Tuna Teriyaki with a Soba-Egg Noodle Bowl

Tonight I jumped into some Asian food, serving up a classic as well as venturing into unknown territory. The classic, of course, was a nice Tuna Teriyaki. And no, this does NOT mean taking some store bought teriyaki sauce and pouring it over some fish. It's nearly that easy, but you'll mix up your own Teriyaki sauce first which makes it far more fun (and hopefully more delicious.)

To go with the fish, I cooked my first soba noodle bowl. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat and look very much like thicker, slightly shorter spaghetti. The buckwheat also makes them look a bit like whole wheat noodles. Here they are served in a mushroom broth with egg, green onion, onions, and mushrooms. I love mushrooms. In fact, if you have the time, start googling mushroom dashi and you can prepare your own broth! But, if you are pressed for time you can simply go the route I outline below and use an existing (low sodium) mushroom broth. If you make your own, please share the recipe in the comments below.

Difficulty: easy
Time: 1 hr
Cost: $18.80

Eggplant Marinara Pasta

I love eggplant! But as someone who makes this delicious vegetable fairly often, I'm also always looking for new ways to prepare it. While I do love eggplant parmesan, grilled eggplant, stir-fried eggplant, etc, I'm also a fan of diversity. This recipe combined many typical ingredients - tomato sauce, cheese, eggplant, pasta - but managed to combine them in a new and delightful way that provided a different experience for a palette.

I made this on Sunday evening and took a bit throughout the week for lunch (and had some leftover for the weekend still!) but this is easily a main course at dinner as well. Serve it with a salad or your favorite veggie for a relatively simple yet tasty and healthy meal that breaks up the monotony of your routine dishes.

Difficulty: easy
Time: 1 hr 15 min

Brown Butter and Pecan Sea Trout with Caramelized Onion Smashed Potatoes

I have to admit, this was my first foray into sea trout. it's a little meatier or thicker than some other versions, but is still generally a light, white fish. I found it to be an interesting change-up but unfortunately rather full of bones. Since I have no comparison, I can't tell you if I just had a poorly filleted piece of fish or if the trout is always rather bony. If you try it, please let all of know in the comments below! But if you're not quite that daring or can't locate sea trout, you can also certainly substitute another white fish here.

I served the fish with some maple and brown sugar acorn squash (always good) and some caramelized onion smashed potatoes. Smashed potatoes = good. Caramelized onions = amazing. How can one go wrong with that combination? They were creamy with the sweet yet rich flavor of the slowly cooked onions. Amazing!

Difficulty: easy
Time: 45 min
Cost: $15.03

Tuna with Cannellini Bean-Grilled Onion Salad and Roasted Garlic-Tomato Quinoa

That's right - more quinoa! This Peruvian grain is so simple, delicious, and hearty that I couldn't resist whipping it up once again. Tonight it's flavored with roasted garlic, one of the simple delights in life, as well as tomatoes and cheese. And how can you go wrong with that combination?

The creamy, tasty quinoa is served alongside freshly grilled Tuna over a salad made up of cannellini beans, grilled onions, and a few other ingredients. It's savory and sweet at the same time, and the contrasting textures are perfect. Feel free to substitute your favorite bean if you don't like cannellini, but I think the smooth, light white beans are perfect in this recipe.

Difficulty: easy
Time: 1 hr 30 min
Cost: 23.29

Bluefish with a Tomato Chutney with Mac and Cheese (#3) and Parsnip-Corn Cakes

It's Southern-style night! We'll proceed with the mac and cheese challenge (to lighten up the classic comfort food while maintaining it's incredible rich, creamy taste) but also take a twist on Southern food to feature some blue fish with a tomato chutney and parsnip-corn cakes. For some reason, blue fish gets the short shrift. They're often seen as a cheap fish and of lesser quality, but I personally find blue fish absolutely delicious. It's tender with a definite flavor, but it's not overly "fishy" which is what often turns off eaters. Apparently (for those who watch Top Chef) it does feature a dark bloodline that can ruin the taste, but when you buy nice fillets at Whole Foods you avoid that problem!

