tilapia lettuce wraps

 

this recipe could be done with non-breaded tilapia, but I’m the kind of girl who eats (is currently eating) leftover christmas chocolate in the same bite as chips (for the salty sweet action), so this is pretty good for me. tasty too – I almost forgot I was eating protein and vegetables wrapped in another vegetable.

 

stuffs:

-tilapia

-panko bread crumbs (optional)

-romaine lettuce (would also work with iceberg)

-avocado

-red cabbage

-vegetable oil (for frying)

 

pico de gallo:

-tomato

-onion

-cilantro

-garlic

-yellow pepper (I threw this in for fun – you totally don’t have to)

-lime juice

-olive oil

-salt&pepper

 

sauce:

-mint

-plain greek yogurt

-olive oil

-lime juice

 

start with the pico de gallo, the longer the flavours sit together, the more excellent it gets.

dice up everything you’ve got (couple of tomatoes, an onion or half of one, couple of garlic cloves, medium bunch of cilantro, splash of oil, a lime…  look I don’t want to tell you how to live your life – make it how you like it).

 

next, your lime and mint sauce. remember about the excellence of flavours hanging out?

I don’t really want to give you measurements – the best way is to just try it. everyone likes things a little different, so just add a good bit of everything, and start tasting and adjusting.

 

now, on to the fish!

tilapia is a pretty firm fish, so breading it wasn’t too much trouble. some fish will be more difficult, but anything will work if you don’t love tilapia. you can also cook it any way you’d like if you skip the breading – bake, steam, whatevs.

general breading – coat in flour, egg wash, bread crumbs (I skip the flour most of the time because I’m lazy. breading doesn’t stick quite as well, but that’s probably for the best). you can add a little salt and pepper to the panko if you’d like, because it’s generally unseasoned.

fry up until golden, drain on paper towel, and slice it up (after it’s cooled some).

 

sort out your lettuce (wash it… maybe. I won’t tell if you don’t), cut up your cabbage and avocado, and you’re ready to go!

salmon w/ pea & mint puree

lucky for me, the man I live with (aka my boyfriend, aka chris, aka a total dreamboat) loves to cook as much as I do. we made this salmon a little while ago when friends of ours came over for dinner, and broke the cardinal rule to never try something you’ve never done before for company. well screw that rule, because it was awesome; so awesome we had to do it again so I could write about it.

this meal is really healthy. you can see that one of two ways… the way I usually think – BORING! or the way I think for about 2 weeks every 6 months – SCRUMTRULESCENT! right now, I’m on the latter. but not on a ladder, that’s just dangerous, and where would my computer go?

Salmon:

-salmon fillets (the fresher, the better)

-olive oil

-a little butter

-thyme sprigs

-sage leaves

Pea/Mint Puree:

-peas

-fresh mint leaves

-olive oil

-lemon

-garlic

-s&p

boil your peas. they can either be fresh or frozen, doesn’t really matter, they just need to be soft enough to puree. once they’re done, strain them… otherwise it will be pea and mint soup.

depending on how much peas you’ve made, you may need to adjust measurements of the other ingredients. to be honest with you, I don’t measure a lot, so you’ll have to bear with me… maybe 3 cups of peas? maybe the juice of a lemon and a half? maybe 2 sprigs of mint leaves?

maybe 3/4 of a clove of grated garlic? maybe 2 circles of pouring olive oil? maybe as much salt and pepper as you can see in this picture? maybe add more later when you taste it? you’ll probably need more salt.

puree with an immersion blender. word to the wise, put a towel over it while you blend if it’s a shallow pot/bowl/hat. this will happen if you don’t – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoQtYDyeMWE

in a SUPER hot pan (that can go in the oven… no plastic handle) drizzle in some olive oil, and a little bit of butter with thyme and sage.

you want this to be so hot it’s scary. salt and pepper, then put the fish in skin down to get it delicious and crispy. maybe wear long sleeves. spoon the juices over the top of the fish while you sear the skin, for optimal moisture.

this should only take a few minutes, then pop it in the oven at 375 for about 12ish minutes (or until it’s all opaque)

to serve, spread out the puree, lay salmon on top, skin up, and you can garnish with the sage or thyme.

QUINOA BONUS!

