Brazilian Fish Stew

I was rather surprised at myself for making a hot stew on a boiling 100 degree summer day, but fish just sounds better to me when it's swimming in some sort of flavorful creamy broth. I have this love hate relationship with fish. I love it because I know it's good for me, but I have always had a hard time finding recipes involving fish I would actually get excited about. I try to mix up my dinners between calorie rich comfort foods and light nutrient dense foods to keep my joy of cooking and eating alive. If all we eat are light low fat, low carb meals, we begin to abhor the whole process of eating all together. Trust me, I've been there :). I know how it feels when food becomes a chore that has to be done to fill space in the stomach...but I believe we have a God that loves us and cares for us deeply, and like any loving father, really desires for us to enjoy the blessings he has provided for us...like satisfying flavors in food. 

I've noticed lately I've maybe gravitated a little TOO much towards God's wonderful creations of beef, butter, and pasta, so I thought it was about time for some fish...but of course I wanted to make something I could also get really excited about eating :). I know because of the mercury scare, some people would argue you are fine without fish all together... but deep down I have this feeling that getting a balanced variety of a little bit of everything is probably best. Plus, I have read that wild caught cod is on the "safer" list of fish to consume. So, in following my gut (literally :) ), this week I brought out one of my old recipes I had found on my favorite recipe iphone app called Yummly (I highly recommend this app), as I remember my husband was very pleased that he REALLY enjoyed a healthy fish dinner as much as he did.

Ingredients
Recipe for 4 people, takes approx. 40 mins.

1.5-2lbs.  whitefish (I used wild caught Cod)
3  cloves garlic, minced
4  tbsp. lime juice
salt and pepper to taste
2  tbsp. Organic* coconut oil
1  cup green onion greens, chopped (chives)
1  red bell pepper seeded, de-stemmed, diced
2  cups Organic* vine tomatoes, diced
1  tbsp. paprika
1  pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2  large bunch of fresh cilantro minced, set some aside for garnish
1  14oz. can of Organic* coconut milk

Preparation

1.  Cut fish into large chunks as in picture, and lay into a good sized shallow dish. Coat the fish pieces with the minced garlic and lime juice, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and let it all sit in the fridge while you gather the rest of your ingredients.



2.  Chop your veggies as stated in ingredients list, and gather the rest of your ingredients.



3.   In a large pan with a cover, coat the bottom with 2 tbsp. coconut oil on medium heat. Add the chopped onion to pan with coconut oil, and cook until the onions are softened (about 5 mins). Add the bell pepper, paprika, and the red pepper flakes. Add at least a teaspoon of salt and some pepper. You can add more later after tasting the final dish if needed. Cook for a few more minutes, until the bell peppers are softened.



4. Stir in the diced tomatoes and chives. Let that all simmer together for 5 mins uncovered, and then stir in the chopped cilantro (while leaving just a bit aside to use as a garnish later). Remove about half of the veggies just for a minute to another plate, while you lay the fish pieces over the other half in the pan. Then add back the veggies you just put on a plate, and spread them over the fish. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper. Pour can of coconut milk over the fish and veggies.



5. Bring it all to a boil and reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. After it is done cooking, you can take a fork and break up the fish into smaller pieces, it should just flake apart easily if done. Taste, and add more salt or pepper if needed. Garnish with the rest of the cilantro.



And your done! It should be a bit spicy and creamy, and what I love about this is if it is cooked right, the fish is super moist and not too fishy :).

*When I say to use organic ingredients, of course you can switch them out for non-organic, but to keep the integrity of my Naked Tomato blog,  I will always encourage good quality organic ingredients and good for you oils, based upon the research I have done to hopefully inspire cleaner, fresher, tastier eating.

Source of recipe: Adapted from original recipe at Simply Recipes

Cilantro Lime Chicken Rice Bowl with Sriracha

One thing we have missed being out here in Del Rio is quick access to our beloved Chipotle. Thick, juicy, quality chicken breasts so elegantly marinated, fluffy, well seasoned rice, fresh, sweet pico de gallo, lettuce, soft, melty cheese, and the best part...the sour cream and guacamole! Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is, I might need to take a snack break before continuing...

