Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Slaw

Simple weeknight dinner. Fish Tacos! So medical school is kind of busy. On top of that, It's my second year and I am preparing to take boards in just a little over a month. This mean that I don't really have a lot of extra time to make fun, new, time consuming recipes. This one is SOOOO simple and quick. It only takes as long as it takes to cook the fish. Assemble, scarf, back to studying (unfortunately)!

What you need (or at least what I use)

• Frozen Parmesan Encrusted Tilapia
• At Sams Club they sell big bags of frozen parm crusted tilapia... it's quick and relatively healthy so I usually always have it on hand. 
• The parmesan crust in this adds a nice extra crunch almost like it's fried fish in the taco... without the extra deep fried calories (and mess)
• Cole slaw/ shredded cabbage mix (from a bag)
• Chopped fresh cilantro
• Sliced fresh green onions
• Lime juice (preferably from a real lime, not a hollow plastic lime)

All I do

• Season with a little onion powder, chili powder, and cayenne (a little goes a long way)-bake according to directions
• Mix together cole slaw mix, chopped fresh cilantro, sliced green onions, lime juice, and olive oil
• For every half bag of cole slaw I use about a cup of cilantro, 4 green onions, the juice of half a lime, and a couple tablespoons olive oil
• Do the lime juice first so the acid can coat everything, then drizzle a little olive oil to mix in, season with pepper if you want
• It will taste pretty limey, but it's REALLY good on the tacos!
• Once the fish is done, chunk it up with forks, put in in tacos with the slaw, cheese and your favorite fish taco sauce. 
• Our favorite Mexican restaurant is right across the street so I use theirs, but if you don't have a go to fish taco sauce try this creamy jalapeno ranch sauce 
• I'm also a big fan of home made guacamole or sliced avocado on these tacos!
• Wrap everything up together in a nice warm flour tortilla! MMMM

If you don't have the parmesan crusted tilapia, or don't want that extra breading, baking non-breaded tilapia in a little lime juice with the same spices would work great! 

French Onion Soup

I remember the exact moment that I fell in love with french onion soup. I was 9 years old on vacation with my family to Hilton Head, South Carolina. It was a great trip, in general, we rode bikes along the beach, learned how to dig up conch shells, built racecars in the sand, and ate at some magnificent restaurants.

It was at one of these great restaurants where I discovered the best french onion soup, ever. If you ever get out that direction, Cafe at Wexford is fantastic, and the french onion soup is the one that won over my heart forever. Since then I have been comparing every french onion soup to that one. Most are good, many are great, and a few have come close to matching the perfection, but none just yet.

I have not given up on my quest to find one just as good as that first french onion soup. So recently I figured maybe I can make one that is just as good. I don't know that I'm quite there, yet, but either way this recipe is a keeper.

French Onion Soup
4 Tbl. Butter
1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion, thinly sliced
3 Large White Onions, thinly sliced
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
42 oz. Low Sodium Beef Broth
28 oz. Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 cup Red Wine (approximate)
2-3 Tbl. Worcestershire Sauce
4 Sprigs Fresh Parsley
3 sprigs fresh thyme (+ another 2 Tbl. chopped)
1-2 bay leafs
2 Tbl. Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste
Thickly sliced French Bread
Sliced Gruyere cheese for melting on top
Shredded Asiago cheese for melting on top

In a large pot melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the thinly sliced onions and the garlic. Cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are soft and caramelized. They almost start falling apart at this point (yum!).

Add in the beef and chicken broth, red wine, and worcestershire into the pot. I usually only add about half of the wine and Worcestershire now, because I like to add in some here and some there as I taste as I go. Allows me to get it just like I like it! Add in the bundle of parsley, bay leaf, and thyme sprigs, whole (you'll fish them out later). Simmer this over medium heat for about 20 min.

Remove the whole sprigs of herbs and add about another 2 Tbl. of fresh chopped thyme and stir in. Reduce the heat and add in the balsamic vinegar (usually only 1 Tbl. at a time, to see how the flavor is doing.) Now you can add salt and pepper to taste, also. A tip I learned the hard way: you never want to add salt until you are almost done cooking the soup. If you add it to your liking, and then continue cooking it down and reducing liquid off, it will end up much more concentrated and will taste a lot saltier than you anticipated.

Cut up your french bread and cheese (and eat a little for an appetizer!) Toast the french bread on both sides under a broiler, or in a toaster oven. Fill your oven safe bowls or crocks with hot soup, top with toasty bread, sliced Gruyere and Asiago cheese. Eeat any cheese that falls onto the counter, and place the bowls under the broiler until the top is melted, golden, bubbly, toasty, and perfect.

