Clean Eating's Chili Rubbed Tilapia with Banana Black Bean Salad

Recently I discovered Clean Eating Magazine.  I love the fresh ingredients, colorful photos, easy to read recipes and nutrition information for each.  

I'm in trouble....another food magazine to love.

But you will be proud of me.  Instead of hoarding the magazines until it becomes unbearable and we have to drop them all off at the local home for the elderly (don't worry we still drop off the National Geographics), I have begun the process of cutting out the recipes I want to try and placing them in a three ring binder.

This was one that made the cut. After making it, I now know why.  The sweet banana really stood out against the spicy jalapeno and chili powder.  It literally took me 15 minutes to make this one from start to finish. 

Their recipe called for six tilapia fillets so two would be left over to go with the extra salsa; however, I'll had to come up with another round two recipe (which will be posted later) as I only bought four fillets.  I also forgot to put the tsp of chili powder in the salad but it was still so good even Chris ate it and he's not big on dishes with fruit in them.

This one is a definite keeper and I highly suggest checking out Clean Eating Magazine for yourself!

Chili Rubbed Tilapia with Banana Black Bean Salad

Altered from Clean Eating Magazine's Grilled Tilapia with Banana Black-Bean Salad

Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

4 tilapia fillets
1 tsp chili powder
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Cooking Spray

Salad (This can be made while fish is cooking or in advance.)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 bananas, peeled and chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and spray with cooking spray.

2. Season fish with chili powder, salt and pepper and place in pan.  Cook each side for three to four minutes or until fish is cooked through.

3. Mix salad ingredients.

4. Top each piece of fish with 2/3 cup salad mixture. 

**There will be some salad mixture left over for use in a round two recipe.

Rum Cake Redo

It's Tuesday and for me I'm on the downslide to vacation baby!  I have Thursday and Friday off.  Thursday I'm going to spend with my daughter and then Friday my hubby and I are driving to Orlando (he has some work to do there on Friday so I'll meet up with my old college roomie from FSU!).  Saturday is a Sting concert in Tampa and then we are heading home on Sunday.  This will be the first three consecutive nights away from our little one.  Hopefully I don't have a meltdown.

No more talk of meltdowns, let's talk about cake!

For Father's Day my dad requested another one of my rum cakes and I finally got around to making it this past weekend.  I wouldn't post it since I've made these several times before but this one was the best one yet!  Typically I add two boxes of pudding mix, however, this time I cut it down to one and subbed milk for the water.  It came out still super moist, but much more cake-like.  Delicious.

Walnut Chocolate Chip Rum Cake

Ingredients

1 vanilla cake mix

1 package vanilla pudding mix (4 serving size)

1 cup applesauce

1 cup liquid egg whites

1 1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Handful chopped walnuts

Coconut Cooking Spray

3/4 to 1 cup Malibu Coconut Rum

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Mix cake mix through vanilla until smooth.

3. Fold in dark chocolate chips.

4. Spray bundt cake pan with cooking spray and sprinkle nuts around base.

5. Pour cake in bundt cake evenly.

6. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

7. Cool cake completely (overnight if possible) and poke holes evenly through cake.  Pour rum over base, let it soak in and then flip onto a serving platter.

Grilled Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Chicken and Goat Cheese

Hello all you fellow bloggies!  Well, you finally convinced me to do it.  After weeks of looking at everyone else's delectable grilled pizzas I did my own!  Luckily, right before I cooked it I was watching Food Network and Paula Deen happened to be grilling pizza so I got the exact technique.  Expect the shape to be, shall we say, rustic.  It is better that way, trust me.

The whole premise of my pizza was caramelized onions.  1 hour and 20 minutes of onions turned candy.  No sugar added in my caramelized onions.  None needed. 

They sure look like a lot when you first put them in the pan!

My next prerequisite is goat cheese.  Other than that I decided to wing it a bit.  Some sun dried tomatoes for some additional tartness, some of Giada's pasta sauce I happened to pick up at Target and of course....the crispy grilled crust that was soft and chewy on the inside. 

