Shrimp Salad with Miso Dressing

Since it is now almost officially summer, I have been on the lookout for some light dinner recipes. When I found this salad recipe I couldn't wait to try it out. I made some slight modifications and it turned out really well! Michael and I were both impressed by the miso dressing and the combination of flavors that made for a really delicious and light dinner.

Salad Ingredients

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 pound raw shrimp, tails removed

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne (or ground red pepper)

2 small avocados, cut into bit sized pieces

about 4 cups chopped spinach

fresh chopped cilantro

peanuts (for topping)

Dressing Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 1/2 tablespoons white miso paste

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a small skillet over medium-high heat add the 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic and shrimp and sprinkle with the chili powder and cayenne. Saute for a few minutes on each side until the shrimp has been cooked.

Chop the spinach and cilantro and add to serving bowl(s). Add the shrimp and avocado pieces.

In a food processor or blender, puree all of the dressing ingredients together until smooth. Pour over the salad and top with peanuts.

Enjoy!

Mahi Mahi Tacos

Ingredients:

• small corn tortillas
• salsa/taco sauce of your choice (we used the Trader Joe's bean and corn salsa)
• grated cheese (we used mozzarella but Mexican style cheeses would  probably be even better)
• mahi mahi (one steak per person)
• lemon juice
• seasonings: black pepper, hot red pepper, garlic powder, dried cilantro flakes

Start by slicing your mahi mahi steaks into strips of whatever size you would like to have in your tacos. Our steaks made three meaty tacos each. This is also a good time to prep your taco shells (as displayed below) so they can warm while you cook the fish. 

Season your pour your lemon juice over the mahi mahi and then add the spices on one side.

Spray a pan with cooking spray and toss the fish in with seasoned side down. Apply the seasonings to the top of the fish as it cooks so that both sides are seasoned. Depending on how spicy you like your tacos you may want to leave the hot red pepper off of the second side. 

Flip the fish after it has blackened and cooked about half way through. 

You will want to watch the fish closely so that you do not over cook it. Nothing is more disappointing than rubbery,dray mahi mahi. Just before the center of the fish is fully cooked, take it off of the stove and let it cool on a plate. The fish will continue to cook after it is out of the pan.

Just before you put the fish in the pan, you will want to put your taco shells into the oven to warm the tortillas and melt the cheese. Remember, this is NOT to cook the taco shells...these are soft tacos, the goal is not to have a crunch shell. Additionally, it is nice to warm the salsa so that you are not putting refrigerated salsa on warm fish tacos, thereby eating cold fish tacos. 

Bake the taco shells on low for 5-10 minutes. I did not let my oven fully preheat for this so I cannot tell you at what temperature it was, but suffice it to say that you are only warming the taco shells so keep an eye on them. 

Assembly of your tacos at this point is extremely easy. Just place the now perfectly cooked mahi mahi into each taco.

 A cold Mexican lager to drink, and a wedge of lime in hand to drizzle on the tacos are a nice touch to finish off the dish. Enjoy.

Homemade Thai Curry

The trick to curry is the curry paste. Becca and I were lucky to find a brand we really like called Maesri. This recipe was done with green curry paste, but we have also used their red and yellow pastes, both of which are excellent

First we cubed a chicken breast and chopped some broccoli. 

We then simmered the curry paste in a pan of coconut milk for about 5 minutes with a lid on. We use Trader Joe's Light Coconut Milk. Our ratio is one can of coconut milk (14oz) to just less than a full can of curry paste (amount pictured below). This is just our preference  based on how much curry flavor and spice we like, so variations to this are fine. 

After the coconut milk and curry paste has simmered for 5 minutes throw in the broccoli and chicken. Continue to simmer with the lid on until the chicken is fully cooked. 

Remember, this recipe works great with any vegetable or protein that you may want to include. The night we did eggplant, broccoli, and tofu in yellow curry was particularly delicious. 

Lox and Asparagus Cous Cous Salad

Michael and I were brainstorming dinner ideas when we thought of an interesting combination of ingredients. It turned out so well that we are going to try to mix this into our regular rotation of dinner recipes. 

Ingredients

a package of asparagus from Trader Joe's

1 box of Israeli Cous Cous from Trader Joe's

goat cheese

smoked salmon

First, prepare the cous cous as instructed on the box. While the cous cous is cooking, saute the asparagus in a pan with oil (we used truffle oil and I very highly recommend it). Once the cous cous and the asparagus are cooked, toss them into a medium sized bowl and let them cool for about 5 or 10 minutes. Next, throw in some chunks of smoked salmon and some chunks of goat cheese and stir. Once ingredients have been mixed it's ready to be served.

Enjoy!

Ahi Tuna Tacos

This is a very easy, and very delicious fusion of two of our favorite cuisines. Japanese and Mexican. I was inspired by an excellent Korean fusion kalbi taco from the amazing food truck Seoul Food, and we decided that putting our seared ahi tuna recipe into taco form was long overdue. 

You will need:

Tortillas (we used whole wheat from Trader Joes)

1 C Rice

2 Eggs 

Chopped Veggies/edamame (optional)

1 Avocado

Lemon Juice

Two ahi tuna steaks

Soy Sauce

Oil (preferably peanut or sesame)

Brown Sugar 

Sriracha (optional)

Garlic Powder

Ginger

First, steam your rice until cooked and sticky. Then toss your rice into a pan and stir fry it with soy sauce, oil,  the eggs, brown sugar, and veggies. 

