Avocado Tuna Salad

I love tuna salad sandwiches. Lately I have gotten rather picky of what I put in the mix. I must point out this not the average tuna salad it's spectacular! Tuna is a great protein, however the mayo is making it not as healthy as I wanted. By replacing the mayo with avocado. Yes that's right avocado, It adds some "good" fat into the sandwich along with the necessary moisture to bind it all together. I like my tuna salad spicy, but to each his own. So if spicy is not for you then just omit the pepper flakes. I was sceptical at first but it really is yummy! The amount is enough for 5 servings of 1/4 cup each.

Avocado Tuna Salad
12oz. Can of Tuna (Albacore Tuna in water)
1/2 avocado
1/2 tsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. lemon or lime juice
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dill weed
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 TBS red onion diced
1 tsp. minced garlic

 Drain the tuna, get all liquid out. Combine the avocado with olive oil, lemon or lime juice and Dijon mustard, mash it good so it's all creamy! Add everything to the tuna, mix till combined. Wow you just made tuna salad. Now what to put it on? Well going with no carbohydrates put it in a lettuce wrap. Or I toast some 100% whole wheat bread and spread it with more Dijon and pile that tuna on. To make it a tuna melt, put sandwich open-faced under the broiler with a slice of cheese to melt it.

Clam Chowder

To continue with my last post Steak House Chili. It's Clam Chowder time. When I think of Clam Chowder I can only imagine New England Clam Chowder. The stick to your bones thick chowder of my childhood. I know there are some die hard Manhattan Clam Chowder people, but to that I say "That ain't Chowder!" It's more like Manhattan Clam Soup- which is fine and dandy.

 Alright now down to my chowder, it has to have nice chunks of potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, clams and bacon. - Yes Bacon! My recipe calls for canned clams- Sorry to disappoint, but clams here are rather expensive, and since the heaviest part of a clam is the shell. I can't afford to be buying 8 pounds of clams just for 3 1/2 pounds of meat. 

Clam Chowder:

4 Slices Bacon

1 Yellow Onion- diced

3 Stalks Celery - diced

3 Carrots- peeled & diced

3 Medium Potatoes- peeled & diced

2 Cups Stock- Fish, Chicken, or Veggie

48 oz of canned clams drained from juice - SAVE THE JUICE!!

4 oz salted butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups whole milk

1 TBS Dill Weed

1 TBS Red Pepper Flakes

1 TBS Black Pepper

Salt to taste. 

In a large stock pot cook the bacon slices till crispy, take them out and set aside. Add the onion, celery, carrots and potatoes, saute in the bacon fat till the onion is translucent. Add the stock, and reserved clam juice. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down, cover and simmer for 20 min.  In a separate  pan melt the butter, once the butter is melted add the flour. Whisk for 1 min, then  slowly add the milk. Once the milk is Incorporated , let simmer till it is thickened.  Add to the big pot of veggies. Chop up the bacon. Add bacon, clams and spices. Keep on low for 10- 15 stirring so it doesn't burn, or stick to the pan. Serve with nsourdough bread. 

Garlic Lemon Tilapia

In the winter I get a little over whelmed by all the heavy food. Knowing there was some fish hiding in my freezer, I went on a quest to find some for dinner. Surprisingly I found a few options, Salmon, Cod and Tilapia. Tilapia sounded good. I served it with rice mixed with carrots and peas. I didn't season the fish with too much spicy stuff since Luke was also eating it for dinner. But if you wanted to add some kick I will put that as an option in the recipe. It only took about 15 min for a quick and easy dinner. Here we go!

Garlic Lemon Tilapia:
3 tablespoons light olive oil
3 garlic cloves minced
3 Tilapia fillets
1 TBS lemon juice
1 pinch dried oregano
1 pinch dried basil
1 pinch salt and ground black pepper
1 pinch ground coriander
1 pinch dried dill weed
1 pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
Heat the olive oil and garlic in a skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle both sides of the tilapia fillets with lemon juice, oregano, basil, coriander, salt, pepper, dill, and th
e pepper flakes (if using). and lay the fillets in the heated skillet, making sure they don't touch. Sear the fillets for 2 to 4 minutes on each side, until the fish is golden brown on the outside, and opaque and flaky inside.

See didn't I say that was Easy?! Yup that's all folks. 

Now you ask about the rice? Well that one was easy too! 

I started the rice before the Tilapia since it takes longer to make.

Pea and Carrot Rice:

1  1/2 cups uncooked rice- white or brown

3 cups water

1 egg

1 carrot cut in cubes

12 oz peas- canned or frozen

1 clove of garlic - minced

2 TBS Olive oil

2 TBS Soy sauce

1 TBS Siracha- optional for some kick!

To cook the rice: place in a medium pot and add the water, let boil on high- once boiling turn down to a simmer and cover. Cooking time will vary from 10-15 min. It's one once all the water is gone. You can 

always taste it too.

While the rice is cooking prep the carrot and garlic. when the rice is about half way done, start heating a pan with the oil. Once the oil is hot add the garlic and toss around for a few min. Then add the carrot and egg, turn the heat down to low and saute till they are cooked. By this time the rice should be ready. Add the rice to carrot, egg, garlic mixture, then add peas, soy, and siracha (if using)