Mexican Beach Fruits

Mexican beach snacks: papaya, mango and cucumber stripes in a banana leaf with lime, chili powder and salt



Jicama, cucumber and pinneapple spears with dipping chili powder and cucumber sour cream

Smoked Sea Scallops and Steelhead Trout

A new adventure: stove top smoking. Cooking and smoking is one process, and for fish or seafood it only takes about ten minutes. Place 2 TB wood chips (alder, applewood, etc) under the grill pan. The smoker is placed on the stove top, and initially heated on high to incinerate the wood chips. At the beginning, leave open a small vent until smoke develops. Then, close it and the clock starts (10 min).

Season scallops and steelhead trout with salt and pepper, and some lemon slices. Serve with a spicy remoulade. Enjoy!

Vegan Banana Bread

Equipment:
small spring form

Ingredients
1/4 cup splenda brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cups pastry flour
¾ cp whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 TB semi-sweat mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped, toasted pecans
1/4 cup vanilla soy milk, mixed with
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 TB earth balance no-transfat margarine, melted
¼ cp apple sauce, optionally
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 8x4 bread pan with non stick cooking spray, or lightly coat with margarine.
Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and dry spices.
Cream together the soy milk, apple cider vinegar, margarine and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and add the bananas. Mix well. Pour batter into pan. Bake for an hour to an hour 10 minutes.

Mini Pizza with Gorgonzola and Caramelized Acorn Squash

1/4 acorn squash
1 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon
2 oz fresh pizza dough
1/4 cup shredded ff mozzarella or soy cheese, shredded
1 TB crumbled Gorgonzola
1/2 cup arugula
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Slice the squash in half from top to bottom, then quarter it. Scoop out the seeds. Slice a quarter of the squash into 1/2 to 3/4-inch wide half moons and place in a medium bowl. Toss the squash with the syrup, olive oil, red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place the squash on a alu foil-lined baking sheet. Bake the squash until tender and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Keep the temperature on the oven at 375 degrees F. Roll out the pizza dough on a flour dusted surface. Place the pizza on a perforated baking sheet. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and the Gorgonzola on the pizza dough. Bake in the oven until golden and cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Peel the skins off the squash. During the last 5 minutes, top the cooked pizza with the cooked squash. Top with arugula and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Slice and serve.

This is a small-sized version of Giada di Laurentiis's EVERYDAY ITALIAN pizza.

Rich Chocolate Cake with Raspberries

This is not necessarily skinny, but it is vegan (no eggs, no butter, no sugar), so quite light and just a divine rich chocolate taste, and light cake texture.

Ingredients for a small spring form:
1/3 cp whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1 ts baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda
1/3 cp cocoa powder
1/4 ts salt
1/2 cp soy milk
1/4 cp canola oil
3/4 cp pure organic maple syrup
1/2 ts apple cidre vinegar
1 ts vanilla extract

Raspberry Sauce (for a small cake):
1 cp frozen raspberries, thawed
1/2 ts maple syrup
1/2 ts vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9 inch springform pan with non stick cooking spray. Sift together flours and baking powder and baking soda. In a saucepan, heat the soymilk on low-medium heat. When it is slightly bubbling, add the cocoa powder and whisk well until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Combine the other liquid ingredients in a bowl and whisk well. Add the cocoa mixture and combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry.

Pour batter into prepared pan, bake at 350 F for 25 minutes until a toothpick or butter knife comes out clean. Let cool completely and frost with your favorite frosting.

Wholewheat Soba Noodles with Sesame Vinaigrette

2 oz somen noodles
1/4 cucumber
1 scallion, sliced
1 TB soy sauce
1 ts sesame oil
1 ts rice vinegar
1 ts sake
1 ts white miso
½ inch ginger, grated

Cook noodles in hot water for 3 min. drain and rise in cold water. Place in the serving bowl. In another bowl, whisk soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sake, miso and sesame seeds. Toss over noodles. Toss with green onions and cucumber. Serve!

In addition: Korean marinated cucumber (Oi Moochim)

½ cup distilled vinegar or rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Dash of dashida (dried soup stock made from essence of seafood or beef)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons gochuchang paste, plus more to taste, or thai hot sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
½ English cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Whisk together the vinegar, soy, dashida, sugar, spicy hot sauce, and sesame oil in a large bowl. Add the cucumber and stir until combined. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and let marinate at least 1 hour before eating.

BBQ Steelhead Trout with Pineapple Salsa

It undeniably felt like spring today, despite a lingering 1 foot of snow on the deck, so the BBQ season had to be started. Here we go....

