Dinner tonight: Oven-Baked Breaded Fish, Honey-Ginger-Dill Carrots, & Garlic Lemon Butter Whole Wheat Capellini :)

Fish: preheat oven to 350 F; dredge filet in a wash of 1 beaten egg and 2 T milk, then in seasoned bread crumbs. Place on a greased, foil-lined baking sheet; bake about 15 min or to internal temp of 145 F.

Carrots: slice 4-5 whole carrots on a 1/4” bias/angle; toss in a mixture of 1 T chopped dill, 1-2 T honey, 1-2 T olive oil and a sprinkle of ground ginger, salt and pepper to taste. Bake alongside fish on same pan for 15 min at 350 F, stirring halfway through.

Pasta: boil a quarter-sized bunch (when curled between the forefinger and thumb) of whole wheat capellini in salted water 6-7 min or to al dente. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine 4 minced cloves of garlic, 1 T olive oil, 1-2 T butter or margarine, juice of half a lemon and a sprinkle of onion powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and dried parsley to taste. Heat bowl in microwave about 15 sec, stir, and continue in 10 sec increments until mixture is hot and melted. Once pasta is drained, toss in the prepared oil-butter-garlic mixture.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash with Turkey Meatball Marinara, Balsamic Roasted Asparagus & Roasted Garlic Cloves!

Coming home from the gym, I’m usually starving and want something fast, but not too damaging to the waistline (fast & healthy aren’t always likely parallels). But, with a little help from a humble jar of ready made pasta sauce, some frozen turkey meatballs, a squash and some veggies, tonight it was very possible.

Sauce & Meatballs: in a pan, sauté a couple minced cloves of garlic and 1/4 c chopped onion in 2 T olive oil over medium heat, 2-3 min or til softened. Add a jar of your favorite pasta sauce, a bag of turkey meatballs, bring to a simmer and keep warm over low heat. Season to taste with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, etc.

Spaghetti Squash: preheat oven to 450 F. Cut a spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds with a spoon & discard seeds. Rub both cut sides of squash with olive oil, salt, & pepper, then place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast for 40 minutes. Use a fork to scrape strands into a bowl (be careful, it’s hot! I recommend holding one side with tongs while scraping). Top with sauce as you would normal spaghetti.

Asparagus: rinse and trim woody stem ends of 1 bunch of asparagus, about 1-2”. Place in one layer on a foil-lined baking sheet, drizzle with 2 T olive oil, 2 T balsamic vinegar, and a sprinkle of salt & pepper, then roll around stalks to coat. Roast at 450 F for about ten minutes, stir, and remove from oven after about 5 more minutes or once slightly crispy around edges & tender.

Roasted Garlic: peel the outermost papery layers of one whole head of garlic, leaving cloves and stem intact. With a knife, cut off the top of the bulb about 1-2” or just so the tops of all the cloves are cut and exposed. Place on a square of foil cut side up, drizzle with oil, and seal the foil packet. Roast in a 450 F oven for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, open foil packet to cool about 5 minutes, then simply squeeze out the garlic from each clove.

Tip: take note of the cooking times above. All the oven-based items are cooked at the same temp, so just overlap when you place the items in the oven so everything is done at the same time! :)

Tilapia en Papillote & Brown Rice with Tomatoes and Peas!

Cooking meats and veggies in a parchment packet (folded similarly to a foil packet) seals in flavors, allows for quick cooking time, and leaves food moist while steaming it with little to no fats added.

Here I seasoned tilapia filets with Mrs. Dash, cut two 1/4” slits lengthwise in each filet, and placed it atop some diagonally sliced fresh carrots on an olive oil greased square of parchment. Fold over several times lengthwise and width wise until well sealed, place on a baking sheet and bake in a 425 F oven for about 12-15 min or until fish reaches an internal temp of 145 F.

For the rice, add 1/4 c frozen peas, 1/2 regular sized can of diced tomatoes with onion & garlic with liquids, 1 small bay leaf, 2/3 c brown rice, a sprinkle of cumin and red pepper flakes, and 1 1/3 c low sodium chicken broth to a medium pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cover, simmering for 40-45 min or until rice is done and liquids are absorbed.

Tastes good and is good for you…yum!

Roasted veggies!

I mixed rutabaga, carrots, sweet potato, leeks, cauliflower, beets, cannellini beans, EVOO, garlic & onion powder, s&p, and balsamic vinegar together, roasted in a 425 F oven for 20 min, added some chopped bok choy and roasted another 15 min, and voila! Awesomely healthy and astonishingly tasty dinner sure to satisfy after a long day and great workout! :)

Pan-Seared Jerk Grouper & Roasted Brussels Sprouts w/ Fish Sauce Vinegarette!

Fish: heat 3T of oil in a pan over medium heat, sear 2 grouper fillets sprinkled with jerk seasoning, 4 min each side until cooked through and flaky.

Thanks to Crepesofwrath.net for the awesome sprouts recipe they posted, with the vinegarette from the famous Momofuku restaurant—truly addictive!

http://crepesofwrath.net/2013/03/20/momofukus-roasted-brussels-sprouts/

Tonight’s dinner of grilled salmon & bok choy with orange-avocado salsa, and today’s lunch of lentil soup and snack of black bean dip!

