Pan-grilled Salmon

Enough with the baking or grilling in an oven for now, until the temperature slow down. Using oven this time, added more heat in the house. The easiest for me to do this time is to pan-grill, it's easy and fast, like this salmon and asparagus. The ingredients are the same as I used in Grilled Fish (Tilapia) with Rosemary.

1 slice salmon

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

In a bowl, combine the olive oil, lime juice, salt, pepper, garlic, and rosemary. Brush the mixture onto the fish. Marinate it for about 10 minutes. Discard the liquid, and pan-grilled until cook.

You can also garnish the fish with rosemary sprigs (if using)

Poached Salmon with Cucumber-Dill Sauce

When it comes to fish, I preferred baked, grilled, or fried but not poach, I can't stand the smell even though I add lemon or  lime unless ginger will be added. But for this SBD Recipe, I tried this recipe for curiosity. Not bad, the taste is good! I think because of the Cucumber-Dill Sauce.

Salmon

1/2 cup white wine (dry)

1 cup water

3 peppercorns

2 sprigs fresh dill weed (I used 1 teaspoon dried)

1 bay leaf

1 rib celery, chopped

1 small lime, sliced

2 Salmon fillets

Combine wine, water, peppercorns, dill weed, bay leaf, celery, and lie in a pan. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the salmon to the mixture in the pan and cook for 10 minutes or until the fish flakes easily. Transfer the salmon to a platter. Cover, and chill thoroughly. Discard the liquid mixture.

Cucumber-Dill Sauce

1/4 cup peeled, seeded, finely chopped cucumber

1/4 cup fat-free sour cream

1/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt

1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill weed (1/2 teaspoon dried)

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

In a medium bowl, mix together the cucumber, sour cream, yogurt, dill weed, and mustard.

To serve, place the fillet on a plate. Spoon the sauce over the fillet. Garnish with fresh dill weed (optional).

Peppered Beef Frittata

Good morning Sunshine! Another breakfast treat from SBD Recipes. In their book, originally it's Smoked Salmon Frittata. I substituted peppered beef for smoked salmon, actually any meat will do like ham. I also omitted some of the ingredients not available, just made it a simple frittata by adding cheese.

8 stalks of fresh asparagus

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 slices of peppered beef, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 eggs

1/4 cup fresh milk

pinch of ground pepper
mozzarella cheese (optional)

In a pan, saute onion until soft. Add asparagus and peppered beef. Remove from the heat. Combine and whisk together the eggs and milk until the whites and yolks are completely blended. Add the beef mixture, seasoned with pepper. Heat the pan over the medium heat, pour in the egg mixture the bottom is cooked. Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake in the oven until the eggs are set and cheese has melted.

Peppered Beef Roll-Ups

This snack is adapted from SBD Recipes, known as Turkey Rolls-Ups. Originally, a slice of turkey will be place on a lettuce leaf and spread with Cilantro Mayonnaise, fold in tight like a cigarette roll. I made a twist!

2 slices of peppered beef
some asparagus
cilantro mayonnaise (cilantro is omitted)

Pan grill the asparagus. In a plate, place 1 slice of beef, place asparagus on top and spread mayonnaise. Fold into a tight roll.

How to make (NON-) Cilantro Mayonnaise (from SBD Recipes)


1/2 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves (omitted)
2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 small clove garlic

Place the mayonnaise, cilantro, lime juice, soy sauce, and garlic in a blender (food processor). Blend until smooth.

(I didn't use blender, I just mix with fork!)

Enjoy!

Note: Peppered Beef may be substitued for the Ham.
Cilantro Mayonnaise can be used as a dip instead of a spread.

Strawberries with Yogurt

These strawberries are sour, the best to mix with yogurt! Just spoon the 4 ounces non-fat yogurt into a parfait glass, then add chopped (sliced) strawberries. Serve immediately.

Food Trip Friday

Chopped Salad with Tuna

The name of this salad is South Beach Chopped Salad with Tuna, adapted from SBD Recipes but radish is omitted. This is one of my favorite fresh salad, it's easy to prepare. I just chopped (sliced) all the vegetables and drain tuna in can, make your own dressing, that's it! 

Salad

1 can tuna (6 ounces) water-packed tuna

1/3 cup chopped cucumber

1/3 cup chopped tomato

1/3 cup chopped avocado

1/3 cup chopped radish (omitted)

1 cup chopped romaine lettuce

Dressing

4 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoon fresh lime juice

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

dash of black pepper

dash of salt (optional)

In a bowl (dish), layer lettuce, celery, cucumber, avocado, tomato, cucumber, and tuna. Mix the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, pepper, and salt (optional). Drizzle over the salad.

