Tag Archives: summer

Halibut Tacos with Cilantro Lime Crema

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Fresh Halibut is in – and it’s delicious! We suggest serving these fish tacos with Lime Cilantro Coleslaw.

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Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 Tbsp grated orange rind
  • 1 Tbsp grated lime rind
  • 2 Tbsp tequila
  • 1 tsp honey, agave syrup or coconut sugar
  • 2 tsps. warm water
  • 1 lb halibut fillet
  • salt & pepper
  • butter or olive oil for frying
  • 8 corn tortillas

Crema

  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne (optional for added heat)

Directions

  • Combine first 5 ingredients (grated citrus rinds, tequila, sugar, water) and cover halibut
  • Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes
  • Remove halibut and discard marinade
  • Heat skillet with oil or butter and add halibut
  • Cook for 4 minutes on each side, or until fish flakes easily with fork
  • Break fish into chunks
  • For Cilantro Lime Crema, combine mayo, cilantro, lime juice and spices

Serve with warm tortillas, Lime Cilantro Coleslaw and drizzled with the Crema.

dit-elle-Esther

Perfect Margarita

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So simple, so perfect.. Forget heavy margarita mixes with dye and sugars, this is a basic and made from scratch recipe. This is the best margarita recipe we’ve tried and shared with friends. So far, it’s a winner! Tequila, tart lime juice and sweet triple sec are shaken and chilled to perfection! Paleo? Umm… not really. But some claims tequila as the purest alcohol (it’s made from agave) and if you have to drink something, then go with tequila. Call it paleo’ish and say cheers! 🙂

Great with tortilla chips and guacamole!

Blog perfectmargarita

Ingredients

  • 2 oz. Tequila (like Patron. It’s worth it!)
  • 1 oz. Triple Sec
  • 1 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
  • Ice
  • Salt for glass (optional)

Directions

  • Salt the rims of glasses if desired. To do so, pour salt onto a small plate, rub the rims of the glasses with lime and press them into the salt.
  • Put all ingredients in a shaker with ice
  • Shake up and strain into a glass

 

dit-elle-Esther

Roast Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing

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The days are longer, dinners outside  – I love this time of year and can’t wait for it to get warmer!

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Dressing

  • 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and chopped
  • 2 Tbsp plain yogurt (or coconut milk for dairy free and paleo)
  • 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil

Salad

  • 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
  • 2 cups baby arugula
  • 2 cups chicken from a roast chicken
  • 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
  • 1/2 mango, peeled, pitted and chopped
  • 1/3 cup toasted, chopped cashews
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives (optional)

dit-elle-Esther

Strawberry, Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad

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Celebrate the longer evenings and sunnier days with a hint of summer kind of dinner – spinach salad with strawberries, warm chicken and goat cheese! 🙂

Blog chickenstrawberryspinachsalad

Ingredients

  • Large bunch of spinach (~5 cups, washed & dried)
  • 1 1/2 cups strawberries, sliced
  • 3 oz goat cheese
  • 1-2 cups cooked and shredded or diced chicken (GREAT use of a leftover roast chicken)
  • Dress with vinegar & olive oil, poppy seeds, salt & pepper
  • Slivered almonds (optional)

Directions

  • Toss the spinach and strawberries with the dressing
  • Lightly mix in goat cheese and almonds and chicken
  • Serve immediately – excellent with cold or still warm chicken!

dit-elle-Esther

Simple Island Breakfast

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We just spent a few weeks on the beautiful island of Kauai eating papayas and avocados every day for breakfast. Papaya is very sweet and is beautifully balanced with the tartness of lime juice. Here’s my favorite way to eat and serve papaya – with lime and coconut milk! Aloha! 🙂 Blog papaya1

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Ingredients

  • Fresh papaya (you’ll know it’s ripe when the skin starts to get yellow and the fruit is soft)
  • Fresh squeezed lime
  • Coconut milk (from a can)

Directions

  • Cut papaya in half lengthwise and scoop out and discard seeds
  • With a spoon or knife, carve some papaya chunks from the sides
  • Top with plenty of fresh squeezed lime juice and coconut milk

dit-elle-Esther

Paleo BBQ pork in the crock pot

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BBQ pork is one of the few recipes that does very well in the crock pot. Pair with *polenta (or riced cauliflower for a paleo alternative) and some sautéed spinach or steamed broccoli.

