This recipe works with any type of fresh white fish. Tilapia and cod are flaky and a lit­tle hard to work with but much less expen­sive than firm fishes like hal­ibut and sea bass. The bright fla­vors of this dish com­pli­ment my recipe for Coconut Risotto with Fresh Peas perfectly!

Note: You will need a mini food proces­sor and a broiler in or under your oven to make this recipe.

Con­tinue Reading…

This risotto can be a creamy, fla­vor­ful side to many fish and chicken dishes. Use reg­u­lar coconut milk as opposed to low-fat ver­sions because the fat will replace the parme­san found in most risotto recipes. Don’t worry, coconut milk is healthy for you in rea­son­able amounts!

Serves 4 as a side dish.

Ingre­di­ents

• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• ½ white or yel­low onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp fresh gin­ger, peeled and minced fine
• 3 gar­lic cloves, minced
• 1 1/4 cups arbo­rio (risotto) rice
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 cup white wine
• 2–3 cups chicken broth
• Sea­son To Taste with salt and pepper
• 1 lime, zested
• 1–2 limes. juiced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 pound fresh sugar snap or snow peas, rinsed

Con­tinue Reading…

I like black bean soup to have a smooth base, but with some whole beans and other veg­gies to give it tex­ture. I also like just a bit of kick to it, the amount of spice that can be quenched with a mar­garita, and not so much that you need to drink a glass of milk with din­ner! To make this recipe you will need a hand held immer­sion blender or a counter-top blender. Try this soup with some warm Coun­try Corn­bread, spread with butter.

Serves 4

Ingre­di­ents

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 8 ounces mild chorizo (The V&V Supremo “No Picante” vari­ety is eas­ily avail­able in most gro­cery stores)
• ½ white or yel­low onion, diced
• 4 gar­lic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeno, minced (optional)
• 1 green pep­per, diced
• 2 large car­rots, diced
• 2 stalks cel­ery, chopped
• 2–3 cups chicken broth
• 2 Table­spoons tomato paste
• 3 cans black beans, thor­oughly rinsed
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• Sea­son To Taste with salt, pep­per, dried oregano, cumin, corian­der, chili powder
• 1–2 limes. juiced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Con­tinue Reading…

This mango salsa is a yummy accom­pa­ni­ment to tor­tilla chips and could also be a condi­ment to fish, chicken or pork. Try it with the White Fish Pat­ties!

Makes 3 cups

Ingre­di­ents

• 1 red bell pep­per, diced small
• 3 Man­goes (ripe but still firm — see note) peeled and diced small
• 3–4 scal­lions, white and green parts sliced into coins
• 1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1–2 limes juiced
• sea­son to taste with salt, pep­per, chili powder
• add honey if needed to sweeten tart mangoes

Con­tinue Reading…

Fish pat­ties can be made with any flaky white fish. I like tilapia because you can buy it in fil­lets with no skin or bones to remove and it is not very expen­sive. This recipe is very good served with the Roasted Corn Salad.

Serves 4

Ingre­di­ents

Fish Pat­ties:

• 3 cups fish poach­ing liq­uid (see Step 1)
• 1 lemon rind, reserve the juice
• 1 ½ pounds flaky white fish such as tilapia or sole, skin and bones removed
• 1 red bell pep­per, diced
• 4 scal­lions, white and green parts chopped
• 2 ounces capers, drained
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup pars­ley, chopped
• 1 cup of bread crumbs (approximately)
• Sea­son To Taste with paprika, salt and pepper
• 1–2 cups veg­etable oil

Con­tinue Reading…

This was one of my favorite meals as a kid. I had a lot of trou­ble find­ing a sim­ple dumpling recipe until I real­ized that my mom found this stew in an antique recipe book. I have tweaked it to include more mod­ern ingredients.

Serves 4

Ingre­di­ents

Stew

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb diced bone­less, skin­less chicken breast
• ½ white onion, diced
• 4 cloves gar­lic, minced
• 3 car­rots, peeled and diced into small coins
• 3 stalks of cel­ery, diced
• 4 cups or more of chicken stock
• 1 cup frozen peas
• ½ cup fresh pars­ley, stems removed and roughly chopped
• Sea­son To Taste with salt and pepper

Con­tinue Reading…

This is a great green veg­etable dish that can be served with any­thing from steak to meat­loaf to salmon. I often make this as a side dish for my meal clients and I also have served it when I am cater­ing a din­ner party.

Serves 4

Ingre­di­ents

• 1 1/2 lb green beans, trimmed
• 1 Tbsp extra vir­gin olive oil
• 1/2 white onion, small diced
• 2 gar­lic cloves, minced
• 1 pack­age cherry or grape toma­toes, cut in half
• ¼ cup white wine
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• Sea­son To Taste with salt and pepper
• ½ cup fresh basil leaves

Con­tinue Reading…

My grandma makes this soup after a big fam­ily din­ner when a ham has been served. She makes it with the ham bone and a bag of mixed dried beans. I have adapted the recipe so that it can be made in under an hour, in time for din­ner. If your ham is salty, be sure to use unsalted broth and taste the soup before sea­son­ing with more salt. This soup is great when served with Coun­try Corn­bread.

Serves 4

Ingre­di­ents

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb ham, diced in ½ inch cubes (ask your deli for ham that is not too salty or too sweet and have them slice it in ½ inch slices so you can dice it easily)
• ½ white or yel­low onion, diced
• 4 gar­lic cloves, minced
• 2 large car­rot, sliced into coins
• 4 stalks cel­ery, chopped
• 1 green pep­per, diced
• 3 cans beans (pinto, can­nellini or great north­ern, and black), thor­oughly rinsed
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 2–3 cups ham or chicken broth
• Sea­son To Taste with salt, pep­per, dried thyme, oregano, cumin, coriander

Con­tinue Reading…

This is a great side dish for any prepa­ra­tion of fish or chicken and can also be used as a relish.

Serves 4

Ingre­di­ents

• 4 ears of corn, shucked
• 2 table­spoons olive oil
• Salt and Pepper
• 3 cloves gar­lic, minced
• 1 bunch green aspara­gus, bot­toms trimmed, diced (If the aspara­gus has thick stalks, the ends may need to be peeled to pre­vent them from being too tough.)
• 1 small red bell pep­per, diced
• 1 pint cherry toma­toes, cut in half
• 4 scal­lions, diced
• 2 ounces of fresh basil
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 table­spoon of honey may be needed

Con­tinue Reading…

This corn­bread accom­pa­nies many of the soups that I make for my clients. It is espe­cially tasty when warmed and spread with butter.

Serves 5

Ingre­di­ents

• 1 cup but­ter­milk or heavy cream
• 2 large eggs
• 4 Tbsp unsalted but­ter, melted, cooled
• 1 tsp maple fla­vor, or 2 Tbsp of maple syrup
• 3/4 cup all pur­pose flour
• 3/4 cup yel­low cornmeal
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp bak­ing powder
• 1 tsp bak­ing soda
• 1 c frozen corn kernels
• 1 minced jalapeño chile with seeds (optional)

Con­tinue Reading…