fish tacos with mango-avocado salsa and goat cheese

This is such a simple, beautiful and delicious meal. The fresh avocado, mango and lime brighten up the sweet, mild roasted red pepper with a shock of rainbow color. The spicy sriracha is cooled by the creamy goat cheese and clean-tasting cilantro. This took less than 20 minutes to throw together and is true health food. Make this on a busy weeknight and skip the delivery pizza!

Fish Tacos with Mango-Avocado Salsa and Goat Cheese

Salsa

Makes enough for four to six tacos

• Two mangoes, chopped
• Two avocados, chopped
• 1/4 c red onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 c roasted red pepper, chopped
• Juice of one lime
• Handful fresh cilantro, chopped
• Salt and pepper

Fish tacos
Makes enough for about four tacos

• 1 lb. fresh fish, such as tuna
• Small corn tortillas
• Sriracha
• Fresh goat cheese, crumbled
• Salt and pepper

Cook the fish in a little olive oil over medium heat. Sprinkle with sriracha sauce, salt and pepper. While the fish cooks, stir together salsa. Remove fish from heat, slice it into strips, and distribute evenly in the tortillas. Top with salsa, goat cheese and more sriracha. Serve immediately.

tortilla torte from my childhood

This meal is a blast from the past (circa 1993-ish) for me. That year, a summertime ear infection from too many days in the pool prompted my stepmom to take me to the doctor for treatment. In the waiting room, she came across this recipe while flipping through a magazine and thought she'd try it out for dinner. And with four growing girls, she liked that it was a large, filling dish. One taste and we were all hooked!

This has been a family favorite ever since then, although I've added a couple of things, including sauteed onions and garlic, whole-wheat tortillas, extra spices and a can of  green chilies for flavor. Serve it with hot sauce or jalapenos, sour cream and salsa, and a big, fat salad for a great, healthy dinner!

Tortilla Torte
Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 small can diced green chilies, undrained
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 3 large whole-wheat tortillas
• 2 c cheddar or Mexican cheese blend, shredded
• Salt, pepper, olive oil
• Toppings such as: salsa, sour cream, cilantro, spicy things

1. Start by sauteing the beef over medium heat. When the pink is just gone, remove from pan and allow to drain on paper towels to remove any extra fat. Wipe any excess fat from the pan and add a swirl of olive oil, the onions and garlic, and some salt and pepper to taste.
2. When the onions are transclucent, add the beef back to the pan, along with the tomatoes, chilies, beans and spices. Stir together and allow to cook together for five or so minutes.
3. Spray a cast-iron skillet and lay the first tortilla down. Using a slotted spoon, transfer 1/2 of the filling and 1/3 of the cheese on top, spreading it evenly over the tortilla. Repeat the process until you have two layers of the meat-bean-cheese goodness, topping with the final tortilla with the remaining 1/3 of cheese.
   
4. Cover the cast-iron pan with a lid and cook over medium-low heat until the cheese is melty on a layer or two below the top tortilla. Throw it under the broiler until the top is toasty and the torte is bubbly, like below (5-7 mins).
   
5. Serve immediately with salsa, sour cream, hot sauce, jalapenos, cilantro and any other toppings you like.

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chicken fajitas with avocado

If you're looking for an easy weeknight meal that packs in lots of veggies and flavor, this is it. Just make the fajita seasoning and rub it on the chicken in advance (I did it the morning of, but overnight would be even better) and let it mellow in the fridge.

Fajita Seasoning

Approximately two tablespoons equals one store-bought seasoning packet. Use this amount for one pound of chicken. Try this healthy salad recipe with the leftover seasoning!

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 crushed chicken bouillon cube
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon cumin

 Stir together the above ingredients. To make a marinade, mix with 1/4 to 1/3 c of oil and add to a bag or shallow dish with the meats or vegetables.

 

Prepare your ingredients:

• One small onion, chopped
• One bell pepper, chopped
• 4-6 oz. mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• Two garlic cloves, diced
• Two chicken breasts, sliced into strips
• Salt and pepper
• Fajita-sized tortillas (whole-wheat, if possible)
• Avocado, sliced
• Shredded cheese
• Sour cream
• Hot sauce, if desired

1. Mix seasoning with desired about of oil and combine with chicken. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Heat a pan to medium heat and add the chicken and marinade. Stir fry until just cooked and remove from pan to a paper-towel lined plate. If the pan has excessive oil in it, wipe it with a paper towel, leaving a little behind. Add the veggies to the same pan, season with salt and pepper to taste, and saute until soft. Add the chicken back to the pan.
3. Serve desired amount in tortillas with cheese, sour cream and avocado. Top with hot sauce, if desired.

