Shrimp Tacos with Apple Salsa and Queso Fresco

It's almost that time of year when you can break out the BBQ and start grilling every meal, because most foods are better when grilled.  Luckily for me I live in sunny L.A. and can grill pretty much year round.  Insert dinner:  Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Apple Salsa and Queso Fresco.  Grilly deliciousness.

Clean take the tail shell off of about a pound of peeled and deveined shrimp.  Put them into a ziplock bag with 1 Tbsp of olive oil, the juice of one lime, and about 1/4 tsp each of paprika, cumin, and red pepper flakes.  Squish around until all of the shrimp is covered and let stand for about 15 minutes.

Heat the grill to about 350 or so.

Into a large bowl combine the following, all chopped into salsa sized chunks: apple, red onion, jalapeno, red bell pepper, green onions and the juice of half a lime, half a lemon, and a pinch of salt.  Mix well and let sit in the fridge until everything else is done.

When the grill is ready, place each little shrimp directly from the bag to the grill, making sure they don't fall through.  Cook for a couple minutes on each side until pink and opaque.  Remove the shrimp from the grill and replace with soft, fresh corn tortillas (I like La Tortilla Factory).  Grill on each side until heated through.

Assemble!  Tortilla, shrimp, salsa, crumbled queso fresco.  Eat!
I served mine with marinaded cucumbers and carrots.  I love these because they are potent and the vinegar kinda burns your mouth, it's a real treat...Jesse does not agree.

Thinly slice cucumbers, shave carrots, thinly slice some red onion.  Toss these in a bowl with some rice vinegar, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt.  Mix well and let sit for as long as possible.

Veggie Pizza

Okay, you caught me, Jesse and I are on a diet.  It's really more of an eating healthy trend than a diet...except that I can't eat cookies, which feels like torture, which feels like a diet.  Anyway, our goal was to eat all of the things we love, like pizza, but healthier versions of them.  Insert: Veggie Pizza on whole wheat crust (which was way better than I expected).

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (Whole Foods makes a great one)
Mozzarella Cheese
Goat Cheese
Pizza Sauce
Plum
Zucchini
Summer Squash
Broccoli
Red Bell Pepper
Jalapeno
Salt and Pepper

Heat oven to about 425.  Spray a little cooking spray on a baking sheet and stretch out your dough.  Add a little bit of pizza sauce in a thin layer on top of the dough.  Add shredded mozzarella cheese, also just a thin layer on top of the sauce, remember, you're on a diet.

Chop the veggies into very small pieces, about the size of a corn kernel.  If they are too large they will weigh down the pizza and when you pick it up it will flop down and everything will fall off...big pizza fail.

Add all of the veggies, sprinkling them evenly over the pizza, then drop the goat cheese in small clumps over the veggies.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for about 15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

This pizza is awesome because the plum adds a bit of sweetness, the jalapeno adds a bit of spicy, and the goat cheese adds a lot of delicious.  Jesse was skeptical, but I convinced him after the first bite.

Healthy Vegetable Fried Rice

Healthy, you say?  Why yes, it turns out that every so often I do make a healthy dinner that is blog worthy. Tonight was one of those nights.  My vegetable fried rice is heathy, filling, and goes great with Pork Tenderloin.

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves
3 scallions
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
Red Bell Pepper
Canned Corn Kernels
Frozen Shelled Edamame
Extra Firm Tofu
Carrots
Zucchini
Summer Squash
2 Lightly Beaten Eggs
Brown Rice
3 Tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce

I like to chop everything up at once so it is ready to go.  It is also best to chop all the veggies to about the same size, so I use the corn kernels as my guide.  You can use however much of everything you'd like.  You can gauge how much to use by how much rice you have, since you want to have a nice rice to veggie ratio.

Heat a little bit of vegetable oil in a wok over medium high heat.  Add in the chopped garlic, scallions and ginger.  Cook for a minute or so, making sure not to burn the garlic (it will get bitter).

Add just a little more oil and all of the veggies and tofu.  Stir and cook until the veggie are tender but everything is still brightly colored and crisp.

Make a well in the center of the wok and add the eggs.  When the eggs are cooked, stir everything together and add in the rice.  Add in the soy sauce and a splash of worcestershire sauce.  Stir together and cook until the rice is heated through.

I served this tonight with a side of Pork Tenderloin.  I used my standard recipe:
Dump all of the following into a zip lock bag and let marinade in the fridge for 3 days.
Pork Tenderloin (half of one is perfect for 2 people)
Soy Sauce
Rice Vinegar
Orange Juice
Sriracha Sauce
Ginger
Garlic

Cook on a broiler pan for 25-30 minutes at 425.  The temperature at the end should be no higher than 140....135 is best I think.

BBQ Pork Pizza

I have really got to start taking photos of my food more often.


Anyway, the other night I made one of my favorite pizzas, BBQ Pork Pizza.  I used leftover pork from the Savory Pork Tacos, homemade pizza dough, and delicious veggies.  It was so good Jesse and I ate the entire thing, and Ceasar salad!


