Tuna Steaks and Curried Quinoa

Hi!
Oh boy was I excited for today. Today was the first time the farmers market has been on campus since Christmas. Finally, we can eat fresh vegetables and fruits again! I totally went overboard and bought tons! Stayed under $20 though. Love the farmers market.

Nick and I bought tuna steaks around Thanksgiving time (before the engagement, when we weren't saving every penny we have) and decided to thaw and cook them tonight, since our new place has a grill. ooooo my favorite food is grilled food... mmmm hot dogs.

On a side note, Mac and Cheese is $2.00 a box here! (thanks Anja!) What ever happened to it being 36 cents a box? Man oh man.

Anyway, we marinated the tuna steaks in spicy stir fry sauce, mustard, and soy sauce. We pretty much just make a marinade out of whatever sauce we have in the fridge. It always ends up being delicious. While Nick was grilling them, (5 mins on each side... flip only once... look at those grill marks!) I was upstairs making a quinoa dish that I found in a cook book that was left here called "the healthiest meals on earth."

Let me tell you, this side dish was amazing! I can't wait to cook it again. sooooo good. Definitely going to make this for visitors!

Curried Quinoa
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2/3 cup quinoa (uncooked)

2 1/2 cups water or vegetable or chicken broth

3 cups kale, stems removed and chopped into bite sized pieces

1 tsp curry powder

pinch of salt

3 Tbs. coconut milk (it says unsweetened and light, but I used regular... so I guess it's not one of the healthiest meals on earth.)

2 tsp. lime juice (I never have lime juice, so skipped it)

1/4 tsp. curry powder (yes more!)

1/4 tsp. agave nectar

1/3 cup peanuts (I bought the little pack that you see in line at the grocery store)

Directions

In a dry, non stick saute pan over medium heat, toast the quinoa for 5-6 minutes until fragrant, gently turning from time to time. Add the water or broth, kale, curry powder, and salt; cover, and raise temperature to high to bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until quinoa and kale are tender, the quinoa "tails" have popped, and the liquid is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. Remove pan from heat and transfer to large bowl.

In a small bowl, place the coconut milk, lime juice, curry powder, and agave nectar and whisk together briskly. Pour over the quinoa mixture and toss to combine well. May be served warm or chilled in the fridge overnight. Add the peanuts just before serving.

Like I said, it was pretty amazing! I was surprised at the outcome. Thanks to Nick, the tuna was amazing too! The cats even gobbled up their piece. Yes, we spoil our cats rotten. One time, I went out to a fancy fancy restaurant with Nick and brought home a piece of filet mignon (in my purse) for the cats. They appreciate it.

I'm so excited for lunch tomorrow. I shredded the left over tuna and mixed it with onions, celery, mayo, and mustard and made sandwiches!

Baked Ziti

Oh I've been so lazy! Getting back on track from the holidays and trying to cook real meals. This is an attempt. We moved mid December so we had to food, then we went on vacation so still had no food. Now its after the holidays and have no money... so still no food.

Thankfully my lovely Auntie Bonnie got Nick and I gift cards to a wonderful local market on our way home from work. So we went there and got enough for meals for the week and some bulk items as well. I was lazy my first day of work (really, I just got home from an insanely busy vacation, the worst 9 hour flight of my life, and had to work the next day... I was entitled to be lazy) so I just made Baked Ziti, which is so easy... I didn't even use my own pasta sauce either.

Since I just compiled items that I had in the cupboards, I'm not going to make a recipe this time. Maybe next time I make it I will.

I just boiled some ziti noodles, added them to a 9x13 pan, mixed up some tomato sauce (pre made sauce) 2 oz cream cheese, onion, mushrooms, spices and topped with some cheddar cheese. It was delicious!