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the tacos

Thanks, Roasted Tomato and Corn Salsa with Charred Poblano Peppers.  A little grilled pork tenderloin, some sliced avocado (it's under there, I promise), Mexican cheese and sour cream on a whole-wheat tortilla = crazy good and easy dinner, especially when the salsa is made in advance.

sunday brunchday

The weekends call for hot coffee and slow brunches that leave you too full to eat lunch or move off of the couch. The past two weekends have been filled with fun activities with friends and good exercise opportunities (as well as not-so-fun-yet-physcially-demanding-yardwork). So to honor the weekends, the last two have featured really yummy brunches. The first, Southwest egg burritos with black beans, salsa and sour cream, fueled a 3,000-yard swim. Cheeseandrice, it was good. The second, this past weekend, was oatmeal-cranberry pancakes – hearty, filling and tasty.

The best part was that these recipes were both made with healthy items we had on hand. And they each took less than 20 minutes, even with the flavor-oomph tortilla-charring and oatmeal cooking. Here are the secrets of the trade:

Oatmeal-Cranberry Griddle Cakes (adapted from Mark Bittman)

• 1/4 c whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c all-purpose flour
• 1/4 rolled oats, dry
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 c milk
• 2 cups left-over cooked and cooled* oatmeal
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries or other fruit, fresh or dried (sliced bananas or blueberries would be really good)
• Syrup or apple butter

1. Preheat oven to 200. Combine flours, oats, baking powder, spices and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and milk until well blended; stir in cranberries and cooked oatmeal* until just incorporated. Add the oatmeal mixture to the flour mixture and stir gently, being sure not to overmix. It should look like thick pancake batter.
2. Heat a large griddle over medium heat with a swirl of oil in the pan. Spoon the batter into little patties in the pan and cook two to three minutes on each side, flipping when bubbles form and the bottoms are slightly browned. Note: these do take a little longer to cook than regular pancakes, I think because of the moistness of the cooked oatmeal.
3. Transfer them to the warm oven on a heat-safe plate, tented with foil. Serve with syrup or apple butter.

*If you don't have leftover oatmeal, then make 2 cups per the box instructions. When adding the hot oatmeal to the eggs, temper them by adding one small spoonful at a time and whisking until incorporated. Do this 3-4 times until the temperature of the eggs has risen slowly. This will prevent accidental scrambling your eggs from the heat (but on the upside, it's kind of a neat science experiment if it happens ... ).

Southwest Egg Burritos for Two (my own recipe)

•  Two whole-wheat tortillas
• 1/2 c cheese
• 1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 eggs
• ~2 tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp each cumin and chile pepper
• Handful of green onions or chives
•  salt and pepper
• Salsa, sour cream, cilantro and any other Southwest-style toppings that you like

1. Heat a pan over medium heat and lightly coat it (use a oil spritzer if you can) with canola oil. Lay a tortilla in the pan and watch for it to bubble. Lift it ever so slightly. If there are darkish brown char marks, flip it and repeat on the other side. Repeat with one more tortilla. Put on plates and sprinkle with Mexican cheese (or colby-jack or cheddar).
2. While this is happening, heat your drained and rinsed beans in a pot or in the microwave. In the now-empty, warm tortilla pan, scramble four eggs with a little milk. Season them with salt, pepper, about a 1/2 tsp. cumin and chile powder, each, and some green onion or chives, if you have it. Top the cheesy tortillas with the southwestern-scrambled eggs. Next layer the tortillas with spoonful or two of the warmed beans each, and salsa, sour cream and cilantro, as desired.

And, if you like heat as much as my husband does, sprinkle generously with "spicy flakes," a.k.a.: crushed red pepper, or jalapenos. (We go through a bulk bottle of "spicy flakes" just about every six months thanks to him ... ) Note: I took photos only to realize that my SD card was in the computer, not the camera. *Sigh ... guess I'll have to make these again next weekend!

I recommend serving these meals with fruit and wearing expandable pants. Happy brunch day!