It was really hot in Philadelphia today so I was looking for a dinner that didn't require a lot of heat in the kitchen. I first had fish tacos in Mexico back in college and I remember really liking them because they were light and full of flavor.
This was quick, cheap and pretty healthy meal for four people:
Ingredients:
12 small corn tortillas
18 frozen fish sticks
1 cup mayo
9 jalapeno slices (mine were in a jar)
2 dill pickles
about 1 cup frozen corn
about 1 cup medium salsa
2 cups farm-fresh spinach
parsley
lemon juice
salt
Tabasco sauce (a splash or two)
To make the corn salsa, simply mix the corn and the salsa (you could make your own salsa, but I had a jar in the fridge already). Easy.
To make the jalapeno tartar sauce chop the pickles and jalapeno into small relish-sized bits and mix into the mayo. I added parsley, lemon juice, Tabasco, and salt to taste. Note: in the end this was about twice as much tartar sauce as we ended up using.
Cook the fish sticks according to the box and heat the tortillas as you like (I do them in a skillet 2 at a time, you could also use the oven check the directions). I chopped the fishsticks in big chunks so they would sit in the tortillas better.
Then the tacos are a snap to assemble: a little tartar, a little salsa, some fish and some spinach. It was light, spicy (but not too spicy!) and delicious and I didn't have to spend a bunch of time in a hot kitchen! The only thing I would do differently next time is to put some fresh limes slices out for splashing on the tacos. There were always limes on the table in Mexico and it goes great with jalapeno and fish.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Mark Bittman's Curried Cauliflower Flatbread
All this talk about cauliflower made me crave it. Then I saw this recipe in the nytimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/dining/221mrex.html for Curried Cauliflower Flatbread by Mark Bittman. I love Bittman's recipes because they are simple and always include veggies and flavors that I don't eat very often. Like this one: curried cauliflower? in bread? with coconut milk? It sounded kind of weird, but it was delicious!
The only thing I did wrong was use my stainless steel skillet (my non-stick skillet is not oven safe); I greased it up good, but the bread did not part from the pan easily. In retrospect I should have used one of my non-stick round cake pans.
Bittman called it an appetizer, but we had it for dinner. I served it with a salad of fresh spinach (chopped), shitake mushrooms (sliced) and tomatoes (diced) with a light orange juice and dijon dressing. (1/4 cup OJ, a little less olive oil, squirt of dijon mustard, splash of white balsamic, salt and pepper).
It was a perfect dinner: light, novel and full of healthy veggies.
The only thing I did wrong was use my stainless steel skillet (my non-stick skillet is not oven safe); I greased it up good, but the bread did not part from the pan easily. In retrospect I should have used one of my non-stick round cake pans.
Bittman called it an appetizer, but we had it for dinner. I served it with a salad of fresh spinach (chopped), shitake mushrooms (sliced) and tomatoes (diced) with a light orange juice and dijon dressing. (1/4 cup OJ, a little less olive oil, squirt of dijon mustard, splash of white balsamic, salt and pepper).
It was a perfect dinner: light, novel and full of healthy veggies.
Vegetarian Chili with Chocolate
A hearty, tasty vegetarian dinner! The basic idea: make chili, stir in chocolate at the end. If you have your own favorite chili recipe (and if you do, I'd like to hear about it!), you could try making it and then adding the chocolate for some extra depth.
This particular chili is not at all hot, so if you're one of those masochistic types who likes your food to hurt you, you might want to add some hot peppers or Tabasco or something.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small clove garlic, minced
half an onion, chopped
1 small red pepper, cut into ~1-inch pieces (I used a red pepper because that's what I had, you could use green)
1 16 oz. can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 oz dark chocolate (72% cocoa)
To Make
1. Use a large saucepan. Heat the oil over medium heat, then cook the garlic, onion and green pepper until slightly soft, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, kidney beans, broth, cumin, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat.
3. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes.
4. Break up chocolate into small pieces, then stir into chili until melted.
Enjoy with crusty bread!
