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!

Grilled Asparagus in an Alioli Lemon Sauce

This is a fabulous appetizer for when you have guests coming over. It's quick to prepare but yet looks super exotic.

Just start by placing the cleaned Asparagus onto a warm pan (medium) with no oil. Leave the Asparagus on the pan for about 1 minute until they start to burn a bit. Then you will want to drizzle a slight amount of olive oil horizontally onto the veggies. Add a sprinkle of sea/rock salt on top and just shift them around every few moments.

Cooking the Asparagus should take no longer than 5 to 7 minutes.

Ok now to the sauce. The Alioli Sauce can be made from scratch or by enhancing a store brought one. Since I am currently living in Spain, the alioli sauce here is to die for, so all I did was buy a fresh jar of it and added salt, 4 lemons, and 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a bowl and stirred it for about 4 minutes ferociously. When done add parsley to the dish and place the hot Asparagus right on top. Garnish the plate with one of the lemon wedges you used and Tadaaaaaa: another great dish!

Enjoy!

Tortellini Carbonara

Everyone loves Tortellinis; stuffed with spinach, ham, or cheese. However you like it, Tortellinis are perfect for stuffing. Now listen, pasta is always better made from scratch and so are the sauces. But if you don't have the time, it's always a good substitute to buy a packaged tortellini meal and boil it for about 8 to 10 minutes. Don't boil it longer because it will come apart. The sauce is simply made with butter, cold milk, and cheese. You can buy the pre-made powdered cheese but real cheese is always better ;).

Preparing the tortellinis are simple as 1,2,3. The challenge is in preparing the Carbonara sauce. You need to heat up a small pot and place the extremely cold milk along with about 2 tablespoons of fresh butter and cheese (cow's milk is the best for this sauce), and stir, stir, and stir. Keep stirring while the sauce cooks. It'll take about 5 minutes. The sauce will begin to thicken and when this happens you can lower the heat and stir until you get the consistency you desire.

Drain the Tortellinis and drop in the Carbonara sauce nice and hot. Use a small spoon to toss everything together so that you don't accidentally tear the pasta with any sharp edges. Top it all off with fresh parsley (home grown garden parsley is phenomenal) and Voila!!!

Enjoy!

Mussels in white wine broth wih Spaghetti Pomodoro

Ok now, these are great mussels. Simmered in a white wine sauce, the sweetness of the broth will make you want to eat it like a soup. This is a great and easy meal prepared in 5 minutes. Did I mention cheap too? It can cost just a few bucks. So, if you want to impress someone with your culinary skills whilst not spending an arm and a leg, mussels in a white wine broth is the way to go.

Along with the mussels, I prepared a Spaghetti dish in a red sauce with grilled asparagus. This is a great compliment due to the differences in taste with the mussels. The sweet and buttery taste that combines in your mouth will leave you wanting more.

Enjoy this great mediterranean dish at any time of the year!
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Ingredients to Mussels:

1 kg of Fresh Mussels ( Feeds 1 to 2 people)
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
pinch of rock salt
3 gloves of garlic
1 small onion
1 teaspoon of fresh parsley
3/4 cup of white wine
1/2 cup of water
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Instructions:

Step 1: Start simmering the chopped garlic, onion, and olive oil in a big pot.

Step 2: Once the oil is heated and it starts smelling delish, you will add the parsley to the pot.

Step 3: Create a bit of steam by adding 1/2 cup of water and bring to slight boil. Then you will want to throw in your cleaned and shucked mussels into the pot. Stir constantly.

Step 4: After steaming the mussels for about 3 to 5 minutes, pour in 3/4 cup of white wine. Stir constantly until the mussels have opened up and the white wine has turned into a buttery type broth.

Step 5: Serve in a bowl and enjoy. Remember, slightly opened mussels are NO GOOD.

Mama's Pisto

Don't want to throw away YESTERDAY'S veggies? Well, you don't have to. Make pisto!