Ingredients:
*Pizza dough (if you don't want to make your own, Whole Foods sells amazing pizza dough that you can buy fresh.  I also hear that Trader Joe's has pizza dough, but I don't like anything Trader Joe's has to offer.)
*Shredded pork (see recipe in my Savory Pork Tacos post)
*Your favorite BBQ sauce
*Gruyere Cheese (shredded)
*Canned corn
*Red bell pepper (chopped into chunks about the size of the corn kernels)
*Jalapeno (finely chopped)
*Salt and Pepper


Preheat oven to 425.


Stretch out the pizza dough (never roll) and place on a baking sheet coated with Olive Oil Cooking Spray.  Brush on some BBQ sauce to cover the bottom.  Then top with the shredded pork (as much as you like), then I like to add a little more BBQ sauce in drops over the top of the pork.  Not too much, just enough to add a little more sauciness.  Then top with the corn, red bell pepper, jalapeno, shredded cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper.


Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and blistery on top.


Let sit for a minute before slicing and diving in.  Enjoy with a salad for a well-rounded meal.

Savory Pork Tacos

I don't know why pork tacos wouldn't be savory, I just think it sounds nice.  What really makes these tacos amazing is the salsa I invented, but I thought the rest of the taco was worth mentioning as well.  I like to buy pork shoulders because they are very inexpensive and best made in the crock pot, one of my favorite appliances.  This requires a little planning ahead, but the outcome is well worth it.


In to the crock pot put the following ingredients:
pork shoulder
enough beef broth to cover or almost cover the meat
quite a bit of:
salt
cumin
red pepper flakes
garlic powder
onion powder
ground coriander
dried oregano


Turn on the pot and go to work, or stay home and enjoy the smell of simmering meat all day.
When it comes time for dinner, heat the oven to about 375.  Place 2 corn tortillas in a tinfoil pouch sealed on all ends (2 tortillas per person) and put in the oven to warm for about 5 to 10 minutes.


Make the salsa, which I'm naming Anna's Amazing Salsa (because it is really, really amazing):
Chop the following into small pieces (think salsa sized):
Red apple (Fuji, Gala or Honey Crisp would all be nice)
Tomato
Orange Bell Pepper (red, green or yellow would all work)
One Scallion 
some Jalapeno
a pinch of salt
some lemon and lime juice


Toss together and try not to eat it all with tortilla chips before dinner.


To assemble the tacos, remove the tortillas from their pouches and top with some shredded pork, salsa and a little bit of sour cream.  You can also add avocado or cheese or lettuce...whatever you like.


These tacos are great with a side of beans and rice.

Pork Tenderloin

Pork Tenderloin is one of the easiest meats to make.  It's all about the marinade and cooking it to the perfect medium-rare temperature.  Here is my go to recipe for pork tenderloin.


Place the tenderloin in a large zip lock bag with the following (as usual I don't measure anything):
soy sauce,
a little peanut oil,
fresh or dried ginger powder,
fresh or dried garlic powder,
onion powder,
as much Sriracha sauce as you like


Place this in the fridge all day so the marinade can really get in the pork.  You can even do this a day or two ahead of time.  If you're like me, you'll get the pork ready and then not want pork for dinner, so you leave it for the next night....then that next night rolls around and you still don't want pork but you force yourself to make it anyway.  It's so delicious that you can't believe you ate pizza the night before, what were you thinking?!


Preheat oven to 425.
Spray a broiler pan with cooking spray.  I have no idea if this is really a broiler pan or not, but it's the kind of deep dish pan with a rack that sits on top with holes in it.  You put the pork tenderloin on this rack.  Be sure to spray the rack when it's in place on the pan so that the bottom of the pan gets sprayed as well.  Because the juices from the pork drip down onto this pan while cooking, they can easily burn on the bottom and you'll have a hell of a time scraping this junk off...so if you hit it with a little cooking spray, it makes your life a lot easier.  Aaaaaanyway.... remove the pork from the marinade and place it on the rack while the oven is heating up.  When ready, stick it in the oven and set the timer for 25 minutes.  This is a great time to start some rice pilaf because they take about the same amount of time to cook.  After 25 minutes, check the temperature with a thermometer.  The temp should be about 135 - 140.  I believe the correct temp for pork is 145 but in my opinion that is too done.  Remove the pork (if ready) from the oven and transfer to a cutting board.  Let rest for at least 5 minutes!  Don't even think about touching this pork before 5 minutes.  Then slice into about 1/2 inch thick slices at a slight angle (for looks) and you should have perfect, juicy pork tenderloin. 


I always like to serve this with rice pilaf and sauteed vegetables.  I've been adding a dash of toasted sesame seeds to my veggies right before they are done cooking, it adds that extra little something that makes them better in some way.

Salmon

I read somewhere that you should cook salmon at a lower temperature for a longer period of time because it helps to melt the fats, distributing them throughout the fish and creating a tender, juicy, delicious dinner.  So I tried this, and it worked.


