavor, nice and creamy….. this is not your figure friendly type of dish necessarily lol…. and had wonderful color to it which you know I appreciate.  This is another one of those recipes that is great for any night of the week, but good enough to stand up to a special occasion or dinner party with friends!

Fettuccine with Salmon, Mushroom & Asparagus

Serves : 2               Time to make : 20 minutes

Ingredients :

• 8 oz. linguine (though I used more like 12oz)
• 1 T. olive oil
• 8 oz. sliced brown mushrooms
• 1 bunch asparagus, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 oz. heavy whipping cream
• sm. handful chopped parsley (about 2 T.)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 lb. smoked salmon

Directions :

1. Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet and saute mushrooms and asparagus for a few minutes until tender.  Add the garlic the last minute to avoid over cooking.    Lower heat to a simmer and pour in the cream.  Simmer for 3 minutes then add the parsley, salt, and pepper.  Stir to combine and remove from heat.
3. Strain linguine and transfer to the cream mixture.  Toss to combine.  Flake most of the salmon into the pasta, reserving a few pieces to garnish with.  Divide into two bowls and sprinkle a bit of parsley on top with the pieces of salmon.

Recipe from Chew Town

Sweet Chili Shrimp Stir-fry

This is a fabulously simple dish, ready in under 20 minutes.  It would be just as good for a special occasion as a quick weeknight meal and has a lot of flavor despite the seemingly simple ingredient list.  I had to really fight the urge not to throw a little something extra in this, and really give it a chance, but I am glad I didn’t.  The peas give it that freshness, the sauce gives it the heat and sweetness, the nuts give it that crunch and have a great buttery texture that just goes so well with the shrimp, and of course the lime just ties it all together and gives it that little something extra.  I almost didn’t even make this because it seemed SO simple, and I wasn’t sure if Jeff would be ok with it.

I accidentally grabbed cooked shrimp when I was at the store, but it was ok since all the flavor is in the sauce and I didn’t have to worry about getting it into the shrimp since it coats everything.  I didn’t have Jasmine rice on hand so went with some boil in a bag brown rice and I actually think it went perfectly with this.  For the chili sauce I had some garlic chili thai sauce already opened so I used that.  My only issue with this recipe was when it was time to photograph it…. it’s not exactly the prettiest dish to look at, but what it lacks in appearance it makes up for in taste!  You won’t regret trying this one.

Serves : 2         Time to make : less than 20 minutes!

Ingredients :

• 1 lb shrimp, cleaned and deveined
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 C. sweet chili sauce
• 1 1/4 C. snow peas
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/2 C. cashews, roughly chopped
• 1 lime
• 1 1/2 C. jasmine rice, uncooked (or another quick cooking variety)

Directions :

1. In a medium sized pot cook rice according to package directions.
2. In a large skillet, warm the olive oil over moderate heat.  Cook garlic in oil until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add shrimp and saute until pink and cooked through.  Remove from pan.
3. While shrimp is cooking, trim ends off snow peas and cut into thirds diagonally.
4. Add sesame oil to the pan and saute snow peas until tender, about 2-3 minutes.
5. Return the shrimp to the pan and add the sweet chili sauce, cook until  heated through.  Add more chili sauce if necessary.
6. Serve over rice and top each plate with chopped cashews and a fresh lime cut into wedges.

Recipe from the clever carrot

Chilean Salmon with Avocado Cream Sauce + Island Nectar

As promised last night on my facebook page, here is Chilean Salmon with Avocado Cream Sauce and a drink I made up to use the rest of the coconut water.  If you are following my facebook page (there is a button on the right hand side of this blog) you will know that I had a bit of a fiasco with this recipe last night.  Because I had such a thick piece of salmon, and didn’t want to cut it and take away from the photographic presentation, I ended up with a portion in the middle/bottom that wasn’t quite done.  Having the skin still on the bottom side didn’t help either.  It wasn’t a big deal though, as I just flaked off the parts that were done and then put the rest back in the skillet for a minute more until it was done.  It was quite the mess however since I had already put the sauce on top.  I suggest making sure your pieces are cut more reasonably though if you want to present a beautiful piece of fish on the plate.

