Try to Be Healthy

This is a dish that I made last night. I know the picture is a bit blurry. I'm looking to get a better camera... But this is coconut salmon on top of a garlic lemon sauteed cabbage. My friend Alex from CAPA requested one of my healthier recipes to be post on my Facebook wall as well as my blog. Congrats on Being First Alex!!!The recipe is as follows.

Ingredients
Salmon
-Two 4oz Salmon Cuts
-1 cup Fresh Coconut WATER
-2 tblsp Honey
-1/2 tsp Chili Powder
-1/2 tsp Dill
-1/2 tsp Celery Seed
-3 Cloves Garlic
-1/4 cup Coconut Flakes
- 1/2 Lemon (sliced)
-Salt and Pepper to taste

Cabbage "Salad"
-3 Large Cabbage Leaves
-2 cloves garlic
-1/2 lemon (juice)
-Salt and Pepper to taste
-Sliced Cucumber (About a Cup)

Process
Preheat oven at 400' F
Lightly Oil A broil Sheet w/ PAM or use non-stick foil
While you wait for the oven to heat, marinate salmon in mix of the herbs and coconut. (CAN BE DONE BEFORE HAND)
Cook for 15 minutes on top wrack on BROIL.
While the fish is cooking, chop the cabbage and put it in small pot with all herbs and lemon juice and rind.
Cook until tender.
Cabbage should be nice and limp at the same time as the fish.
Take fish out of broiler and, place on top of cabbage and add cucumber slices as you see fit.
ENJOY!!! ^_^

This is how I wanna Go...

These bad boys were inspired by my Aunt Keema. I remember when I was younger she would make all of my cousins and myself, brownies and cookies. But occasionally her and my grandmother, Mam, would get some cinnamon rolls going. My cousins Toddy and Malika would "help" make them but in reality, we were just there to eat the scraps and be first in line for the finished product lol! Anyway, I was sitting in my dorm talking with Brendan and I started to miss home. I was going to go out and buy some cinnamon rolls, but it was late, and I'm much too lazy for that. I got up all the ingredients and threw together some yummy buns. These things are so good, but so bad for you. Definitely a once-in-a-while dessert. What are some sinfully delicious goodies you guys like?

Being Lazy...

I made this dish because of my kitchen buddy and roommate Brendan. His dad has some great fresh fish in his shop and Brendan was always nice enough to bring me something good. So the night he brought me some tiger shrimp and I was in heaven! They were pretty big and so juicy! I just ran out of Alfredo sauce so I improvised... I made a sauce out of sour cream, spinach, onions, and garlic. Brendan hates white sauces but he loved this one. Have you ever improvised a dish? What was in it?

The Gnocchi Challenge

My neighbor Pujah gave me some left over gnocchi she had made from the box. I had never had this form of gnocchi before so my hopes were high and optimistic. The second I bit into the gnocchi I regretted it. It was so mushy and the sauce was bland. I wanted to slap her for giving me this shit. But I did't, I just offered to make her real gnocchi. I love Italian food, culture, and language. I went to my trusty cooking assistant, Google, and searched what gnocchi was exactly. After finding that it is mostly potato kinda made into a pasta, I was on the roll. It took FOREVER to make the dough, but the sauce was great. So I presented this handmade gnocchi in garlic parm, sauce to her, and she swooned. I love getting it right... Have you ever had a food and hated it? What was it?

Manly Meal

I'm a big man. I need my food to be fulfilling not a tease. I made this dish because it was getting to be Autumn and I was craving some of my Grandma's Beef Stew. Unfortunately she pasted the year before so I was S.O.L. Thank the universe that she taught me how to cook! Brendan and I went out and grabbed some thick steaks (sirloin) and some baby potatoes. The broth for this stew is homemade beef broth and tomato paste. This dish would definitely be a great slow-cooker meal. (Maybe going a repeat/ re-eat this week) You can pour this baby over rice or mash, but it's so chuncky that you could eat it solo! This is a man's stew! But women are welcome to eat as well.  Gotta show love to the ladies ^_^ What's a "manly" food that you eat when you need a man-check? 

It's Okay to be a Fatty Sometimes

We all have those days when all we want is to stuff our faces with the greasiest, cheesiest, slop we can get our chubby hands on. This dish goes out to all my fatties! It is a Hamburger Bun. I adapted this recipe from something similar to my love Kate's recipe for some meat pocket thingy. (Which is delicious and will most likely to be posted on the blog soon.) This is a bread-type dough stuffed with cooked ground beef, cheese, peppers, caramelized onions, and seasoned and BAKED (gotta be a lil healthy lol)  to perfection. I love, love, love, hand-foods. What is one of your fav grab-go foods?

I Tried...

So one night, I tried to be nice to my little sister for a change. I made us some good healthy food. This is oven fried chicken, homemade mash, and broccoli pasta. I thought that this dish was the BOMB! But my butthole little sister Karima tasted it and said that it's "Ard" and that I could have put some more garlic in it. Lol I gotta love her, because I would have dissed her food too! All I'm sayin is that it had to be good, because she finished the entire plate before I could finish mine haha. Who's your biggest "fan"?

Flu Food

Yes everyone, it's that time of the year again. The time when you get the sniffles and the head colds. The Winter. I made this little guy one night my roommate Brendan and I were feeling cozy on my awesome couches. Had had a shit-ton of orzo left over from the night before so I made soup. I had a whole small chick in the freezer for some reason (rarely cook whole birds... I'm intimidated by them ]: ) I rosted and then boiled the hell out of that chicken! The broth was nice and rich. I just threw in all the vegies I had leftover into the pot. And to add more flavor to the over all dish, I boiled the orzo in the broth. This soup was so warm and peppery, my grandmother would be proud, but also angry because my soup was just as good as hers! Chicken Soup is one of my fav sick-time foods. Just goes so well with tea and giant blankets. What is a food you like to eat when feeling ill?

Chinese Donuts w/ Salted Chocolate

7/2012

So the story behind these little devils starts with a move to a new neighborhood. After my grandmother passed, everyone was in a sullen mood. So I knew that we needed some cheering up. I remembered that my cousins and I, would always scrap up a dollar to go to the local Asian restaurant to get a handful of the softest donuts. The ones we got in the past were deep-fried and rolled in sugar. I decided to add my own taste to them. (My taste is usually chocolate btw...) After i tasted a couple with only the swirl I realized that they were just sweet morsels not yummy deserts. So to balance out the extreme sweet, I added a sprinkle of sea salt flakes. It was like a trip down memory lane. The taste of sweet chocolate clouds. Definitely one of my favorite memories, and a comforting feeling to ease the soul. Are there any comfort food that you like to eat when you're down?