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Ingredients

  • 2 pork loins
  • 1 onion, sliced in rings
  • 2 c ketchup (or contents of a 24 oz bottle) – HFCS/sugar free
  • 1/2 warm water
  • 1/4 c apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp coconut sugar or brown sugar (optional and omit if paleo)
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
  • 1 tsp Tabasco sauce (optional)
  • salt as needed

Directions: place meat into the stoneware with onion rings. Stir ketchup, warm water, vinegar, sugar, and sauces. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat shreds easily with fork.

*Nothing says comfort food like polenta! Especially with parmesan cheese. So not paleo, but so yummy. Polenta is super easy to make. 1 cup polenta to 3-4 cups water, a dash of salt, bring to boil, constantly stirring, simmer for 20-30 minutes or so. At end whisk in some olive oil or butter and parmesan cheese. Serve hot.

Love BBQ pork and want more recipes to try? Lauren posted an awesome looking Pulled Pork Sandwiches recipe as well!

Super mom tip: You guessed it – BBQ pork freezes well. Polenta does NOT though! 🙂

dit-elle-Esther

Tomato salad

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It’s tomato season in Seattle.. the late summer sun is warm and ripening the tomatoes on the vine. Fresh, warm tomatoes drizzled with olive oil.. the taste and smell is reminiscent of an Indian summer. I used heirloom tomatoes in this salad, but any good ripe tomato variety would work. Love tomato season!IMG_6073

A most delicious tomato salad is perhaps  the simplest one..

Ingredients

  • Tomatoes, sliced
  • Olive oil
  • Salt & pepper
  • Basil for garnish

Directions

  • Arrange tomato slices on a plate
  • Drizzle with olive oil
  • Sprinkle with salt & pepper
  • Serve at room temperaturetomatosdit-elle-Esther

Pink, Blue and Turquoise oh my!

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blog Pink Tee Gap Skinny-1

This is my basic ‘mom uniform’. Jeans & tee-shirt & flip-flops. Black/gray/navy hues are my general go-to colors, but I’ve been trying to add some “bright” to that. Can’t get much brighter than punch pink and turquoise beads!

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A friend gave me the chew-beads when Anders was born. It’s one of those things I would never have bought for myself, but as it turned out WE love them, Anders loves them and Ava loves them!

In fact, I love them so much that I wore them out with girlfriends one evening. We were at a restaurant and the waitress (a clearly hip gal in her early 20s – and I feel totally old writing that! haha!) asked where I got the beads? I told her they were chewbeads and any maternity/baby clothes retailer carried them.. She looked at me in horror, like she wished she hadn’t asked. “They totally work even without a kid attached to them…” I tried. But the conversation was over, LOL. Seriously though – they are great, add a splash of color to any outfit! 🙂blog Pink Tee Gap Skinny-5On me…

Jeans- Basic GAP skinnies
Top- GAP, looks like this one on Amazon.com
Necklace- Chewbeads
dit-elle-Esther

Caprese salad

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BlogCapreseSaladNothing says summer like a Caprese salad. Tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella cheese – so simple, yet so delicious!

Ingredients

  • Tomatoes
  • Fresh mozzarella cheese (look for it in a container with liquid, usually comes as a ball, in various sizes)
  • Basil
  • Olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

  • Wash & dry basil leaves
  • Slice tomatoes and mozzarella
  • Arrange everything on plate and drizzle with olive oil and vinegar
  • Top with salt & pepper

Super mom tip: make ahead of time by arranging cheese/tomato/basil on plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. Then drizzle dit-elle-Estherw/olive oil and balsamic and voila!