Monday, October 1, 2012
Sorry for the not-so-great pictures, but you know when I’m at my mom’s and we’re enjoying tasty beverages, the last thing I’m thinking about is grabbing my nice camera and tediously setting the stage for a decent picture. I’m all about the drink! I was a little wary of this one not being so great though. A Skinny Pina Colada? Um, ok.
So, how’s it taste?
I know real pina coladas are made with heavy coconut cream and that doesn’t bother me, but the thought of half-and-half in a pina colada seemed kinda gross. I couldn’t make it register that it would be good in an alcoholic drink. Ice, coconut rum, pineapple juice, and half-and-half. That’s it. How was this going to taste good? The first couple of sips, I didn’t like it. Way too thin and plain compared to the original. But then it grew on me. It’s actually pretty good if you want a pina colada but not all the calories that come with it. You can adjust the recipe to your liking, too. Want more tang? Add more pinapple juice. Want it creamier? Add more half-and-half. I found I liked it with more pineapple. We froze the pineapple juice in a dish and scraped it like a granita. Then added a scoop of it to the top of our drinks.
Even though it won’t compare to an original, this drink is a great alternative if you want something more figure-friendly.
Skinny Pina Colada
Ingredients:
1 cup ice cubes
2 oz. (4 tbsp.) coconut rum
2 oz. (4 tbsp.) pineapple juice
1 oz. (2 tbsp.) fat-free half-and-half
Directions:
1. Place ice in blender. Pour remaining ingredients over ice. Cover; blend until smooth.
2. Pour into glass; serve immediately.
Friday, September 28, 2012
It’s officially Fall, so you know that means it’s time to bake with pumpkin! I spotted the Candy Corn M&M’s recently and although I’m not crazy about candy corn, I am crazy about specialty flavors. I bought a bag and after brainstorming with Shannon from Family Bites, I thought I’d bake them into one of her dessert recipes! Candy corn…white chocolate…pumpkin… all those warm spices inside Pumpkin Squares with Candy Corn M&M’s.
So, how’s it taste?
Hello taste of Fall! I mean really these pumpkin squares capture it. The cake is super moist and full of pumpkin. I love, love, love pumpkin pie spice. Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Something about them together is warm and comforting. Now I love the combination of pumpkin and milk or dark chocolate, and when Shannon brought in her blondies, she made them with white chocolate. I had a feeling the Candy Corn M&M’s would work well in this recipe because they also are white chocolate. I didn’t like the Candy Corn M&M’s by themselves. The taste is super sweet and the candy shell makes them have a taste like Skittles. But boy do they change in pumpkin squares! The cake isn’t too sweet, so there’s a nice balance. The big M&M’s are just enough to dress up the bars and make them spectacular, yet you can taste the pumpkin and spices as well.
I undercooked mine just a little bit, but luckily they were still good, just more gooey. I baked mine for the minimum of 35 minutes and my toothpick came out clean, so I thought they were done. As they cooled, the middle sank so I knew they could’ve used a few more minutes. Watch your edges and test a few spots with toothpicks before taking yours out of the oven.
Pumpkin Squares with Candy Corn M&M's
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. + a pinch* ground cloves
1/4 tsp. + a pinch* ground nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 bag Candy Corn M&M's
*A pinch is roughly 1/16 of a teaspoon.
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree (mixture may appear curdled). Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in M&M's.
3. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
4. Lift cake from pan (using foil as an aid). Peel off foil, and cut into 24 squares.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
I’ve had my eye on the Pioneer Woman’s Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork for some time now. The weather’s cooler in Nashville and my slow cooker is taking up permanent residence on the counter for the next few months, so why not turn her recipe into a slow cooker recipe?! I decided I would serve the pork in tacos and didn’t want the usual toppings. Browsing The Novice Chef blog, I got inspiration from her Cilantro Citrus Slaw and decided to turn it into a spicy version. I eat pork sandwiches with slaw on top, so why not pork tacos? Slow Cooker Pork Tacos with Spicy Citrus Slaw were born!
So, how’s it taste?