-quinoa

-currants

-goat cheese

pine nuts

make your quinoa. just follow the package. substituting water for chicken broth is tasty, or maybe just half and half.

I like to cool my quinoa down before I use it usually; especially when using a cheese like goat cheese. fridge or freezer, depending on how long you have.

roasting nuts it tough. well, no. you just have to WATCH THEM. med – med/high heat and toss often.

then mix in your currants and goat cheese!

super easy, and it was super delish.

let’s see a pic of the whole thing again. ok.

Lamb, zucchini boats, and kale salad

Lamb has got to be my all-time favourite meat. Of course there are those folks out there who don’t love it, or can’t stand the idea of eating an adorable little lamb. If this is you, I only have one thing to say to you… HAVE YOU EVEN HAD IT?! Sure they’re cute, but you know what else are cute? Peas. They’re so tiny! Eat lamb. Don’t eat peas.

 

Lamb:

-rack of lamb

-dijon

-rosemary

-olive oil

-garlic

-bread crumbs

-s&p

 

Lamb sauce:

-olive oil

-fresh mint

-fresh parsley

-lemon juice

-plain greek yogurt

 

Zucchini boats:

-zucchini

-olive oil

-garlic

-grape tomatoes

-bread crumbs

-mozzarella

-parmesan

-fresh basil

-s&p

 

Kale salad:

-kale

-lemon juice

-olive oil

-raisins or currants

-parmesan

 

mix together your dijon, rosemary, and garlic. this is what you’ll use to stick your breadcrumbs to the rack to make a nice crust.

 

 

 

 

season your meat with salt and pepper, then smear on your dijon mix. the longer you can leave it on, the better. though I did it as just part of the process, and it was still amazing.

 

(those are not my hands. they’re my lovely boyfriend’s, who is a skilled cook and a wonderful sous chef. I don’t have man hands.)

 

 

 

coat the rack in your breadcrumbs (don’t forget the other side… I just didn’t show it because it doesn’t show it off as well), and drizzle with olive oil. then you’re gonna sear it in a pan on high heat to develop a nice crust, but not cook through.

 

 

 

bake at 400 for 12-15ish minutes. depends how you want it done. but you want it done rare-medium rare. ok?

as a nice light sauce for the lamb, mix plain greek yogurt, lemon juice, fresh mint and parsely, and olive oil.

 

 

 

now, onto the zucchini.

slice your zucchini length wise, and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.

 

 

 

 

 

mix up some olive oil and garlic, brush over zucchinis, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

 

 

 

take your grape tomatoes, which you’ve no doubt sliced length wise, and place in grooves. lightly coat in bread crumbs, and drizzle with olive oil. bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

 

 

remove from the oven and shove some delicious mozzarella between your tomaters and broil until bubbly cheese is a thing.

shave some parmesan over them and throw on a little chopped basil.

 

 

 

this kale salad is SUPER simple. we made it all the time in our house… especially since we have kale growing in the backyard.

chiffonade your kale (fancy word for chopping into long ribbon like pieces).

 

 

 

see?

 

 

 

squeeze in your lemon juice (about half a lemon, maybe a whole if you have tons of kale), and drizzle in some olive oil. taste it to see what the perfect ratio is for you.

throw in your raisins (currants work just as well, maybe better), and shave in some parm. toss.

 

 

 

plate it in a way that makes you go… “good job, self!”

 

 

 

SAVE THE PEAS!!!

honey apple quinoa

so i’d like to start this post by bragging a bit. after posting my kd grilled cheese, it got lovingly passed on by readers and made it to kraft dinner’s doorstep. they posted a link to this blog and there were tons of comments, likes, and shares. ch-ch-check it!

 

 

YAY ME! ok let’s move on. stop talking about it. 

 

i made quinoa things. let’s talk about it.

 

1 c in 1.25 c of water.

 

 

boil water. quinoa in. lower heat. 12 minutes. set for 5 minutes. fluff.

 

have apples. 

 

 

slice apples. real thin-like.

 

 

 

toast some freaking almonds.

 

 

 

now make a sauce.

 

do it. 

 

i’m waiting.

 

ok fine, start with butter. a healthy (unhealthy) chunk, and some honey

oh and some parsley, yea that too. 

 

 

 

bubble it up, add some sea salt, pepper, and a squollop* of dijon mustard. 

