Current (Food-Related) Obsessions

On my quest to kick the dirty gluten habit, I've decided to post on my current food obsessions.  I hope this gives you some new culinary ideas (and in turn, your validation of my sustenance will keep me on track!)

337 Wine

Okay, okay, my first food pick is technically a drink, but this is my current foodie obsession.  I randomly picked it up from a display in the liquor store, and I was intrigued by the "mocha" flavors in the description.  I love chocolate, so why not try it?  For $12 a bottle, this wine is delicious!  I am hardly a wine connoisseur, and I truly wish I could tell you all about the flavors so I could more persuasively convince you to purchase it.  But, it's definitely smooth, flavorful, and according to the woman who owns the liquor store, the grapes used for the California wine come from France.  Sounds pretty fancy to me!

Laurel Hill Foods Chocolate Mountain Mix

A mix of raisins, cashews, almonds, chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds (or pepitas), this is my latest decadent indulgent treat.  It's from a local farm in Massachusetts, so I feel even better for purchasing it.  And yes, I know the chocolate chips have traces of soy lecithin, but it's still totally worth it.  It's a great way to get some nuts and seeds in my diet.

Eggplant

For the past couple weeks, eggplant is all I've wanted to eat at dinner.  Quick and easy way to make it -- preheat oven to 350 degrees, slice eggplant thinly, put it in a pyrex, drizzle it with some EVOO, sprinkle with some sea salt and black pepper if you wish, bake for 25 - 30 minutes, and pronto -- you've got a flavorful and scrumptious veggie side dish.

Meatballs

I am on the current quest of finding the best way to perfect meatballs sans gluten.  Here's what I've come up with so far:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees

1 1/2 lb ground beef (usually 85 percent lean; grass fed is best)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (add a bit more if you want it spicy!)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

3 cloves garlic; finely chopped (or use a garlic press)

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

2 eggs

1 tablespoon ground mustard

2 tablespoons almond meal

Mix together in large mixing bowl.  Make small meatballs (1-1 1/2 inch diameter or so) and place on cookie sheet.  Bake for 25 minutes; flip meatballs once.

For sauce:

1 can tomato sauce (organic preferred)

1/2 can tomato paste

1/3 cup sweet onions; finely chopped

4 garlic cloves; finely chopped

2 tablespoons EVOO

1 tablespoon oregano

1 1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

Heat olive oil on stove top in sauce pan.  Add onions; saute for 3 minutes.  Add garlic; saute two minutes.  Add sauce, paste, oregano, Italian seasoning, parsley, and sea salt (all to taste).  Mix until thoroughly heated; about 10 minutes.  Add fresh basil at end.  I clearly like a lot of seasoning in my sauce -- feel free to modify to your individual palate preference!

Haddock

My husband made haddock for dinner the other night, and I actually liked it!  He covered 1 pound of fish with the juice from 1/2 lemon, sprinkled it generously with paprika and fresh thyme (chopped), and topped off the haddock with a dash of sea salt and pepper.  He baked it at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.  And I happily ate it.  

And I can't really add this to my list since I haven't tried them yet, but I'm really intrigued by Kind Bars.  If you've eaten them, let me know!  I think I may buy a few to try -- I'll pass the word along if I think they're tasty!

What are your current food (or drink) obsessions?

An easy (and tasty) fish dish!

So, my friends, I am venturing out into the world of eating fish.  It has actually been quite exciting.

My husband and I agreed that he would be the one to prepare the fish and I would be the official taste tester.  (I think it's a great arrangement, if I do say so myself).

Last week, we went to our local Roche Bros. and spoke to the nice man at the seafood counter.  After explaining to him that I am terrified of seafood, he recommended tilapia.  He wrapped up three small fillets and we headed home.

Since I knew I would beat my husband home, I decided to put some acorn squash in the oven.  I had a brief crisis moment, however, because I usually pour brown sugar over acorn squash and bake it.  After several minutes of contemplation and panic, I cut the squash in half, scooped out the seeds, put a pat of butter in each, and sprinkled cinnamon and and ground ginger on each half.  I baked at 400 degrees for almost 50 minutes in a pyrex dish with about 1/3 an inch of water in it.  End result:

OMG -- it was, by far, the best acorn squash I've ever had.  Ever.  The whole house had an aroma that smelled like holiday baking.  Delicious.

For our tilapia, my husband mixed:

-1/4 cup dijon mustard

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 teaspoon powdered thyme

-1 1/2 tablespoon capers (drained and rinsed)

-1/2 fresh lemon, squeezed

-dash of sea salt

-4 Backyard Farms tomatoes, cut into wedges

and poured it all over the fish (which he cooked in a CorningWare dish at 425 for almost 20 minutes). Make sure you check the fish as it cooks, because I don't think it's supposed to take that long, but for some reason, in our oven, it did. 

End result:

Quite tasty.  While I still have an inclination toward my beef and chicken, it had a great flavor and did not taste "like fish."  Tilapia is pretty moist, and honestly, I think the dijon mustard, capers, and lemon offered a strong enough flavor so it didn't seem like I was eating fish.  Brilliant!

Any new foods that you've tried lately and enjoyed?

Does something smell fishy?

In my desire to be a clean, healthy, Primal eater, I've decided that I should incorporate more fish in my diet.  My problem: I don't particularly like seafood, and I've never liked fish.  I always found it to be tasteless, bland, and with a chewy consistency that I couldn't stand.  Plus, fish can smell funny, and as a child, seeing whole fish in the grocery store with eyes still intact used to terrify me.  The only way I could stand fish was if it was battered, fried, and smothered in tartar sauce.

But now, that just looks and sounds disgusting.  My stomach hurts looking at it.  Yuck.  (Yes, I am turning into an elitist food snob, and the picture above is unappetizing.  I never thought that would happen!).

But I'm reaching the point where I'd like to start eating more fish.  I'm just not quite sure where to start.

My husband has marinated tuna steaks for us in the past, and after eating them a couple of times, I've enjoyed them.  But other than that, I'm pretty clueless.  What are good kinds of fish to eat that aren't too fishy?  How do I prepare it to make it taste, well, tasty?  What kind of fish should the girl who loves steak and chicken try?  How do I get over my fear of fish and start eating it?