OK this is my first recipe post of what I hope will be many more. Thanks to sdf for egging me on. I will start posting some of my favorites each week along with some cooking tips or answer questions that anyone has. I am not a professional chef, but I spend a ton of time in the kitchen and hope to some day open my own small café. So you can take my advice with a grain of salt if ya want to.

Lets get some of the basics out of the way.

1. Always assume that the ingredients are fresh unless stated otherwise. Most canning and preservation processes kill important nutrients in foods so I like to use fresh as often as possible. Yes you have to go to the store every 3 days or so, but if you want to get the most out of your food you will do it. You spend all that time working out, why slack in the kitchen. All it will do it make it harder to stick to that diet plan.

2. Stop cooking everything based off the Kelvin scale. For most all foods medium to medium high heat is all that will ever be needed. Cook the food only until the desired doneness is reached. The rarer that you can stand the food with it being safe to eat the better. This goes for veggies too. If they are falling apart chances are you over cooked them. The less you cook them the more intact the nutrients will remain.

3. Plan out your meals. You will find it much easier to prepare and shop if you plan your meals out ahead. I am not talking about setting a diet that says eat 200g carbs a day. What I mean is sit down and plan out your entire meal plan for 2 weeks at a time, meal by meal. You will end up spending less money when you go to the store. I used to spend $150 a week on food and now I am down to $80 without sacrificing anything. Actually I now eat much more fresh and healthy foods. What I found was that I essentially bought a lot of stuff that I never got around to cooking so it was wasted.

4. Organic or Not? I try to buy organic whenever possible. I think the food tastes better and is better for you. Many local supermarkets are starting to carry organic fruits but I don’t see the trend into other areas yet. I know that HEB has entire organic sections now but you may have to find a local specialty market. The prices will be a little more, but if you are planning your meals you will be able to recoup those costs.

5. KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. I live by this in the kitchen now. The more complex and time consuming your recipes are the harder it is to get motivated to cook. Save the fancy stuff for the weekends when you have time to prepare and you will enjoy cooking much more.

Ok so with all that out of the way lets get down to business.

Pineapple Grilled Shrimp with Fire Roasted Corn Salsa

2 corn on the cob
4-6 ripe roma tomatoes
Cilantro
Lime
Onion (I like yellow)
¼ tsp cumin
½ tsp paprika
Optional:
Bell Pepper
Avacado
Garlic
Hot Pepper for kick (jalapeño, I like cerano for more reliable and even heat etc.)

½ lb Shrimp peeled and de-veined.
Garlic - Crushed
Pineapple
Lite Soy 1 tbl
Olive Oil 1 tbl
Pepper
Sea salt
Skewers (metal or I prefer wood)

Stick your skewers in water to cover them.

Shuck the corn and toss it on the grill over medium flame. Turn it as the corn turns black\brown. I usually just go back inside and prepare something else and check it every 5 or 6 minutes. Chop up the roma tomatoes, onion and cilantro. I like cilantro so I use a half of a bunch you might want to use a quarter. The trick to chopping cilantro is to kind of fold it up, or roll it and then slice it. Don’t include the stems they taste like ass. Go turn your corn. Toss everything into a bowl and squeeze half a lime over the top. Stir it up and sprinkle the cumin and paprika over the salsa. Go get your corn and let it cool.

Chop up the pineapple into bit sized pieces. Crush about ¼ cup into a plastic bowl. (acids do funny stuff in steel bowls so use plastics or glass for marinades with citrus) Toss in your shrimp, oil, soy, garlic, pepper and salt. Stir it up real good and let it sit.

Cut the corn off of the cob now. Ditch the cob. Mix the corn into the salsa mixture and put it back in the fridge.

Take the pineapple and slide a piece on a skewer, then stick on a shrimp. Alternate this every other one and keep them about ½ inch apart. Drop them on the grill and flip them over at about 3 minutes or just when the shrimp is starting to turn red and curl a little. Once flipped, cook another 3 minutes or until the shrimp has curled up. Try not to over cook it or it will be spongy.

Pull hot off the grill and serve on top of the fresh chilled fire roasted corn salsa. You can add a few sprigs of cilantro and some sliced lime for garnish if you want to make it look pretty. I would also LIGHTLY sprinkle some paprika, cumin and red pepper over the top for some zing.