This would also be a good time to start marinading your tuna. Combine in a dish some soy sauce, oil, brown sugar, garlic powder, and ginger. Let the tuna sit for about a half hour, flipping ever 5-10 minutes. 

While your rice is steaming, prep your guacamole. I think the best guac is the simplest, just a ripe avocado mashed with lemon juice and salt. You can add some diced tomato if you want.

Next sear your tuna steaks. I like to start with a preheated pan so that the tuna starts cooking as soon as it hits the pan. Turn the burner on high and let the pan heat for a couple minutes. Throw on the steaks and make sure to watch them closely. If you truly want your steaks seared (raw in the center) it will only take 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side. Once cooked, place on a plate and slice.

Toss a pile of rice, tuna, and guacamole onto a warm tortilla. This is a good time to add some Sriracha if you like a little spice. I like to wrap my burritos Chipolte style (ie. start with the food in the middle of the tortilla - fold the two sides in first and then wrap it up like a tube) but its totally up to you.

Hope you enjoy this fusion as much as we did. Mi teppanyaki es su teppanyaki.

Salmon Bruschetta

I can't take any credit for this one. My brother and I were at Trader Joe's the other day and they were sampling this exact recipe. After trying a bite we both decided we had to get some. This is perfect if you're looking for a quick, healthy dinner.

Ingredients

Trader Joe's Salmon Burgers

Light, whipped cream cheese

Trader Joe's Bruschetta sauce (or you can always make your own )

21 seasoning salute from Trader Joe's to taste (you can sub with your own seasoning blend)

Mix the seasoning and cream cheese together.

Cook, grill or pan fry the salmon burgers according to the box.

Top the burgers with cream cheese and bruschetta and it's ready to eat. Enjoy!

Upside Down Open Faced Tuna Melt

I had heard of the idea of using laughing cow cheese for a tuna melt and Michael has used Greek yogurt instead of mayo to make a tuna salad so I thought the combination might be interesting. It was so easy and really good; the perfect snack or light meal. Next time I may experiment using cottage cheese either combined with the Greek yogurt or instead of the Greek yogurt because I've been very curious about that combination as well.

Ingredients

Greek Yogurt (I kept adding the yogurt until it created a consistency and taste with the tuna that I liked)

Tuna

Edamame

Light Laughing Cow Cheese

Slice of whole wheat bread

All I did was combine the tuna, yogurt & edamame, spread some laughing cow cheese on the bread and spread the tuna mixture on top.  I also microwaved the sandwich before eating, but if you like your sandwiches toasted you probably want to toast the bread before spreading the cheese on top.

Enjoy!

Seared Ahi Tuna Steak with Benihana Mustard

This is my favorite when I go to teppanyaki, and I was surprised how easy it is to recreate. Also very cheap since Trader Joe's had 2 good size tuna steaks in the freezer section for about $5. Can't beat that!

Start out with the mustard sauce: 

1 1/2 tablespoons powdered mustard

2 tablespoons hot water

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 clove garlic peeled (can substitute garlic powder to taste/consistency)

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (optional - I did not use)

Start out mixing the mustard and water into a paste. It you are including the fresh ingredients (garlic and sesame seeds) put this paste in a blender and blend all ingredients together. Since I was using garlic powder I just stirred it into the bowl. 

Here is my finished mustard sauce. It has a good bite to it, and next time I think I would opt to include the fresh ingredients as well for a thicker sauce. 

Marinade your tuna steak in an equal mixture of oil (preferably sesame but any will do) and soy sauce and a bit of garlic powder. Here I used 2 tablespoons each of oil and soy sauce. Flip 3-4 times over the course of about an hour.
Note: Feel free to add in ginger, green onion, lime juice, or anything else you would like to give your fish more flavor.

When you're ready to sear it make sure your pan is really hot. Once you lay the fish down keep a close eye on the clock. I like my fish rare on the inside so I gave it about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. 

If you like your tuna steak rare this is what it should look like on the inside. Enjoy!

Seafood Marinara

Thus begins a sad chapter for phxculinaryadventures: one in which Becca and I must cook separately while I am attending law school in New York and she is working in Arizona. Yet, despite the difficulties this will inevitably raise in our motivation to cook and the time our schedules permit we are determined to keep the blog going. So, while our recipes may become a bit simpler and the pictures will be shot in different kitchens, we will continue updating for you; our 5 or so dedicated followers. 

So here's the first of many. This one's super easy. I picked up a seafood blend at Trader Joe's (best place ever) which is what makes this otherwise complicated and expensive recipe easy. Besides that you just need marinara, olive oil, your pasta of choice, and some basic seasonings. 

 Get a pot of water boiling on the side for the pasta and separately dump the thawed seafood into a pan. I drained mine a little, but make sure to leave plenty of the liquid in the pan. Some of this water is going to cook off so your sauce isn't going to be watery in the end, plus the juices have lots of great seafood flavor. After you have drained add just a little bit of olive oil for the fish to cook in. 

 Once the fish is almost cooked through (or heated up in the event you bought pre-cooked seafood) add your marinara sauce. 

Stir it in, adding more until you have the desired amount of sauce at around the desired consistency. Remember water will continue cooking off. Lower the heat to a simmer and stir every few minutes until the pasta is done.  

Plate it and enjoy. This took me about 15 minutes total.