Aromatic Panko Crusted Mahi, Kale Chips, and Wheatberry Caprese

Prep time: 30 min

Cook time: 30 min

Steps:

A. Start Wheatberry Caprese

B. Prep kale and fish while wheatberries boil

C. Bake fish when wheatberries are almost finished boiling

D. Bake kale with 10 min remaining on fish (about 10 min into baking the fish)

Well, I didn't mean to but I've created another complete and outrageously hearty dinner meal. By hearty, I mean healthy and delicious! I have to thank Harris Teeter and Safeway, two of the grocery stores in the area, for the sales on fresh Wild-caught Mahi-Mahi ($5.99/lb) and a gigantic bag of kale (I think 32 oz.) for the inspiration...as well as Mike, and his odd-ball affinity for "greens" as he calls the kale/mustard/turnip/collard group. It turns out, this taste-craving is a highly desirable one...Kale is just about the best thing anyone could eat:

Kale, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	117 kJ (28 kcal)
Carbohydrates	5.63 g
Sugars	1.25 g
Dietary fiber	2.0 g
Fat	0.4 g
Protein	1.9 g
Vitamin A equiv.	681 μg (76%)
- beta-carotene	8173 μg (76%)
- lutein and zeaxanthin	18246 μg
Thiamine (Vit. B1)	0.053 mg (4%)
Riboflavin (Vit. B2)	0.07 mg (5%)
Niacin (Vit. B3)	0.5 mg (3%)
Pantothenic acid (B5)	0.049 mg (1%)
Vitamin B6	0.138 mg (11%)
Folate (Vit. B9)	13 μg (3%)
Vitamin C	41.0 mg (68%)
Vitamin K	817 μg (778%)
Calcium	72.0 mg (7%)
Iron	0.9 mg (7%)
Magnesium	18 mg (5%
Phosphorus	28 mg (4%)
Potassium	228 mg (5%)
Zinc	0.24 mg (2%)
Percentages are relative to US recommendationsfor adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database

As seen in the table above, it's packed full of so many essential vitamins and minerals that you just can't go wrong choosing to eat it, and let me tell you, the "kale chip" preparation is not only SUPER simple, but makes a really good-for-you veggie taste like a bad-for-you snack! The kale takes on a fantastic extra-crispy texture and a nutty, buttery and savory flavor. They are irresistible.

All right, so I'll get to the recipe(s) already. For tonight's dish I concocted an Aromatic Panko Crusted Mahi Mahi, served with Kale Chips (so good! but sadly, not my own creation) and Wheatberry Caprese.

Wheatberry Caprese

1 - 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. dried minced basil leaves/flakes (or fresh, but it's winter!!!)

1 T honey (I use honey powder *see below for a description)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Salt

Pepper

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add about 2 C of wheat berries.

2. Cook until tender (al dente, approx. 20 min) - they will be very chewy to the tooth, but this is good!

3. Drain and return to pot

4. With the heat on med-low, toss in about 2 T EVOO and the 1 tsp minced garlic, allowing the garlic to incorporate and cook lightly

5. Add can of stewed tomatoes, breaking into smaller chunks while incorporating

6. Add the basil

7. Add salt, pepper and honey powder to taste (balance the acidity)

*Honey Powder:

Typically sold at Korean grocers (such as H-Mart), and used in a lot of Korean cooking and for sweetening tea.

It's 100% honey with a small amount of Maltodextrin (a sugar derivative), and I find that it really is a great alternative to sugar and isn't poisonous like Aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose.

I use it in sauces to balance out the acids all of the time as well as in tea!

Kale Chips

1 large bag kale (about 16 oz.)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Sea or Kosher salt

Pepper

Lined baking sheet

Pre-heat oven to 375F

1. Open bag of kale, rinse and pick out any off-looking leaves

2. Return kale to a large plastic bag

3. Drizzle EVOO over the kale (about 1 T)

4. Season with salt and pepper

5. Hold bag shut and shake to evenly coat the kale leaves

6. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil

7. Evenly spread kale leaves over sheet

8. Bake at 375F for 10-15 min until leaves turn brown and crunchy on edges--you can turn them over half-way through if you'd like. I don't bother.

