Crispy Beer Battered Fish Tacos

I’ve recently been really into cooking cod. I mainly pick it up from the super market because it’s wild caught & on sale - win win. We love tacos at our house. They’re fun to eat & to make & I can’t wait to make these again. They’re fried, yes but it’s fish - that makes it healthy right? Regardless they're super pretty & taste AMAZING & the textures are just soooo good.

Savory Egg, Leek, Herb & Goat Cheese Crêpe Squares

I love making crepes. Albeit they take some practice so if you don’t get them on the first try keep trying, you will. Plus, eating the mistakes is a great perk! I made these for brunch this weekend. I’ve also made this version of them for brunch with my girl friends a while back (like last year!). They’re great to make ahead & to serve at room temperature. They also look super posh & make for a completely satisfying breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Spicy Beef & Acorn Squash Winter Stew

I’m not a huget meat eater but I’ll have the occasional burger or meatball if the mood strikes me. If you’ve been following my blog (thank you!) you’ll probably notice that most of the recipes involve veggies, chicken & fish with very little meat in between. Which means that that’s what my husband eats too. Last night I opted to throw Chris a bone & make a beef stew. Given his positive reaction I may have to make this & meat more often.

Guacamole & Salmon Sandwiches

We have salmon usually about once a week (if we’ve made it to the super market the weekend before the week gets going). I usually make salmon with a side of veggies & either potatoes or rice or some other starch.  This week I decided to take the salmon to some bread & make these salmon guacamole sandwiches for dinner.  We’ll definitely have these again maybe in a different variation - but salmon on bread is a winning combo for me (& Chris!).

Grilled Blackened Chicken Avocado Salad

It’s grilling season. To marry that fact with my love for salads lately allowed me to dream up this grilled blackened chicken & avocado salad.  The chicken is spicy & the avocado is creamy & cooling. It’s a great combination. Give it a try. It’s also super easy to make!
PS: happy birthday to my dancing partner in crime, Christine!

Greek Earth Bowl

It’s that time of year again when the temperature rises & I automatically feel like I should be eating some sort of salad for ever meal, yes even breakfast! This earth bowl (a salad with some hearty grains) is one of those dishes that you could eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can eat it (just-cooked farro) hot, room temperature or cold from the fridge. It’s a heartier salad but doesn’t leave you feeling heavy. You can use the veggies & other add-ins I did or you can use what you have on hand.


PS: happy birthday (tomorrow!!! - doh!) to one of my favorite Greek goddesses - Stacy! Love you hot latte ;)

Baked Egg in an Avocado

I’ve seen this egg in an avocado thing all over social media & have wanted to try it for a while. Yesterday, while working from home (thank you snow day!) I was actually able to make it for lunch - being that I had access to  an oven & the ingredients I needed to make it. It’s really very simple. The most challenging part is balancing the egg inside the avocado but it’s ok if it spills out as long as you follow my steps for anticipating a mess :)

I’ve always had my avocados raw so I was hesitant to fix something that wasn’t broken. I still liked the avocado part but in a different way. It almost reminded me of a baked potato in some ways. Have you tried it? What does it taste like to you?

I will definitely make this again. I think it would be great as brunch appetizer if you want to show off in front of guests.


Happy Valentine's Day!

Fall Salad with a Sweet & Spicy Oil-Free Dressing

It's finally feeling like fall out there.  We've been eating a lot of squash at our house as of late. It's a real fall like veggie (or is it a fruit? it has seeds so I think it's a fruit).  As you know I usually just roast up some squash to keep on hand like I did in this post last week.  This time I incorporated butternut squash into a hearty salad with a sweet & spicy oil-free dressing that I will definitely be making again.