Oh my gosh this has been one of my favorite meals. It turned out way better than I expected, which is a good thing considering how much shredded pork this makes! I have a pretty big slow cooker and used a 5-pound pork shoulder and it was trying to escape! I had to weigh down the lid and part way through cooking, I had to ladle out some of the juices as it was spilling over. Live and learn. I’ve cooked a ham in Coca-Cola before, so cooking with soda wasn’t new to me. It tenderizes the meat so well, but I was really expecting to get some of that Dr. Pepper flavor and couldn’t taste it at all. It may be because my meat was too big for my slow cooker and produced a crazy amount of juice, so the soda got lost in it. I also didn’t feel much heat or taste much from the chipotles. I used half of a can, but that was still four chipotles and quite a bit of adobo sauce. Again, I’ll blame the juice from the meat. Regardless, the final product was awesome. Perfectly tender and easy to shred.
The slaw turned out to be a great condiment for the tacos. It’s got that crunch I was looking for, plus the sweet orange, slightly bitter lime, and fresh cilantro. It’s not too hot from the Sriracha, so if you really want to turn up the heat, add more. I made this slaw with regular salt and then another batch using seasoning salt, and the second batch was best. Cabbage is pretty much flavorless and so is the greek yogurt, so it needed a lot of help. Combined with the pepper jack cheese, the heat level was just enough for me in the finished taco. I added more cilantro and just a dollop of sour cream. You could make the slaw with sour cream if you prefer. The possibilities for these tacos are endless. I’d like to throw in a couple of slices of avocado next time I have them.
Slow Cooker Pork Tacos with Spicy Citrus Slaw
Ingredients:
Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork
1 large onion
1 (5 to 7 lbs.) pork shoulder or pork butt
salt & freshly ground black pepper
11 oz. chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
24 oz. Dr. Pepper
2 tbsp. brown sugar (optional)
Spicy Citrus Slaw
2 cups fresh bagged coleslaw mix
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp. zest and juice from 1/2 large orange
zest and juice from 1 lime
3 tbsp. fat-free plain greek yogurt
1/2 tsp. Sriracha
seasoning salt & black pepper to taste
Tacos
flour tortillas
pepper jack cheese, shredded
cilantro
sour cream
any toppings you like
Directions:
1. For the pork, peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Lay them in the bottom of a large slow cooker. Generously salt and pepper the pork roast, then set it on top of the onions in the slow cooker.
2. Pour the can of chipotle peppers over the pork and include the sauce. (Use less if you don't want it as spicy.) Pour in the Dr Pepper. Optional, add brown sugar to the juice and stir in.
3. Place lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Check the meat at six hours; it should be falling apart (use two forks to test.) If it's not falling apart, continue cooking for another hour, then check again.
4. Remove meat from slow cooker and place on a cutting board. Use two forks to shred meat, discarding large pieces of fat. Strain as much of the fat off the top of the cooking liquid as you can and discard it. Return the shredded meat to the cooking liquid, and keep warm until ready to serve. (You can also refrigerate the meat and liquid separately, then remove hardened fat once it's cold. Then heat up the liquid on the stovetop and return the meat to the liquid to warm up.
5. For the slaw, combine all ingredients into a medium bowl and stir to incorporate. Season with seasoning salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. You can use it immediately, but it gets better and better the longer it sits in the refrigerator.
6. To serve, warm the flour tortillas. Top with shredded pork, pepper jack cheese, slaw, sour cream, and cilantro. Or use whatever taco toppings you like!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Several months ago, I tried to make deep dish cookies. It was a disaster. So bad that I scraped the cookies into a 9×13 dish, topped them with a bunch of other stuff, and turned them into bars so they’d at least be edible. They’ve always been in the back of my mind to try again. Someone posted a bag of Caramel Apple Milky Way bars and I knew it was time. Yes, Caramel Apple Milky Way candy bars! They sound odd, but they are so good. They are amazing in these Deep Dish Caramel Apple Milky Way Cookies!
So, how’s it taste?
So stinkin’ good! I’m usually not a big fan of fake apple flavor so I was apprehensive. Somehow the apple flavor in the Milky Ways tastes like fresh apples. It really does taste like you’re biting into a caramel apple…with chocolate. The nougat inside is lighter in color than a regular Milky Way, but other than that, they look the same. I found a bag of the minis in the Halloween candy section at Wal-Mart and knew I had to bake them into deep dish cookies.
The cookie batter surrounding the chunks of Milky Way and chocolate chips is awesome. It’s going to be my go-to cookie base from now on. For the amount of salt, you’ll see I put a range. The full amount ( 1 1/2 teaspoon) tastes excellent in the cookie, but you can distinctly taste it. I liked it, but you may prefer to reduce the amount. It’s also very important to cut the parchment circles to fit your deep dish wells. I skipped this step and although the cookies came out in one piece, they were very difficult and fragile. It’s almost a science as to how much batter to put in the well. An exact tablespoon isn’t enough, but a heaping tablespoon should do it. You want to make sure the cookies don’t spill over the wells when baking. (Which was my problem way back when I first tried making them.)