*Disclaimer: These are addictingly good.

Aromatic Panko Crusted Mahi Mahi

1 lb. Mahi Mahi filet (skin on, preferably--my filet was about 1 in. thick at the thickest part)

1/4 tsp fresh lemon zest

1/8 tsp freshly grated ginger

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 C Panko bread crumbs

1 tsp Parsley flakes (dried) or freshly chopped

Sea/Kosher salt

Pepper

EVOO

1 T unsalted butter cut into small pieces (optional)

If you own a small food chopper (immersion blender attachment types work too!) or a food processor, I'd highly recommend using it because everything can be done right in the chopper.

Pre-heat oven to 375F:

1. Wash and pat the Mahi dry with a paper towel

2. Lightly salt and pepper the fish on the flesh side

3. Place 1-2 cloves garlic in a chopper, process until minced.

4. Zest the lemon and garlic right into the chopper. I use a microplane (if you don't own one, buy one!) to easily and quickly zest and grate!

5. Add the parsley, and a bit of salt and pepper to taste.

6. Add 1/4 C Panko breadcrumbs to the garlic, ginger, lemon, salt, pepper, and parsley and process until mixed.

7. Pour the mixture onto a plate and add the remaining 1/4 C Panko breadcrumbs, mixing to incorporate all ingredients together. This reserved 1/4 C Panko will have a larger crumb and add a more crunchy texture to the coating.

8. Lightly drizzle salt and peppered Mahi with EVOO and flip over onto the Panko mixture, pressing to thoroughly coat flesh side of fish with breadcrumbs

9. Place coated fish on a greased (I use EVOO or spray) foil-lined baking sheet, skin-side down

10. Press any remaining breadcrumbs onto top of fish

11. Dot top of coated fish with butter

12. Bake at 375F for about 20-25 min until fish is tender and flaky (NOTE: Depending how thick your filet or steak might be, raise the temp to 400F and the cook time will go to about 30-35 min)

Serve with Kale Chips and Wheat Berry Caprese.

Beer pairing: Lager

Wine pairing: Chardonnay

Minestrone Soup in a Sourdough Breadbowl

Who doesn't like soup? I believe that someday I will publish a book just on the soup creations I come up with. They are soul-warming and an all-in-one meal. They are filling, hearty, chock full of delicious ingredients, and most of the time very low in fat. Soups can be made on a Sunday and last through a Thursday. I love soup.

Most of the time my soups end up velvety and thick because of my immersion-blender obsession. However, this time I decided to finally try and concede to the request for a brothy minestrone soup.

I began with a package of 16-bean soup (Goya, I think), boiled the beans in water for 5 min and allowed them to sit for 1 hour. I rinsed the beans, added around 7-8 C water, and brought that to a boil with about 3 t Italian seasoning, 1 t garlic powder, 1 t finely ground black pepper, 1/4 t cayenne pepper, 3 bay leaves, 1 can of diced tomatoes, and 1 sliced medium-large yellow onion.

Once the beans were tender, I added about 5 T of my favorite better-than-bouillon chicken stock (you could use veggie if you want it to be completely vegetarian/vegan!) and some salt to taste. I also added 1 stalk celery sliced into crescents, and 1 diced green bell pepper. I boiled a pound of Barilla Piccolini Mini Wheels in a separate pot and added the whole pound of pasta to the soup.

I was feeling ambitious, and then decided to try my hand at breadmaking, seeing as I keep this sourdough starter alive in my fridge by feeding it flour every week...until, of course, I forget about it and it explodes all over the place.

Anyway, what a better way to serve soup, than in its very own breadbowl?

I'm not quite sure if I followed a recipe, but here goes:

1 - 1 1/2 C sourdough starter (these recipes are all over the internet)

1 package dry yeast (follow packet directions for activating)

1/4 t salt

I basically let the sourdough starter and yeast come to room temp and activate, respectively. I put this in a stand mixer, added some warm water (about 1/2 C) and then added flour 1/2 C at a time until the dough pulled away from the bowl and seemed like a good consistency. Have I mentioned how much I hate baking because you have to measure...?

