Spicy Tomatillo & Mango Salsa

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Posted on August 24, 2015

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2015

To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

Not much to say about this stuff except that it is easy & delicious. It is the result of my local produce delivery sending me tomatillos & an impulse purchase of a random mango. I brought this to a BBQ & it went over pretty well. It would also be good on fish or meat – like a chimichurri. It would be great anywhere you use salsa – on tacos or burritos, etc.

If you own a blender or food processor – you are good to go, otherwise, there will be lots & lots of chopping.

Spicy Tomatillo & Mango Salsa

Makes 2-3 cups

INGREDIENTS

12 tomatillos – quartered

1 mango – peeled & cubed (see ways to make that easy HERE)

1 small red onion – peeled & quartered

1 large handful of cilantro

1-4 jalapenos – seeded & chopped

juice of one lime

2 garlic cloves

S&P to taste

DIRECTIONS

Pulse all ingredients (except the chopped mango) in a blender or food processor until it is to your desired consistency. Season with S&P – adding more lime or cilantro if you want. Add the mango and maybe pulse once or twice but let the bulk of the mango stay in small chunks.

Serve!

Vegan Chicken & Kim Chee (Kimchi) Wrap with Fresh and Easy Cantaloupe & Mango Salsa

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Posted on June 13, 2015

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2015

Follow @celisemccarthy

To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

I recently stepped up to a cooking challenge that called for a dish using the following ingredients:

Any Beyond Meat product

Kim chee

Cantaloupe

Radishes

Lettuce

Tomato

So – I made kim chee & chicken wraps with this cantaloupe-mango salsa. The salsa recipe is HERE.

The rest is crazy easy. I bought packaged kim chee even though every site I have ever seen says NEVER DO THAT! They say either 1) make it or 2) get some fresh stuff at a Korean market or restaurant. Here is the kim chee I used:

I used Beyond Meat chicken strips at room temperature. One of the finer qualities of this brand of vegan chicken – that it stands up – naked & raw. The kim chee should be room temperature, too.

Vegan Chicken & Kim Chee (Kimchi) Wrap with Fresh and Easy Cantaloupe & Mango Salsa

Amounts depend on taste & how many you are feeding

INGREDIENTS

Beyond Meat chicken – thawed

THE BEST Kimchi you can get your hands on

Lettuce

Frisee (optional)

Tomato – chopped

Cilantro

Flour tortillas or other wrap

Garnish – Cantaloupe & Mango salsa

DIRECTIONS

Layer the ingredients & wrap that shit up.

Serve with salsa.

Fresh & Easy Cantaloupe and Mango Salsa

1 Comment

Posted on June 13, 2015

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2015

Follow @celisemccarthy

To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

I recently stepped up to a cooking challenge that called for a dish using the following ingredients:

Any Beyond Meat product

Kim chee

Cantaloupe

Radishes

Lettuce

Tomato

So – I made kim chee & chicken wraps with this cantaloupe-mango salsa. This salsa is fresh & clean & light. I used jarred mango because it was on sale but fresh mango would be nicer. Either way – this stuff is a crowd pleaser.

Fresh & Easy Cantaloupe and Mango Salsa

This makes a as much as you want it to make based on how much you use of each ingredient. You can use more or less of all or some ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

1 cantaloupe – diced (about 2 cups)

6 radishes – diced

1 red bell pepper – diced

1-2 cups chopped mango

1-4 jalapenos (I used 4 & left the seeds in 2 for extra heat) – diced

Cilantro – optional

Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Mix it up.

Eat.

Vegan Orange Mango Chili Chicken with Broccoli & Snow Peas

Jamaican Jerk Shrimp Pizza with Candied Jalapenos & Spicy Peach, Pineapple & Mango Salsa

Road Kill Roasted Cauliflower & Hominy Tacos with Homemade Corn Tortillas & Spicy Peach, Pineapple & Mango Salsa

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Posted on June 22, 2013

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

Follow @celisemccarthy

To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

Roadkill? Caught your attention, didn’t it? Silly! I don’t eat meat. But I did buy some Dean Jacobs Road Kill Grill Rub because of the promise that it “Makes all critters taste great.”

