Not Your Mom's Tuna Noodle Casserole

A while back, a company called Safe Catch sent me some lovely cans of tuna.

Have I ever mentioned that when I was a kid, I didn't know that tuna could come in any form except cans? I mean, I knew what fish was. We went fishing and ate what we caught. But the little mom-and-pop grocery store where my mom shopped didn't have fresh tuna.

Or, if I'm being honest, they didn't have any fresh fish at all. There might have been some breaded fish filets in the freezer case, but nothing as exotic as tuna. Or salmon. Or pretty much anything except cod.

These days, I can appreciate a nice tuna tartare or a seared raw tuna., but I still like canned tuna for tuna salad or for a tuna casserole. Because, seriously, tuna casserole is pure comfort food.

Not Your Mom's Tuna Casserole

4 tablespoons butter
1 onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 can Safe Catch Tuna
6 ounces egg noodles or your preferred noodle, cooked barely al dente
4 slices muenster cheese

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and have an 8-inch baking dish standing by.

Melt the butter in a skillet and add the onion, celery and mushrooms. Cook until the vegetables are cooked through and all of the liquid exuded from the vegetables has disappeared.

Add the flour and stir. Cook, stirring for a minute or two, then add the milk. Stir to combine, then let it come to a boil, stirring. It will thicken.

Add the tuna and stir to combine. Break up the tuna enough so that it is well distributed, but don't let it break up so much that you no longer have pieces. Fold in the noodles, then mix in the mayonnaise.

Transfer the mixture to an 8-inch square baking dish and top with the cheese.

Place the baking dish in the oven and bake at 350 degrees until the mixture is boiling and the cheese is melted. It's perfectly fine if the cheese browns a little in spots.

Serve warm.

I received product at no cost to me, but I wasn't obligated to write about it. I just happened to be hungry.

Pan-Roasted Cod with Bell Pepper, Artichokes, and Tomato and a Sun Basket #Giveaway

When the folks at Sun Basket contacted me and asked if I wanted to try their healthy meal kit service, I said "sure." Right now, I'm only cooking sporadically, so I figured that having pre-measured and pre-planned meals showing up at my door would be a good idea.

All the meals at Sun Basket are categorized for different types of diets - vegetarian, paleo, gluten free, diary free, and soy free. Each week has different selections.

I chose pan-roasted Pacific cod with bell pepper, artichokes, and tomato, which was gluten-free and paleo; turkey burgers with apple-date chutney and spiced rice which was gluten free; and roasted cauliflower gratin with tomato, goat cheese, and arugula, which was vegetarian and gluten free.

My favorite of the three was the cod, and I'm including the recipe here. The turkey burger was interesting. It included grated zucchini in the burger to make it more moist - I thought that was a great idea, and I'll probably do that in the future if I make my own turkey burgers. The apple-date chutney was the perfect companion for it

Cod dinner ingredients

While I liked the flavor of the rice combo, my one quibble was that I thought it would have looked better on the plate if it had been more colorful instead of having three brownish items on the plate. I added some cherry tomatoes to brighten mine up - a pretty easy fix that anyone could do.

The cauliflower gratin was good, but I probably wouldn't make it the same way a second time. There was nothing wrong with it, but just not my favorite way of preparing cauliflower. I'm sure others would love it.

Cauliflower dinner ingredients.

But here's the thing. You can always change the recipes around, if you don't like some part of it. For example, the cauliflower recipe came with arugula to be made into a salad. I'm not fond of arugula, so I gave it to a friend, used some red leaf lettuce to make a salad, and made the dressing from the kit for my salad. Easy peasy.

The meal kits come with a UPS return label so you can return the box and freezer packs to be re-used, so you don't have to worry about properly recycling everything. I really liked that. I'm fine with recycling cardboard, but there's no good way to recycle freezer packs.

Sun Basket box.

If you're looking for healthy and special-diet meal kit options, take a look at Sun Basket. All the ingredients were high quality, they were packed well, and the instructions were good. There are lots of different meal options to choose from each week, so you should be able to find something you like!

If you want to give Sun Basket a try, you can get $30 off your first order just for my readers. See, I like you!

And, one lucky winner can try Sun Basket for FREE. The giveaway widget is after the recipe.

Pan-Roasted Pacific Cod with Bell Pepper, Artichokes, and Tomato
Recipe courtesy of Sun Basket

Since the ingredients were pre-measured, there aren't amounts for all items in the recipe; I estimated the amounts (in parenthesis) or just use your own judgement about how much you like)

2 Pacific cod filets (2 servings)
1 large or 2 small shallots
2 garlic cloves
Red chard (1 bunch)
1 red bell pepper
Artichoke hearts (These weren't fresh; use canned or frozen/thawed. About 1/3 cup, but I'd use more next time since I like artichokes.)
1/4 teaspoon aleppo pepper, optional
Fresh oregano (one sprig is enough)
Diced San Marzano tomatoes (I'd guess about a cup)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Heat the oven to 200 degrees.

