I totally would’ve posted this 5 days ago (when it actually was our anniversary), but a few unexpected things have happened this week and I haven’t had a chance to even get to my computer! Anyway, our 3 year anniversary was this past Wednesday – sometimes I can’t get over that we’ve been married 3 years. It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that we were on our honeymoon! On top of having our anniversary to celebrate, my hubby just accepted a new job (yay!), so we decided to go out for a fancy dinner a couple of days early, then on our actual anniversary have a nice quiet dinner at home. I was trying to think of something different that we haven’t had at home a lot, and jambalaya kept coming to mind. Since we both looooove Cajun food, I decided jambalaya would perfect (with a glass or two of champagne, of course!)!

And oh my gosh, it was SO good! I kinda-sorta followed a recipe, but mostly just threw stuff in. We absolutely loved it- I’ll definitely be making this over and over again. We had a wonderful, relaxing evening and this was a perfect meal to go with it! Who knows, maybe 50 years from now I’ll be serving this same jambalaya to my sweet hubby for our anniversary dinner!

Jambalaya
-(very loosely) adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 pound smoked sausage, sliced (I like to use turkey sausage)
1/2 pound peeled, deveined shrimp
2 bell peppers, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
3 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Cajun seasoning to taste
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
2 cups white rice

In a medium pot, bring 2 cups of the chicken broth to a boil and cook the rice as directed.  In a large pot over medium heat, cook bell pepper, onion and garlic in the oil until onion is translucent.
Stir in tomatoes, pepper sauce, cayenne, Worcestershire, Cajun seasoning and bay leaves; reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
Stir the shrimp and sausage into the spiced vegetables. Continue to simmer until flavor is as spicy as you like, adding the leftover chicken broth as needed to thin. Add the cooked rice and continue to cook for 10 minutes more.

*You may not need the entire amount of leftover chicken broth – just use as much as you need to get the jambalaya the consistency you want.

My mom used to make these a lot for us when I was growing up. They’re good, crunchy little salmon patties mixed with egg and flour and fried. I loved them with lots of ketchup – and mashed potatoes on the side was a must (and still is!)! I hadn’t had these in years, but finally decided to try my hand at making them for my hubby (he loves fish sticks, so I knew he’d go nuts for these!). They’re so simple to make – all you need is a can of salmon and the rest, you probably already have in your kitchen. I was so pleased with how these turned out – hubby loved them, and I know I’ll be making them a lot in the future!

Salmon Croquettes

1 15oz can pink salmon
1 egg
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1/2 c flour
chopped onion and garlic powder (optional. I used garlic powder and onion powder)
oil for frying

Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Reserve 1/4 c salmon juice in a measuring cup and set aside.  Place salmon in bowl, add egg and mix well.  Add flour, mixing thoroughly.  Batter will be thick.  Add baking powder in the salmon juice and beat with a fork until foam forms; measuring cup should be about 3/4 full (if it doesn’t foam, baking powder is old).  Pour into salmon mixture and mix well.  Form into small patties and drop into frying pan 4 at a time. Cook until golden brown on each side (only a couple of minutes per side). Let drain on paper towls. Serve hot with ketchup.

Last week, hubby and I enjoyed our first al fresco meal by the pool. It was heaven. A nice breeze, pretty flowers all around, and a big, blue, beautiful pool…not a bad view!  When we lived in our apartment, we had a tiny little balcony that left barely enough room for a little bistro set and a couple of hanging plants – and it was sandwiched between buildings, so there was no breeze to speak of. We loved to eat outside, but it was just too cramped and HOT, so we didn’t get to do it much (plus, it’s hard to enjoy a nice, quiet meal when your neighbors are sitting right across from you out on their balconies and people are walking their dogs, scooping poop about 6 feet away from you…). So, needless to say, we enjoy our new back yard….a LOT.

Since the weather was so nice and “summery” the other night, I decided to make our favorite summertime meal – fish tacos. I love these! The fish isn’t fried, so it’s nice and light, and the white sauce is just delicious. I make this all the time in the summer – it’s perfect. Now for those of you who think you “hate fish tacos” – you should give these a try, because my parents were the same way and they quickly changed their tune after trying them. They’re good! I promise!

