Spicy Tuna Kobachi

Without a doubt, pretty much anytime we eat sushi out we’ll start with a spicy tuna kobachi. It’s SO GOOD! I had heard that a local produce and meat market sold frozen sushi grade tuna so I went and checked it out. Seriously, it was $6.99 a pound. You can’t beat that! The filets came in individually vacuum sealed pouches of about 4 oz. each. I thawed them the day I made this so they would be fresh.

This recipe was absolutely delicious! I’m so happy with how it came out. A small warning though – if you’re not a fan of some spice, you might want to reduce the amount of Sriracha you use. One teaspoon gave it a good amount of kick.

Adapted from Gina’s WW Recipes

Ingredients
13 oz. sushi grade ahi tuna, finely chopped (or however much you have)
2 tsp pure sesame oil
1 tsp rice wine
2 tsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp Sriracha hot sauce (to taste)
2 tbsp scallions, minced
1/2 ripe, firm hass avocado, diced
1/2 tsp sesame seeds

Directions
1. Mix diced sushi and avocado in a medium bowl.

2. Combine sesame oil, rice wine, lime juice, soy sauce and sriracha sauce. Pour over diced tuna and mix to coat all pieces.

3. Top with scallions and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

The Facts
4 Servings

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and Mango Stuffed Jalapeños

These are AMAZING. Seriously, YUM! Bryan and I decided last week that these would be fun to make for an Easter appetizer. We browsed recipes, but in the end decided to make up our own based off the various ones we read. The BBQ sauce was a last second addition by Bryan and was 100% worth it. Everyone enjoyed these and I know we’ll be making these again the next chance we get!

An Erin’s Eatery Original

Ingredients
8 jalapeños
1 mango, chopped
16 large shrimp (21-25 count, raw), tails removed
4 oz fat free cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp cumin
dash cayenne
8 bacon slices, cut in half
BBQ Sauce

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425. Grease a non stick jelly roll pan or use parchment paper.

2. Slice off jalapeño stems and cut in half. Use spoon to remove seeds and membranes. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, cumin and cayenne thoroughly.

4. With a knife, spread cream cheese mixture in hollowed jalapeño halves. Top each with one shrimp and mango chunk.

5. Carefully wrap each pepper with half a bacon slice and secure with toothpick. Be sure toothpick passes through all ingredients.

6. Top with approximately 1 teaspoon of BBQ sauce.

5. Evenly space jalapeños on pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until bacon is crisp.

Ready for the oven!

The Facts
8 Servings
2 stuffed jalapeños each

Roasted Salsa

This is officially my FAVORITE salsa recipe! It definitely had some spice to it so if you’re a little weary of it being too hot, I’d reduce the amount of peppers or chipotle chilies. Bryan and I LOVED the smoky flavor the canned chilies brought to the dip. It tasted good warm right after I made it, however the flavor was even better the next day cold. Yum. This will definitely be made again in this house.

Ingredients
Olive oil spray
4 Roma tomatoes, halved
1 can stewed tomatoes, drained
1 yellow onion, cut into eighths
1 jalapeño, seeded and quartered
1/2 poblano pepper, seeded and cut into strips
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2-3 canned chipotle chilies in adobo, chopped
2 tbsp lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/4 tsp coriander

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 500°.

2. In a rectangular baking pan lined with foil, combine, tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, poblano pepper, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Spray veggies with olive oil and mix to coat.

3. Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes, checking every 10 minutes to stir veggies. The onions will begin to burn a little at the edges, and the tomatoes will start to get a little blackened as well.

4. Pull the veggies out of the oven and let them cool a little bit. In a food processor or a blender, add the cooked veggies, chipotle chilies, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, coriander and sugar. Blend until your desired consistency. I like mine pretty smooth.

5. You can serve warm or cool. I refrigerated over night and enjoyed the flavors even more the next day.

Corn Tortilla Chips

Bryan and I decided to have a homemade taco night last week. We thought it would be fun to bake our own chips as well. I originally planned to use flour tortillas, however after browsing recipes I decided to try corn tortillas so I could attempt some hard taco shells as well. I was very pleased with the results and was able to accomplish the crunchiness a true chip deserves. I simply seasoned mine with salt, but I bet some light cumin or chili powder would be delicious as well. To make the taco shell, I ‘threaded’ a tortilla on one of the wire racks with the ends pointing down. The tortilla naturally folded downward as it cooked, giving us a nice crispy U shaped shell. Just be careful not to burn yourself during the threading process! I read a ton of recipes for chips and just kind of went from memory when I actually made them.