Pat the cod filets dry and season on both sides with salt and pepper.

In a nonstick frying pan on medium heat, warm 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil until hot but not smoking. Cook the cod until golden brown, about 5 minutes on each side. Transfer the cod to a sheet pan and keep it warm in the oven while you prepare the rest.

While the cod is cooking, you can prep the vegetables.

Peel and chop the shallots. Chop the garlic. Strip the chard leaves off the stems. Rinse and chop the leaves and stems, keeping them separate. Cut the bell pepper into 1-inch pieces. Discard the seeds and stem.

Rinse the artichoke hearts. Chop the oregano leaves.

In the same pan used to cook the fish, add more oil if the pan seems dry. Warm over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the shallots, garlic, chard stems, bell pepper, and aleppo pepper, if you're using it.

Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots and chard are just tender, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste and cook until slightly caramelized, about 1 minute. Add the artichoke hearts, tomatoes, oregano, and chard leaves. Season with salt and pepper.

Add 1/2 cup water and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been reduced by half, about 5 minutes longer.

Transfer the braised vegetables to individual bowl. Top with the fish and serve.

Sun Basket provided the meal kits to me at no cost; they also are providing the product to the winner and they also supplied the giveaway widget. Giveaway is now over.

Salmon Croquettes with Dill Sauce

My mom used to make salmon patties (she never called them croquettes) and they were actually a lot like these, so I was a little surprised to find them in a book called Soul Food Love.

But I hadn't made them in quite a long time, so I figured I'd give them a try. I always liked them, but they're just not something I think of very often.

For more about the book, I did a review over on Munching on Books.

The one difference between mom's recipe and this one - besides the name - is that mom served hers with ketchup. Which sounds weird, if you think about it. But it totally worked.

On the other hand, the dill sauce works just fine, too. I thought it was a touch heavy on the mustard, so I suggest that you start with less mustard and add more until it's the way you like it.

The recipe as written was intended to serve 8, so I cut it in half, which was pretty easy to do. I ended up with quite a bit of the leftover dill sauce once the patties were gone. I think about half of the sauce recipe would have been enough for all of the salmon - but I'll let you decide on that. I guess some folks might want a lot more sauce.

Salmon Croquettes with Dill Sauce
Adapted from Soul Food Love by Alice Randall and Caroline Randall Williams

1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt or sour cream*
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
6 springs fresh dill, chopped
2 14.75-ounce cans salmon packed in water**
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or to taste; I used less)
1 tablespoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Bread crumbs, optional***

To make the dill sauce, whisk the yogurt, mustard, and dill in a small bowl. Set aside.

Drain the salmon an remove and discard the skin and bones. (If you're using salmon from pouches, just drain the small amount of liquid, since there are no bones or skin bits.)

Mix the salmon, celery, onion, eggs, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Form the mixture into patties the size you like. I liked smaller patties - and they held together better. The recipe called for 8 patties from the full recipe, and I had about 10 of them from half of the recipe. Do what you like!

Add the olive oil to a large pan and heat on medium-high. When the oil is hot add the patties. Cook until well-browned on one side, then flip and brown well on the second side. Figure about 5 minutes per side.

Serve the patties with the dill sauce.

If you're not into creamy sauces with fish, a squeeze of lemon over the patties would work well, or serve them with lemon wedges.

Or, they'd also be good with some hot sauce - either straight-up, or perhaps a sriracha mayonnaise or even a salsa.

Mom served hers with ketchup. So ... once they're on the plate, it's up to you.

* The recipe called for plain yogurt or fat-free sour cream. I'm not a big fan of fat-free sour cream,
but if you like it, go ahead and use it.

I used part Greek yogurt and part regular sour cream.

** I prefer the salmon in the pouches, There's very little liquid, and the skin and bones have been removed already. The pouches I saw were 5 ounces, so 3 pouches was enough for 1/2 of this recipe, which was what I made.

*** Although the recipe said that bread crumbs were optional, I didn't see any way this was going to hold together without them. The recipe suggests 3/4 cup for the full recipe, but use what you need to keep it from being too wet, and so that it sticks together.

I received this book from the publisher for the purpose of a review - which I've already done. I was not obligated to also post a recipe.

Roasted Salmon with Fennel, Olives, and Farro - and a review of Blue Apron

Roasted salmon, plated.

I've been curious about services like Blue Apron for a while.

If the name doesn't sound familiar, it's a meal service that ships to customers on a weekly basis. But it's not prepared meals. It's all of the fresh ingredients that you need to make the recipes they give you.

A friend of mine described it as something like restaurant take-out, but without getting soggy from sitting in Styrofoam. In other words, really good food, served fresh.

Since ingredients are pre-measured, it's easier than cooking from a cookbook. And there's no need for shopping. The only things you need to supply are salt, pepper, water, and oil. Every other thing was included, from a pat of butter to a small amount of heavy cream, to a handful of olives.

Just like cooking from a cookbook, you need to do some work, and you do need some basic cooking equipment. This isn't dump-and-stir. If there are vegetables to be peeled and chopped, you will peel and chop them. If there's cheese to be grated, you will be grating it.

