More Fish!! Fresh Tuna on Salad Greens with Roasted Bacon-Asparagus, Stuffed Mushrooms and Fruit Salad

I didn't realize the last recipe I posted was for fish and salad...until I just came to post the new recipe. I'll take a hiatus from fish after this, or at least I won't post the recipes until later. I would just like to say though, that two of the elements in this meal contain bacon. Did I just make you drool?

Tomato and Bacon-Stuffed Mushrooms

6 small portabello mushrooms (called "portabellos for stuffing) at Trader Joes
1 small tomato, diced small
4 strips of bacon, cooked and diced small
2 tablespoons diced red onion
6 fresh basil leaves, chopped tiny
A splash of balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees.

Break the stems off the mushrooms and wipe the outside with a damp paper towel. Take a small spoon (grapefruit spoons work well here) and scoop out the dark, frilly part of the mushroom just around the stem area. . While you're doing this, try to keep the edges of the mushroom in-tact. Grease a glass pie pan (or other dish the mushrooms will fit in) with a bit of olive oil. Place the mushrooms in, stem side up, and bake until soft, about 10-12 minutes.

While the mushrooms are cooking, chop up the tomato, onion, basil and bacon and stir together in a small bowl. Add the vinegar and a splash of olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Let that sit tight.

When the mushrooms are done, drain any liquid that may have collected in the mushroom cap. (Keep the oven at 325) Let the 'shrooms cool until the rest of the dinner is ready. Then fill with the tomato-bacon mixture when ready to serve.

Roasted Bacon-Asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus, ends trimmed off and rinsed clean
4 slices of bacon, cooked and cut into 1-inch pieces
Cracked Pepper
Splash of olive oil

After you've taken the mushrooms out of the oven, place the trimmed and cleaned asparagus into a baking dish. Toss the olive oil, bacon, and pepper in with the asparagus. (I didn't add salt because the bacon will add enough on its own). Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake, uncovered for about 12-15 minutes depending on thickness of the asparagus.

Tuna and Salad

1 pound Wild-Caught Tuna Steaks
Cajun Seasoning
Olive oil
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
Pesto Sauce for dressing
**Assorted veggies of your choice. I used red bell pepper, artichoke hearts, tomato and red onion in my salad.

While the asparagus is cooking, chop up the lettuce and veggies for your salad. Toss together in a serving bowl. Then season the tuna with the cajun seasoning, and cook in a saute pan with a little olive oil. Cook for about 2-3 minutes per side, being careful not to over-cook the fish. Remove from pan immediately after it's done cooking, and place the fish over the salad. Serve with the pesto sauce on the side.

For the fruit salad I just chopped up whatever was in my fridge. I had plums, blueberries and watermelon to eat up this time.

Orange Roughy and Summer Salsa (with a side of fruit)

I love summer. Fresh veggies and fruit from the farmers' market, and it's a good excuse to eat lots of salad with tons of goodness. The goodness being fresh ingredients of all sorts. I heart salad....and find that if you add enough to the lettuce base, you often don't need dressing. I used to NEED tons of dressing to enjoy my greens, but no longer.

1 pound Orange Roughy (this is a very flavorful white fish, by far my favorite of the white)
Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium, ripe mango
1 ripe avocado
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup diced jicama (optional)
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt and Pepper

Mixed salad greens

**1 chayote, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cube

If you've never had it before, chayote is kind of like a squash of sorts. It looks similar to a pear in shape and size, but the ends are kind of turned inwards like an old guy without teeth....it's hard to explain. I just peeled and chopped the chayote...then put it in a small saucepan, covered with water, sprinkled in a little salt and simmered on medium heat until done....about 12-15 minutes or so. You can start the chayote first, if you'd like, and then do the rest while it's cooking. If you don't want to do the chayote it's no big deal....I just put it on top of my greens along with the salsa...but it's not necessary.


Peel the mango (While the chayote is cooking) and dice small. I like to peel the whole mango with a paring knife, then slice the fruit off on either side of the pit...then cut off whatever remainder I can salvage from the pit. Slice the two sides into two flat pieces, and then dice small. Add this to a bowl. Dice up the avocado (cut in half and remove pit. Then cut vertical and horizontal lines into each half of the avocado. Scoop out cut pieces with a big spoon and add to bowl). Add in the red onion, bell pepper, cilantro and stir together. Add in the jicama if you want. It adds a nice crunch...but if you buy some I'd recommend buying a big one. I bought a small one thinking I wouldn't use much, but it ended up tasting very starchy and potato-like....no bueno. Add lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle the orange roughy with cajun seasoning. I use about a teaspoon total since it's pretty flavorful. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and add the fish. Cook until opaque underneath, about 3-4 minutes depending on thickness of the fish. Flip over and continue cooking until done all the way through, about another 3-4 minutes or so. After the fish is cooked, pile some greens on each plate, top with fish, salsa, and chayote if you like!! (On the above picture, the chayote is the larger-diced veggie sitting on the greens just above the big pile of salsa). Enjoy your meal with some summer-fresh watermelon, or your favorite summer fruit!

