Tuna Sashimi Bowl

I love sushi, and it used to be an almost weekly meal for me when I lived in NYC. I love it.  This sushi bowl combines the delicate flavors of sushi with the fresh, delicious, colorful concept of "bowls" that are oh-so-popular. Let's be honest - the stuff you get in the grocery store that is hours - even days old - just doesn't cut it. It defeats the whole purpose of having sushi - the textures, the simplicity, the freshness. But, for most of us, we don't have 10+ years to train as a real sushi chef.  But we can have the same types of flavors, textures, and freshness in the comfort of our own kitchens. Still with me? Let's talk tuna. Literally.

Get the best possible quality fish that you can. Go to your local fishmonger (if you have one) and ask what's good and sushi quality. You might end up with salmon, you might end up with yellowtail. Make sure it's the best quality, and make sure that it's sustainable. Take it home, and whip up this simple yummy marinade!

1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp rice vinegar OR white wine vinegar
1 tsp mirin OR 1/2 tsp honey

Now put it in a zipper bag with your fish, push all of the air out (but don't squish the fish!) and seal it. Store in the fridge for an hour or so while you prep your veggies and cook your rice! I recommend using a short grain sticky rice or sushi rice - it will hold together really well so that you can get a bit of everything in each bite.

Some of my favorite vegetables to prep are crunchy bean sprouts (marinated using the same recipe as above), lightly steamed spinach dressed with salt and sesame oil, and creamy avocado. The sky is the limit - use your favorites and make it sing with color and flavor! Then, take your fish out of the marinade and slice is against the grain delicately. I recommend 1/4" thick slices, using a sharp serrated knife and cutting in one smooth, slow motion. Don't saw back and forth - if you can't cut with one slice, get a sharper knife!

As a "dressing" or topping for your bowl, you can use good quality soy sauce,or mix up another little batch of the marinade recipe. Sriracha or gochugaru (spicy Korean chili powder) are a great additional of heat, and spring onions (scallions) add a fresh bite to the dish! Enjoy!

Meal in a Jar: Roasted Vegetable Panzanella!

Ok, I'm a total sucker for anything served in a jar. There, I said it. But jar lunches, besides being adorable, are also extremely practical for anyone who is meal prepping for a week ahead, or wants to transport a meal or salad without mixing everything together until it's time to serve.

Panzanella is basically a fancy Italian word for bread salad. Yup - bread salad. I took a leftover half of a baguette, made some quick and delicious croutons, and tossed them in with sweet roasted vegetables and a 30-second vinaigrette - tadaa! Lunch (or dinner), any day of the week. If you're entertaining, you could easily double or triple the recipe and serve up a big platter, topped with sprigs of fresh basil. Don't be afraid to improvise using whatever you have on hand - I had some fantastically sweet organic cherry tomatoes lying around, so I threw some of them in, and roasting only intensified their natural sweetness. Such a satisfying and unbelievably easy meal!

Leftover Rescue: BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

We love a Sunday roast dinner in our house, but the leftovers can get a little monotonous. This week, I completely transformed some leftover roast chicken into a flavorful barbecue dish that is sure to please the whole family.

My husband and I both love dark meat, so we usually eat the legs/thighs when I roast a chicken. So, for this recipe, I used the leftover breast meat. If you have leftover leg or thigh meat, it works just as well, and you might even be able to trick chicken breast lovers into eating some dark leg meat for once!

I whipped up a batch of quick homemade coleslaw to go on the side - 1/2 head of shredded cabbage, 2 tbsp free range mayo, 1/2 tsp organic honey, 2 tbsp white vinegar (I used rice vinegar, but that's just my personal preference), and a dash of white pepper. If you're whipping some coleslaw up to go along with your meal, I recommend doing it before you begin cooking the potatoes, so that it has plenty of time to sit, marinate & mingle in the fridge.

So there you have it! An easy Monday recipe that mixes up some leftover chicken. Enjoy!

Huevos Rancheros

I am usually not a breakfast person, but this week the little one has had me up at the a**crack of dawn each day, so by breakfast time my body thinks it's time for lunch. Mexican food and I have a long history of breakfast dates, and this is my take on easy homemade huevos rancheros. If you're a bit hungover on the weekend, or just want to mix up your brunch game a bit, sink your teeth into this colorful dish. Just a little disclaimer: this is by no means an "authentic" dish. It's just one of my favorite Mexican-inspired breakfast concoctions - so if you're a diehard authentic Mexican fan, please forgive me! Wink wink :) 

To skip a few steps in the cooking process, you can opt for canned organic black beans. If you're using dried. you'll want to soak them overnight (or, if you make this for dinner, start soaking them in the morning). I soaked 1/2 cup dried beans with 1/2 tsp baking soda in 2 cups of boiled water. Then, before cooking them, I drained the water and rinsed the starchy black water off. The beans were then boiled until fully cooked, drained again, and then finally cooked according to the recipe below. A long process, I know, but if you love black beans (I certainly do), then you can make a bigger batch and use them for all sorts of things: quesadillas, nachos, burritos, etc. Or, like I mentioned, skip it and go for the can.

If you're a spice lover, like me, then a good splash of Cholula hot sauce on top is just what the doctor ordered - especially if you're nursing a hangover. Too spicy for ya? A dollop of natural yogurt can take the edge off. Or just pile it all on and hope for the best. Yum!

Grilled Summer Vegetable Parmigiana

I am a big junkie for the Italian classics, and my love for eggplant parm is no secret. In this summer heat though, those comfort foods I love seem sort of impossible to enjoy. I mean, we want to spend every sunny day grilling in the garden, not stirring a pot of red sauce. That being said, I figured out the perfect compromise of flavor between summer grilling and comfort food!