If you can’t find Caramel Apple Milky Way bars, then pretty much any candy bar will do. I have all kind of dreams to bake these again and again until I’ve tried it with every candy bar I can think of…really.
Deep Dish Caramel Apple Milky Way Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt (I used 1 1/2 & you can taste the salt. It's good, but you may prefer less.)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1 bag (11.50 oz.) Caramel Apple Milky Way mini bars, chopped in half
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Prepare a deep dish muffin pan by spraying with cooking spray, then lining each well with a parchment round. (Cut the parchment rounds to fit in the bottom of each well.) Spraying the parchment again lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugars together in mixer. With mixer on low, add eggs and vanilla. Turn speed to medium for approximately 20 seconds until batter is combined.
4. With mixer on low, add flour, baking soda, sea salt, and chocolate chips. When just mixed together fold in the chopped Milky Way bars.
5. Press a heaping tablespoon of batter into each deep dish well and bake for 13-15 minutes until the edges are golden and the center is just set.
6. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges with a knife and flip the cookies onto a wire cooling rack.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Oh I love a good low calorie pasta dish! Right under desserts, pasta is a weakness of mine. Especially pastas covered in a creamy, thick sauce. So speaking of, Roasted Chicken Florentine Pasta made my list. Fettuccine, spinach, and roasted chicken enveloped in a cheesy, creamy sauce.
So, how’s it taste?
I’m half and half on this one. I liked it and I didn’t like it. Yeah, that’s weird, right? Creamy sauce over noodles. Check. Spinach. That’s tasty, so check. Cheese. Check. Tender, juicy, roast chicken. Check. So why didn’t I love it? Don’t get me wrong, it’s good. Really good for all that yumminess in a low calorie meal. And the serving size is huge. This whole recipe serves four and I have yet to finish a single serving in one sitting. With all that said, I found myself sick of it after eating it once. Usually if I enjoy a meal, I look forward to the leftovers. I slurped it up the first time and really liked it, although I found the finished product needed more salt and bit more oomph. I wish I had added some cayenne to pep it up. Subsequent leftovers left me happy that it only made four servings, even though I actually have more since it’s so much food. When I make this again, I think I’ll use a rotisserie chicken instead of roasting it myself. My roasted chicken was nothing to shake a stick at, but a rotisserie would take this pasta to the “I can’t wait for the leftovers” level. Or perhaps on my next roast chicken, I’ll really get into adding more spices and herbs. We’ll see.
Roasted Chicken Florentine Pasta
Ingredients:
2 (6 oz.) bone-in chicken breasts with skin
3/4 tsp. seasoning salt, divided
3/4 tsp. garlic pepper blend, divided
Cooking spray
8 oz. uncooked linguine
2 tbsp. canola oil
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. chopped fresh garlic
1 cup whole milk (I used skim)
1 cup fat-free chicken broth
3 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated (about 3/4 cup)
6 oz. bag fresh spinach leaves
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon seasoning salt and 1/4 teaspoon garlic pepper blend. Be sure to get some seasonings under the skin, too. Place chicken on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray, and roast for 50 to 60 minutes, turning once. Let stand 10 minutes. Carve chicken off bones, and thinly slice, cut into chunks or shred.
3. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain well; keep warm.
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add flour and garlic; cook until garlic is browned (about 2 minutes), stirring constantly. Add milk and broth, stirring with a whisk; bring to a simmer, and cook 2 minutes or until thickened. Add cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt, remaining 1/2 teaspoon garlic pepper blend, and spinach; stir until spinach wilts. Add pasta and chicken; toss to combine.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. This may look like my Italian Zucchini Crescent Pie, but instead it’s Zucchini & Caramelized Onion Quiche! Since my recent turn from a zucchini hater to a zucchini lover, I’m cooking it all the time now. Usually I cut it into big chunks and roast it in my oven with other veggies, but thanks to these two recipes, I’ve learned it cooperates very nicely in quiche form. Thin slices with that pretty green edge make for an equally good-looking dish, too.
So, how’s it taste?