The flavor of this salmon was fantastic!  The actual preparation of the salmon is very simple, but allowing the lemon juice to soak in a bit and then covering the top with a generous amount of course sea salt and pepper results in such a beautiful crust that is full of flavor and allows the actual salmon flavor to really be the star.  Topped with the cool, creamy, slightly spicy avocado cream dip this is melt in your mouth good!  As I mentioned, my piece of salmon still had the skin on one side, which can be nice for presentation if you like that sort of thing, but I feel like it kind of messes up the cooking process… at least in a hot skillet since it seems to block some of the heat from reaching that bottom side and making it through to the middle to ensure a fully cooked fillet.  It would also be nice without the skin to have the option to salt and pepper both sides for even more crust.

Note : my piece of salmon was quite wet to start, and I had forgotten to pat dry it a bit before putting the lemon juice on.  As a result when I placed in into the hot oil in my skillet there was a LOT of splash from the moisture which not only caused a disaster on my stove top, but also managed to give me quite a few little burns.  I imagine even if you do dry your fish off well before putting the lemon juice on it’s going to splatter a bit from the lemon juice so beware and consider having a splatter screen handy!  And here is another little tip when cooking fish in a skillet.  Once you set the fish down don’t touch it until you see the bottom is starting to brown and the color will start to change up the side of your fillet.  You want it to be about halfway before you flip it.  If you try to move it before it starts to crust over you chance breaking the fish or having it stick to the skillet.  Also, always use oil or non-stick spray and cook in a quality skillet.

Chilean Salmon w/ Avocado Cream Sauce

Serves : 2+                          Time to make : 15 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 lb fresh salmon fillets (2 good sized fillets or you can opt for smaller pieces to serve more people)
• lemon
• course sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• olive oil (about 2-3 T.)

• 1 Haas avocado, about 2/3 cup
• 2 T. fresh lemon juice
• 1 T. finely chopped shallots
• 1/3 C. coconut water (I used Blue Monkey with pulp)
• pinch cayenne pepper
• pinch chili powder
• pinch smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 2 tsp. white wine vinegar
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 T. chopped chives

Directions :

1. Pat dry your fillets and then place on a plate and squeeze the juice of one lemon over top and allow to sit for about 5-10 minutes.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking.  Generously sprinkle your course sea salt and fresh ground black pepper onto the salmon fillets before carefully placing into the hot oil.  Cook on the first side about 3-4 minutes depending on the thickness of your salmon until browned on bottom and the color has turned light pink about halfway up the side of your fillet.  Flip and cook through.
2. Meanwhile for the sauce (It can help to have some of the sauce ingredients ready to go before you start cooking your salmon) cut open your avocado and scoop out the insides.  If you have never cut an avocado before what you do is take a knife and make a cut from top to bottom.  You won’t be able to cut through because of the pit, once you hit that sort of roll the knife around the avocado until you cut all the way around from top to bottom.  Holding both sides twist and pull and you’ll have two perfect halves with the pit in one of them.  I like to use a knife or spoon to pry the pit out at that point and then using a spoon slide it between the peel and the avocado and you can scoop it out in one swipe usually.
3. Place all sauce ingredients together in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.  Spoon over your finished salmon.

Recipe from : domestic fits

Now for the drink… I am calling it Island Nectar because the flavors are very “Island-y” and it has Guava Nectar in it… real creative I know lol.  As I mentioned on the facebook page, I just wanted to use up the rest of the can of coconut milk and figured some sort of cocktail would be the way to go.  I have a rather diverse bar in my pantry from all the various drinks we have tried over the years so I knew I could probably come up with something.  Unfortunately the ones I wanted to use, such as the rum were pretty low, hence the somewhat random amounts listed, but it actually ended up just right for my tastes.  Jeff likes a lot more alcohol in his drinks, whereas I am more about the taste, so if you are more like him you might want to add some straight rum or vodka to it so as not to change the taste too much.

So without a real plan I just started pouring things together and at first it was AWFUL… I mean seriously bad.  This was around the point that it was just coconut water and guava nectar.  I hadn’t really ever tried guava nectar before, but had a few cans lying around for a drink I wanted to try from Guy Fieri.  It is definitely not something I would drink on it’s own… So I knew I needed to sweeten it up and just started grabbing other things I had and voila it was suddenly good!  I don’t know how much this makes, but it about filled a basic pitcher.

