Bake a red pepper in a large pot with a little bit of olive oil, 1/2 a cup of water and 1 sliced onion on a bed of white rice.

The onion will caramelize after 10 minutes of cooking. You're essentially steaming the red pepper if you cover the pot. Once the pepper becomes tender and the onions have caramelized they're ready to serve on top of the rice. This is a great quick meal packed full of vitamins and nutrients.

Fun Fact: A red pepper has more Vitamin C than an Orange. :)

Enjoy!

Swordfish a la Plancha®

As I get older, I'm starting to shy away from red meats and head toward the white meat and fish categories. They're leaner and don't make you feel so heavy after you eat it. I love feeling that buzz in my brain when eating items chucked full of omega-3s . It makes you feel clean inside.

Ok enough with the queer stuff ;). Let's get down to cooking. "A la plancha" in Spanish means grilled. To grill Swordfish, or any item for that matter, you just need to skirt you pan with a slight amount of olive oil but not too much. You don't want to fry it; you just don't want it to stick to the pan. Let's start with the side items since they take longer to cook. I prepared the Swordfish meal with sauteéd green bell peppers, onions and garlic white rice. Here's a trick on how to cook rice the right way.

Cooking Rice:

Sauteé a mince onion and 3 chopped garlic gloves in a pot with olive oil. Simultaneously you should be boiling twice the amount of water to rice that will be needed, separately on a different burner. Let is cook for about 4 to 5 minutes and then add all the other ingredients you would like the rice to carry, be it, tomatoes, red peppers, onions, what have you.... Once you have sauteéd the ingredients long enough you will want to add the dry rice to the pot. Do NOT add water yet.

Once you've added the rice, start stirring all the items together. Stir for about 3 minutes. Now we have the boiled water ready to add to the pot. Cover the pot after mixing several times and bring the heat to a medium low. Leave for about 15 minutes or until you see the water evaporate.

You should have tasty, fluffy rice with all the trimmings!

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Back to the Swordish. I create an oragnic Irish butter rub for the Swordfish but you can easily just add rock salt and drizzle olive oil onto the fish before placing it onto the pan. I like the taste of Irish Oganic Butter for Swordfish so I added this rub onto the fish beforing cooking.

This is a super easy fish to cook. Just turn it twice on the pan and after 5 to 8 minutes it should be cooked.

KEY TO COOKING FISH: DO NOT OVER COOK. Do NOT let it stick to the pan.

Enjoy!

Farfalle with Fresh Tomatoes in a Cheesy Red Sauce & Chorizo

Everyone loves FARFALLE!!! First thing, it's just a fun word to say...Farfalllllleeeeee! Hee hee. Bowtie pasta, as it's more commonly known is great prepared al dente (not thoroughly cooked.) I prepared this yummy dish by boiling the Farfalle for just 5 minutes (this time is crucial in order for it to come out al dente), by adding a teaspoon of olive oil, salt and galic powder to the boiling water.

Simultaneously, I started on cooking the sauce from scratch. This red cheesy sauce consists of fresh boiled tomatoes, manchego (or any semi-soft cow cheese), parsley, oregano, salt, ground black pepper, 2 cayena peppers (crushed), fresh Spanish cured chorizo.

Start with the "Spanish basics." Sauteé garlic and onions in a pot and add parsley, oregano, black pepper, & 2 crushed cayena peppers. In a separate pot boil the tomatoes. Once they have boiled and the skin appears to be coming off; cool them down and once cooled, add them to the main cooking pot. Now you'll have the tomatoes with the olive oil, garlic, onions and spices all joining forces in filling your kitchen with a great aroma.

After a while (3 minutes usually), add the Spanish chorizo to the mix. Stir constantly. Now you're ready to add the tomato sauce with a splash of water. After bringing the sauce to a slight boil, it's time for the KEY ingredient.....CHEESE. You want to add the cheese at the end since it melts pretty quickly and could get stuck to the bottom of the sauce pan. After adding the cheese, you will need to stir, stir and stir for about 10 minutes on medium low heat.

You should periodically taste the sauce to make sure it's to your liking. Add spices as needed. Once the sauce is done, marry the pasta and sauce together and after it simmers down.....it's time to eat!!

Enjoy!

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Ingredients:

1 cup of Farfalle Pasta (Barilla is the best brand)

1 can of tomato sauce

300 grams of Spanish cured chorizo

2 fresh tomatoes (boil them and peel skin off)

1 large onion

5 cloves of garlic

5 tablespoons of olive oil

2 small Cayena peppers (crush in mortar)

200 grams of cow's cheese

1 teaspoon of :

a. salt

b. fresh ground black pepper

c. oregano

d. parsley

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Lentil Bean Soup (Lentejas Castellanas)

This is an old recipe from my mom and grandma on how to make lentil bean soup. It's a great mid day meal especially during the cold months of the year. It's full of iron and gives you great energy for the rest of your day.

