Christmas Steak

And just like that, Christmas is upon us! This isn't Christmas dinner, but it's close.

Boneless rib steak:
Montreal Steak Spice
Chopped cilantro
Olive Oil

Mushrooms:
Garlic
Paprika
Cumin
S&P

Salad:
Baby Kale
Chick Peas
Pomegranate
Avocado

Dressing:
Tahini
Grainy Mustard
Maple Syrup
Lime juice

Everything was delicious. The steak was eaten with a wedge of lime for a nice citrus note. And, the vitamin C from the lime helps your body absorb the iron better from the red meat. Just FYI.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. 

The Love, Joy and Peace of Christ be upon your household. 

And may every good and perfect gift find its way to you in the New Year!

Detox Water

I don't have a heck of a lot of supporting documents for this...I could look it up but it'll take too long. I just believe there's something to this...and the gist is this:

Our bodies have to deal with a lot of crap we either put into it (processed food chemicals etc) or that we expose ourselves to (aerosol sprays, etc). While our liver can generally do a pretty awesome job cleaning the toxins and chemicals from our blood, it's likely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of crap we fill/expose ourselves to. So the liver can't do a complete job. It's tired. These fats/chemicals/toxins/etc hang around in our blood which makes it pH acidic...but our bodies are so sensitive that this slight pH change will eventually make an impact on our health. There IS correlation out there that a more acidic blood environment makes us suceptible to cancers and disease.

So we need to help our body keep itself healthy, firstly by eating better and reducing the amount of chemicals we breath/absorb into our bodies, and also by doing detoxes or cleanses. The major detox programs are a bit too involved for where I'm at so I'm trying this daily, mini detox:

Lemon
Lime
(squeeze as much of the juice as you can into the water)
Honey
Water

Interestingly, even though lemon is an acidic fruit, its juice in cold water and when digested helps make our blood more alkaline. (Also interestingly, lime sinks, but lemon floats!) If you can drink it without the honey then do so to keep sugars low...the honey is more for the taste than the detox factor. And then make this the first and last drink of your day. (I confess, I'm not very disciplined at doing this daily...but baby steps right? It adds up!)

An even simpler alternate: Juice half a lemon into ONE cup of cold water...and drink!

Warm Corn Salsa

This makes a fantastic side dish....I can't wait until BBQ season because it would totally go well with smoky ribs and chicken and steaks.

Corn
Peas
Plum Tomatoes
Onion
Lime Juice
Salt
Pepper

The lime juice really brings out all the flavors....LOVE it!

Pot roast

I've never made pot roast....so thought I'd give it a try. Bought a sirloin tip roast, put a delicious smelling rub on it. Seared all sides (and set off the smoke detector multiple times). Then into the oven it went. The color looked perfect when it came out...nice range of medium to medium rare for the various preferences in my family. BUT, as a sirloin tip, there's very little marbling of fat in it, so you guessed it, the poor roast was SUPER chewy. Tasted great, but hard to chew. It was a fail.

My uncle suggested next time I bake it at 250F for six to eight hours. I could try that. Or I could just buy prime rib roast next time. Maybe sirloin tip roasts are meant for braising only....anyone know?? Ah well.

My tasty rub:
Chili flakes
Paprika
Cumin
Rosemary
Garlic
Lime juice
Olive Oil


Sorry about the picture....I loaded it vertical from my phone onto the blogpost app, but then it comes out like this when I use my desktop.

Rosemary Lime Squash Bake

This is one of those easy sides that I knew how to make growing up because I had gotten tired of eating mashed potatoes. I know...how can one get tired of mash potatoes? Well I did. (Though now because I eat it super infrequently, it's become a bit of a treat.)

Butternut squash
Rosemary
Lime juice
Olive Oil

Just salt and pepper to taste. But you don't need very much as the fragrance of rosemary and the little zing of lime makes the squash tasty enough. Enjoy!

Cilantro Lime Chicken

Are we sick of turkey? Any great meal ideas to share?? =D

So I didn't get a picture for this one...but don't let that stop you from trying it out! Chicken thighs were the meat of choice...I'm freezing the leftover turkey for the New Year. While trying to think of a flavor to try, I found half a lime and a bunch of cilantro that was threatening to brown in my fridge. I liked lime and cilantro in guacamole....why not try it here?

Chicken
Lime juice
Cilantro (finely chopped)
Garlic
Cumin
Salt & pepper

It was really tasty!! And also a bit of a palate cleanser with the citrus. The only negative was that the cilantro turns a muddy brown after you cook it for a while so the dish isn't the prettiest when done. Nevertheless, my tastebuds don't discriminate... =)

Guacamole

This is a favorite snack of mine: GUACAMOLE! Goes with chips, sesame crackers, rice crackers, lentil chips...anything crunchy really. (Sorry the camera focus wasn't quite right.) While avocados have higher calory counts, it's got some very good benefits for your body. I also like to use a fork and spoon to do the mashing together instead of a blender. This way I get a nice chunky texture that tells me I'm eating the real thing instead of some processed and powdered mix.

