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!

Smoked Mackerel Quiche

Summer is drawing to a close, but warm weather still finds its way up North every now and then, teasing us with sunshine and the ability to put the cardigans away for a few days. It's the one time when a filling, hearty, warm meal just won't do; enter the quiche.

We probably have quiche at least once a month in the spring and summer months. The produce in season right now lends itself really well to these toss-it-all-in meals, it's light yet filling, and can be eaten hot or cold (leftovers for breakfast are amaaaaazing). It's the all-purpose meal of champions, with an "anything goes" ease.

I know I'm a bit late posting this recipe but one thing leads to another and *poof* time to catch up on photo editing and recipe posting. Chloe's first tooth came in last week and it has been the most sleepless time in my life since she was a newborn. What a trooper, though. And thank God for those homeopathic chamomile teething crystals (when we finally found out about them and bought some) - worked a charm and I didn't have to resort to using some chemical/painkiller-filled gel in my baby's mouth. Win-win-win all day long.

They say our bodies tell us what they need by the food cravings we have; I was craving oily fish and wanted mackerel, so I must have needed vitamin D and Omega 3's. If you're not a mackerel fan, smoked trout or salmon would also be delicious! And since the fresh pea season has since ended, trust me, frozen will do just fine.

Vegetable Tagine with Cod

So my readers are pretty aware of my current obsession with harissa, right? Well, I hope you have some in your pantry, because here's a fabulous vegetarian & pescatarian option. If you want to omit the fish, that's fine, because this complete meal gets plenty of protein from chickpeas, and its plenty filling. If you're a carb lover, it would be great served with couscous or basmati rice.

 

If you're exploring the idea of a plant-based diet, it's a wonderful example to debunk the myth that a plant-based diet is made up of mostly salads. And it's a one-pot wonder, too, so your cleanup and actual cooking time is minimal, making it great for throwing together on a weeknight.

What is a tagine, you might ask? It's a round ceramic baking dish with a cone-shaped lid, popular for slow cooking in north African cuisine. As the heat and steam rises while food cooks, the cone-shaped lid helps the moisture to drop back down into the cooking, ensuring that the food (usually meat) is tender and moist. If you're like me and don't own a tagine (yet- it's on my wish list!) then you can make this dish in an enameled cast iron pot. Have you ever noticed the little bumps on the underside of the lid of an enameled cast iron pot? Well, they essentially are meant to do the same thing as a tagine, so it works great for these types of recipes.

You can adjust the heat of the dish to your liking, and I added a little bit of chili flakes to mine because the harissa I had on hand this time isn't as spicy as I'd have liked it to be. I also garnished with some chopped fresh mint, which goes fantastically with the flavors in this dish.

Colorful, flavorful, filling, and healthy! What's not to love?

Roasted Red Pepper Spaghetti Fra Diavolo

I wasn't even planning to make this meal into a recipe post, but it was so good I just couldn't resist. That being said, please forgive the shoddy photos, since I took them on my phone in the evening as I made/ate this meal.

Fra Diavolo means Brother Devil in Italian, and is the name given to a spicy (usually tomato) pasta sauce. It's one of my absolute favorite dishes, especially with a pile of fresh mussels or, in today's case, shrimp (king prawns, for my UK readers). My goal with this meal was to change up the classic a bit by making the base of the sauce from ripe, sweet roasted red Romano peppers.

It may seem a bit complicated at first glance, but I roasted up a big batch of peppers yesterday because I plan to turn the other half into roasted red pepper hummus. If you want to use a shortcut, though, canned roasted red peppers will work just fine.

Salmon & Pea Pasta

As the weather warms up and we spring into... well.. Spring, I've been trying to come up with quick & easy recipes that are perfect for a picnic or a sunny day. This pasta dish can be served warm, as an impressive midweek dinner, or chilled as a perfect picnic pasta salad. The sauce has the illusion of being rich and creamy, even though its dairy-free and uses hardly any mayo (2 tsp for 4 servings!). I love the small shell pasta, because the peas and sauce fill up each little piece!

If you happen to have canned salmon lying around, and you don't know what to do with it, you could totally add it to this dish in lieu of the fresh salmon. If you're not a salmon fan, try some pole-caught tuna, or maybe some shrimp/prawns (cook it the same way as the salmon above - I love roasted shrimp!).

Midweek Meals: Tri-Tomato Spaghetti with Prawns

I mentioned before that I was struggling to cook my favourite Italian recipes without being able to eat dairy (I miss my Parmesan and mozzarella!), but I came up with a recipe today that ticks all of the flavour boxes without any cheese. Here is a super quick and refreshing pasta dish, which can be cooked and eaten during baby's naptime with time to spare. I made it as a lunch today but it is certainly hearty enough for a dinner! You could also add fresh clams, mussels or squid to this, if you're lucky enough to be able to get your hands on some.  I picked up the tomatoes, spinach, basil, prawns and spaghetti at Lidl this week, and the Puglian olive oil, [leftover] rose wine, and garlic are from Aldi. That's literally all there is to this dish - and it has the Husband's Stamp of Approval.

Easy enough, right? It's a great option for a Meatless Monday recipe, or a Fish Friday during Lent. If you can't find a good variety of tomatoes this time of year where you live, feel free to Pin, print, or save the recipe above for a warmer season when tomatoes are plentiful. And if you're not a fan of seafood, this recipe would work great with diced chicken breast as well!

All of the ingredients I picked up at Lidl, minus the spinach, which was busy getting washed in the sink!

I love this Italian olive oil from Aldi; highly recommended!

If you try the recipe, let me know how it went below in the comments!