Corny post title…..but the drummer in my favourite band ever (Travis Barker of Blink-182) owns a taco place called Wahoo’s Fish Tacos. One day I will eat a fish taco at one of the 50+ locations they have throughout the states….but in the mean time I will make them at home. This was my first time making a fish taco and it was fun, and taaaaasty! In the meantime I will also stare longingly at this picture and reminisce of the day I actually got to meet him many years ago…

I look different and weird in this pic….moving on!

Back to the tacos! I used halibut but I’m sure any white fish would do, and I really don’t have exact measurements for this recipe, as I was just making one taco, but I trust with a little ingredient guidance you can all get this right! I also used a wrap because I didn’t have any soft flour tortillas (story of my life- I use wraps for everything!).

Koko’s Fish Tacos

• white fish fillet, such as halibut
• lettuce
• cilantro
• avocado
• lime juice
• salsa
• cheese, I used regular cheddar but I think a nice white cheddar would be better. If vegan, just skip it!
• caramelized onions (don’t worry I’ll tell ya how to make them!)
• wrap, or soft flour tortillas
• cumin
• coriander
• chili powder
• chipotle powder
• garlic salt
• salt

To caramelize onions:

Drizzle a pan with olive oil and heat on medium high. Slice up an onion and add to the hot pan. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir, to coat the onions. Turn the heat to low and keep stirring, as the onions slowly begin to caramelize. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn! When they are brown, and soft, and smell delicious, they are done!

For the ‘guacamole’:

Mash up an avocado and add some lime juice and a pinch of salt. Stir in a scoop of salsa.

For the fish:

Pat the fish fillet dry, and slice into small pieces- about an inch wide and as long as the fillet is. Sprinkle evenly with cumin, coriander, chili powder, chipotle powder, and garlic salt. Turn pieces over and do the same to the other side. Drizzle a pan with olive oil and heat to medium-high. Add the fish and cook until done on each side (it took about a minute on each side for me, but it depends on the thickness of the fish).

Constructing the taco:

Spread the bottom of your wrap/tortilla with our lovely avocado/salsa mixture. Add a layer of cheese, add the lettuc, cilantro, caramelized onions, and finally the fish. Drizzle everything with lots of lime juice! Fold up like a wrap, and enjoy! Please yell wahoo! as you eat it.

Click here for a special guest post with a bit of info on fish-eating vegetarians vs. non-fish-eating vegetarians.

Ahhh, I’m a few days late in putting up a new post, but once again I was in one of my favourite places ever- Whistler. Doesn’t it seem like I just got back from there….? I’m not complaining! This time we got to do one of my favourite Whistler activities….”The River of Golden Dreams” although sometimes this little river is a bit of a nightmare! It’s always fun, but this time was exceptionally fun. There was a bit of beer involved, kayaks flipping into freezing water, a lost and recovered hat and pair of sunglasses (twice!), soaking wet clothes, a lost and not recovered $600 pair of Oakleys, war wounds from getting entangled in surrounding bushes, and an unfortunate duck mama losing two babies that ended with a happy reunion between them.

The guys trying to get all the water out of the flipped kayak…bahaha!

Uh-oh…stuck in the bushes again!

The reunited duck family!

I’m home now, but I can’t say I feel much like cooking anything….I feel like it’s too nice out to be in the kitchen! But when I saw Sweet on Veg post about these falafels, I just HAD to make them! When I was in bartending school, my friend and I would eat at the falafel place downstairs from the school for lunch and we became totally addicted, but I haven’t had any since!

I followed the recipe for the falafels pretty much exactly, but instead of making them in pitas I used wraps, which work just as well. I love how these can be baked or pan-fried. I slathered my wrap with hummus and a bit of tzatziki, and filled it with lettuce, cucumber and tomato. Yummmmm!

Isn’t Summer awesome? Even though it hasn’t been very sunny in Vancouver lately (boooo!), I’ve been trying to make the most of it by jumping outside to soak up the sun when it actually decides to come out, and taking advantage of the long days for relaxing chats and crazy dancing over drinks with friends. Ooh! And riding my bike, how could I forget! Of course, I have also been in the kitchen whipping up cookies, pizza, plenty of salads, and trying to perfect a granola recipe.

Tonight I decided to eat something that I rarely eat- pasta! I was inspired by Heidi of 101 Cookbooks…but if you know me, you know that I see the  word miso and I’m sold! I was really curious as to what the miso would taste like when blended with almonds. It was light and creamy with a touch of garlic flavour and I think this could be a very versatile sauce for using on different vegetables and pastas.