Though I would never in a million years say I could come close to replicating this delectable masterpiece, I think I have come up with a dish that may fill the void for now :). My husband is the major Chipotle lover in this home. He actually did the Chipotle road trip up to the original in Colorado simply to try a Chipotle burrito from it's original source. He's dedicated! If this bowl is made right, you might get the same reaction as he did..which is really nothing more than a groan, followed by a yummy dance (yes this full grown man does have a yummy dance) followed by complete silence until every last morsel has been cleaned. The only thing I might change if I'm really inspired one day is to add a corn salsa for a hint more sweetness. With all the Sriracha we drizzled on top, it hits the mark on spice :).

We love tacos, but the brown rice is a much safer bet, as it's very hard to find tortillas, even corn tortillas, that don't come with bad oils in the ingredients. When I mention bad oils, there are a host of oils in a particular evil family that are toxic to our health. Research is showing more and more that certain oils and toxic ingredients found in nearly ALL of our packaged food products are causing our diabetes, Alzheimer's, infertility, obesity, as well as many cancers. To "loose weight" and increase sales and productivity we have virtually replaced nearly all of the natural sugars and animal fats that some of us STILL believe are the cause of our weight gain with very toxic ingredients that are not only making the weight problem worst, but causing numerous other detrimental problems to our health as well. Chris Kresser is one doctor in particular I have followed a good amount that seems to be right on the money on this issue. I recommend reading this article he wrote to get a better idea of where I am coming from with my passion against toxins found in processed foods. 

Rice Bowl Ingredients

makes enough for about 4 bowls

1  can organic* black beans
2  cups un-cooked brown rice
1  tbsp organic* butter
1  tbsp cilantro
juice from one small lime
salt and pepper to taste
3  whole (hormone and antibiotic free*) chicken breasts, or 1 1/4-1/2 lbs
2  tbsp avocado oil (or high smoke point oil, avocado oil is the healthiest option I have found to remain stable at high
    temperatures, and the flavor tastes great with the dish.)

Marinade Ingredients

2  tbsp lime juice
3  tbsp avocado oil
1  garlic clove
1/2  tsp salt
1/2  tsp ground cumin
1/2  tsp chili powder 
1/2  serrano pepper, seeded and minced
1/4  cup chopped cilantro

Extras

1  cup shredded organic* cheddar cheese (I recommend buying a block of quality cheese and shredding it, good cheese
    makes a huge difference in the overall flavor of the dish, and the anti-caking agents they use in pre-shredded cheese
    changes the texture considerably, plus it's another chemical we probably could do without :)).

2  diced organic* vine tomatoes
4  tbsp diced red onion
Organic* Romain Lettuce cut into ribbons
juice from one small lime
sour cream
My homemade guacamole recipe
Sriracha sauce drizzled on top

Preparation

Take out your 3 whole chicken breasts 8 hours to a day ahead of time, and butterfly them. By that, I mean cut them in half lengthwise to make them thinner so they soak up more marinade, as you see in the picture. Don't pound these ones out, as it will change their texture. 

Then, mix up the ingredients for the marinade into a bowl, and pour the marinade into a ziplock bag. Put the chicken breast halves in the ziplock with the marinade and let sit in the refrigerator for 8 hours to a day before you plan on making it for dinner.

About 40 mins before you plan on eating, make the guacamole, cook up the rice as it is said on the package, and take out your chicken.



Let the pan heat up, and add the avocado oil to the pan. Once the oil heats up, add the chicken to the pan, you should hear it sizzle if it's hot enough, and make sure there is a bit of space around each one, in other words, don't crowd the pan. Refrain from moving or flipping the chicken at all until it has remained on one side for about 2-3 mins so you get a nice sear before flipping it. After flipping, cook another 2-3 mins on the other side until you get a nice sear on that side as well. Remove chicken from pan when finished to a plate, and cover with foil until the rest is finished.

