Baked Flounder with Broccoli and Squash

     I downloaded the Whole Foods app on my phone and was recently browsing through there hoping to be inspired.  This recipe was not necessarily inspiring but it did call for two ingredients that I already had on hand-broccoli and squash.  I think you can use any white fish for this recipe.  Flounder was an impulse buy for me today.  The may at the fish market was waiting for me to decide and I felt rushed.

Fish Packets with Broccoli and Squash

Ingredients
1/2 lb flounder fillets
2 cups broccoli, cut into small pieces
1 cup green squash, sliced
olive oil
lemon juice
salt
pepper
1 small shallot
Parchment Paper

Method
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
1. Cut two 12 inch pieces of parchment paper and fold in half.
2. Divide the squash between the two parchment paper pieces, just to the right of the fold.
3. Arrange broccoli over the squash and drizzle with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.
4. Place fish over the vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with lemon juice.  Place shallots over the fish.
5. Seal parchment packets by folding in the edges.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until the fish is thoroughly cooked.
6. Allow the fish to sit for 3-4 minutes before serving.

The Taste Test
    Maybe impulse shopping is not the best choice at the fish counter!  I was not a big fan of the flounder.  The veggies on the other hand were good.  Not a keeper in my book.

Sweet Potato Barley Risotto

     This rainy dreary day made me feel like hiding away inside and breaking out the crock pot.  Since the weather has gotten nicer, I have forgotten about the crock pot.  Yesterday I was reading a book, lent to me by a friend, called The Essential Green You by Deidre Imus.  It had many suggestions and rationals for living a greener life, including eating organically and from local farmer's markets, using more natural personal care products, as well as cleaning products.  It was a quick and interesting read.  The book recommended a website, called localharvest.org, that lists local farmer's markets.  I plan to check some of them out this summer when my schedule opens up a bit. 
     The book also reminded me of some ingredients I haven't used in a while, including barley.  The book talked about all of the fiber that barley contains and how it can be used in place of Arborio rice in risottos. This morning I searched for some recipes because I thought I had a bag of barley in the pantry-which I didn't.  But my quest did turn up this recipe, which incorporated the crock pot, barley in a risotto, and sweet potatoes.  Score!

Sweet Potato Barley Risotto

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp rosemary
2 sweet potatoes, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 1/2 cups pearled barley, rinsed
4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Method
1. Heat oil in a medium skillet.  Add the onions and cook until they begin to soften.
2. Add rosemary and garlic.  Stir and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add barley and vegetable broth.  Bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Place the cubed sweet potatoes in the crock pot.  Cover the potatoes with the barley mixture.
5. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
6. Before serving, stir in 1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.

The Taste Test
     Super simple!  The rosemary made the house smell delicious and a quick bite of the risotto was enough to let me know that this dish will be a hit.  The barley really plumped up as it absorbed the vegetable broth and all of it's flavor. 

Tilapia with Roasted Grape Tomato Salsa

    Who knew there was a Food Network Canada?  I have never really given it any thought, but was pleasantly surprised to find a quick and simple recipe on their site that matched the ingredients I had in the fridge-grape tomatoes about to be too ripe!

Tilapia with Roasted Grape Tomato Salsa

Ingredients
1/4-1/2 pound tilapia
1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 red onion, chopped
Zest of 1 lime
Juice from 1 lime
thyme
4 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
1. Toss tomatoes and onions with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, 1/2 of the lime zest, lime juice, a teaspoon of fresh or dried thyme, and a bit of salt and pepper.  Place in a small roasting dish and place in the oven for 7-10 minutes-just until the tomatoes begin to soften.
2. Season the fish with salt, pepper, thyme, and the remaining lime zest.
3. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with 2 teaspoons of olive oil.  Add the tilapia and cook each side for 1-2 minutes.
4. Transfer the tilapia to the roasting pan with the tomato salsa.  Roast for an additional 7-9 minutes, or until the fish is flaky.

