Miss Me???

Hey all, I have a couple I O U's to fullfill.  I was way too ambitious thinking I could have got to this prior to leaving for vacation and although I have been home for a week, would you believe there has been no time??

I will give you the recipe I made for my parents before I left today and maybe tomorrow or Sunday I will give you a recipe we had while up North that was super yum.  Plus I need to do a new menu plan! Much to do!!!

Before we left I had food I needed to use up and I wanted to visit my parents so, wah-la, dinner party!

Citrus Marinated Fish Tacos

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, stems discarded, seeded and thinly sliced, plus 1 teaspoon of the adobo sauce from the can (OK here is the skinny on this - I only used 1 can and I was very careful to seed them and wash them and it was SO spicy! I can't imagine using 2 cans, I have worked with these little guys before so I knew they are seriously hot.  So needless to say the kids were crying "Too Spicy" throughout dinner. If you have kids, skip this ingredient and maybe just add a little chile pepper or red pepper, if no kids and you like spicy give it a try!)
• 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice
• ½ cup cilantro
• 1 1/2 pounds shelled and deveined large shrimp
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless meaty fish filets, such as snapper, bass, tilefish or cod, cut lengthwise into 1-inch strips - I used 3 fillets of fresh Walleye my hubby caught thank you very much, good job honey!1 large sweet onion, cut crosswise into 2 thick slabs
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
•  Sliced onion
• 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil
• 14 corn tortillas
• Sliced oranges, Mild salsa, lime wedges, shredded lettuce and diced avocado, tomato and onion, for serving

Preparation

1.     In a medium bowl, combine the orange juice with the garlic, adobo sauce, cilantro and 1 tablespoon of the lime juice. Add the shrimp and fish, season with salt and pepper; let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.

2.     In a large nonreactive skillet, warm the oil over moderately high heat. Add the fish and shrimp cook until whitened but still opaque in the center, about 2 minutes per side. Add the onion and garlic, reduce the heat to moderate and cook, stirring, until the onion is wilted and the fish breaks into large flakes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

3.     Add the sliced oranges, chipotles, cilantro and the remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice. Season with salt and pepper.

These little guys were for my hubby, who ALWAYS orders fish tacos at Mexican restaurants and I always thought weird but I saw this recipe and thought, that sounds about my speed and so I went for it, plus I got to use his fish.  Sweet.  However they were definitely not sweet they were SPICY!!!  3 pts each though, awesome, eat 2!  I paired them with...

Black Beans with Cilantro

 Literally take a can of black beans, heat up and through in fresh cilantro and garlic salt and eat, yum!

My Cilantro Lime Rice

‎1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup basmati rice (its worth making the switch to the more exotic rices, they are yummy or for more healthy choice go brown!)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2-3 cloves minced garlic
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
zest from one lime
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 tsp salt

Add oil to sauce pan and heat on low. Add garlic and rice and saute for 2 min stirring frequently. Add the chicken broth, salt, lime juice and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes or according to rice directions. When the rice is done, add lime zest and chopped cilantro and stir to mix in. Serve immediately.

And a little something new

Lemon Herb Coolers

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups (packed) basil leaves and small sprigs
• 1 cup (packed) cilantro leaves and small sprigs
• 1 cup (packed) mint leaves and small sprigs
• 2 tablespoons tarragon leaves
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Diet Sprite
• Lemon twists and mint sprigs or lime wedges, for garnish

Preparation

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the water and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to moderate and simmer for 5 minutes; let the sugar syrup cool.

2. In a blender or food processor, combine the sugar syrup with the basil, cilantro, mint, tarragon, lemon zest and lemon juice and puree. Let stand for 1 hour, then strain through a coarse sieve, pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible.

At this point it looked like this

To which my dad said, Ewww I am not drinking that.  But then I took a can of diet sprite added 3-4 tbsp of green sludge and a lemony herby delicious and refreshing beverage for 1 pt.

3. For each drink, pour 3-4 Tbsp of the fresh herb syrup over cracked ice and fill with diet sprite. Garnish the drinks with a lemon twist and mint sprigs and serve.

So there you have it a lemon inspired menu (there was a jello item too but that sort of didn't go as planned so I spared you my packing for vacation mayhem that this item fell victim to!)  Hope you see something you like. 

It's good to be back...