Lentejas, as I will call them from now on in this posting are easy to make but take at least 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on the added ingredients you wish to include.

I always start with a deep pot. In this pot I lay down the Spanish basics: garlic, onions, olive oil, parsley, oregano, and salt. I let these items gather steam for about 8 minutes until I start seeing the onions caramelize a bit. Then I add about 1/2 a liter of water and bring it to a boil. Once the water is hot I add the lentil beans along with the cooked potatoes, carrots, and boiled tomatoes. I let it boiled for about 5 minutes. After the boiling process I bring the heat down to a minimum. Cover the pot and cook on minimum heat for about 45 minutes. Stir and most importantly, taste frequently. Add salt, ground black pepper or parsley as needed to extract the taste you desire.

One note: I boiled the potatoes, tomatoes and carrots separately so that they would be tender at the moment of slow cooking when combined with the lentil beans.

Enjoy!

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Ingredients:

400 grams of lentil beans

1 liter of water

5 tablespoons of olive oil

1 large potato

1 large onioin (minced)

4 cloves of garlic

2 carrots

2-3 tomatoes (depending on their size)

1 teaspoon of:

a. salt

b. black ground pepper

c. parsley

d. oregano

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Sauteed Chicken Breast on a Bed of Arugula with Goat Cheese

Wow! I just amazed myself. After making this dish, it quickly was consumed by hungry me. It was absolutely delicious and I felt healthy and strong afterwards.

This dish is packed full of nutrients, proteins, fiber, and ENERGY! Remember, food IS energy. We should consume it with delight and enjoy it to it's max but it's mainly meant for our survival. Mother nature has generously provided us with distinct, diverse, and delicious forms of food. Fruits, vegetables, and meats give us energy while also satisfying our taste buds.

I have started to eat much more fish and lean white meats such as chicken breasts or turkey meats. The reason for all this, is to lose 20 Kilograms by Christmas. Yes, I can do it. I have done it before (the healthy way) and will do it again. No more soda, processed foods, sugar, salty items or anything else that comes in a box or package. I am now craving organic, fresh and raw foods. This is not only a good way to lose weight but also to detoxify your liver. Most people (inlcuding myself) are overweight or carry on extra weight because the enzymes in the liver that are needed to detox are overwhelmed or lessened by the effects of the toxins we consume.

So the time has come to treat myself better. I hope that in the process of me growing and cooking healthy, but delicious meals, I can inspire you to do the same. Long live progress, and long live MOTHER NATURE!!!

Enjoy!

Fusilli with Turkey & Fresh Tomatoes®

Pasta with protein and fresh veggies is a great meal to give you TONS of energy for a busy day.

Today, I prepared Fusilli pasta, al dente with turkey meat, fresh boiled tomatoes, garlic, and spices.

The flavors are complex within it's simplicity. I began by boiling 3 tomatoes so it would be easier to remove the skin and place them into the Sautee pan.

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Ingredients:

3-4 cloves of freshly chopped garlic

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon of parsley

1 tablespoon of oregano

1 teaspoon of sea salt

1 teaspoon of grounded black pepper

1 teaspoon of onion powder

100 mg of deli turkey meat

3 fresh tomatoes (boiled and de-stemmed)

1 can of tomato sauce

Instructions:

After I boiled the tomatoes, I used the same water to make the pasta. In the Sautee pan I began with 4 cloves of garlic and olive oil. I let that heat up, stirring it a few times until the wonderful smell of garlic took over the ktichen. I then added the spices (oregano, parsley, black pepper, a bit of sea salt, and onion powder.) I stirred the spices and garlic a bit and let it cook at medium high heat for about 3 minutes. After that, I added the fresh tomatoes and chopped up turkey deli meat (about 100mg.) Just the crisp noise the pan makes when you drop in the tomatoes, is exciting enough to make you jump with joy.

After sauteeing the tomatoes, garlic, and spices for about 7 to 10 minutes, I added a full can of tomato sauce with 1/2 cup of water. I stirred everything together and let it cook for another 8 minutes until the fresh tomatoes melted into the sauce.

Combine the sauce with the drained pasta and add any type of garnish for appearance and there ya go! Fusilli pasta with Turkey meat and Tomatoes.

Hungry Man's Diet

For every hungry man or woman out there that's trying to watch their figure, here's the Hungry Man's Diet dish.

I call it this because it's high protein, good fat, small carbs and greens. This will get you going for a night jog...hell even a sprint ;).

On the toasted bread I prepared live pate' with goat's cheese (add a bit of parsley for garnish.) Then I fried up an egg in olive oil (of course) and placed it on a river of warm tomato sauce. To accompany our protein and light carb meal, I added arugula dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar with a touch of salt and black pepper for that kick.

Now you can change this dish up with different types of salad or add a hard boiled egg instead of a fried one but the key is to have your greens, protein, good fat and light carbs for dinner. This dish will surely give you high energy while quenching that hungry monster in the smelleee bellyyyyy!

Have a good jog!

Enjoy!