Baked Halibut and Spinach in Foil

I'm not big on cleanses or detoxes or dieting in general, however I do believe a balanced lifestyle is best, and after a particularly indulgent holiday we are trying to eat a little healthier around here.  When we make fish, Carson usually takes control and grills it, but last night I tried a new method (for us) and baked it in tin foil.  It was so easy and the fish was cooked perfectly.  Foil packet cooking is so versatile - you can really use any combination of fish and veggie.  Last night I placed halibut on a bed of arugula and spinach and topped it with sliced shallots, olive oil and salt and pepper (loosely following this recipe).  It was delicious, even if we did joke about ordering pizza after.

Read More

Shrimp Saganaki

Fifteen years ago, my knowledge of Greek food consisted of hummus and gyros (which I only ate when the bars closed).  Thank god it has expanded since then, because it might be one of my favorite cuisines.  One day, mark my words, I will go to Greece and eat my way through the country.  Until then, I will continue to explore the wonderful Greek restaurants this country has to offer, like Petros in California and Avra and Limani in New York.  My favorite things to order are Grilled Octopus, Moussaka, lamb anything and always, ALWAYS, Shrimp Saganaki, which is a simple, flavorful dish consisting of shrimp cooked in a tomato feta sauce.    

I've been dying to try it at home and I finally did.  It was extremely easy to make and I loved it.  Make sure you buy some crusty bread or soft pita to sop up this sauce.  I followed the recipe here (and ditched the greek liquor because I didn't feel like buying an entire bottle).  This is a wonderful transitional meal for the change of seasons... comforting but not TOO heavy.  Make it.  Opa!  

Read More

Tuna Melts: Big and Small

When we were visiting The Voice set over vacation, I discovered something FANTASTIC.  My almost-three-year-old PICKY eater will eat tuna salad!  You see, television sets are a dangerous, dangerous place for little kids.  There are scattered jars of M&M's and jelly beans and gum (so much gum!) and then trays of cookies and bars and sometimes they bring out something called Cookie Pie and serve it with ice cream and I die.  Like I said, television sets are dangerous places for grown women who write food blogs.  Anyway, I was bribing Etta to eat SOMETHING healthy before she dove into the candy jar, and tuna salad it was.  We had tried it at home before, but after eating "The Voice" tuna (weird) I realized what I had done wrong.  Mine was too chunky.  This was whipped, and fluffy... a spread-like consistency.  So when I got home, I decided to put my tuna in the food processor.  It was delicious!  Some mayo, some garlic salt, fresh lemon juice and salt and pepper...

Now we make Tiny Tuna Melts for the kids on crackers with white cheddar, and grown up versions on sourdough bread with sliced tomato and avocado.  I pop both versions under the broiler and watch until the cheese gets bubbly and slightly golden (adding the avocado for the adult sandwiches at the end).  You should definitely try the food processor trick for your tuna if you haven't already!

Tuna Salad

(Serves 4-6)

Printable Recipe

12 oz. tuna (I like solid albacore in water)

1/2 cup light mayo

Juice of half a lemon

Garlic salt

Salt and Pepper

Drain tuna, and place in food processor or blender.  Pulse until smooth.  Place in bowl, and add mayo and lemon juice.  Stir until smooth.  Add garlic salt, salt and pepper and taste until desired consistency is reached!

Also, Tuna Avocado Toast and Tuna Casserole

Read More

Tuna Avocado Toast + Bertolli Contest

Want to know something?  I love olive oil.  Some women collect shoes, or handbags, or jewelry... and I collect olive oils.  One of my favorite brands, Bertolli, is celebrating their 150th anniversary and they sent me that beautiful anniversary bottle above.  It's so pretty!  I want to carry it around like a handbag or wear it on my feet!  I'm very normal!  Anyway, to celebrate, Bertolli is having a recipe contest in which you could win a trip to Tuscany (as well as other prizes) just by submitting a dish using Bertolli oils.  Check it out here and enter soon, the deadline is July 31st!

The other night, using Bertolli olive oil (duh), I tried to recreate a dish we recently had at the Manhattan Beach, CA restaurant Love and Salt.  If you follow me on Instagram, then you know I pretty much fell in love with this restaurant right away.  We ate insanely crispy yet juicy roast chicken, and pasta with bone marrow (yup), and a salad with crispy garbanzo beans... all while sipping spicy margaritas.  And we began the meal with an albacore tuna and avocado toast.  This toast was something magical... every bite so full of bright texture and flavor.  I could have made love to the toast alone... perfectly crispy and probably soaked in delicious olive oil.  Creamy avocado, with a hint of lemon, topped with fresh, chunky tuna that melted in your mouth, and sprinkled with some sort of olive (caper?) mixture and a sliver of onion.  Am I still talking about this toast??

