one fish, two fish, white fish, new fish

"I'm about to be a pain in the ass"... was the prefacing warning I provided Eddie, my fish monger @ the P Street Whole Foods (apparently the highest volume Whole Foods in the company)...on a Saturday afternoon. I can't help it. When I have an interesting idea...I need action! I don't want to just sit around and wait for another time to research whitefish. Luckily, my fish guy is awesome, and got my eight 2-ounce portions of every single whitefish they had in the case. Here's the lineup:

Black Cod
Pacific Cod
Chilean Sea Bass
Tilapia
Trout
Monkfish
Swordfish
Catfish

The mission: learn taste/texture contrast between all of them, with minimal variables involved. Lightly seasoned with s&p, grilled on the grill pan in as natural a state as possible. So, with the assistance of my harp-playing buddy Nadia, the games began.

official setup

grill pans are awesome

My notes are as follows:
Catfish - not very fishy, flaky, thin, dry
Pacific Cod - flaky, fairly dry, not fishy
Black cod - very thick flakes, buttery/oily
Monkfish - dense, not flaky, rather sponge-like, moist (although not oily)
Trout - very flaky, thin, dry but meaty
Tilapia - fairly flaky, but moist. Medium flakes. light fishy flavor
Swordfish - steaklike. good flavor, absorbs salt well (assuming it'll absorb anything quite well). thick
Chilean Sea Bass - Large flakes, buttery, mild flavor

Memorable quotes from Nadia: "I want to make a salad with trout. Something like a chicken salad." "I'll save my opinion on monkfish for later."

Sure, this experience was certainly not to determine a "wishfish winner," but this a competitive society. :) Swordfish took the cake by far. Chilean Sea Bass is way overrated, and trout somewhat underrated. Monkfish won't be found on any future plate of Nadia's, but I may experiment with that ugly duck if I happen to feel frisky.

Recommendations on what to analyze next?

Sweet Potato Hummus Showdown

Confession. I totally fell in love with Soupergirl's sweet potato hummus (For those of you local to DC...she has a store somewhere by the Takoma metro stop, but I catch her at the DuPont farmer's market every Sunday). Silly her, though....for placing an ingredient list on her containers :) People like me will definitely try to duplicate....and one-up :) Here it goes:

roasted sweet potato
tahini
garlic
onion
sweet paprika
olive oil
lemon juice
salt & pepper

Of course, there are plenty of variables here. How much of each? Is the garlic roasted or raw? What about the onions? What kind of sweet potato (which the overall flavor is hiiiiighly dependent on. If the sweet potato isn't very sweet, there's a huge flavor difference, taking you from a sweet-ish dip to fairly savory). And...what does she use to mix everything? Assuming not a Vitamix, as hers has a fair amount of texture to it. Whenever I run mine through the Vitamix, smooth and silky becomes the default.

soupergirl (left), me (right)

Results? Try it yourself. Experiment. I had about an even split on "whose is better?" amongst friends (in a blind taste test, of course :) Want yours a little sweeter? Maybe a dash of cinnamon and a touch of honey? More savory? Load up on the garlic. Even toss in some chickpeas if you want a more "authentic" hummus. Or...you can get really wild and crazy and give Japanese sweet potato a whirl. Check this out:

Beware with the Japanese sweet potato, though. It tends to get rather gummy in hummus form. My next attempt at this will either include more olive oil, or some chickpeas, to smooth out the texture. It was fabulously creamy mashed potatoes while still warm after roasting, but when cooling off...insanely gummy (although still delish!)

choc-o-licious paleo brownies. say whaaaaat?

Over my time being Paleo, I feel that I've attempted countless Paleo brownie recipes. Most have a ton of coconut flour, and end up dense, with your mouth crying for a glass of anything to help wash it down. While searching for a gluten free, nut free, dairy free recipe to bake for an uber generous client couple of mine, I came across this gem. Of course, my freestyle behind couldn't just follow the recipe. I had to add in my flavor (and actually kept the improv to a minimum this time). Check it out:
(original recipe: http://www.healthfulpursuit.com/2012/04/fudge-tastic-brownies-vegan-gluten-free-grain-free-nut-free/)

• ½ cup mashed frozen banana 
• 1 cup sunflower butter (I made my own via tossing a load of sunflower seeds into the Vitamix and lettin 'er rip!)
• 2 tbsp ground chia seeds, mixed with 3 tablespoons water to form a paste
• 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp stevia powder
• 1 Tbsp Tahini
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup cacao powder
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp baking soda 
• ¼ cup chocolate (or carob) chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease an 8×8 baking dish with coconut oil. 
2. In a food processor, combine bananas, sunflower butter and chia seed mix. Process until smooth.
3. Add in coconut oil, honey, stevia, tahini, and vanilla. Again, process until smooth before adding cacao, salt and baking soda. Batter will be really thick, but it is all good! Add in chocolate chips. 
4. Transfer batter into a well greased 8×8 inch Pyrex baking dish and sprinkle with additional chocolate chips.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. 

This stuff is GOOD! It has a slight sunflower taste, but overall the texture and flavor are FAB! :) Enjoy!

Frozen Sweet Potato Coconut Cashew Cranberry Quenelles!

Who knew that by posting a photo of frozen mashed sweet potato balls from Trader Joe's would create such a buzz?!? Apparently the photo made them look like much more than just mashed sweet potato...which, of course, created much dialogue between my fitness compadre, Leslie Ann (laqfitness.com) re: fun, frozen sweet potato dessert balls! So...as promised, I let some creative juices flow and ta-da: Frozen Sweet Potato Coconut Cashew Cranberry Quenelles! Whaaaaaat?

