Folks and Fish Tacos

Rachel here.

There are a million fabulous things about having my parents visit our little house here in California. There are outings endeavored as a multigenerational unit and breaks given to John and me, along with lots of playing and giggling and book reading with M. I feel incredibly fortunate to be friends with my parents as an adult and to have entered into a partnership with a person who equally enjoys their company. One of the highlights of each of their visits for me are the leisurely dinners at our dining room table after M has gone to bed. My mom and dad and John and I eat delicious food, share some drinks and dessert and settle into interesting (and often hilarious) conversations. Every night, I brim with warmth and delight in getting to sit back with three of the most important people in my life at once. These evenings we've forged together over the past year are some of my favorite moments of my entire life.




One of the meals we made while my folks were in town was fish tacos. John and I love fish tacos and we used to make them all the time. For some reason, they slipped out of our repertoire for a while, though. They're back, for sure, and better than ever.

We don't have a super precise method for making fish tacos, so I'm just going to detail what we did in paragraph form instead of the traditional recipe format we feature here. We bought 1 1/2 pounds of tilapia to feed four adults. John grilled the tilapia and corn on the cob (which we ate separately). We warmed corn tortillas in the oven and these served as the base for the tacos. The fish was placed on top of the tortilla and then black beans were placed on top (due to a shortage of time these were canned black beans which we rinsed very well before simmering them in chicken stock with bay leaves, diced onion and chile powder) . On top of the beans we scooped cabbage that had marinated in lime juice, sugar, vinegar and salt (John prepped the cabbage first and by the time we were serving everything up it was tender and flavorful). Completing the taco was a bit of homemade guacamole that had chopped up peach, tomato, and white onion in it along with lime juice, salt, and a few dashes of hot sauce. A wedge of lime was placed on each plate along with an ear of corn and sour cream was offered at the table. DEEEE-LICIOUS!

Soup Anyone?

Lest people think Rachel and I are only obsessed with desserts and sugar, I thought I'd put up this tasty, easy soup that I made the other night for dinner. I served it with a frittata and life was good all the way around.

Roasted Tomato Black Bean Soup
serves about 6

ingredients
7 tomatoes, cut into quarters
1 large onion, cut into about 6 pieces
3 cloves of garlic, whole
about 2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 15-ounce cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
4-5 cups broth, veggie or chicken (how much depends on how soupy you like your soups)
1-2 teaspoons chili powder
1-2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder

method
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the tomatoes, onion and garlic into a large bowl and toss with the olive oil and salt/pepper. Place on a baking pan and roast for about 30 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and the onions are beginning to brown slightly. Garlic should be soft too.

Meanwhile drain and rinse the beans. When the tomatoes are done, place them in a large saucepan with the beans, spices and broth. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. Then place in the blender in batches and puree. Add a little fresh cilantro if you're so inclined and you're ready to go.

What's your favorite go-to soup for supper?

Dippity Do Dah

Janet here:

Like Rachel, I don't give two hoots about football or the Super Bowl. (See her post here about the event as an excuse to make nachos. Hah!) But others in my family — namely the males — care about such things so I liked to make watching the game a little special. It was a chance to gather together in front of the fire and nosh on some specialty goods (i.e. stuff that wasn't around the house that often the rest of the year like all the Doritos you could ever want and soda, something I rarely bought for our kids.).

Typically we'd have some kind of dip and then make-your-own subs, a favorite of S and G. I can remember going shopping with S and how excited he was as a little boy to pick out the chips and the sub makings. It's really a happy memory for me.

Our dips back in those days were fairly straight-forward because "strange" items like onions or veggies were not popular. Now, I'm happy to report, the palates have grown up with the boys. I made this spicy bean dip over the holidays and it was scarfed up in minutes. It's super easy.

What's your favorite go-to dip for family and friends?

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Spicy Black Bean Dip
makes about 2 cups

ingredients
canola oil
1/2 cup sliced green onions
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons cumin
2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 limes)
2 teaspoons canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
salt to taste
1/2 cup sour cream
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, minced
about 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

method
In a medium pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sauces, and saute until the onions are softened. Add the beans and 1/3 cup water. Simmer until the water evaporates, about 5 minutes. Cool for a few minutes.

In a food processor, process the bean mixture until coarsely mashed. Add the lime juice, chipotle chilies and salt. Puree until smooth.

Add the sour cream, jalapeno and cilantro. Pulse until just incorporated. Season to taste and then serve it up with chips and veggies.

Meatless Mondays: Beans and Corn Anyone?