I can't take credit for the crust this time though....I bought it from Publix (local grocery store) since the thought of making my own dough for the first time AND grilling a pizza for the first time was just too much for me to handle on a Sunday.

Oh wait; did I mention basil fresh from my garden or the Springer Mountain Farms grilled chicken?

Ok well here goes....
**As a tip I found an alternative step by step method for grilling pizzas on Eating Well's Website.

Grilled Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Chicken and Goat Cheese
Print this recipe

Ingredients


1 refrigerated or home made pizza dough
Cooking spray
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
Three onions, sliced thinly
Organic, low sodium chicken broth (1 can should be plenty....it will be added slowly to the onions)
1/2 lb chicken breast, seasoned, grilled and sliced
1 cup shredded part skim mozzarella
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (packed in oil), diced
3/4 cup pasta or marinara sauce
1/2 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil


Directions


1. Heat a large, straight sided skillet over medium high heat and spray with cooking spray.  Add the onions, toss to coat in the spray, season with salt and pepper, lower heat (mine was set to about level 4 out of 10) and let those onions settle in for a long ride.  Set the timer for at least an hour.  Stir about every ten minutes and as the onions begin to stick, pour in a bit of chicken broth and stir to loosen the bottom.  Taste them every now and then to see if you need to add a bit more salt.


2. Preheat your grill to medium high towards the end of the cook time for the onions.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and place the dough on top.  Press the dough to the edges of the pan and spray the top with cooking spray.  In fact, if you spray your hands too it makes it easier.


2. Slide the pressed dough onto the grill.  I checked mine after about 4 to 5 minutes and it looked like this....see how the bottom was beginning to brown?

3. Flip the dough back onto the pan you originally pressed it out on so the grilled side is up. Like this....

4. Top with marinara, sun dried tomatoes, grilled chicken slices, mozzarella, caramelized onions, half the fresh basil and the goat cheese. Like so... 

5. Place back on the grill for an additional 6 minutes or so. 
**Optional: I also placed mine under the broiler for about three minutes to finally get the cheese melted enough without burning the crust.  The parts of the crust that were already well done I covered with foil before putting under the broiler.


6. Remove from grill (or oven if you broiled) and garnish with fresh basil.

I served mine with a simple baby spinach salad with balsamic drizzle, coarse Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.


Notes: 
-Next time I will make my own whole wheat dough and I will also press it even thinner.  I love really thin crust pizza. 
-I would add some garlic.  What the heck was I thinking there leaving out the garlic?  It was in the sauce but I like a lot. 
-I might also leave off the grilled chicken.  The Hubs really likes it but it definitely makes this "a meal".
-I will leave the fresh basil off the top.  It makes a nice garnish but with the basil inside as well it was a lot of basil.
-When done caramelizing the onions I might add a dash of red wine vinegar just to see what happens.


What I learned: 
1) Why people take the time to really caramelize onions because it really does taste so much richer and sweeter than just browning them.
2) Making grilled pizza is so much fun and really worth it.  (I was glad I saw Paula do it right before though so I knew exactly what to do.)

The Elvis

Have you heard of an Elvis Cupcake?  I had one from a local cupcake store and it was one of the best things I'd ever had.  Peanut butter, banana and chocolate all went into the mix...and after looking up how to make them so did a cup of mayonnaise?! 

I still love the mix of flavors though even if the idea of a cup of mayonnaise makes my thighs jiggle so I came up with this recipe using a VitaTop.  The original idea was for this to be a stuffed VitaTop sandwich but since my filling wasn't firm enough it came out more of a VitaTop yogurt but boy was it good.  The Deep Chocolate top was hot and melty like a brownie just out of the oven and the yogurt/frozen banana mixture was cold and creamy so it was a perfect blend of not only flavors but sensations.  It would be a great dessert too!

The Elvis

Serves 1

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 Deep Chocolate VitaMuffin VitaTop

1/3 cup low fat vanilla yogurt, I used Stonyfield

1/2 frozen banana

1 Tbsp PB2 or peanut butter

Directions

1.  Microwave the VitaTop for 18 seconds then toast, if preferred.

2. Blend the yogurt, banana and PB2.

3.  Split the VitaTop, place the bottom half in your bowl, top with the yogurt mixture and top with the remaining half of VitaTop. (Or just plot that hot VitaTop right on top).

