Taco Night

We had some friends over the other night, so Cy and I prepared the makings of an easy but delicious fish tacos with some red cabbage slaw.  On the side, we made one of my favorite sides - Mango, jicama, and blackbean salad, as well as a cauliflower gratin.  All very easy to prepare!  I meant to take more pictures of the food and all, but I ended up enjoying my time with friends and getting a little lazy with the pictures ...I need to be better...

...but there is nothing better than a night of good company and good food!

Fish Tacos with Red Cabbage Slaw
Adapted from martha stewart

Ingredients (serves 4):

1/4 cup... greek yogurt
2Tbsp...lime juice
1/4 of small red cabbage, shredded
4...scallions, thinly sliced
1...jalapeno chile, minced
2Tbsp...olive oil
1lb...firm white fish (we used snapper)
flour or corn tortillas, enough for everyone
1/2cup...fresh cilantro

Directions:
1.  In a large bowl, combine yogurt and lime juice; season with salt and pepper.  Transfer half the mixture to another container, set aside for serving.  Toss cabbage, scallions, and minced jalapeno with remaining yogurt mixture.  Season again with salt and pepper.

2.  In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil and remaining jalapeno half over medium-high heat; swirl to coat bottom of pan.  Season fish on both sides with salt and pepper.  In two batches (starting with larger pieces), cook fish until golden brown on all sides, 5-6 min.  Discard jalapeno.

3.  Meanwhile, warm tortillas according to package instructions.

4.  To make tacos, fill tortillas with slaw, fish, and cilantro leaves.  Drizzle with reserved yogurt mixture.  Serve immediately.

Father's Day

This weekend my parents came up to my place, and Cy and I took them to see Super 8, and dinner at Nanbankan, one of our favorite Japanese restaurants on the westside.  I always struggle to decide what to get my Dad, even though I know that he's just one of those people that doesn't need anything material to make him happy...except maybe the occasional cool new techie toy ;)  He's definitely the most humble one in our family - the steady and solid rock.

Cy solved the problem by suggesting we bake a cake for him since he had a big sweet tooth (Guess it runs in the family).  A Lemon Blueberry Poundcake to be exact.  We had just gotten a really cool mold so this was the perfect opportunity to try it out.  My Dad was wowed by the presentation - my Mom even thought the cake was fake, just a decoration.

In anycase, I'm glad my Dad enjoyed the day - it was the least we could do for everything he's done for us.  Thanks Dad!!

Golden Beet Salad

We are very lucky to have a local farmer's market very close to our place.  It always feels good to be able to pick up fresh organic fruits and veggies.  Cy loves beets so we tend to include them in our grocery list fairly often.  I personally like the red ones but they seem to scare Cy (especially when visiting the ahem, you know where).  

Whenever I come home with beets I try to immediately cut off the leaves (for later use) and throw the roots in the oven to roast so that I can use them during the week.

Add water, cover with foil, and roast about an hour
at 350F in the oven

....and voile! the peels come off easily

This time I made a simple salad using red onions and some of the apple mint growing on my balcony.  The tart vinegar really brings out the sweetness of the beets.  It's like nature's candy!

This is just one of those things that I throw together so there is no formal recipe.  Everything is fairly approximate and flexible.  I think you can throw some orange slice in there if you felt like it, use shallots instead of red onions...it's great because you can adjust according to what you have on hand.

Golden Beet Salad

Ingredients:
(Serves 4)

A bunch of Golden Beets...approx 6

White Wine or Sherry Vinegar...2-3tbsp
Extra Virgin Olive Oil...2-3tbsp

Minced Red Onions or shallots....1/2c 

Mint Leaves...8-10 leaves

Salt & Pepper...to taste

feta or goat cheese..optional

Directions.

1)  Preheat oven to 350-400F.

2) Cut off stems off the beets, give them a good rinse and place them in a baking pan filled with just enough water so that it covers the bottom of the pan.

3) Cover with foil and roast for approximately an hour.  Pull out of the oven and let it cool until ready to handle.

4)  Once cool, the skin of the beets should come off pretty easily.  (sometimes it helps to do this under running water)

5)  Slice Beets and toss with vinegar, oil, onions, mint and cheese.  Add salt and pepper to taste and ENJOY!

**You can just prep the beets ahead of time (steps 1-4) and keep them in the fridge for up to a few days until you're ready to use for the salad, or whatever else you feel like making.