Island Nectar

makes : 1 pitcher

Ingredients :

• 1 can Blue Monkey Coconut Water with pulp (or slightly less if you used some on the fish)
• 1 (11.3oz) can guava nectar (I found some called Jumex in the beverage isle at the grocery store)
• 1 can 7-up
• 2 oz. triple sec
• 6 oz. pineapple rum
• 1 oz. vanilla flavored syrup (like for coffee drinks)
• ice
• mint sprigs or lime wedges for garnish (I didn’t have anything on hand)

Directions :

1. Combine everything over a generous amount of ice in a pitcher and stir.

Mango & Banana Salsa with Tilapia

It is my goal to eat more fish this year for it’s health benefits and just for the variety as well.  I have always enjoyed fish, but I am not very experienced with it, so it will be fun to try new ways to prepare it.  Tonight’s recipe instantly grabbed my attention by all the gorgeous colors in the dish.  After all, they way your food looks plays a large role in your enjoyment of it.  I was a bit disappointed to see that the recipe called for mango because I just can’t stand the stuff, but I also knew that I could probably substitute some pineapple with good results since I have had a similar salsa before.  The addition of banana was very new to me however, and intriguing for sure.  I will post it with the original recipe, but my own review is for the pineapple version.

The dish comes together very quickly, and easily.  I suggest making the salsa earlier in the day if you have time and letting it sit in the fridge to really let the flavors marry, but I only had about a half hour for mine and it was still great.  The dish has such a freshness to it, and a great balance of heat, sweet, and sour with the colorful salsa.  With the eye-catching presentation it’s the perfect thing to serve to guests if you want to impress.  It’s also very low calorie/fat which everyone appreciates.  The recipes makes a lot of the salsa, almost more than you need, but it worked out to sort of eat it like a salad with the cut up fish rather than as a topping for it.  I was a bit confused about the part where it called for half of a long red pepper, and then listed jalapeno or thai, so I just got a red jalapeno and put the whole thing in there since they aren’t very big.  I would suggest tasting whatever type of pepper you use first to determine how much you want in there.

 

Serves : 4                         Time to make : 25 minutes (+ time for salsa to sit)

Ingredients :

• 1 large ripe mango, cut into 1/4-inch pieces (a heaping cup) * I subbed the same amount of fresh pineapple
• 1 medium banana, firm ripe, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 long red pepper, ripe jalapeno or Thai
• 1 sweet red bell pepper, cored, seeded, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2/3 cups cilantro leaves, 1/3 cup minced & 1/3 cup roughly chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2 T. fresh lime juice (I added a little more and some zest)
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt or to taste
• 4 tilapia fillets
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• flour (about a 1/4 cup or so
• 2 T. olive oil

Directions :

1. Combine mango, banana, pepper, red pepper, cilantro, onion, lime juice, and salt in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 hours if time allows, otherwise you can move right on to the fish.
2. Pat dry fish fillets, season with salt and pepper on both sides and dredge in flour; shaking off excess.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add fish and cook until medium golden brown and fish easily lifts from bottom of pan.  Turn over and cook until done all the way through.
4. Move to either one serving tray or individual plates before topping with the salsa (about a cup per fillet if individual).  Serve with additional lime wedges if desired.

Ultimate Tuna Melt

Let me start by saying I did not name this recipe.  It came from Food.com.  However, I do agree that this is one awesome tuna melt!  The first time I made this recipe was in 2007, and I have made it countless times since.  Not only are they tastey, but they are quite quick and simple to prepare, and low in fat and calories.  These melts make it into our meal rotation often during those times we are trying to lose a bit of weight… such as last night lol.

Over the years I have very slightly altered the recipe to suit our needs and this is what I will share on my blog.  The ingredients are all basically the same, but I may have changed a few amounts and also the method a little to give the best results.  Jeff and I usually each eat 4 of these…. yeah I know it sounds like a lot, but even at that many the calorie total fits well within our daily budgets.  If you can find the 100 calorie english muffins that works best (if you are counting calories anyway), but any type will do just fine.  Likewise, I use the ultra thin cheese for diet reasons, but have used regular slices before as well.  As for the tuna, I use chunk light because I try to avoid Albacore for the mercury levels, however the original recipe did suggest the albacore.

