Pan seared Lemon Garlic tuna steaks

Finally the 3rd recipe for my Saturday night dinner special...the page 3/3 .

I have never missed having fresh seafood so much before. probably because I was always at places which had access to fresh seafood and a variety of it. After moving to here, the one thing which is "sea food" for us is pretty much Salmon and shrimp. But the other day I got Tuna steaks at good prize.

So to go with the incredible tuna steaks, I made honey glazed mint tarragon carrots and pistachio basil pesto spaghetti. Scroll down to get to my other recipes.

Pan seared Lemon Garlic Tuna Steaks

Pan seared tuna steaks

Ingredients:

1. 4 tuna steaks
2. 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
3. 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
4. 1 teaspoon thyme
5. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
6. 1/2 teaspoon pepper or lemon pepper
7. 2 tablespoons oil 

Mix all the ingredients from 2-7. Lay the tuna steaks in a plate and rub the marinade on the fish on both side . Set it aside for 30-50 minutes. 

Heat a iron skillet and sear the fish covered for 6 minutes on each side. Sear on each of the "sides" fish the steaks would "stand" on that side for 1 minute each. Enjoy

Honey glazed mint tarragon carrots
Pistachio basil pesto spaghetti

Honey Glazed Mint Tarragon Carrots

This is the continuation of my Saturday night spectacular dinner plate.

Glazed carrots are one of the most delicious and easy and healthy side dishes you could make.
Today, instead of making them with regular  1 color carrots, I got the pack of the tri-color organic carrots. And lucky me, there were actually 4 colors of carrots in this pack. Orange, Purple, off white and golden yellow colored.

4 colored carrots

Honey Glazed mint tarragon carrots

Honey Glazed Mint Tarragon Carrots

Ingredients

1. 4 medium or 3 large carrots trimmed and washed and cut into coins
2. 1 tablespoon butter
3. 2 tablespoons honey
4. 1 heaped tablespoon fresh tarragon chopped
5. 1 teaspoon dried mint (or 1 heaped tablespoons fresh mint chopped)
6. 1/3 teaspoon salt
7. 1 cup water

Lay the carrot coins in a sauce pan and add all the ingredients except the fresh herbs. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the carrots become soft. Let the liquid become thick and glace/coat the carrots. Add the fresh herbs and serve

Here is a different way of making glazed carrots

Pistachio Basil Pesto Spaghetti

I got these great looking Tuna steaks from my super market the other day. I wasn't sure what to serve them with. So here is my incredible Saturday night dinner menu:

Pistachio Basil Pesto Vegetable spaghetti
Pan seared lemon garlic Tuna steaks
Honey glazed Tarragon 4 color carrots

Pistachio Basil Pesto Vegetable Spaghetti

Pistachio Basic Pesto

Ingredients:

1. 1/3 cup roasted pistachios
2. juice from 1/2 a fresh lemon
3. 1.5 cups fresh basil
4. 1/2 large avocado
5. 1/2 teaspoon salt
6. 2 large or 4 small garlic pods
7. 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
8. 8 oz spaghetti cooked according to package directions ( I used vegetable spaghetti)

Grind all the ingredients from 1-7 into a smooth paste. Mix it up with the spaghetti after draining it. Enjoy

Thai Chicken Watercress soup

The other day at my award ceremony...that's right I got the awards for "The Best in the Field"...anyway at the award ceremony I was seated next to a person whose father and grand mother owned restaurants in Mexico. In the course of talking I mentioned to him that I am always looking for ingredients which are high in Iron and he mention "Watercress" has a ton of Iron...turned out he was not correct.

But anyway when I was looking at watercress's nutrition turns out it has a pretty good amount of Vitamin C...which is what I need right now as my little one was generous enough to share his cold with me. So instead of making my standard chicken soup  I made this yummy coconut based soup with watercress  in it...

Needless to say I had to go shopping first...stopping at Sprouts for Watercress, Thai red curry paste, coconut milk and Onion pockets with Cheese breads for dipping in the soup. It was a great soup.