I ordered a the two-person box, which included three meals (at no cost to me, for reviewing). When ordering, I was asked some basic questions about food preferences. Vegetarian? Fish? I selected the omnivore option, and received one seafood meal, one chicken meal, and one beef meal.

It came in an insulated box with cooling packs, with the really small ingredients in bags to keep them contained.

A box of ingredients.

The instructions suggested that since fish is most perishable, that should be cooked first, so I tackled the Roasted Salmon, Fennel & Castelvetrano Olives with Cara Cara Oranges, Farro, and Salsa Verde. It sounds complicated, but the instructions were pretty simple and there were photos for the steps to make it a little easier.

Recipe cards from Blue Apron

The other two meals we got were Spicy Thai Chicken Noodle Soup with Red Curry and Mushrooms, and Short Rib Burgers on Pretzel Buns with Hoppy Cheddar Sauce and Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds.

The recipe cards are printed on a glossy stock, so if you splash something on them, you can wipe them off. They're not indestructible, but you can have one sitting on the counter, right next to where you're cooking.

My husband and I were really happy with the results of all the meals, and there was plenty of food. The salmon was a reasonable portion, and the vegetables and farro made the salmon meal pretty substantial.

The soup was really filling, and we ended up with sufficient leftovers for a few lunches. We also had some leftovers from the burger dinner. Hungrier folks might have finished it all, but I don't think anyone would consider the portions skimpy.

Here's the salmon recipe, which is also available on the Blue Apron site. The recipes that you see online are formatted just like the recipe cards, complete with photos. Since their recipes seldom repeat, this gives you a chance to try recipes you missed, and you can recreate the ones that you did get, if you happen to lose the recipe cards..

Roasted Salmon, Fennel & Castelvetrano Olives
Recipe courtesy of Blue Apron

Salmon, ready to roast, on a bed of onions, fennel and olives.

2 Skinless Salmon Fillets
2/3 Cup Pearled Farro
1 Fennel Bulb With Fronds
1 Cara Cara Orange
1 Clove Garlic
1 Red Onion
1 Large Bunch Parsley
2 Ounces Castelvetrano Olives
3 Tablespoons Sliced Almonds
1 Tablespoon Capers
1/4 Teaspoon Fennel Pollen

1 Prepare the ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Wash and dry the fresh produce. Heat a medium pot of salted water to boiling on high. Remove the salmon from the refrigerator to bring to room temperature. Pick off and reserve some of the fennel fronds; thinly slice the fennel stems and bulb. Using a peeler, remove the rind of the orange, avoiding the pith; mince to get 2 teaspoons of zest (or use a zester). Cut off and discard the remaining orange rind and pith; medium dice the orange. Peel and mince the garlic; smash with the side of your knife until it resembles a paste. Peel and thinly slice the onion. Pick the parsley leaves off the stems; discard the stems and finely chop the leaves. Finely chop the almonds. Roughly chop the capers.

2 Cook the farro:
Add the farro to the pot of boiling water. Cook 15 to 17 minutes, or until tender. Turn off the heat. Drain thoroughly and return to the pot.

3 Roast the salmon, onion, fennel and olives:
While the farro cooks, pat the salmon fillets dry with paper towels; season with salt and pepper on both sides. Place the fennel stems and bulb, onion and olives on a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Arrange in a single, even layer; place the seasoned salmon fillets on top. Roast 16 to 18 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the salmon is cooked to your desired degree of doneness.

4 Make the salsa verde:
While the salmon, onion, fennel and olives roast, in a small bowl, combine the garlic paste, parsley, almonds and capers. Stir in enough olive oil to create a rough paste. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

5 Dress the farro:
Add the orange and orange zest to the pot of cooked farro. Stir in a drizzle of olive oil; season with salt and pepper to taste.

6 Plate your dish:
Divide the dressed farro and roasted onion, fennel and olives between 2 plates. Top each with a roasted salmon fillet and the salsa verde. Garnish with the fennel fronds and fennel pollen. Enjoy!

Looks good, right? It was!

The photo on the recipe card showed the farro on the bottom, fennel on top, and the salmon on top of that. I decided to plate the fennel and onions on one side of the plate, the farro on the other side of the plate, and the fennel on top.

More about the making of the recipes

It's all pretty clear, right? It sounds simple to do, right? So why not just download the recipes and make them?

Here's the deal. Not only don't you need to shop for the normal ingredients, like the salmon and the onion and the parsley, but you also don't need to go hunting for the ingredients that your store might not have.

I'm pretty sure I could find oranges any time of the year, but I don't know if I could find Cara Cara oranges. Farro isn't the easiest thing to find, either. Some specialty stores have it, and you can buy it online. But could you find it tomorrow? Maybe not. Same with fennel pollen. It's not a spice you'd be likely to find at the grocery store. Olives are easy, but do you think you'd find Castelvetrano olives?

