{Make} Blackened Salmon, Garlic-y Okra, & Dirty Rice

Fresh fish and vegetables, with simple ingredients and minimal fuss. Except for when I burned myself in three places while cooking the salmon. With hot oil. Yikes.

I should have infused the iced tea I was drinking with a touch of vodka. To sooth my burns, of course.

Blog, meet blackened Salmon, garlic-y sautéed okra, and dirty rice. "", meet blog.

{Food} Trout With Mushroom & Bean Ragout

As summer comes to a close (temperatures, please drop, and asap.), the heat here in Dallas seems to persist.  Which of course, leaves me wanting light and healthy meals.

I've already mentioned before that chorizo and beans are somewhat of a staple in my pantry.  And with the desire to be frugal, I wanted to buy as little as possible and use what I have.

For the purposes of full disclosure, I will say that I've seen the flavor combinations below numerous times.  However, I, until recently, have never put them together.

In twenty minutes, a great summery dish was on the table.

I first cooked the chorizo, adding bits of diced shallot and garlic.  Once I felt that the chorizo was almost finished I added diced shiitake mushrooms.  I let those cook a bit more, seasoning with salt and pepper and then added the can of beans.  (I drained and rinsed them first.)  I then readjusted my seasonings and added a generous cup of crisp, white wine.

While that was reducing down, I roasted some cherry tomatoes in the oven.  In a foil pouch, I threw in some butter, white wine, shallots and garlic, and let them roast.

I cooked the trout in a pan, crispy skin side down.  I laid the fish atop of the ragout of beans and mushrooms, topping it with my roasted cherry tomatoes and finished the dish with chopped romaine tossed in a light vinaigrette.

Easy Peasy.  And Delicious.

Le Snack.

I read somewhere that the French don't snack much.  Except for le gouter?  Have you heard this too?

Maybe this is the trick to skinny?  That and lots of caffeine?

So many questions.

I snack a lot.  Maybe I already know the answer, then!

I especially love cheese and crackers or any sort of antipasti thing put together.

Pimento cheese with celery.... so crazy good.

I wondered if jalapeno cheese could be as good.  The answer is "YES!"

Easy.  Great on crackers.  Full of calories.  All the trappings of a great snack.

Try it!

Jalapeno Cheese
serves 2
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Cheddar Cheese, grated
• 1 TBS minced pickled jalapenos
• 1 small onion, grated
• 1 dash of Worcestershire 
• Salt/Pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise

1. Mix all together.
2. Eat.
3. Make another batch because you liked it so much and it's... GONE already.

Happy Friday!

Broccoli Soup

When I'm craving comfort food, but wanting to avoid consuming loads of calories, broccoli soup is my go-to recipe.  It's hearty, but balanced, and extremely healthy.

I prefer the recipe from Williams-Sonoma's website because of how quick and easy it is.  I use the basic instructions for the recipe and tweak it a bit.  For example, I had some extra zucchini in the refrigerator, and decided to add that.  I also used onions instead of leeks.  It's easy peasy.  Just use what you have on hand.

Broccoli Soup adapted from Williams-Sonoma


Ingredients:

• 2 heads of broccoli, roughly chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, sliced
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 TBS olive oil, plus more
• 4 cups of chicken stock
• sour cream, for garnish
• cheddar cheese, for garnish
• salt and pepper, to taste

1.  In a large pot, add 2 TBS olive oil.  Over low heat, saute onions for about two minutes.  Add broccoli, zucchini and garlic, adding more oil, if necessary.  Season with salt and pepper.  Saute until slightly softened, 2-3 minutes.  

2.  Add 4 cups of chicken stock and bring to a simmer.  Keep slightly covered, cooking until vegetables are tender.  This takes about 20 minutes.

3.  Using an emulsion blender or food processor (or a plain old blender, in my case), puree soup until smooth.  Only puree small amounts at a time.  Hot liquids and blenders can explode.  No fun. 

4.  Once the entire soup has been pureed, ladle into bowls and garnish with sour cream and grated Cheddar.

Sometimes when sauteing the vegetables, I add white wine and let that reduce before adding the stock.  It adds a really nice flavor.

The whole meal takes less than thirty minutes to prepare and it tastes so good.  Broccoli and cheese? Yes, I think so.

Tortilla Soup

We...okay, my husband made tortilla soup last night. This was one of those things that I'd never made and really had no idea where to start. It's nice to be shown the ropes. He's in trouble though. I might request this more often.

 The recipe is very basic. We added things here and there. There is no exact way. Have fun with it. 

Victor's Tortilla Soup Recipe
Serves 2

 Ingredients:
 3 Chicken drumsticks
 1/2 Large yellow onion
 1/2 Roma tomato
 Handful of Dried Arbol Chili
 2 Garlic cloves
 1 jar pimento peppers
 Corn tortilla chips
 Cumin, Salt, Pepper, or Taco Seasoning
 Vegetable oil
 Corn
 Zucchini (optional)
 Red Peppers in Brine (optional)
 Cilantro
 Sour Cream
 Cheddar Cheese
 Avocado

 1. Season chicken with black pepper, salt, and cumin. Heat Vegetable oil in a large pot and add chicken, browning the outside. Once Browned sufficiently, add about 2 qt of water. Cook until the chicken is falling off the bone. Remove from water, but save stock. Shred the chicken.

 2. In a blender soak chili peppers, 4 oz of pimentos, 2 cups water, 1/4 of onion, tomato, salt, pepper, 1 TBS of taco seasoning and tortilla chips. While this is soaking, saute aromatics (2 cloves garlic, 1 cup diced onion) with salt, pepper, and cumin. Be careful to avoid burning the garlic. Remove from heat. Liquify ingredients in blender until you have reached an overall smooth consistency. Add ingredients of blender to the aromatics.

 3. Stir in 1/2 cup of corn, 1/2 cup chopped zucchini, and roast red peppers (in brine). Add about 2 cup of stock. Add more tortilla chips. (This gives the soup a thicker consistency. Add as much or as little as you desire.) Add Chicken. Simmer for 25-30 minutes.

 Garnish with:
      Tortilla chips
      Onion
      Cilantro
      Avocado
      Sour cream
      Cheese
      Hot sauce