Swordfish Tacos with Pineapple Salsa

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351Fish is one of those foods dietitians (RDs) are always telling people to eat more of – because why not? It’s a lean protein and full of healthy fats. But I’ll let you in on a little secret, I hated and I do mean HATED fish until I was well into college. There may be some photographic evidence >>>>>> to insinuate otherwise and anecdotal suggestions that I ate sardines by the can when I was little, but all of these I refuse to believe because I simply can’t remember. (Yes, that is little Ingrid in the red shirt clutching a dead, gutted fish.)

Flash forward to 19 year old me (has it been 10 years already?) experimenting with new foods and really forcing myself to eat foods because they were healthy. Salmon was the first fish I could eat and enjoy. That opened the gateway to other seafoods, sushi, and eventually ahi tuna, sea bass (it’s great in an oolong marinade, fyi) and swordfish. While I find I didn’t particularly enjoy flaky fish or fresh water fish, I really really enjoy meatier fishes from the sea.

And all that adventure with trying different fishes leads to fish tacos! For the swordfish I decided on a Blacken Seasoning to bring out a little more spice with the sweet salsa. The tortillas are fresh made in Albuquerque and I picked them up at Keller’s Farm Stores while scoping out some cuts of lamb. I think the blue just pops with the pineapple and really blue probably tastes better, right?

Swordfish Tacos

Serves 4 (with two tacos each)

Ingredients

  • 1 pound swordfish steaks
  • 8 blue corn tortillas
  • 4 avocados
  • Cilantro to garnish

BlackenSeasoning

  • 3 tsp cayenne pepper (less if you don’t want spicy)
  • 2 T smoked paprika
  • 2 T cumin
  • 2 T oregano
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp salt

Directions

  1. Make Pineapple Salsa (recipe below) and let sit to marinate while the rest of the taco fixings are prepared.
  2. Mix blacken seasoning in a medium bowl.
  3. Cut swordfish into 4 equal pieces – about 1/4 pound each. Pat dry and coat with blacken seasoning.
  4. Heat a cast iron or other large skillet on medium-high heat. Drizzle 1 T of high heat oil such as canola or coconut oil in the pan. Place fish in pan and cook 5- 8 minutes, flipping halfway until cooked through but not burnt.
  5. While the fish cooks, steam 8 tortillas in the microwave. I just use a damp clean flour towel or paper towels wrapped around the flat tortillas. When removed they should be pliable and supple.
  6. Slice avocados and lightly chop cilantro for garnish.
  7. When fish is cooked through, remove from heat and cut into 1×1 inch pieces.
  8. Arrange tortillas with avocado, swordfish, salsa, and cilantro.

 

Pineapple Salsa

Makes about 2-3 cups

Ingredients

  • 1/2 fresh pineapple, diced
  • 2 Roma tomatoes, deseeded and diced
  • 1 jalapeno, deseeded and finely minced
  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • 1/4 c cilantro, chopped
  • 1/2 red pepper, diced
  • Juice from 2 limes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Wash, cut, dice, and chop first six ingredients.
  2. Mix together and add lime juice and season to taste.

Enjoy once assembled!

You can sub in your favorite meaty fish for these super easy and delicious tacos.

Are there any foods you absolutely hated as a child and now don’t know how you could have missed out for so long?

Lemon Lavender Energy Bites

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I hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July! And after a little over indulging, it’s time to go looking for a healthier snack alternative.

I love, love, love my Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Energy Bites, but when looking to expand a little for an upcoming Health Fair I’m demoing at for work, I wanted to see what else might be out there in the the wide world of bite sized energy morsels. While scrolling through Lindsay’s Healthy Bites recipes at Cotter Crunch, I found her Lemon Pistachio Shortbread Cookie Bites. These were so outside the box from the usual energy bite recipe I see with dates, chia seeds, etc., I just had to try them. After looking at the recipe closer, I knew I’d have to make some modifications for a smaller batch, so I decided to branch out further and incorporate some lavender… because I just love the lavender and lemon combo. And by sticking with almond butter, the other flavors could really shine through.

