She's back!

The little raccoon from yesterday is back once again.



Unfortunately for her, I did not put out any food today. But that didn't stop her. When she was denied a meal, and confronted by me and a snarling Zook, she wound up heading up my trellis to the roof...




Little Coon spent awhile sitting on my roof under the shelter of my schefflera, before coming back over to my trellis and hanging out at the top of it for awhile.



My jasmine is so wild right now, that you could not even see the coon from the outside...



She got really comfy up there, and wound up stretching out and napping for a bit, with her head resting on the roof.



She really is adorable! I feel so bad trying to scare her off and refusing to feed her, but figure it is for the best (for both of us). She hung out for probably an hour or so. She keeps looking for a place to get into the porch. Hopefully she won't find a way, since I have a cat door going into my house, and really don't want her in my house! We'll see how long she hangs around when there is no food for her.

RECIPE: Ginger-Glazed Mahi Mahi and Wild Rice

The other day I made swordfish. Tonight it was Mahi Mahi.

Ginger-Glazed Mahi Mahi
from allrecipes.com (Serves 1)

Ingredients:

    2-1/4 teaspoons honey
    2-1/4 teaspoons soy sauce
    2-1/4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
    1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root (I did about 1/8 tsp ground ginger)
    1/4 clove garlic, crushed or to taste
    1/2 teaspoon olive oil
    1 (6 ounce) mahi mahi fillets
    salt and pepper to taste
    3/4 teaspoon vegetable oil

Directions:

1. In a shallow glass dish, stir together the honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic and olive oil. Season fish fillets with salt and pepper, and place them into the dish. If the fillets have skin on them, place them skin side down. Cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes to marinate.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove fish from the dish, and reserve marinade. Fry fish for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, turning only once, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove fillets to a serving platter and keep warm.
3. Pour reserved marinade into the skillet, and heat over medium heat until the mixture reduces to a glaze consistently. Spoon glaze over fish, and serve immediately.

For the wild rice, I basically just melted about a 1/2 tbs of butter in a saucepan, and sauteed about a 1/4 tsp of garlic for a minute. Then I added about a 1/2 cup of wild rice and toasted it for a minute before adding 1 cup of vegetable broth. Bring to boil, stir, cover with a lid and simmer for 50 mins. Toss in a little Italian Seasoning (I probably added about 1/2 tsp), and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and recover and let sit for 10 mins.

Very good! The rice was just a little on the salty side, but luckily I like salt! I actually didn't use any oil in the pan for the fish. It probably would have been better if I had though. The honey is very sticky and caused the fish to stick a little at times. I also did not add any salt or pepper to the fish. Nevertheless it was quite good! And I was very happy with the way that the wild rice turned out. It's another two keepers!

That ain't no cat!

I've had a yard cat (stray or neighbor cat) spending more and more time in my backyard. So I put some food out for him about a week ago. I put it out before work, and when I came home it was gone. I continued putting it out everyday, and found when I was home that the food would disappear between 3-5 PM, but I could never confirm whether or not it was the cat eating it. Today I was running to the store, and I saw the cat run across my front yard toward the back fence, and realized I hadn't put food out for him yet. So I put food out first thing after I got back. About 15 minutes later, this is what I found when I looked outside. Zook finally snarled at him near the end, but it didn't even phase this guy...

RECIPE: Grilled Swordfish and Oven-Roasted Peppers and Pasta Salad

The other day I decided to try some swordfish, which I haven't had in many years and couldn't remember whether I liked it or not. I know that there is a higher risk of mercury with swordfish, so I won't be able to eat this often, and that's too bad-- because it was really good!

Grilled Marinated Swordfish
from allrecipes.com (Serves 2)

Ingredients:

    2 cloves garlic
    2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons white wine
    2 tablespoons lemon juice
    1 tablespoon soy sauce
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    1-1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning (I used Lawry's Seasoning Salt and Emeril's BAM instead)
    1/8 teaspoon salt
    1/8 teaspoon pepper
    2 swordfish steaks
    1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)
    2 slices lemon, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. In a glass baking dish, combine the garlic, white wine, lemon juice, soy sauce, olive oil, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix just to blend. Place swordfish steaks into the marinade, and refrigerate for 1 hour, turning frequently.
2. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil the grate.
3. Grill swordfish steaks for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Garnish with parsley and lemon wedges.

