Posts Tagged ‘jalapeno’

I think the one thing I hate the most about Texas summers is the fact that I cannot avoid putting on a bathing suit.  I try trust me.  I have a myriad of excuses up my sleeve and more swim suit cover ups than anyone needs.  I also hate my knees.  I know it is weird but my knees are ugly.  Ok EVERYONE’s knees are ugly but I especially hate mine.  I feel like when I put on a bathing suit my knees are screaming for everyone to look at them.  All my friends know that when I say “geez that girl has really great knees”  that this is the nicest compliment I can give someone.  My knees are white and chubby and I can never quite shave every hair off of every odd angle which is super attractive (sarcasm placed here).  This summer I have decided I’m going to deal with this whole knees/bathing suit issue by just giving in.  I’m going to go shopping in 3.5 weeks for a new swim suit because I have a lake party to attend and I’m pretty sure no one will let me on the boat in jeans…

I plan to face this swim suit issue head on and start working out my knees, amoung other obvious areas that lack in perfection that we really don’t need to talk about today.  I mean for heavens sake this is a food blog right?  I don’t want you all leaving grossed out!!

So for the next 3.5 weeks it will be all healthy skinny knee recipes for you!  Are you ready knees??  Let’s do this.

Serves 4 people with chubby knees.

Hot Mama Tilapia:

4 Tilapia filet’s

1 tbs. olive oil

2 Jalapenos

1 tsp Cumin

1 Lime

1/2 Red onion

1 tsp Garlic

1 tsp Black Pepper

Avocado Sauce:

1 ripe Avocado

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 TBS diced red onion

Veggie broth

Cauliflower Mashers:

1 head of white Cauliflower

sea salt to taste

black pepper to taste

1 tsp crushed garlic

1/2 jalapeno de-seeded

Hot Mama Tilapia:

Pat each Tilapia fillet with a paper towel to make sure the fish is as dry as possible.    Dice up the jalapeno and onion and set aside.    Heat the olive oil in a large pan.  When the oil is hot add the garlic, red onion, and jalapenos.  Cook for about 1 minute just enough to really let the garlic open up but not burn.  Add in the Tilapia and spritz each fillet with the limes juice. Dust each fillet with the cumin, pepper and garlic.  Flip the tilapia over and spritz with the lime and dust with more of the spices.  It is ok if the red onion mixture is in the way of the fish touching the pan this will actually help with the flavor of the fish.  Cook the fish all the way through and plate.  This should only take about 5-8 minutes.  Sprinkle each fillet with the left over ingredients in the pan.

Avocado Sauce:

In a small food processor puree the ripe avocado, garlic, onion, and about 1 tbls of veggie broth until creamy.  Add more veggie broth as needed to reach desired consistency.  Drizzle over plated tilapia.

Cauliflower Mashers:

Boil enough water to submerge cauliflower in a large pot.  Cut off stems of cauliflower and discard.  Add the tops of the cauliflower to the boiling water and cook until the cauliflower is soft.  (You want to be able to stab the cauliflower with a fork easily)  Don’t over cook or it will just disintegrate.

Pat dry the cauliflower and place it in a large food processor.  Add all the additional ingredients and puree until you reach a similar consistency to mashed potatoes.   This is normally when I would tell you to add Asiago cheese but I will have skinny knees so I’m not going to.  If you have skinny knees than I suggest adding about 1 cup of Asaigo cheese and mixing it all together.

Recipe Card

Slowly over the past month my entire office has been getting sick.  One or two people here and there start coughing and sneezing and then pass it along to the next round of people.   

I was a good little girl this year and actually got my flu shoot so I was feeling pretty confident about not coming down with a crazy sickness.   I have also been drinking lots of hot green tea, taking vitamins and washing my hands so much they are cracked and dry.  None-the-less I’m feeling like poop anyway.  My neck is achy, my nose is running and I have a head ache.  I’m afraid this is just the beginning of a not so fun week for my poor little hubby. 

See, when I get sick I don’t want to do anything.  I’m not the type that needs any babying but I get awfully grouchy.  I just don’t want to talk.  Period.  You would think this wouldn’t be such a bad trait but as my husband will attest, it kind of is….  See, instead of talking I get whiny and I glare at him.  (yes even more whiny – shut it) I expect him to read my mind.  See how this might be a problem?  I mean come on – I’m pretty much perfect in every other way so a week of mean stares for no reason can’t be that bad right?!? 

This soup is something I like to make when I get sick.  It is low in calories so I can keep my new years resolution but has really great flavor.  (or at least it normally does.  I can’t breathe right now which means I can’t taste anything….  Michael said it was awesome) I like to eat spicy things when I’m sick, to you know, open up the sinuses….  Which is kind of gross.  Sorry ya’ll.  :)

Ingredients:

1tbs olive oil

2 medium sized shallots

2 tbs crushed garlic

1 head cauliflower cut into medium pieces (I used purple cauliflower which is why my soup is a bit brown, feel free to use either color.)