I bought my culinary lavender from Los Poblanos Farms which is a local business, but their lavender products are featured in posh hotels around the country and you can buy most all of the lavender products online – yep even their culinary lavender, all organic. In addition to their lavender farm, they also have a historic inn and restaurant (all locally sourced or onsite farm raised ingredients) on the property. C and I had our first valentine’s dinner there – I loved the atmosphere, the size and style made me feel like I was in some old Spanish town and definitely not in Albuquerque anymore. Oh, and the food was also fabulous. 🙂

Lemon Lavender Energy Bites

Ingredients

  • 1/2 c raw, unsalted, pistachios (meats, shelled)
  • 1 tsp grated lemon
  • 1/2 cup almond or coconut flour
  • 1 T turbinado sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 c creamy almond butter (do not use peanut butter – it will overpower the other flavors)
  • 1 tsp whole culinary lavender (you can add an additional 1/2 tsp based on strength of lavender flavor)
  • 1/4 c honey or maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp lemon extract
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Place nuts and flour in the food processor first. I used a 2 cup food processor or small option if using a larger processor. Pulse until nuts resemble a course meal.
  2. Add in sugar, salt, lavender, and extracts. Process for another 3-5 second or until well combined.
  3. Lastly, blend in almond butter and your choice of honey or maple syrup. Pulse until well combined and the mixture holds its shape when pressed together. Add additional syrup 1 T at a time until mixture hold a shape without crumbling.
  4. Using a teaspoon, scoop mixture and form into round balls.
  5. Place balls in the freezer to set and hold their shape. After frozen, they can be left to be stored in the freezer or refrigerator.

I think this is my new favorite hiking snack or maybe just for work. 🙂

What are your favorite snack flavor combinations? 

Wild Rice Salad with Honey Mustard Viniagrette 

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As I was exploring Minnesota my internet wasn’t the greatest, so I didn’t hit publish on this post until I returned. I wanted to share one of my favorite Minnesota dishes – Wild Rice Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette.  I first had this salad at the Douglas Lodge at Itasca State Park (the headwaters of the Mississippi) and then proceeded to buy their cookbook because it had this recipe! I have preceded to change it a little and make it my own and my mom continues to make this salad every time I come to visit or we get together in the summer. It may seem like a strange combination of food and flavors, but believe me it works pretty darn well. Celery adds crunch, grapes add sweetness, rice is chewy, and the almond can be toasted too for more flavor enhancement. Wait, I almost forgot about the water chestnuts and I’m the one who throws a fit if they get left out of the actual salad – they add a refreshing crunch although not super strong in flavor.

Wild Rice Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Serves 6 or 4 large dinner salads

Ingredients

  • 1 c dry wild rice
  • 2 c water
  • 1 c halved red grapes
  • 1/2 c craisins or raisins
  • 1/2 c sliced water chestnuts
  • 1 c chopped celery
  • 1/4 c sliced almonds

Honey Mustard Dressing

  • 1/4 c cider vinegar
  • 1 T spicy ground mustard or other grainy mustard variety
  • 1/4 c honey
  • 1/4 c olive oil
  • Pinch of Cayenne (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Pour all salad dressing into a mason jar and shake vigorously. Set aside until ready to use.
  2. Prepare wild rice: Rinse rice prior to cooking.  Bring wild rice and water to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook until grains have split and rice is chewy but not hard. Rinse rice in cold water and drain.
  3. Combine the rest of the ingredients and mix well.  Then add in rice and enough dressing to coat (you will not use all of it the first time. The salad gets better as it sits, but you might need to add more dressing over time as the rice and raisins tends to soak up the dressing.

Just a nice short and sweet recipe!

Although this morning I’m exhausted, vacation was a much needed break where I really tried to unplug (didn’t look at work email once!) from my normal routine, see family and friends I haven’t seen in years, and really remember what’s important in life. Now it’s back to work and back to reality for me.  Hope everyone is having a great week!

Black Bean Hummus for the Ultimate Veggie Snacker

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Black beans two weeks in a row? … at least one is sweet and the other savory? Oh well, I’m over that embarrassment, because this is another tasty healthy recipe.

I adore hummus as a healthy snack option. And find it really difficult to get bored of something you can customize so easily when you make it yourself. Traditional hummus is made from garbanzo beans, but whenever I make the original version in my little 2 cup food processor, it never gets quite as smooth. So I typically opt for a softer bean and my first favorite type of bean – the black bean.

This spread/dip is thick enough to be used on sandwiches, but my favorite is just for packing a flavor punch with veggies. 🙂 For some extra color try different color carrots, home grown or pickling cucumbers, and heirloom baby tomatoes. Oh and for a little extra crunch I’ve thrown in some Nut-Thins – seriously so good especially with the hint of salt in the sea salt variety.

Black Bean Hummus

Makes 6 to 8, 1/4 cup servings

Ingredients

  • 1 can black beans (~2 cups), rinsed and drained
  • 2 T tahini
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 T lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/4 c chopped green onion
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder (your favorite kind), adjust for spiciness
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Pepper to taste
  • Additional water to improve consistency if needed.

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients to a food processor (I used a 2 cup version) but you can also use the smaller bowl option on your large processor.
  2. Pulse and blend until smooth.