Thia Chicken WaterCress Soup (Coconut based Chicken soup)

Thai Chicken Watercress soup

Ingredients:

1. 1 chicken breast cooked and shredded or 1 12.5 oz can chicken breast
2. 1 8 oz mushroom sliced
3. 1 chicken bouillion
4. 3 cups water
5.  1 package water cress chopped into 1.5 to 2 inches
6.  1/2 tablespoon olive oil
7.  1 small onion sliced into 1/2 circles
8.  1 can light coconut milk
9. 2 tablespoons Thai red chilli paste or less (according to your spice levels)
10. 1 heaped teaspoon finely chopped garlic
11. 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
12. 1 tablespoon or more fresh squeezed lemon juice

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions and mushrooms for 5 minutes. Add garlic and red chilli paste and fry for 2 more minutes. Add chicken bouillon and coconut milk on low flame bring it to a boil. Add chicken water and watercress and let boil for 5 more minutes. Add the lemon pepper and lemon juice and enjoy hot with bread

Chicken Quinoa Rice

All kinds of grains are getting popular these days. Quinoa is one of them. But you need to know how to cook it else it will taste bitter. The quinoa and rice is one of the sachet foods you can get at Costco these days.
It is so easy to make, that you do not need to buy a prepared packet. You can make it hot and fresh in less than 30 minutes.

Chicken Quinoa Rice

Chicken Quinoa Rice

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup each of quinoa, white rice rinsed under cold running water
2. 2-3 cups rotisserie chicken shredded or 2 cans chicken breasts
3. 1 chicken bouillion

Check how long your rice and quinoa will cook. My rice takes 20 minutes and quinoa 15 minutes to cook. So I made them in the same pot.

In a pan add the rice and 2 cups water and cook for 5 minutes. Add 2 more cups of water and quinoa and cook for 15 more minutes along with the chicken bouillon. Add the chicken and stir to combine. Cover and simmer on very low flame for 5 more minutes. Enjoy

You can add any veggies you want to this pot in the last 10 minutes.

Healthy clam chowder

The first time I had clam chowder in a bread bowl, I had no idea how it would taste. It was in the farmers market in Los Angeles. It was like a warm hug from inside. It was great. But of course clam chowder is quite calorific. And if you try to use less of the  butter, it doesn't taste as good.

The version I made of the clam chowder today, it has a ton of vegetables and it is sooooo super delicious. And on a cold night like tonight, there is nothing better for dinner

Healthy Clam Chowder (New England style Clam Chowder with veggies)

Healthy Clam Chowder

Ingredients:

1. 2 cans minced clams or substitute 1 can with tuna in water
2. 1/2 cup each of chopped onions, chopped carrots, chopped mushrooms, thinly sliced spinach, chopped broccoli...try to cut all the vegetable to be of same size
3. 2 medium small potatoes peeled and diced and microwaved covered for 4 minutes (stir mid way...be very careful)
4. 1 teaspoon each of salt, thyme, minced garlic
5. 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
6. 2 tablespoons olive oil
7. 2 tablespoons butter
8. 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
9. 3 cups milk and 2-3 cups water...hot

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the oil and fry the onions till soft. Add the vegetables one after the other and cook on medium heat for 7-8 minutes. Take it of the pan and set aside.

In the same pan melt the butter and fry the garlic for a minute. Add the flour and continuously stir for 5 minutes. Add the milk and stir to combine. Add salt, thyme and pepper and add all the vegetables along with potatoes, clam and fish. Stir well. Add the water depending on how thick you want the soup to be. Enjoy hot with crusty bread

Here is another versions of Clam Chowder

Blueberry cheese pancake balls

Long time ago I got a pan which is very popular for making Danish puff pastries. What many people do not know is, this dish is also popular for making Indian  dishes. So, anyway, I have made this breakfast balls...pancake balls before but I never b-logged it. So here it is. Eaten warm with coffee these are the most delicious pancake balls

Blueberry cheese pancake balls 

                    Blueberry Cheesecake Pancake balls
Ingredients:

1. 2 cups Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake mix
2. Philadelphia cream cheese cut into 3/4 cm cubes
3. blueberries
4. sugar
5. butter
6. maple syrup or powdered sugar for serving

Roll the cheese cake cubes in a tablespoon of sugar and set aside

Mix the pancake mix as directed. Heat the Danish puff pastry pan. Spray with nonstick spray. Add a tablespoon of batter to each hole. Cover and cook for 60-90 seconds. Turn half way the batter and add a cheese cube and blueberry to each hole and turn completely. Add little cubes to butter to all holes. Cook for 60-90 seconds. Serve hot/warm with maple syrup or powdered sugar