 

Serves : 2-4               Time to make : 15 minutes

Ingredients :

• 4 (100 calorie, or wheat variety) english muffins, cut in half
• 2 small cans of tuna (in water), well drained
• 3/4 cup artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (I usually use one of the small jars of marinated hearts)
• 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
• 2 T. fresh lemon juice
• zest of a lemon
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/8-1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (start with the lesser and taste it)
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 8 slices ultra thin provolone

Directions :

1. Preheat broiler, and arrange muffins on baking sheet.  Spray lightly with any sort of cooking spray and brown slightly.  This happens fairly quickly so keep an eye on it.  Once done set aside while you mix the topping.
2. In a large bowl combine the tuna, artichokes, onions, lemon juice and zest, seasoning, and oil.  Spoon carefully onto each toasted muffin.  Top with a slice of cheese.
3. Broil for a couple of minutes, watching closely until cheese has melted and starts to brown.  I find that rotating them helps get them all evenly done.

Fish Picatta

This recipe comes from Melissa d’Arabian, whom you may have seen on Food Network.  I’ve made other variations of this recipe before, but this one is SO simple I had to give it a try and I was so glad I did because it’s literally bursting with flavor.  It’s a great weeknight meal because it takes so little effort to prepare, and it’s also a nice light dish with low calories and fat.  If you’re like me and would like to find more ways to incorporate fish into your diet for all it’s healthy benefits, I highly suggest you try this recipe.

Tonight I paired this with some fried potato slices (fish and chips), but it would also be good with a simple pasta to soak up all that delicious sauce left on the plate.  Or perhaps some couscous would be nice too.  Tilapia is fairly inexpensive, but you can splurge a little and use something like Halibut for this too if you want.  Really, any firm white fish would work I am sure.  The lemon flavor is VERY strong, so if you would like it a little less lemony go ahead and do half the lemon juice.  I have tried this with both pinot and moscato and had great results.

 

serves 4                time to make : 20 minutes

Ingredients :

• 2 T. olive oil
• 4 small fillets of white fish such as tilapia, about a lb total
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 lemons, juiced (I also take the zest off one for extra flavor)
• 2 T. capers
• 2 T. butter
• 2 T. chopped fresh parsley

Directions :

1. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  While pan is heating, blot fish with a paper towel, season with salt and pepper.  Dredge in flour, shaking off excess.
2. Saute fish in oil until just cooked through and lightly browned, about 4 minutes.  Turn half way through cooking.  Move to platter and keep warm.
3. Immediately deglaze the pan with the white wine, whisking for about 1 minute.  It  helps to lift the pan off the burner at this point or you will have a HUGE mess.  Add the lemon juice and capers next and stir to combine.  Add the butter, allowing to melt as you whisk together.  Simmer for a couple minutes to allow the sauce to thicken slightly as it reduces. 
4. Pour over the plated fish, and top with your chopped parsley (and this is where I add the zest as well).

 

Day 127 : Honey Ginger Grilled Salmon

Happy Mother’s Day!  My day was filled with both joy and sadness.  Of course I am a mom to two wonderful little boys, but I am also a daughter and this is my first Mother’s Day since my own mother passed from breast cancer.  It was a bittersweet day.

Even though I had to cook for myself tonight (they did surprise me with breakfast) I wanted to make it something special for the occasion.  I decided that salmon was a good idea since we had to go grocery shopping today and this was just the first recipe I came across that looked good.  It is definitely an easy recipe, and the flavors were very nice.  I imagine as with most marinades the longer you let it sit the better the flavors, but I only had a few hours since I got the stuff this afternoon.  Even with the shorter marinade time the flavors were obvious in the salmon.  I grilled mine on the foreman and it only took a few minutes that way.

Honey Ginger Grilled Salmon

Serves : 4                      Time to make : 15 minutes (+ marinade time)

Ingredients :

• 1 1/2 lbs salmon fillet
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 green onion, sliced

Directions :

1. Combine all but the salmon in a bowl and whisk together.
2. Place salmon in a shallow dish and pour marinade over the fillets.
3. Cover and allow to sit for at least 4 hours.
4. Heat grill and coat with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Grill salmon until cooked through and flaky, brushing marinade over about half way through cooking.

