Avocado and Cilantro Crema

Avocado and Cilantro Crema

We have a black bean tostada night once every 2 weeks.  It's simple, and definitely a lazy girl dinner, because I open a can of black refined beans heat them then add them to a piping hot and crisp tortilla. I top the tortilla with cheese, sliced tomatoes, cilantro, and either a fresh guacamole or this Avocado Crema.  The result is a delicious and lazy dinner! Simple ingredients, but oh so good. My husband raves about this dinner every time we have it. The best thing about this is that you throw everything into a blender and a minute later the sauce is done. If you want to make this vegan, paleo or Whole 30 approved just omit the yogurt and replace with 1/4 cup of water.

Pin It!

Here's what you need:

Ingredients

1 large ripe avocado

3 tablespoons of yogurt--can sub sour cream

1/4 cup of cilantro

juice of 1/2 lime==more if you like

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of onion powder

Directions:  Add all the ingredients to a blender.

Blend on high until smooth and lump free.

Serve and enjoy!

Peruvian Chicken

I love California, as a matter of fact I'd be hard pressed to name a state within this union that I'd consider leaving California for.  One of the many great things about living here, besides the diversity here, is the weather.  On a great day, the temperature ranges between 78F and 82F.  Since we live by the beach, there is seldom a day without a cool ocean breeze.  Lately however, the temperatures have been 10-20F degrees above normal, and for the last two weeks temps have settled in around 89-98F---HOT!!!!!!  So hot that the last thing I want to do is to turn on the stove.  So we've adapted, I've been marinating meat in the morning for my husband to grill in the evening when things start to cool down a bit.  This marinade is super simple, and if you've ever had grilled Peruvian chicken you know how yummy and it can be.  The vinegar in this really gives this chicken a yummy tang and kick.  I've tried this with Rice vinegar and white wine, both are yummy, but plain white distilled vinegar is just as yummy.

Pin It!

Here's what you need:

Ingredients

1 lb of boneless skinless organic chicken thighs

1 tablespoon cumin powder

1 tablespoon of smoked paprika

3 cloves of garlic grated

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar--can sub with white vinegar or rice vinegar

DIY Tater Tots--How to Make Homemade Tater Tots

DIY Tater Tots How to Make Homemade Tater Tots

How amazing are potatoes?  I love them in every form.  So does Page.  I have been wanting to do a tater tot for her for a long while now.  They are super easy to make, especially if you have a food processor.  You just throw the potatoes in, and the processor does all the work.  All you have to do is form the tots. If you're not into forming a few hundred tiny balls of potatoes, this also works as a recipe for hash browns--yes a two for one! I've used potato starch in this recipe, but feel free to use all purpose flour if you so choose. You can also substitute almost any potato in this recipe.  Sweet potato tater tots are pretty awesome!

Pin It!

Ingredients:

2 pounds of potatoes peeled--I used fingerlings and purple

1 tablespoon of potato starch (can sub for any flour you'd like)

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon of thyme

1 tablespoon of potato starch

1 cup of high heat oil like safflower or grapeseed

sea salt to taste

Directions: Place the potatoes in a pot in cold water--enough to cover them, and bring to a boil--allow to cook for 6-7 minutes,

then strain and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once cool, grate with a box grater, or grate in a food processor.  Once grated, wrap the shredded potatoes in cheese cloth and wring out all the water that you can,  transfer to a large bowl, add seasoning, and potato starch, and form tater tots.

TIP: If your dough is sticky wet your fingers, balls will be easier to form. Heat oil in a skillet. Once hot fry tots in batches until brown.

Transfer to a paper towel lined plate, season with salt and  serve with my recipe for ketchup and enjoy!