2 jalapenos chopped and de-seeded

1 rutabaga skinned and chopped

2 tsp ginger root

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seed

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp turmeric

2 tbs diced cilantro

4 cups veggie stock

1/2 cup milk

1 cup asiago cheese – leave this step out if you want to cut out the calories, but man it is tasty with it!

Sour cream as a garnish if desired.

In a large pot heat the oil until hot.  Add the sliced shallots and garlic.  Cook them until the shallots are caramelized being careful not to burn the garlic.  Add in the cauliflower, jalapenos, and the rutabaga cooking for about 5 minutes.  Add in all of the spices, stirring them in and combining everything slowly.  Lastly add in the stock and the milk.  Cook everything stirring occasionally for about 15-20 minutes.  You want the cauliflower to break apart easily with a fork but not be mushy.  Pour the mixture into a blender or food processor leaving out most of the liquid.  Puree the mixture until it is smooth but still has texture.  A few quick pulses should do it.  Add the blended mixture back to the pot with the reserved liquid and stir in the cheese until it melts.  Serve hot and garnish with cilantro, sour cream, and a little bit of cheese if desired.

Natalie and I meet once a month to discuss future blog recipes and to make sure we are not cooking too many similar items (or exactly the same thing).  These little meet ups usually last about 4 hours in which we actually talk about the blog for about an hour.  We giggle and drink wine the rest of the time…  At our last meet up we both happened to be planning to cook with cornmeal.  I was planning these delectable polenta bars and Nat was planning her awesome jalapeño cheese grits.  We started to talk about the difference between grits and polenta, which are both made of cornmeal.  I had no answer for what the difference was and neither did Natalie so we decided to do a little research.    If you don’t care then please feel free to skip this part, but I promise ya’ll this is good stuff.  I mean come on.  It isn’t everyday you get to learn about cornmeal!!  Not to go all Alton Brown on you but this could change your whole way of thinking, much less cooking!!

The truth boils down to  – - pause for dramatic effect – -

Nothing!  Traditionally cornmeal is ground coarser for grits and teeny tiny for use as polenta.  Polenta has Italian origins and grits date back to the Native American’s.  Same basic process just two different sizes.  You can use instant gritz or slow cooking cornmeal and ultimately have the same results.  So when you are at the grocery store picking up the ingredients for these bars don’t get discouraged when you can’t find cornmeal.  Just buy the instant grits and follow the package directions.

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Grits.  They are so not for breakfast anymore!   We’ve all seen them in the morning served with a lump of melting butter (my two favorite words again!), but grits are way more versatile than that.  They have great texture and mix well with lots of other flavors.  I get so tired of the same old starchy sides so swapping in a dish like this can really change up the old cooking routine.  Since grits are a southern dish, it’s only right that we throw in a bunch of fresh jalapeños!  I always buy the quick cooking grits because, well, they’re just quick.  If you don’t buy the quick-cooking grits, follow the cooking time on the package.

Need an idea of what to serve with your grits?  Try them with the Molasses Glazed Pork Tenderloin and Roasted Asparagus for a delicious southern meal any time of the year! 

Jalapeño Cheese Grits
Reata Cookbook

3 cups of water
3 cups of heavy cream
2 jalapeños, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 1/2 cups dry grits
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Combine the water, cream, jalapeños, salt, and pepper in a large saucepan.  Cook over medium-high heat until the liquids begin to boil.  Slowly whisk in the grits and continue stirring to break up any clumps.  Stir the grits often until they are soft and creamy.  If you’re using quick-cooking grits, this may only take about 5 minutes, but regular grist can take about 30 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat and add in the butter and grated cheddar cheese.

Serves between 6 and 8, so half the recipe if you’re cooking for less.

Wedge salads were all the rage in restaurants a while back.  Okay, sorry, that just sounds kind of stupid.  “All the rage.”  Like people were just flying out of their houses and running to local restaurants to get their hands on a wedge salad.  Riots breaking out and everything.  Crazy times, people, crazy times!  So, yeah, while they may have not been all the rage, people were like really digging these types of salads.  Iceberg lettuce doesn’t have a whole lot of taste, but it has massive crunch appeal and completely rocks covered in blue cheese.  I think my dad was the most excited when these salads came back in style.  He loves iceberg lettuce and doesn’t quite understand (or care) that it has like no nutritional value.  But, he also calls the refrigerator an ice box, so we’re used to his crazy ways!  I love my dad.  He makes me smile and is always the life of the party.  Someday I’ll tell you all about him having a pet deer when he was little.  Just kidding, that is a family joke that like no one reading this will understand, but I’m sure all of my readers have clicked away already anyway because I am rambling like a crazy woman.  I know, just get on with the freakin’ recipe already!  Okay, okay. 

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