I bought it in Gilroy (the garlic capital of the world) for my boyfriend, Miles, who lives almost as exclusively on meat as zombies do on brains. Whenever I think of zombies, and these days – what with their resurgent popularity – I think of them quite often – I think of my favorite zombie chant. (I stole the image below from Google.)

The monomaniacal nature of zombies can sometimes be quite endearing.

At any rate – I bought the Road Kill rub in Gilroy on a road trip that led to my vagina-centric post about Elsy’s Antojitos & my Shrimp & Cheesy Grits post which got into my pug, Memphis, and his tooth removal & the drunken, loopy slob he returned home as – still wobbly from getting put under. Look how drunk he looks in the pose he struck! 🙂

That was last September (when I bought the Road Kill Grill) & Miles has never used it so I decided to bust that shit out. It has a very smokey salty flavor & it worked AWESOMELY for this dish but, if you cannot find it, any taco seasoning or other grill rub would likely work. Even a homemade blend of spices would work – and you can Google a zillion options for that.

The recipe for the corn tortillas is HERE.

The recipe for the Spicy Peach & Pineapple & Mango Salsa is HERE.

You can use pre-made corn tortillas and any kind of salsa you like. The real magic here is the roasted cauliflower & hominy filling. I have been long obsessed with each of those ingredients & the threesome we had last night was – well – worth repeating. Much like my Vegan Pozole, and any taco recipe, the toppings are up to you. Here are a few ideas:

IDEAS for the toppings –

Grilled or fresh corn cut from the cob

Chopped tomatoes

Chopped cilantro

Sliced avocado

Sliced radishes

Lime wedges

Chopped cabbage (red or green)

Red onion – diced

Lettuce – chopped

Feta or Cotija (or other) cheese

Sour cream or yogurt or Mexican Crema

The only thing you need from me here is the recipe for the roasted cauliflower & hominy – so let’s get to it! I found myself devouring it right off the roasting pan. Try to use a high quality spice mix – and not something that has been in your pantry for 6 years & requires a fork to break it up. OK? I can’t take responsibility for your old, ashy spices! 🙂

Roadkill Roasted Cauliflower & Hominy

1 head cauliflower – broken into the tiniest florets

2 cups hominy

3 tsp Road Kill Grill rub (or rub/spices of your choice)

olive oil

S&P

DIRECTIONS

Heat your oven to 425.

Place your tiny cauliflower florets on a greased cooking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil & toss TWO (reserving one) of the tsps of spice rub in. I tossed this with my hands to get a good even mix.

Roast for 15 minutes. In the meantime – toss the other tsp of spice with the hominy with a teensy bit of olive oil (not more than a teaspoon).

When the cauliflower is done, add the hominy to the pan & roast all of it another 15 minutes.

Take out of the oven. Try not to just stand there & eat that shit.

Now – you simply have to assemble your tacos!

Spicy Peach, Pineapple & Mango Salsa with Jalapeno

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Posted on June 21, 2013

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

Follow @celisemccarthy

To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

I WROTE A BOOK!!!!! Check it out!

This hardly counts as a recipe. All you really do is chop everything up & toss it together. You can lose any one (even two) of the fruits or the jalapeno (if you dislike heat) & there would be no significant change in the quality here. This makes a lot – like – enough to put out for a party. I like to eat a little every day on a fancified veggie dog.

It’s pretty delicious on pretty much anything – fish, shrimp, tacos, quesadillas, chicken – whatever – so don’t be shy with it. I am going to post a new cauliflower concoction soon that I used this on. So – look out for that!

