Green, Brown or Red?

Ahhhh, the lentil...... In true Amateur Mother fashion I will admit I know nothing about the wonderful little lentil, which is why I decided to have a go at my first lentil creation.
First of all the decision is, what colour lentil does one choose? Well, perhaps because I liked the colour best, or perhaps I had a grumpy 2 year old at the store and had to make a quick pick, but I went with the red lentil. Although it really appears more orange to me, the bulk bin assured me that it was red!

I had seen somewhere a curried lentil recipe, so I made up my mind to create these, I was thinking of a thick sort of lentily-type stew that could be spooned over some brown rice or quinoa. I also had some left over coconut milk which I thought would taste yummy too.


So here is what I did....

2 cups or so of red lentils, rinsed in cold water
1 1/2 cup of coconut milk
about 2 cups of water
1/2 chicken stock cube
small spoonful of curry paste
few shakes of the following.......
- cardamon
- cumin
- cinnamon
I put all this in a pot and brought to a boil, then simmered for about 20 minutes till the lentils were cooked.

I also cooked some garlic, onion and ginger in a pan then added it in about half way through.

Once it was cooked I served it over some rice with mango and veggies on the side and some red onion, cilantro and tomato on top.

Enjoy! Pretty easy peasy hey??

Now I learned a few things by making this. In retrospect I would of cooked the garlic, onion and ginger in the pot I was going to make the lentils in, then added all the stuff to the pot after. Then you get the goodness of the caramelized onions and garlic.

Also, I learned a couple of very important lentil lessons. First, next time I will use a little less liquid. Second, when making a lentil dish where you want the lentils to hold their shape, DO NOT use red lentils! They tasted wonderful, but didn't really live up to my expectations of a thicker dish to serve over rice, it was more of a curried lentil soup! So, next time I will try the green or brown ones, stay tuned for an update!

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

If I only had known that fish tacos were as fabulous and delicious as they are, I would of made them years ago! Now, maybe I'm out of the food loop, or maybe I'm ahead of the game, but I had my very first go at the fish tacos last night, with a little inspiration from another Mom at Elysabeth's school and a little inspiration from a restaurant in Seal Beach, California.

It all started when my Husband and I added fish tacos to our (very lengthy) life list. I kept hearing of all these wonderful fish tacos that people were eating, although it seemed that these were mostly being consumed in wonderful far off places with white sandy beaches and a forever warm sun!

So when it was our turn at a sandy beach we went on a mission!
It all happened when we were in Disneyland a few weeks ago, we spent a day driving the coast and checking out some beaches. With no particular plans it seemed like a good time to find a place that served fish tacos, preferably some place that was next to a beach and was a 'one of a kind, hole in the wall' type place. With two sleeping kids in the back, there was no real rush, and we finally ended up in Seal Beach at a neat looking place called Taco Surf. At only one block from a gorgeous beach and a good 'one of a kind' look to it, we ventured in to find the house specialty was..... fish tacos!! They were absolutely perfect and made my day complete, mission accomplished!!

So I took some inspiration from this yummy little restaurant, which we later found was NOT actually one of a kind, as there were six more in the surrounding areas.... darn! Then after we were home another Mom at Elysabeth's school mentioned that she was making some yummy fish tacos and I was lucky enough that she shared her wonderful recipe with me. They were super yummy and the kids gobbled them up!

So here they are, fish tacos!!

Chipotle sauce ingredients

 

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

2 garlic cloves minced

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp canned chipotle pepper, pureed (7oz/198ml can)

1/2 tsp salt

(I threw all the stuff in my magic bullet and pureed away, but you could chop it too)

In medium bowl, whisk together mayo, sour cream, garlic, cilantro, chipotle and salt. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour until chilled.

 

Fish Tacos ingredients

 

1 lb skinless cod or other firm whitefish fillets cut into 4 pieces

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp salt

8 soft corn or flour tortillas

4 tomatoes, chopped

shredded cabbage

salsa

red onion, diced

avocado (I mixed mine with some lime and salt for guac, but chopped would be good too!)

Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels. Place in a shallow dish. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, lime juice, cayenne and salt. Pour over fish. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, until chilled.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with greased foil. Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven. Remove fish from marinade, allowing excess to drip off and discarding marinade. Place fish on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork. Let cool slightly, then use fork to flake fish into bite-size pieces. Transfer to serving bowl and stir in enough chipotle sauce to moisten. Remove tortillas from oven.

 

Assemble your ingredients in the tortilla and enjoy!

 

So, my plan was to take a picture of the assembled perfection, but we ate them up too quick and I didn't get the picture in! But I after we ran out of tortillas we just mixed the ingredients on our plates for a little fish taco salad, also really yummy!!



Although we were not on a white sandy beach enjoying the warm sun, we did manage to make a mean fish taco! If I only had know how wonderful these would be I would of made them years ago. Perhaps I would of been the trendsetter then, but for now I will be the follower. My plan now? Make up for lost time and start enjoying these regularly! YUM!!!