Mahi-Mahi Soft Tacos

I'm really rested this morning for a change. I helps that I fell asleep on the couch at 7:30 just after dinner. I woke up at 11 and went to bed but otherwise slept straight through until just after 6 a.m. I feel great.

Last night's dinner was actually just an egg sandwich. It's all I could handle before passing out. BUT I made these Mahi-Mahi Tacos last Friday. There's no real recipe. It's just Southwest Blend Mrs. Dash rubbed on the mahi mahi and seared. I'm usually not a fan of these seasoning blends, but these were really good! The blend would also be good on chicken, beef and roasted vegetables. I'll probably be using it again.

The real standout was the Pico de Gallo. I made it fresh. I've known how to make fresh salsa like this for years, but I rarely spend the time. In fact, fresh salsa was one of the first things I've ever made. In middle school we had Spanish-themed food days in Spanish class and I brought a fresh salsa from a Weight Watchers cookbook my mom had. It was very much like this Pico de Gallo, but Friday's salsa was a lot better. No question.

What was the first thing you remember making in the kitchen?

On the side was organic canned refried black beans which are not bad for you and surprisingly not horrible. I do prefer to make my own, but these work for nights I just don't feel like it.

Cranberry Sauce

The other day I was reading For the Love of Oats and I saw her use fresh cranberries in her oatmeal. I thought, "Wow, that's a great idea." So I bought a bag of cranberries to add to my oats in the morning.

Only, the were oddly crunchy and pretty bitter and in my mind didn't make the best addition to oatmeal.

So, I'm flipping through my November food magazines when I realized, duh, I could make those cranberries into a cranberry sauce, and that would be a great add to my morning oatmeal. Why didn't I think of this before?

So last night at 10 p.m., I was making cranberry sauce. It's simple, and takes only 10 minutes to cook. I used the basic recipe in the November 2006 Bon Appetit, but added a pinch of nutmeg and a healthy dash of cinnamon after it was done simmering. It was spiced just right and was great stirred in to my oats this morning.

And it comes out to only 2 points per 1/4 cup, which is plenty for a bowl of oatmeal. I'm sure you can get more exotic with it. I've seen people suggest adding things like nuts and blueberries to it.

Gnocchi without the potatoes

When I'm out at an Italian restaurant, I order gnocchi when it's available because I have heard the package premade variety have a funkdafied chemical aftertaste, so I've always been scared to try them. Not having a food mill, I've never really attempted making gnocchi at home.

That is until I saw a recipe for ricotta gnocchi with spinach. I found a recipe in Bon Appetit, so I ran it through recipe builder. It came out as 7 pts. That's reasonable, but with baking, and boiling, and etc. etc. etc., the recipe sounded a bit involved. Miraculously I found a Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi on the Weight Watchers site and it was easier. Surprisingly, despite needing a serious case of seasoning—it's very good. I skipped the suggestion to serve with tomato sauce from a can, and made my own adapting a recipe from an America's Test Kitchen episode.

Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi
1 bunch fresh spinach, stems removed
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese

Steam spinach just until wilted. Squeeze in a kitchen towel to remove all of the excess water and finely chop.

Combine spinach, flour, bread crumbs, and both cheese in a bowl. Drop 1 tbsp into flour and roll into an oval. Repeat until 36 gnocchi are formed.

Drop into a pot of boiling, salted water and cook until gnocchi float to the top, about 2 minutes. Makes six servings of six gnocchi.

Marinara Sauce
2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes in juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
2 medium cloves garlic , minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/3 cup dry red wine
3 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 - 2 teaspoons sugar , as needed

Pour tomatoes and juice into strainer set over large bowl. Open tomatoes with hands and remove and discard fibrous cores; let tomatoes drain excess liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove 3/4 cup tomatoes from strainer and set aside. Reserve 2 1/2 cups tomato juice and discard remainder.

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden around edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add tomatoes from strainer and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring every minute, until liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to stick to bottom of pan and brown fond forms around pan edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Add wine and cook until thick and syrupy, about 1 minute. Add reserved tomato juice and bring to simmer; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally and loosening browned bits, until sauce is thick, 8 to 10 minutes.

Transfer sauce to food processor and add reserved tomatoes; process until slightly chunky, about eight 2-second pulses. Return sauce to skillet and add basil and extra-virgin olive oil and salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.