Peach, Pineapple & Mango Salsa with Jalapeno

INGREDIENTS

1 cup fresh pineapple (or canned)

1 mango – peeled

1 peach – pitted

1 red bell pepper

1/2 red onion

3 jalapenos – seeded

1 cup cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

juice of 1 lemon

S&P to taste

DIRECTIONS

Chop up everything but the lemon & lime. Toss everything with the juice of the lemon & the lime. Add S&P to taste. Rejoice!

250 Calorie Fancified Hot Dog with Mango Salsa & Horseradish Mustard

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Posted on May 15, 2013

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

Follow @celisemccarthy

To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

This is less of a recipe than it is an idea. A really good & satisfying idea. After hiking to the Hollywood sign & back yesterday

I came home starving. Like many people, I walk this 6+ mile walk several times a week not because it provides the spectacular reward that is that view from the top (and yesterday wasn’t nearly as pretty as it can be) nor because it gives me a two hour opportunity to reflect & naval gaze nor because it is a great opportunity to experience nature right smack dab in the center of a huge city but because I am a fat fuck & a cranky wench & that hike helps burn away both foils.

So – after huffing & puffing my way through the heat & dust – I returned home – as I typically do – feeling entitled & ready to shove something in my face. In colder weather – I usually (and by usually I mean like 5 times a week) eat a huge bowl of my Zero Calorie Zero Carb Vegetarian Pho.

It is getting warmer now, though (it was 100 here two days ago), and soup doesn’t sound so good. But a nice summery hot dog does! And, if you eat veggie dogs, a huge one is only about 100 calories & the bun is likely to be about 120. That is a pretty good deal, calorie-wise, assuming you like veggie dogs. I posted this beauty last July

served with Cilantro Jalapeno mustard.

I could eat that mustard with a spoon!

But this time – I had mango salsa laying around leftover from my glorious Ahi Tuna Tower.

Mango Salsa

INGREDIENTS

1 ripe mango – chopped

1/2 red onion – minced

2 scallions – minced

1/2 red bell pepper – minced

1 jalapeno (or 2 serranos if you love heat) – minced

S&P to taste

Juice of half a lime

Juice of half a lemon

DIRECTIONS

Mix together.

I saw the bowl of this beautiful stuff in my fridge & asked myself why I shouldn’t use some to top a hot dog. I am not a meat eater and even when I was – I loathed the concept of Hawaiian pizza (with ham & pineapple) and some of you may argue that this concoction is in that same ballpark – but I disagree. The hot dog with my new favorite mustard – horseradish mustard – and this salsa is a most incredible, low calorie lunch delight! I recommend very highly that you try it! The salsa would also go very nicely on chicken or seafood so don’t be afraid to make a lot of it!

Ahi Sushi Tower with Mango Salsa & Avocado, Spicy Mayo and Baked Wonton Crackers

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Posted on May 13, 2013

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

Follow @celisemccarthy

To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

Isn’t that pretty? Tasted even better! Like most of my recipes, there is nothing difficult about this beyond the fact that it requires a few ingredients some might find a bit exotic & it takes several steps to accomplish. Still, once you have made the rice & the salsa & the sashimi & the guacamole – you have the stuff to make many of these in minutes. As to the ingredients, I think nearly everything I used can be found in most major supermarkets. If there is something I use that you cannot find – Google that ingredient followed by the word “substitute.” Usually – someone out there will have posted a simple solution to your dilemma.

There are two sauces on the plate here with this dish. One would do so if making both overwhelms you – make the one that sounds tastier to you.

I bought two pieces of ahi at Costco yesterday at $14 pound. They are each about 3/4 of a pound & look like this:

This same fish is $27 a pound at Gelson’s. If you buy ahi at a supermarket with a full service seafood department – I recommend having them dice the fish for you. Tuna has fat running through it that resists cutting & gets all gross & sinewy if you try to cut across the grain or with the grain – whatever way is the wrong way. I managed to salvage most of this slab but some was beyond repair & was eaten eagerly by my three dogs. Giving already spoiled dogs sushi grade tuna is outrageous – but cutting the fish incorrectly will leave you in the same situation. In fact – before I venture into my second slab tonight – I am going to watch one of these tutorials HERE. Maybe you should, too.

