Dr. Awesome Cooks

Honey Mustard - Equal parts honey and Dijon mustard.

Honey Balsamic - Equal parts honey and balsamic vinegar, plus some chopped fresh dill.

These are standards in my fridge.

This was yummy! And part of a feast that I have no idea why I made so much food. I made this, grilled chicken, grilled tamarind shrimp, potato salad, marinated mushrooms and roasted corn. I CLEARLY needed to cook today. Anywho this baby eggplant was an experiment that went very VERY well.

5-8 baby eggplants sliced with a slit down the middle

2 tomatoes cut into 1/8 wedges

8 tablespoons of ricotta (goat cheese works too)

1/2 teaspoon Italian herbs

salt and fresh cracked pepper

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

2 sprigs of fresh dill

Olive oil for drizzling

Preheat oven to 425

Rub a cookie sheet down with olive oil and place tomatoes and eggplant on sheet. Eggplant should be slice side up (they won’t open very well while cold, and they don’t need pre-salting while this young).

Drizzle olive oil generously over veggies. Dust with salt and pepper. Arrange dill on the sheet.

Bake 20 minutes on 425, 5 on broil.

While this is baking mix ricotta, salt, pepper and dry herbs until well blended. In another bowl mix balsamic vinegar and honey (this is great on salad so I just make a BUNCH in a jar and leave it in the fridge).

When Vegetables are done, remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes.

Stuff with one spoonfull of ricotta mixture into each eggplant. Drizzle all vegetables with balsamic honey.

Enjoy.

1 cup corn starch

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup club soda or gluten free beer

1/2 cup white rice flour for dredging

oil for frying

4 thinly sliced Russet potatoes

1 1/2 lbs cod, haddock or tilapia.

Heat oven to 200 with a baking sheet inside to keep you items warm as you go.

Heat oil to 360 (you don’t need a thermometer, it’s med-high heat and one slice of potato should fry to completion in about 3 minutes)

In a bowl mix the corn starch, club soda, baking powder, salt, pepper and egg and set aside.

Fry the potatoes and drain. When done place in the oven.

Dredge (patted dry) fish in the rice flour then add to corn starch mixture. Fry fish until golden and flaky about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with a coarse salt like kosher salt or sea salt.

This was an email I got from my uncle for my birthday.

If you make them prettier than I did you might even impress a date.

2 corn tortillas

2 eggs

5 tablespoons of milk

1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar

2 slices thick smoked turkey

2 tablespoons of salsa

salt and pepper

oil

• Layer your tortillas with smoked turkey and half the cheese.
• Blend the eggs, milk, salt and pepper and heat a pan to scramble them in.
• In about a tablespoon of oil well heated, pour in eggs and start stirring. When the bottom just starts to stick add the rest of the cheese. To scramble them soft continuously stir the eggs, to scramble them hard, stir sporadically.
• At the same time put the tortillas and turkey in the microwave and heat for about 30 seconds or until cheese is melted (or toaster oven).
• When eggs are done place on top of tortillas and top with a tablespoon of your favorite salsa on each.

This was pretty good and pretty filling for breakfast. Also, very fast.

1/2 chicken cut into pieces

1 tablespoon adobo seasoning (with cumin my fav)

1 tablespoon Jamaican yellow curry

1/2 thinly sliced white onion

3 tablespoons chopped garlic

3 tablespoons chopped ginger

1 tablespoon achiote oil

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 black cardamom pods

1 pinch of cumin seeds

1/4 cup chunky peanut butter

5 cups of water

rice to serve

First brown the onion, garlic and ginger in olive oil, then add in chicken until cooked on the outside.

Add in water.

Add in everything else except peanut butter.

Simmer on med heat for about an hour (or until chicken is very tender).

Add in peanut butter and mix until evenly distributed.

Serve over rice.

I feel like I almost died for this soup today. When I put it in the blender the lid came off and boiling hot soup went everywhere. I only really scalded my arm but that’s because an episode of Fairly Oddparents really taught me a valuable lesson.

“Never fry bacon with your shirt off.” Thanks Cosmo. Because of this line I decided some time ago I would always, no matter how hot, cook with a hoodie (or some loose fitting long sleeves. Life saving.

Anywho the soup came out REALLY good.

1 lb frozen spinach

8oz package of marscapone at room temp

1 chopped white onion

1 chopped garlic clove

3 tablespoons butter

3 cups of water

1 tablespoon vegetable or chicken bouillon

In a saucepan melt the butter and wilt the onion and garlic. Add in spinach and heat until it is completely thawed. When warm add in water and on medium heat cook for 10 minutes.

Transfer this to a blender (with the lid TIGHT) and blend until smooth. Return to pan and add in cheese. Stir until smooth.

Serve with gluten free croutons for a change in texture.

This is best on a slaw but works good with thick lettuce like iceberg too.

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup sweet chili sauce

Mix well.

In a slaw put on shredded cabbage/carrot mixture for at least one hour to let the vinegar cook the vegetables a bit. Other lettuce serve immediately.

**Trader Joes has a broccoli slaw mix, soooo good with this.

2 tuna steaks

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons capers

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

4 tablespoons butter

olive oil

Cook the tuna in the olive oil, about 3 minutes on both sides (or until done in the middle) and set aside.

In the same pan melt the butter and add garlic. Lightly brown.

Add capers and lemon juice until warm and serve over fish.

I served this with roasted vegetables and brown rice.

1 whole chicken cut into quarters
1 can diced tomato
1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans
3 tablespoons annatto oil
3 tablespoons tahini paste
2 tablespoons smokey spice rub (i used a chipotle one from Nola)
Preheat oven to 375

Start by mixing the oil, tahini and seasoning in a large bowl until evenly mixed.

Add in tomatoes and beans and mix again.
Add in chicken and evenly coat with seasoning.
Place chicken in baking dish then surround it with tomato and bean mix.
Cover with foil and bake 1 hour.

Serve with rice.

I killed this last night for it to be made from random ingredients in my kitchen.