Steamed Mussels w/ Chickpea Chorizo Butter Broth
Working in a fine dining restaurant has been amazing. In only a month, I have already learned so many things that I never knew before. I have learned how to shuck oysters, how to make an immulsion, seasoning techniques, flavor concepts, how to prepare mussels and much more. After watching all of the mussels that go out to guests at SALT, I really began to crave them. I went home a little bit ago to have dinner with my family and ended up spending the entire day learning about and working on my food photography with my mom (aren’t I lucky to have a mom who can show me that!?).
Mahi Mahi w/ Green Chile-Coconut Broth
When I first heard green chile and coconut in the same recipe, I was immediately intrigued. I couldn’t decide if the combination would be delicious or disgusting. There was only one way to find out. While all of my roommates hung out in the basement eating take-out and some delicious Lemon-Artichoke Hummus to avoid the heat of cooking in our boiling house, I was sweating in the kitchen.
Tequila- Lime Shrimp Kebabs
Since most of my new roommates are vegetarians, I had to provide another option along with the beef for my Foodbuzz 24×24 party. For them I chose to do tequila-lime marinated shrimp for kebabs. Shrimp only need to marinate for about 20 minutes, if you marinate them too long the acid in the marinade will begin to cook the shrimp.
Baked Everything Bagel Salmon
Since I first began blogging about food, I have enjoyed following one blogger named Alyssa over at Constructive Deconstruction. Many of her posts are deconstructed dishes recreated in the most amazing ways. I was constantly in awe of her ideas and got inspiration from her from day to day. I always tried to think of ways that I could deconstruct something, but it just never really clicked in my head; until this. I am sure I am not the first to think of this because this is such a simple deconstruction, but I am excited about it because I have never really been good at them.
Spicy Adobo Shrimp Cocktail
This spring I worked at Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage for a few months before heading to Africa. After being in restaurants for so long, this job seemed unbearably slow at times. In order to pass the time, I would read through all of the cooking magazines at the registers for recipe ideas; probably not what I was supposed to be doing in my down time, but nobody ever said anything. Over these few months I accumulated a giant stack of torn out magazine pages and recipe notes. I am still trying to work my way through them without adding too much to the stack.
Greek-Style Mahi Mahi
I just realized that most of my fish recipes are for Mahi Mahi, but pretty much any white fish can be substituted for most of my recipes that use Mahi Mahi. I personally just use Mahi Mahi because I live in the mountains in the middle of Colorado and don’t have a very large seafood selection. Those of you who live on the coast are very lucky! While I was living in New Zealand last summer, I loved going to the farmer’s market every Sunday and buying fresh fish off the fishing boats.
Grilled Mahi Mahi w/ Olive & Shallot Tapenade
Since I have come home from Africa, I have had a serious case of the travel flu. I’m sure many of you had come down with this bug at some point in your life. You know that feeling when all you can think about is traveling and you would just love to get out and explore, just be anywhere but here. Well this time it has hit me hard. I have been planning my around the world trip for two and a half years from now. I have also been trying to squeeze some sort of trip in for the meantime.
Shrimp & Goat Cheese Quesadillas
I am back at it again with the goat cheese. I recently read that goat cheese has a large amount of tryptophan in it, the same stuff in turkey that makes everybody so sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner, so if you are having trouble sleeping you might just want to try one of these quesadillas before bed, or maybe the Smashed Potatoes with Goat Cheese & Parsley. Tryptophan is not only good for sleeping, but is an essential amino acid that has been shown to boost your mood and help you relax as well. If that isn’t enough to get you eating goat cheese, maybe this recipe will.
Maple-Glazed Salmon w/ Pineapple
How many of you liked fish or veggies when you were a kid? Now, how many went through that phase in your life where you magically began to like all sorts of food? As a kid, I would not even eat fish sticks, let alone a real fish! My vegetable category consisted of mashed potatoes, peas and corn. In only the past two years, my taste buds have matured. Now the only vegetables I really don’t like are mushrooms; except I must admit I ate a grilled portobello with cheese the other day and it was delicious! Also, I also absolutely love seafood now. Living in Colorado I have not had the luxury of tasting a huge variety, but I have fallen in love with it.
Baked Shrimp w/ Tomatoes
This week the weather has gotten nicer and it is starting to feel a bit more like summer, finally! The sunshine and warm weather has caused a shift in my food cravings; I’m sure many of you experience the same thing each season. For me, warm weather makes me crave light food and summery flavors, such as citrus.
These individual dishes are light, and not to mention kind of cute! They are great for a dinner party. It does not take long to make and the individual gratins make serving much easier. This recipe is very light and healthy, perfect for summer. The balsamic vinegar gives a great tangy kick to the dish as well. I also baked some extra tomato slices to drizzle with balsamic and serve with the dish. These go great served with roasted asparagus with lemon or a nice salad.