Spinach Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing

Hoboken is only a mile square but it has a ton of great restaurants.  Among them are some tasty Cuban spots like La Isla.  It's a casual little place with rarely an empty seat with tons of tasty dishes on it's menu. One of my favorites is the spinach salad. It's just fresh with a combination of sweet and savory flavors as well as creamy and crunchy textures.  It's not a terribly complicated salad it's just the care they take to pile it on the plate.  It's really a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds too.  It's great on it's own or you can add shrimp or chicken to if if you want to "beef" it up. If you're ever in Hoboken, NJ I definitely recommend stopping by La Isla for a meal, if you aren't you can make a salad inspired by this great spot right in your own kitchen!

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Quinoa

Ask anyone at my office where I'm going for lunch & they'll usually say one of three places. The first would most likely be Pret A Manger.  I love Pret because they offer fresh food that's satisfying but doesn't make me feel stuffed to the brim after I eat it.  They also offer a lot of organic ingredients which is important to me.  One of my favorite go-to Pret items (besides coffee) is the quinoa pot they have available during breakfast. I could eat it at any time of day - I think it would make a great breakfast, lunch or dinner.  On that note I recreated it for brunch this past weekend.

What's your favorite versatile meal that works for breakfast, lunch or dinner?

Chicken Lettuce Tacos

We love tacos at our house. In hopes to keep our sprint fare a little bit on the lighter side I opted to make our chicken tacos with butter or boston lettuce instead.  PF Chang's makes some delicious lettuce wraps so I knew they had a good chance of working & my husband liking them.  All & all they were really good & we'll definitely swap out tortillas for these gluten-free lettuce tacos again. 

What do you eat in your lettuce wraps?

Spring Salmon with Almonds, Avocado & Strawberries

'Tis the season for sweet strawberries & ripe avocado.  Since we've been eating salmon once a week in our house I try to change up the way we eat it. I use this no-fail-perfect-salmon recipe every time.  Last night I topped our salmon with some fresh sliced avocado, strawberries & almond slivers. To finish I drizzled some extra virgin olive oil on top & seasoned each portion with a pinch of salt & pepper. Et voila dinner a pretty spring salmon dinner.

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1 (1 pound) salmon fillet, (if it doesn't fit in your skillet, cut it so it does)
• 1 avocado
• 6 strawberries
• 2 tablespoons sliced almonds

Make it!

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, place a large (12-inch) cast-iron pan over high heat for 5 minutes.
3. Brush the salmon all over with olive oil, season with salt & pepper, & place in the the pan skin side up.
4. Cook fish for 3 to 4 minutes without moving them until browned.
5. Turn the salmon skin side down, I used tongs to gently pull & flip each piece or you can use a spatula.
6. Transfer the pan to the oven for 8 minutes.
7. The salmon will not be completely cooked through yet. Remove the salmon from the oven & cover with foil for about 5 minutes, this will complete the cooking without drying out the salmon.
8. Slice the avocado (use this trick!) & the strawberries. 
9. Just before serving, plate each dish with the half the salmon.
10. Position the half the sliced avocado & strawberries neatly on top of each piece.
11. Sprinkle with almonds.
12. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over each piece & season with salt & pepper.   

Mozzarella, Avocado, Tomato, Arugula & Mustard Toast

I really love toast. I think toasted bread  makes every sandwich better.  My brother is actually the one who schooled me on toasting my bread for sandwiches & layering the topping just so, so that when you cut through it there is a pretty cross section to display. This also feeds my need to make all of my food pretty. Chris will call it "fancy" but really I think it's just an  occupational hazard because I'm always picturing how it would look in (well) a picture.  I also think every meal deserves attention to how it looks, therefore breakfast, lunch & dinner may take a few minutes longer in our house.

Find out how you can start a toast addiction with this gateway version after the jump!

Tomato, Beet, Avocado, Arugula & Walnut Salad

Sometimes it's a sandwich & salad kind of night at our house. Last night we dined on tuna sandwiches (courtesy of the hubs tuna salad) & this salad which was equally parts creamy, crunchy & tasty.