This particular chili is not at all hot, so if you're one of those masochistic types who likes your food to hurt you, you might want to add some hot peppers or Tabasco or something.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small clove garlic, minced
half an onion, chopped
1 small red pepper, cut into ~1-inch pieces (I used a red pepper because that's what I had, you could use green)
1 16 oz. can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 oz dark chocolate (72% cocoa)
To Make
1. Use a large saucepan. Heat the oil over medium heat, then cook the garlic, onion and green pepper until slightly soft, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, kidney beans, broth, cumin, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat.
3. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes.
4. Break up chocolate into small pieces, then stir into chili until melted.
Enjoy with crusty bread!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sauteed Cauliflower with Tomatoes and Basil
Cauliflower is not a vegetable that I eat very often. Not because I have anything against it; it's just not the first produce that comes to mind when I'm deciding what to make with dinner (maybe because it's not green or orange). But I was browsing around a nearby organic/specialty grocery here the other day and saw some inspiring heads of cauliflower (hm, I bet that's a phrase you've never encountered before), so I took one home and cooked it up with some garlic, basil, and tomatoes. The sauteed cauliflower had a nice chewy nutty thing going on, and was filling enough to serve as a light dinner all by itself. Well, with some cheesecake for dessert :)
Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower
olive oil
a 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes
dried basil (because that's what I had, though I'd like to try this again with fresh basil)
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced or put through a press
To Make
1. Prepare cauliflower florets: Remove leaves from head, remove stem as much as possible. Cut off individual florets, then cut those in half or even quarters to make uniformly-sized pieces of a little over 1 inch square (for quick and even cooking)
2. Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, until oil shimmers.
3. Add florets, and cook till they start to brown (about 7 minutes).
4. Clear a little space in the center of the pan, and add a bit more oil and the garlic. Cook the garlic for about a minute, then mix the garlic/oil into the cauliflower.
5. Add tomatoes and several shakes of basil, to taste. Can add a little salt and pepper too, though I didn't. Simmer for a few minutes, until cauliflower is chewy, not mushy.
Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower
olive oil
a 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes
dried basil (because that's what I had, though I'd like to try this again with fresh basil)
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced or put through a press
To Make
1. Prepare cauliflower florets: Remove leaves from head, remove stem as much as possible. Cut off individual florets, then cut those in half or even quarters to make uniformly-sized pieces of a little over 1 inch square (for quick and even cooking)
2. Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, until oil shimmers.
3. Add florets, and cook till they start to brown (about 7 minutes).
4. Clear a little space in the center of the pan, and add a bit more oil and the garlic. Cook the garlic for about a minute, then mix the garlic/oil into the cauliflower.
5. Add tomatoes and several shakes of basil, to taste. Can add a little salt and pepper too, though I didn't. Simmer for a few minutes, until cauliflower is chewy, not mushy.
Slow-cooked Leg of Lamb with Prunes
I'm back to the blog after an international-move-induced hiatus (many thanks to Dr. Darkness and Audrey for posting recipes in the meantime!). Of course, a Crockpot was one of the first things I acquired after moving into my new flat this month. An inaugural batch of slow-cooked porkchops came out underwhelming (totally fine, just not blogworthy really), but this leg of lamb recipe (adapted from one at old standby A Year of Crockpotting) really worked. I used lamb purchased at a local foods "fayre" in town.
Ingredients
4 lb. boneless leg of lamb
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups prunes
~3/4 cup white wine (I used a chardonnay)
1 cinnamon stick
To Make
1. Place lamb in crockpot (note: I have a 6.5 liter cooker, though original recipe called for a 4-5 quart cooker, so if you have a smaller one it should still fit).
2. Mix salt, pepper, and rosemary together, rub all sides of lamb with mixture.
3. Sprinkle chopped garlic on and around lamb.
4. Add prunes around lamb.
5. Pour in wine, about 1/4 cup water (the water I added because I was afraid the lamb would dry out, being not as submerged in a larger cooker, but it's probably not necessary). Toss in a cinnamon stick.
6. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Warning: your home will smell almost oppressively amazing for about 7 hours while this thing cooks. But the result is a moist, delicious leg of lamb. I served it with quinoa and roasted carrots.
Ingredients
4 lb. boneless leg of lamb
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups prunes
~3/4 cup white wine (I used a chardonnay)
1 cinnamon stick
To Make
1. Place lamb in crockpot (note: I have a 6.5 liter cooker, though original recipe called for a 4-5 quart cooker, so if you have a smaller one it should still fit).
2. Mix salt, pepper, and rosemary together, rub all sides of lamb with mixture.
3. Sprinkle chopped garlic on and around lamb.
4. Add prunes around lamb.
5. Pour in wine, about 1/4 cup water (the water I added because I was afraid the lamb would dry out, being not as submerged in a larger cooker, but it's probably not necessary). Toss in a cinnamon stick.
6. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Warning: your home will smell almost oppressively amazing for about 7 hours while this thing cooks. But the result is a moist, delicious leg of lamb. I served it with quinoa and roasted carrots.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Amazing French-style Cheesecake
I have a dessert cookbook by "Sophie" from France that I have never used before. Thomas and I have been hungering for cheesecake and I have never made it from scratch so I checked out Sophie's recipe.
I made it and I have to say it is the most amazing cheesecake-dessert I have ever had. This recipe is definitely on the sweet side and the crust plays just as big a role as the cheese filling.
Here is my rough translation from French, including the substitutions I made:
Crust
-----
1 1/3 cup Nilla wafers, crushed into crumbs. (or similar cookie)
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup rough sugar (I use the "natural unbleached "sugar)
Filling
-------
8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese
4 eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar (I used the natural sugar, prob could have used white granulated sugar)
1 tsp flour
Zest and juice of one lemon (I didn't have a real lemon so I used a little lemon juice)
Sophie called for a 26cm pan, which I think is one of those shallow round pans that the French use for apple pies and such. They don't have slanty sides. I used a 9" round cake pan.
Preheat oven to 300F
Start with the crust: Smash the cookies if not already smashed. Soften the butter for the crust. In a bowl, mix the cookie crumbs, sugar and butter. Grease the pan. Put the crust mixture in the bottom and mash it down with a glass so that it is flat and covers the whole bottom. Put it in the fridge while it waits for the filling.
Beat the eggs with the sugar. Add flour, zest, lemon juice, and cream cheese. Mix (I used the mixer).
Get the pan from the fridge and pour the filling in. Bake for 50 minutes.
Cool completely before eating.
Et voila! A sweet but elegant-tasting dessert. The crust is divine and the cheese part is light and delicious. It was really hard to stop at one piece.
I made it and I have to say it is the most amazing cheesecake-dessert I have ever had. This recipe is definitely on the sweet side and the crust plays just as big a role as the cheese filling.
Here is my rough translation from French, including the substitutions I made:
Crust
-----
1 1/3 cup Nilla wafers, crushed into crumbs. (or similar cookie)
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup rough sugar (I use the "natural unbleached "sugar)
Filling
-------
8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese
4 eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar (I used the natural sugar, prob could have used white granulated sugar)
1 tsp flour
Zest and juice of one lemon (I didn't have a real lemon so I used a little lemon juice)
Sophie called for a 26cm pan, which I think is one of those shallow round pans that the French use for apple pies and such. They don't have slanty sides. I used a 9" round cake pan.
Preheat oven to 300F
Start with the crust: Smash the cookies if not already smashed. Soften the butter for the crust. In a bowl, mix the cookie crumbs, sugar and butter. Grease the pan. Put the crust mixture in the bottom and mash it down with a glass so that it is flat and covers the whole bottom. Put it in the fridge while it waits for the filling.
Beat the eggs with the sugar. Add flour, zest, lemon juice, and cream cheese. Mix (I used the mixer).
Get the pan from the fridge and pour the filling in. Bake for 50 minutes.
Cool completely before eating.
Et voila! A sweet but elegant-tasting dessert. The crust is divine and the cheese part is light and delicious. It was really hard to stop at one piece.
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