fish croquettes and purple slaw

Crispity crunchity outside with warm soft salmony insides. Yum!

You'll need:

• panko, for the crust
• 1 16-oz. can wild-caught salmon (I sometimes use mackerel)
  
• garlic salt
• celery salt
  
• seasoned salt
• pepper
  
• 2 beaten eggs
• enough self-rising flour for binding

Do this:

Mix everything together except for the panko in a big bowl, shape into patties, and roll each one in panko. Fry in bacon fat in a cast iron skillet for maximum crispiness.

And don't forget the pretty purple slaw...

Adapted from this recipe.

You'll need:

• 1/2 head purple cabbage, shredded
• 1/4 c. finely minced onion (or less)
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
  
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1 c. mayo
• 1/2 t. salt and 1/8 t. pepper
• 2 t. sugar
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 2 T. milk (I used almond milk)

Do this:

Whisk the dressing ingredients together and then pour over the cabbage, onion, apples, and raisins. Mix gently and chill before serving.

Enjoy the warm crunchy fishy cakes and the cold snappy slaw--a perfect pair.

snack and green smoothie

A little healthy snacky I enjoyed recently: sliced organic bananas smothered in organic soy yogurt and dappled with honey and toasted pine nuts. (I've adored Nigella Lawson's simple dessert of vanilla ice cream, honey, and pine nuts, and it works well as a midmorning yogurt snackilicous with bananas thrown in.)


Green smoothie: 2 bananas, 4 carrots, mixed greens, flaxseed meal, 1 apple, 1 avocado, 2 navel oranges, mint leaves, almond milk, a bit of agua. Blend, slurp, and be well.

2 raw avocado puddings

So yummy, but rich enough that you could easily cut this recipe in half and still have plenty! This was Gillian McKeith's raw lemon pudding, and though she touts it for weight-loss reasons, we're just really trying to stay away from dairy and raw puddings are a great stand-in dessert (and so much healthier!). With avocados, lemon (you can cut the amount of lemon flesh in half!), fresh orange juice, dates, and maple syrup, this was one delicious treat.


I'd made cooked avocado/chocolate pudding before, but it was cooked, and had sugar, but this version from The Leftover Queen was raw, sweetened with a bit of maple syrup, and was so easy to just chuck in the blender. And it was pretty yummy (though I could still taste the avocado a bit). I'm thinking of trying three new versions in the future: mocha, cayenne pepper, and rum (this last one would just be a mommy and daddy treat).


Nothing to do with raw avocado puddings, but we do have a green-smoothie lover--the moustache gives it away.

rosemary-garlic steak

I didn't grow up eating red meat, and in fact, had never cooked steak (or eaten it, hardly) till last week.

And now I'm a sucker for a rosemary-garlic steak.

I used Marcella Hazan's recipe (via Steamy Kitchen) and the only thing I changed was substituting a sirloin steak for the ribeye the recipe called for. I was only going to buy good grass-fed meat (no hormones or antibiotics, either), and the sirloin is what our local market had on offer that fit those criteria.

It was easy to make and tasted great with roasted potatoes and green and wax beans with lemon.

creamy avocado smoothie

Almost gone...

Yum yum yum: 1 avocado, 1 apple, 2 navel oranges, 2 bananas, almond milk, water, and a ginormous bunch of mixed greens.