Roasted Mahi with Chickpea Puree & Parsley Sauce

I made this last year but had left the post unpublished. It was fantastic.

Lemon Zest (¾ tsp)

¼ tsp paprika

2 6- to 8-oz mahi fillets
Salt & Pepper
2 fresh bay leaves
2 rosemary sprigs + ¼ tsp minced
1 c lightly-packed parsley
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 (15-oz) can chickpeas

½ small garlic

1. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. In medium baking dish, mix 4 Tablespoons olive oil with lemon zest and paprika. Add fish and turn to coat. Nestle over fresh herbs and refrigerate 30 min.

2. In a blender, combine parsley + ½ Tablespoon lemon juice + ½ Tablespoon water. Puree until smooth. Gradually add ¼ cup olive oil until well blended and incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Preheat oven to 400*. Then, in blender/food processor, combine chickpeas with garlic, minced rosemary, 1 cup water, 2 Tablespoons olive oil, ½ tsp lemon zest, ½ Tablespoon lemon juice. Puree until smooth. Add puree to saucepan, stirring over low heat until hot ( about 5 min). Cover to keep warm.

4. Remove fish from marinade, roll up lengthwise, placing them seam side down on parchment baking sheet. Roast about 12 minutes until cooked through.

Spoon chickpea puree onto plates, top with fish, and drizzle with parsley sauce. Top with Paprika

Shopping for One: Tips & Tricks

I got a little bit ahead of myself with today's earlier post...

Cooking for me is therapeutic - a chance to exercise my obsessive nature (if I choose) to make perfect cuts, plan out to the last detail, and be in complete control of what I get to enjoy for a meal.

It seriously hurts in my gut to hear friends and family talk about their dining routines. My brother is notorious for running up a $300 food bill and throwing $40-$50 out from food going bad. Friends talk about not enjoying dinner because there's nothing exciting about what they cook, they don't know how to cook or don't know how to shop. And there's a boyfriend that will actually skip meals - I'm talking like eating once in two days - because going grocery shopping and prepping a meal is too overwhelming. GAH!

I'm a 40-hour/week + 7-hour part-time student so give me a little slack, but what I'd like to do is give a little help to all you single folks from a few things I've learned in the last few years...

NUMBER 1: The absolute most important rule of this whole thing: PLANNING. Fortunately, if you're reading this, I'm hoping to make that easier. But seriously, figuring out what you want to eat and knowing what you have to get for that and then shopping with a list will make your life infinitely easier.

NUMBER 2: Think bulk. I'm not really saying Costco or Sam's Club here, but try exploring new recipes with novel ingredients without breaking the budget by using the bulk aisle. We have HEB and Sprouts stores (not to mention Whole Foods or Central Market) with everything from spices to grains to nuts and dried fruit that is an incredible help to someone shopping for one. Half a teaspoon of ground cloves? No problem, it will run you a grand total of $.02 and you'll not have to toss a mostly-full container away in 3 years when you clean out the pantry.

NUMBER 3: We've got our favorites but shop seasonal. Shopping frequently (think once/week or more often) lets you take advantage of foods on sale and in season. It keeps you from tossing out half your grocery bill too, because, mostly anything you buy will stay fresh for a week in the fridge. So don't toss the cluster of papers when they come in on Wednesday, sit down and see what's a good deal and start thinking about how you can use that. If you've got the budget, farmers markets are a great option as well. As you start cooking healthier, flavorful seasonal food you'll probably experience some new ingredients that you didn't know could be so delicious which will get you more excited about keeping up this lifestyle choice.

Good luck!

http://gotexan.org/Portals/1/doc/pdf/publications/produce_avail_050310.pdf

Weekly Shopping List: Summer Produce and Grilling

In grocery stores this week we've got great deals on peppers, peaches, onions ($.50/lb!), broccoli, and mahi mahi fillets so I'm maximizing on those deals and doing most of my cooking NOT in the oven or stovetop since we've got temps in the hundreds this week.

