Huevos Rancheros

Huevos Rancheros
serves 2
1 T butter/margarine
1 white onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T cumin
1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chipotles chopped
1 can black beans, drained (no need to rinse them)
2 - 4 tortillas (depends on size and how much you want)
2 - 4 eggs (again, depends on your preference)
1/2 C shredded cheese, if desired

Avocado Salsa
1 avocado, diced
juice from 1 lime
2 T cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, diced

Cilantro Lime Crema
6 oz. container fat-free greek yogurt (I think technically it's 5.something ounces... close enough)
pinch of kosher salt
2 T lime juice
2 T cilantro, chopped

1. Prepare both the avocado salsa and cilantro lime crema by mixing ingredients in small bowls until combined.  Refrigerate until ready to use.  Something to note here is that I've cut down the fat that's normally in such a crema just by substituting fat-free greek yogurt for sour cream.  I've been doing that in a lot of recipes lately, and honestly I can't tell the difference.

2. Melt butter/margarine in a large sauce pan.  Add onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, being careful not to burn.  Add cumin, chipotles, adobo sauce and black beans and cook until beans are soft, about 10 minutes.

3. Heat a grill pan or large frying pan over medium high heat.  Heat tortillas on hot pan for about 20 seconds on each side and remove to plates.  Spread bean mixture on tortillas and top with crema, avocado salsa and cheese.

4. Cook eggs over medium and put on top of tortillas.  Enjoy!

Pan-Seared Tilapia with Honey Chipotle Butter

Wow, how has it already been two months since my last post?  Yikes.  I don't think I've ever gone even a month without posting.  And the crazy part is I have recipes to share!  I've been taking pictures and meaning to write these things up, but it just hasn't happened.  Sorry, one or two readers of this blog.  I'll try to do better.

This is a quick and fairly healthy dinner that I came up with tonight while I was supposed to be "relaxing."  Thinking up new recipes is relaxing, isn't it?  Anyway, I think the last few times I've made tilapia I've breaded it in panko and pan-fried it.  I needed something new, so I started browsing recipes.  I kept seeing things with various different butter sauces.  Then I thought about the honey chipotle butter that comes with bread at our neighborhood Cuban restaurant, which I've duplicated a number of times.  And voila!  Dinner was made.

Pan-Seared Tilapia with Honey Chipotle Butter*

serves 2

2 T light margarine* (or butter, but hey, I'm trying to cut down on butter), softened

1/2 t honey

1/2 t chipotle powder

2 tilapia fillets

salt & pepper

garlic powder

juice of 1 lime

cooking spray

1. Mix margarine, honey and chipotle powder together in a small bowl until well combined.  Place in refrigerator until ready to use.

2. Season fish fillets with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.  Spray fillets with cooking spray.  Heat medium saute pan over medium-high heat until water dances on the surface.  Spray with a little cooking spray and put the fillets in.  Cook for 2-3 minutes on a side, flipping.  After the second flip, divide honey chipotle butter and put on each fillet.  Squeeze lime juice over the top and heat for another minute or so.  Serve fish, pouring butter sauce over the top.

To make the colorful rice in the background, add 1 diced pepper (I used red, orange, yellow and green because I had them all on hand), 1 onion, 1 clove garlic, splash of lime juice, handful of chopped cilantro, 1 T extra virgin olive oil and 1 T red wine vinegar to 1 C brown rice, cooked.

Salmon and Quinoa Cakes

Two salmon recipes in a row!  I got home late from work last night, since I had to stop at the dentist, so I had originally planned to just make another salmon salad for dinner and call it a night.  But while I waited half an hour for the dentist to see me (yay for punctuality!), I looked at other salmon recipes on my phone.  I stumbled upon this recipe for salmon and quinoa patties and thought I'd give it a try.   The original recipe notes that, because of the quinoa, you won't need bread crumbs, but I beg to differ.  The quinoa is definitely a nice addition and makes the cakes that more substantial, but they don't take the place of bread crumbs.  At least, they didn't for me.  I also changed the recipe by making my own yogurt and dill sauce, which is a sauce I've been making with salmon for a few years now.  Although this recipe looks like it could be complicated and time-consuming, dinner was on the table within half an hour of me getting home. 