All those ingredients help to make these recipes a little more special. If you like them, you can hunt them down later. If you're not crazy about them - well, you only have enough for one meal, so you're not stuck with extras that you don't have any use for.

All of the ingredients for the salmon meal.

And then, if you don't cook all that often, you might not want to buy a whole jar of capers or a bag of almonds. Parsley always comes in a pretty big bunch, but this recipe didn't need nearly that much.

All three of the recipes I tried had at least a few of those specialty ingredients, including the burgers that were made from ground short rib meat, and the cheese sauce that included hops flowers. When was the last time you saw hops flowers at your grocery store?

How much skill does it take to make these recipes?

My husband, who never cooks, volunteered to make one of the recipes. He tackled the Spicy Thai Chicken Noodle Soup. I hovered nearby to answer questions and make sure things didn't go wrong. I mean, there's fire and sharp knifes and heavy cookware to deal with.

Ingredients for Thai Chicken Soup.

He had a few questions, like the best way to peel ginger (use a spoon) and whether his chopped ginger and garlic were minced finely enough (they weren't.)

Slice, slice, chop, chop.

If I wasn't there, I'm sure he would have figured it out on his own. Seriously, if the ginger wasn't minced completely, it would have been fine. When I asked him what he thought, he said, "I could serve this to a date."

Good luck with that, dear.

But his point was that you could serve this to someone you're trying to impress, whether it's a date, your boss, or your in-laws.

But these are still simple fast and easy enough to serve on a normal night. The salmon dish was the fanciest of the three, while the soup was more casual. The burgers were the most casual of the three, but still a step above a standard burger.

So. Let's talk cost.

The three meals for two that I got would cost $59.94, so that's a tiny bit less than $10 per meal per person. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't get a restaurant meal for $10 per person.

There are also two family plan options available. They're both for four people, but the difference is the number of meals per week.

Two meals per week for four people is $69.94, while four meals for four people is $139.88 -  that's about $8.74 per person. Pretty reasonable, right?

And now, I have a deal for you.

I received my meals at no cost so I could do a review, but if you're interested in trying the service, here's a discount code for two free meals with your first Blue Apron box. This is good for the first 50 people who claim it, and it's only good for first-time customers.

Three lunch sandwiches made in a breakfast sandwich maker

After my last breakfast sandwich binge, I wanted to make some more ... lunchy sandwiches. So here they are!

English Muffin Pizza

This is a great use for leftover Italian sausage. Start with a generous smear of tomato caponata or some thick marinara or your favorite pizza sauce on the bottom half of an English muffin, then add some slices of cooked Italian sausage. Top with a nice melty cheese like mozzarella, or even jack. Heat in the sandwich maker until the cheese is melted.

Yes, I left this one topless. So you can make another sandwich from the other half of the muffin. Sneaky, yes?

Tuna Melt

I'm guessing that Tuna Melts are a love-hate thing, right? People either love them or say, "ewwwww, warm tuna salad!" But if they're done right, the tuna salad stays mostly cool while the cheese gets a little melty.

Instead of an English muffin, this time I used a bagel. To be honest, the bagels I bought were a tiny bit too large for the breakfast sandwich maker, but that was an easy fix. I just cut a wedge from the bagel, and pushed the cut ends together making a smaller circle and it fit perfectly. Sometimes you just have to improvise.

I started with a few slices of tomato on the bottom (which also helped keep the tuna salad from falling through the hole in the bagel!) then a generous portion of tuna salad, then some cheese. It was too tall to fit into the sandwich maker with the egg-cooking plate in place, so I just moved that aside and let it cook for about 3 minutes until the cheese was melty. Then I put the top part of the bagel on.

If I wanted that top part of the bagel toasted, I could have let that sit in the sandwich maker for a minute after I took the main part of the sandwich out, but I was fine with it untoasted.

Ta daaaa!

Veggie Delight

This little sandwich combines some of my all-time favorite foods. And the colors are really pretty together. The olives add a nice briny flavor to cut the richness of the avocado and cheese and the red pepper adds a bit of lightness.

For something meat-free, this is pretty filling and VERY satisfying.

On the bottom half of the English muffin, I spread some avocado. Okay, maybe it was a LOT of avocado. Then I added some pitted kalamata olives, sliced in half lengthwise. That went into the bottom half of the sandwich maker. I but a big slice of roasted red pepper on the egg-cooker part, then topped that with some mild cheddar cheese. I let that cook until the cheese was almost melted, then topped with the top half of the English muffin to let it get a little toasty. Another minute and I called it LUNCH.

Fast and Easy (and Delicious) #SuperFresh™ Seafood

Thank you to Bumble Bee SuperFresh™ for sponsoring this article. Find the new Bumble Bee SuperFresh™ entrées in your area by visiting: http://bumblebeesuperfresh.com/buy

I've heard so many people say that seafood is best "right off the boat." Those people live near coastlines. I live near mountains. Far from any coast. But the absolute next-best thing is properly prepared and frozen seafood. And in some cases, it's the best option, even if you live sorta-near a coast.