 

drizzle over quinoa, stir up. add toasted almonds. stir up. add apple slices. stir up. what the heck, add some orange flavoured dried cranberries. stir up. 

 

 

 

 

*a mash-up of “squirt” and “dollop” 

 

 

kd and bacon grilled cheese

this is quite possibly the most amazingly disgusting thing i have ever made. with that, i will also say that it was so effing delicious.

before you attempt this, i have some tips for the eating of it…

1. don’t eat it at table or counter. sitting on the couch is probably the best choice. why? because you will need to lay down IMMEDIATELY.

2. put a movie on before you start eating. you will not even be able to lift an arm to change the channel. also, the longer the movie, the better. (some good choices are: Apocalypse Now, Godfather II, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)

3. go pee RIGHT before you start eating. this will give you the most laying down time possible.

4. elastic waist pants (if pants at all. i rocked a housecoat and it went swimmingly.)

got it? great.

so you make your kraft dinner and your bacon (i figured you guys aren’t THAT dumb, you can figure those two out on your own, without photos).

you take your two pieces of sandwiching bread and slap a kraft single on each side (notice i use a little more than one piece for each slice of bread because i’m incredibly precise and love cheese more than you love your first born).

then you shred some marble cheddar on top of it… because it’s a good idea.

and theeeennnnn… bacon. don’t be alarmed if your bacon is less blurry than mine. it will still taste delicious.

then the kd. just put it on one side (it will be tricky enough to close the ‘wich without it). put a little more than you think you need, because some will fall out during the grilling process. then, shut that shit down.

butter outer sides of the bread, like you would with a regular grilled cheese, and toss it on the griddle (or in a pan, i don’t care).

when it’s all toastily awesome, take it off and cut… carefully.

don’t resist it, let the food coma take over. you’ll feel fine in a couple of hours and it will be worth it. i promise.

couscous stuffed tomato

 

this one is pretty self explanatory. take your tomater, cut out the top and spoon out all of the pulp into a bowl.

add some lemon juice, rind, and chopped parsley into the mix and stir together.

 

 

couscous is so simple to make. follow the instructions based on how much you need to make, and once it’s ready, mix it all in with the pulp and spoon back into your tomato bowl.

 

 

 

i served this with salmon… i’m not going to break down the salmon for you. it… it was frozen. i put butter and dill on it… i don’t want to talk about it.

 

munchable mash-up

let’s do that thing again where i do a few things in one post. COOL!

 

sometimes i just don’t take enough photos for a whole post, so here’s a little mash-up.

 

banana ice cream!

 

slice some bananas up super thin-like and spread them out on some saran wrap on a baking sheet and cover with another piece of saran. place in the freezer for at least a couple of hours (i left it over night).

 

 

toss the frozen bananas into a food processor and blend until creamy. add a bit of skim milk until it’s the texture you want.

 

 

 

english muffin with beef, egg and other things on it!

 

fry up some beef strips with a bit of soy sauce, toast an english muffin, and fry an egg. good job so far, you’re almost there. stir up some goat cheese with garlic and parsley. then just buy black olive tapenade because you’re lazy. then it goes: english muffin, beef, cheese, egg, tapenade. boom.

 

 

 

pie pops!

 

here’s the lazy bones version. buy tenderflake pie crusts and roll out. cookie cutter out some circles, press some lollipop sticks in there, add a little spoon of your choice of pie filling and cover with another circle of dough.

 

 

press edges together with a lollipop stick, brush with beaten egg yolks, and sprinkle with white sugar. bake on parchment paper at 375 for about 12-15 minutes.

 

 

 

chicken fingers!

 

coat chicken in flour, then egg wash, the bread crumbs (i use the pre-seasoned italian stuff), and fry in vegetable oil.

 

 

flip and place on paper towel so it’s not dripping with oil. then you’re pretty much ready. i can never choose sauces and love to dip food, so i went with plum, ranch, and a homemade tomato sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

filet mignon avec rosemary potatoes

 

sometimes you just need to treat yourself to a delicious piece of beef. it’s just one of those things a girl’s gotta do… that’s a thing, right?

 

for my meal i didn’t need too much. the beef tenderloin is a little pricey, but definitely worth it.

 

 

for the taters, you just cut them into thin slices and toss them into some olive oil in a pan. throw in some rosemary, salt, and pepper and cook until brown.