SUMMER PRODUCE & GRILLING

Produce:

lemons (1)

fresh bay leaves (2 leaves)

fresh rosemary (2 sprigs)

parsley (1 bunch)

garlic cloves (1 head)

broccoli (1 head)

cherry or grape tomatoes (1 pint)

red onion (2)

peach or nectarine (1)

choice of red/yellow/orange/green bell pepper (1)

Bulk:

¼ tsp paprika

½ c quinoa

¼ c kalamata or green olives

Canned Goods:

1 can chickpeas

red wine vinegar (1 T/small bottle)

balsamic vinegar (2 T/small bottle)

Meat:

whole rotisserie chicken (or self-roasted, if preferred & needed)

1 link sausage (flavor as desired)

12-16 oz mahi mahi fillet

We're doing Rotisserie Chicken with Grilled Sausage, Peaches & Peppers, Charred Broccoli & Red Onion Salad with Toasted Quinoa and Mahi Fillet with Chickpea Puree and Parsley Sauce.. 

For those (like me) that aren't too keen on a lot of meat during the summer, you could omit the chicken. For the menfolk that need a little more bulk to their meals or anyone else that needs the filling to their plate, rotisserie chicken is easy and cheap option (shout out to Costco!) to use throughout the week.

You can also self-roast a whole fryer with herbs if preferred.

My "I"s (Iron Cactus & In-n-Out)

It was too much to narrow down my list so I settled for 2 "I"s on the restaurant list.



While I'd heard good things about Iron Cactus happy hour and since was on work travel in Dallas when I went (can you say reimbursement!) I figured it would be a great time to check this off my list. In my defense there are Iron Cactus restaurants in Austin so I didn't think I was cheating too badly being out of town technically for this one...

Ugh, what to say? The best only good part about this was the $2 house margaritas on Sundays.

The queso topping the veggie enchiladas, whose description was cleverly crafted to sound delicious, was incredibly thick and fatty with stale-tasting tortillas and not saute'd, but rather completely soggy veggies inside. The canned charro beans were better...

Austin has seen a recent invasion (no PC strikethrough) of Californians in the last few years. They've demanded their Trader Joe's and In-N-Out Burger restaurants, so of course I had to find out what the hype is all about :)

  

The double cheeseburger was good: small patties but no gristle and the veggies were crisp and fresh. I was a little confused with the thousand island-esque spread, though... Fries were cold within a few minutes (I saved calories not finishing them) but wow wow wow on the strawberry shake. They may be fooling me, but this actually tasted like real strawberries not just flavoring. Very yummy. 

McDonalds < In-n-Out < Dan's Hamburgers

Austin has local hamburger joints for all budgets to need another chain that was just so-so. 

Sorry Californians. Well, not really.

Torchy's Thursday

Tacos for me are like stranded-on-a-desert-island-last-kind-of-food-you'll-ever-eat good.

On our menu:
(LUQ) "The Vagabond"
The taco of the month was a grilled beef fajita on a bed of oh-so-sexy bacon topped with grilled onions, chimichurri sauce, feta cheese, and pico.

(LLQ) "Baja Shrimp"
Hand-battered fried shrimp with cooked cabbage slaw, beautifully done pickled jalapenos & onions and queso fresco with chipotle sauce.

(RLQ) "The Trailer Park"
Of course, when I was asked if I wanted to "Make it Trashy" I absolutely agreed.
Fried chicken with green chilis and pico de gallo topped with their famous queso (the "trashy" part)...and more cheese on top for good measure :)

(RUQ) "The Brushfire"
Grilled Jamaican jerk chicken with grilled jalapenos, mango, sour cream & cilantro. With the spicy diablo sauce because I wasn't the scaredy-cat with these tacos.

Let's not forget Lonestar Tallboys too :) A perfect compliment

Wordless Wednesday: First Solo Trip

First time ever for a solo trip: Denver did not disappoint!!

      

 

 

 

            

RAK Week 4

A week of blessings: both planned and unplanned options for Random Acts of Kindness.

My neighbor knocked on my door late one afternoon asking for $20 to get her through.

I'm typically a skeptic, especially when asking directly for cash, but her stopping by allowed me the chance to talk with her (we're usually passing each other on our way to other things) and it gave me the chance to learn and know her story.

The Blood Center offered me an orchid plant, since they'd had some recently donated to them, at the end of my platelet donation. It was pretty neat to have a blessing in return this time.

I've missed chances to donate to friends' causes because I felt I needed to do more than I really could. A terrible excuse. I didn't have much, but this week, I did help a friend get a little closer to her goal.

https://www.austinovertheedge.com/Linda/aboutme.cfm