When rice finishes cooking, add a tablespoon of butter, and let it melt in the rice. Add the two tablespoons cilantro, and juice from one lime to the rice as well, and season rice with salt and pepper to taste. When I say to taste, I mean just sprinkle a bit, and actually taste it. Keep adding more until it doesn't taste bland, because if your rice tastes bland, the whole bowl will. Everyone has a different taste for how much salt they like in their food, so I don't always give exact measurements for salt.



To put the bowl together, put a fourth of the rice in the bottom of each bowl, add a fourth of the beans in each of the four bowls,  drizzle shredded cheese on top of the beans so it melts, add a fourth each of the diced tomato to each of the bowls, add a tablespoon each of the red onion, sprinkle a generous portion of the lettuce ribbons, and squeeze a quarter each of the lime in each of the bowls on top of the lettuce. Then, slice the chicken breasts horizontally, and lay a generous helping of chicken in each bowl, top with a large spoonful of guacamole, and a spoonful of sour cream, then drizzle a good sized amount of Sriracha sauce over the whole thing. My husband and I like it with a good amount of spice, so we usually keep adding sriracha as we eat. Chipotle lovers, this meal is for you :). Soooo good!

*When I say to use organic ingredients, of course you can switch them out for non-organic, but to keep the integrity of my Naked Tomato blog,  I will always encourage good quality organic ingredients and good for you oils, based upon the research I have done to hopefully inspire cleaner, fresher, tastier eating.

Source of chicken marinade recipe: Simply Recipes

Fancy Guacamole

When I think of good guacamole, I think of endless chips and guac at the swim up bars during an all inclusive resort trip to Cancun with my best friend, summer of 2004. I ate so much guac that trip, I'm sure my sweat began to smell of Serrano Peppers and Cilantro. Fast farward a few years to my honeymoon trip with my husband November 2010, and we made new memories together with guacamole at a resort in Jose de Cabo during the swim up bar's 3pm happy hour we were sure to attend every afternoon.

What made their guac so good compared to the stuff you buy in stores? I'm no gaucamole expert, but I have a feeling those resorts in mexico didn't buy pre-made gauc off the shelf at the supermarket, I bet you they used all fresh ingredients, very ripe, local, avocados, and they made it on the spot. 

I may start to sound like a broken record, but I am convinced after taking the real food challenge, really good food comes from organic, ripe, quality ingredients. It doesn't matter how skilled someone is in the kitchen, if the ingredients aren't quality, food just won't have the impact on you that it could. About 6 months ago, I chose to completely cut out all processed ingredients for 30 days (the original challenge is for 100 days), which forced me to cook ALL my meals from scratch, and I realized how much better my meals were tasting, and how much more energy I had. Not to mention, my skin really cleared up, I noticed I was sleeping better, shrinking my waistline, and focusing so much easier...even though I was cooking with more butter, and hadn't cut down on quality cheese, red meats, or organic chocolate :). This experience really opened my eyes to how satisfying of an experience eating is when calorie counting is thrown out the window, and food is eaten in it's natural state, the way God intended it to be eaten!

Talk about satisfying, guacamole has become kind of a staple in our house. We make tacos and fajitas quite frequently, and good guacamole from scratch can really transform a meal! Not to mention, it is a very nutritious snack :). So, I know it takes a few more minutes, but I can assure you, if you take the time on this recipe, you will not regret it! In fact, if the only problem is that it ends up being gone in less time than it took you to make it...than I'm sure it won't be your worst problem ;).

Sooo,  first of all, gather your ingredients. Here in Del Rio, I can't always buy all my produce organically, because it's just not as available as it was in California, and when it is available, it is soooo expensive! So, I try to buy MOST of my produce organic, but I don't worry about buying the items organic that are on the clean 15 list.

Once I gather my ingredients, I scoop the avocado out from the skin into a bowl, and save the pit if I'm not going to eat it right away (keeping the pit in with the guac will help keep it from browning). Then, I dice up the red onion, and tomato, the smaller the better if you don't like your guac too chunky. I also minced the cilantro, garlic, and deseeded and minced the Serrano Pepper. I would throw the seeds away (adding the seeds will make it very very spicy, and I like mine more mild with just a bit of a kick).