Fish Tacos

For the Fish:
2 Tilapia fillets, or any white fish you like (this is for two people)
half a head of cabbage – thinly chopped
paprika to taste
salt to taste
dill to taste (I used dried because it’s what I had on hand, but fresh would be better)
Cayenne pepper to taste
juice of one lime (or lemon)
Extra Virgin olive oil to coat the pan
flour tortillas (you’ll probably need around 4)
White sauce (recipe follows)

For the White Sauce:
-recipe from The Way the Cookie Crumbles by Bridget
1½ tablespoon minced cilantro
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon lime juice

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; season fillets with salt, paprika, dill, and Cayenne and place in skillet. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until cooked through and flaky. While the fish is cooking, squeeze the lime juice over each fillet.

To make the white sauce, mix all ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate until needed.

To assemble tacos: spread a generous amount of white sauce on each tortilla, top with fish (you can break the fillets into small pieces if you want, or leave them whole) and cabbage. Serve with a big pina colada and enjoy!

My old college roommate and close buddy, Courtney is working toward becoming a better cook. Now that we’re both in the real world and not living in our tiny college apartment anymore, our alternating dinners of mac-n-cheese and spaghetti just won’t cut it anymore. (I’m doing my best to move past these habits, too!) I told Courtney I would help her think of some quick and easy recipes to get her started, and so far she’s been making some pretty good stuff – I made this fish just for her.

Super Easy Tilapia
*serves 1 – 2

2 tilapia fillets
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Dill
Fresh lemon juice
Cayenne pepper (just a pinch; optional)
Extra virgin olive oil

Heat 1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan over medium heat; season fish with salt, pepper, paprika, dill, lemon juice and cayenne pepper to taste. Place fish in pan and cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until inside of fish is cooked through and “flaky”.

Serve with grilled or sauteed zucchini and squash (I just slice them thin, season with salt and pepper, and saute them in a litte olive oil in a skillet for about 7 – 10 minutes or until tender).

So here’s a winner for you, Courtney – give this a try this week; I promise you’ll love it!

I hope you’re not picturing one of those soggy, deep-fried-mystery-meat-of-the-sea-type sandwiches you get at a fast food joint, right now – ’cause its not that kind of fish sandwich!

While on our fabulous honeymoon in St. Lucia (almost 2 years ago…YIKES!), Joel and I spent each day exactly the same: wake up, go to breakfast, go to the beach for a few hours, have lunch at the beach bar, go back to the beach, go back to our room and relax in the hammock on our front porch, get dressed and go to dinner. We followed the same exact schedule every day – not on purpose, really – it just always happened like that. (Not a bad day’s work, if you ask me!) And almost every day for lunch, we would order the “flying fish sandwich” from the beach bar – really delicious!  It was served with a basket of plantain and sweet potato chips and a cold Piton Beer – it doesn’t get much better than that, folks! (Not surprisingly, lunch was always my favorite meal on this trip!) Somehow, every time I come home from a trip, the things I always remember most are the meals! And in my opinion, that’s the best way to go back and remember the good memories from past trips – just re-create the dishes and you’re there! And so, the “honeymoon fish sandwich” was created (or in this case, re-created!)! I wasn’t really in the mood for plantain and sweet potato chips, so I decided to go with a homemade buttermilk coleslaw (from allrecipes.com – go here if you’d like the recipe.) and oven fries. I also whipped up a quick homemade tartar sauce to spread on the buns. I’m telling you – this was one excellent fish sandwich!!

Honeymoon Fish Sandwich

2 tilapia filets (or any white fish you like)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Dash or two of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped (you could also use dried)
2 teaspoons paprika
fresh lemon juice

Season both sides of the fish with salt, pepper, cayenne, dill and paprika. Sautee in a skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side; sqeeze lemon juice over the fish while its cooking. Serve on a toasted bun with homemade tartar sauce (recipe follows) and lettuce. Serves two.

