San Francisco

Last week, over at well that's awkward, I wrote all about my recent trip to San Francisco -- the sights, the food, and the way things just unfold if you let them. The story would have been more appropriate here, but I hadn't quite gotten this going yet and I was just too eager to share... check it out!

A Culinary Trip To The Caribbean

A few weeks ago, I was craving something new and interesting, so I made a handful of dishes from the Caribbean section of the cookbook for dinner. The meal included Salmon in Mango and Ginger Sauce, Buttered Spinach and Rice, and Mashed Sweet Potatoes. It was absolutely delicious, and it was very refreshing to use some different ingredients and experiment with different flavors. It might not have been quite as refreshing as an actual trip to the Caribbean, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

I've included the recipes below, along with some step-by-step photos of the process:

Salmon in Mango and Ginger Sauce

• 2 salmon steaks (about 10 oz. each)
• a little lemon juice
• 1 or 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon, crushed
• 2 shallots, coarsely chopped
• 1 tomato, coarsely chopped
• 1 ripe mango (about 6 oz. of flesh), chopped
• 2/3 cup fish stock or water (I used water)
• 1 tablespoon ginger syrup (I didn't have ginger syrup, but I did have ginger, so I just grated some of that instead)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place salmon steaks in a shallow dish and season with the lemon juice, garlic, tarragon, and salt and pepper. Set aside in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour.

Meanwhile, place the shallots, tomato and mango in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add the water (or fish stock) and the ginger (or ginger syrup), blend again, and set aside.

Melt the butter in a frying pan and saute the salmon steaks for about 5 minutes on each side. Add the mango puree, cover and simmer until salmon is cooked.

Transfer the salmon to warmed serving plates. Heat the sauce through, adjust the seasoning and pour over salmon. Serve hot.

Buttered Spinach and Rice

• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 1 pound basmati rice, washed   *Our grocery store only sells basmati rice in 10 lb. bags, so I bought regular long grain rice instead.
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 1/2 cups stock or water  *I used chicken stock.
• 12 ounces fresh spinach, washed and shredded
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tomatoes, sliced, to garnish

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter or margarine in a large heavy saucepan and fry the onion for a few minutes until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir well.

Add the rice and garlic, cook for 5 minutes, then gradually add the stock, stirring all the time. Season well.

Cover and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes or until the rice is almost cooked, then reduce the heat to low.

Spread the spinach in a thick layer over the rice. Cover the pan and cook over a low heat for 5-8 minutes until the spinach has wilted. Dot the remaining butter over the top and then serve, garnished with sliced tomatoes.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes  *The book recommends using white sweet potatoes; however, I already had orange sweet potatoes, so I used those instead.
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons light cream
• freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives  *I didn't have chives, so I used green onions.
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel the sweet potatoes under cold running water and place in a bowl of salted water. Cut or slice them and place in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Cook, covered, for about 30 minutes.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain and add the butter, cream, nutmeg, chives and seasoning. Mash with a potato masher and then fluff up with a fork. Serve warm as an accompaniment to a curry or stew.


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The complete meal was very colorful and went together pretty well. The rice recipe makes a ton of rice, so if you're only cooking for one or two people you'll definitely want to cut it in half!

A few days ago, I made a variation of the rice (minus the spinach) to go with roasted chicken breast and steamed carrots, and it turned out just as tasty. I made the following substitutions:

• Instead of fresh tomatoes (which I didn't have), I used half a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes with green chilies -- it added a nice kick to the dish.
• I added some chopped green bell pepper (just toss it in to fry a bit with the onion in the beginning).

This was a really great, easy meal too. I steamed the carrots and added salt, pepper, and a few dashes of a Cajun seasoning purchased from a booth at the Portland Saturday Market (from two of the most charismatic salesmen I've ever met!)  The chicken was seasoned with Morton's Seasoning (my go-to for chicken), oregano, and red pepper, then pan-seared for a few minutes per side and roasted for about 25 minutes. I prepared the rice and topped it all with cilantro -- yum!

Simple Black Bean Soup

Today I came home from a hot yoga class absolutely STARVING and didn't want a ham sandwich (which was about the fastest thing I could have made from the contents of my refrigerator).  After a little bit of evaluating and pondering, I decided to try my hand at pulling together a black bean soup.


Sidenote: black beans may very well be one of my absolute favorite foods ever, right next to gyoza.  Fried.


It's not perfect yet, and will probably take a few more attempts and changes to make it spectacular, but for a first try it was actually very good and I wanted to share:


This recipe makes enough for two people for lunch, so adjust according to your appetite!


1 can of black beans
1/2 can low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup Ro-Tel diced tomatoes with green chilies

3/4 Tbsp Mexican-Style Chili Powder

cayenne pepper to taste

Empty can of black beans into saucepan.  Using a potato masher, mash the black beans until about half are smashed.  Add chicken broth, tomatoes/chilies, and chili powder.  Bring to a boil, then add cayenne pepper and let simmer for a few minutes. 

Serve in warmed bowls, top with your choice of sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped green onions, and cilantro.

Updated:  This soup is actually even better after it's had a few hours to sit.  It thickens up quite nicely.

welcome!

Welcome to my new online passion project, Wanderlust & Gluttony.  You can read all about it on the appropriately-named 'About' page, but here's what you really need to know:

• There will be food -- photos and recipes included, of course.
• There will be travel -- though not nearly as much as I'd like.
• There will be guest posts -- let me know if you're interested!
• There will be restaurant reviews, home cooking, wish lists, and lots more!

I've got some great stuff in the works -- a few recipes I've made recently that I'm itching to share, as well as a couple of upcoming trips I can't wait to write about!

I'm really excited to get started -- please bookmark it, add it to your Google Reader (or reader of choice, whatever), come back often!