It may sound like alot of work but you can make this in 30 minutes or less with no problem. You can cut the prep time substantially by buying the pineapple allready chopped, and the shrimp peeled and deveined but you will pay extra for that.

You should have pineapple left over as well as salsa. Stick it in the fridge for your snacks.

Sorry I don’t have all the nutrient data here but if someone would like they can go here
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ and calculate it all up for us. I will start trying to include this data in the future if I can find any easy way to sum it all up by servings.

If you guys like this I will start adding on to the list every couple of days. I am also happy to answer questions about food or entertaining for guests.

Peace!

damn... that sounds good *drool*

Here's a recipe for the best dish of General Tso's chicken you'll ever eat in your life.


Ingredients :
Sauce:
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1+1/2 tsp minced garlic
1+1/2 tsp minced ginger root
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup cooking wine
1+1/2 cup hot chicken broth
1 tsp monosodium glutamate (optional)
Meat:
3 lbs deboned dark chicken meat, cut into large chunks
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp white pepper
1 egg
1 cup cornstarch
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
2 cups sliced green onions
16 small dried hot peppers

Directions :
1) Mix 1/2 cup cornstarch with water. Add garlic, ginger, sugar, 1/2 cup soy sauce, vinegar, wine, chicken broth and MSG (if desired). Stir until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate until needed.
2) In separate bowl, mix chicken, 1/4 cup soy sauce and white pepper. Stir in egg. Add 1 cup cornstarch and mix until chicken pieces are coated evenly. Add cup of vegetable oil to help separate chicken pieces. Divide chicken into small quantities and deep-fry at 350 degrees until crispy. Drain on paper towels.
3) Place a small amount of oil in wok and heat until wok is hot. Add onions and peppers and stir-fry briefly. Stir sauce and add to wok. Place chicken in sauce and cook until sauce thickens .

Christopher, i look VERY forward to more of your recipes

Quick Grilled Tuna Steaks with Strawberry Spinach & Almond Salad

Tuna Steaks

Fresh Tuna Steaks about ½ - 1 inch thick (sashimi grade)
Garlic
1tsp fresh ginger
2 tsp lime juice
1 tbl lite soy
1tbl olive oil
Crushed black pepper
Sea Salt

Salad

½ lb loose fresh spinach
½ pint fresh strawberries halved
1 tbl slivered raw almonds
Whole raw almonds

Dressing

1 cup sugar (can use honey, splenda etc as replacements)
3 teaspoons ground mustard
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup chopped white onion
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Start out by setting your grill to medium-high heat. We will marinade the tuna for only about 10 minutes because of the lime juice. Adding citrus juices is my fav way to get flavor into foods quickly. This helps eliminate the typical hours long process of marinating. So slice the lime in half and juice one half into a glass bowl. Toss in the ginger, soy, oil, salt and pepper. Whisk this together and drop te tuna steaks into the bowl. Make sure they get coated on all sides. Put some plastic wrap on top and let them sit while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Wash up the spinach greens and separate the leaves from the stems. Wash the fruit and slice it up. Toss the fruit and greens with the slivered almonds. We will save the whole almonds for a garnish.

Toss the tuna in the bowl and make sure its covered again.

For the dressing you place everything but the oil into your blender. Crank the bad boy up for a few seconds and then slowly add in the oil until the dressing looks nice and creamy. As stated, depending on your diet you can substitute honey or splenda for the sugar.

Lets go grill that tuna!

Place the tuna on the grill. In about 1 minute turn the tuna ¼ turn to get the nice grill marks on it if you like. Grill for about 3 minutes more and then flip it. Repeat the same process and remove it. Remember this tuna is sashimi grade, you don’t even have to cook it. The idea here is to give it some color on the outside while we leave it nice and raw but warm on the inside.

Plate up your awesome meal!

Pour some dressing over the salad and toss it. Place a good portion in the middle of the plate and make a well in the center for the tuna. Slice the tuna steak into 4 pieces and arrange them on the salad so that you can see the inside of at least 1 piece of the tuna. Sprinkle a few almonds around the outside of the tuna.

Enjoy!

Total working time for this meal is about 30 minutes with a gas grill. 5 minutes on the marinade, 5 minutes on the salad, 5 minutes on the dressing , 8 minutes to grill and remainder to plate and clean up.