Ingredients
White corn tortillas, cut into quarters
Salt
Seasoning, if desired
Cooking spray

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Spray a jelly roll pan with cooking spray and spread cut tortillas in a single layer.

3. Spray tortillas with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and seasoning (if desired) to taste.

4. Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes. Remove chips from oven when JUST beginning to brown.

5. Allow chips to cool and crisp up for an additional 5 minutes before serving.

Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa

This was a good salsa to make if you want a homemade salsa but without all the prep time. By using a can of fire roasted tomatoes and a few additional ingredients, this is done in no time. I liked the consistency of the salsa and it had a nice medium flavor. It wasn’t too hot, just a little bit of kick. The downfall to using canned tomatoes was that the dip lacked the fresh taste of homemade salsa.

Adapted from One Particular Kitchen

Ingredients
2 fresh jalapeños
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice, preferably fire roasted
1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbl fresh lime juice
Salt

Directions
1. Heat an ungreased skillet over medium heat and roast the peppers and garlic, turning often until they’re splotchy and brown and soft — this takes about 10 minutes for the peppers, and 15 minutes for the garlic

2. Cool until you can handle them, then roughly chop the pepperss, discarding caps, and drop into food processor

3. Peel the garlic and scoop the softened cloves into a food processor; pulse until very finely chopped

4. Add the tomatoes with their juice to the food processor then pulse until puree is coarse.

5. Pour into serving dish and stir in cilantro and lime juice, and salt to taste — about 1/2-3/4 teaspoon

6. Refrigerate overnight, then serve and enjoy!

Tabouli

I’ve made hummus before and that was fairly easy so I decided I’d try out a tabouli recipe. Turns out, it’s a lot easier with no need for a food processor!Plus, it’s super healthy. I added olive oil and cucumber to the original recipe. I will say that the parsley in this is overpowering. Next time I’ll probably cut the amount in half. Regardless is still was tasty. I served it with some toasted whole wheat pita wedges.

ETA 02/16/10: After letting the tabouli's flavors meld in the refrigerator over night, it tasted MUCH better. The parsley was not near as intense. I recommend letting this chill for at least 12 hours before even thinking about enjoying it.

Adapted from Cate’s World Kitchen

Ingredients
1 cup bulgur
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbl olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
4 green onions (white and green parts), chopped
15 fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1 small cucumber, chopped

Directions
1. Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan.

2. As soon as it boils, remove it from the heat and stir in the bulgur. Let stand covered for 30 minutes.

3. Fluff the bulgur with a fork, then transfer to a bowl and stir in remaining ingredients.

4. Chill 20-30 minutes before serving.

The Facts
8 Servings
Calories 95.6
Total Fat 2.1 g
Fiber 4.1 g
WW Points 1

Summer Rolls

I decided to recreate a Vietnamese dinner, inspired by some of the local Vietnamese restaurants we like to eat at in town. After a few (interesting) trips to the Asian grocery store, I had the ingredients I needed (and a few additional unidentified herbs). I started the meal with these summer rolls and peanut dipping sauce and then Pho Ga (Vietnamese chicken noodle soup) for the main course.

The summer rolls were pretty good, and were not that difficult to make. I had a hard time cutting the carrot into thin strips and I think next time I’ll just buy the precut matchstick carrots.

Adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Ingredients
16 Medium shrimp, peeled
2 oz. rice vermicelli
8 rice wrappers (8.5 inches)
1/2 medium cucumber, cut into matchsticks
1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks
Handful of bean sprouts
16 thai basil leaves
16 mint leaves

Directions
1. Fill a medium skillet with water and bring to a boil. Add shrimp and cook just until shrimp are opaque, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and remove shrimp from pan. Cut the shrimp in half lengthwise.

2. Add vermicelli to the hot liquid and let set until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan.

3. Pale a rice paper wrapper in the hot liquid and leave until softened, about one minute. Remove it from the water and place on clean, dry work surface.