Day 126 : Tuna Burger Sensations

This is one of my own recipes.  I came up with it about a year or so ago.  I had been eyeballing a few similar recipes but none worked just right for me, and though I had never even had a tuna burger before, I decided to just come up with my own.  I was quite pleased with the results and have made them many times since then.

The name comes from those Tuna Sensations I mentioned in a different recipe.  I typically use the sun-dried tomato variety for this, but I plan to try the lemon pepper one next time or maybe even the thai one.  The burger is full of flavor and very simple to make.  One thing I hadn’t expected when I first made them was that they are rather soft where a typical burger would be somewhat chewy.  The softness makes it the perfect food for my youngest who has yet to get any molars.  Just be sure you handle them with care while cooking so they can retain their burger shape throughout.

Tuna Burger Sensations

Serves : 2                   Time to make : 15 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 can of tuna sensations (sun dried tomato flavor)
• 2/3 cup italian bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup green onions, chopped
• 1/3 cup fat free sour cream
• 1/2 tsp. buttermilk ranch salad dressing mix
• 1 egg white
• 1/3 cup low fat cheddar cheese
• 2 multigrain sandwich thins
• 2 lettuce leaves
• 1 1/2-2 T. light mayo
• cooking spray

Directions :

1. Place 1/3 cup of the bread crumbs into a shallow dish and set aside.
2. In a bowl combine the rest of the bread crumbs, tuna, onions, sour cream, ranch dressing mix, egg white, and cheese.  Mix well.
3. Form into two balls and roll in the bread crumbs to coat well, then gently form into patties.
4. Heat a skillet on medium-high heat and generously coat with the cooking spray.
5. Cook burgers until browned on each side, about 4 minutes per side.
6. Place on the sandwich thins with mayo and lettuce leaves.

Day 119 : Spicy Thai Tuna Roll

Instead of going to the store today I decided to use up some of the stuff we already had again.  Like I’ve said before, it really helps me to use things up and waste less if I have to get creative, and that’s just what I did today.  I was pretty surprised at how it turned out, and though I think it is good as-is, I might make minor changes if I were to plan ahead for it.

For example, I would use fresh basil if given the choice, and I might choose a different cheese like monteray jack, or even different lettuce.  The addition of some finely chopped red peppers might be nice too.  For the tuna I buy these things called Tuna Sensations, and they come in various flavors.  I usually get the lemon pepper or sun-dried tomato ones and have used them in various ways in the past.  This was the first time I tried the thai one and by itself I was not impressed and almost didn’t continue to make my lunch, but after I doctored it I really did like it.  One thing I left out though was the spicy thai pepper on top, since I felt it was pretty spicy already without it.  I also took the crackers out and will just use them elsewhere.

I didn’t really measure everything so I will give estimations below.

Spicy Thai Tuna Roll

Serves : 1             Time to make : 5 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 can Tuna Sensations Spicy Thai Chili (use crackers elsewhere)
• 1 1/2- 2 T. mayo (however creamy you like your tuna)
• basil, I used about 1 tsp dried, but I would use maybe 1/2-1 T. fresh or thai holy basil would be great
• 1 T. fresh cilantro chopped
• dry roasted peanuts, chopped (about 1-1 1/2 T.)
• lettuce (I used spring mix) . enough for a layer on the wrap
• low fat mozzarella, small handful
• 1 light Flatout wrap

Directions :

1. mix together tuna, mayo, basil, and cilantro.
2. layer lettuce on wrap, then cheese.
3. place the tuna towards one end about an inch or so in and just make a sort of log shape with it that almost reaches both sides.
4. Sprinkle peanuts on top of tuna.
5. Starting at the side with the tuna, roll up tightly and cut in half.

Day 91 : Shrimp w/ Feta and Orzo

This is another of those great, simple, and versatile dishes that you can have any day of the week, and any time of year.  I have made it many times now and it’s a very nice and light, fresh meal.  The original does not call for shallots or red pepper, or even garlic, but I like them so I put them in.  I also don’t stick to the exact measurements according to the original recipe… I just eyeball it and put however much I want that particular night.

The recipe says orzo, and that is usually what I use, but I decided to have a bit of fun with it tonight and try stars because I happened to find the cutest little star pasta at the store the other day.  My hopes were that Perrin would eat it…. but no such luck.  Archer LOVED it though and the size of the stars were perfect for him.  One out of two isn’t bad in my book!