Steelhead Trout:
1 steelhead trout filet, with skin on
salt, pepper
fresh squeezed lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
a few fresh springs of thyme

Pineapple Salsa:
2 slices of fresh pineapple, grilled on high for 4 min on each side
1/2 red hot pepper
1/2 red onion, finely diced
salt
fresh squeezed lime juice, 1/2 lime
a few thyme leaves for color

First, grill the pineapple. While grilling, prepare the steelhead trout. Spray a piece of aluminium foil with oil olive and place the trout filet, skin-side down, on the foil. Season with salt and pepper, and lemon juice. Place thyme springs on top of filet, and fold foil up like a steaming tent.

Remove pineapple from BBQ, and place trout on. Prepare salsa by dicing pineapple, hot pepper and onion. Mix with lime juice and seasonings. The trout takes about 12 min. Enjoy!

Here is a photo of the preparation before folding up the aluminum foil like a tent:

Orecchiette with Fireroasted Tomatoes and Tapenade

2 oz orecchiette
1 cp fire-roasted tomatoes
1/3 red onion, diced
1 ts olive oil
1 ts fresh thyme
1 TB tapenade

Tapenade:
1 cp marinated kalamata olives
2 TB cured kalamata olives
2 TB capers
1/4 cp fruity olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 TB dried oregano
fresh ground pepper
optionally: 1 ts anchovy paste

Mix all tapenade ingredients in a food processor.

Cook pasta in a pot of boiling water. In a saute pan, heat olive oil and saute onions slightly. After 3 min, add the diced fire roasted tomatoes and fresh thyme. Sautee for 3 min. Add 1/2 cp of hot pasta water, and simmer the sauce. Once the orecchiette is al dente, add it to the pasta sause. Mix in the tapenade, and serve!

This is inspired by Vegan with a Vengence.

Vegan Mini Pizza

Use a mini pizza (see post below) and add tomato sauce, 2 TB shredded vegan mozzarella, 1 soy hot dog cut into slices, red onion slices and a dash of fresh ground black pepper.
Bake at 450F for 12 min. Serve with kalamata olives and red pepper flakes sprinkles.

Tomato sauce (makes more than 1 serving):
2 TB ketchup
1 TB hot sauce
1/2 grated garlic clove
1 cup fired roasted canned tomatoes, diced

Pre-Baked Mini Pizzas

This is the simplified version: buy ready-to-bake pizza dough in your frozen food section. Once thawed, divide the dough into 16 portions, and roll each portion into a tennis ball sized shape. Roll out with a floured rolling pin on a floured surface into round mini pizzas. Pre-baked individual pizzas at 450F for 5 min. Freeze, and use when in need of a pizza!

Black Eyed Pea Chili

¼ cp black eyed peas, rinsed
¼ cp split peas, rinsed
2 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves

1 ts garlic olive oil
½ onion, diced
2 oz soy breakfast meat
1 carrot, diced
½ cp frozen corn
½ cp frozen edamame
1 small red bell pepper, diced
½ small can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 TB tomato paste
½ liquid veggie broth
1/2 cp water
1 ts agave nectar
1 TB chili
1 TB cumin
1 ts red chili flakes
½ TB smoked sweet paprika
salt, pepper

Bring black eyed peas and lentils to a boil in a pan with water, garlic and bay leaves. Remove from heat, and let soak for 1 hour. Drain, discard water and bay leaves, but reserve garlic for chili.

In a dutch oven, sauté the onion in the garlic flavored olive oil. Add the carrot, and sautee slightly (1 min). Add the breakfast soy meat, break it up with a spatula and brown it with the onions for 2 min. Add the corn, the black-eyed peas and the lentils. Simmer for 2 min. Add the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin and the chili flakes. Stir well, and add the fire roasted canned tomatoes. In a separate bowl, mix the tomato paste and the veggie broth concentrate in with a 1/2 cup of hot water. Add the mix to the chili. Cook the chili for about 10 min. Now, add the corn, the diced bell pepper and the edamame. Simmer for another 5 min until black-eyed peas are tender and bell pepper slightly tender, but still with a crunch. Add smoked paprika to taste.

Serve with greek yoghurt, cilantro and corn bread or baguette!

The chili has a wonderful meaty flavor and a slightly crunchy texture.

Butternut Squash Risotto

1/2 medium-sized butternut squash
Salt
1/2 tablespoon clarified butter
1 small garlic clove, grated
1 shallot, minced
2 oz Aborrio rice
1 TB dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock, heated
1/2 tablespoons Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place 1/2 butternut squash in oven, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast until browned and soft. Puree in food processor.