4. Place 4 shrimp halves cut side up on the center of wrapper. Top with 2 basil and 2 mint leaves. Add bean sprout, carrot and cucumber strips, then rice noodles.

5. Fold up bottom 2-inch border of wrapper over filling. Fold left, then right edge of wrapper over filling. Roll filling to top edge of wrapper to form tight cylinder. Serve with peanut sauce, or sauce of choice.

The Facts
8 Servings
Calories 96.7
Total Fat 0.2 g
Fiber 0.8 g
WW Points 2

Peanut Sauce

This sauce went well with the summer rolls. I would recommend making it the day before you need it because the flavors really blended well for me over night.

Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients
1/4 cup lime juice
3 tbl reduced fat creamy peanut butter
3 tbl low-sodium soy sauce
3 tbl honey
1 tbl chili paste with garlic
4 garlic cloves, minced

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk.

2. Refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temp before serving.

The Facts
8 Servings
Calories 69.4
Total Fat 2.3 g
Fiber 0.4 g
WW Points 1

Spinach Artichoke Dip

It’s time to catch up on my New Year’s appetizer blogging! I made this spinach and artichoke dip for Thanksgiving and again for our New Year’s party. I’ve have made this dip many different ways with all different ingredients including mayonnaise, cream cheese, sour cream and Alfredo sauce. I’ve mixed and combined difference aspects of a bunch of recipes along the way that I feel confident enough to call this one my own! The recipe below I now use as my go to recipe and really like the flavor the Alfredo sauce brings to the recipe. It gives it that restaurant style creaminess.

Ingredients
4.5 oz. fresh baby spinach stems removed, chopped
14 oz. marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
5 oz. Alfredo pasta sauce
4 oz. fat free cream cheese, softened
1 cup part skim shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix together all ingredients in large mixing bowl.

3. Spread mixture into 8x8 inch baking dish or 9 inch pie plate. (Can refrigerate at this point and bake right before you need it!)

4. Cover and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until cheeses are melted and bubbly. Serve warm. (Increase baking time 5-10 minutes if coming straight from refrigerator.)

Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus

Well, this was not a good weekend to be a football fan in our household. It started Saturday with the Florida Gators playing Alabama for the SEC Championship where the winner was pretty much guaranteed a bid to the National Championship game. The Gators did not play like themselves, and the defense couldn’t do a thing to stop Alabama. It was heart breaking to watch Tim Tebow do post-game interviews with tears in his eyes. We’ve been so spoiled the past few seasons that we’ve forgot what it feels like to lose. The pain continued into Sunday as the New England Patriots lost to the Miami Dolphins.

Saturday, we had our neighbors over to watch the Gator Game. I served some light appetizers for us to munch during the game. Along with leftover tzaztiki and cucumbers from earlier in the week, I made a roasted red pepper hummus and this cilantro jalapeno hummus that I paired with multi grain chips and toasted pita wedges. I had actually made the roasted red pepper hummus earlier in the week and was not very impressed with it. I like the base of the jalapeno much better and will be using that for any future hummus recipes. I reduced the tahini and olive oil from the original recipe, but the hummus still had a great consistency. I only used one jalapeno pepper for fear of it TOO hot, however it could have definitely used some more kick. Next time I will add another pepper to spice it up.

Adapted from Annie’s Eats

Ingredients
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1-2 jalapeno peppers, ribbed and seeded (depending on desired flavor)
1 garlic clove, peeled
3 T lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2 T tahini
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 (14 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cumin
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions
1. Combine the cilantro, jalapenos, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients have been finely minced.

2. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and water. In another bowl, whisk together the tahini and olive oil. Set aside.

3. Scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl and add the chickpeas, salt, cumin and cayenne. Process until almost fully ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape down the bowl.

4. With the machine running add the lemon juice-water mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube. Scrape down the bowl and continue to process for one minute.

5. With the machine running, add the oil-tahini mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube, and continue to process until smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed.

6. Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand until the flavors meld, at least 30 minutes.

The Facts
8 Servings
Calories 69.3
Total Fat 1.4 g
Fiber 4.4 g
WW Points 1