Oh my YUM tacos!

Blackened Fish Tacos (Or shredded chicken if you don't like fish)

I am obsessed with tacos. Whenever someone asks where we should go eat, I always pick some place with tacos. I have been buying a lot of salmon lately so I had a craving for that and I happen to have tortillas in the cupboard of course... haha. And so I jumped up and randomly decided to try a new blackened salmon fish recipe. (I really like the blackened fish tacos from Rubios) thats where my inspiration came from.

Anyway, I looked up some recipes online and I found one that I 'tweeked' as my husband would say. The way they did it took too much time. When I want tacos I want theme done fast haha.

Ingredients:

*2 portions salmon

*1 tbs chili powder

*1/4 cayenne pepper (optional)

*1/2 tsp sugar

*1/4 tsp salt

*1/4 C flour

*2 tbs olive oil

*tortillas (preferably ones that don't fall apart easily...)

*limes

*Canned corn

*Tri-color coleslaw (pre-cut at store)

*Cilantro Aioli

Cilantro Aioli: (Very simple)

*1/2 C Mayo

*1/2 C Sour cream

*Cilantro

*Lime squeeze

*1/2 tsp garlic powder

*1 T chipotle sauce

Directions:

1. Heat oil in heavy-bottomed skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium high heat until smoking.
2. Meanwhile, mix chili powder, cayenne, sugar and salt with the flour in a shallow bowl. Dredge salmon in flour mixture and transfer to hot skillet. Cook until very brown, then flip. Continue cooking till flesh is just opaque. Set aside.
3. Wipe oil from skillet, and throw in tortillas to warm. Arrange the fish, flaked into chunks or just a strip like what I do..., corn, coleslaw and a squeeze of lime on one half of a warmed tortilla and drizzle with aioli. Fold in half to serve.

Grilled Ham and Cheese with Strawberry-Red-Wine Jam

These are very fast and easy sandwiches to make. Without telling Dustin what was in them I handed him a sandwich for lunch (he will eat anything I hand him, especially sandwiches...) and he looked at me and asked "What is in these?! They taste amazing!" I get tired of the typical sandwich so now I make them all the time.

Whenever I make these I always forget to take a picture of them...

So I used the magazines picture. :/

INGREDIENTS
-Enough slices of bread for however many people are hungry
-1/2 cup strawberry jam mixed with 2 tablespoons of Pinot Noir ( I used red cooking wine and it works just the same)
-Slices of baked ham
-Thin slices of Gruyère cheese (I prefer Gruyere but I am sure other choices of cheese work good too)
-Softened unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS
Heat a large griddle. Spread the bread slices with the jam. Top with the ham and Gruyère and close the sandwiches. Lightly butter the outside of the sandwiches and cook over moderate heat until toasted and the cheese is melted, 2 minutes per side. Cut in half and serve right away.

Cauliflower Soup

After trying some of the Cauliflower soup from Zupas, our favorite salad and soup restaurant, I had to try and make my own and see if I could make one less fattening but still taste great. I found this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine. I don't necessarily like just plain cauliflowers so I was hesitate to try cauliflower soup at all at first. But it is amazing and I love it. I think I like it better than Zupas for sure!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 cup chopped white onion
1 garlic clove, sliced
3 3/4 cups (1/2- to 3/4-inch pieces cauliflower (from 1 large head)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
Coarse kosher salt

Freshly ground white pepper

Directions:

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Sauté until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add cauliflower, broth, and cream. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to low, partially cover, and simmer gently until cauliflower is tender, about 18 minutes. Puree soup in small batches in blender until smooth. Return to same saucepan. Season soup with kosher salt and white pepper. Do ahead Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and chill. Rewarm before serving.

The original recipe came with a side of seared scallops, lemon oil and American Caviar. I don't like the idea of caviar so I didn't make the second half of the recipe because I just wanted the soup. But if you like that kind of stuff check out the whole recipe at Bonappetit.com.

Big Kahuna Chicken Teriyaki Sandwiches

I found this recipe on a blog and I liked the creative idea of adding sliced ham on the sandwich. They were so yummy!!!

4 chicken breasts
1 bottle Teriyaki sauce (we used Lawry's brand)
3/4 c. brown sugar
4 slices deli ham
1 can sliced pineapple (or you can use fresh which would be even better)
4 slices Pepper Jack cheese
4 large hamburger buns

Pound chicken breasts until they are about 1/4" thick all around. Place in a large Ziploc bag. Combine Teriyaki sauce and brown sugar until sugar dissolves. Add 1/2 of the mixture to the bag with the chicken and seal tightly. Place bag in refrigerator for at least 4-5 hours. Separate remaining Teriyaki mixture into 2 separate bowls (to prevent cross contamination use 2 separate brushes too)-- one for the pineapple, one for the chicken. Open pineapple can and save a little of the juice in a bowl. Place chicken and pineapple on the grill (medium heat).

Brush with Teriyaki sauce every few minutes until chicken and pineapple are done-- try to only flip the chicken and pineapple once. Either on the grill or in a frying pan, cook ham with a little of the pineapple juice until it becomes nice and hot. Slice open hamburger buns and place a piece of cooked chicken on each bottom bun. Top with cheese, ham, grilled pineapple, and bun top. Serve immediately with remaining grilled pineapple.

Tuna Melts just melt in your mouth!

These are absolutely delish!!! They are perfect for lunch and just melt in your mouth.

Tuna Melts

Ingredients:

1. 3 cans (each 6 oz.) white albacore tuna packed in oil or water
2. 1/2 cup mayonnaise, homemade (see related recipe at left) or purchased
3. 1/2 cup minced celery
4. 1/4 cup minced yellow or red onion
5. 2 Tbs. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
6. Freshly ground pepper, to taste
7. 4 large slices firm white sandwich bread
8. 8 tomato slices
9. 6 oz. mild cheddar cheese, thinly sliced

Directions:

Preheat a broiler.

Drain the tuna well and put in a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, celery, onion and parsley and stir well. Season with pepper.

Arrange the bread slices on a rimmed baking sheet and broil, turning once, until very lightly browned on both sides, about 1 minute total. Spread equal amounts of the tuna mixture onto each toasted bread slice. Divide the tomato slices evenly among the sandwiches, then divide the cheese evenly on top. Return the pan to the broiler and broil until the cheese melts, about 1 minute more. Serve immediately. Makes 4 sandwiches.

Variation: You can use rye bread or split English muffins for your tuna melts, and substitute sharp cheddar, Gruyère or Swiss cheese for the mild cheddar. To impart a little tang to the tuna mixture, stir in 2 Tbs. chopped bread-and-butter pickles. If your idea of a tuna melt is not open faced, using untoasted bread, prepare the sandwiches as directed, topping them with a second slice of bread. Spread softened butter on the outside of each sandwich and cook them in a fry pan over medium heat until the cheese melts and the bread is golden brown on both sides.