Janet here: I got this recipe from my friend Betsy, who got it from her friend Julie who got it who knows where. I just love that about recipes — that they're about nourishing your stomach but that they're about nourishing so much more. In this case, I can remember when Betsy made this for me and when she gave me the recipe. It's just one of many shared moments we have together and I love that I can't ever serve this salad without thinking of her.

While not a meal unto itself, you could easily add a green salad, a little bread and maybe some cheese, and have a lovely cold summer dinner for a hot day. Here's hoping you will share this with someone you love. Enjoy!

Corn and Bean Salad
serves a bunch

ingredients
2 cans corn
2 cans black beans, rinsed
1 red pepper, diced
1 red onion, peeled and diced
3 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

for dressing
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
chopped cilantro to taste

method

In a small bowl, mix the dressing ingredients and let sit.

In a large bowl mix the other ingredients. Then add the dressing and toss well. Check seasonings. I often add chili powder or some hot sauce because that's how we roll in our family. Refrigerate. The longer this sits, the better it tastes.

Savvy Sides

Rachel here: So, first, thank you John (my partner) for dutifully holding the bowl of beans in various relations to the overhead light in the kitchen. You were very patient while I attempted to find decent lighting, which I know was difficult because I got caught up doing my homework and started dinner way too late and so by picture time you could hear both of our stomachs screaming "Feed me!". You are a good man for many reasons, this being just one of them.

So, evidently we eat a lot of beans in my house. I hadn't realized this until we started this blog, but after making my second bean-based dish in two weeks, it seems undeniable. We are still transitioning into our new place (oh, it's so nice to cook here!) so when my mom and I decided to do a side dish for this post I immediately decided to make black beans.

Black beans (and beans in general) are wonderful for so many reasons. Firstly, they're quite good for you. You really can't go wrong by incorporating beans into your diet if you don't already eat them regularly. Secondly, they're versatile. With slight variations you can pair beans with just about anything (even ice cream...if you haven't tried red bean ice cream, DO because it's super yummy) and then, if you have leftovers, play around with those beans and pair them with something completely different. And lastly, beans are wonderful because you can buy them dried in bulk and store them in your cupboard and pull them out whenever you are at a loss for what to cook (Personally, I have half a shelf in my *new walk-in pantry* filled with various glass jars filled with various dried beans and labeled for quick access). Rice and beans? That's the breakfast, lunch and dinner of champions in my book. But anyway, I digress a bit.

As I mentioned above, beans are quite versatile. One of the approaches I take to making beans sometimes is to use up partial things in my fridge. In this light, the recipe I am posting below is just a suggestion for how to approach black beans. You can use it as a taste guideline and experiment from there. For instance, though I didn't this time, a bit of citrus juice can be quite nice in beans, as can chopped peppers etc. It all depends on what sort of flavor you're going for (mine have a bit of kick to them). Anyway, what do you do with your beans?

A Little of This, a Little of That Black Beans
serves 6-8 as a side

Ingredients
2 c. dried black beans, sorted and rinsed and soaked in water that has boiled (covered by an inch or so) for an hour and then drained
1/2 T. oregano
3 bay leaves
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt
2 medium tomatoes, diced
cayenne
chili powder

Method
In a large pot, combine your 2 c. of prepared black beans (see ingredient instructions) with 5 cups of liquid (I used a combination of water and leftover beef stock from the French Onion soup I made last weekend). Add all ingredients, including cayenne and chili powder to taste. Simmer for about an hour to an hour and a half until beans are tender and ready to eat. Serve!

Janet here: I just discovered shallots this past year and I am now trying to make up for all those lost decades. So when we decided to do a side dish, I knew mine had to include shallots. The photo really says it all: this dish is only nominally about the string beans; it's really about the shallots with the string beans as a very decided after note.


Anyway, for years I VERY WRONGLY assumed shallots were really just onions so really how important were they to a specific recipe? (I also didn't really think the kind of onion mattered. Clearly I became a wiser woman once I hit 50.) What I was completely oblivious to is their incredibly subtle, slightly sweet taste, and the realization that of course using a shallot will make a recipe entirely different than if you just chop up a yellow onion. So without further ado, my simple side that takes just minutes to whip up.

String Beans with Shallots (although it's really the other way around)
serves 3-4

Ingredients
olive oil to taste
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 pound string beans, washed, ends cut off
3-4 shallots, peeled and diced
salt and pepper to taste

Method
stir fry the string beans and shallots, turning frequently, until the shallots are translucent and the string beans are just cooked. Salt and pepper to taste.