**For those of you living in a household where not everyone follows a paleo diet...I feel your pain! For the non-paleo eaters in my home I offered corn tortillas to make this into fish tacos instead of the salad as I ate it above. Two birds with one-ish stone....SWEET!

Pork Ribs, Asparagus Soup and Roasted Tubers

I'd like to start out by admitting that I have yet to perfect a Paleo spice-rub for ribs, but that being said, this is the best one I've come up with so far. If anyone has ideas or spice mixtures that have worked for you in the past, please speak up. I like the flavor of this rub, but would feel like there's definately room for improvement. Not that the following recipe isn't worth it....

Ribs:

1 rack of meaty pork ribs (the one I bought had between 12-15 ribs on it)
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1/4 cup olive oil

**The day before you plan to eat these ribs...mix all of the above ingredients together, minus the pork. Then rub the mixture into the ribs really well on all sides. Place the ribs on a foil-lined-rimmed baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The following day, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Remove the plastic wrap and place the ribs in the oven, on the middle rack. Bake for 2 hrs. Check the ribs at the one-hour mark and cover with foil if they begin to burn too much. You can also cook the ribs on a BBQ if you have the skills. I do not...but if you are able to maintain the coals at a low heat for 2-3 hrs, then by all means, go for it!! Clearly...I don't own a gas grill :).

Tubers (Yams and Sweet Potatoes)

1 medium yam (the orange variety)
1 medium sweet potato (the white one)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven at 375 degrees (if you have two ovens...if not, disregard).

While the ribs are cooking you can prepare the tubers. Peel the yam and sweet potato and cut into 1-inch cubes. Place these in a mixing bowl along with the garlic, oil, salt and pepper. Toss well to coat. Drizzle a little oil onto a rimmed baking sheet and pour the tubers onto the pan, spreading out evenly. If you have one oven, just place these below the ribs during the last 20-30 minutes of cooking time, moving them to the top position in the oven, above the ribs, for the last 5-7 minutes. If you have two ovens...SCORE!...and place the yammers in the middle rack for about 20 minutes. Check them at the 10-12 minute mark and flip over with a spatula. They should be a little brown on the outside.

Asparagus Soup

2 medium bunches of asparagus
1 medium white onion, roughly sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup pesto sauce
2 cups veggie or chicken stock
salt and pepper

Break the ends off the asparagus and rinse the remaining stalks well. Chop them into 2-inch pieces and toss into a medium saucepan along with the olive oil, garlic and onion. Cook over medium heat for about 7-10 minutes, or until the asparagus get very soft. Once they are fully cooked, remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.

Pour the asaparagus etc. into a food processor, and pulse a few times. Turn the processor on and pour in the stock, add the pesto sauce and let blend together until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you are still waiting for the rest of your food to cook, pour the soup back into the saucepan and leave at the lowest heat until ready to serve.

*You can also use coconut milk instead of the stock if you want a creamier soup.

Sorry!!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I lost the charger for my camera battery...and just bought a new one the other day. New posts to begin again tomorrow :)

*Edited because I found a picture on my computer I hadn't used yet...hence the recipe post above...SCORE! ;)

Almond Crusted Pork Loin and carmelized fennel salad

You can never go wrong coating food in almond flour...This is best enjoyed the day of making, as the almond meal starts to soften in the fridge by the next day. It's still good though, just not crunchy.

For the Meat:

2lb pork loin, in 1/2 inch slices
1 cup almond flour (I bought mine at Trader Joes. If you can't find any, just grind up some almonds in your food processor until it turns to powder)
1.5 teaspoons "Everyday Seasoning" from Trader Joes, or a combo of sea salt, ground mustard seeds, pepper and coriander


For the Salad:

1 fennel bulb, in 1/4 inch slices, bottom cut off
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 medium apple of your choice, in thin slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups mixed greens
1/2 cup walnuts
Walnut or Hazlenut oil
Salt and Pepper

Pork:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees for the pork, and move the top rack to the second position from the top (in my oven I have four slots, so this would be just a tad higher than the middle). Pat the pork slices dry, and mix the almond flour with the seasoning on a plate or in a small, flat bowl. Dip each piece of pork into the almond flour mixture and flip to coat. Place all pork pieces into a lightly oiled 13x9 inch pan. If it doesn't all fit you could place them on a rimmed baking sheet as well. Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes. Then move the rack to the top position and bake for another 5-8 minutes. This will let the almonds cook more and get crunchy :). (While the pork is baking...start the fennel below)

Fennel Salad:

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. When hot, add the fennel slices and onion. Continue to cook over medium heatfor 12-15 minutes, tossing occasionally. At around the 15 minute mark you should start to see some good carmelizing(browning) on the fennel and onions. If this hasn't started yet, continue to cook another 5 minutes. After the fennel has begun to carmelize, add in the sliced apple and toss, cooking another 2-3 minutes to warm the apple. Sprinkle with some sea salt and pepper and remove from heat. Toss the warm fennel mixture into the mixed greens, and top with the walnuts. You can drizzle with a little walnut or hazlenut oil if you'd like. Serve with the pork and commence drooling!!