I thought it would be the perfect appetizer to make with my fancy olive oil, see what I did below...      

I had ciabatta bread leftover from our local pizza joint, so I used that, however you could use sourdough or french bread.  Just slice, and sauté on the stove in a splash of olive oil over medium heat until both sides are golden.  Take a can of solid white albacore tuna (soaked in water), drain and place in a bowl.  Scoop out an avocado into another bowl and mash with a fork.  Take the juice of half a lemon, and sprinkle over both bowls.  Drizzle both bowls with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  To assemble toasts, spread avocado first, then tuna and then top with some chopped kalamata olives (or use an olive tapenade).  Serve and enjoy!  

Read More

Siriously Simple Skillet

So, I'm a little upset that I couldn't catch a shrimp tail in my hat (Carson makes it look so easy!!), but otherwise I had a blast on the Today Show this morning cooking with Carson, Hoda, Natalie and Al.  We made a Shrimp and Noodle Stir Fry inspired by the 117 experiences my family has shared at Benihana, and if you'd like to watch the video or check out the recipe, click here.  I will be back later today with some Asian Chicken Burgers, that's right, I'm posting TWO TIMES TODAY!

Happy Friday Everyone, from my noodles and I...

Dress on sale right now at J.Crew, by the way.  BOOM.

Read More

TODAY tonight: Salmon + Mashed Peas

Now that it is spring - and I write that while manically laughing because I just looked outside and A WINTRY MIX IS FALLING FROM THE SKY - but now that it is spring (I said SPRING, PEOPLE IN THE HEAVENS CONTROLLING THE WEATHER!) I have been looking forward to cooking with seasonal vegetables like artichokes and radishes and leeks and peas.  So when Carson came home from work the other day and said, you have to make this salmon with mashed peas I ate this morning I said, yes!  Yes, I have to!  Billy Dec cooked it up on the Today Show last week, and so I re-watched this video and gave it a go.  Errrmygosh...

It was so good.  We felt like we were dining in a fancy restaurant, when in realty we were eating at our kitchen island while the kids watched HOP (did you know James Marsden is the first ever human Easter Bunny?).  Carson cooked the salmon and did so PERFECTLY.  The key is a hot, hot pan.  He achieved the most deliciously crispy exterior with a tender, flaky inside.  I handled the garlicky mashed peas.  Um, yum.  My 7 month-old ate them up!  A garlic lover she shall be!  We skipped the salad and served them alongside roasted vegetables.  This dinner is a springtime MUST, especially if wet, white stuff is raining down on your land.  

Read More

Perfect Fish Tacos

A friend recently sent me this How To Make Fish Tacos article and I found it very educational.  Wow, what a boring way to start a post, I sound like a robot teacher.  I LOVE ME SOME FISH TACOS!  There, is that better?  No but really, click on the article and learn things.  For instance, did you know authentic fish tacos are fried, not grilled (thank god) and that using rice flour lightens the batter?  See?  Education!  My friends and I tackled these over the weekend, using red snapper, and accompanied them with a Cabbage Slaw (recipes below).  Our modifications: red cabbage instead of green, no jicama (because we couldn't find it), and we added avocado to our tacos because it makes everything better.  I also used flour tortillas instead (don't yell at me) because I like them.  Just like Matthew McConaughey likes his Lincoln cars.  Make those commercials stop.

Recipes: Fish Tacos + Cabbage Slaw

Photos by Katy at Chasing You Photo

Read More

Moo Shu Shrimp

Carson was away for a few days, and it seems like whenever he's out of town I make the foods he's not particularly fond of: pasta and Asian dishes (you know, carb-heavy meals).  The same reader who tipped me off to the Lo Mein I made earlier in the week also sent me this recipe for Moo Shu Shrimp, and it's been sitting in my inbox staring at me ever since.  

I love shrimp, especially when it's a part of Asian cuisine, so I knew I would love this meal and I wasn't wrong.  Way to know yourself, Siri!  And now I'm talking to myself about knowing myself and this is all getting weird and stupid.

