Fun in the sun – Amaranth fish tacos with mango sauce

Posted on March 31, 2015 by petitedecadence

It’s already been 8 days since spring officially started, and oddly enough I spent most of my weekend curled up with a book and a glass of wine, reading by the window because there was hardly any sun, and it poured cats and dogs most of saturday and all of sunday. Not that I’m complaining, rainy weather is my favourite kind. In my opinion, summer is a month (or two) too long here in Mexico. But spring is my second favorite. Because spring means seafood, rosé and sunny terraces. And light dresses and a friendly sun, not a scorching-I-feel-menopausic-one. And that’s exactly why I prepared this recipe for the weekend, because it’s the perfect meal to enjoy on this time of the year. It’s fresh, mexican, delicious, and healthy.
I’ve raved about amaranth as a substitute for breading before, right here, and this time I won’t do it again. Instead I’ll rave about the colourful, yummy combination that’s purple cabbage, with avocado, cilantro and different favoured tortillas. But as if all of those together weren’t enough, why not top it off with a scrumptious spicy mango sauce? Still not enough? Then a second, creamy labneh and cilantro dressing will make absolutely everyone happy. You can dress your tacos with either of the sauces, or as one of naughty guests did, mix them both in the same taco! However you eat them, make sure you have plenty of tortillas, because you’ll probably end up having one too many tacos. (As is usually the case with tacos, of any kind)
Recipe after the jump.

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Easily satisfied – Artichoke and spinach grilled cheese sandwich

Posted on November 4, 2013 by petitedecadence

Lately I’ve been sick every other week. I’m used to having a rough winter when it comes to the flu, but this year I started in October! And I’m sick of being sick. But you know what else gets old after your third round of stay in bed the whole weekend? Chicken soup. In spite of all its glorious, warming, nutritious, homey goodness, you can actually find yourself not wanting to see another bowl of the stuff for quite a while. But that doesn’t mean you’re over comfort food. Oh no. That only means that it’s time to up the comfort food. So as soon as I felt strong enough this weekend to get my butt out of the house I went grocery shopping (because that’s what normal people do, trust me) and I ran into some delicious artichoke hearts. All ready and cut up and tasty. Screaming “please turn me into grilled cheese! please!”. And because artichoke heart screams are really hard to ignore, that’s exactly what I did. And because the spinach, jocoque (labneh), olive oil and garlic powder in my house were surely going to protest, I bought a big loaf of garlic bread to put them all together over butter and grill.
Talk about comfort food! Interested? Read more for the recipe. Continue reading →

Do it your way – Spearmint and lime gravlax on labneh and chives

Posted on October 14, 2012 by petitedecadence

You know how people are always telling you how you’ve gotta do things your way and live your own life and be your own man (woman!!) and then down the road you’ll be horribly succesful and get absolutely all that you desire and the world will bow at your feet? Well I’ve been trying to do that all my life and I have yet to see even my very spoiled dog do any bowing. Not even a curtsy, seriously. But I have been doing all the things that I enjoy and bring me peace and satisfaction, and even if its hard at times in the end it’s always rewarding. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it twice; DO WHAT YOU LOVE. I don’t mean to be preachy, but seriously, I think it’s the most important thing in the world! I can only imagine being 70 and looking back…I wonder what I’ll want to tell myself? I’m glad I have all this money in the bank or…I’m glad I ate gravlax and spent my bucks in riding and cooking and gardening and buying oil paints every time I felt like it? Ok I’ll be frank, I’ll probably want to tell myself both. But I’m sure I’ll get there! Everyone says so right? And we all know that if everyone says so then it must be true. And plus, even Frank Sinatra sang about it. So that’s what I tell myself every time I go to the market and I see a huge salmon fillet, just waiting to be played with. And I did play my way; I put a little twist on the classic Nordic dish. I made my gravlax with loads and loads of spearmint (’cause its so much milder than dill) and lime rinds, because those three together even when non-gravlaxed make a great combo, imho. And when you put it over pumpernickel and a deliciously creamy labneh sauce, (also called jocoque, aka strained yoghurt) rich in chives and a drop of lime on top…..well you’ll certainly be glad you’re doing it your way. Don’t lie, you want to read more for the recipe, right?

(Note: you could also substitute the labneh for homemade cheese!)

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