 

 

 

if you’ve got beef, you need mushrooms. let’s not lie to ourselves. for mushrooms i don’t usually get too crazy with flavours since they’re just to compliment my meat, so i generally stick to sauteing them in just butter with salt and pepper. and that’s exactly what was done here. the mushrooms will give off some juice, then it will evaporate, after that they’ll brown nicely.

 

 

now the important part. take a piece of bacon and wrap it along the side of the medallion and secure with a toothpick. you can really season it any way you like, but here i just brushed some olive oil on the meat and sprinkled on some sea salt and a bit of pepper.

 

 

i seared the meat on each side and kind of rolled the baconed edge along the pan to seal it so i could take the toothpick out. it really depends how you like your meat for how long you should keep it on the heat. i like mine rare/medium rare, so i left it for about 5ish minutes. when it doubt, just dig a knife in and check out the situation.

 

a simple tomato/cucumber salad is always easy to add to a meal for an extra side and some colour. just chop up and toss in some balsamic, salt, and pepper.

 

 

top the meat with the mushroom and a dollop (yep, i said dollop) of goat cheese and you’re good to go!

 

 

chocolate lava cakes

there has been a certain page dog-eared in my michael smith cookbook for a long time… chocolate lava cakes. the trouble was that this recipe makes about 6… and i’m just one person. i waited and waited for a special occasion, always having the ingredients on-hand, you know, just in case.

 

well folks, that day never came. i finally made them anyways gained about 20lbs that week and still ended up tossing a few. c’est la vie.

 

they’re actually relatively simple, and were sinfully delicious.

 

8 oz bittersweet or dark chocolate
1/2 cup  butter, softened
2 tbls cocoa powder
4 eggs
1/4 brown sugar
1 tbls vanilla extract
butter for greasing ramekins
white sugar for sprinkling on ramekins

 

preheat oven to 400F

i bought baker’s chocolate because they have super simple microwave instructions which saves time from having to double boil it to prevent burning. melt the butter with the chocolate and once everything is melted, sift in the cocoa powder.

 

 

in another bowl, beat the eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla until it’s thick and smooth. then pour the chocolate on in, and stir until it’s all nice and silky smooth.

 

 

grease the insides of the ramekins and sprinkle in white sugar and shake around until it’s all coated.

 

 

pour the batter evenly across your ramekins and place them on a baking sheet and toss in the oven. it’ll take no more than 10 minutes. the batter will rise and the tops will crack a bit.

 

 

let them cool for a few minutes, then flip upside down (you may need to use a knife to loosen up the sides). slam on a plate and garnish as you please.

 

 

 

 

 

 

mushroom soup

when i was a kid i hated mushrooms. i mean HATED them. i also have never really been a big fan of soup. i like food, drinking it seems weird to me. and i don’t think i’m very good at it. i think it takes me longer than the average person to finish a bowl of soup.

 

i know what you’re thinking, ‘why the hell did you make this post then?!’ valid.

 

well i don’t hate mushrooms anymore, i kinda really like them. and soup? i’m still not the best at it, but i like it now, and i DEFINITELY like dipping things in it.

 

here’s what you’ll need:

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 chopped onion

6 cups of mushrooms

4-5 cloves of garlic (minced)

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 cup flour

6 cups chicken stock

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 cup 5% cream

green onion

salt  & pepper

 

 

cook onion, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, and s&p in oil over medium/high heat. stir until liquid has evaporated… because there will be liquid. you’ll be all like ‘there isn’t any liquid’, and i’ll be all like ‘just wait’.

 

 

steamy mushroom goodness.

 

sprinkle in the flour and stir for about a minute.

 

 

gross. (looking, obviously)

 

gradually stir in stock and lemon juice and bring to a boil. reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

 

now we come to the dipping part. i didn’t really have anything delicious to dip, but you can make something. grab some butter and but it in a bowl with some garlic and parsley, and melt it in the microwave. then grab some bread slices and brush the butter on them.

 

pop them in the oven at 350 for a bit (until lightly browned) and cut into strips.

 

BACK TO THE SOUP!

 

stir in cream and heat until steaming, but not boiling. garnish with green onions.

 

 

now, i live alone… so i had a lot of extra soup. i jarred them and presto, lunch for the week.