Mahi Mahi Tacos with Lime Yogurt Sauce

Hola, foodies!

I recently moved into a new apartment and tonight I made my first "real dinner" since moving in. With the help of my roomie, of course!

I've always wanted to make fish tacos. For this recipe I used pre-packaged frozen mahi mahi filets from Trader Joe's. So convenient - and surprisingly fresh, too!

I came up with the sauce on the fly. I used plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream because it basically tastes the same except it's fat-free and has a ton of protein. So yummy.. the sauce really made the tacos, for me.

• 1 pound mahi mahi filets
• flour
• extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/3 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tsp honey
• 10" flour tortillas
• pico de gallo (store-bought or homemade)
• any color bell pepper, finely chopped
• red or white onion, finely chopped
• cucumber, chopped
• cilantro, chopped
• shredded cheese of your choice

1. Combine yogurt, garlic, lime juice, and honey. Set aside.
2. Slice fish filets into 1-inch sections. Coat with flour.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, or until fish is completely opaque throughout. Transfer fish to a plate and season with salt and pepper.
4. Place fish pieces on warm tortillas. Drizzle with a good helping of yogurt sauce. Top with pico de gallo, peppers, onions, cucumbers, cilantro, and cheese. Enjoy!

Cheers,

L

Photo Blog: What I've Been Up To...

It's been a while since my last blog because, well, sh*t life happens. Here's what I've been up to food-wise since then, in photo form :)

My "inventive" curried tofu and sweet potato stir-fry, served over thin rice noodles.

My mom's cherry congealed salad.

My mom's savory chicken casserole. Yum!

Savory chicken casserole and rice.

Glorious sushi!

Everything was so, so, so good.

The green lights were actually very bright and flashed like strobe lights. A bit distracting, but cool. It was New Year's Eve, so I guess the chef figured, "why not?"

Red = Ahi tuna. Light pink = a fish we never quite figured out. Still tasty though!

Happy New Year! More posts in 2011. :)

Cheers,

L

Sunday Dinner: "LGH" Tilapia, Green Bean Salad, & Roasted Potatoes

Here's a rundown of tonight's tasty (and pretty healthy!) dinner... pictures included, of course!

Paul's mom's green beans.

Paul's mom gave us a batch of green beans straight from her garden and I wanted to do something a little different.  A little different meaning, not in a stir-fry or steamed and eaten plain, which is the only thing I have ever done with green beans.  This is based on a fantastically simple recipe by Biana at TastyGalaxy.

Green Bean Salad thanks to TastyGalaxy (with a couple of my own little tweaks, of course)

• about 1 pound green beans
• a big handful of chopped pecans (her recipe calls for almonds, which I don't have on hand, so I substituted)
• about 1/2 of a small red onion, cut into slivers
• zest of one lemon
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper, which I forgot... oops!

1. Clean and wash the beans.  Blanch for 3 minutes.  Drain and immediately rinse in cold water or dunk in ice bath.
2. Combine lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
3. In a bowl, combine the beans, onions, and nuts.  Toss with the lemon mixture.

Nutty goodness.

The finished product.

I made the salad a few hours before dinnertime and let it marinate in the fridge until then.  The lemon infused the green beans and really enhanced their flavor, which is fantastic already.  I really love this salad.  It is crisp, refreshing, and so healthy.  Definitely a great way to showcase some quality green beans.

I can't wait 'til I can have my own real garden someday.  The quality of fruits and veggies from a well-tended garden is unlike anything you can get in the store.  Moving on to the main dish...

Lemon-Garlic-Herb (LGH) Tilapia

• 3 or 4 tilapia fillets, depending on size... should be about 1 pound altogether
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley (or 1 tsp fresh)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Rinse the fillets in cool water, pat dry, and place in greased baking dish.
3. Pour the lemon juice over the fish.
4. Sauté the garlic in the butter until very fragrant.  Remove from heat and mix in the herbs.
5. Pour the butter mixture over the fish.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Fish should flake easily when pierced with a fork.

Before baking.

Yummy!

This turned out pretty fantastic as well.  The fish was soft, tender, with a delicate lemon flavor and little hints of garlic and herbs here and there.  This was my first time baking, as opposed to pan-frying, tilapia and I think it's a great way to prepare this fish (not to mention healthier).  Be careful not to over-bake because the fillets are so thin.  I'm also glad I sautéed the garlic and butter beforehand; I think it added a nice toasty flavor to the whole dish.  Side note: I actually used 3 tbsp butter, but I changed it in the recipe to 2 tbsp. I left some in the sauté pan, otherwise the fish would have been swimming in it (ha! see what I did there?)...and I was trying to go healthier.  Now for the second side dish...

No recipe here, but I had a couple extra potatoes to use up, and I already had the oven at 400, so why not roast them?  And dip them in spicy mayo, of course.  ;)

These always come out perfectly tossed in extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkled liberally with kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, and baked at 400 for about 10 minutes.  Just make sure they are spread on a single layer on your baking sheet.

What did you eat this Sunday?

Cheers,

L

Improvised Dinner / My Boyfriend Rocks

In my introductory post I mentioned I might blog about non-food related stuff.  This is one of those posts, because I myself haven't really been cooking this past week.  But tonight we cooked a great dinner so, I'll start off with that.

Sometimes the best dinners are ones with no recipe, just improvisation using the ingredients available in your fridge/pantry.  Paul gets all the credit for this because they were his ideas.  Thanks Paul. :)

Pan-Fried Salmon Fillet with Sauteed Garlic, Ginger, and Scallions (cooked by me)

String Bean, Red Bell Pepper, and Hungarian Pepper Stir-Fry with Ginger (cooked by Paul)

There really hasn't been much going on in my kitchen in the past week.  I've been pretty unproductive.  The only thing I remember cooking this week was eggs.  Work has been tiring me out and the weird hours (4pm-9pm) prevent me from cooking (or do they?).  I keep saying I'll put something in the Crock-Pot before I leave for work, but it never happens.  Ah, well... life gets in the way sometimes and that's okay.  Paul usually has something cooking for when I get home around 9:30 which is nice.  Earlier his week he made AWESOME burgers that I wish I had taken pictures of because they were soooo good.  Into the ground sirloin he mixed various fresh herbs (basil, sage, and thyme), garlic, onion, egg, bread crumbs, then stuffed fresh mozzarella cheese in the middle!  So delicious with a little Dijon mustard and a nice thick tomato slice.  The cheese was so melty and wonderful.

As I write I'm listening to Paul play around on the cello, playing along with Of Montreal.  He has been just an all-around awesome boyfriend and helping me out a lot as I adjust to my new schedule and juggle countless job applications and upcoming interviews.  I drive his car to work most nights so he is usually stuck at home, but each night when I come home he's gotten some big project done at the apartment.  Settling in here was very much a team effort between the two of us, but I gotta give him more credit.  We wouldn't have accomplished nearly as much as we did if it weren't for his incredible work ethic and generosity.  Thank you Paul... for the millionth time :)

I'll end with some pictures of some sweet skies we saw on our walk through Glasgow Park this evening.

Cheers,
L