Pisto is a great home cooked recipe born in the small towns of Spain. It's similar to France's Ratatouille but less chunky. Let's start.

Ingredients:

(usually consists of left over veggies)

1 zucchini (green squash)

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 egg

2 teaspoons of sea salt

4 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of parsley

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper

1 teaspoon of oregano

1/2 a small can of tomato sauce

1 cup of white rice

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Instructions:

Step 1: While your white rice is boiling you can begin to cut all the veggies and separate them into small containers/bowls.

Step 2: Heat up a pan to a medium high and add the onion, garlic, and a drizzle of olive oil and let it simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes.

Step 3: Then start placing the harder veggies in first, such as the bell peppers. When those begin to tenderize, drop in the softer vegetables like the squash. Let it cook for another 5 minutes.

Step 4: Now you can add the sea salt, black pepper, parsley, oregano. Cook for 5 more minutes.

Step 5: Stir constantly and let vegetable almost melt into the pan.

Step 6: Once they have all tenderized, you place in a small amount of tomato sauce and stir ferociously until the vegetables and sauce become one. Stir and let it cook for about 3 minutes.

Step 7: Drop an egg into the pan and stir in the egg. The egg will almost immediately begin to congeal. This should take about 2 minutes.

Step 8: Stir, stir and stir. Turn the stove off and let it sit. Once it's cooled down you can add it to a bed of white or brown rice. The sweet taste of veggies sitting on top of a mountain of smooth rice will make your tummy feel like you're 12 again at home with Momma!

Enjoy!

Pan Seared Shrimp w/ Heads

Pan Seared Shrimp have to be one of my favorite quick dishes. The juices and taste that comes out of this creature is to die for! Just use sea salt, lemon and olive oil and place it on a pan. Don't cook too long because the shell will get stuck to the meat. I would say 3 to 5 minutes for a batch of 5 to 8 shrimp.

Ingredients:

1/4 kilo Shrimp with heads (preferably)

1 tablespoon of sea salt

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 whole lemon

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Good cooking!

Enjoy!

Rotisserie Chicken with mushrooms and red peppers

Let's talk chicken. One of my favorite meals to make is an oven roasted chicken. At my previous apartment, the oven had a built-in rod skewer so that the chicken can turn and roast on all sides. If your oven does not contain this smart and useful tool, that you might just want to turn the dish several times.

I prepared this bird for 2 people even though it can feed up to 4 folks. The ingredients are easy.

Procure the following:

(you need to do some conversions here because I like using grams for somethings and cups for others)

1 whole chicken (cleaned and de-feathered)

1 large onion

1 apple

1 half a garlic

1 red bell pepper

100 grams of whole shitake mushrooms

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon of oregano

2 teaspoons of sea salt

1 tablespoon of raw organic irish butter

1/8 cup of white wine

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Instructions:

Step 1: Wash out the chicken nicely and let it air dry. Once dried you need to start with the rub. Rub it down (oh yeah baby) w/ oregano, salt, black pepper, and irish butter.

Step 2: Place a full apple into the cavity. The apple gives the chicken a bit of sweetness while opening it up for the white wine butter sauce to dribble in. Absolutely delicious...you'll see ;)

Step 3: Cut the onion, garlic, and mushrooms into medium size portions. Sprinkel them ontop of the chicken, between the legs, and in the corners of the glass casserole dish.

Step 4: Drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil horizontally on the bird. This will bring out it's color during the cooking process.

Step 5: And for the final step, you're going to want to provide a generous amount of white wine on top of the entire dish; 1/8 cup should do it. The wine will come together with the chicken's nature juices to create a delicious sweet taste.

Step 6: Stick the bird into the oven for 45 minutes at 390º. You must keep juicing the bird so it doesn't dry out...I would do this every 10 minutes. If you don't have a skewer turn the dish at least 4 times. If you skewer it makes sure the dish/pan is under the chicken to collect all it's yummy juices.