Tip: Clean as you go. If you have a helper or have the time to spare try to clean up as you are cooking. That way when you are fat and happy after your meal you don’t have to ruin it by going into the kitchen and doing the dishes later. This also helps cut down on the amount of prep work you will have to do next time!

I like where this thread is going, great contributions!

I will pin this topic.

Cheat Meal

Central Texas, Wet Mopped and Dry Rubbed Baby Back Ribs with Roasted Garlic and Onion Mashed Potatoes & This aint yer mammas mac n cheese!

OK this is a real cheater meal! Full of fats & carbs! Mmmmmmmm This is a very popular request by my friends for small celebrations. You wont want to make this during the week. It is messy and uses lots of dishes.

Ribs:

Good fresh baby back ribs, have your local butcher hand select them. Trim the membrane from the back of the ribs and split the lower halves of the ribs from each other. Give them a nice coat of the dry rub below. Wrap in plastic and toss in the fridge for a day or so.

You will also need
2 sticks of butter
1 whole white onion
1 can crushed tomatoes
Good Beer
Honey

Dry Rub:
¼ c. paprika
1 tbl fresh pablano chili powder
1 tbl fresh sweet basil
1 tbl brown sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp dried whole oregano
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp red pepper
2 tsp sea salt


Mashed Potatoes:
1 bag of golden potatoes
1 whole yellow onion
2 heads of fresh garlic
Olive Oil
2 sticks of butter
2 or 3 cups Heavy Whipping Cream (don’t use low fat we are cheating here!)
Crushed black pepper
Sea Salt
Parsley

Mac n Cheese:
1 bag of shells, or your favorite noodles.
1 large block of velveta
1 stick of butter
¼ cup milk
2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 head of garlic

OK to start this off if you want to do it right you need to make a wood fire in your grill. Don’t use any lighter fluid to start the grill, use a chimney and newspaper to light some wood chips and go from there. If you don’t know how to do this you can start here BBQ for Beginners

If you don’t have a wood grill and you have to use a gas grill don’t fret! Go buy some wood chips and soak them in water overnight. Divide up the chips into a few foil packets. Poke some holes in the top of the packets and toss them on the open flame of the grill every hour or so for smoke.

So when you have your grill squared away, you want to start the ribs on low heat, like in the 225 range. They are going to take a few hours (4 at least) so be patient and keep the heat low and slow.

Now go back in the kitchen and stick the butter for the Ribs in a sauce pan, put it on medium heat. Pour in the beer of your choice. Add the crushed tomatoes and some honey. Maybe a tablespoon or so to start, or depending on how sweet you like your ribs. Remember that to much honey in the mop will cause the Ribs to take on a black color as the sugars burn so you have been warned. Chop the onion into quarters and drop it in the sauce pan and let this simmer until the onion gets translucent. Every 30 minutes go out flip the ribs and baste with this mixture. Before you baste put the heat on the mop mixture to liquify it again. You may also want to add some spices to the mop if you want. Good suggestions are any peppers from your local area, tarragon, basil, orageno, or red pepper for more heat.

Now on to the rest of the meal.

Turn the oven on at 350. Take the heads of garlic for both the mac n cheese and the mashed potatoes and chop the pointy end off so that you can see some of the cloves. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on them. Tear off a square of foil and place a head of garlic in the middle. Pour some olive oil over the garlic and then fold up the foil over the head of garlic and seal it so it makes a little bag. Stick the garlic in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the garlic gets soft. Your whole house will smell like roasted garlic. The garlic should kind of ooze out of the skin as you press on it when it is done perfectly.

While the garlic is roasting wash up the taters and chop them into evenly sized bits. Boil them just until they are tender with a fork. Could be about 20 minutes or longer depending on how much you want to make.

Chop the onion so that you get onion ring sized slivers. Heat some olive oil up in a skillet about medium high heat and toss in the onions. Flip them around and cook them until they start to caramelize.

Don’t forget to flip your ribs and mop them.

Once the onions are done set them aside you are going to use them soon.