Add the red onion, tomato, cilantro, Serrano Pepper, and garlic to the bowl of avocado. Then squeeze the juice from a quarter of a lime into the mixture, and add sea salt to taste. There you have it! A wonderful crowd pleaser that will never let you down :).

Fancy Guacamole for Two

Ingredients

1   large, very ripe but not brown avocado.

1/2   tomato from the vine (preferably organic) diced

2 tbsp   minced red onion

2 tbsp   minced cilantro

1   large garlic clove, or 2 small ones

1/2   Serrano Pepper, deseeded and minced

1/4    of a lime cut into a wedge for juice

Sea Salt to taste

Preparation

Cut the avocado in half and scoop out the meat of the avocado into a bowl. Add the diced tomato, minced red onion, minced cilantro, minced garlic, and minced and deseeded Serrano Pepper to the avocado, as well as the juice from 1/4 of a lime. Stir mixture, and add sea salt to taste. Enjoy!

Source: recipe adapted from Naturally Ella

Thai Coconut-Curried Salmon with Watercress

This salmon recipe is a stress-relieving brain food for the sweet tooth. "Sweet tooth?" you say, "that looks way too healthy for my sweet tooth." Wrong! Ask anyone in my family, and they will tell you I have a sweet tooth. This cancer fighting brian food is no doubt healthy, but it also packs a punch in sweetness, flavor, and creaminess! As well as a whole host of other things, Salmon is an excellent choice for brain function, if it's wild caught (farmed Salmon may include residues of veterinary medicines, and other things your body doesn't need). The coconut milk found in the broth also aids the brain by helping to ward off Alzheimer's, as well as being an immunity booster, and watercress (a vegetable I never thought to try until I stumbled across this recipe), is similarly an excellent immunity booster  and helps fight against certain cancers. If you want to know more about specific foods and how they affect certain aspects of your health, the book Healing Foods, published by DK in 2013, is a wonderful resource. 

To preface, I am not a doctor, I am just a girl that has a huge interest and does lots of research on the topic of food to take responsibility for my own health. To read more about my story, feel free to visit My Story page to hear more about how I became so stoked about local farm fresh and organic ingredients vs. genetically modified and processed foods. The exciting thing about this blog is, you will never find food made with ingredients you can't understand, and I will always try to break down the steps for you to make it as easy to follow as possible. Also, because of my love of food and eating, I will only include recipes I have made several times, and each time they have brought both my husband and I immense joy.

Isn't it so exciting looking at, smelling, and tasting real, fresh, organic ingredients?! I mention God a lot, because he is my rock, and because like putting sand in a gas tank, if one introduces foods to the body that were not designed for humans to begin with, I fully believe the body will stop functioning the way it was naturally intended to function. Based on what I have read and personally experienced throughout my life, I have come to the conclusion that  this is why Childhood Obesity, Diabetes, Alzheimer's and many other diseases are on the rise... from weird oils and processed sugars we wouldn't be comfortable scooping up and spreading on our toast. Can I hear an amen? I'm sorry, but I don't fully know everything about genetically modified soybean oil and high fructose corn syrup, but if you handed me a jar of it, there's no way that thing is going anywhere near my toast...so why would I eat it in anything else??  I know many of you are fed up with being fooled by food that isn't actually food, so if you are, this recipe is for you... and here's how you make it:

I know you may be confused as to why there is a can in this pile of ingredients after my super long speech, but It is nothing other than pure Organic Coconut Milk (filled with heart healthy fats, contrary to past popular belief), and the jar is pure Clam Juice. So, to start with, I learned once when I took a culinary arts course during my senior year of high school, that the most important thing in cooking is to gather your "mise en place." The "mis en who?" it's just a french cooking phrase for  "pile of pre-measured ingredients."  Gathering and measuring out your ingredients ahead of time, as well as cleaning as you go (which I have still yet to master :)), makes cooking much easier and much more enjoyable, as you aren't scrambling about while the food is burning, trying to look for utensils or chop produce while your water is bubbling over.

