HOMEMADE MEALS MONDAYS: rainbow trout, asian style!

So last weekend, the hubs and I decided to take a stroll down Pacific Palisades.  We had a delicious brunch at Cafe Vida and the Mexican hot chocolate was amazing!  Then we went shopping at the farmer's market down the street.  I've been to handful of farmer's markets and I get very excited when they sell poultry or any types of meats because it's not so common.  So imagine my excitement when we came across a booth that sold seafood! We had to get something just to support the local fisherman!  So the hubs decided on rainbow trout, not sure why.  Well I've never made it before but I did come up with this marinade for salmon a while back...I figured it's pretty fool-proof and it was haha!

Rainbow trout, Asian style!

4 rainbow trout fillets (we made the mistake of buying ones with bones and skin - it was a pain to remove after the fish was cooked!)
1 bunch of scallions/green onions
1/4 cup of grated ginger (peel first - love ginger!)
1 tablespoon of garlic
2 tablespoon of tamari or soy sauce
olive oil
salt and pepper

Ok this is extremely simple.  Chop up the scallions and grate the ginger.  Place half of the chopped scallions and half of the grated ginger in a storage bag.  Add the tamari or soy sauce, garlic, a little bit of olive oil and the fish fillets.  Mix it all up and marinade for about 10 minutes.  Then add some olive oil to a heated skillet. Stir in the other half of the scallions and ginger for a about a minute, then cook up the fillets!  It only takes a few minutes to cook each side of the fish.  That's it, you're done!  I've tried using this marinade with salmon and baking the salmon instead of cooking it in a skillet, and I have gotten the same yummy result!

ingredients

fish in marinade

the smell in the kitchen was so awesome when this was happening

rainbow trout, asian style!

HOMEMADE MEALS MONDAYS: bacon wrapped chicken breast!

I love bacon, most people love bacon! Anything with bacon is always extra yummy.  So this past Monday, I made bacon-wrapped chicken breasts.  The idea sounds good (like the bacon-wrapped hot dogs they sell on Sunset after a long night of drinking and clubbing!) and OMG it WAS AWESOME!  The hubs even had the leftovers the next day!

Bacon-wrapped Chicken Breast

What you need:
2 chicken breast
1 packed of organic, uncured bacon
pepper
olive oil

So all I did what cut up the chicken breast into about 4.  Then I rubbed some olive oil and pepper on the chicken and then wrapped it in with bacon.  Placed it on a hot grill pan and that's it!  Cook until the chicken is fully cooked (cover pan so it cooks faster).  I am absolutely convinced that the bacon keeps the chicken breast moist because it was very moist and tasty and the bacon was crispy.  So yum and super easy!

beginning of some deliciousness!

voila!  so easy and so yummy!

HOMEMADE MEALS MONDAYS: chicken milanese - Paleo style!

Ok Chicken Milanese is one of my favorite dishes.  I've come up with a healthier version about a year ago that is really yummy.  Today, I tempted to create it - Paleo style!  Yikes!  Paleo style means no cheese, no wheat flour, no breadcrumbs - this should be interesting right?! Yes, interestingly good!!!  It was really good, try it out for yourself!

chicken milanese with topping and spinach salad  - yummy!!!

What you will need:

2 chicken breasts (pounded until breast is about 1/4in thick)
1/4 cup coconut flour (non-Paleo: use wheat flour)
1/2 cup almond meal (non-Paleo: use bread crumbs and add shredded Parmersan cheese)
1 egg
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
olive oil
salt & pepper

topping:
olive oil
garlic
small onion
1 1/2 cup grape or sugar plum tomatoes (cut in half)
salt & pepper

First let's make the topping!  Place a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet.  Add garlic and brown.  Then add the onion and sautee until it starts to turn brown, I believe the term is "carmelizing" it. This step is important in creating this sweetness to your topping.  Then add the chopped tomatoes and mix with the rest of the ingredients and cook for about 3 min. Done and put aside.

Now mix almond meal, basil and oregano in a bowl.  Place aside.  In another bowl, mix coconut flour, salt, and pepper.  Set aside this too.  Then beat a large egg and place in another bowl.  Now it's time to dip your chicken breast in those three bowls!  This is the order in which you should dip the chicken breasts: 1) Dunk the chicken breast in the coconut flour mixture. 2) Then dunk it in the egg mixture until all surface areas are covered in egg. 3) Then roll it around in the almond meal mixture.

