New Salsa! Stronger Flavour :)

Yay!  I have a bit of time between salsa dancing to post about salsa sauce.  Salsa in the Park, block party downtown and after I shower tonight, another salsa social!  So no watching the fight for me.  Go Manny!

Salsa salsa salsa!

So obviously I'm really digging the fresh salsa right now.  The previous one I made was good, but eventually became a bit too subtle for my tastes.  I found another recipe with stronger flavour due to some onion and garlic.  Recipe from here.

Ingredients
-1 mango, diced
-1 avocado, diced
-4 medium tomatoes, diced
-1 jalapeno pepper, minced
-0.5 cup cilantro, chopped
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-pinch of salt
-juice from 2 limes
-0.25 cup red onion, chopped
-3 tbsp olive oil

Prep:
Combine in a big bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 mins before serving.  This recipe lasted me the whole workweek :)

My sister had it with some blackened chicken.  The seasoning is from my previous post (Tom's Blackening Seasoning):

Blackened Salmon and Mango Avocado Salsa

I've been on an antipasto and fresh salsa binge.  I did quick research on trying to do my own antipasto, but fears of botulism quickly laid that idea to rest.  Fresh salsa however - very possible.  I had some freezer burnt frozen mangoes and freezer burnt salmon patties.   I was able to put together delicious lunches for this week thanks to inspiration from these recipes:
Mango and Avocado Quinoa Salad with Blackened Shrimp
Fish Tacos with Fresh Mango Avocado Salsa
Tom's Blackening Seasoning

Ingredients for Blackening Seasoning:
1 tbsp paprika (I slipped and accidentally put more than expected)
4 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp stevia
salt to taste
1.5 tsp pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
0.5 tsp ground nutmeg (not cheap!)
0.75 tsp ground cumin

Blackened Salmon Preparation
1. Put blackening seasoning mix in a container and shake, shake, shake!
Stare at prettyyyyyyyyy colourrrrsssss:

2. Put lightly oiled pan on medium heat.
3. Coat salmon meat in blackening seasoning (save extra seasoning in the container for future blackened meat cooking fun) and cook in the pan.  I had freezer burnt patties, so it was only 6 mins per side.  Slice cooked meat as desired.  I added spinach (of course) and quinoa to mine:

Yum!  I used one patty per lunch serving.

Fresh Mango Salsa Ingredients
2 limes
1 avocado
1 mango
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
2 green onions
cilantro to taste

Fresh Mango Salsa Preparation (This takes MUCH LONGER than expected!!)
1. This is the hardest part.  Squeeze lime juice out of the limes.
2. Second hardest part.  Dice everything.
3. Wonderful easy finale: mix it all up!  Store in a container that is leakproof and shakeproof.  It tastes great the next day, when the juices are all mingled together.
4. Serve with blackened salmon and anything else you like that goes with salsa :)

Voila!  Mango salsa.  Gorgeous bright colours to cheer up your workday.

Fake Fried Rice

Who knew cauliflower was SO versatile?

Recipe taken from here.  Warning, I had to take beano with this one!  I even tried 'diluting' with some quinoa.

Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower, grated (make time for this!!)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp cooking oil
0.25 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
4 eggs
3 green onions, chopped
Dash pepper to taste

Preparation
1.  Lightly oiled pan/wok, medium-high heat.
2.  Put in grated cauliflower and garlic.  Stir fry for about a minute.  If you wait too long, the cauliflower will get mushy.
3.  Add in eggs.  Toss in pan until eggs are cooked.
4. Add in green onions and Dash.

Mahi Mahi Ceviche with Coconut Dressing

This is another one from Michele Cranston (Marie Claire Easy cookbook). You're not supposed to cook the mahi mahi but I panicked and cooked mine since it frozen.

Ingredients
500g firm white fleshed fish, skinned and boned (I used mahi mahi)
3 limes, juiced
100ml coconut cream (I used light coconut milk - couldn't find the cream at Safeway)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp sugar (I used stevia)
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander
2 scallions, sliced (I used 4 because I love scallions)
Cooking oil (if you want to cook the fish)

Preparation
1. Cut fish into bite-size pieces (I didn't). Marinate fish pieces in lime juice in the fridge for 2 hours.
2. Optional (I did this because I panicked about frozen fish): drain and cook fish in frying pan - about 3 mins each side. I just used coconut oil to cook.
3. In a separate bowl, mix coconut, ginger, turmeric, sugar, coriander and stir to combine.
4. Drain fish (If you didn't cook it) and add to the coconut dressing. Sprinkle on scallions.

Salmon with Lemongrass and Black Vinegar Dressing

Courtesy of Michele Cranston (Marie Claire Easy cookbook)

SO delicious.

And BTW, lemongrass looks like this (in case you didn't know - because I sure didn't!):

Ingredients for Dressing
1 lemongrass stem
1 tbsp grated ginger (I ran out that day)
125 ml mirin
2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar

Rest of Ingredients
500g spinach
4 spring onions, chopped into 3cm pieces
4 180g salmon fillets

Preparation
1. Trim lemongrass stem of tough outer leaves. Trim base. Slice stem in half and finely chop the tender bottom.

2. Place chopped lemongrass in bowl with ginger, mirin and vinegar.

3. Place spinach and spring onions in large frying pan. Add 250ml of water.

4. Top with salmon. Cover and cook in high heat for 8 minutes.

5. Serve topped with dressing.

Tuna and Mushroom Pasta Sauce

Had some pasta and tuna that was just sitting around, so a Google search led me to this recipe. I substituted coconut oil instead of butter and almond milk instead of cream though.