I mean, fresh fish (or shellfish) doesn't stay fresh all that long, so unless you're building a bonfire on the beach to cook what was just caught, your fish is losing freshness every minute that ticks away.

Bringing fresh fish home from the store and chucking it in the refrigerator to cook the next day doesn't help it one little bit.

Commercial freezing technology has improved so much since the olden days when freezing was a terrible thing to do to any food. So, yeah, frozen seafood is pretty darned good these days.

So when the nice folks at Bumble Bee® offered to send me a variety of their new Bumble Bee SuperFresh™ entrees, for sure I wanted to give them a try. Because not only are these properly frozen, they're complete fish recipes.

Can I be brutally honest here? Fish is one of my top "I need something fast that I don't have to think about" dinners. It cooks so fast, and you can cook it from its frozen state. So no need to think about it too far in advance.

The downside to using fish as my last-minute meal is that I'm not at my most creative right about then. So I grab whatever seasoning looks good, maybe some lemon. And it is what it is. It's good enough, but it's not the best I could do if I thought about it for a while.

That's where these Bumble Bee SuperFresh™ entrees really shine, because the thinking part is all done. Seasoning is done. You just follow some simple directions and you have a danged good dinner.

Which gives you a little time to think about a side dish or relax with a cocktail.

Did I say cocktail? We'll get to that in a minute.

But first a side dish that pairs well with just about any fish dish you can imagine. It's lightly lemony, freshly herby, with color and texture and vegetables. What more could you ask for? I paired it with the Spicy Shrimp Romesco for dinner.

One more confession? My number one side dish with fish is rice. It's simple. I can throw it in my rice cooker. And then I have white rice to go with my seafood. It's not the prettiest plate in the world.

Since I didn't have to fuss much with the entree, I whipped up a colorful pasta side using tri-color orzo and some bright vegetables. It's like edible confetti.

If you can't find tri-color orzo, regular orzo is fine. The one I used had white(ish), light salmony-orange, and pastel army-green pasta. I've seen some at the farmer's market with more brilliantly-colored pasta that would be even more interesting.

Confetti Orzo

1 cup tri-color orzo
2 ears fresh corn
1/2 medium onion
1 red bell pepper*
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
Several grinds black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh chives

Cook the orzo in boiling salted water until al dente, then drain. You can do this ahead of time and rinse with cold water to keep it from sticking.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Cut the corn from the cobs and discard the cobs. Dice the onion into pieces about the same size as the corn. Core the bell pepper and dice into pieces about the same size as the corn.

Melt the butter in a pan on medium heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring as needed, until it begins to soften and become translucent. Add the salt, pepper, bell pepper, and corn. Cook, stirring as needed, until the bell pepper barely begins to soften.

Add the cooked pasta, and stir to combine. Add the lemon juice and chives, give it another stir, and take it off the heat. Serve hot.

*I used parts of several peppers - red, orange, and yellow - for more color. You can use one pepper, if you prefer.

Cocktail Time!

Moscoto wine is becoming one of my favorites. It's not super-sweet, but sweet enough. I particularly like the sparkling versions. They seem so festive. And it's inexpensive enough that you can mix it with fruit juices or use it in cocktail recipes without feeling like you're ruining a fancy varietal wine.

In this case, I decided to do a play off the mimosa, made with champagne. Or even a bellini, made with prosecco. The idea is the same - sparkling wine and fruit juice. The moscato wine is light and fresh and easy to drink (and perfect for summer). and the citrus is always a good match for seafood.

Moscato Mimosa

Orange-pineapple juice, cold
Moscato wine (sparkling preferred), cold
Maraschino cherry (optional)

Fill your favorite sparking-wine drinking glass about 1/4 full with juice. Top with the wine. Add the cherry, if you like.

Serve.

If you prefer, you can change the ratio to 50-50, or even use 3/4 juice and 1/4 wine. It's up to you. And that cherry? Completely optional.

And NOW for something fishy!

But you're getting no recipe. Because these entrees really are complete out of the package. The fish entrees slide into parchment bags to cook en papillote in the oven for about 20 minutes (more or less, depending on the variety) and can be served in the parchment or removed for plating.

The shrimp cook in just a few minutes (about six minutes, total) on the stovetop.

The funniest thing was my husband's reaction to the first entree I served - the tilapia with garlic. He was surprised when I told him that I didn't add anything at all to the fish - that it came with the seasoning and it tasted so typically like something I would make and serve - even to company.

I was surprised how fresh the basil tasted when we sampled the salmon with garden pesto. I'm betting most folks wouldn't realize that it was frozen along with the fish. Really impressive.

Even better, the ingredient list on the entrees are devoid of chemicals, preservatives, or things that I wouldn't have in my own pantry. Nothing scary or weird. Just normal stuff. If you're concerned about the sustainability of the fisheries your seafood comes from, the Bumble Bee SuperFresh™ seafood is certified by third-party certifying organizations. Well, okay then.