After everything is diced and chopped, heat the coconut oil on medium-high heat. Add the onion and curry powder; saute 4 minutes. Add the next 7 ingredients (coconut milk through clam juice) scraping off the the spices and onion on the bottom of the pan as you stir. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes.

Add fish evenly spaced throughout; cover and cook 4 minutes.

While the fish is cooking, take your bunch of watercress, holding the top of the bunch, chop off the bottom half with all of the stems. The stems are fine to eat, I am just a major texture person, and too many stems get too stringy for me. 

 After the fish has cooked for 4 minutes, sprinkle the watercress tops with all of the beautiful leaves over the top of the fish; cover and cook 4 more minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Voila! The first time I served this, I served it over rice...as it isn't a soup, it's more just fish floating in a flavorful broth, so I thought I should serve it on top of rice as I would a salmon fillet...that was a bad idea. The rice soaked up all the flavor, and it wasn't as sweet and creamy. Serve it in a bowl all together like a soup as you see here, and add a healthy starchy carb on the side, such as organic bread with a dollop of butter, or sweet potato to leave you completely satisfied.

Ingredients

2  teaspoons Organic Coconut Oil (non-organic may be partially hydrogenated; Coconut oil is
    much healthier than vegetable/canola oil, and tastes great with this recipe).
1  cup sliced onion
2  teaspoons curry powder
1  cup organic coconut milk (I used mine from a can, and it needed to be stirred).
2  tablespoons brown cane sugar
1  tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
1  tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/2 teaspoon chile sauce with garlic
1  (8 oz.) bottle clam juice
1  (1 lb.) salmon fillet, skinned, and cut into 3/4 in. cubes
1  bunch trimmed watercress, about 3 cups worth

Preparation

Heat coconut oil  in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and curry powder; saute 4 minutes. Add coconut milk and the next 7 ingredients (coconut milk through clam juice). Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes. Add fish; cover and cook 4 minutes. Arrange watercress evenly over fish; cover and cook 4 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork

Recipe adapted from Thai Coconut-Curried Salmon with Greens, found on My Recipes

Day 7 and 8 of our Italian Excursion: Rome

I can't believe the day has come that I finally finish posting all of my pictures from our Italian Vacation back in December. It took much more work than expected getting my new blog up, editing, and posting all of our Italy pictures, but the work was well worth it, as I will always be reminded of the experiences we had during such an exciting time in our lives.

For the final part of our Journey we ended up in Rome visiting the colosseum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica, all of which we saw in one very full, very exhausting, but memorable last day. For those of you wanting to travel to Rome as well, I would recommend splitting them up and doing the Colosseum and ancient ruins in one day, and the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica in a second...but they can definitely be done in two days comfortably. We tried squishing a lot into a week, and it ended up working out because we came during the off season, and we didn't have to fight off as many crowds. 

Our first stop was the Colosseum. We made sure to get there early in the morning to allow for St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel later in the afternoon. To be honest, I never did very well in my history classes growing up, but if we could have come here to see all of this, I would have payed much more attention! I knew violence happened in the Colloseum, but I wasn't aware of the extent of it. It was so chilling and real being surrounded by the original stone walls, some of the original staircases, and the archways people would sit in to watch the atrocities that played out. We got the audio guide to try and get some more of the history of each section, which I highly recommend! It was nice because you can choose to go at your own pace, and skip around to hear what you want to...plus we were pretty short on time.

One of the original ancient archways

Some of the original ancient writing in stone, I'm not quite sure what it says, but it was neat to look at!

It was so eerie seeing all the corridors that they used to keep the animals used to fight criminals and such for entertainment. Apparently they somehow lifted them up from underneath.

The Arch of Constantine

Ancient Ruins: The Roman Financial District - Many of the old original buildings from the center of commerce during the ancient
Roman Empire have been preserved.