Gosh this was so good! I’m a sucker for quiche anyway and this one has a layer of caramelized onions at the bottom that I just loved. Slowly cooked, sweet onions are awesome. I used skim milk instead of 1% and it worked great. However, I do think three cloves of garlic was too much. I’ll reduce it down to two cloves next time. I also liked how one serving was a sixth of the quiche. Sometimes with these low calorie quiche recipes, they’ll be eight servings, which is too small. A slice of this quiche was pretty satisfying for a light lunch.
Zucchini & Caramelized Onion Quiche
Ingredients:
1/2 (14.1 oz.) package refrigerated pie dough
1 tbsp. olive oil
4 cups (1/8-inch-thick) slices zucchini
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped Basic Caramelized Onions
1 cup 1% low-fat milk (I used skim)
1 1/2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 large eggs
2 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup) (I used Asiago)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Fit dough into a 10-inch deep-dish pie plate. Fold edges under; flute. Line dough with foil; arrange pie weights or dried beans on foil. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove weights and foil; bake an additional 2 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 375°.
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl. Add zucchini and garlic; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Sauté 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Cool slightly.
5. Arrange Basic Caramelized Onions over bottom of crust; top with zucchini mixture. Combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, milk, flour, pepper, eggs, and cheese in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Pour milk mixture over zucchini mixture. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Monday, September 17, 2012
You know I’m the calorie-counting queen (when I’m not splurging on desserts, of course), but I never really take it as far as using a sugar substitute when baking. There’s plenty of low calorie desserts out there that taste great, with real sugar. See my Cinnamon Coffee Snack Cakes or my Dark Chocolate Souffles for proof. I couldn’t resist trying this Four Flavor Sour Cream Pound Cake though. I made it several years ago, but that was in my more novice years in the kitchen and I overcooked it into a dry, disgusting state, so I thought it was time for another try.
So, how’s it taste?
I did a much better job this time around! My kitchen skills have definitely improved over the years, lol! I still feel like the texture could’ve been a bit more moist, but I don’t think I overbaked it, I’m going to blame the Splenda. I’m not knocking Splenda, I’m actually a huge fan. I drink it everyday in my hot or iced coffee, I sprinkle it over my corn flakes cereal, and there’s always a pitcher of tea in my fridge sweetened with it. I love the stuff. I can’t really taste it in any of those forms, but I sure could in this cake. It’s not bad, but the taste is there. I instantly know it’s “diet” cake and I really feel it hindered the pound cake from baking beautifully.
However, I loved the flavors of almond and lemon together! I couldn’t taste the butter extract and vanilla extract is a helper, if you will, so I can’t ever zero in on that one either. I never thought to mix almond and lemon extracts in the same recipe, but it really works. Two different tastes, but they complement each other well, especially in this pound cake.
While I liked the version with Splenda, I’d love to make this recipe again using all real sugar. I bet it would be fantastic!
Have you baked with Splenda or another sugar substitute before? How’d the recipe turn out?
Four Flavor Sour Cream Pound Cake
Ingredients:
all purpose flour, for dusting
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg (optional)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar substitute (I used Splenda)
7 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. butter extract
3 eggs, separated
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Coat a 9x5-inch nonstick loaf pan with fat-free cooking spray and dust with all-purpose flour.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, nutmeg (if using), and salt.
4. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until light, about 30 seconds. Gradually beat in the sugar substitute and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Bea in the vanilla, lemon, almond, and butter extracts. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition.
5. Using a spoon, stir in the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream.
6. In a clean medium bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Spoon into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 55-65 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a rack and cool completely.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Oh goodness is this the best chicken dish ever. Seriously. Chicken is no longer boring thanks to Chicken with Honey-Beer Sauce. I mean I thought this dish would be good, but I had no idea it would be that good. Bonus…it’s low enough in calories so you can add some sides for a complete meal.
So, how’s it taste?
Obviously I loved it. I loved it so so much. There’s not very many ingredients, but when they come together look out! It starts with cooking the chicken and the removing it to make the sauce. The cooked “bits” left in the pan add so much flavor to the sauce. Shallots are cooked until tender, then add beer, soy sauce, whole-grain Dijon mustard, and honey. See, just a few ingredients, but oh my do they work wonders in a skillet. You can taste each ingredient, but they somehow make this new flavor that is just outstanding. I can’t say enough good things about it.
A great idea for any leftover chicken, is to chop it up and serve it over a green salad. That is, if you have any leftovers. 