Walnut-Miso Spaghetti (adapted from 101 cookbooks)

• 8 oz whole wheat spaghetti
• 1 head of broccoli, chopped in florets
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup of walnuts, toasted
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 2 tablespoons white miso
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/8 tsp red chili flakes
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup + warm water
• drizzle of lemon juice
• sesame seeds for garnish
• fresh chives for garnish
• walnuts, chopped for garnish

For the sauce:

In a food processor, combine the toasted walnuts, olive oil, miso paste, vinegar, lemon juice, chili flakes, garlic, honey and salt. Blend until smooth. Add water little by little until the consistency of heavy cream is achieved.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta as directed, until al dente.

Steam or boil the broccoli until it can just be pierced easily by a knife.

Drain pasta and toss with broccoli and raw red pepper, add sauce as needed, and top with walnuts, chives, and sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

P.S. Thursday is Canada Day! Take a look back at the cupcakes I made to celebrate last year if you need some cute decorating ideas.

My garden’s lettuce box has been growing like crazy and we have an abundance of arugula, salad bowl lettuce, mesclun green, and romaine. I love love love our romaine- it’s sooo crisp and fresh and you can’t get more local than your very own backyard. I decided to make a caesar salad, because it was a perfect way to showcase this lovely lettuce. My friend was over for dinner and she couldn’t get over how good the salad tasted- she was sure it was the homegrown lettuce! This is a really neat Caesar salad dressing, because it’s completely raw. There is no mayo, or eggs, or anything like that, yet it’s creamy and garlicky, just like regular caesar salad dressing. Instead of using croutons, I just used cashews, as I’m not eating yeast right now. I know the argument that cashews aren’t technically “raw” but I don’t eat 100% so it’s not a big deal for me.

I took some pictures of the other wonderful things we have growing here, too. I think the only things I left out were our tomatoes, marionberry, strawberries, some herbs, and the several kinds of beans that I have yet to plant.

Romaine:

Lettuce Box:

One of the raspberry ‘bushes’….gotta give this little baby some love for the next couple years!

Parsley:

Peas (and those little containers contain personal cantaloupe!):

Rosemary- my favourite herb!!

Rhubarb:

Garlic (I cannot WAIT to harvest this and eat it…mmm….garlic….)

I found this recipe on the internet, but apparently it is adapted from Natalia Rose’s Raw Food Detox Diet Book. It makes about 3 cups, and keeps for about 10 days.

Raw Caesar Salad

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp miso
• 5 dates
• 4 celery stalks
• freshly ground black pepper

Put all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.

The nice people at gardein (garden + protein) were kind enough to give me some coupons to sample their products. Though I don’t eat ‘fake meat’ often, I took at look at the ingredients used in their products and I was quite impressed. In comparison to other brands, gardein really uses more wholesome ingredients, and I was so pleased to see that there is very little sugar in their products (we’re talking 0-1 gram), and there are no funky additives, preservatives or artificial colours and flavours! Aside from this, gardein places a great value in using plant-based diets as a way to help the Earth. Did you know that the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all the suvs, cars, planes, trucks, and ships in the world combined? gardein also donates many meals to organizations in Vancouver with the aim of providing food security for those in need.

I think what I like about the idea of gardein, is that their products offer a fantastic starting point for those looking to ease into a plant-based diet. Eating meat-free even just once a week is one of the best ways to reduce the load on our planet.

I started off with the herb dijon chick’n breasts. For just 170 calories, one of these babies comes in with a whopping 22 grams of protein- wow! I baked the chick’n breasts in the oven, as I roasted some potatoes and broccoli to complete the meal. I have to say that I really enjoyed this. I added just a pinch of salt to the chick’n (but I love sea salt…!) and it tasted fantastic. It was moist, and the dijon sauce had a nice flavour without being overpowering. I was impressed with the texture…it wasn’t rubbery or spongy at all! If I could remember what the texture of chicken was….I’m sure this would be close! I liked how easily I could incorporate this into a regular meal- no extra prep needed, just being able to cook up some veggies with it was easy and made for a well-rounded meal. Here’s how to make it for yourself!

Herb Dijon Chick’n Breasts with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and Chili Roasted Broccoli

Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a large baking dish, combine some halved new potatoes (whatever amount you need) with a generous drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, a bit of lemon zest and freshly chopped rosemary. In a seperate dish (or the same one if it’s big enough!), slice a head of broccoli into even pieces, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a sprinkle of chili powder. Roast for about 30-40 minutes, until potatoes are tender and broccoli has crisped up.

Place the gardein chick’n breast and it’s marinade into a seperate baking dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

I also made my own “Moroccan Spiced Chick’n Filets” with couscous and sauteed vegetables. This was wonderful. I used gardein’s lightly seasoned chick’n filets. The couscous had fresh chopped mint and toasted pistachios added to it, along with a bit of lemon juice. I used a lovely mixture of zucchini, red onions, mushrooms, and orange bell peppers sauteed with a pinch of salt and pepper to add beautiful colour and flavour to the dish. I love these filets, they are really versatile and I can’t believe how quick they cook up! Another winner from gardein.