The ingredients for the Spicy Shrimp Romesco are shrimp, butter, vine-ripened tomatoes, red wine vinegar, tomato powder, extra virgin olive oil, white wine, garlic, shallots, cayenne pepper, parsley, red pepper, and sea salt. See, perfectly normal stuff!

It was pretty simple to cook, just toss it in a nonstick pan, turn on the heat, cook for four minutes, then drain the liquid and add the flavored butter. When the butter was melted - two minutes more - it was done.

I haven't tried all of the entrees yes, but I've been really pleased with the ones I have sampled. I still have salmon with garlicky black pepper and extra virgin olive oil; tilapia with lemon, pepper, and herbs; and lemon shrimp with garlic and herbs.

For sure I'll be looking for these at the local stores when I've finished them off, so I have on hand for quick and easy meals.

Bumble Bee SuperFresh™ gave me free product and said they'd pay me to blog about it IF I liked it. I do!

Ceviche for a Citrus-y #SundaySupper

We really like ceviche at our house. It's a great little appetizer with crackers, and it's a nice salad on some lettuce. Use it to fill an avocado half for a light lunch.

Most of the time, though, we just serve it with crackers.

If you think ceviche includes raw fish, you're wrong. And sort of right. It's uncooked, but it's not actually raw. It's cooked chemically. Or, in other words, pickled. Usually in lime juice, which adds its distinct flavor to the dish.

I've had ceviche made with a lot of different types of seafood. You can use fish, scallops, or shrimp. Or a combination. All of them are fine, but the texture will be a little bit different, depending on how firm the seafood happens to be.

Ceviche is a pretty quick dish. It involves some chopping, but but then is just needs some time to marinate. The smaller and thinner the pieces are, the faster they will be done. And, depending on how you feel about the doneness of fish, your ceviche can be ready to eat in maybe ten minutes. Or maybe 30. And then it's still great the next day. It keeps longer, but the seafood can start getting a little rubbery if it sits too long.

Since ceviche recipes are often a Mexican version, they usually include cilantro. But there are some folks who hate the stuff. And it's not something I always have on hand. Even when I don't have cilantro around, I think ceviche needs some sort of fresh herb, and in this case I thought chives would be a good choice. They play well with the onion, add a nice dark green color, and don't add a jarring flavor to the mix. Parsley or scallions would also work well.

I normally use fresh jalapeno, but I've been avoiding going to the grocery store, so I used a jarred hot pepper. If you don't like heat, you could leave it out, or even pass some salsa at the table.

It's not tomato season yet, so red bell peppers added the bright red for me. Fire roasted red peppers would also be good, if you have them on hand.

As far as the fish, use whatever you like that is fairly firm and fresh.

Ceviche for Cilantro Haters

1 5-6 ounce cod filet
1/2 medium onion
1/2 red bell pepper
2 tablespoons lime juice
Pinch of salt
Several grinds white pepper
2 tablespoons fire roasted hot pepper

Cut the cod into a 1/4-inch (ish) cubes and add them to a small bowl or lidded storage container. Dice the onion and bell pepper to about the same size. Add the lime juice, salt, and pepper. Dice the hot pepper, if needed, and add it to the bowl. Stir, cover, and refrigerate.

When you're cutting, keep in mind that that this is something you might want to eat on a cracker, so keep the pieces small so you have a little bit of everything in each bite.

The fish is done when it changes from translucent to a more opaque white and is a little more firm to the touch rather than soft and squishy like raw fish. Depending on the fish and how big your 1/4-ish-inch pieces were, figure about 30 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more lime juice, salt, pepper, or hot pepper, as desired.

Serve chilled.

Want more citrus-y #SundaySupper recipes? Here you go:

Better with Citrus Breakfasts:
Orange Ricotta Pancakes from Gotta Get Baked

Big On Citrus Breads & Condiments:

Honey Lime Dressing from Ruffles & Truffles

Lemon Poppyseed Sweet Bread from Food Lust People Love

Meyer Lemon Pistachio Loaf from The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen

Moroccan Preserved Lemons from MarocMama

Make You Pucker Salads, Sides, & Main Dishes:
Ceviche from Cookistry
Cilantro Lime Rice from Crazy Foodie Stunts
Citrus Ginger Chicken from Kudos Kitchen
Easy Indian Lemon Chicken from Soni’s Food
Grilled Orange & Lime Chicken Thighs from Big Bear’s Wife
Meyer Lemon-Garlic Shrimp & Asparagus with Brown Rice from Daily Dish Recipes
Orange Chicken from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
Red Cabbage and Red Pepper Salad with Citrus Dressing from Family Foodie
Seared Cod with Grapefruit Fennel Slaw from Magnolia Days
Tangy Lemon Rice with Grated Mango & Roasted Cashew from Sue’s Nutrition Buzz