I put the dough in a giant olive oil coated bread rising bowl, covered it with a clean, moist kitchen towel, and stuck it in the oven (pre-warmed of course) and let it sit overnight. In the morning, I punched down the dough, kneaded it briefly on a floured surface and divided it into two boule shapes. I don't have a fancy pizza stone, though you can go to Home Depot, buy the bases to any clay flower pot and use that as a pizza stone (they cost about $1-2!!!). I used my regular old Silpat-lined baking sheet, popped the boules in the oven for about 20 min at 400F, brushed the tops with olive oil at the end and quickly broiled them for a top-brown:

The plan is to cut the tops, pull some insides out, and use them as a delicious vessel for the minestrone soup:

Cream of Celery Root Soup and Truffle Oil Celery Seed Crostini

Cream of Celery Root Soup

1 large celery root (3/4 lb), cubed

1 large onion

3 large cloves garlic

6 stalks celery, strings removed, reserve leafy tops

2 tsp ground black pepper

3 C chicken (or veggie) stock (3 T concentrated stock + 3 C water)

1/3 C dry sherry

3 C whole milk

3 T flour

Extra Virgin Olive oil (EVOO)

Immersion blender

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 F

2. Dice large onion

3. Roughly mince garlic

4. Remove strings from celery, roughly dice

5. To clean celery root, cut the leafy top and root-like rough bottom off so

that the celery bulb root has a flat top and bottom that is stable on the cutting board surface. With a sharp chef’s knife, follow the contour of the root, and trim the brown outer surface off of the root so that the white inner part of the root is exposed, rotating the root until all of the brown outer surface is removed. Trim off any remaining brown outer surface.

6. Dice the celery root into small ¼ inch cubes.

7. Add about 3-4 T EVOO to coat bottom of thick bottom soup pot (dutch oven)

8. Add half of the diced celery root cubes, onion, garlic, and celery to the

pot and sauté on med-low, about 15-20 min until the onions are translucent and celery root cubes have softened.

9. Add about 1 tsp ground black pepper to the sautéing vegetables.

10. Toss the reserved half of celery root cubes to coat in EVOO, salt, and pepper. Roast the cubes on a foil lined cookie sheet at 400 F for about 15 min, turning mid-way through, or until cubes are golden brown on all sides. Set aside.

11. To the sautéed vegetables, add the dry sherry and allow the alcohol to boil off for about 1 min.

12. To this, add the 3 C of soup stock, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 15-20 min.

13. To ¼ C cold water, add the 3 T flour and mix thoroughly to break up any lumps.

14. Add the flour-water mixture to the 3 C of whole milk.

15. Turn off heat to soup. With the immersion blender, puree soup until smooth, slowly adding the 3 C of whole milk and flour mixture.

16. Return the soup to very low (warm) heat, and stir. The soup should have a smooth and velvety consistency.

17. Add the roasted celery root cubes to the soup at this time.

18. Serve drizzled with EVOO, garnish with reserved celery stalk leaves, and serve with truffle oil celery seed crostini.

Truffle oil Celery Seed Crostini:

1 loaf crusty French bread

2 T freshly chopped Italian flat-leaf parsely

1 clove garlic finely minced

½ tsp ground black pepper

¼ tsp Kosher salt

¼ tsp celery seed

¼ C Parmesan (or Romano) cheese

Truffle oil (white or black)

EVOO

Wire cooling rack

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 F (Oven should be pre-heated from the roasted celery root)

2. Line a cookie sheet with foil

3. Place a wire cooling rack on the lined cookie sheet

4. Slice the French bread on a bias

5. Finely mince the parsely and garlic

6. Place the slices of bread in a large bowl

7. Toss bread to coat with EVOO, parsley, salt, pepper, celery seed, garlic, and cheese. Lightly coat with truffle oil. Note: Some of the garlic, parsley and cheese may remain on the bottom of the bowl—lightly rub some of the bread slices on the bottom of the bowl if this is the case.

8. Place coated bread slices on the wire cooling rack on the lined cookie sheet. Drizzle each of the crostini with truffle oil. Sprinkle lightly again with celery seed.

9. Bake crostini for about 10 min or until tops are golden brown, turn drizzle again with truffle oil, and continue to bake until the other sides are golden brown.