Reebok Easy Tones....Fad or Fabulous?

Happy Thursday!  As you can see I'm giving my blog a face lift.  What do you think?  I was thinking about a gray background but I thought this orangey color looked kind of like a sunset.

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During my campout in Savannah a while back we, of course, had to visit the Bass ProShops upon Dad's request.  Luckily it's attached to a mall so after we were done looking at the gigantic fish tank we walked around a bit. 

While walking by a Finish Line store I noticed the Reebok Easy Tones in grey and purple and walked right by.  Later that evening at the campsite I kept thinking how I would like to try them out.  When Dad wanted to go back to the Bass ProShops the next day to pick up a fishing pole he had been eyeing I said sure!  We went back and I walked right into the Finish Line and bought the sneakers. 

Technically that's not an impulse buy right?  I went home and thought about it.  I did sort of need new sneakers.  I think I felt a little guilty though as I am usually skeptical about these things.  They were really comfortable though and I liked the look so I went with it.  I had no disillusionment that my butt would turn out to look like the 5'10, 16 year old, 100 pound, model's butt....ok so maybe there was a LITTLE glimmer of hope.  

Day 1 with Easy Tones 40 minute walk....next day my butt IS a little sore.  Could this be just because I was focusing more on contracting my leg muscles as I walked?  Only time will tell.

Day 2 was 40 minutes on the escalator-like stair machine.  It was particularly challenging to try and balance on the sneakers and not fall off the machine.  Good core workout.

Three months later.  My butt pretty much looks the same.  I do, however, like the fact that they make me use my core trying balance.  When I pair these with standing on the Reebok Balance Board at the gym to do my weight workout using one leg at a time it is a great prep for standing and three point balance in yoga.

Overall I would consider them a fad when it comes to the actual purpose. Toning my butt to look like a 5’10 16 year old model’s just by wearing them. Do I regret buying them? No because I like the additional core work and they are pretty comfortable.

Have you tried Easy Tones or any similar sneaker? What are your thoughts?

Mango Jerk Chicken Kabobs

I was browsing food blogs recently and happened upon a Jerk mango chicken kabobs.  I thought, I have all those ingredients!, but when I went back to find the actual recipe I couldn't find the blog so I had to make up my own.

If you are reading this post and it looks an awful lot like your Jerk mango chicken kabobs let me know and I'll link this post to yours and thank you very much for the idea!

I used some Jerk seasoning I had from Penzeys on hand.  Listen to the ingredient blend:

Hand-mixed from: ginger, brown sugar, sweet chili, garlic, paprika, allspice, lemon grass, thyme, ground Grenadian nutmeg, black pepper, cumin, red pepper and jalapeño.

How good does that sound?! I must admit it was really good.  Even Chris, who doesn't like meat and fruit, ate it and seemed to really like it. 

 

Mango Jerk Chicken Kabobs

Altered from someone's blog I can't find again

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb chicken breast, I used Springer Mountain Farms organic, humanely raised, cut into bite size pieces

2 ripe mangos, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks

1 orange bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks

1 red onion, cut into chunks

6 baby Bella mushrooms

Jerk seasoning, to taste, I used Penzeys Jerk Chicken and Fish seasoning

Kosher salt, to taste

Cooking spray for grill

Directions

1. Preheat grill to medium high.

2. Thread alternating pieces of all ingredients onto metal skewers.

**Note: If using wooden, soak the skewers for at least 30 minutes to prevent burning.

3. Spray with cooking spray.

4. Season chicken, veggies and mango with seasoning and salt.

5. Grill 5 minutes per side (top and bottom) or until chicken is cooked through.

Bang Bang Shrimp a Little Lighter

For quite a while I have been looking for a baking pan that has a rack above it for broiling or oven "frying" foods.  The theory is that this way the crispy coating doesn't get stuck to the bottom when you try to flip the food (which usually happens to me). 