Serve the tomato salsa over the fish.  Drizzle with some of the remaining juices from the pan.

The Taste Test
     The tomato salsa really helped to bring flavor to this dish.  The tilapia on it's own was a bit bland, but I probably could have seasoned it a bit more.  In the end, it only took minutes to prepare and it was a healthy weeknight meal.

Shrimp and Avocado Salad with Crispy Tortillas

    We had some avocados left over from Arnauld's Mexican adventures in cooking this weekend, so when I saw this recipe in my June issue of Real Simple, I knew it was fate.  We even had left over cabbage.  This was an easy week night dish to toss together.

Shrimp and Avocado Salad with Crispy Tortillas

Ingredients
2-3 Corn Tortillas, cut into strips
3-4 tbsp olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 romaine heart, thinly sliced
1/4 small cabbage, thinly sliced
1 avocado, sliced
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds

Method
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
1. Toss the tortilla strips with a drizzle of oil and a dash of salt.  Spread on a baking sheet.  Toss the pumpkin seeds in the same bowl and spread on the baking sheet.  Bake for 7-10 minutes or until the strips are golden and crispy.
2. In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the cumin and 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper.  Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook the shrimp until they are cooked all of the way through, about 2-3 minutes per side.
3. In a large salad bowl, combine the orange juice, lime juice, and 1 tablespoon of oil.  Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  Add the romaine, cabbage, avocado, and shrimp.  Toss to coat the salad evenly.  Serve the salad topped with the tortilla strips and pumpkin seeds.

The Taste Test
Lovely and light!

Happy Mother's Day!

     To celebrate Mother's Day today, we had my Mom, Grandma, and Arnauld's Mom over for brunch.  We wanted to do something to bring everyone together for some low key quality time together and honor our mom's for always being there for us.  I was finally able to make crepes, something I've had in mind since we celebrated my Mom's birthday with breakfast for dinner back in March.    Arnauld requested biscuits since he planned to make some eggs.  It was a pretty simple spread, that grew because of course my Grandma brought over her own additions including stuffed artichokes, cantaloupe, and her now famous zucchini and eggs. 

Crepes
This recipe came from allrecipes.com.

I doubled this recipe and made about 14 crepes.

Ingredients
2 eggs
1 cup almond milk
2/3 cup flour
1 pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method
1. In the food processor, combine all of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
2. Let the mixture sit, in a covered container, in the fridge for at least an hour.
3. When ready to make crepes, heat a medium skillet over medium heat.  Spray with cooking spray and pour 1/4 cup of the mixture into the skillet.  Roll the mixture around until it is covering the entire bottom of the skillet.  Cook 2-5 minutes, until golden, flipping once.  Repeat with the remaining mixture.

You can fill your crepes with anything.  We had bananas, strawberries, Nutella, walnuts, and whipped cream.  Our guests were able to build their own crepes.

Biscuits
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

I also doubled this recipe and made about 18 biscuits

Ingredients
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup light butter
1 egg
2/3 cup almond milk

Method
Preheat oven to 450
1. Combine dry ingredients.  Chop in cold butter until the mixture is crumbly.
2. Beat together the eggs and milk.  Combine with the dry ingredients.
3. Move the mixture to a well floured surface and knead about 20 times.
4. Use a floured rolling pin to roll out the dough, until it is about 3/4 of an inch think.  Use a biscuit cutter, or an empty tin can to cut the dough into biscuits.
5.  Place the biscuits onto a greased baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm

The Taste Test
     I have three skillets and ended up using the medium size for the crepes because the biggest one was just too big and the batter didn't cover the whole thing.  I was nervous about flipping these because they seemed so thin, but it was surprisingly easy.  You can even see my Grandma about to flip the crepe in the air in the picture below.  I made my crepe with Nutella and bananas and it was delicious.  It was fun to look around the table and see everyone experimenting with different combinations of ingredients, all looking equally tasty.  These might be fun to try as a savory dish, adding cheese and veggies.
    I was also nervous about the biscuits.  The dough was pretty sticky so I had to add a lot of flour to my rolling surface.  I was also skeptical of my makeshift biscuit cutter.  Luckily, it all seemed to work out and the biscuits were a big hit!  The original recipe called for shortening but I read some reviews that suggested butter, so that's what I tried.  I think this would be another recipe that could be doctored up a bit, maybe by adding some spices or other ingredients.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms, especially my mom and sister!  

