FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Comforty Goodness

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My mom’s infamously easy tuna noodle casserole was, hands down, a top five most frequently requested meal of my childhood – lucky her!  I carried the recipe in my ‘first time living alone’ box of tricks when I left for college.  And I continued to whip it up until gluten-free ruled my life.  The recipe was nixed from memory upon reading the ingredients of every cream of mushroom soup can I could find.

Although I rarely eat gluten-free at restaurants since finding out I’m not officially intolerant, I steer clear of bringing glutenous groceries home.  In my opinion, gluten in the average American diet is beyond excessive and not as necessary as your handy dandy food pyramid makes it seem.
Off my soap box, back to the meal…

Every few trips to the market, I head to the gluten-free aisle to grab a bag of brown rice pasta. Most of the items on that aisle, though gluten-free, tend to be super processed and hokey, so I grab what I need and go.  This time…  I noticed a gluten-free cream of mushroom soup and my most memorable cozy, comfort meal came to mind.

Mom’s Recipe – Altered (2 servings)
2-1/2 oz. of Albacore Tuna in Water, Drained if Canned
1/2 Cup of Parmesan Cheese, Freshly Grated
Boil noodles per package instructions.  Mix noodles, soup, and tuna together and pour into an oven safe bowl (I used a pie plate).  Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.

Hunky Halibut

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I bought this fish for no other purpose than I like halibut (I know stuff like this now).  I figured I could dust it with seasoning, broil it, and call it dinner; however, there’s a theoretical limit to how many times I can post about broiled fish.  And likewise, there’s a not so theoretical limit to how many times I can eat the “same” fish.

Due to my broiling assumption, I did not recipe hunt for alternatives nor did I purchase any ingredients out of the norm at the market.  Dilemma?  A bit of a dilemma…

Light bulbs and sirens went off simultaneously as I remembered the ridiculous amounts of wine I had recently purchased to stock my wine fridge.  Going only off of ingredients I thought might taste OK, I started mixing.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the smallest saucepan you own.  Add 2 cloves of chopped garlic and 2 stalks of chopped green onions to the melted butter and stir over medium heat for a few minutes.  Add 1 cup of white wine (I used Souv Blanc), salt and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil.  Add fish fillet and poach, turning mid-way, for 6-8 minutes or until fish is cooked all the way through.  Spoon a small amount of the broth over the fish and disregard the rest.

For the record, poaching is the new broiling in this kitchen!

Choptastic!

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Salads are a sole exception to my food scarfing tendencies.  It’s not because I don’t love them, I do.  But when you combine a dressing fork dipper with the need for a little of each ingredient in every bite, you get an uber slow foliage feaster.

This little salad chopping gadget is shear genius (no pun intended).  It turned my ordinary salad into dense decadence.  I threw baby spinach, romaine, avocado, green onion, cucumber, and blue cheese in a bowl and chop, chop, chopped. I drizzled with the tiniest bit of balsamic vinaigrette and satisfyingly ate every last bit.  I can promise you that drawer time will be scarce to non-existent with this thing!

Get Her To The Greek

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Since the popularity explosion of Greek yogurt, I’ve made an effort to regularly stock my fridge.  Lower cal, higher protein, and superior texture…  Yeah, it was a given.  What I had yet to realize was how easily other dairies could be replaced with this Grecian gem.

I stumbled upon Jillian Michaels’ chicken salad recipe over the weekend and I was pumped!  I love any kind of salad in the summer: egg, tuna, even my food nemesis, chicken.  And when I saw that mayo was subbed out, I was this salad’s biggest fan.  I fixed it up on Sunday evening and ate it for yesterday’s lunch and dinner and today’s lunch – it’s that good.  And if you toss the bread and plop it on a bed of baby spinach?  You’re looking at three gigantor servings at mere 320 calories a pop.