Sour Citrusy Sweets & Desserts:
Blood Orange Sorbet from My Cute Bride
Broiled Oranges with Toasted Coconut from Neighborfood
Clementine Curd from Small Wallet Big Appetite
Creamsicle Cupcakes from The Meltaways
Dairyfree Key Lime Meringue Bliss from The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
Fresh Lemon Mousse from Comfy Cuisine
Frozen Lemon Dessert from Gourmet Drizzles
Gluten Free Orange Pound Cake from Simply Gourmet
Honey and Lemon Cake from Happy Baking Days
Key Lime Biscotti from Juanita’s Cocina
Key Lime Cheesecake from Flour on My Face
Key Lime Cookie Bars from Supper for a Steal
Key Lime Truffles from What Smells So Good?
Lemon Blueberry Polenta Cake from Vintage Kitchen Notes
Lemon Coconut Cinnamon Rolls from Chocolate Moosey
Lemon Cookies from Basic N Delicious
Lemon Cream Pie Push Pops from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
Lemon Layer Cake from Crispy Bits & Burnt Ends
Lemon Ricotta Cake from The Urban Mrs.
Meyer Lemon Snack Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting from Peanut Butter and Peppers
Mini Meyer Lemon Pies from Cravings of a Lunatic
Mini Orange Cream & Lemon Cream Scones from The Foodie Army Wife
No-Bake Lemon Cheese Cakes w/Blueberry-Lemon Sauce from Momma’s Meals
Olive Oil Cake with Orange Marmalade from Hip Foodie Mom
Omiyage California Citrus Cake from Ninja Baking
Orange Cake with Orange Syrup from The Lovely Pantry
Pink Grapefruit Pie from In the Kitchen With Audrey and Maurene
Pink Lemonade Pound Cake from In the Kitchen with KP
Sugar-Free Lemon Meringue Pie from Webicurean
Tarte au Citron from That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Sour Sips & Drinks:
{DIY} Arancello and Limoncello from girlichef
Orange Creamsicle Smoothies from Mama.Mommy.Mom

Have a great Easter!

Oh! Look! It's the Easter Bunny!!! Or ... maybe not.

Whole Foods Friday: Two Tuna Salads

When I was growing up, the only tuna I was familiar with came in a can and was incredibly inexpensive. Most of it went into tuna noodle casserole.

It was quite a while later that I discovered fresh tuna.

And even longer before I found out that all canned tuna isn't bargain-basement stuff. The better-quality tuna has great flavor without being "fishy." It tastes like tuna should. I picked up one small 6.7-ounce jar of tuna and used it to make two completely different dishes.

First up was a composed salad reminiscent of the nicoise salad.

I really like composed salads like this. You can nibble at the bits you like, taste different combinations together, and make the salad a lovely shared dish that you can take your time over.

Once you have the components for this salad prepared, you can arrange them on one large plate, or on multiple smaller plates. This can be an appetizer, first course, or light lunch. It can be served as is, or made a little more substantial with the addition of some crusty bread and butter or some crackers and an array of cheeses.

Homage to Nicoise 
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.

1 small bunch asparagus
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 pound baby potatoes, cooked and chilled
1/2 cup olives
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 6.7-ounce jar tuna in oil
Olive oil, as needed
Large flake salt

Trim the tough ends off the asparagus, then steam until tender, but still some crispness. As soon as it's done, plunge it into ice water to stop the cooking and keep the vibrant green color.

Arrange the asparagus on a plate and drizzle with the lemon juice.

The potatoes I used were very small - one bite each. If your potatoes are larger, cut them in half or into quarters. Arrange them on the plate as well.

Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange them with the olives, and then add the tuna to the plate.

Drizzle the potatoes with a bit of olive oil (if you like, you can use some of the oil from the tuna).

Sprinkle large flake salt over the plate, as desired.

Old-School Tuna Salad
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.
Since the tuna was so flavorful, I decided to use the rest of the jar to make tuna salad. You could use this for sandwiches or serve it on a lettuce leaf. Or serve a small scoop on top of an avocado half for a particularly decadent dish. This would also be nice as an appetizer on crackers with a garnish of chives or chopped pickles.

2 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1 shallot, diced
1 teaspoon capers
1 teaspoon sweet relish
1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 6.7-ounce jar tuna in oil

Cut the eggs into small chunks and place in a small bowl. Add the shallot, capers, relish, and 1 tablespoon mayonnaise. Stir to combine.

Add the tuna, and if you like, a little bit of the oil - it has a lot of flavor. Stir gently to combine, but try to keep the tuna in larger chunks. If you think it needs more mayonnaise, add another tablespoon.

Serve.

Whole Foods Friday - Mussels 3 Ways

Mussels are so incredibly fast and easy to cook, they're the perfect thing to pick up at the store when you need to get dinner on the table right after you get home. All you need is some crusty bread to dip into the broth.

Speaking of the broth, for some people that's the whole point of making mussels - having that broth to dip the bread into.

Buttered or not, toasted or not, that's up to you. Of all the possible sides to serve with those mussels, bread seems to be the must-have item. So pick up a baguette at the store, and you're good to go.

You could serve a green salad with the mussels, or perhaps a bowl of olives or something else from the salad bar. But really, the mussels and the bread is plenty. Figure about a pound of mussels per person.

