What's On My Plate » avocado

Quick Beef Curry with Avocado and Plantains

Tonya — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:39:38 +0000

One of my food crushes (who doesn’t come up often here) is Marcus Samuelsson. I first learned about Marcus while living in NYC and watching the Today Show. I then had the opportunity to work (briefly) at the PR company that represented him at the time. Through that experience I was able to meet him and eat at his restaurant Aquavit. When I left the PR agency I moved to a TV production company and crossed paths with Marcus again. Needless to say, I’ve been watching him closely over the years.

Marcus has an interesting story. He was born in Ethiopia but then adopted by a Swedish couple and raised in Sweden. He worked in France for a bit and eventually settled in NYC. At 24 he became the executive chef at Aquavit and has gone on to open a string of restaurants. He currently lives in Harlem and is opening a restaurant in my old Harlem hood called Red Rooster which I can’t wait to check out once it opens.

I was thrilled last year to discover that Marcus had a new cookbook out, New American Table featuring recipes from “new” America inspired by the diversity of the country. Pretty cool. I bought it a few months ago and only cracked it open recently to try the Beef Curry recipe.

I’m not sure what drew me to the recipe and to be honest I don’t think I really looked at the ingredients until I started making it. The ingredients are such a hodgepodge! Some of the ingredients in the curry are lemongrass, potato, green curry paste, coconut milk, tomatoes, and bok choy among other things. As I was making this I couldn’t stop laughing. I kind of felt like I was making such a concoction. It literally felt like I was throwing in everything including the kitchen sink! Then it was onto the Avocado and Plantains. The first odd thing is that it uses green plantains that are simmered for 5 minutes and then sauteed. You then add a bunch of other stuff (including the avocados) and cook for a while.

As you might imagine I was concerned about how this would turn out. It totally came out looking kind of barfy but surprisingly was pretty tasty! The flavours really worked. One of my only issues was that my plantains didn’t cook soft enough and really tasted “green”. If I were to make this again (which I won’t) I’d use ripe plantains. Not ones that are black yet but at the stage just before. I’d also buy a cut of meat that doesn’t require a long simmering time. I bought the recommended hanger steak and perhaps I didn’t cut it the right way but I didn’t find that it softened up enough for me and still had some toughness to it.

This was an interesting recipe to say the least. In the end it the flavours really worked but I’m not motivated enough to make this one again. I’m looking forward to seeing what else I can whip up from Marcus’ ‘New American Table’.

Tuna Salad (with Salmon)

Tonya — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:38:24 +0000

It’s that time of the month again… time for another Barefoot Bloggers recipe! This one comes courtesy of Kate at Warm Olives and Cool Cocktails (love that blog name!).

When I first saw the recipe I was totally pumped. I love fresh tuna (although I rarely buy it) and avocado is my middle name. I also LOVED the Japanese influences in the recipe. All was fine and dandy until I started looking for tuna. Now, admittedly I was a bit lazy with this one. I could have easily gone to Kensington Market to visit one of the many fish mongers but I didn’t feel like heading that way. I figured between the 3 grocery stores in my neighbourhood and Costco SOMEONE would have tuna. I was totally wrong. Not even FROZEN tuna did I find. I finally found tuna at Loblaws but they only had wild tuna and it was $19.99/lb. PASS! While I was at Costco I bought a side of salmon and decided to use that instead of going the canned tuna route.

Aside from the salmon I made a few other modifications. Luckily this recipe is pretty “cleanse friendly” so I didn’t have to do much. The recipe calls for soy sauce but not much (2 tsp for the full recipe) so I used that. I omitted the wasabi powder because I didn’t have any on hand.

This is such a great springtime recipe. It’s light, flavourful and barely requires effort. The flavours of the lime and hot sauce work so well together and the avocado I bought was perfectly ripe. The one thing I struggled with was what to serve along side. I ended up just going with brown rice which was a good choice. I would have easily been happy with quinoa and steamed veggies.