I finally found the pan at Bed, Bath and Beyond and knew now was the perfect time to try my Bonefish Grill Bang Bang Shrimp remake. 

Have you heard of Bonefish Grill and/or Bang Bang Shrimp?  The menu simply states this starter as "Tender, crispy shrimp tossed in a creamy, spicy sauce."  But oh, it's so much more.  The crispy fried shrimp must be breaded with panko as it has this light and super crunchy texture that doesn't taste bready or oily.  The creamy spicy sauce has the bite of chilies and the tang of vinegar.  I love the bed of cool lettuce and topping of sliced green onions as a counterpoint to the heat of the spicy shrimp.

To make it a little lighter I'm baking rather than frying.  For the sauce, I thought the base from a rustic mustard sauce I did recently would go really well if I made a few additions to it.  One review said they used Sriracha sauce which is sort of a chili hot sauce and rice wine vinegar was what took it over the edge.  I have recently discovered just how integral a splash of vinegar is to taking a dish from good to spectacular in such an understated way.

Bang Bang Shrimp a Little Lighter

Serves 3-4

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound of medium peeled and deveined shrimp, tails on
Coarse salt and ground pepper
½ cup cornstarch
2 large egg whites
1 cup skim or reduced fat milk
1 ½ cups of panko
Cooking spray
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/3 cup sliced scallions
3 cups lettuce

Sauce

1 Tbsp coarse ground mustard
3 Tbsp low fat mayonnaise
1 Tbsp water
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp hot sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Spray a baking rack and sheet with cooking spray.

3. Whisk eggs and milk together in medium bowl.  Place corn starch in a second bowl and panko in a third.

4. Season shrimp with salt and pepper.  Dredge 3 or 4 shrimp at a time in cornstarch, shake off excess, coat with egg, dredge into panko, and transfer to prepared baking rack.
(Note: if preparing earlier in the day cover and refrigerate at this point.)

5. Spray shrimp with cooking spray.  Bake for 20 minutes or until browned and crispy.  Season with salt and pepper.


6. Whisk sauce ingredients in a small bowl. 

7. Toss crispy shrimp with sauce.  Top with scallions and sesame seeds.  Serve on bed of lettuce.

Notes: 
This.Came.Out.Awesome.
**When prepping the shrimp, the panko got a bit saturated with the egg/milk mixture so part of the way through I added some additional panko.
**Next time I will remove the tails.
**I tried both ways, tossing the shrimp in the sauce and just dipping.  Next time I will simply dip to maximize crunchiness rather than saturating.
**For those that don't like spice, the cayenne and hot sauce can be eliminated.
**I ran out of space on the pan with the bake rack and used a baking sheet with foil.  It worked fine but I did have some panko loss when I went to remove the shrimp.  So no biggie if you don't have the pan though.


6/24/2010
As a follow up note I was WRONG!  I just went to Bonefish last night and my dad ordered the Bang Bang shrimp. I tried one and said you know this isn't quite as crispy and textured as mine were with the panko.  I asked our waitress.  They are dipped in buttermilk and breaded with a seasoned breading (including flour) and deep fried.

Worlds Best Turkey Burger?

A while back I was watching Oprah and she had a show about her favorite foods. One of them was this Mar-a-Lago Turkey burger from Donald Trump's private club in Palm Beach.  She said it might be the best turkey burger in the world. 

Wow.  The world? I had to add it to my Bucket List of food.

The recipe calls for four pounds of ground turkey, however, since I was only feeding two or three people I cut it down to a pound.  The recipe also calls for celery but I had forgotten to get that at the grocery so I caramelized finely chopped onion instead.  I even made the pear chutney and went all out. 

The verdict?

They really were excellent.  The lemon really brought the flavor of the parsley out and the apple and chutney gave it a bit of sweetness while the chipotle Tabasco brought a subtle smokiness.  We had our friend Jim over for dinner to try them out as well and I was surprised the boys really loved these!

Apple Turkey Burger

Altered from the Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burger

Serves 5

Ingredients

2 Tbsp cup thinly sliced scallions
Rounded 1/8 cup cup finely chopped onions
1 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
1/2 Tbsp canola oil
1 pound ground turkey breast (mine was just over)
1/2 Tbsp salt
1/4 Tbsp black pepper
1/2 tsp Tabasco® chipotle pepper sauce (plus a dash more) 
1/4 lemon, juiced and grated zest
1/8 cup parsley, finely chopped
2 Tbsp Major Grey's Chutney, pureed

Directions:

1. Pour the canola oil into a small skillet and heat over medium high heat.  Sauté the scallions, onions and apples until just beginning to caramelize. Let cool.

2. Place the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. Add sautéed items and the remaining ingredients. Shape into 5 burgers. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

3. Season the turkey burgers with salt and pepper. Place on a preheated, lightly oiled grill. Grill each side for 7 minutes until meat is thoroughly cooked. Let sit for 5 minutes.

4. Serve with a side of Mar-a-Lago Pear Chutney and your favorite toasted bread, pita or hamburger roll.

Pear Chutney
Altered from Mar-a-Lago Pear Chutney


Ingredients:

1 pear, diced
Cinnamon, to taste
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 cups Major Grey's Chutney
1/4 cup golden raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° (I used my toaster oven).

2. Toss the diced pears with the cinnamon and salt. Bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 10 minutes.

3. Cool and mix with the chutney and raisins.

Garden Vegetable Pasta with Goat Cheese

Oh the plans I had for last night's dinner.

I was going to do a baked crispy shrimp recipe as a lighter version of Bonefish Grill’s Bang Bang shrimp. All day I was glancing through recipes any free minute I got. I created a light spicy sauce I was going to make and when I told my husband Chris about my grand plans, instead of the huge fanfare of excitement I thought I would get, he said,

“How about we just do a ‘whatever’ night.” (aka fend for yourself)

Huh!? “What about Bang Bang Shrimp?!”

“Do you mind if I play nine holes?”

(Me all dejected) “No. I guess I’ll just figure something out.”


The something turned out to be this pasta that was so good it shouldn’t even be legal. I used my “from the pantry” skills and busted out some whole wheat pasta, a left over ½ jar of pasta sauce and chopped up the veggies I had on hand. I even treated myself to a glass of red wine while I was cooking. Go me.

**The ingredients are approximate so I won't do a printable recipe.  I just threw in what I had on hand so if you have different veggies chop those up instead.  I'm not even sure how many servings this would make.  Just serve up what you like.

Garden Vegetable Pasta with Goat Cheese

 

Ingredients

1/4 box whole wheat pasta, I used rotini, cooked to directions 

1 zucchini, cubed

1 squash, cubed

1 onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

5 mini Portobello mushrooms

2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 jar pasta sauce

Red wine, to taste (I just poured in a few turns in the pan)

1 pat herbed goat cheese per serving

Chopped parsley, to taste

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Cooking Spray

Directions

1. Spray a large straight sided skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium high heat.

2. Add vegetables and garlic to the pan, season with salt and pepper and cook for about 20 minutes while pasta cooks; stirring both every once and a while.  The vegetables will start to get a bit of caramelization. 

3. Pour red wine in to deglaze pan; just enough to loosen brown bits on bottom.  Lower heat and pour in pasta sauce and stir until just heated through.

4. Top 1 cup of pasta per serving with desired amount of sauce. 

5. Crumble 1 pat of goat cheese per serving and top with parsley.

Reminder to never say "Never." Especially when it comes to Rustic Mustard Cream.

Growing up I hated mustard. Every time I saw that bright yellow bottle I would vehemently proclaim my hatred. And every time my dad would say, "You just wait, someday you will love mustard."

Of course I would NEVER NEVER NEVER love that disgusting yellow stuff.

Years later, I secretly tried honey mustard.  And mustard based BBQ sauce.  And dishes where the mustard was kind of hidden and I could pretend I didn't know it was there.

Oh yes I tried to hide my growing love but he saw.....he saw straight through the show. "I KNEW IT!  YOU LIKE MUSTARD!" he said.