I am going to give the ingredients & directions to each of the levels of this tower individually. This tower is topped with a pinch of micro arugula which is CRAZY spicy for such a delicate looking little herb but it costs $5 for a small container. I splurged on it yesterday – rationalizing that I’d save so much on the tuna that I could afford it. Nobody can afford it. It is obscene to spend $5 for just a garnish but sometimes you just gotta say “fuck it.”

OK – so – the tower is comprised of a layer of sushi rice, a layer of mango salsa, a layer or avocado & then the ahi sashimi. The wonton cracker atop was DELICIOUS & so easy to make so I really recommend you make a bunch of these to use as scoops to devour your creation. I decided to try making them because I couldn’t bring myself to buy a lesser version in the chip aisle at Gelson’s, pay $5 for them & get a bag that, despite weighing 3 ounces, somehow packed 1600 calories. MAKE THESE. You won’t regret it!

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Baked Wonton Crackers

INGREDIENTS

Wonton skins

Sesame seeds (black or white)

Egg whites – whisked

DIRECTIONS

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Swipe some egg white wash on each wonton & sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake about 5 minutes on each side or until they are golden & crisp.

Spicy Mayo

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup mayo of your choice

2 TBS sriracha

1 tsp sesame oil

DIRECTIONS

Blend together. If you have a squeezy bottle to put it in do – because then you can make pretty designs on the plate with the mayo.

Soy-Mirin Sauce

INGREDIENTS

3 TBS soy sauce

2 TBS mirin

1 TBS rice wine vinegar

1 TBS lemon juice

1 tsp sesame oil

A few drops hot chili oil (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Blend together.

Avocado Layer

INGREDIENTS

1 large ripe avocado – diced

1 TBS lemon juice

1 TBS lime juice

S&P to taste

DIRECTIONS

Mix together.

Mango Salsa

INGREDIENTS

1 ripe mango – chopped

1/2 red onion – minced

2 scallions – minced

1/2 red bell pepper – minced

1 jalapeno (or 2 serranos if you love heat) – minced

S&P to taste

Juice of half a lime

Juice of half a lemon

DIRECTIONS

Mix together.

Sushi Rice

INGREDIENTS

3 cups Japanese sushi rice

3 1/4 cups water

1/3 cup rice vinegar

3 TBS sugar

1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. I used a rice cooker here & made the rice with just the water. Stove top – I imagine you boil the water, add the rice, lower heat, cover & cook as long as the package suggests.

While that cooks, heat the rice vinegar in a small pan. Add the sugar & salt & dissolve them. Remove from heat & allow to cool.

Once cooked – cool the rice completely. Fold in the vinegar without mushing up the rice & set it aside until you are ready to use it.

Ahi Sashimi

INGREDIENTS

3/4 pound of high grade ahi tuna

2 scallions – chopped

1 tsp sesame oil

1 TBS olive oil

2 tsp black sesame seeds

2 tsp white sesame seeds

1 TBS white truffle oil (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Watch a Google tutorial on cutting raw tuna for sushi – the cube the ahi up. Mix with the other ingredients.

To assemble the tower:

I used a food ring mold. I love my ring mold & I recommend you get one! If you do not have one – you can assemble this free form (rice then salsa then avocado then ahi) or in a backward sequence in a bowl (sprayed with cooking spray), ending with the rice, then just flip in onto a plate. Drizzle with either the spicy mayo or the soy-mirin sauce – or both! Top with micro arugula, if you are a spendthrift or with more diced scallions and/or avocado or more mango salsa. Serve with the baked wonton crackers. Impress yourself as well as your friends!

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