Yep, two steps – super simple.

Now you can pick your favorite veggies to accompany.

Happy snacking!

My other favorite hummus is the edamame hummus from Trader Joes.

What’s your favorite brand or type of hummus? What are your favorite snacking veggies?

 

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Stone Fruit and Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

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By no means can I take all of the credit for this recipe, since I got all of the inspiration from Tiffani Theissen – I loved her on White Collar and Saved by the Bell I suppose. On a flight this past March (I think I was headed to or coming from Minnesota) Southwest had TV and movies you can watch on your mobile devices. Since I was looking for something to occupy the time, I decided on Travel and Food shows – finding a few I didn’t even know existed (Booze Traveler & Dinner at Tiffani’s). On an episode of Dinner at Tiffani’s,  she was making brunch with Bree Turner (who I like from Grim) and Lance Bass and his husband. While the people were lovely, the food got me thinking. She made a peach and tomato caprese salad and I knew I had to try and recreate it… Because searching for the recipe on the internet would have been difficult?

Stone fruits weren’t in season at that time – and neither were good heirlooms, so I bidded my time and waited for growing season to start. This past week, Sprouts had a great sale on produce and ripe white peaches and a few heirloom tomatoes. Naturally I snatched them up and ran home to make the salad I had been dreaming for months.

Stone Fruit and Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

Serves 2 or 4 if you’re feeling generous

Ingredients

  • 2-3 medium white peaches
  • 2 large or 3 medium heirloom tomatoes
  • 8 oz of burrata cheese
  • 10 basil leaves

Directions

  1. Wash and dry produce, then starting from the bottom, slice tomatoes horizontally about 1/4 in wide. Cut peaches into slices.
  2. Arrange tomatoes and peaches on a plate, then cut or tear burrata and nestle on top.
  3. Lastly drop basil leaves over everything and serve. This is great with an aged balsamic (what I had on hand didn’t drizzle the best, so it’s not pictured).

It’s so simple and looks (and tastes) amazing! I highly encourage you to hit up your farmer’s market this season and get some local produce to try this. For me, I’ll be picking those peaches off my tree when they’re ready – yum!

 

 

Green Chile Quinoa Burgers

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In celebration of the Memorial Day holiday – although a week late, I have a burger recipe for you!  Since I don’t eat beef, naturally it is a veggie burger and this time a quinoa veggie burger. And because I’ve been living in New Mexico for almost 4 years now, I thought it was high time to incorporate some green chiles into more of my recipes.

The quinoa burger is a revamp of a burger I first started making 5 years ago and although I call it a burger, it could be just as easily called a fritter or sorts because I hardly ever eat it on a bun – if it’s not a good bun, it just gets in the way of the deliciousness. Life is too short to waste it on anything less than quality food. (Forget the mass processed foods!)

Green Chile Quinoa Burger

Makes about 8-10 large burgers

Ingredients

2 rounded cups cooked quinoa (cooking instructions below)

3/4 c shredded cheddar cheese 

2/3 c low-fat cottage cheese

3/4 c roasted, drained, diced green chiles

3 eggs

3 T all purpose flour

2 green onions, including white parts

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp garlic powder

Non-stick spray or olive oil

Directions

To cook quinoa:

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium saucepan bring the 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil over high heat.  Add quinoa and reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook for 18-20 minutes, or until all water is absorbed and the seeds are tender.  Allow to cool for a few minutes. I also regularly use a rice cooker for any whole grain such as quinoa, farro, or barley. Mine cost probably less than $20 and works great!

In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, green chile, eggs, flour, green onions, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder.

 

Heat a frying pan and a couple teaspoons olive oil over medium-low heat.  Mixture will be slightly sticky, so using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop mixture into pan and lightly flatten to 1/2 inch thick.  Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side.  

*They really tend to fall apart, so don’t try to “form” them.  To help them stay in patty form and not fall apart,  cook them on med-low slowly so they have longer to set-up without burning.  Makes them easier to flip, too.   

For serving, I like to slice up a few tomatoes and avocado and match with your favorite burger spread.

Enjoy!

Arepa Eggs Benedict with Avocado Hollandaise

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I’m interrupting this vacation recap to bring you breakfast! After having a fantastic arepa for breakfast at Arepa Cafe Miraflores I couldn’t get the delicious South American cakes out of my head. At the cafe we had Venezuelan style arepas, but I decided to make these in a Columbian fashion… the main difference from what I can discern is the thickness, meaning that with Venezuelan arepas are thicker so they can be split and stuffed.

Traditional Eggs Benedict is usually something I have maybe once every couple of years because 1) I am not the biggest fan of hollandaise sauce – it’s usually made way too salty and 2) I’ve never been able to master it on my own, aside from it being not the healthiest of options. Since I love avocado on breakfast sandwiches, I decided to see if they could be turned into more of a sauce than a spread or dip.

Arepa Eggs Benedict with Avocado Hollandaise

Ingredients

Arepas

  • 1 1/2 cups masarepa (see note #1 above)
  • 2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) finely crumbled cojita cheese or queso fresco
  • 1 1/2 cups water, plus more as necessary
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons butter

Avocado Hollandaise

  • 1 ripe avocado
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1/4 cup hot water
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Remaining items

  • 8 pieces of Canadian bacon or regular bacon if preferred
  • 4 eggs

Directions

  1. Let’s start with the arepas. Preheat oven to 325F if making thicker arepas. Combine masarepa (precooked, ground corn flour), cheese, 1 cup water, and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in a medium bowl and knead with hands until a dough is formed. Take a small amount and flatten it between your palms. If the edges crack, knead in more water a tablespoon at a time until dough is supple and smooth but not sticky. Season dough to taste with salt, then cover and set aside for five minutes.
  2. While the arepa dough sets, make the avocado hollandaise. Add the avocado, lemon juice and hot water into a food processor or high powered blender and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides if needed. With the processor running, stream in the olive oil slowly. Continue to blend until pureed and smooth.
  3. Back to arepas, divide dough into four even pieces and roll into balls. Working on a wooden cutting board or a regular cutting board with a sheet of plastic wrap or parchment paper on top of it, flatten each ball down to a disk about 5-inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick for thinner and 1/2 inch for thicker and if splitting the arepa.
  4. Melt butter in a 12-inch cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Add arepas and cook, moving them around the pan and rotating them occasionally, until first side is charred in spots and a dry crust has formed, about five minutes. Flip arepas and cook on second side until a dry crust has formed, about five minutes longer. Transfer the arepas to a baking sheet and bake for another 10 minutes until fully cooked all the way through.
  5. While the arepas are in the oven, slightly crisp the Canadian bacon in the cast iron skillet and set aside. In a separate pan, prepare the eggs over easy so the yokes are warm but not fully cooked. If you prefer poached eggs, you can poach the eggs at this point.
  6. To assemble, place 2 pieces of Canadian bacon on top of each arepa. Then layer with eggs and avocado hollandaise.Serve with fruit.

    Enjoy!

Orange and Beet Barley Salad

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As part of my work I get to teach cooking class and present different cooking demos to clients – yes I love this part of my job. For an upcoming class I was tasked with using different vinaigrettes and salad dressings. I wanted to show a variety of types of “acids” you can use with a dressing – the most common being vinegar, but adding in a citrus also adds to some complexity and flavor. Rather than dressing only green salads, I also wanted some other type of salad and grain salads with farro and freekeh are pretty popular right now. To change things up I went with barley – yep I know it’s typically thought of in soup, but these are pillows of heaven and should be used more often (I will probably be making a risotto with them in the near future). Since I love beets and oranges together, this salad was born. 

Feel free to get creative with your favorite grain or green for the salad bed. Cooking is all about experimentation! And this is now packed for all of my lunches this week. I’m feeling sort of a winter spring clash with this dish – comforts of winter with the beets and oranges meet the lightness of spring with the arugula. 
 
Orange and Beet Barley Salad

Serves about 4

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dry Italian Barley, farro, or other grain
  • 3 medium oranges
  • 2 large or 3 small beets
  • 2 oz crumbled goat cheese (optional)
  • 6 cups arugula
  • Sliced Almonds (optional)

Dressing

  • ¼ c olive oil
  • ¼ c champagne vinegar (or other light tasting vinegar)
  • ¼ cup orange juice
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1T sugar
  • 1T brown sugar

Directions 

  1. Cook dry barley with 3 cups of water until tender, drain any excess water. Stove top or a rice cooker will do the job. Set aside to cool.
  2. Cut the top and bottom off the beets, wrap in foil, and bake in 350F oven for 1 hour. Cool slightly or until cool enough to handle. Using a butter knife, remove loose skin from outside of beets.
  3. For oranges, cut off the top and bottom, then using a sharp knife cut along the sides to remove peel and outer pith. Next cut oranges in half and cut into small chunks.
  4. Mix all dressing ingredients together and shake vigorously in a mason jar or other tightly sealed container. Toss barley and oranges with half dressing to start. 
  5. Dice beets and toss into barley along with oranges just enough to mix – otherwise your salad will be pink. 🙂 
  6. Serve over arugula and sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese. 

*For extra crunch add toasted sliced almonds. 

Enjoy!