Miso Buttered Salmon

Miso Buttered Salmon

 

So now that you know how to make miso butter,  what do you do with it?  The truth is, there are a myriad of things that you could use miso butter on, one of my favorites is on veggies.  Especially corn.  Page loves corn, and I buy organic non gmo corn at the farmers market whenever it's in season.  I shave it and freeze it.  Then I throw it in a pot with no water and allow the water to cook off, once it has I add in miso butter, and let the butter  brown.  The kernels get the nutty flavor from the brown butter, with an unami flavor from the miso--talk about delicious!!  Besides corn, I love it on green beans, sauteed spinach, asparagus, brussel sprouts, cabbage--just about any veggie you can think of, miso butter makes it better.   Do you know what else miso butter makes better?  Meat! Almost every kind of meat.  Steak with miso butter is a revelation! Seafood with miso butter is ascension!   This recipe is so delicious, I find it hard to eat salmon any other way.  Every bite of this deserves it's own moment of silence, it's own moment of indulgence.

Pin It!

 

 

 

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10-12 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb salmon steak, patted dry

2-3 Tablespoons of miso butter

1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt more if you desire

Directions: Pre-heat oven to 425F.  Season salmon steak with garlic salt.

Using a butter knife apply a thin layer of miso butter on the top and sides of the salmon.

Place the salmon on a foil lined baking sheet, then place in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until salmon is cooked through.  In my experience 10 minutes is usually the perfect time, you only want to go longer if you salmon steak is thicker than 1 inch.  Longer than 15 minutes and your salmon is probably over cooked.

Remove the salmon from the oven.  It should be nice and caramelized on top.  Serve and enjoy!

 

Miso Butter--How to Make Miso Butter

How to Make Miso Butter

Butter is delicious all on its own, I love adding it to sauces, slathering it on piping hot corn on the cob, or a simple piece of toast. There is not much that butter doesn't improve.  However, miso butter is the younger, prettier, and more sophisticated sibling of butter. It's everything butter is, but better! I was introduced to miso butter by David Chang after watching a chef series he did.  Frankly, I don't know why I never tried making miso butter before.  I have had it several times at restaurants, and was always fascinated whenever chefs mentioned using it. I guess it just never occurred to me to try to make it at home--until it did--and now I can't live without it.  Most chefs recommend using a 2 to 1, or 3 to 1 ratio of butter to miso.  I found my sweet spot is larger on the butter side, so my ratio is more of a 4 to 1. Tomorrow I am going to share one of my absolute favorite ways to use miso butter, until then here is how you make it.

Pin It!

 

 

 

 

Prep time: 5 minutes

 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of white organic miso

7  tablespoons of grass fed butter--cut into cubes--it makes mixing easier

Directions: To a medium size bowl add the butter,

Then the miso.

Using  the back of a large spoon, mix and mash together the butter and miso paste until well combined.

 

You'll know the butter is fully mixed when you no longer see streaks of brown or yellow.

Once the butter and miso have been well combined, transfer to an air tight container and refrigerate for later use.

This butter is amazing on almost everything, from steaks to veggies and fish!  See you tomorrow;-)

If you like this recipe try my recipe for How to make Butter or How to brown butter

D.I.Y. Mango Fruit Roll-ups-How To Make Dehydrated Mango Treats

DIY Mango Fruit Roll-Ups

 

My friends are a kind and generous bunch! They are constantly giving me gifts--beyond the gift of friendship!  My friends supply me with a constant supply of treats.  I went out to lunch with two of my best girls friends the other day, and came home with a gift box of mango's! Sweet, delicious, and ultra creamy, I did not want them to go to waste, before we got the chance to eat them all.    One of my favorite dried fruits to eat, besides pineapple rings, is dried mango.  But it's so hard to find mango's that have not been soaked in sugar.  The best thing about making these yourself, is that you don't have to worry about that.  Page loved these treats even more than I did, I cut them into bite size pieces with a pastry cutter after they were done.  You could also use a pizza cutter.

 

Pin It!

 

 

 

Ingredients:

6 mango's, skin and pits removed

 

Directions: Place mango in blender:

Blend until smooth.