Since this salad is so easy to make, take the time to make it pretty when you plate it.  You eat with your eyes first, so make sure to feed them with a pretty feast.

Ingredients:

• 1 large heirloom tomato
• 2 avocados
• 1 large (cooked) beet
• 5 leaves fresh basil
• handful of walnuts
• 2 handfuls of arugula (or other lettuce of your choice)
• 1 tablespoon walnut oil
• sea salt & pepper

Make it!

1. Slice tomato, beet & avocados into equal sized slices (this may vary on the size of your fruits/veggies but closest to uniform size is ideal).
2. Coarsely chop walnuts & heat them in a pan over low heat for a few minutes until toasted (but not burned). As soon as you smell them take them off the heat.
3. In a separate bowl tear basil & mix with arugula.
4. Arrange the slices of tomato, beet & avocado in a pretty order on your plate, I like to alternate the colors like tomato, avocado, beet.
5. Top with arugula/basil mixture & toasted walnuts.
6. Drizzle walnut oil over all ingredients & season with sea salt & pepper.

PS: Happy Birthday Aunt Rosemary :) xx

Fresh Guacamole

Everything I learned about guacamole roots back to Trader Joe's & table side restaurant guac prep.  Trader Joe's sells a great little kit with everything you need to make your very own fresh guacamole at home.  After you've used that kit enough you don't even need a recipe & you're able to fly on your own at other grocery stores to buy the ingredients for fresh guacamole all by yourself.

The one & only ingredient that can really make or break your guac is (clearly) the avocados.  Avocados need to be firm yet impressionable (so when you press your thumb into the side of it it should have a little give -not be rock hard or super mushy but just right).  So if your avocados are too hard no amount of mashing is going to make a great guacamole, post pone it or go on a hunt for some more avocados & in the mean time leave your avocados to ripen in a brown paper bag. If they're the other end of the spectrum & are super mushy use them fast before they brown.

Ingredients:

• 1 large (or 2 small) avocado(s)
• 1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 shallot (chopped)
• 1 jalapeno pepper (ribs & seeds removed, chopped finely)
• 1 lime (zest & juice)
• 2 tomatoes (or 1 large) (seeded & chopped)
• salt & pepper
• red pepper flakes (optional)

Make it!

1. Cut the avocado(s) in half & scoop out the yummy goodness, discard the seed & shell/skin.
2. Mash avocado, garlic, shallot, jalepeno, lime zest & juice together (use whatever works for you, I used a fork, but a spoon for muddler will work too).
3. Stir in the tomatoes.
4. Season with salt, pepper & red pepper flakes.
5. Eat this with everything & on anything. Store in an airtight container (if there is any left).

Heirloom Tomato Quinoa Salad

Warm spring/summer nights make me want to eat healthfully. For dinner last night I served up this salmon with this quick filling quinoa salad.  Quinoa is so versatile you can literally add anything to it & it tastes good & will fill you up (read: Chris wasn't reaching for snacks after dinner). Last night I took advantage of some tasty heirloom tomatoes & other fresh spring veggies to jazz up my quinoa.

Click through for more pics & my quick recipe!

Cowboy Caviar

No one throws a tailgate like Gamecock fans, specifically the Snelling Family of South Carolina.  I've had this recipe in my rotation of dip recipes since 1999 thanks to my dear friend Sara (Snelling) Wilson, one of the finest ladies the South has to offer armed with a ton of charm, sugary sweet laughter & stellar Southern family recipes.  Check out my adaptation of Sara's cowboy caviar dip (read: I added avocado, of course!) after the jump.

Avocado Trick

When Chris & I took our Cuban cooking class our instructor gave us a great tip on how to keep avocados from turning brown while still prepping them for use.  I've heard you should squeeze lemon on them and things of that sort but this trick requires no extra ingredients, just a knife and some precision.

Check out how after the jump!

 PS: Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Eileen :) xo!