Drain the water from the taters and then put them back in the pot. Return the pot to the stove over medium heat. Using a wooden spoon stir up the taters gently and kind of break them down slowly. Do not stop stirring them or they WILL burn. What we are doing here is getting rid of excess water that is inside the taters. This will make them really fluffy. When most of the steam stops coming out, or 3 to 4 minutes pull them off the heat. Chop up a stick of butter and drop in the pot. Dump the onions in. Use a whisk now and break down the taters slowly. Continue to mix them up until there are no huge lumps but there can still be some lumps.

Whip up the heavy cream until it gets thick. This might take about 5 minutes to do by hand, or a couple seconds with a kitchen aid mixer.

Now here comes the really special part. Squeeze in 2 of those roasted garlic heads. Don’t get any skin in there, just the caramelized ooey gooey goodness. Now FOLD in the heavy cream and all the other stuff. DO NOT STIR VIOLENTLY. Taters are very starchy and if you whip them they loose all that hard earned texture. So gently fold in that heavy cream as your mixing it all up. When all the ingredients are incorporated give them a taste, add salt and pepper as you like. They should be very fluffy and taste awesome now. Sprinkle the parsley over the top for some more color. Cover them up and move on to the Mac N cheese. They will stay hot for about an hour. Just give them a light stir before serving. You want them to sit because the flavors from the onions and garlic will start to fuze with the taters.

Go flip them ribs. When they are about 1 flip from coming off the grill or the meat is starting to pull away from the bones and you can basically pull the bones out of the ribs because they are getting soft start the last part of the meal.

The Mac n cheese. This is a real heart stopper but oooo so good. Chop up the Velveeta. A trick I learned here is to use dental floss to cut your Velveeta. Trust me, it works like a charm. I usually cut the cheese into ¼ inch blocks. Dump the noodles into boiling water and add some olive oil to help keep them from sticking. Stir them frequently until they are done. Drain but do not rinse. Cut up 1 stick of butter and drop it into the noodles and stir them until they are coated. Add in the cheese and turn the heat on the stove to low. Mix up until all the lumps are gone. If you need to you can add the milk at this point if they are really thick. Squeeze the last roasted head of garlic into the mac n cheese and keep mixing. Now do the same as we did before with the heavy cream. Fold this into the mac n cheese slowly so that you don’t break the cream down.

OK to plate up this meal I usually break out the paper plates and 2 big ass spoons. I drop the spoons into the taters and mac n cheese and just yell come n get it! Do not plan any activities for about 2 or 3 hours after this, its a very heavy meal =-)

Hope you like it.

Easy Asian Salmon with Mixed Veggies

Salmon Filets 2 servings (I like sokeye but its pricey, the regular $6 per lb stuff will be fine for this)

Glaze for salmon:

2 tbs Dijon mustard
2 tbs brown sugar (honey can be used)
2 tbs Olive Oil
1 tbs soy or teriyaki
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp garlic

Veggies:
Snow Peas
Broccoli
Carrots sliced thinly

What we are going to do here is make some foil packets for a serving of the salmon and the veggies. You will place the salmon on some foil, cover it with the glaze and then top that with the veggies. Roll up the foil packet and toss the over at 350 for 20 minutes, or on the grill over medium heat for 20 minutes.

To make the glaze;

Place a sauce pan over medium heat and add oil. Toss in the garlic and once it is brown add in all other ingredients. Whisk very well until all is incorporated. Here is the time to try out any flavored mustards if you have them. I have used everything from simple hot mustard to raspberry honey and all the results have been great. You will want to put the glaze on while it is hot because the sugars will separate from the oils when it cools.

SO there you have it. Another 30 minute or less meal

Oh oh..

Me and Nabil better get busy!

Yo Nabil!

We gotta post some of our tasty Gallic recipes.

Bon Apetit!


T'Dubbya, that has to be the best recipe I've seen in a while...

And Chris. Oh shit, Moose and I gotta do our grilling best to whip us up mess o' Texass babyback ribs!


<drooling heavily after peepin this thread for like a minute!>

<we need a drool emoticon!>

Thursday Night i'm preparing the rubbed baby Back Ribs. I shall let you know how it turns out

Grilled Chicken Salad w Blackberry Basil Vinaigrette


Chicken Salad

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
Cracked black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 cups torn salad greens
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1/2 sweet onion (Vidalia is best), sliced

Blackberry Basil Vinaigrette

1/2 cup fresh blackberries
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
6 fresh basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp seasoned pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

This one is quick and easy. The vinaigrette makes quite a bit so you will have some left over. Start out by dabbing some oil on the chicken and rub on the minced garlic. Sprinkle it with some cracked pepper and salt if you desire. You can omit the salt for low sodium. Toss the chicken on the grill. IF you want to spice it up dust it with some chili powder, paprika and red pepper. You don’t have to be fancy on this one the foreman is fine.