To round out the meal, I also made the parsnip-corn cakes. So okay, parsnips aren't Southern. And corn doesn't really belong to any one state, although it is definitely American. But who's keeping track? I felt (probably without any real reason) that vegetables in a cake form seemed rather Southern, and the flavors matched with the rest of the meal, so I went with it. What you need to know is that the cakes were great, but definitely unusual. Parsnips are naturally quite sweet, so when combined with sweet corn kernels lend a surprisingly sugar-y flavor to the cakes without any actual sugar. Amazing, huh?

Difficulty: medium-easy
Time: 1 hr 30 min
Cost: $17.52

Egg Drop Soup

Who doesn't love egg drop soup? It's one of those innocent childhood favorites that never really wavers as you get older. It's simple yet surprisingly flavorful. And always enjoyable. Here, I prepared a batch that hopefully tastes just like the ones you remember from your favorite Chinese restaurant growing up, but is secretly healthier without giving you notice. Mostly, it takes out a lot of excess sodium that might have left you gulping water in the past.

I served the soup with some delicious, homemade Shrimp Moo Shu which I blogged about in the past. The best part? Homemade pancakes. I just can't get over homemade moo shu pancakes! For any Chinese restaurants reading this, please switch to this method. I'll buy your moo shu all the time if you do!

Difficulty: easy (surprisingly so!)
Time: 15 min
Cost: $18.11

Pan-Fried White Trout with a Tomato-Cucumber Salsa and Almond Rice

Apparently this week is all about pan fried fish with various chutneys and salsas. Yet, despite the pattern, each is vastly different from the textures and flavors of the fish to the ingredients and combination of the toppings. It keeps life exciting!

Here, I pan-fried up some fresh white trout to get a slight, crispy browning on the outside and served it topped with a cucumber tomato salsa with a touch of zing to it. The fish was served with some rice dressed up with green onions, almonds, and a few flavorings that keeps simple simple while adding just a few accents. Finally, I sauteed some broccoli with garlic to round out the meal.

Difficulty: easy
Time: 30 min
Cost: $20.34

Cajun Tilapia with a Pineapple Relish with Garlic and Brie Potato Gratin and Sauteed Baby Artichokes

Amazing. Literally. Alright, let me clarify. The fish is delicious, with the spice of the Cajun nicely contrasted by the cooling flavors of pineapple for a dish with a lot of flavor but little actual sting at the end. (I'm not a fan of spicy!) The artichokes are a delight, as always, with savory spices and a touch of cheese complimenting their natural flavor.

However, it is the potato gratin that earns my breathless "amazing" typing at the start of this post. I mean, obviously, how do you NOT win when you combine potatoes and brie? There's really no way to screw that up. But this simple dish make sit hard not to want to indulge every day. It's thick and creamy and simply, positively, amazing.

Of course, keep in mind that while it's significantly lightened and far from bad for you, it doesn't quite qualify as good either. The miracles of fat free milk and fat free half and half (fat free cream is the best invention ever, although totally mind boggling) make this relatively not harmful, but it still has quite a bit of creamy, fattening brie. And, of course, it's full of carb-filled potatoes. Clearly, this is a dish to eat in moderation. It makes a good amount so cut in half to avoid temptation or simply, as I did, make the full dish but eat a little bit a night over many nights rather than jumping in full-throttled the first night.

But no matter what size you make, you MUST make this. You'll understand why as soon as you take your first bite!

Difficulty: medium-easy
Time: 1 hr 30 min
Cost: $26.41

Salmon and Mango Salad

Oh, vegetables. You're rather important. So this time, instead of putting the vegetable as simply a side, I decided to move it into the spotlight. This dinner featured freshly grilled salmon fillets tossed in a mixture of greens with mango, basil, and a yogurt-cucumber dressing that was light and refreshing, perfectly hitting the spot. The salad was full of nutrients (and pretty colors!) and the salmon contributed further nutrients while also filling up our bellies since unfortunately that is one area where lettuce is lacking...

To go with the salad I made some homemade french fries, except healthy. Check out previous posts where I experiment with a variety of methods for making baked fries that are still crispy, mimicking the fried variety. In this instance I went with shoestring-sized fries baked at high temperatures with a bit of oil and some fake salt and freshly ground pepper. Nearly as good as the original with only a fraction of the fat and calories!

Difficulty: easy
Time: 25 min
Cost: $20.43