Fish in Scallion and Ginger Sauce

In SBD Recipes, fish like orange roughy, cod, sole, or flounder can be use for this recipe but I used tilapia fillet. I cooked it a little bit longer, I thought it will be dry, it's not just because I used fresh fish. I omitted dry sherry and replaced lime juice.

1/3 cup dry sherry or vermouth

3 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 cup finely chopped green onion

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

2 fish fillet

Preheat the oven to 180°C (400°F). Mix the sherry or vermouth (if using) or lime, soysauce, sesame oil, onion, ginger, and garlic in a small bowl. Place the fresh fillets in an ovenproof dish. Drizzle the marinate over the fish and bake for 12 minutes or until the fish flakes easily.

Oatmeal and Tofu Pancake

A very healthy breakfast adapted from SBD Recipes, I used oatmeal tofu (a box of silk tofu with oatmeal added) that can easily find in the supermarkets. If tofu is not available, from original recipe low-fat cottage cheese in another choice.

1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

1 box silken tofu
or 1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese

4 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

In a blender, process place the oatmeal, tofu, egg whites, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg  until smooth. In a pan, add a drop of oil (or cooking spray). Add the batter and cook over medium heat until sides are slightly browned.

Top with low sugar cranberry syrup ( sorry for the color :), but it's yum!
(You can top the pancake with a low-sugar syrup of your choice.)

Tuesdays at the Table

Tuesday Tastes Party

Marinated London Broil

I don't know which part of beef I used because I sliced it when I bought it that supposed to be used in other recipes. The ingredients I used in marinating is taken from SBD Recipes. I like my steak well-done unlike in the recipe which is medium-rare. I used oven toaster, it's a little bit longer to cook, grill pan can also use for those in a hurry. All the herbs should be fresh, but I only used dried.

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoon dry red wine

1 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 bay leaf

dash of ground black pepper

2 pieces steak

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, wine, garlic, parsley, oregano, bay leaf, and pepper. Place the steak in a deep bowl and pour on the marinade. Turn once to coat in a sides, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

When ready to serve, preheat the broiler. Discard the marinade. Broil the meat about 5 minutes on each side or until cook. Cut the meat into thin or bite size. Serve warm or cold.

Chicken en Papillote

I already collected lots Chicken Recipe from South Beach Diet Book. Another recipe this time is Chicken en Papillote or Baked Chicken wrapped in foil. I only omitted zucchini, as usual I'm not fun of it, but don't worry I'll try to like it later :). Instead I added cucumber. I baked this for 30 minutes, I like it a little bit chewy but not too dry. I let it cool, then ate it with Gazpacho.

2 boneless chicken breast
pinch salt and pepper
1 scallion, chopped
1 small zucchini, sliced (omitted)
1 medium carrot, sliced stripped
1/2 teaspoon orange zest

Preheat oven (toaster) to 220°C, place the chicken in a foil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine scallions, carrot, cucumber or zucchini (if using), and orange zest. Spoon the mixture over the chicken breast. Fold the foil over the chicken and crimp edges together tightly. Bake for 20 minutes or until cook.

Cold Vegetable Soup (Gazpacho)

Summer time! It would be nice if the soup like Gazpacho is cold. Adapted  from the South Beach Diet Recipe, my first time to make and taste my way of making gazpacho. I have less ingredients, maybe it would taste better if I completed the ingredients being asked. I didn't add tomato or vegetable juice, i just added more ripe tomatoes, and no parsley, vinegar (I used lime), and worcestershire sauce. In the recipe, the procedure is just mix everything and refrigerate. I cook everything first, I don't think I can drink it raw. Then I blended it, before I refrigerate.

2 cups finely chopped fresh tomatoes

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup finely chopped cucumber

1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped green onion

3 tablespoon fresh lime juice

2 tablespoon extra-vrigin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

In a pot, combine all the ingredients and just let it boil. Place in a blender, blended it until smooth. Let it cool, cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve cold.

Cheesy Frittata

Another breakfast treat from South Beach Diet Recipe, but I omitted some ingredients like zuchini, plum tomatoes, and cottage cheese. Instead of broiling it, I just baked it in an oven toaster and mix mozarella cheese together with milk and eggs in a blender. Still, very cheesy!