(if you want to marinade the chicken try brushing it with some mustard the night before.)

While that is grilling toss the greens into a bowl with the pepper and onion.

Get the chicken off the grill when it is done and let it rest for a few minutes.

Combine everything in the vinaigrette recipe except for the oil into a blender. Pulse it until it all combines well. Turn the blender on steady and drizzle in the oil until it thickens up. Use more or less oil depending on the consistency you want.

To plate this up drop a handful of greens on the plate and slice up a chicken breast on top. Drizzle the dressing over the top. Drop a few fresh blackberries and a sprig of basil in the middle.

Done. Chow down!

For some modifications to this you can use any type of berry or fruit to liven it up. Also good with pork or fresh tuna.

Time for me to start posting favorites.

Barbecued Ribs with Blueberry Sauce

4 cups water
3 to 4 pounds country-style pork ribs
2 pints (4 cups) fresh blueberries
1 medium (1 cup) onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh gingerroot
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Bring water to a full boil in 6-quart saucepan; add ribs.
Cook over medium-high heat until ribs are fork tender (20 to 25 min).
2. Meanwhile, heat gas grill on medium or charcoal grill until coals are ash white.
Place all remaining ingredients in 2-quart saucepan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until flavors are blended
(12-15 minutes).
3. Place ribs on grill; baste with blueberry sauce.
Grill, basting and turning occasionally, until ribs are fork tender (20-25 min).
4. Cook remaining blueberry sauce over low heat, stirring occasionally,
until heated through. Serve sauce over ribs.

Makes 6 servings.

Fresh blueberries are recommended. However, 1 (16-ounce) package frozen whole unsweetened blueberries, thawed, drained can be substituted. Sauce will be thinner made with frozen blueberries.


A word on BBQ: I'm a BBQ fanatic! The word "barbecue" is most likely derived from the term "barbe a queue", French for "from snout to tail". It is believed to be of Louisiana Cajun origin; however, the Spanish brought barbeque, they called it "Barbacoa", to the Americas long before the Cajuns.

The Spaniards (most likely pirates) brought their hogs to the Americas (Florida) and cooked them in pits of oak and hickory coals. It is believed they learn to do this from the Natives of the West Indies. The actual word "barbecue" first appeared in Virginia in the 1700's. It is here where the duplicity meaning of the word "barbeque" was born. Pork was used in barbecues and the word "barbecue" was used not only as a method of cooking, but also as a social gathering at which meats were cooked in this manner.

Texas "barbecue" did not arrive until the 1800's when German settlers, influenced by Mexican vaqueros, butchered beef which they then "hand-rubbed" with spices before cooking over open fires. Although this may be the way the word "barbecue" came to existence in America; the method of cooking meats over an open fire began when a method of building a fire began.

Grilled Spareribs with Plum Barbecue Sauce

The Ribs:
6 pounds pork spare ribs, trimmed and cut into serving pieces
1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings
4 to 6 thin lemon slices
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Sauce:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 cans pitted whole plums in light syrup, 15 oz-ea
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 tablespoon cinammon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350*F (175*C).
2. Arrange ribs, slightly overlapping, in large roasting pan.
Layer onion and lemon slices over ribs. Season with salt and pepper.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1-hr 20 min to 1-hr 30 minutes
or until ribs are tender. Set aside.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan saute onions and garlic in oil
until onion has softened.
Drain plums, reserving couple tbsp light syrup, cut into small pieces and mash
thoroughtly or puree with a hand blender. Add reserved syrup.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Prepare outdoor grill with medium coals, or heat gas grill to medium.
5. Place ribs on grill; brush with sauce.
Grill, covered, turning often and brushing with sauce,
for 15 minutes or until done to your tastes.
6. If needed, heat remaining sauce for dipping and serve with ribs.