Heat clarified butter in pan. Add shallots, and sweat. Add garlic, and slightly sauce. Add rice and toast in clarified butter mix for 2 min. Add dry white wine, and saute until liquid is evaporated. Slowly add stock, 1/2 cp at a time, until absorbed. Once rice is fully cooked fold squash puree. Mix well, and add freshly grated Parmesan.

This is so good, it will make you break into a happy dance, just like Jamie Oliver in "Jamie at home".

Seared Scallops with Mango Salsa

Mango Salsa:
½ mango, diced
1 scallion, diced on an angle
parsley
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1/2 garlic clove, grated
2TB lime juice
olive oil
salt, pepper

Optional:
red, green and or yellow bell pepper, sliced
black beans

Mix all ingredients.

Moroccan Spiced Haddock

Spices:
2 ts ground coriander
1 ts dried oregano
1 ts dried ginger
½ ts red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper for more heat
½ ts black pepper
¼ ts cinnamon
½ ts cumin

1 haddock fillet
white wine
salt, pepper
⅓ red bell pepper, sliced

Mix spice rub on a plate, and dredge both sides of haddock in spice rub. Heat olive oil, and sautee haddock on first side for 2 min. Turn haddock, add sliced bell peppers, and white wine, salt and pepper. Sautee for another 3-4 min.

Serve with greens, vinaigrette, a dullop of avajar.

Poached Egg with Japonica Rice and Avajar

This is an experiment with a nutty-tasting black Japonica whole rice, kale, tofu, garlic, and white wine. For recipe, see here.

This is a breakfast dish with leftover rice, a poached egg and a heap of avajar.

Skinny Bitch Faux Meatloaf

1 TB olive oil
1 carrot, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
3 oz cremini, shitake or portabello mushroom mushroom, diced
1/2 cp frozen or fresh corn
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 ts sea salt
1 ts pepper
splash of white wine
low-sodium chicken stock
1 teaspoon agave nectar
2 slices vegan low-carb whole bread
1/2 cp walnuts, toasted
1 package gimme lean breakfast sausage
½ cp ketchup
a few splashes of worchestershiresauce
2 tb fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a skillet, add oil and add onion, carrot, and red pepper and sautee for a few minutes. Add mushrooms, grated garlic, salt and pepper, and sautee for a minute. Add chicken stock and white wine as well as agave juice and a 1/2 low sodium bouillon cube. Sautee until all vegetables are tender and any liquid is evaporated.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine bread and toasted walnuts, and pulse to coarse consistency.

Transfer to a large bowl, and add ketchup, veggie beef, worchestershire sauce, the veggie mix and the frozen corn. Mix well with your hands. Transfer faux meatloaf mix to a muffin pan, place about 1/4 cp of mix into each individual muffin cup and bake for 35 min.

(recipe is inspired by the 'skinny bitch' faux meatloaf).

Seared Sea Scallops with Leeks

1/2 leek, halved and sliced
1 TB capers
1 garlic clove, grated
1 ts olive oil
1/4 cp pinot grigio
1/2 ts agave nectar (for sweetness)
salt, pepper

5 sea scallops, fresh, padded dry
1 tb butter
salt, pepper


Sautee leeks in olive oil until slightly wilted. Add white wine, garlic, capers, salt and pepper, and agave nectar. Stir, and sautee until liquid is almost evaporated.

In another skillet, heat butter and sear scallops from both sides, 2 minutes each. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve scallops on bed of leeks. Enjoy!

Herbs de Quercy

Rosemary
Bay leaves
Thyme

Skinny Ginger-Soy Roasted Chicken

Roast a chicken breast on the bone in the oven.

When roasted, take skin off, and slice breast meat into thin slices.

Roast on very hot grill with a mix of soy sauce and fresh grated ginger shortly.

One could add a bit of wasabi paste to the soy/ginger mix.

Serve with steamed rice and grilled summer squash.

Enjoy!

Nutty spicy angel hair pasta with tempeh

Spray a non-stick pan with olive oil spray.

Heat high, and add

• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 oz of soy tempeh, cubed
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cp of cooked angel hair pasta
• dash of low-sodium soy sauce,
• 1 TB ff half and half.
• Heat up for 2 min, and then add 1/3 cp of low-sodium chicken stock. Let simmer for 10 min on medium heat until chicken stock is evaporated.
  
  At the same time, spray another non-stick pan with olive oil and sautee 2 oz of fresh shitake mushroom for 4 min on high heat.

• Add the sauteed shitake mushroom to the angel hair/tempeh mix.
• Add salt and pepper,
• a dash of spicy chili sauce,
• a dash of teriyaki sauce. Mix well, and
• add one grated garlic clove.
  
  Serve hot. The taste of the nutty tasting tempeh, the sweetness of the dash of half and half, the spice and fruitness of the pepper and the garlic are delicious.