 

Pour out onto parchment paper and smooth out evenly.

 

Place in oven, or dehydrator on 135 degrees Fahrenheit, or the lowest setting on your oven, for 6-8 hours. 

Remove from parchment paper, roll, and enjoy!

 

If you like this recipe you'll love these: Pear Fruit Roll-ups, Strawberry-Apple Fruit Roll-ups, Pineapple Fruit Roll-ups, Tropical Punch Fruit Roll-ups, Strawberry Fruit Roll-ups. 

Crispy Pork Larb

Crispy Pork Larb

This is one of those dinners that is both healthy and delicious.  Trust me when I tell you when you take one bite of this you will be forever grateful that I started this blog--yes it's that good!  For those of you who do not know, Larb is a Thai street food.  It's so good that it'll make you question how we do street food in America.  It's bright, fresh, and full of the umami flavors that will make you go Mmmmmm... If you don't fancy pork, no problem, you can try this with ground chicken, turkey, or even lamb and beef.  Check out my recipe for Chicken larb here.  This is one of my favorite ways to use ground meat, it's so simple that this meal almost makes itself!

Pin It!

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound of ground pork

3 large cloves of garlic thinly sliced

1/4 cup of diced red bell pepper

1/2 of a red onion, sliced thinly

1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves

1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup of fresh cilantro leaves

1 head of romaine lettuce, leaves removed to use as cups

1/2 cup of sliced persian cucumbers

1/3 cup of fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon of a good quality fish sauce, I used red boat

2  tablespoons of soy sauce

1/4 cup of water

Sea salt to taste

2 tablespoons of cooking oil of your choice

red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

Heat oil, garlic and red bell pepper and cook until garlic is fragrant--about 15 seconds.

Add in ground meat season with sea salt and cook until brown about 5-7 minutes.

Once brown, add in soy sauce, fish sauce, water and red pepper flakes if using.

Cook until liquid evaporates and pork is brown and crispy about 2 minutes. Add in lime juice, toss well, remove from heat.  Add the meat to the lettuce cups, top with a generous amount of the fresh herbs, cucumbers, red onion, red pepper flakes, and a squeeze of additional lime juice, enjoy! So good!

Fried Cauliflower Florets with Creamy Garlic Tahini Sauce

Fried Cauliflower Florets with Creamy Garlic Tahini Sauce

Whenever I eat out at a Mediterranean restaurant, I find it hard to not just compose a meal from the appetizer menu.  With things like lentil soup, lemon and garlic potatoes, hummus and pita bread, fattoush salad, grape leaves, and fried cauliflower on the appetizer menu, who needs a full entree!  I often find myself struggling not to order one of every thing on the appetizer menu.  I usually settle upon the potatoes or the fried cauliflower.  The fried cauliflower is amazingly simple.  Unlike most fried things that come dusted in flour or some other type of breaded base, this doesn't.  This recipe calls for only one ingredient, cauliflower!  The tahini sauce is great with this, but the cauliflower is pretty amazing on its own.  Your kids will love these cauliflower florets, mine did!

Pin It!

 

 

 

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 5-7 minutes

Ingredients:

1 small head of cauliflower

2 cups of grape seed oil or another high temp oil

Sea salt to taste

Ingredients Creamy Garlic Tahini Sauce

4 tablespoons of tahini paste

8 tablespoons of water

1 tablespoon of lemon juice, more if you like

2 cloves of garlic grated

Directions: Pre-heat the oil to 320F in a deep fryer.  Add ingredients for the tahini sauce to a small bowl and mix until well combined and creamy, then set aside. If you want this to be extra creamy, place all ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until creamy, then transfer to a bowl.

Cut the cauliflower into florets.

Add the cauliflower florets to the deep fryer.

 

Fry until golden brown.

 

Transfer to a paper towel lined plate, season with sea salt, serve and enjoy!