Get the recipes here:
http://www.wholeliving.com/151403/grilled-salmon-and-bok-choy-orange-avocado-salsa

http://www.wholeliving.com/151392/red-lentil-soup

http://www.wholeliving.com/151711/any-bean-dip

Today’s lunch of spicy black bean salad, tomorrow’s crispy spiced chickpea snack, and tonight’s dinner of scrambled tofu and collard greens! Yum!

Get the recipes here:
http://www.wholeliving.com/151704/spicy-black-bean-salad

http://www.wholeliving.com/130298/roasted-spiced-chickpeas

http://www.wholeliving.com/151703/scrambled-tofu-collards-and-turmeric

Note: changes I made to the tofu dish were to add slices of seeded, de-ribbed jalapeño and creole seasoning in place of the ginger and turmeric

Yes, I’m one of those annoying foodie freaks who are 99% likely to take photos of everything they shove in their pie-hole. They need to create support groups for poor losers like us. Some sort of steps of enlightenment to guide us toward a less annoying practice.

On a brighter note, at least we are (for the most part) enthusiastic about what we eat, where it comes from, and how it’s prepared (hence, more open minded and a little more conscious about food than the average artery-clogged, golden arch-loving bear)—at least my overly optimistic inner-cook sure does hope so.

So, on that note…this was my dinner. Don’t worry, I won’t take a picture of its glorious exit. That’s a whole other group of weirdos that probably should follow some sort of 12-step program themselves. :)

Beef Soba Noodle “Faux” Phô!

I LOVE me some phô…and though I have found a suitable place in downtown Key West that offers amazing steamed pork belly dumplings and a vegetarian version of this tasty Vietnamese classic, I still favor the authentic version featuring raw beef strips, tendon, and tripe. To make this soup…well, all the recipes I’ve perused online seem time-consuming and complex, to say the least…boiling bones? Yellow rock sugar? 6 or more spices? Not that I don’t appreciate the complexity of phô, it’s rich history, or the time recipe authors take to post these dishes so home cooks can replicate them, but I was fresh from the gym, hungry, and eager to eat, like, NOW.

Thanks to chefinyou.com, and fellow cook “DK” who posted this, I was able to make a few changes and get my phô fix in a fairly painless and speedy way! It is soooo delicious! Enjoy!

http://chefinyou.com/2010/06/soba-noodle-soup-recipe/

My changes: I know most traditional versions have rice noodles, but I liked the above link featuring buckwheat soba noodles since I enjoy them so much (wheat = yum!); I used chicken stock because that’s all I had on hand at home, though beef stock would have been awesome as well; I added some thinly sliced raw steak to the bowl at the end (don’t worry, the heat from the broth cooks it perfectly once it’s stirred in), as well as garnishes of basil, bean sprouts, lime wedges, thinly sliced jalapeño, cilantro sprigs, and a sprinkle of fish sauce and spicy chili sauce.

Oven-Fried Pork Chops, Roasted Asparagus, Romano Garlic Brown Rice & Sweet Chili Cabbage Sauté!

This is the fourth time I’ve tried to post this since I made it last night…fingers crossed that this one works :)

All recipes serve 2 (or 1, if you like leftovers the next day).

Oven-Fried Pork Chops & Roasted Asparagus (all on one baking sheet):
- 2 bone-in pork chops
- 1/2 c Italian dressing
- Pan Spray
- 1 c Seasoned Bread crumbs
- Handful of asparagus, rinsed and woody ends trimmed off
- Drizzle of EVOO, sprinkle of s & p

Marinate chops in dressing in a resealable bag at least 15 min, or at most overnight.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with foil, spray liberally with pan spray.

Lightly shake off excess dressing from chops, then dredge both sides in crumbs, coating well. Place on one side of pan and bake 15 minutes.

While pork cooks, toss asparagus in oil and salt/pepper to coat, then spread evenly along one half of baking sheet and roast alongside pork chops for an additional 10 minutes or until chops are cooked through.

Romano Garlic Brown Rice:
- 1 c dry brown rice, cooked according to package directions (should yield about 2 c)
- 1/2 c grated Romano cheese
- Sprinkle of garlic powder, s & p, parsley, and onion powder to taste

Combine all ingredients, tossing with a fork to fluff.

Sweet Chili Cabbage Sauté:
- Pan Spray
- 2 t minced/chopped garlic
- 1/4 c thinly sliced onion
- 1.5-2 c chopped cabbage
- 2 T water
- 2 T Sweet Chili Sauce (I like Mae Ploy’s version)
- Dash of red pepper flakes (optional, for a little kick)

Heat a sauté pan over medium heat. Coat with pan spray. Add garlic and onion, stirring until fragrant, about 1 min. Add cabbage, stir and cook about 2-3 min. Add water and let steam uncovered about 2 min. Add sauce (and red pepper flakes, if using) and toss to coat, cooking about 2-3 min more or until desired tenderness (I like mine a little crunchy).