Devour immediately... but to avoid burning your tongue, I guess you should wait a minute before putting a huge cheesy chunk in your mouth. I'm not a patient person, though... so I burn my tongue nearly every time...WORTH IT!

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Bleu Macaroni and Cheese

I first made this dish for Thanksgiving dinner 2 years ago. It was a minor disaster (equivalent to a small California earthquake)! I don't mean the flavors were a disaster, they were great, it was more of the proportions that were "off," to say the least.

Long story short: the recipe I followed said to use 2 cups of macaroni to serve 2 people. I quadrupled the recipe in order to serve it as a side dish at my big family Thanksgiving dinner. Does anyone know how much 8 cups of macaroni is once you cook it? It's probably enough to feed the entire population of Wyoming for about a week...

Needless to say that we had WAY to many noodles, not enough sauce, and nowhere to put it! However, I didn't realize the noodle sauce ratio would be off until after I mixed it all together and filled up 6 casserole dishes with the macaroni.

Conclusion: Flavor= fantastic; Proportions = disagreeable

ANYWAY: we figured that the recipe must have meant 2 cups cooked macaroni, not 2 cups uncooked macaroni... either way I still think that would have been too many noodles... I have fiddled with the proportions and come up with this: a good noodle sauce ratio that makes ONE casserole dish of gourmet macaroni and cheese.

What you'll need:
2 3/4 cups elbow macaroni (uncooked)

3 cups whole milk

8 oz. Gruyere cheese

6 oz. Sharp White Cheddar

4 oz. Bleu cheese (I love a great Roquefort)

pinch of nutmeg

4 Tbl. butter

4 Tb. flour

salt and pepper to taste

breadcrumbs and dried basil for topping

Warm the milk in a sauce pan over medium heat. In the meantime use the butter and flour to make a roux (melt butter and sprinkle in flour and cook for a few minutes until lump free and doesn't smell like flour any more--should be golden colored). When milk is simmering, add the roux and thicken to a saucy texture. Add in the pepper and nutmeg for flavor (don't add salt until after you've added cheese... you probably won't need any).

When the sauce has thickened, remove it from the heat and stir in the monstrous pile of cheese that you've convinced your family to grate up. Stir in until incorporated and smooth. Pour the sauce over cooked noodles in a baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and basil over the top before baking.

Bake for 30-45 min at 400 degrees or until the cheeses are bubbling and the top is crispy and browned. It wont need the full 45 minutes unless you refrigerate it overnight before cooking...could be done as soon as 20 min. Just watch for bubbly cheese!

Delicious Fresh Green Beans

Summer is officially over, but I did get some good fresh green beans from the farmers market before the cold weather set in. Fresh green beans are so much better than canned you really cannot compare them to fresh at all. With fresh green beans I like the simple approach. Blanch and Saute.

Snap the ends off of the green beans and rinse them. Boil and salt some water. When the water boils, blanch the green beans for 4-6 minutes (depending on how thick and crispy they are). After taking them out shock them immediately by dropping them into a bowl of ice water for another 4-6 minutes to stop the cooking. You want the beans to be in the ice water about the same length of time as the boiling water.

Melt some butter and olive oil in a saute pan and saute the blanched green beans with the butter and olive oil for a few minutes. Season simply... I like them with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Sprinkle some freshly graded Parmesan cheese over the top. There is no better, and simpler way to eat fresh green beans... I promise. Even my sister (who hates green veggies) will scarf these down!

Easy Creamy Cheesy Pesto Spread

This is a recipe courtesy of my friend Emily's family friend, Veronica. In college Emily and I roomed together and Veronica was nice enough to send us a half-gallon container of this stuff every couple months. The tub usually only lasted a couple weeks! This stuff is as addictive as I imagine any drug could be (not that I would personally know)

So, after my recent blog about homemade pesto I couldn't resist making this delectable treat! It is SOOOOO easy and fast you wouldn't even believe it! Great on crackers (I prefer wheat thins) or sandwiches or raw veggies! I'm sure it would melt down nicely over hot noodles also to make a creamy cheesy pesto sauce.

I like making this with homemade pesto, but if you don't have any on hand or don't want to go to the trouble, it would be great with store bought pesto as well.

Four Simple Ingredients:

• 2 oz Cream Cheese
• 4 oz Goat Cheese
• 1/4 c. Homemade Pesto
• salt and pepper to taste

All you do... mix your pesto, cream cheese, and goat cheese together in a bowl with a spoon or spatula until it is all blended and smooth. Season it with salt and pepper to taste, and devour!!!