1/2 cup slice onion

1/2 sliced bell pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

2 eggs

1/4 cup fresh milk

30g mozarella cheese

pepper powder

In a pan, saute onion and bell pepper over medium-low heat until slighly brown. Add basil pepper, remove from the heat. In a blender, combine eggs, cheese, and milk and blended until smooth. Pour the mixture over the vegetables. Cover and cook on the medium-low heat until the bottom is set and the top is still slightly wet. Transfer the skillet to the broiler (if using), or oven toaster and bake until the top is set.

Roasted Eggplant and Bell Peppers

A very simple side dish or snack taken from South Beach Diet Recipe, but I added sesame dressing and I omitted the onion.

1 eggplant, peeled, halved, and sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thick strip
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into thick strip
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into thick strip
1 small onion, sliced (omitted)
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
some fresh basil (optional)

Preheat the oven (toaster) to 220°C . Place the eggplant, peppers, and onion (optional) in a baking dish. Drizzle with the oil. Bake in for about 20 minutes or more, basting regularly.

Arrange the vegetables on a serving dish and garnish with fresh basil and pour some dressing that you like.

Chicken-Pistachio Salad

Just for curiosity, I tried and did the exact recipe of Chicken-Pistachio Salad from South Beach Diet specially the dressing, I like it! The dressing is easy to do, just mix all the ingredients needed and blend it, that's it. But the chicken mixture, it took me a long time to prepare. First, I don't have ground pistachio nuts, so I have to shell manually, then blended it in a blender to become powder. Nevertheless, it's worth. It's good!

For the salad

1/2 cup shelled pistachio nuts, finely ground

1/2 + 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon  + 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup diced sweet white onion

1 head romaine lettuce

For the dressing

1 teaspoon grated sweet onion

1 large ripe avocado, pitted and peeled

3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon water

To make the salad

Preheat the oven (oven toaster) to 220°C. In a plate, mix the nuts, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Press the chicken into the nuts. In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and cook the coated chicken breast, 2 minutes per side. Place the chicken breasts in the a baking dish and bake for 15 minutes or until cook.

In a pan, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Cook until the onion is browned.

To make the dressing

Puree onion, avocado, oil, lime juice, and water in a blender.

 

Place bite size lettuce in a plate. Slice the chicken breasts and arrange on top of the lettuce. Serve with the dressing.

*****

Happy Saturday!

Western Egg White Omelet

Taken from South Beach Diet Recipes, I was in a hurry to make breakfast that day. I've been eating breakfast for the last two weeks, and I don't get easily hungry not until lunch time. That's a good news! (I used to be big eater at night.) For the past two weeks, I'm trying to change my bio-clock, starting from eating healthy food. I lost weight although it's fluctuating since I really didn't follow the suggestions and I haven't started doing exercise.

This is just an ordinary omelet and saving it here to complete my recipe collection from South Beach Diet. The egg in original recipe is 1/2 cup egg substitute. There's now way I can find egg substitute here in Taiwan, instead I used ordinary egg, beaten lightly.

1 tablespoon green pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon red pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon scallion, chopped

1 egg, beaten lightly

3 tablespoon shredded reduced-fat cheese (I used mozzarella cheese)

extra-virgin olive oil for sauteing

In a pan, heat oil, saute the peppers and the scallions until they are tender-crisp. Set aside.

In the same pan, add a little oil and pour the egg. When partially set, place the vegetables and cheese over half of the egg and fold the omelet in half over the filling. Continue cooking until cook through. Serve immediately.

Salmon Kabobs

I usually buy fish and meat products either in Costco or Wellcome(that's really how it spelled) , because they are individually wrapped and only good for one or two servings. But today, I bought this in a traditional market (wet market), the cut is big and too fat. I decided to make it into kabobs that I adapted from South Beach Diet Recipes. I have left over peppers from other dish I made. Except, I don't have any onions and tomatoes available (I used them all in my Tomato and Onion Soup).

2 tablespoon extra-virgin oil

2 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 salmon (or any fish), cut into big cube (bite size)

1/2 red, green, and yellow bell pepper, cut into big cube

tomatoes and onion (optional)

Pre-heat the broiler, I used oven-toaster. In  a bowl, combine the oil, juice, and mustard. Stir to blend. Place the fish to the marinade. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes, tuning the  fish to coat evenly and chill for another 5 minutes. Thread the fish onto skewers (I used sticks), alternating fish cubes with colored peppers. Brush the kabobs lightly with the marinade.

Place the skewer on a broiler pan and broil for 5 minutes. Turn the kabobs and brush again with the rest of the marinade. Broil for another 5 minutes longer or until the fish is no longer translucent and the vegetables are tender-crisp. Serve immediately.

