Lemon Dill Sauce

If you're out of ideas for dinner tonight, here is something easy to whip up. This sauce goes great as an accompaniment for seafood or steak. We've even had it once with grilled pork chops. However, it is my favorite with Oven Fried Batter Fish and grilled shrimp. 

Lemon Dill Sauce

2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped fine

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

1/2 cup sour cream

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, taste and add more dill or lemon as per your preference. Keep covered in the fridge until ready to serve or store in fridge for 1-2 days. 

Oven Fried Batter Fish

We all love the fried fish with that crisp, fluffy batter on it. But unless you're planning to go to a restaurant to eat it, it's quite a pain to make at home. Not to mention, it's deep-fried. So, here's a simple way to make a batch of fried fish at home, in the oven, with as little oil as possible.

4 fillets fish, I used tilapia

1 egg, beaten

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp powdered sage

Beat the egg in a plate and set aside. Wash fish and pat dry with a paper towel. 

In a second plate, mix together the flour, salt, pepper, baking soda, paprika, and sage. 

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Coat the fish in the flour mixture on both sides, then dip into the egg, and place on a well greased oven-proof tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the fish starts to brown and is flaky when cut. 

Serve with Lemon Dill Sauce. 

Cauliflower Rice

 We took a three week vacation in December/ January to go visit our family in India, and like all good vacations, we ate and drank a lot and came back considerably more overweight than when we left. So in an effort to lose a little weight my husband decided to go onto a no-carbs-in-the-night diet. It’s pretty reasonable actually. We aren't cooking anything special for the diet. He eats controlled portions of everything and we try to regulate the amount of fat and oil but we certainly haven't cut it out completely. His diet basically means we can continue to eat curries, and baked dishes, and most other foods. The only stipulation, is that we don’t have carbs in the night. So, he’s swapped baby spinach for chapatti, and after browsing through that magical place called the internet, we found out that cauliflower is a very good substitute for rice. I know, I know, that sounds absolutely awful, but it definitely tastes better than it sounds. So without further ado, I introduce you to Cauliflower Rice. Here is the website I got the original recipe off.

Cauliflower Rice

Cauliflower Rice

Salt to taste
1 medium Cauliflower head

Cut the cauliflower into florets and wash thoroughly. Let it dry well as too much water can make it mushy. Place the florets into a food processor and pulse till it looks like broken rice. Put in a microwave safe bowl, sprinkle liberally with salt. Cover with a microwave lid (or a lid that fits well but allows the steam to escape) and microwave for 4 minutes, stirring once in between. Voila! Cauliflower Rice!!

NOTES
*Resist the urge to put water into the microwave with the cauliflower. It doesn't need it and it will make the cauliflower mushy.
*The microwave time depends on your microwave and the size of the cauliflower.

Turkey, Kale, and Bean Soup

A lot has happened in the last year or so to alter our lives and our routines. The biggest and most important, our now 7 month old son! Since, the doting grandparents, and aunts, and uncles have left and we've finally started to get some sort of routine back, I've started to try new recipes again. My parents and in-laws did a lot of cooking while they were here which sort of left me on auto-pilot. But the freezer meals they made are done and I’m dying to try some new stuff in the kitchen.

To stay awake during the late night feeding sessions, I’d browse the internet for anything I could think of. In one of those corners of the internet, I discovered a whole group of busy moms who make freezer to crock-pot meals. We've just started experimenting with some of them, and while we find a lot of them very bland for our Indian palate, they have opened my eyes to even easier cooking. I haven’t started to freeze them yet, I’m still making them fresh everyday but I do plan of freezing a couple.

This Turkey, Kale, and Bean Soup is one such recipe. Here is a link to the original recipe and below you’ll find my additions and tweaks.

Turkey, Kale, and Bean Soup

Turkey, Kale, and Bean Soup

1 small onion, diced
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 box baby kale
1 can Great Northern Beans, washed and drained
3 tablespoons Italian seasonings
1 pound ground turkey
6 cups chicken broth or water (I had to use half of both because I didn’t have enough chicken broth
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper
Salt to taste

Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Make sure the turkey is broken up. Give it a good stir to mix in the herbs. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve hot.