So this was yummy.  Perfectly cooked shrimp paired with lightly scrambled eggs, sautéed mushrooms and cabbage (which came from a prepackaged cole slaw mix), fresh ginger, garlic, cilantro and sweet hoisin sauce (which I balanced out with spicy Sriracha), all wrapped up in a warm, flour tortilla.  I made some brown rice as well, and for my second helping I ditched the tortilla and ate everything on top of the rice.  Just did that again for lunch.  Might do it again tomorrow.  

I know myself.         

Read More

TODAY tonight: Lemon Pesto Shrimp Rolls

When Carson started working on The Today Show, he acquired a job perk that I'm totally not jealous of at all (nope).  Which is, EATING INCREDIBLE FOOD MADE BY INCREDIBLE CHEFS.  Not jealous!  He comes home, almost daily, and tells me he had "the best" this and "the best" that.  However, instead of pouting over this perk, I've decided to take advantage of the inspiration he offers me with these new ideas by creating a series I'm going to call "TODAY tonight."  When he raves and raves about what he ate at work, I'm going to recreate it, and I started last night with Giada De Laurentiis' Lemon Pesto Shrimp Rolls. 

As a regular contributor to the show, Giada has made many things Carson has loved, but this was a particular favorite.  This is shrimp, poached in a flavorful broth, tossed in a vibrantly fresh pesto sauce, accompanied by crunchy celery and smooth cannellini beans, served on delicious bread.  A perfect summer lunch or dinner, in our case.  She made two other meals that day (click on link above), all based on these five basic ingredients:      

  

Look at that color below!  My favorite.  The lemon and Italian parsley in this pesto made it so bright and delicious, and it came together in minutes...

Have you ever poached shrimp in a bowl on the counter?  I hadn't!  Just pour a hot poaching liquid consisting of wine, broth, oil and herbs over the fish, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit...

This is homemade bread too, by the way, that I made from store-bought pizza dough.  

I'll talk about that tomorrow : )  

Thank you Giada, thank you Carson, thank you Today Show! 

(I sound like an Alanis Morissette song).  

Read More

Smoked Albacore Dip

I am in vacation mode.  Every August, we rent a house in the same town on the same road and I do the same things that I never do the rest of the year: I read, I ride a bike, I watch Showtime series, I paint rocks.  Yup, I really paint rocks and it's becoming an unhealthy obsession.  I also cook, and although that's nothing new, I try to cook light, beach-y meals.  Like this dip Carson and I attempted two years ago.  Only this time, we made it with Smoked Albacore (found at Gelson's) and instead of flaking the fish with a fork, we put it in a food processor.  It gave the dip such a lovely and professional quality.  In fact, we might set up a Lemonade Stand and sell our dip on the side.  Of course, you'll also be able to purchase my painted rocks for only $500 a pop.  What, they're really special.  

Read More

Crispy Smoked Salmon Toast

I finished my last post by telling you people that I am a genius.  I lied to your faces.  The truth is, I am one of the biggest idiots I know.  Last weekend, I went to the same baby shower twice.  Saturday morning, got all dressed up, got my daughter all dressed up, braved the 405 for 45 minutes, showed up at the restaurant only to find out the baby shower was Sunday, not Saturday.  The maitre'd even offered me a glass of champagne on the house because he felt so embarrassed for me.  The valet guys were SO thrilled to park my car only to fetch it 30 seconds later.  My daughter ABSOLUTELY LOVED the drive back home.  See?  Monster idiot.  

However, I redeemed myself a little by recreating one of the appetizers they passed around at the real baby shower on Sunday: smoked salmon atop creme fraiche and crispy toast.  I ate an entire plate (but justified it in my head by pretending it was one plate over TWO baby showers).  This morning I whipped it together in 5 minutes: easy, impressive, delicious...

Cut sourdough toast into squares or rounds.  Heat a small amount of olive oil over medium-high heat.  Saute bread until it browns on both sides, being careful not to burn.    

Top with a dollop of creme fraiche (or sour cream, even cream cheese would be good), smoked salmon (lox) and chopped chives.  

Read More

Melting Tomatoes

Melting Tomatoes.  Don't they sound divine?  Don't you want to take a spoon to that picture and scoop them all into your mouth?  Do you hate it when I say words like divine?  I sort of do.  I sort of hate it.  Ina can get away with saying that word, because she says and does everything with such a calm, non-pretentious confidence.  I love her.  Is this post getting creepy?  It started out obnoxious and now it's just weird.  I'll wrap it up.  Ina serves these tomatoes over salmon, and we did too, but the leftovers could be used for ANYTHING.  Toast, eggs, pasta, etc.  Add them to your life.  Recipe here.  

Read More