Avocados
Lime juice
Salt & Pepper
------------------These first three ingredients is my basic go-to recipe for a quick guac fix

Garlic (one clove minced is enough punch)
Cilantro

I LOVE this stuff!! Ymm!
 

Soy Lime Salmon

Another easy marinade:

Fresh Salmon
Soy Sauce
Lime juice
Sugar
a few drops of Sesame Oil

As you pan fry, watch the meat turn color from the pan upwards. When the pale color reaches halfway, then flip the fish and watch the pale color come up again. I personally like it "just" cooked so that it's still got a little bit of pink in the middle. Skywalker, my husband, like it cooked through so that you can flake the fish easily. Up to you though! Cheers.

Pork Rib Stew & Braised Purple Cabbage

It's getting cold out...and as such, my mind is starting to think of hearty soups and stews. And cooked veggies. This recent experiment turned out decently though I think the pork rib stew flavors could be stronger.

Pork stew:
Pork riblets
Onion
Lime juice
Oregano
Sugar
Chili powder
Soy sauce
Ketchup

Braised Purple Cabbage:
Purple cabbage
Apple
Raisins
Honey
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt to taste

And the cooked cabbage turned out pretty decently too. My husband had gotten tired of the slaw over the summer so to change the texture I tried this. The apples add a nice sweet/tartness to the mix.

All the above was served with brown basmati rice mixed with red quinoa.

Golden Pompano

The Pompano is a cousin of the pihrana I believe...and it's an easy fish to cook. For starters, it doesn't have any scales. Its bones are few and easy to remove. The meat is medium firm and quite tasty....and you can fry, steam, bake, grill it however you like.

There are many ways to season and cook this fish. My current favorite is to rub a curry powder mix onto it (as well as inside the cleaned belly). Then I pan fry it until I can easily push a fork through the whole fish. Add some fresh chopped cilantro and squeeze some lime over it as you eat. Yumz!!

Ingredients:
Curry powder mix (tumeric, chili powder, masala, ground coriander, ground fennel seeds, ginger powder....whatever is in your cupboard)
Cilantro
Lime

Blueberry Corn Salad

I think this is my new favorite summer salad...I'll take a picture the next time I make it.

BBQ'd corn niblets (after cutting the niblets off the cob, save it for sweetening soup stock!)
Blueberries
Arugula
Spinach
BBQ'd meat (steak, ribs, chicken, whatever)

(I would've loved some shredded mint or basil tossed in as well...but my basil plant is still tiny in its pot.)

Drizzle with this citrus-y lime vinaigrette goodness:
Lime juice
Olive Oil
Mustard
Sugar
Vinegar
Salt

The citrus dressing cuts through the rich smokey fats of the BBQ'd meat. The blueberries add a tangy sweetness. It's all very yummy.

Soy Lime Mackerel

Part of trying to eat healthier is also trying to eat more organic and sustainable products. Wild mackerel is one of those products. These smaller fishes grow fast and reach sexual maturity quickly, making them sustainable compared to, say, tuna....which also stores high levels of mercury in its flesh. Another bonus is how the mackerel is scale-less. I hate de-scaling fishes...but I love eating the skin! The darker layer of flesh right under the skin is supposed to be rich in omega oils too.
I trimmed off the head and tail, and filleted it so that it can be opened flat. I left the backbone in so that it wouldn't curl when I panfried it. Then I marinated the fish, skin-side up.

Marinade:
Soy Sauce
Sugar
Vinegar
(can also add chili flakes)

The mackerel was served over a bed of spinach and arugula leaves and the dressing for both the fish and salad was drizzled on top. I had leftover corn so the niblets were tossed into the salad as well.

Dressing:
Lime juice
Olive Oil
Sugar
Ginger root (finely chopped)
Soy Sauce

And it was good! Not fishy in taste at all. =)
Again, sorry no picture...ate it before I remembered.

Adhoc Korean Shortrib Marinade

This happens more often than not...I look up a recipe for inspiration and find that I'm missing an ingredient or two...or five. Unless it's the main ingredient, I consider myself too lazy practical to make a trip out to the grocery store to get it. No time and not worth the gas. I always look for what's "close enough" and already in my cupboards or fridge. That was the case for the Korean shortribs, or Galbi, I wanted to marinade. But I made do with this:

Soy sauce
Rice wine
Brown sugar or Honey
Garlic
Ginger
Lime juice
Black Pepper
Sesame Oil

What I was missing or had substituted from the real recipe (taken from Maangchi.com):

Cooking wine
Korean pear or Bosc pear
Onion

But you know, my adhoc one was still really really tasty. =)

Red Cabbage Slaw

I discovered my love for red cabbage slaw while on a trip to Israel recently. It's cool, crunchy, light and tastes like summer. There's so many different ways to do this slaw so you'll probably see several variations come through this blog. So yum! I unfortunately ate the whole thing before remembering to take a photo of it....so next time. Here's what went into it:

Half a red cabbage, slivered
Some fennel
One shallot
Handful of raisins
Cilantro

For the dressing:

Mayo
Honey Dijon mustard
Sugar
Salt & pepper
Lime juice
Some vinegar