And that's all folks. Let it cool down, and probably serve it on top of a bed of couscous or veggies...hell or BOTH.

Enjoy!

Tortilla Española

In Spanish you tend to give inanimate objects feminine/masculine names. Instead of "It" you would call things "her" and "him." For this, I call the traditional Spanish Tortilla--LA TORTILLA.

She is a beaut, isn´t she? Made with nothing more than potatoes, eggs, and onions. This traditional dish goes back hundreds of years and it pertains to the family of Omelettes that are so prevelant in Europe. Each country has their own way of making omelettes. However, this one is special because it´s eaten 24 hours a day. This is no commoner. She is the Queen of omelettes. You can have her in the morning, mid-day and at night. Here are the ingredients. Oh and don´t forget to flip her over. If you can master that without it spilling, you are now a master of omelettes.

Ingredients:
( Serves 3 to 4 people)

6 medium sized potatoes
4 large eggs
1 large onion
2 teaspoons of sea salt
1 cup of olive oil
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Instructions:

Step 1: Heat up a large pan. Make sure you have a plate that is big enough to cover it because you´re going to flip the omelette half way through the process.

Step 2: Once the pan is heated up you´re going add the onioins and cup of olive oil. Let the onion cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Step 3: After having hand cut the potatoes into thick slices, you´re going to add them all at once to the pan.

Step 4: Mix the potatoes and onions together while sifting and padding it all down. You need to cook the potatoes until their pretty tender. Don´t burn them ;)

Step 5: Turn off the stove, get a collander and drain the potatoes so that all you have are dry potatoes in a separate plate.

Step 6: Wipe clean the pan and place it back on the stove, medium high. Heat up the pan and then add the potatoes again. No more oil.

Step 7: Quickly added the hand beaten eggs into the pan so that they mix well. Keep stirring a lot until every piece of potato is surrounded by egg.

Step 8: Pat it all down so that it takes the shape of the pan. Use the pan handle to hand sift it while it cooks.

Step 9: Ok people, this is the most DIFFICULT step. You will now need to flip the omelette over and place the uncooked side BACK into the pan so it too can cook. You will do this by placing a plate that fits the pan exactly, no more, no less. You will use your left hand to hold the pan handle and your right hand will be cupping the middle of the plate. Now quickly flip it so that the raw side of the omelette is hitting the plate.

Step 10: You will now want to carefully place the omelette back into the pan. You do this by methodically sifting the omelette into the pan inch by inch making sure it always maintains it´s circular form at all times. Once in let it cook for about 4 to 5 more minutes. Once it´s cooled down you have a great dish.

If you want to make a super cheap and fast meal, you can sauteé sliced green peppers in a pan and place it in a french baguette with the omelette. Quick, easy and traditional!

Enjoy!

Lemon Chicken a la Primavera®

At first glance this dish appears to be very simple. Spaghettis with tomato sauce and grilled chicken. But looks can be deceiving. The way I prepared this fine meal was by sauteeing onions in extra virgin olive oil long enough for the taste of Summer to inspire the pan. After a few minutes I added freshly sliced red peppers and pan seared them until they were caramelized. Once the juices of the onions and red peppers have seemingly joined together, I added Spanish chorizo for a sweet but tangy taste. Then goes the fried tomato sauce with a bit a water. Stir all together with care to bring this sauce into another realm of creation. At last, I join them with fresh ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon of rock salt, parsley and oregano. I let it simmer under a medium heat for 10 minutes until the smell devours me. Marrying the sauce to the pasta is the last great delight of my creation, until the lemon chicken of course. Once the pasta has joined it´s long lost love; sauce, I continue to pan sear chicken breast marinated in lemon, garlic, and olive oil. I let it blacken a bit and once the beautiful smell of free range chicken engulfs my kitchen, I combine both to make the famously delicious Lemon Chicken a la Primavera®.

Enjoy!