Shrimp w/ Feta and Orzo

Serves : 3-4                Time to make : 15-20 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 cup orzo
• 1 lb shrimp, cooked peeled and deveined with tails off
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 can chopped tomatoes, like the italian style ones
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Optional additions I have tried and enjoyed

• 1-2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2-3/4 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/4-1/3 cup red onion or shallots, chopped
• more parsley and more lemon zest
• sun-dried tomato feta

Directions :

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain.
2. Meanwhile in a large skillet over medium high heat put in tomatoes and cook until the liquid is absorbed. (I usually throw in the peppers, onions and garlic about  halfway through)
3. Add shrimp and other ingredients (minus the feta) and heat through.  Toss in the drained pasta.
4. Carefully toss in the feta and serve.

 

Day 89 : Crab Melts

Just another light mid-week meal tonight.  We’ve had these before, and really like them.  They are super simple to make, and as I said they are pretty light on the calories/fat if you use reduced fat versions of the ingredients.

The recipe calls for french bread, but I like to use the 100 calorie english muffins.  Not only are the perfect size, but they are only 1 pt per muffin when following weight watchers…. at least according to their old points system.  I seem to always forget to toast the english muffins first so we’ve only had them where the bread is still fairly soft, but I am sure toasted would be even better.  They are only under the broiler for a very short time at the end so if you want it toasted do it before.  The only addition I made to these was to salt and pepper to taste before spooning onto the muffins.

 

Crab Melts

Serves : 2             Time to make : 10 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 cup crab meat (or imitation)
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 2/3 cup green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup artichoke hearts, chopped
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/4 cup reduced fat mayo
• 1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 4 slices french bread, or sourdough bread
• 1 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, sliced (I just use shredded, and probably a little less depending on how much I can pile on)

Directions :

1. Preheat broiler and toast bread now.
2. Combine crab, red pepper, artichoke hearts, mayo, sour cream, lemon zest, and all but 2 T. of the green onions in a medium bowl.
3. Spoon onto bread and top with cheese.
4. Broil for about 2 minutes until cheese is melted
5. Top with remaining 2 T. of green onions.

 

Day 88 : Lobster Pizza

Or in this case… Crab Pizza.  If you have ever been to Red Lobster and gone crazy over their Lobster Pizza appetizer this recipe is for you!  It’s a fairly good imitation of Red Lobster’s version and surprisingly simple to make!  I used imitation crab meat because it’s just easier, and of course cheaper.

An added bonus about this recipe is that it is fairly low fat/calorie if altered just a bit.  The first time I made this I used a wheat tortilla, reduced fat cheeses, and a reduced fat butter.  At the time I was on weight watchers, and Jeff and I each ate half a pizza for only a few points.  Today I went full fat, and ate the whole thing lol.  Using the tortilla shells as the crust makes it the perfect size for one person to have as a meal, or a light appetizer for 2-4.

I cooked mine on a pizza stone that I pre-heated while the oven heated.  I find that this works best to get the crisp crust without over-cooking the rest of the pizza, since over-cooked fish is not very appetizing.  Definitely don’t skip the salt and pepper on the bottom because that really makes it great, and the same with the fresh lemon squeezed on top at the end.

Lobster Pizza

Serves : 1-4           Time to make : 15 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 (10-inch) flour tortilla
• 1 oz. Land O’ Lakes Roasted Garlic Butter Spread
• 2 T. grated fresh parmesan cheese
• 4 oz. roma tomatoes, diced (I used one large roma tomato)
• 2 T. fresh basil, julienne style
• 2 oz. lobster meat, diced
• 1/2 cup cheese, italian blend shredded
• lemon juice
• course salt and pepper
• cooking spray or oil

Directions :

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  I suggest also preheating your intended baking sheet/stone.
2. Spread butter onto the tortilla, making sure to completely cover every inch.
3. Sprinkle parmesan on next, and then the tomatoes, basil, and lobster.
4. Top with the shredded cheese.
5. Spray your baking sheet/stone with cooking spray or brush with a bit of oil.  Then sprinkle course salt and fresh ground pepper onto the sheet/stone.
6. Place your assembled pizza on top of the salt and pepper and bake for 5 minutes or until crust is browned and crisp.
7. Squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice on top of the finished pizza to really make the flavors pop, and cut into slices.