Fish Tacos and Slaw with Basil Lime Vinaigrette

I had several pieces of  mahi mahi in the freezer and with all this summery weather we've been having I was really in the mood for some grilled fish. I also wanted a light but tasty and filling side to go with it. And so was born the idea for tonight's meal--grilled fish tacos, tangy vegetable slaw with basil lime vinaigrette and a little rice. The niece doesn't care for fish tacos, so she had her grilled fish minus the tortilla shell and put the vinaigrette over the mahi. Really very tasty.

Grilled Mahi Mahi

Juice of 2 limes
3 mahi mahi fillets (4 if you're serving 4 people. You get the idea)
lime pepper seasoning
garlic and sea salt

• Preheat grill to about 300.
• Meanwhile, marinate the fish fillets for about 15 minutes in the lime juice and season both sides with lime pepper, garlic and sea salt. Cook until fish is tender and flaky.

Veggie Slaw

1/4 head red cabbage, shredded
3 leaves napa cabbage, shredded
12 sugar snap peas, shelled, and then shells finely sliced
2 med. carrots, peeled and shredded

• Prepare all veggies as listed above and combine with your favorite dressing. I used the basil lime vinaigrette below.

 

Basil-Lime Vinaigrette

Leaves from 3 larges stems of basil
Juice of 2 limes
1/4 c sugar
3-4 tbsp blood orange infused olive oil (regular olive oil will work just fine. I happened to have this in the house)

• Place first three ingredients in a blender, puree until smooth. With blender running, remove center piece of lid and add olive oil.
• Set aside about 1/4 cup to use on the fish, toss the rest with the veggie slaw

Now to put it all together. Grab some small tortilla shells and put two on each plate. For each plate, take one of those tasty grilled fillets, tear it into several pieces and divide between the two tortillas; drizzle with vinaigrette. Top with a little slaw, add some sour cream, and put some rice on the side. Those are magic tacos. Really. I'm not kidding. They are amazing!!

Empanadas...Tasty!

I'm sorry it's been so long. Last week was a little rough. I had a friend in the hospital and I spent most of my time hanging out there with her. Let me tell you, hospitals are just no fun, and I'm not even going to discuss the food! Yuck. How can anyone get better eating that stuff?


On a tastier note, I made empanadas last night for dinner. I'm sure there are empanada purists out there who will take exception to my approach, but it worked for us! First I found a picadillo recipe that I liked. Then I broke it down, reassembled it and voila, empanadas with potatoes and black beans. No olives or raisins here. My dislike for olives is legendary and the niece is highly allergic to raisins. The potatoes and black beans were tasty but not photogenic, but that's another story.

 

Empanadas

1 pkg frozen dough discs (I used Delicious Bite - Authentic Latin American Style Easy Dough Artisan Dough Discs)
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 tbsp olive oil
1 med. bell pepper, chopped
1/2 med yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 c beer
1 15oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/4 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 egg
splash of water

• Thaw frozen discs and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a large, deep, stainless steel skillet, saute onion, garlic and pepper until onion is translucent and fragrant
• Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink
• Stir in the beer, tomatoes, tomato paste, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper and Tabasco sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Spray 2 cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray
• You'll need to remove a protective film from between each layer as you use it.
• Using a kitchen tablespoon (not a measuring spoon, that big tablespoon in your silverware drawer), put one spoonful of the meat mixture in the center of one disc.
• Fold the disc over and crimp the edges together. You can roll them or use a fork, whatever works.
• Place the sealed meat pie on the cookie sheet.
• Repeat the last three steps for each disc. The box I used had 14 discs which was enough to comfortably serve 4 and I had some filling left over.
• Once all your discs are filled, beat the egg with a splash of water to make an egg wash
• Brush the tops of the empanadas with the egg wash
• Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown.

 Just a little note here, have I mentioned tomato paste in a tube on here yet? Best. Innovation. Ever. Seriously. I have recipes like this and I never know what to do with the rest of the can of tomato paste; with tomato paste in a tube I don't have to worry about it. I use the 2 tbsp., put the lid back on the tube and move on. No fuss, no muss, and better yet, no waste!

Potatoes and Black Beans

1 pound baking potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup black beans
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil

• Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook stirring occasionally until golden brown. About 8-10 minutes.
• Add black beans and cook until heated through, 3-5 minutes more. I always have black beans in my freezer so I just grab a bag and throw them in. You can drain a can of black beans and do the same.

Leftovers? No worries! Just combine your leftover meat mixture with the leftover potatoes and beans. It's a great one dish meal that's easy to reheat and serve.

Hammy Mac-n-Cheese

I just love big holiday dinners. Now that there are only three of us living in the house, a big meal means lots of leftovers. So after last Sunday's Easter feast I was left with A LOT of ham! I froze most of it, but I would have felt a little cheated if I couldn't have a few leftovers. I wanted to do something with the ham that wasn't ham and beans. Sorry folks, that is just not one of my favorite foods. I scoured the pantry, the refrigerator and the Internet looking for ideas and finally decided on mac and cheese because I already had nearly all the ingredients. I had several partial bags of shredded cheese, plenty of pasta, milk, egg, flour, everything except dry mustard. So, one quick trip to the store and I was good to go.

There are literally hundreds of recipes out there for macaroni and cheese; I used this one from Alton Brown at the Food Network. Of course, his doesn't call for leftover ham, so my addition is in bold italics.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese 

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 1/2 pound leftover ham, chopped in bite size pieces
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced (about 1/2 a med onion)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 large egg
• 12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded (3 cups)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Fresh black pepper

Topping:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente (about 8 minutes). Toss cooked pasta with chopped ham and set aside.

• While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. The idea here is to cook the floury taste out of the flour. You want it to have a nice nutty smell and to be a gorgeous warm brown in color. If you've ever had a homemade mac and cheese that tastes gritty or flour-y, someone in the kitchen rushed this step. Make sure it's free of lumps.

• Stir in the milk (slowly and keep stirring, you don't want to get lumps), onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

• Temper in the egg (I put my egg in a bowl with high sides and beat it, then slowly pour the hot liquid from the pan in to the bowl while continuing to whisk the egg. This brings the egg up to temperature with the hot ingredients without scrambling it. Don't worry, it's easier than it sounds). Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese. I like mine extra cheesy so I added another 1/2 cup that was just hanging around in the frig.
• Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

 

This was marvelous! To be honest though, next time I'll use less onion and add some garlic. It's just a personal preference. I'm new to the use of onions in my cooking and I find that I definitely prefer them in smaller doses.