I would have grilled these outside to give the vegetables even more flavor, but I simply couldn't keep running in and out of the house that day because I had a particularly needy baby on my hands. You win some, you lose some.

Don't reach for store-bought red sauce - please! Red sauce is SO easy to make. All you need is a few cloves of garlic, some tomato paste, a jar (or carton) of good quality passata, and patience. Make a huge batch and freeze it - trust me, you'll never go back to the jarred stuff again! I did debate posting my own recipe for red sauce - I even took photos while making it this time - but I can't bear to part with the "secret family recipe". I mean, if I post my most guarded recipe on here, what is going to keep my family coming to visit me when I'm old? I need to keep something in my arsenal that I can take to my grave. Sorry, dear readers! You'll just have to come to my house for dinner sometime.

Spiced Lamb Burgers & Greek Veggies

I always look forward to our local farmers' market at the end of the month, because we have a fantastic local lamb farm that I buy meat from. Ground lamb is one of those things that you usually associate with the classic heavy meals; ie, shepherd's pie, moussaka, and other heavy wintry dishes. I think it's just as versatile as beef, though, and these lightly spiced lamb burgers are the perfect example of how good it can be on the grill!

Now, when I say "spiced," I don't mean spicy, I mean spiced. Cumin and coriander both pair fantastically with lamb, and a cool yogurt mint sauce on top can whisk your palate away to the Mediterranean. I didn't put mine on buns simply because it's hot out and I didn't feel like eating heavy bread, but by all means pop yours on a whole grain roll - the flavor of this burger can really stand up to whole wheat buns.

The veggie skewers are another flavorful summer side dish that kicks your basic sides to the curb; I recommend fresh oregano, but if you don't have any in the garden, dried will work just fine. Actually, after making this recipe, I went and planted some oregano so I can have the fresh stuff next time!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Avocado Mousse

I am not a baker. In fact, I don't make dessert much at all, save the occasional batch of ice cream when I actually have the patience and foresight to get the machine ready. I really wanted something cool, creamy, and chocolatey today, but someone ate all of the ice cream (and will consequently be sleeping on the sofa tonight. Humph!). I had a few avocados ripening on the windowsill and thought, hmmmm, let's give this avocado mousse thing a try. 

I sort of improvised and adapted the standard formula to suit my tastes: first, I added maca powder, because I really love the caramel-y flavor it adds, and I've been using it a lot lately in my smoothies. Maca powder is great for balancing hormones, and with all of the post-baby-body changes I've got going on, I can use all the hormonal balance I can get - plus it's rumored to help cope with stress, and what mom doesn't deal with that on a daily basis?

Then I added a big heaping teaspoon of this Pip & Nut Maple Peanut Butter - it's a great, simple no-nonsense natural peanut butter without palm oil or added sugar, and I'm a Reese's junkie so I'll take PB & chocolate any day of the week.

A teaspoon of organic honey and a splash of milk and a few minutes later I had this rich, velvety (with the occasional crunch of peanut, so use creamy if you want it totally smooth!) mousse. It is so rich that I only ate a few spoonfuls before popping it in the fridge to save for after dinner later. Definitely going to be making this one again!

The Best Pan Fried Chicken & a "Grown Up" Italian Toastie

A long title for an important post. First up, I'm going  to be sharing my recipe for the best pan-fried chicken ever. Now, don't hear the world "fried" in there and think that this in unhealthy - pan fried simply means to cook it on the stove with a little bit of oil, in this case, olive oil. Obviously you can't cook a piece of chicken without any fat to lubricate it a bit - you'd end up with a charred piece of meat stuck permanently to your pan - the goal is to use a healthy fat, like olive oil or rapeseed oil (the best you can find/buy) and stick to cooking with that. 

So. Back to the chicken. I make chicken this way all the time - you can use boneless skinless thighs (my personal favorite), or chicken breast (which is what I had on hand this time). It's incredibly important to choose organic, free range chicken. Forgive me for getting preachy, but there is simply NO excuse for buying anything else. If you want to save cash, go for the skinless boneless thighs - loads of meat and less than half the cost of the breast - OR buy a whole chicken for the cost of two breasts and break it down yourself, using this handy video as a quick guide. 

The first thing you want to do is butterfly and/or pound out your chicken. It sounds complicated but basically means you make 2 simple cuts to open the breast out like a book, and if you're unsure about how to do it, just skip to the next step. If you want to give it a go, jump on over to YouTube and take your pick from loads of tutorial videos. 

Cover your chicken with nonstick/parchment paper (I don't use plastic wrap in my kitchen) and give it a few gentle whacks with a rolling pin (empty wine bottles work great too) until it's the same thickness. Don't pound it thin - you only want it to be the same thickness, so just give a couple whacks to the thickest part of the meat and you should be good to go. 3/8" is a good measurement - don't worry about being precise, just aim for a little less than 1/2" thick. 

Now, for seasoning. Sea salt, freshly cracked pepper, garlic powder, dried italian herbs (basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary), and paprika. Sprinkle liberally over both sides. 

Put about 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in a stainless steel or cast iron pan over medium heat (you can read more about why I don't use nonstick pans here) and cook your chicken for 3 minutes on each side. Turn the heat off, put a lid on the pan, and wait an additional 3 minutes - however if you use an electric stove, remove the pan from the heat at this point. 

Slice and put over salads, into sandwiches (like the one below), wraps, or just eat it on its own with some veggies on the side. I promise you, it will come out juicy and flavorful every single time. Want to make it for taco night instead? Nix the dried Italian herbs and sprinkle on some ground cumin and chili powder instead. 

Ok! Now we're ready to assemble a truly badass chicken sandwich. My husband actually dubbed this "the best sandwich [he'd] ever eaten", so there you have it.