Smoked Marlin Lettuce Boats

Leaves of romaine lettuce filled with carrots, sprouts, cucumbers, basil and smoked marlin.  Served with sticky rice and a mango puree.

When my husband brought home smoked marlin I was intrigued.  I have had smoked salmon and smoked trout and love them but never smoked marlin.  The smoked marlin came in cubes that were chewy and kind of dry but incredibly delicious.  It was very similar to a jerky.  After much thought I decided to use it for lettuce wraps.  When I went to the store the best lettuce I found was romaine so the wraps turned into boats.  I also made a mango puree to drizzle on and add a little sweetness to the boats. Add some sticky rice and that's what's for dinner.  Fresh and filling smoked marlin lettuce boats.

Ingredients:

Romaine lettuce, leaves separated
Carrots, shredded
Sprouts
Cucumber, julienned
Thai basil, leaves
Smoked marlin
Sticky rice
*Mango puree

*Mango Puree:

Blend together mango, fish sauce and sriracha (I did not measure just added enough to get it to the taste I prefered, slightly salty and slightly spicy but still sweet).

This is a very simple dinner.  Just set all the ingredients out and make your own boats.  I found it easier to shred the marlin (so that it fit in the lettuce boat).  You can put the sticky rice in the boat or eat it on the side.  Add as much or little of each ingredient as you wish.  Enjoy.

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Mandarin Orange Salad

A fresh and satisfying salad with lettuce, green onions, pecans, and mandarin oranges in a balsamic vinaigrette. 

 

I picked up a can of mandarin oranges at the store a few weeks ago. I have never used them before and thought I would try something different. Tonight I finally decided on a good way to use them; in a salad. I usually like to add dried cranberries to my salads, for that extra bit of color and a bit of sweetness, so I replaced them with the oranges. Here's what I did.  For 2 salads:


Ingredients:

1 can mandarin oranges
4 cups lettuce
1/2 cup pecans
1/3 cup green onions (sliced)

Vinaigrette:

3 parts oil
1 part vinegar
1 part Dijon mustard

First prepare vinaigrette in the bottom of a big salad bowl.  I use olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, but any vinegar and oil combination would work.  Exact measurements are not important, I just eyeball it, just try for the 3 to 1 ratio.  Stir all vinaigrette ingredients vigorously to emulsify them, then toss in lettuce.

I'm picky about how I make my salads, I only toss the lettuce in the dressing.  I've tried tossing everything together, but I don't like that everything else falls to the bottom and it's hard to get the right amount of toppings with each bite.  So I only toss the lettuce in the vinaigrette to flavor it, then separate the dressed lettuce into bowls and top with everything else.  This not only looks better, but it also ensures that each salad has the right amount of toppings.

I like green onions because the flavor is usually not as strong, but you can also use thinly sliced red onion.  I also like pecans, and I keep them around, but you could also use almonds. You could also toast the pecans, or any nut, to make them crunchier and enhance the flavor, but it is not necessary.  I even saw a recipe that used sugared pecans, but I think that would make the salad too sweet because the canned oranges add quite a bit of sweetness. The oranges I used were packed in light syrup, I drained and rinsed them before adding to the salad.  You could also use clementine segments and I think it would be very good.

This easy and versatile salad tastes great and makes a wonderful start to any meal, or even a light meal on it's own. I ate it as a starter and them had a small sloppy joe (left over from earlier) to finish my meal.  I think this salad would be great during dark and dreary winter days (for those of you on the mainland who have 4 seasons), citrus always seems to brighten up winter days.  Wintertime isn't the only time you can appreciate this salad, it fresh and refreshing anytime, anywhere, and  for anyone (even for me in Honolulu).  Enjoy.

TC67PHDQDVEE

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Sardine Salad

A delicious, nutritious and surprisingly filling salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion and sardines. 

 

Sardines, these small fish are a good source of omega-3s, they have a lower mercury content, and they are typically inexpensive. Also the canned sardines usually still have the bone in and it's soft and edible making them a good source of calcium.

Here is my recipe for sardine salad:

2 cans of sardines (or 2 servings)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Dried oregano, to taste
Juice from 1 lemon

Lettuce, about 3-4 hand fulls
1 cucumber, chopped (bite sized)
15-20 cherry tomatoes, split (or leave them whole if you prefer)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

I had sardines packed in tomato sauce, so I drained and rinsed them first. Then I tossed them into my big salad bowl, added the olive oil, and mixed them around breaking the sardines into small pieces. To the sardine mixture I added the mustard, oregano, and lemon juice. I stirred quickly, making a sort of emulsion then, added the veggies and tossed. This made 2 servings.

Such an easy and inexpensive meal; this tasted fantastic. It was not overly fishy, and it was incredibly filling. Because I like bread with salads, I served this with a bagel and cream cheese, but it would also be great with pita and hummus, or on it own. Enjoy.

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