Okay...these don't involve rocket science whatsoever...Trader Joe's Frozen Mashed Sweet Potatoes...I took about 6-7 of the balls, defrosted in the microwave in about 1:30. Here's the fun part: Add whatever the heck you want! :) I did shredded coconut, maple roasted cashews (bulk section @ the P Street whole foods), dried cranberries...and dusted with maple sugar (also from my place of worship: aka Trader Joes). Ball them, get fancy with spoons and make Quenelles, make a sheet cake for all I care...HAVE FUN with it and enjoy!! :)

Paleo Picadillo

...Puerto Rican (okay, maybe it actually originated in Cuba...but whatever) beefy goodness. And for you anti-moo folks...just sub ground whatever for the beef :)

Please note that most Puerto Ricans are known for cooking "a ojo"...aka "a little of this, handful of that, etc. So I'm attempting to put pseudo-quantities here. But part of the soul of the meal is somewhat improving based on what YOU like! So have at it!

1 lb. lean ground beef (I use 93/7 typically)
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 medium sweet onion, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, freshly chopped
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 heaping Tbsp capers
1/5 tsp caper juice
10-12 green olives (with pimento preferably), sliced
1-2 Tbsp raisins
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to sauté onion/pepper

Start by sautéing your pepper and onion over medium-high heat in a large skillet, with a bit of olive oil. Add garlic about halfway through (to prevent the garlic from burning). Meanwhile, add your oregano, cumin, salt and pepper to your ground beef, and mix together. When the onions and peppers are turning slightly brown, add your meat mixture, and break up the meat as it is cooking. While it is still a little red, add the tomato sauce, capers (and juice), olives, and raisins. Reduce heat and let simmer until some of the sauce has evaporated off (15 minutes or so). ENJOY!

I dig this because of the flavor combinations...the hint of sweet via the raisins are a great contrast to the smoky cumin and robust beef. So, so good! The non-paleo version would add a bit of diced potato...but quite honestly, this stuff is amazing without the added carb :)

"Be Careful With It!" Banana Bread....

Yep, you heard it...I didn't stutter. BE CAREFUL with this stuff! Between me and you...after making this, I OD'd on it not once, but TWICE, before learning my lesson of not having them around all the time - lol.

There are a ton of Paleo banana bread recipes floating around out there. Most of them are fairly unimpressive, too similar to the last, don't have much of a "bread" consistency, blah blah blah. This gem, however, is so delightful that a smile comes to my face just writing this post about it :)

I'm giving credit to tahini being in it, which has to be the "culprit" of creating such a delicious, moist, bread-y treat. I got the original recipe from whatrunslori.com. It is her pumpkin swirl banana bread. Seems pretty delicious on her site...but I, of course, had to make an alteration or two ;) The first being to eliminate the pumpkin swirl in it. It is too pasty, heavy, and makes the delicious banana part of it sink in and change texture. And, as maple is the key to this big girl's heart...I added a touch of good ol' Grade B syrup in there.

Here it goes!

This is with the pumpkin swirl. 1/4cup pumpkin puree, 3 Tbsp cocoa powder (although not exactly recommended) 

1/3 cup almond butter
1/4 cup tahini
3/4 cup shredded, dried, unsweetened coconut
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs (or 1/3 cup egg beaters)
2 tsp maple syrup (get the good stuff!)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease loaf pan (or muffin tin) with coconut oil
2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl
3. Put your mixture into your loaf pan, or evenly distribute into muffin tin
4. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until the center is firm. Let it cool for a bit, remove from pan (or tin), and allow to cool on wire rack.
5. Have a chaperon around so you don't make the same overdose mistake I did (and have to cut your run short lol)

oh. em. gee. SO good! Be careful, and enjoy!

Mexican Turkey & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

As per the request of Sarah Deutschmann, my triathlete badass client (who may also carry a gun, so don't mess with her)...who spent a load of $$ on stuffed peppers at a local cafe recently...and wished she hadn't. :) so...I decided to put these on the "Better Than" Menu this week. Based on a onelovelylife.com recipe....here we go!

4 bell peppers, sliced in half step to tip, seeds removed
1 16 oz. package of fresh ground turkey breast
1 cup quinoa
1/2 medium onion, dived
1 - 15 oz - can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 roma tomato, seeded and diced
1 - 4 oz - can diced green chiles (don't drain!...extra flavor!)
1/4 cup cilantro (optional), minced
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1 can enchilada sauce of choice
1/2 cup lite mexican cheese blend (got mine from Trader Joe's)

1. Add quinoa and onion to a medium saucepan w/ 2 cups water (or chicken stock for more flavor). Bring to boil over medium-high heat, and keep at boil for 5 minutes. Cover, turn off heat, and let steam for 15-20 minutes. Fluff with fork
2. In large skillet, brown ground turkey with salt/pepper.
3. Pour quinoa/onion mixture into large mixing bowl. Add ground turkey, black beans, tomato, green chiles, cilantro, salt, and pepper.
4. Pour enchilada sauce into 9x13'' baking dish. Divide filling among peppers, and nestle stuffed peppers into the sauce. Sprinkle with cheese.
5. Cover pan with foil and bake at 375 degrees 15-20 minutes. Remove foil and cook another 10 minutes. Serve peppers drizzled with sauce spooned out from pan. Enjoy!

Pretty easy, fairly easy to pack for meals later in the week. Tasty! If you're a saucemaster like I am, you can also serve with a bit of salsa on the side or drizzled on top. Yummo!