Preheat oven to 375.


Spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray.  Coat both sides (skin side and non-skin side) of a salmon fillet with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cajun seasoning if you have it.  I have no idea what is in this cajun seasoning my dad whipped up, but I use it on everything to give just a little kick.  


Place the salmon in the baking dish, skin side down.  Top with a few dollops of butter and stick it in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes or until opaque.  Be careful with this opaque business though.  If you buy salmon that has been farm raised, it is going to be much more pink that wild salmon, because they put pink stuff in it to make it look..well...pink.  So when you cook it it's going to retain that pink color, instead of wild salmon that becomes less pink when cooked because you can see the fat melt throughout the fish and it becomes opaque.  I learned this lesson the hard way and totally over cooked some salmon one time that I didn't know was farm raised.  Just to be on the safe side, and if you want to eat better salmon (or anything) buy the wild stuff.  It's a little more expensive, but you want to put good stuff in your body, so buck up and pay for it.


When it's done I like to transfer the salmon to a cutting board and use a spatula to remove the skin before putting it on plates.  Just insert the spatula between the skin and flesh and slide it right on through, it's really easy when the fish is cooked.  It's a nightmare to remove the skin before the salmon is cooked.


Enjoy with a nice salad or sauteed veggies.  

Fish Tacos

Ole!




Ingredients:
2 Tilapia Filets
Creole Seasoning
Limes
Shallot
Sour Cream
Chili Powder
Salt
4 Soft Corn Tortillas
Fresh Salsa (chopped onion, tomatoes, jalapeno and cilantro)


First, rub the tilapia fillets with the creole seasoning on both sides.  Heat a little olive oil and butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat and add the tilapia.  Cook for a few minutes on each side until cooked through and slightly crispy on the edges.


While the fish is cooking, put some sour cream in a bowl.  Add the zest and juice of half a lime, a pinch of salt, about a teaspoon of finely chopped shallot and as much chili powder as you'd like.  Stir this into a nice sauce and set aside.


Heat the corn tortillas either in a non-stick pan or wrapped in tin foil in the oven.  When the fish is done, divide the 2 fillets among the 4 warm tortillas.  Squeeze a little more lime juice over the fish, top with the sour cream sauce and fresh salsa.  Eat!


I like to serve these with refried beans and corn chips because it's delicious to scoop some beans onto the taco as you go.  You can really jazz up a can of vegetarian refried beans by doing this: plop them out into a sauce pan, mix in about 2 tablespoons of green salsa, about 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese and 1 tablespoon of sour cream.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.


Serves 2....best recommended with a bottle of Pacifico garnished with a lime wedge.

Spicy Beef Enchiladas

I would like to preface this recipe with the fact that this is not necessarily a healthy dinner.  Perhaps you could make a nice side salad or some sort of vegetable invention of your own, but I had a salad for lunch so I thought, what the hell, jalapenos and green chiles will have to suffice.  Nutrition facts aside, these enchiladas were delicious!  And I used up left over ground beef, which is a near miracle in this house.


I made 5 (8") enchiladas and had leftover rice and meat, so you could make a lot more with these amounts.


Ingredients:
* 1 lb ground beef (buy grass fed, always!)
* One package Taco Seasoning
* 1 box Spanish Rice
* 8" Corn Tortillas
* Grated Cheddar Cheese
* Low Fat Cream Cheese
* One can Red Enchilada Sauce
* One small can of diced Green Chiles
* Chopped jalepenos


Now Do This:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and coat a baking dish lightly with cooking spray.


Cook the ground beef in a pan until just browned.  Add in the packet of taco seasoning and about 3/4 cup water, mix well and simmer for about 10 minutes.  You could easily make your own taco seasoning with things like salt, crushed red pepper, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder... pretty much any of the spices you always have on hand that sounds kinda Mexicany.  I like the packaged kinds that don't contain MSG.


While the beef is cooking, make the Spanish Rice according to the package directions.  Again you could make your own using the same spices and whatever rice you like.


Lay out your corn tortillas and put a small amount of cream cheese in a line down the middle.  I just used my fingers and pulled small dabs off a spoon.  Then, also in a line down the middle (as with everything), put a small amount of the beef, rice, as much jalapeno as you like, and grated cheddar cheese.  Roll the tortilla and put seam side down into the baking dish.  Do this with as many tortillas as will fit in your dish, you can really squeeze them in there.


Pour the entire can of sauce over the top to completely cover the tortillas, then add the green chiles as evenly as possible.  Top with a little more cheddar cheese and put in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese on top is melted and the sauce is starting to bubble.  


After devouring one of these enchiladas I remembered that I wanted to put a little sour cream on top but I was too full to go for seconds.  The sour cream would be really nice because these are pretty spicy.


I'm too impatient for most things, but you could really make this entire meal from scratch, as opposed to packaged ingredients (maybe aside from the tortillas), and I bet it would be amazing.  The only thing that might take longer would be making the enchilada sauce ahead of time.