Saturday, July 30, 2011

Asian-Inspired Halibut

Jon cooks fish for himself once a week, and this was a great recipe he came up with for Halibut.

I'm guessing on the amounts - just go with it and smell, taste, etc. That's how he developed it.

The recipe..
Mix 2 tbsp soy sauce, less than 1/4 tsp sesame oil, dash of rice vinegar.
Put the fish on foil, curling up the edges.
Pour the mixture over the fish, then top with about a teaspoon or more of chili-garlic paste.
Close up the foil, creating a pouch, and grill for 6-7 minutes.
Remove from the grill, carefully opening the pouch.
Top with chopped green onions and serve.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad


Have you seen Wacky Mac in the market? It caught my eye the other day so I picked up a bag. According to their web site, it is made from real vegetables - beet, spinach, and tomato. And they look fun, so I thought my daughter might like them (at first bite she didn't, but we'll keep trying!).

Over the weekend we had friends over and I had a bunch of leftover grilled and marinated veggies from our antipasto. What better way to use them up than to toss them into a pasta salad. I had Jon grill up some peppers and tomatoes for me, as well as roast a bulb of garlic on the grill, to make this salad complete.

Ingredients:
Handful of each of the veggies:

  • Grilled asparagus, chopped
  • Grilled peppers - red, yellow, orange. Peeled, cleaned, then chopped
  • Grilled red onions, chopped
  • Full bulb of roasted garlic, peeled then chopped
  • Marinated artichokes, chopped
  • Grilled tomato, chopped
  • Marinated fresh mozzarella, chopped
  • 10 oz wacky mac, cooked
Toss all of those ingredients with some salt and the dressing:

Dressing: 1/2 c olive oil, 1/4 c red wine vinegar, few turns of fresh black pepper, approx 1 1.5 tsp salt, 2 dashes dry mustard, a few shakes of dried oregano.

Easy, fresh, delicious - especially on a super hot summer day! Jon grilled up some light kielbasa that night for the perfect summer meal.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Recipe Swap: Mexican Sour Cream Rice

I participated in another Taste of Home Cooking recipe swap last week. This time the theme was Mexican... my favorite! Here is a roundup of all the Mexican recipes shared in the swap.

I was given a recipe for Mexican Sour Cream Rice shared by Melissa at Lemons and Love. I was inspired by the recipe, and decided to change it up a bit. First, I used freshly roasted jalapenos instead of canned diced green chiles. Other changes included using cilantro instead of parsley, using frozen corn instead of canned, and like the author suggested, adding black beans. I did not use chicken in my recipe as I was serving it as a side to marinated and grilled beef and veggie kabobs.

Everyone really enjoyed this! The jalapenos added nice heat, but were not overwhelming. I liked the addition of black beans, and think that even more veggies could be added next time - maybe some red and green peppers and onions. I also definitely see how adding cooked, shredded chicken would make this a complete meal.

Below is my version of this recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups uncooked white rice
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups sour cream
  • 6 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1 c shredded Mexican blend cheese
  • Spices, approximate amounts: 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 2 jalapenos, roasted then chopped (seeds removed; see below on how to roast jalapenos)
  • 2 c frozen corn
  • 1/2 can black beans
  • Handful chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Roast and prepare your jalapenos --- I roasted my jalapenos right on my gas stove, but you can do them on a grill as well. Just place them on the grates over the flame, and roast until each side is blackened. Transfer them to a bowl, cover with plastic, and let sit for 15 minutes so they can sweat, making it easier to remove the charred skin. Remove from the bowl, and scrape away all the skin. Cut in half, remove all the seeds, then chop.
  • Bring the chicken broth to a boil; add the rice and stir. Lower heat and cover; cook 20 minutes until rice is done and broth has absorbed.
  • In a large bowl, mix the sour cream, cream cheese, spices, and 3/4 of the cheese.
  • Pour rice into a greased casserole dish
  • Mix in the sour cream mixture, jalapenos, corn, cilantro, and black beans.
  • Top with the rest of the cheese.
  • Cover and bake for 30 minutes, until hot and bubbly.