French Onion Soup

Two things that I'm famous for while cooking. 1. Leaving something in the oven and forgetting about it until it starts smoking up the house and the fire alarm goes off. 2. Putting something in the microwave for way longer than it needs and forgetting about it so it either comes out boiling or charred (ie. I put my coffee in the micro to heat it up the other day for 5 minutes... remembered it when it had one minute left... it was boiling... i then transfered it to the freezer).

Last night, I made French Onion Soup. I cubed some very delicious bread and put it on the oven (which was on broil for the soup) for a "few minutes" to get toasty before putting it in the soup. Oops... didn't remember until I was looking for the bread to put in the soup and smelling a strange smell. Then the fire alarm went off and Nick and I rush over to wave our towels at it to make it go off. That didn't work so I yelled at Nick (yelling because it was so loud) to pull the battery out. I grabbed a pan to wave the smoke away and ended up bashing Nick in the arm while he was taking the battery out. What can I say? I like to add a little excitement to my cooking.

Since we don't waste food in this household, I used the burnt bread (as seen in the photo). It actually tasted really good to me, but I'm known for loving things burnt (Hot dogs, marshmallows, etc.).

Anyway, I found my new favorite bread side dish while making this dish (Thanks to Nick's garlic chopping talents). He chopped garlic in huge chunks (I was told never to use the word "chunk" while describing food), I buttered the bread and put the garlic on it and broiled it for about 3-5 minutes. It was soooooo good!! I think I might use olive oil next time and drizzle some over the garlic just so see what that does. So amazing, and so easy.

The soup turned out really really good too. I followed a recipe (somewhat) since I had never made it before. Only I used extra onions and not enough broth. I will definitely use more broth next time. It was more like an onion hot dish (yes you Hawaiians... I said hot dish).

Well, leftovers tonight... we'll probably lay low this week since we have the big Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, which is why we chose not to go out to eat last night (we usually go out every Friday).

French Onion Soup
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons cup unsalted butter

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 4 cups sliced onions

• 4 (10.5 ounce) cans beef broth (I used vegetable broth, it was nummy)

• 1/2 cup red wine

• 2 teaspoons dried thyme

• salt and pepper to taste

• 4 slices French bread (I cubed it)

• 4 slices provolone cheese (I shredded it)
• 
  

Directions:Melt butter with olive oil in an 8 quart stock pot on medium heat. Add onions and continually stir until tender and translucent. You may want to caramelize the onions if you like that flavor.Add broth, red wine and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 30 minutes.Heat the oven broiler.Ladle soup into oven safe serving bowls and place the slice of bread on top of each (bread may be broken into pieces if you prefer). Layer each slice of bread with a slice of provolone (may use other cheeses as well). Place bowls on cookie sheet and broil in the preheated oven until cheese bubbles and browns slightly.

Sole Filet with Rice and Grandpa Howard's Green Beans

We didn't have much planned so far this week (didn't go to the grocery store this weekend) so we decided to cook a Sole fish filet that we had in the freezer.

I was quite surprised when I cooked this one. I don't really like fish and I don't really like frying things either. It usually ends up burnt or gooey. But this turned out amazing! It was crisp and tasty. I did actually dip mine in ketchup, which is awful and any chef would yell at me, but it reminded me of my childhood and I wanted to dangit!

I also had it with my Grandpa Howard's garden green beans, which was pretty awesome too. I don't think the meal would be the same with regular frozen or canned or even fresh green beans. Nothing like em!!

Sole Filet
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
4 Sole Fillets or white fish fillets
2 eggs
2 tsp prepared mustard
1/2 cup flour
1 cup bread crumbs
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Directions: 
Place flour in shallow dish. Mix eggs and mustard in shallow dish. Place bread crumbs in shallow dish.  Dredge fish in flour, dip in egg mixture, then dip in breading. For a crispier fish, dip in egg mixture and breading twice. Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add olive oil. When pan is hot add fish fillets  Cook for 4-6 minutes on each side or until fish is light and flaky.  Serve with brown rice and vegetables.