Keeping this recipe on hand for sure! Next time I will try tuna. Another Barefoot Contessa / Ina Garten hit.

Tuna Salad

Ingredients

2 pounds very fresh tuna steak, cut 1-inch thick
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black, plus extra for sprinkling
2 limes, zest grated
1 teaspoon wasabi powder
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (3 limes)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
10 dashes hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
1 to 2 ripe Hass avocados, medium diced
1/4 cup minced scallions, white and green parts (2 scallions)
1/4 cup red onion, small diced

Directions

Brush the tuna steaks with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the tuna steaks in a very hot saute pan and cook for only 1 minute on each side. Set aside on a platter.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the olive oil, salt, pepper, lime zest, wasabi, lime juice, soy sauce and hot sauce. Add the avocados to the vinaigrette.

Cut the tuna in chunks and place it in a large bowl. Add the scallions and red onion and mix well. Pour the vinaigrette mixture over the tuna and carefully mix.

(Recipe via Food Network)

Sushi Bowl

Tonya — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:27:46 +0000

Every once in a while I’ll make something new and think to myself how amazing it is that such simple ingredients can make such a great meal. The main ingredients in the sushi bowl are rice (duh), avocado, tofu and nori, nothing complicated at all but this may top my list as favourite comfort food.

Regular sushi is one of my favourite meals but I haven’t been out for sushi in ages for some reason. Every time I flip through Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking I see this Sushi Bowl recipe and think that the picture looks delicious but never ever make it. Not sure why. A few weeks ago Heidi Swanson posted about it on 101 Cookbooks and I immediately felt like I just HAD to make it.

This is a perfect lazy Summer meal. The dressing adds a great fresh and bright flavour to the dish and the fact that you can get away without using the oven makes it great for summer. The key to the dish is great avocado and perfectly cooked rice. My local corner store/fruit market always has huge, flavourful avocados for an ok price. They are so buttery and delicious and actually taste like avocados. Love them. Brown rice is one of my favourite things as well so a bowl of avocado and brown rice is a piece of heaven. The toasted nori adds a nice mildly fishy taste that adds a nice kick to the dish.

I haven’t made this again just yet but the almost brand new package of nori is calling my name and I’m thinking this dish is in order once again. The next step is thinking about what else can be thrown in. Maybe a hint of wasabi in the dressing? Some seaweed salad might work great or some pickled vegetables. If I didn’t despise cucumbers those could work as well.

Enjoy!

Sushi Bowl Recipe

2 cups short-grain brown rice
3 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
2 (4-inch) square sheets nori seaweed
6 ounces extra-firm tofu

grated zest and juice of one orange
grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons (raw) brown sugar (reg. sugar is ok too)
2 tablespoons shoyu sauce (or soy sauce)
2 tablespoons (brown) rice vinegar

4 green onions, chopped
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Rinse and drain the rice two or three times. Combine the rice, water, and salt in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, cover, and simmer gently until the water is absorbed, about 45 minutes.

Toast the nori in a preheated 300F degree oven or a medium-hot skillet for a few minutes. Crumble or chop coarsely.

Drain the tofu and pat it dry. Cut the block of tofu lengthwise through the middle to make four 1/4-to 1/2-inch thick sheets of tofu. Two at a time, cook in a dry skillet or well-seasoned skillet over medium-high for a few minutes until browned on one side. Flip gently, then continue cooking for another minute or so, until the tofu is firm, golden, and bouncy. Let cool, enough to handle, then cute crosswise into matchsticks (see photo). Repeat with the remaining sheets.

To make the dressing, set the sheets aside. Combine the orange juice lemon juice, and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 1 or 2 minute, the add the shoyu and vinegar. Return to a gentle boil and cook another 1 or 2 minutes, until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the zests.

When the rice is done, stir in 1/3 cup of the dressing and add more to taste. Scoop the rice into individual bowls and top with the toasted nori, green onions, tofu, avocado slices, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Makes 4-6 servings.

(From Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson)