meuniere sauce (for salmon and angel hair pasta)

for 2 people{
combine in pan{
2 T butter, 1/2 T worchestire, lemon juice,
chopped green onion, chopped cilantro, minced garlic,
1/4 t salt, 1/8 t cayenne pepper
}
heat this til melted
keep warm til the fish is ready
}

asian-y chicken and pasta

being from a somewhat asian heritage, it comes to no surprise that when i just "feel like cooking up a little something", it leans towards oriental flavors. one day last week when left to my own devices, i decided to cook up some chicken and also try and use some penne pasta with it, since i hadn't eaten any in a while.

the items i had at my disposal were:

• garlic
• ginger
• celery (2)
• carrot (1)
• one chicken breast, cubed
• sesame oil
• soy sauce
• schezuan sauce
• penne pasta

i minced the garlic and ginger, and sauteed those in a non stick pan (because i was going to make a "sauce" and didn't want to have to scrape up nasty bits) with sesame oil. i then put the celery and carrot that i had cut up into small pieces, and sauteed those as well. finally i put in the chicken, let it brown slightly, then gave it a good dousing of soy sauce. i then put the pasta on to boil, figuring that the chicken and pasta would be done at the same time. i then put a spoonful of the schezuan sauce in the chicken, stirred it up well, then cooked it on low heat, covered, until the pasta was done cooking. then after everything was done, i drained the pasta, put it in a bowl, and then put the entire contents of the pan on top.

it was quite delicious, nice and spicy, with enough sauce to coat all the pasta. the celery and carrot still had some crunch to it, and the chicken was nice and moist. not bad for just throwing something together on the fly...

blackened fish

this week i've had the fortune to make blackened fish on two separate occasions! as requested by H, i dug up some recipes on cooks.com and then modified them to fit what i wanted to make. total cook/prep time ~ 20 minutes!

i used tilapia filets as my fish of choice, but i'm sure that any other fish would be good. for my seasoning, i basically put at least 1/2 tablespoon of whatever spices i could find in my cabinet. (note: for the pepper-like spices, obviously i didn't put as much in!) these included salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, red chili pepper powder, oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, cumin...i think that's all. i think adding onion powder would have been really yummy too. i then beat an egg in a bowl and dipped a filet into the egg, covering it completely. i then covered the eggy filet with the spice mix, and then fried on a skillet/pan for 2 1/2 minutes on each side on high heat. the fish came out tasting delicious and spicy...

see? quick and easy, and tastes so good...

plain brown lentil soup

why i like:

(1) tastes good,
(2) eat with couscous or rice,
(3) freezable and is still good,
(4) cheap,
(5) healthy (i guess)

how i make:

(1) soak 1 cup lentils in cold water for 30 minutes.
(2) sautee 1 onion and as much garlic as you want in olive oil.
(3) add spices (try 1/4 teaspoon paprika, cumin, curry powder, and a little less cayenne powder).
(4) stir for 1 minute.
(5) add 3 cups of licuid (2 cups chicken broth, 1 cup cold water).
(6) bring to boil.
(7) add salt and pepper.
(8) add the drained lentils.
(9) simmer 45 minutes (or until lentils are cooked, duh).
(10) puree half of it.
(11) return to a boil.
(12) remove from heat.
(13) down the hatch.

orange ginger chicken

after a trip to florida, huitzil and i were bestowed a gift of a bazillion oranges. so therefore, i wanted to make something dinner-y with an orange or two, and we both felt like it was a great success! the only drawback was that i didn't take any pictures, but let me tell you, it was beautiful...

first, the ingredients. i used about 6 cloves of minced garlic, tablespoon of minced ginger, half a chopped onion, chopped celery, juice of one orange, and chicken thighs (for something different...it's a nice change from chicken breasts). i browned the chicken in some olive oil, and then removed it from the pan. then i sauteed the onion first, then added the rest of the chopped ingredients. after that was nice and brown, i put the chicken back in the pan, and added some spices because, hey, why not! (i added cumin, paprika, salt and pepper.) then i splashed it with some low sodium soy sauce (got to love the soy) and then drenched it with freshly squeezed orange juice. then i turned the heat down some, covered the pan, and let it cook for about 25 minutes or so. (from a great suggestion from huitzil, low heat and slow cooking make for some delicious chicken! i've also found it really brings out the ginger as well.)

secondly, to plate the deliciousness, i put a chicken thigh, rice (that i so conveniently cooked with a slice of orange to infuse the flavors together...and it worked!), and half an orange on a green plate. the colors looked nice. oh, and i put the "sauce" and whatnot on the chicken and rice. huitzil added some celery stalks for crunch and nutrition factor, and VOILA! yummy orange ginger chicken!