Shrimp Salad with Herb-Dill Dressing

After a week of eating fish and chicken, finally I found a shrimp recipe adapted from South Beach Diet. I made a twist about this recipe, instead of using dry white wine, I just used lime juice. For red-pepper flakes, I used paprika and omitted the mustard seed. Since there's no fresh dill for the dressing, dried dill was fine. Luckily, the shrimp I bought was already peeled and deveined. This is good specially for summer!

For the shrimp:

500g small shrimp, peeled and  deveined

1 teaspoon mustard seeds (dijon mustard)

1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes (dash of paprika)

1 bay leaf

1 lime juice

In a pan, combine the lime, bay leaves, dijon mustard, and paprika. Add 1/2 cup water, bring to a boil. Add shrimp, and cook until the shrimp turned cook. Drain and cool. Discard the bay leaf.

For Herb-Dill Dressing:

2 tablespoon extra-vrigin olive oil

2 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (1 teaspoon dried dill)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/4 medium onion, chopped

In a screw-top jar, mix the olive oil, lime juice, water, basil, dill, garlic, mustard, and onion. Shake well.

Place the shrimp in a bowl, add the dressing and toss well. Cover, refrigerate until well-chilled.

Serve the shrimp mixture on chopped romaine lettuce leaves and surround with tomato. Garnish with dill sprigs (optional).

submitted to:

Summer Salad Theme

Light Spinach Frittata with Tomato Salsa

Another breakfast frittata adapted from South Beach Diet, I like this better than Vegetable Quiche. I guess because of the milk added and it has fresh tomato salsa. I used frozen spinach and the left-over egg whites when I made Hollandaise Sauce. I don't have mozzarella cheese, instead I used ordinary low-fat singles, and no cilantro for me!

For Frittata
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1/3 cup low-fat milk
4 low-fat cheese singles, chopped

For Salsa
1 big tomato
1 scallion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cilantro (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven at 200.
In a pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring until fragrance and tender. Add the spinach, reduce the heat to low.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and egg whites with the milk until light yellow and frothy. Pour the eggs mixture over the spinach in the pan. Cook for 5 minutes or more, until the egg mixture is cooked on the bottom and almost set on top. Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake in the oven until the eggs are set and the cheese has melted, 5 - 10 minutes.

(I baked it for about 30 minutes, I like the cheese burnt.)

To make the salsa:
In a large bowl, stir together the tomatoes, scallions, garlic, cilantro (if using), lime juice, salt, and pepper. Serve fresh, at room temperature, over the frittata.

Note: You can also serve the frittata with salsa bought from supermarket.

Have a great week ahead!

Grilled Fish with Rosemary

My oven toaster is quiet busy now a days, most of the dishes adapted from South Beach Diet Recipes are either grilling or broiling. For me, whatever the difference, I always pre-heat the oven toaster before I place the meat or fish, in a certain time as per directed or sometimes more minutes. :)
This recipe is about Grilled Salmon with Rosemary, but I used tilapia fillet and dried rosemary.  It's very  simple as 1,2,3.

2 fillet fish
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lime or lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
fresh rosemary sprigs (optional)
capers (optional)

In a bowl, combine the olive oil, lime juice, salt, pepper, garlic, and rosemary. Brush the mixture onto the fish. Place it in an oven toaster and broiled it for 10 minutes or less.

Ricotta Crème Desserts

After making my Home-Made Ricotta Cheese, I've been eating Ricotta Crème for desserts as part of South Beach Diet Recipes. In the the first phase, there are five ways how to enjoy Ricotta Crème - Lemon Zest Ricotta Crème, Almond Ricotta Crème, Vanilla Ricotta Crème, Mocha Ricotta Crème, and Lime Ricotta Crème. My favorite is Mocha Ricotta Crème, I love the mixture of cheese with coffee and chocolate. The basic ingredients are Ricotta Cheese, vanilla extract, and substitute sugar + the flavor (lemon/lime zest, coffee and chocolate for mocha).

Vanilla Ricotta Crème

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon sugar substiture

Lime Zest (or Lemon) Ricotta Crème

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 teaspoon grated lime or lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon sugar substitute

*****

Mocha Ricotta Crème

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

(I used chocolate powder)

1 teaspoon sugar substitute

dash of expresso powder

Mix together the ricotta cheese and  the rest of the ingredients in a dessert bowl.
(If it's too thick, add 2 tablespoon water)
Served chilled.

yUm!