Citrus Mahi Mahi!

Note the green beans.  From our garden!

1-2 lb Mahi Mahi filets (we had about 8 oz and that was plenty for the 3 of us - Isaac, of course, didn't touch his)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 C fresh orange juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp allspice or pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp red pepper

Salsa:
1 avocado, diced
1/2 C red onion, diced
1 orange, diced
1/2-1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced (use half the pepper or all the pepper, to taste)
 2 tsp lime juice
3 Tbsp fresh orange juice
2 Tbsp cilantro, minced
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Combine the oil and 1/4 C orange juice in a large bag.  Add fish and squish around to coat.  Combine spices in a bowl.  Open bag and rub spices onto the fish filet.  Close bag again ad squish around again.  Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes.

When husband gets home, hand him the fish and send him outside to the grill.  Wait 5-10 minutes for husband to return inside with perfectly cooked fish!  (He heats the grill and cooks skin-side on the grill rack until the fish looks lovely and flaky.  He has oiled the grill rack in the past so that the skin doesn't stick to the grill - he doesn't oil the grill every time, though.  I don't know how often he needs to or if sometimes he just feels lazy and throws the fish on regardless.)

Combine all salsa ingredients.  Serve with fish.  DELICIOUS!  I'm sure you could do this with tilapia and even salmon, too.


And now for little boy:

Little boy is OBSESSED with cars.  When we drive anywhere, it is to a continuous stream of "car" "car" "car" coming from the back seat.  He points out every car, parked or moving, that we see.  It used to be a cute little high pitched baby voice saying "car-car".  Now it is a caveman, guttural,  grunt of "car".  Pretty cute.

He also found his new favorite book: Daddy's large classic cars book (a coffee table type book).  He just loves turning the pages and seeing all the cars. 

Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

You may have noticed a shocking lack of fish on my blog.  That's because 1) fish is expensive and 2) (more importantly) fish makes me nervous.  I feel like fish is either good or bad and there is no in between.  Well, Geoff is helping me get over my fear of cooking with fish by encouraging me to plan more fish meals (in his words "it's supposed to be healthy, or something").

As a good starter fish, tilapia was on sale and so tilapia we bought.

Salsa:
1 C avocado, diced
2/3 C mango, diced
1/3 C red onion or green onions, diced
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp ground red pepper

Combine all ingredients.  Sprinkle lightly with salt.

Fish:
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb tilapia

Combine spices and garlic.  Rub over fish.  Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and add fish to pan.  Cook 2 minutes on each side or until done.  Remove from heat, keep warm.

Fill tortillas with fish and salsa.  Eat and feel proud of yourself for successfully cooking fish (it wasn't that scary, now, was it).

Recipe from Cooking Light May 2012

Baby Pears

And little boy is eating pears.  And you guessed it:  Boil diced pears in a tiny bit of water (they will create there own water so you don't need to add much, just enough to keep your pan from getting burned pears stuck to it).  Puree pears and water.  Add water if necessary (though I doubt you will need to) and freeze in ice cube trays.

Yummy Salmon with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This was a meal of many firsts.  First time grilling fish (Geoff).  First time blanching almonds.  First time roasting red peppers.  And it was delicious!  Absolutely marvelous meal.

Roasting Red Peppers:  Cut red pepper in half.  Smash flatish with palm.  Grill skin side down until black.  Remove from grill and place in a closed container (we used tupperware but I've read of putting it inside a brown paper bag or a glass dish with a lid).  Let cool for 10ish minutes.  Remove skin.

Blanching Almonds:  Pour just enough boiling water to cover almonds.  Let stand for 1 minute (no longer!).  Cool with cold water.  Dry.  Peel.

Salmon with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce:

Salmon fillets
Salt

Sprinkle fish with salt.  Grill skin side down for about 10 minutes.  No turning necessary.

Red Pepper Sauce:
1/2 a red pepper, roasted
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp olive oil
7 almonds, blanched
1 clove garlic
Salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor.  Process until smooth.  Serve over fish.

Original Recipe by Sandy Gluck in Oct 2011 Cooking Light Magazine