Cooking Night 4: Fish Tacos and Guacamole

Location: Hillcrest

Recipe: Fish Tacos and guacamole

Ingredients:

-Head of lettuce

-White corn tortilla

-1 lime (ripe is yellow)

-Tilapia fillet

-Quarter all natural plain yogurt 

-Quarter mayo

-Cumin

Directions to make white sauce:

Mix quarter cup mayo and yogurt and zest whole lime.

Add a dash of cumin and a dash of ground chile.

Directions for rest of ingredients:

Chop head of lettuce, slice thin. Only use a quarter of the head of lettuce.

Season fish with desired seasoning.

Set stove to medium. Add olive oil to pan and place tortilla in pan.

In another pan with olive oil, lay fish away from you. Grill until color. Grill a couple minutes each side. 

When fish is finished, put the fish in the tortilla. Layer lettuce, guacamole, and white sauce.

Guacamole

Ingredients:

-Taquera salsa

-2 ripe avocado 

-S & P

Directions:

Cut avocado cut in half. Dice and scoop out with fork.

Mash up with fork.

Add 2 tps. salsa.

Slice limes (quarters) and a dash of salt. 

Mix all together.

To keep from browning keep pit in the guacamole.

The experience: Im not the biggest sea food fan but I do enjoy some fish tacos every now and then. Especially the ones I learned how to make. Not only did I learn to make fresh fish tacos, I learned how to make delicious guacamole. We first made the white sauce made up of yogurt and mayo with a hint cumin and chile. Then we mashed up the avocados with a scoop of Taquera salsa for the guacamole. For a beverages, we made refreshing cuba libres.

Cooking Night 3- Lemon Shrimp Pasta

Location: Hillcrest

Recipe: Lemon Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients:

-Pasta 4oz per person

-Frozen raw shrimp

-1 Lemon

-S & P

-1/3 cup olive oil

-Arugula

-1 shallots (med)

Directions:

Boil water

Cup of Olive Oil

Zest whole lemon (leave color)

Squeeze rest of lemon juice

Chop and mince up shallot

Put pasta in boiling water

Tsp of olive oil in pan

Shallot add s & p to pan

Add frozen shrimp to turn pink

Add lemon juice 

Take out pasta

Pour 2 cups arugula in hot pan

Pour pasta pack into pot

Pour mix and with pasta

Pour olive oil till brown a little

Wait till arugula is wilted and add more pepper.

The experience: I love Italian food so when my friend Matt said he would teach me how to make a pasta dish I was thrilled. We made Lemon Shrimp Pasta. I was taught the ins and outs of cooking pasta and how to zest a lemon and cook shrimp. We paired the dish with Menage a Trois Red wine. Absolutely delicious. 

Cooking Night 2

Location: Pacific Beach

Recipe: Bean, Corn, & Avocado Salad

Ingredients:

-1 cup cherry tomatoes

-1 tsp salt 

-1 tsp olive oil

-1 med white onion cut 1/4 in slices

-1 jalapeno 1/3 cup cilantro

-1/3 cup lime juice 

-1 can of black beans

-2 avo

-3 ears of corn

Directions:

Put tomatoes skillet 10 min with 1/2 tsp salt

Brush corn, onion, jalapeno evenly with oil place veggies on grill rack until lightly charred, turn after 6 min.

Grill onion and jalapeno 8 min.

Cut kernels from the cob, chop onion, jalapeno, tomatoes, add ingredients to mixture top with avo.

Recipe:

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

-2 cups all purpose flower

-3/4 tsp. baking soda

-1/2 cup sugar

-1/4 cup butter softened

-2 large eggs

-1 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas

-1/3 cup plain yogurt

-1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 350.

Lightly spoon flower into dry measuring cups.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt stir with whisk.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat with a mixture at medium.

Add eggs, beating well.

Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla, beat.

Add flour mixture, beat until moist.

Spoon butter into loaf pan, coated with cooking spray,

Bake @ 350 for an hour.

The experience: My friends and I usually go out to eat because it is fast and convenient  for our nights out. One night, instead of going out to eat,we made a healthy meal and dessert. The meal was a simple salad made up of  bean, corn and avocado salad which was a perfect blend of veggies. After the salad, we made delicious melt-in-your-mouth banana bread. 

Girls Cooking Night

7 girls making a vegetarian meal a week.

Location: La Jolla Shores

Recipe: Roasted Red Peppers and Mozzarella cheese/ Tomato Stove Sauté

Ingredients: 

-Bread

-Large pepper

-Garlic

-1 cup mozz. cheese

-1 tsp dried oregano

-1/2 red onion

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425

Line baking sheet and lay out bread and top with cheese, red peppers, onions, oregano, and a sprinkle salt and pepper. 

Place into oven bake 8-10 min until it is melted. 

Stove Tomato Saute 

-12 oz baby tomatoes

-1 1/2 tpls olive oil

-lemon zested 

-1/2 lemon juiced 

-1 garlic clove minced

-1/2 salt-1/4 tpls black pepper

-1 tpls parsley roughly chopped

4 cups of baby spinach leaves

Directions:

Heat a large nonstick pan over medium high. Add in oil and tomato.

Stir to coat with olive oil and then add the lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic and s & p.

Finish the tomatoes by stirring  the fresh parsley and spinach leaves. Saute for 1-2 min until spinach is wilted.

Finishing touches:

Colored pasta with Alfredo

Spinach salad with shaved carrots, artichoke hearts, avocado, parsley tossed in ranch.

For dessert frozen vanilla tart yogurt with fresh fruit. 

The experience:

In my family we cook (a lot except for me) but we don’t cook together. Lately, my cousin Jazmin and Chelsey and their girlfriends have been having weekly vegetarian girls nights. 7 girls, one kitchen making delicious healthy recipes. This time I decided to partake in the kitchen adventures. One evening in June, we made roasted red peppers and mozzarella break sticks and tomato saute. To add on we made Alfredo pasta and a simple garden salad. It was nice bonding with a group of girls from different nationalities (some Mexican and some Indian) over these simple recipes. Getting to know them and learning how to cook made me realize how food is another way of how people connect. 

Introduction

I want to learn how to cook. I have been surrounded by wonderful cooks my whole life (Judy and my grandma Betty) and I have cooked and baked with them but I have never really cooked by myself. Other than the basic pasta, salads and sandwiches. 

This past June, I was over at my cousin Dixie’s house for a pot lock family lunch. I didn’t bring over anything because I didn’t know what to make or how to make it. As I was helping with the dishes, ( my motto is you make it for me, I help with the clean up) my cousin’s roommate, Jamie, asked if I knew how to cook. I laughed and said no. Then she gave me the idea to create a cooking blog. Take simple recipes and learn to make them. Not only make them but post the recipe, ingredients and the experience of each meal. 

So this past summer, I have started to cook. I try to make a meal, mostly with friends, every other week. Im hoping to keep going till the end of the summer or possibly the end of the year. Feel free share the recipes and make suggestions of what I should try. Bon Appetit!