St. Peter's Basilica - The line was hours long, so we paid for a private tour, we thought it was worth it because we only had a day to see everything.

The Famous Stefaneschi Tryptich by Giotto di Bondone- I took pictures of many other famous paintings, but already had so many pictures to choose from, I just included the one on my blog :). After all my art history classes in college, they were really neat to see.

St. Peter's Basilica

The Basilica was just lined with statues like these, I can't quite tell you which one this is, but I wanted to capture a few at least to get an idea of how
neat they were!

I was shocked at the size of the Basilica, we would have surely been lost without the tour guide, and all the ceilings were as ornate as this one!

The Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter - I remember studying this door in Art History and remember the tremendous amount of work and resources it took

The front of the main chapel - St. Peter's Basilica

The ornate details inside were just astounding!

Day 6 of our Italian Excursion: Napoli

Two months later, and I'm finally getting to post day six of our trip to Italy. Whew, life has picked up here on base in Del Rio, and life is by no means boring, but it hasn't left much time for editing pictures. The good news is, I'm almost completely finished with them, and ready to make a book. I'm so excited to see the finished product!!

After our Journey out to the Island of Capri from Sorrento, we packed up our luggage, and got back on the train to Rome, making a pit stop halfway through in Naples. The original plan was to stay a night in Naples, but after visiting, I'm rather glad we hadn't, as the city itself has deteriorated greatly in the recent global economic downturn. Unfortunately, in recent years, this great metropolis of grand cuisine, art, and culture has been overrun by the crime, and the economy only continues to decline. Ornate buildings stand like ancient dinosaurs, and exquisite restaurants and museums are tucked away like hidden treasure amidst streets cluttered with trash and overrun by gang violence and shady dealings in narrow alleyways. 

Though I was rather content not staying the night in this chaotic city, I was so glad we stopped to check it out. Naples has so much culture, it's like a whirlwind of sites, smells, and tastes that hit you in the face and knock you over the second you step foot in it's bustling streets. Every nook and cranny had a new experience tucked into it, and I really do wish I could have at least spent another day visiting some of the famous museums here, such as the museum that contains a bulk of the artifacts found during the excavations at Pompeii. 

Our one mission, and our absolute favorite part of visiting Naples was the pizza. If you want to find the best pizza in Italy... or the best pizza in the world for that matter, you will find it here. We opened up our travel guide, and read about this place known as the "Home of Pizza". Apparently this restaurant is where the Margherita Pizza started. I can't even express to you the explosion of flavors in my mouth. Stephen and I took our first bite (with a knife and fork, as it's too thin and saucy to eat with hands), and we immediately looked at one another with the biggest smiles on our faces! What makes a Napoli Margherita Pizza is the wood fired oven it's cooked in, the dough that remains paper thin, soft and stretchy even after it's cooked, sweet tomatoes crushed into a fresh and juicy sauce, globs of fresh mozzerella, and finally topped with fresh basil leaves. The flavors just light up every sensation in my mouth, and are incomparable to any pizza I've tasted anywhere else I've visited in Itally, let alone anything in the states. Buonissimo!

The pizza we had at the "Home of Pizza" in Napoli. It was so dark inside, it was hard to get a picture!

This little hole in the wall restaurant was very rustic to say the least! It was so busy, I have to say the service wasn't the greatest. Order all the wine you want up front, because chances are they are not coming back! Might as well just order a pitcher, because the wine was cheap, and they served it in cups rather than wine glasses, which we thought to be so interesting. In fact, the wine was cheaper than the water!! However, it didn't taste like cheap wine, and one bite of the pizza and you will definitely forgive the service!! After all, you can only do your best as a waiter when the people are literally causing the place to burst at the seams because of it's popularity!

More pizza just lining the streets in hole-in-the-wall eateries all over.

Handmade Pasta hung from rustic walls on almost every corner

Fresh tomatoes practically lined the streets

I had to somehow capture the busyness of the city, the chaotic manner of crossing the dangerous streets, with fast cars intertwined with lots of people, and a serious lack of organization!