Love you Both!

Full Brain and Full Belly-Fish Tacos (What He Cooked)

     I just spent the last 3 days in Turners Falls, Massachusetts learning how to present Responsive Classroom techniques and approaches to adults.  It was my first "business trip" and also my first time staying in a hotel on my own.  I knew no one else attending, but am happy to report that I survived and made a lot of new friends.  I get to go back for a week in July to learn more and have a lot of presentations to plan and practice in the meantime...yikes!
    Needless to say, I returned home this evening with my brain whirling and a bit tired.  Pulling up to our house, I was immediately struck by our freshly mowed, GREEN lawn.  Anyone who has been to our house knows that we don't have the best grass.  Actually, landscapers have knocked on our door two years in a row to offer their services for our sad lawn.  Arnauld has made it his mission to bring it back to life and it looks great!  Hopefully it survives the summer.
     Upon entering the house, everything was glistening and neat.  I love when Arnauld cleans because he is pretty meticulous while I just like to get the job done, which sometimes involves rushing.  The laundry was also done and folded, the windows open filling the house with fresh air.
     Arnauld was busy chopping away in the kitchen, preparing fish tacos!  We have talked about fish tacos since our trip to California in August.  Supposedly fish tacos are quite popular on the West Coast, but we didn't get to try them on our trip.-probably because we were usually too full after all of our amazing breakfasts.  I am so grateful to return home and not have to do anything around the house.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Here are the recipes Arnauld used to prepare our delicious dinner.  Judging from how busy he was in the kitchen, I think it is safe to say that these are not quick recipes because there was a lot of prep involved.  However, they were definitely worth all of the effort.

Guacamole
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Guacamole/Detail.aspx

Fish Tacos
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fish-Tacos/Detail.aspx

Baja Black Beans, Corn and Rice
http://www.food.com/recipe/baja-black-beans-corn-and-rice-55768

The Taste Test
    Fabulous!  The bean and corn salad over rice was my favorite part of this meal.  The batter on the cod was great and the spicy sauce was nicely contrasted by the cabbage, making the heat bearable.  Thanks Arnauld! Maybe I should go away more often... xox

Rainbow Wheat Berry Salad

    This past week was a crazy busy week so one night Arnauld stopped at Whole Foods to pick up something for dinner.  He brought me home two different salads, one with eggplant and the other with wheat berries.  The wheat berry salad reminded me that I had a container of wheat berries in the pantry that I never used.  That was my inspiration for making lunch for this coming week.  A quick look on the internet helped me to find yet another blog, Macheesmo!  The salad seemed pretty easy and also had a new ingredient for me, chard.

Rainbow Wheat Berry Salad

Ingredients
1 cup wheat berries
3-4 stalks celery
1/2 red onion
1 avocado
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 bunch chard
1 lemon
1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained
salt and pepper

Method
1. Cook 1 cup of wheat berries according to package directions.
2. Dice the celery, onion, and avocado.  Place in a bowl with chick peas.
3. Zest a lemon and add zest and the juice from the lemon to the bowl.
4. Add feta cheese to bowl.
5. Chop char, removing the thick stems.  Blanch in simmering water for 30 seconds and then move to ice cold water.  Dry the chard using paper towels and then mince and add to salad.
6. Mix everything together and season with salt and pepper.

The Taste Test
This is such a colorful salad.  I love it!  I really like the texture of the wheat berries and all of the different ingredients make this a very flavorful and filling meal.  The original recipe also called for a red pepper, but since I am not a fan, I left that out.  If you try this salad, you might add that into the mix.