Depending on where you get them, you might need to scrub the mussels really well before cooking, to remove any sand and grit. Or they might just need a little rinse.

If the mussels still have the "beard" attached, you need to remove that as well - just grab and pull. I have a pair of kitchen-only pliers that make the job a little easier, but it can be done by hand.

I bought my mussels at Whole Foods and they weren't gritty at all. Maybe one mussel from each 2-pound batch had a bit of the beard poking out of the shell. Not a big deal at all.

Any mussels that aren't firmly closed when you get them - or that don't close when you tap them - should be discarded. If any have broken shells, toss those as well.

When you're done cooking, any mussels that haven't opened should be discarded as well. It's not unusual to have a dead mussel or two in a batch, and it's also not unusual for the fishmonger to throw in a few extra mussels after weighing out what you pay for, just to cover this contingency. But you shouldn't end up with a LOT of dead mussels.

I always cook mussels on the day I buy them, but if you need to buy them ahead, ask the fish guy how you should store them. You need to keep them chilled, and you shouldn't store them in a closed container - they need to breathe. The plastic bag they came in from the store had holes poked in it, just for this purpose.

As far as cooking, the flavoring options are endless - wine is a typical flavoring, but beer is also becoming popular. Then you can start thinking about adding other flavors and spices to complement the wine or to make its own statement.

Belgian Beer Mussels
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.

You'll be left with 1/2 bottle of Belgian Ale, but I think you'll figure out something to do with it. Look for a Belgian ale that's got citrus and spice flavors, if you can. If your beer selections are limited, you could opt for a lighter beer and rely on the added citrus to bring the flavor.

2 pound mussels, scrubbed
1/2 bottle Belgian Ale
1/2 cup orange juice
Pinch ground cardamom

Put the ale, orange juice, and cardamom into a deep pot, wok, or Dutch oven that will accommodate the mussels. Bring to a boil.

Add the mussels, stir them around a bit, and slam on the lid. Cook, until the mussels open - it's just a few minutes, and you don't want to overcook.

If the mussels are in layers in the pot, it's fine to give them a quick stir after a minute or two when you check how they're cooking, but you really do want to leave that lid on to allow them to steam.

Serve immediately, with all of the broth.

Southwestern Mussels
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.

Jalapeno adds a spicy punch to these mussels, but they aren't crazy hot. If you're skittish about heat, use less pepper, and make sure you avoid using the seeds and ribs. You could also add the jalapeno whole, with a few holes poked into it with a knife before cooking. You'll get some heat, but not as much, and you can remove the pepper before serving.

2 pound mussels, scrubbed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
1 jalapeno, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 scallions, thinly sliced

Put the tomatoes, wine, jalapeno, lime juice, and scallions into a deep pot, wok, or Dutch oven that will accommodate the mussels. Bring to a boil.

Add the mussels, stir them around a bit, and slam on the lid. Cook, until the mussels open - it's just a few minutes, and you don't want to overcook.

If the mussels are in layers in the pot, it's fine to give them a quick stir after a minute or two when you check how they're cooking, but you really do want to leave that lid on to allow them to steam.

Serve immediately, with all of the broth.

Mediterranean Mussels
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.

Italian-inspired mussels, these would be my choice to serve over pasta, but the sauce would need a bit of thickening. A spoon of tomato paste stirred into the sauce (after removing the mussels) and a dab of butter or splash of olive oil would give some extra body to the sauce. Of course, this is also great served with hunks  of crusty bread to dip into the broth.

2 pound mussels, scrubbed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
1 large clove garlic, diced
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon ground fennel
Small hand full basil leaves

Put the tomatoes, white wine, garlic, shallot, and fennel into a deep pot, wok, or Dutch oven that will accommodate the mussels. Bring to a boil.

Add the mussels, stir them around a bit, and slam on the lid. Cook, until the mussels open - it's just a few minutes, and you don't want to overcook.

If the mussels are in layers in the pot, it's fine to give them a quick stir after a minute or two when you check how they're cooking, but you really do want to leave that lid on to allow them to steam.

Just before serving, toss in the basil leaves (you can keep them whole, or slice into ribbons, whichever you prefer) Stir.

Serve immediately, with all of the broth. If you like, you can reserve a few small basil leaves for garnish when serving.

So ... which one are you going to try first?

SDS Tilapia

Hmmm. That title sounds like it should be the name of a boat.

But it's not.

Remember the Secret Dipping Sauce recipe I published a while back? I used it to cook chicken then. Now, I used it to make fish, and it couldn't have been easier.

The recipe for the secret dipping sauce is here.

SDS Tilapia

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 tilapia filets
1 cup Secret Dipping Sauce

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan on medium heat and add the onion. Cook until the onion is softened, then add the secret dipping sauce an lower the heat to below a simmer.

Cut the fish into bite-size pieces. Add to the saute pan. Cook, stirring as needed, until the fish is cooked through.

Serve over rice.

Or, this would be a great filling for tacos.