Place the chicken breasts on a heated pan with about half a tablespoon of olive oil for every batch.Cook for about 3 minutes on each side. Voila!  You're done.  Serve up the chicken breast with the topping and with some baby spinach and drizzle olive oil and some balsamic vinegar. ENJOY!!!

HOMEMADE MEALS MONDAYS: remy's yellow chicken curry!

It's been unbelievably cold in LA lately.  Yes, I know it's not snowing nor are we having a blizzard...but the temperatures being in the 40s in Los Angeles is REALLY cold.  So to warm up, I've decided to cook up some Paleo yellow curry (I think this dish is a bit more Thai than Indian but not too sure as I am making it up as I go haha)!

What you need (all ingredients I used are organic):
1 tablespoon of coconut oil (olive oil will be fine too)
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 yellow onion (chopped)
1 green pepper (chopped)
2-3 carrots (chopped)
2 chicken breast (cut up)
3 tablespoons of curry powder
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 13.5oz can of coconut milk

yummy curry!

Heat up coconut oil in a skillet.  Add the garlic and onion, sautee with garlic for about 3 min.  Then add the chicken and brown for about 5 min.  Add the curry and cinnamon, mix it all up. Then add the green pepper and carrots, mix it all up one more time. Finally pour in the coconut milk. Simmer for about 30 min or until carrots are tender.  Voila it's done! Yummy!!!  Enjoy with white rice or eat by itself!!!

Spaghetti...Squash!

So what is this thing called spaghetti squash?  I hear it tastes like cookies and it can replace the pasta in your spaghetti...sounds way too good to be true.  I just had to find out for my self!  Last night, my husband and I (ok mainly him) made some meat spaghetti sauce and cooked up this oh so popular spaghetti squash. Check it out!

meat sauce (after so many helpings haha)

Meat sauce:

1 lb organic, grass-fed ground beef
1 large organic onion
1 large organic green pepper
2-3 small organic carrots
1 32oz bottle of organic spaghetti sauce
olive oil

Place a tablespoon of olive oil into a pan.  Add the chopped onions and sautee.  Add the ground beef.  Once the ground beef is brown, add the green pepper, carrots and the spaghetti sauce.  Simmer for about 30 min or however long the squash takes to cook.

spaghetti squash

Squash:

Cut squash in half and remove the seeds.  Then place on a baking tray with the cut sides facing down.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Now just use a fork to remove the squash from its skin, it comes off like noodles. Voila!









While the squash didn't taste like cookies (darn it!), it was pretty good!  It has the consistency of the thin rice noodles, also called Singaporean noodles, and it was good.  Definitely good enough to replace the pasta!  So good and sooo healthy!

coconutty!

young coconut from Wholefoods

I LOVE coconut juice!  It has this yummy toasty flavor and just quenches your thirst.  Here is a picture of a young coconut pruned by my husband.  He used the coconut meat for his smoothie.  Coconuts are all the rage nowadays..coconut juice, flour, oil, everything coconutty!  I'll have to post the many things we use with coconut some other time.  Just enjoy the not-so-sexy picture of this young coconut for now! :)

Remy eats (& cooks) Christmas eve dish...

My husband has this favorite dish, which we still haven't figured the actual name for!  You see, his grandfather from his dad's side, Grandfather Smith, was a sea captain.  While at sea in the Philippine islands, he encountered this tasty dish.  Grandfather Smith loved it so much that he had one of cooks from the ship learn the dish to recreate it for him.  So this recipe has been passed on to my father-in-law and onto my husband.  So for Christmas eve, we decided to make the dish and start a Christmas eve dinner tradition. It is easy to make, healthy and uberly delicious!

What you will need:

3 lbs of beef or pork ribs
1 large organic green pepper
1 large organic yellow onion
1 15oz can of organic diced tomatoes
1 15oz can of organic tomato sauce
1 15oz can of pineapple chunks in its juice (no syrup)
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

First, brown the sides of the meat in about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large dutch oven.  Then remove the meat and put aside.  Saute the onion and green pepper in the same dutch oven  with the oil and meat drippings.  Then place the meat back, add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and pineapple chunks.  Place the dutch oven in the oven for about 2.5 hours at 325 F.  (FYI, this dish will work well in a slow cooker too!)  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Voila! ENJOY it with white rice or by itself!  Here's a picture of it when we removed it from the oven. Yummy in my tummy!!!