With my head hung low I mumble, "Yes, I like mustard."   Darn it.

With lingering feelings of embarrassment here is a recipe that scored a 10 on the delicious mustard scale.

What I loved about this recipe (aside from the mustardy goodness) was the simple ingredients and, aside from the time marinating, it was super fast to prepare.  I added in some additional thyme since I had it handy in my garden and I cut the recipe down from four servings to two and threw in a teaspoon of minced garlic just cause I love it.


Hubby even went back to scrape the mustard cream bowl.  Little did he know this recipe was from Cooking Light!  I'll have to use the regular recipe next time so we have leftovers!

Altered from Cooking Light's
 Grilled Chicken with Rustic Mustard Cream

Serves 2

Marinade
1 tsp whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Mustard Cream

Cooking spray
1/2 rounded Tbsp whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 1/2 Tbsp light mayonnaise
1/2 Tbsp water
Rosemary sprigs (optional)


1. Whisk the marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Add chicken and turn to coat all sides.  Marinate 20 minutes to overnight.  Whisk the Mustard Cream ingredients in a small bowl.  Cover and set aside.


2. Preheat grill.  Place chicken on grill coated with cooking spray; grill 6 to 7 minutes on each side or until done.  Remove from grill and let chicken rest for five minutes.


3. Top each chicken breast with half of the mustard cream.  Garnish with rosemary sprigs, if desired.

Lentils and Rice over White Fish

The good news is after a few days of being under the weather I'm feeling much better.  I had a fever over 103 starting Sunday night and it finally broke last night.  

After a sickness wanes and I'm feeling better I am so happy and energized.  It's a great reminder for me to appreciate my good health each day.

 In other good news....it's hump day! The downslide to the weekend.  I think we will be having a cookout for Father's Day at hubby's request so probably a simple grilled meal and some sides I have yet to come up with. 

What will all of you be doing for Father's Day?

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Here is a really simple fish dish I came up with.  Originally I wanted to do a black beans and rice on top of tilapia; however, I didn't have a can with black beans like I thought I did.  Instead I had lentils and rice and it turned out to be really tasty and satisfying.  The beans and rice really added a nice weight to the super light and flakey fish and the cheese just rounded out the whole meal.

Lentils and Rice over White Fish

Printable Recipe

Serves 3

Ingredients

3 Tilapia or other white fish fillets

Olive oil cooking spray

Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning or other Cajun seasoning, to taste

1 can Eden Organics Beans and Rice (Lentils)

1/4 cup shredded 2% Mexican blend cheese

Parsley for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat broiler. 

2. Season fish with Cajun seasoning on both sides and spray with olive oil cooking spray.

3. Place fish under broiler for 5-7 minutes or until it begins to turn opaque.

4. Flip fish fillets and cook an additional 5 minutes.  Top with beans and rice and evenly spread shredded cheese.  Place back under broiler for an additional 2 minutes or until cheese has melted and fish is cooked through.

Chocolate Banana "Ice Cream"

 

 I recently came across a brilliant post by Gena at Choosing Raw for banana soft serve via the blog Iowa Girl Eats and went home to try it that night.  I was dying for some chocolate so I added a bit of sugar free hot fudge and next time I'm going to try some PB2.

Chocolate Banana "Ice Cream"

(Altered from Gena's Banana Soft Serve)

(Without fudge: Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Nut, Soy Free)

Serves 1

*2 WW Pts plus any mix ins

Ingredients


1 frozen banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
Hot fudge (optional)


Directions

1. Blend banana, stevia and cocoa powder in a snall food processor until a soft serve consistency is created.  (It will take about 5 minutes or so.  You will need to stop and scrape down the sides periodically.)

**Note: be sure to peel the bananas before you freeze them.

Photography Practice at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm

Ok so this isn't a food post so if you are looking for a recipe and/or you do not like large, scaly, prehistoric creatures definitely skip this one.

However, if you live in North Florida or ever come to the area to visit you have to go!

I was off work today and we hit the St. Augustine Alligator Farm as my daughter's school was closed.