Ingredients
450g tuna
1 onion, chopped
90g butter coconut oil
90g mushrooms, sliced
300ml cream almond milk
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp parsley, chopped

Prep
1. Stir coconut oil, onion and tuna over medium heat until onion is soft.
2. Stir in mushrooms and tomato paste.
3. Add almond milk and parsley.
4. Cook until mushrooms are soft.
5. Serve with pasta (I added spinach too).

The coconut oil adds a pleasant sweetness :)

Szechuan Tofu & Green Beans

So I wanted to try another tofu dish. The sweet and sour one was more subtle than I expected, so I decided to try a Szechuan recipe. I didn't have balsamic vinegar so I used apple cider vinegar instead. Recipe from here.

4 servings, 1 1/2 cups each | Active Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1/2 cup water, divided
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons Chinkiang vinegar (see Note) or balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
1 14-ounce package extra-firm tofu, drained
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
4 cups green beans, trimmed and cut in half
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

Preparation
1. Whisk 1/4 cup water, soy sauce, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, crushed red pepper to taste and 1 teaspoon cornstarch in a small bowl. Set aside. Cut tofu into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes and pat dry. Toss the tofu in a bowl with the remaining 2 tablespoons cornstarch to coat.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and spread out across the surface of the pan. Let cook undisturbed for 2 minutes. Gently turn and stir. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate.

3. Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Add green beans, garlic and ginger; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the remaining 1/4 cup water, cover and cook until the beans are crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir the reserved soy sauce mixture and pour it over the green beans. Cook, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute. Add the tofu and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 1 minute more.

Tips & Notes
Ingredient note: Chinkiang is a dark, slightly sweet vinegar. It is available in many Asian specialty markets. If unavailable, balsamic vinegar is an acceptable substitute.

Sweet and Sour Tofu!

Recipe from here, but I didn't use the pineapples or bell peppers. Just peas and green onions. Plus I used olive oil:

Ingredients
3 tablespoons rice-wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 14-ounce package extra-firm water-packed tofu, drained, rinsed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
As preferred: green peas or onions or any other veggies you like!

Prep
1. Drain and set aside pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice. Whisk the reserved pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce and sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Place tofu in a large bowl; toss with 3 tablespoons of the sauce. Let marinate for at least 5 minutes and up to 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, add cornstarch to the remaining sauce and whisk until smooth.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Transfer the tofu to the pan using a slotted spoon; whisk any remaining marinade into the bowl of reserved sauce. Cook the tofu, stirring every 1 to 2 minutes, until golden brown, 7 to 9 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.

4. Add the remaining oil to the pan and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add red and green peppers and cook, stirring often, until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the reserved sauce and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 30 seconds. Add the tofu and pineapple and cook, stirring gently, until heated through, about 2 minutes more.

Am Eating Seafood Again :) Tasty Sesame Tilapia and Mashed Sweet Potato

Yum! Used both stove and oven tonight and used these recipes:

Tasty Sesame Tilapia
Tilapia recipe from here.

Ingredients

1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
6 (4 ounce) fillets tilapia fillets
Directions

Stir the orange juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, garlic, and ginger in a 9x13 inch baking dish until combined. Add the tilapia fillets, turning once to evenly coat. Cover the dish with plastic wrap, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Remove the plastic wrap, and bake in the preheated oven until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 9 to 11 minutes.

Skinny Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Sweet Potato Recipe from here.

2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) Swanson Chicken Broth (3 1/2 cups)
4 large sweet potatoes or yams, cut into 1 inch pieces
A generous dash of pepper
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
How to prepare:

- Heat broth and potatoes in a saucepan to a boil.
- Cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
- Drain, save broth.
- Mash the potatoes with 1 1/4 cups of broth and pepper. If needed, add additional broth until desired consistency.
- Add brown sugar.

Serves about 6.

Back to Quinoa. This time with Turmeric, Coriander, Walnuts and Craisins :)

Can't seem to stay away from quinoa! I used this website (Quinoa Lentil Salad) for inspiration but I used chickpeas instead of lentils (just cuz I happened to have a can of chickpeas already) and added tofu, carrots and celery (I sauteed the tofu, carrots and celery in some olive oil and a bit of turmeric and coriander before I mixed everything up).

QUINOA LENTIL SALAD
6 servings
1 cup dried green lentils
1 bay leaf
1 cup quinoa
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp salt
¾ cup of raisins or cranberries
¾ cup of walnuts
2 green onions
¼ cup of fresh parsley
4 Tbs of lemon juice
1 Tbs of agave
1 Tbs rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
¼ tsp salt
3 Tbs olive oil
pinch of pepper
Add 1 Cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water, 1 tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp salt. Allow to reach a boil then quickly switch to simmer, cover and let cook for approx 12 minutes. Keep an eye on it as it tends to burn on the bottom soon after the water is absorbed.
At the same time, add 1 cup of lentils to 3 cups of water (check the instructions on the package...different lentils call for different proportions). Add a bay leaf and allow to cook thoroughly. Lentils will take quite a bit longer than the quinoa.
Once both grains are cooked, let them cool and then mix together.
In a separate bowl mix together the dressing (the lemon juice, agave, vinegar, salt, oil and pepper).
Add chopped walnuts, cranberries, chopped green onion and minced parsley.