Salmon & Quinoa Cakes

serves 2

1/4 C quinoa

3/4 C water

2 salmon fillets, finely chopped

1 egg

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 T dijon mustard

1 T dill paste / small bunch of dill, chopped

1 T lemon juice

1/2 clove garlic

salt & pepper to taste

1/4 C bread crumbs

2 T wheat flour

1/4 C plain greek yogurt

1/4 C shredded mozzarella

1/2 clove garlic

1 T dill paste / small bunch of dill, chopped

1. Boil water in small sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Once boiling, add quinoa, cover and cook until water evaporates and quinoa is cooked, about 10-15 minutes.  Once cooked, remove lid and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, mix salmon, egg, green onions, dijon mustard, dill, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper, bread crumbs, wheat flour and cooled quinoa.  If mixture seems too runny, add a small amount of flour and bread crumbs.  You'll want the mixture to be thick enough that you can shape it into patties, but still moist.

3. Mix greek yogurt, mozzarella, garlic and dill in a small bowl.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

4. Heat skillet over medium heat.  Shape salmon mixture into 4 patties and cook for about 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown.  Serve with yogurt sauce.

Salmon and Apple Salad

Don't worry folks, we're still doing Meatless Mondays, but since we're having a repeat of black bean burgers tonight, here's a recipe for something with meat!  This salmon salad was inspired by an amazing sandwich that Bob's parents made last year - the sandwich was salmon, green apples, bacon and honey mustard (and possibly other things that I'm forgetting?).  We turned it into a salad and paired it with a homemade mustard vinaigrette from this recipe and voila, quick, delicious and healthy weeknight dinner!

Salmon and Apple Salad
serves 2
Dressing
3 T red wine vinegar
1 1/2 t honey
1 1/2 t dijon mustard
1 clove garlic
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 C roughly chopped onion (this is roughly 1/4 onion, I prefer red onions here)
1/3 C olive oil


2 salmon fillets
salt & pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste


4 cups chopped romaine lettuce, rinsed
1 green apple, cored and sliced
1 T lemon juice
3-4 green onions, chopped
2 slices bacon (to keep it healthy, I used low-sodium turkey bacon), cooked, drained and crumbled
1/4 C walnuts, chopped
1/2 C shredded cheese (swiss or mozzarella are both great here)
croutons

1. To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in the bowl of a blender or immersion blender until smooth. Refrigerate until you're ready to dress the salad.

2. Season salmon with salt, pepper and garlic powder and spray with a little cooking spray.  Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat until drops of water dance on the surface.  Add salmon and sear until fully cooked and flaky.

3. Assemble salad, eat and enjoy!

Black Bean and Red Quinoa Patties with Fried Eggs and Avocado Cream

We were a day late on Meatless Monday this week.  After having a really long and busy weekend, I just didn't feel like cooking on Monday, so we had leftover BBQ instead.  Feeling refreshed, I searched for recipe ideas yesterday and came across this recipe for black bean patties with an egg and avocado crema.  I made a few alterations, and this turned out to be a great and filling dinner.  But then, what isn't good with a fried egg on top of it?

Black Bean and Red Quinoa Patties with Fried Eggs and Avocado Cream
serves 2

1/4 C red quinoa

1/2 C water

14.5 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed

pinch of kosher salt

1/4 white onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 t cumin

1/2 t chili powder

1 T cilantro paste

1/4 C bread crumbs

1 T skim milk

1 avocado

lime juice

2 T light sour cream

hot sauce, as desired

2 eggs

1. In a small sauce pan, bring water to a boil.  Add red quinoa, cover and simmer until quinoa is fully cooked, adding more water if necessary.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

2. Put beans in a medium mixing bowl and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.  Mash beans with a fork (the original recipe says to use a food processor, but we don't have one, and honestly, mashing beans isn't too time consuming).  Mix in onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, cilantro, bread crumbs and milk until mixture comes together, adding more milk or bread crumbs if necessary.  Stir in cooled quinoa.  Shape into two patties.  Put on a plate, separated with wax paper, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

3. Scoop out avocado into a small bowl and mix with lime juice and sour cream.  Refrigerate until ready to eat.

4. Heat skillet over medium-high heat.  Spray the tops of bean patties with a little non-stick cooking spray and place in pre-heated pan.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side, until outside of burgers is browned and crispy.

5. Fry two eggs over medium, or as desired.  Place eggs on top of bean patties and garnish with avocado cream and hot sauce.  Enjoy!