Oven-Roasted Peppers and Pasta
from Vegetable on the Side (Serves 6)

Ingredients:

    4 large bell peppers, 2 red and 2 green, thickly sliced
    2 large onions, thickly sliced (I'll do them thinner next time)
    2-3 tbs olive oil
    1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
    3 tbs chopped fresh oregano
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (I might use grape tomatoes next time)
    salt and pepper
    1 lb small pasta, like shells, bow ties, rigatoni or corkscrews, cooked and kept hot
    Fresh grated Parmesan

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. In a large bowl, toss peppers and onions with oil. Spread them in a shallow roasting pan. Roast in the oven, turning the vegetables from time to time with a spatula, until tender and beginning to brown, 30-45 minutes. 
3. Sprinkle with parsley, oregano and garlic and tomatoes. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Roast 5 minutes more. Remove pan from oven.
4. Toss pasta with vegetables and pile in serving bowl. Sprinkle with the cheese and serve hot.
5. Good served with grilled fish (fish steaks like tuna or swordfish). Also good tossed with cheese-stuffed tortellini or ravioli.

Both of these were really good! The soy flavor of the fish was a little strong at first, but after a few bites you find that you really like it! The pasta was really good, but would have been better with grated Parmesan (I only had shredded Parm). I served it with a salad of chopped tomatoes and cukes marinated in Italian dressing, and sliced string mozzarella cheese (I picked this up from Nutrisystem when I was on it for a short time). The soy marinated fish probably doesn't pair best with the Italian flavors of the pasta and salad, but I needed to use up some tomatoes and peppers, and these were the best options I could quickly come up with. Next time I'll probably go with a grain like quinoa or wild rice and some steamed veggies.

Both recipes are definite keepers!

RECIPE: Mexican Pasta Salad

I saw this on the Facebook page of What are my kids eating? Unfortunately she didn't really post a recipe, but just the ingredients. So I had to wing it. I'm not sure of the amounts I really used, as I just kept adding more to taste, but I'm estimating it went something like this:

Mexican Pasta Salad

Whole wheat pasta (I used regular elbow macaroni, 1 lb box)
Corn (11 oz can crispy corn)
Scallions (3 scallions, sliced)
Black beans (can, rinsed and drained)
Kidney beans (can, rinsed and drained)

For the dressing, in a bottle mix together:

Juice of 3 limes (about a 1/4-1/3 cup)
Taco sauce (1 jar Taco Bell mild)
Chili powder (1/8 tsp)
Chipotle chili powder (1/4 tsp)
Cumin (1/2 tsp)
Onion powder (1/8 tsp)
Garlic powder (1/4 tsp)
Salt (1/2 tsp)
Pepper (1/8 tsp)
Olive oil (2-3 tbs)

Mix together salad ingredients in a large bowl. Then pour dressing over entire salad, and stir to coat. Serve in bowls sprinkled with Mexican cheese. Eat hot or cold.


Not bad at all!

RECIPE: Mushroom Pepper Tacos

I was looking for a simple and healthful vegetarian dish to make during the work week, and I recalled having seen one for some vegetarian tacos, and I had saved the recipe for use later on. So I dug through my list, and found this recipe, originally found on Upstate Ramblings.

Ingredients:

    2 T. olive oil
    1 poblano chile, chopped
    1 green pepper, chopped
    1 red pepper, chopped
    1/2 onion, sliced
    2 portabella mushrooms, chopped
    1 t. ground cumin
    1/2 t. salt
    taco shells
    shredded cheese
    cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in skillet and add the chile, onions, peppers and mushrooms.  Saute mixture about 5 minutes.  Mix in cumin and salt.
2. Serve in taco shells topped with cheese and cilantro.

Mmmmmmm...good! Just serve some Mexican Rice on the side, and you've got a fast and easy vegetarian meal for a busy weekday. This one is definitely a keeper!

Raw Marinara Sauce

I can't believe that I haven't posted this recipe on here before, but 'twould seem so. This is a delicious recipe for raw marinara that can be quickly pureed in a food processor and served over pasta, spaghetti squash or shredded zucchini.

Raw Marinara Sauce
Serves 2 (1 cup)

1 ripe tomato, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked or oil-packed (I rinse off the oil-packed and pat dry)
1/2 red pepper, chopped
2 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbs minced fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed garlic (1 clove)
1/4 tsp salt
Dash black pepper
Dash cayenne

Place all ingredients in food processor, and process until smooth. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Stored in sealed container in frig, it will keep 3 days.

 

I usually serve this over spaghetti squash, but this time served it with whole grain pasta. It's one of those dishes that tastes even better after a couple of days in the frig to allow the flavors mingle.