Homemade Tartar Sauce

1/2 Cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon chopped dill pickles (with just a splash of the pickle juice)
1 Tablespoon minced onion (I used onion powder)
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and chill for at least an hour before serving.

I have a confession to make: anytime I hear anyone talk about a Cooking Light recipe, my eyes glaze over and I sort of just stop listening all together. Just not interested. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those “Paula-Dean-butter-and-fat-lovin” kind of cooks that hates all things healthy – I just tend to think cooking light = no flavor. I don’t really know why…I know, I know – it doesn’t really make sense. So, with that thought in mind, I decided to give Cooking Light a try. I found one of those magazine/cookbooks at my grocery store, flipped through it, and found a few recipes that actually didn’t sound half bad – so I bought it. So far, everything I’ve made out of it has been pretty tasty – including these tuna steaks with green goddess aioli.

This was a delicious meal! Of course, I love anything with avocados! The green goddess aioli would be great on just about anything, I think! Super easy to make and not to mention quick! I made my tuna extra spicy, which was really nicely balanced by the coolness of the aioli. I served it with some oven roasted potato wedges, grilled veggies and grilled sourdough bread.

Tuna Steaks with Green Goddess Aioli
-Adapted from Cooking Light

For the Aioli:
1/4 Cup fat-free sour cream (I used reduced fat)
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil (I used more like 2 or 3 tablespoons because I love basil!)
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
2 Tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon lemon juice (I used 2 or 3)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, chopped

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For the Tuna:
Season 2 to 4 tuna steaks on both sides with salt, pepper, ground cumin and cayenne pepper (I used a lot), and cook on a grill pan (over medium-high heat) for two minutes on each side until desired doneness.

Spoon green goddess aioli over tuna steaks and serve.

So, I guess this proves that Cooking Light really isn’t so bad – they’ve got some pretty yummy recipes, actually! From now on, anytime someone tells me about a Cooking Light recipe – I’ll actually listen! Maybe even get the recipe from them to try for myself! See, I’m growing…..

Earlier today, I emailed Joel to ask him what he wanted for dinner…this was his response: “Surprise me. Make it blog-worthy.”  Well, needless to say, “blog-worthy” is exactly what he got…..

I had been wanting to try Ina Garten’s recipe for Scallops Provencal for a while now, and I thought surely, that would be blog-worthy! I absolutely adore scallops; they’re quite possibly, my favorite type of seafood. They’re good fixed just about any way – my dad wraps them in bacon and grills them…now that’s tasty, folks!

This dish took about 10 minutes total to make. Talk about a no fuss meal! I decided to serve couscous alongside the scallops, which was also a breeze to make. This meal is a prime example of something that looks like you went to a lot of trouble to make, but secretly, was a cakewalk. Joel really enjoyed it (and so did I, come to think of it!) and requested that I definitely make this again. So, I’d say that I succeeded in delivering a sure fire “blog-worthy” meal for my hard-workin’ man!

Scallops Provencal

-from Barefoot in Paris

1 pound fresh bay or sea scallops
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup chopped shallots (2 large)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 lemon, cut in 1/2

If you’re using bay scallops, keep them whole. If you’re using sea scallops, cut each 1 in half horizontally. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss with flour, and shake off the excess.

In a very large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over high heat until sizzling and add the scallops in 1 layer. Lower the heat to medium and allow the scallops to brown lightly on 1 side without moving them, then turn and brown lightly on the other side. This should take 3 to 4 minutes, total. Melt the rest of the butter in the pan with the scallops, then add the shallots, garlic, and parsley and saute for 2 more minutes, tossing the seasonings with the scallops. Add the wine, cook for 1 minute, and taste for seasoning. Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Simple Couscous

1 cup couscous
1 1/4cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil (I used olive oil)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4cup grated Parmesan cheese
fresh lemon juice

Bring chicken broth and olive oil (or butter) to a boil. Remove from heat and add the couscous. Let sit for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Add parsley, a squeeze of lemon juice, and parmesan cheese and stir.