Moroccan Spiced Chick’n Filets

• 1/2 tsp each ground cumin, ground coriander, paprika, black pepper
• 1/4 tsp each turmeric, salt, cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 package gardein lightly seasoned chick’n filets

Combine all these ingredients in a dish, and dip each filet into the spice mixture until they are well coated on both sides. Heat up a frying pan and place all 4 filets into it. Cook for 1- 1.5 minutes on each side.

Guys, I love sushi. I could eat Japanese food every day for the rest of my life and never get bored. I’m super excited about my garden this year because I was given EDAMAME seeds to plant! These seeds are very special- it’s difficult to get edamame (soy bean) seeds that are organic, and not genetically modified and the seeds I recieved are just that- pure, and organic! I can’t plant them just yet, but I’m looking forward to the day that I can go out to my garden and pick fresh edamame pods to steam. I’ll take some pictures of my garden soon (it’s all covered in net right now to keep the bugs and neighbourhood cats away). I’ve planted a ton of romaine lettuce already, as well as arugula, radicchio, mesclun greens, and salad bowl lettuce. We also planted red onions, TONS of sweet walla walls, white onions and green onions. We have enough cilantro growing that we could feed a small country, and we have plenty of other herbs growing throughout the year. My rhubard is beginning to pop up, and my two little strawberry plants survived the winter! Along with the edamame, I will be planting a couple of other kinds of beans, and, get this- personal cantaloupe! My garden has evolved quite a bit from when it began last year and that’s just what I want! Self-sustaining, baby- woohooooooo!

Wow….I went a little off track there. What I meant to say was that I made sushi. Yes, I attempted the art of sushi-making for the 2nd time in my life. I’ve now come to understand why Nobu was not even allowed to pick up a knife for the first three years of his apprenticeship- Japanese food is ART!

I made some great, authentic tasting sushi rice, using instructions from here. I also used there instructions on how to make a California roll (the rice is on the outside, and the seaweed inside), which got a bit complicated and I ended up reverting back to normal sushi-rolling methods.

Sushi Rice

Prepare a mixture called Tezu- Mix together 250 ml of water, 30 ml of rice vinegar and 5 ml of salt.

• 500 ml Sushi Rice
• 600 ml Water
• 60 ml Rice Vinegar
• 30 ml Sugar
• 5 ml Salt

Wash the rice several times until the water runs fairly clear when draining.

Heat rice and water on the stove until boiling, cover tightly and simmer at lowest heat allowing the rice to steam for 18 minutes. You must leave it covered… no peaking!

Remove your pot from the heat and let stand covered for another 15 minutes.

Mix the vinegar, sugar and salt together in a small saucepan. Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let your sushi vinegar cool to room temperature.

Moisten your bowl with a cloth dampened with your tezu mixture.

Put the hot rice into your mixing bowl and add 1/4 of the sushi vinegar solution. Mix with a folding motion and repeat until all sushi vinegar is used

California Rolls

• 1 avocado, sliced into strips
• lump crab meat (I don’t recommend using imitation crab…)
• 1 English cucumber – remove seeds and cut into strips – 10 cm long and 1/2 cm thick (skin on)
• nori sheets
• sushi rice
• wasabi to mix with mayo (to taste. I used vegenaise, as I don’t eat regular mayo)
• toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Place a sheet of cellophane wrap – same size as your rolling mat on your bamboo rolling mat.
Dip your fingers in your Tezu  and take some rice with your finger tips (10 cm round ball). Place the rice ball in the center of the wrap and gently distribute the rice the width of your nori sheet and 5 cm longer then then your sheet of seaweed. Don’t work your rice too much.

Center your nori sheet on the sheet of rice. Place a row of avocado wedges in the center of your nori sheet. Your nori should cover the entire rice sheet side to side and towards you. The extra 5 cm rice should be open along width-wise away from you

Put the cucumber strips alongside your avocado and do likewise with your crab sticks. Lay a strip of the wasabi/mayo mixture.

Roll the side nearest you to form a center core of ingredients surrounded by nori (there should be that 5 cm band of rice left after your nori).

Pull out your wrap at the end of your roll and overlap your ingredients roll over the last band of rice. By pulling and lightly squeezing your mat, form your roll circular or triangular-wise (gently hold your ingredient in on the ends while manipulating your roll).

Cut your roll into 8 pieces. Your knife must be very sharp, and dip it into the Tezu before you cut it, to keep the rice from sticking to it.

Garnish with sesame seeds.