Alternatively, you can boil the ribs, covered in water in a deep pot with lid for 25 min until just cooked, then layer the sauce over them in a flat deepsided pan, brushing both sides well to coat em, reserve spare sauce, cover and refrigerate over night. Next day, either grill or bake in the oven, 350 deg, for about 2 hours, brush them babies with remaining sauce at least once per half hour, to keep em from drying out.

Damn good eatin', either way. Been using variations on this recipe for bout 20 yrs, never done me wrong.

Makes 6 servings.

Apricot-Sauced Ribs

<right about now, y'all figured out I like ribs, right?>


4 lbs babyback or country style thick spareribs, cut into serving-size pieces
1 8-oz can undrained apricot halves, in water or light syrup, mashed
3 tablespoons tomato paste or sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar or honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon-style fancy mustard
(this is where that spare mustard takin up space on the back of your shelf
comes in handy dandy)
1 teaspoon dry ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Prepare medium-hot coals for indirect grilling in covered grill.
2. Place ribs on grill not directly over coals,
cover grill and cook ribs over indirect heat for 1 1/2 hours.
3. Meanwhile, blend remaining ingredients together in blender.
4. Brush ribs generously with sauce and continue to cook,
about 15-20 min, basting and turning 2 to 3 times, to taste.

Makes 4 servings.

Pan-Seared Flounder Almondine and Avacado Papaya Salad

Salad Ingredients
6 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
4 ripe papayas
4 ruby red grapefruit
2 medium ripe avocados
2 small heads red leaf lettuce, washed and dried
1/2 cup minced onion

FIsh Ingredients
1/2 cup almonds, crushed or sliced
4 flounder fillets - (6 oz ea)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1 cup reduced fat (2%) milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
Olive Oil
1 lemon, cut into wedges


Prep:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Season the flounder with salt and pepper. Dip the filets into the milk,
then dredge throught the flour.

Cover the botom of the baking dish with olive oil.

Place the filets in the pan. Lightly brown one side then turn the filets
to brown the other side. When the filets are done, serve with a lemon
wedge and sprinkle almonds over the top.

This recipe yields 4 servings. Serving size: 1 filet.

Nutrition Facts: Calories 227; Calories from Fat 32; Fat 4g; Saturated
Fat 1g; Cholesterol 124mg; Sodium 190mg; Dietary Fiber 0g; Sugars 1g;
Protein 43g.

Salad Prep:
In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cut papaya lengthwise with paring knife and remove skin. Scoop out and discard seeds. Slice thinly. With paring knife, remove skin and white pith from grapefruit. Working over bowl to catch juice, cut sections from the membrane. Halve, peel, pit, and thinly slice avocado. Line a large platter with lettuce leaves and arrange papaya, grapefruit, and avocado slices on top. Add grapefruit juice to dressing and drizzle over salad. Sprinkle with onion.

Enjoy!

Easy Blackened Catfish w Mango Salsa and Wild Rice Grape Salad

Blackened Catfish

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon each; onion powder garlic powder, cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon white pepper
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
4 catfish fillets
½ cup olive oil

Directions:

Preheat cast-iron skillet at medium-high heat at least 10 minutes. Blend seasonings in shallow bowl. Dip fillets in oil and coat well with seasonings. Cook fillets in hot skillet 2-3 minutes each side until charred. Garnish with lemon wedges if desired.

Mango Salsa:

Ingredients:

2 cups diced fresh mango
2 cups fresh peaches, pitted and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger root
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 Serrano peppers, diced
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together the mangoes, peaches or nectarines, garlic, ginger and basil or cilantro. Add the chilies and lime juice to taste; mix well. Allow to chill 2 hours before serving.

Wild Rice and grape salad: (about a quart and a half)

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked wild or brown rice
1 cup seedless green grapes, halved
1 small can water chestnuts, sliced
1/2 cup celery chopped medium-fine
1 big bunch green onions chopped medium fine
1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds


Directions:

Stir vegetables into rice, stir grapes in gently. Refrigerated, this will keep several days. You can also put leftover chopped up chicken or turkey in this salad, If you're going to take this somewhere, be sure to keep it chilled in a cooler until time to eat.

IF you dont have a rice cooker and you like rice I highly recomend that you purchase one. There are many type out there so to help with the confusion here is an article to get you started.

How to Select a Rice Cooker