Bite Club at Mandaloun Mediterranean

Last Tuesday was my second Bite Club event at Mandaloun Mediterranean.  I have been to this restaurant before and it's one of my favorites.  I was so excited to go back and try a few items I have never tried!


I arrived just at 5:45 and people were getting drinks at the bar.  The walls are painted with mountainous scenery, there are white columns and rich wood high tops that make for a charming and inviting atmosphere.

We were offered quite an extensive taste of the entire menu!

My friend Justine attended again.

Our foodie friends Kim and David also attended.

Justine brought her mom Madeline as her guest.

And finally, I also brought another foodie friend, Courtney!

To start, the owner came out and gave us background on the restaraunt and what we would be tasting.

And then the food began to come out.

Fresh pita with an oregano herb dipping oil. 

Mezze Sampler

First up was the Hummus: A puree of chickpeas mixed with sesame cream and lemon juice.

Theirs is so smooth and creamy and has a little dip in the middle with extra virgin olive oil.

Baba Ganoush: Puree of grilled eggplant mixed with sesame cream and lemon juice.
This was the first time I actually liked Baba Ganoush.  Normally it has this weird almost bitter aftertaste but this one was also very creamy and I loved the texture.  I even went back in for seconds!

Tabbouleh: Finely chopped parsley, tomato, onion, touch of white pepper, crushed wheat, olive oil and lemon dressing.

There were ooohs and aaahhs when this came out.  It was so fresh it had to have been made right then.

Fattoush: Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, radish, onion, mint, lemon pepper, crispy pita bread with olive oil, lemon and pomegranate dressing.

I think the Fattoush was the star of the show.  The pomegranate dressing is tangy with that bite of vinegar that tickles the back of your throat.  Is has sort of the sweet/tart cranberry-esque flavor.  There are a ton of fresh aromatic herbs on top and then when you bite into the crispy pita you will swear you died and went to heaven.  This is my most favorite dish there.  I've tried to recreate it but there's just no substitution for theirs.

Sambousek - Meat Pie: Deep fried Lebanese pastry stuffed with minced beef and pine nuts.

I, personally, am not a huge fan of fried foods but the outside was crispy and flavorful and the inside was tender, meaty and crumbly.  If you like meat and fried foods I would go with this as an appetizer.

Sambousek Jebneh - Cheese Pie: Deep fried Lebanese pastry stuffed with feta cheese and mint.
When I bit into this one I was pleasantly surprised.  I had forgotten there was fresh mint inside!  I loved the combo of the aromatic mint and gooey salty feta.

Fatayer - Spinach Pie: Pastry stuffed with spinach, onion and pine nuts.
Out of the three pies this was my favorite as it was mainly veggie and it was baked!  The onions added a sweetness and the pine nuts a delicious crunch.  I would definitely order these again.

Main Course

Mini Kebabs: Chicken and Beef Kebabs served over rice.

The star of the main course, for me, was actually the rice! I did enjoy the grilled chicken, however the beef was a bit on the dry side.  We all discussed the rice trying to guess all the flavors, I thought I tasted a cinnamon, David said tumeric, saffron and cumin.  I believe everyone went back in for more on the rice.

Wine

I tried two wines.  One was a Lebanese red, Le Prieure, Ksara, and one was a inexpensive Domestic Red, Five Rivers Cabernet.  I took a photo of the Cab as it was excellent and so inexpensive.

I must say I'm terrible at describing wine so Courtney....if you read this you must tell us what you thought!

Dessert

And finally...the desserts.  Both of them made me close my eyes and slowly savor.  I ate each and every bite.

Baklava: Traditional Lebanese Pastry filled with nuts, pistachios and almonds.

This small round tube was so light and crispy with sweet/salty nuts crushed nuts.

Nammoura: Sweet coconut baked with semolina.

I loved the texture of the semolina and coconut. (Which is weird as I typically hear people say they like the flavor of coconut but not the texture.) Semolina is a form of wheat, I have also heard it called groats.  It was baked into the bar form you see below with coconut and saturated with a thick sweet liquid.  Each bite had texture and sweetness with the consistency of a thin honey.