Chicken with Honey-Beer Sauce
Ingredients:
2 tsp. canola oil
4 (6 oz.) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. thinly sliced shallots
1/2 cup beer
2 tbsp. lower-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp. whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Directions:
1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Sprinkle chicken evenly with pepper and salt. Add chicken to pan; sauté 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add shallots to pan; cook 1 minute or until translucent. Combine beer and next 3 ingredients (through honey) in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Add beer mixture to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook 3 minutes or until liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup. Return chicken to pan; turn to coat with sauce. Sprinkle evenly with parsley.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The picture of these Pork Chops with Roasted Apples & Onions was drool-worthy in the magazine. My interest will instantly go up for a recipe that has an odd mix of ingredients, too, so I had to make this to see how the apples and onions turned out.
So, how’s it taste?
Well, let me start with the positive. The pork chops were awesome. Like the kind of awesome that I’ll make that part of this recipe with the sauce again and again. I’ve said before how a bone-in pork chop seasoned with nothing more than salt and pepper is divine. Normally I’m big on spices and tons of different flavors, but not when it comes to pork chops. Salt and pepper only please! I do love a good sauce though. The sauce in this dish is fantastic and lets the pork chops keep the spotlight. It’s pretty easy to make after cooking the chops. Now for the negative. The roasted apples and onions weren’t good. There was way too much thyme in the mixture and cooking them in the oven dried everything out. It left the apples with a slight mealy texture and the onions were ok once you peeled off the top layer, but who wants to do that to all those pearl onions? The flavors never came together either. It was a separate taste of apple and then a separate taste of onion. I usually never waste food, but I ended up picking out the apples and tossing them in the trash.
So for a great pork chop and sauce, I recommend this, but definitely skip the apples and onions
Pork Chops with Roasted Apples & Onions
Ingredients:
2 1/2 tsp. canola oil, divided
1 1/2 cups frozen pearl onions, thawed
2 cups Gala apple wedges
1 tbsp. butter, divided
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, divided
4 (6 oz.) bone-in center-cut pork loin chops (about 1/2 inch thick)
1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cider vinegar
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Pat onions dry with a paper towel. Add onions to pan; cook 2 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring once. Add apple to pan; place in oven. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until onions and apple are tender. Stir in 2 teaspoons butter, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add pork to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove pork from pan; keep warm. Combine broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook 1 minute or until reduced to 1/4 cup. Stir in vinegar and remaining 1 teaspoon butter. Serve sauce with pork and apple mixture.
Monday, September 10, 2012
I’m a big fan of fish tacos. There used to be a restaurant in Nashville that had THE BEST ones, but they closed years ago, so I’m always on a quest to find fish tacos as good as those. I couldn’t wait to see how these Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema would stack up. I was pretty much sold on them from the word “crema.”
So, how’s it taste?
They didn’t top my beloved fish tacos, but I would rate them a pretty close second. Anything with sour cream has my instant attention. The sauce brings so much to the dish. It starts with a base of sour cream and mayo, then add green onions, cilantro, lime, and garlic. It gets better the longer its together. Next is the fish. I love tilapia because it can take on any flavor you want. Cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, cayenne, and garlic powder. That is a winning combination for this dish! It’s smoky and spicy, so the crema on top pairs with it beautifully. These tacos would have been even better had I remembered the cabbage! Something about that crunch with the tender fish is just magic. I was too lazy to run back to the store, so I ate mine with lettuce I had on hand. Still pretty tasty, but I missed the crunch. My only gripe is the corn tortillas. I’m not a fan, but went with them because they are lower in calorie than flour tortillas. They broke apart while I was eating my taco and made for one messy dinner. I ended up eating the rest like a tostada with a fork. Next time I’ll splurge on the flour tortillas so they stay together, but to each his own!
Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema
Ingredients:
Crema
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tbsp. fat-free mayonnaise
3 tbsp. reduced-fat sour cream
1 tsp. grated lime rind
1 1/2 tsp. fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 garlic clove, minced
Tacos
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 lbs. red snapper fillets (I used tilapia)
Cooking spray
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cabbage
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. To prepare crema, combine the first 8 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.
3. To prepare tacos, combine cumin and next 5 ingredients (through garlic powder) in a small bowl; sprinkle spice mixture evenly over both sides of fish. Place fish on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 9 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Place fish in a bowl; break into pieces with a fork. Heat tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish evenly among tortillas; top each with 1/4 cup cabbage and 1 tablespoon crema.
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