Green California Hummus

A friend introduced me to "California hummus" at a local restaurant called Pita Grill, which is a small NYC chain with California Mediterranean flavors. The California hummus is so good, I haven't bothered to check out the rest of the menu. I'm hooked on it. And I decided the only way to cure myself was to try making it on my own!

California hummus is green, herby, but also has that warm nourishment that comes from chickpeas. It doesn't feel as heavy as a typical hummus, but it still carries its weight as a tasty dip at your next event, or mixed with chicken salad. Nom nom!

California Hummus
Serves 4 as a side dish

1 16 oz can chickpeas (garbanzos)
2/3 cup chopped cilantro (stems okay)
1/3 cup chopped parsley (stems okay)
1 jalapeno, chopped (seeds optional)
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste

1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
2. In a large bowl, combine the chickpeas, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, and spices.
3. Using a hand blender or food processor, add half the olive oil and pulse to blend. continue adding olive oil as needed to get the desired consistency.
4. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
5. Serve with carrot chips, celery, pita chips, over grilled chicken, with falafel, wrapped in an omelette...
6. Optional add ins can include red pepper, spinach, cheeses - go crazy.

Quick Dry Rub Pork Chops

Perry surprised me last week by coming over for dinner. I had nothing in my fridge and stopped at the grocery store to see what was good. Pork chops looked great, but when Perry saw them, he lamented, "but now I have to wait for them to marinate!"

Fear not, hungry one.

Quick Dry-Rub Pork Chops
Makes 5 chops

1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Mix.
2. Rub on both sides of chop
3. Pan fry or grill per usual until rub caramelizes and chop is cooked through.
4. Eat.

Marinated Minute Steaks

While I am a stickler for quality meats, when serving a large dinner, it's impractical to get everyone 20 oz porterhouses. Let's be realistic. You want portions that are healthy, easy to wrap up if they aren't finished, and taste good.

This is why I'm a fan of minute steaks (or cube steak, which is apparently part of the beef round). As far as I can tell, a minute steak is a 6-8 oz piece of lightly marbled, boneless steak, usually only about 1/3 inch thick. And it lives up to the name - I can pan sear this sucker to medium rare in about 5 minutes.

 

Marinated Minute Steaks
for 8 steaks, 15 minutes

8 minute steaks
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon American mustard
1 tablespoon minced garlic
a dash of pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a zip freezer bag or shallow tupper ware. Whisk to combine.
2. Dip the steak in and cover both sides. Move to the side and continue coating each steak on both sides at least once.
3. Cover (or zip) and refrigerate until ready to cook. (I let mine sit overnight. I think at least 2 hours is optimum.)
4. Heat a skillet until very very hot.
5. Place the steaks in the skillet and sear for about 3-4 minutes. When browned, flip over and rotate so the steaks get even heat. Cook another 3-4 minutes.
6. Plate and allow to rest for 3-5 minutes before serving.

Ginger Almond Egg Custard

I first tried ginger egg custard when I was in Hong Kong. Initially, I was skeptical - how could shops make only steamed egg custard and turn a profit? It can't be THAT good. But it was. It was warm and silky and just a touch sweet. It was fragrant and just a little spicy. And in cute little cups, its downright classy. Until now I haven't been brave enough to try my own - but its pretty easy if you're comfortable with steaming.

Ginger Almond Egg Custard
Serves 4

3 large eggs
3 tbsp sugar
1.5 cups milk (2% in my case)
4 tsp ginger juice*
1 tsp almond extract

Special equipment:
Grater
Strainer/fine sieve (tea strainer works well if its fine enough)
Steamer**

*Ginger juice - grate a fresh piece of ginger over a bowl. Squeeze the ginger pulp to separate the juice from the ginger solids. Discard solids. For 4 teaspoons I had to grate about 1.5 inches.

**I'm a bad Chinese person - I don't own a steamer or the little metal trivet that most families own! So I had to ninja a steamer using:
Large pot with lid
Metal colander
Aluminum foil

If your colander has feet and fits at the bottom of the pot, you can fill water just to the bottom of the colander. Mine had handles, so it actually hung from the top of the pot and I had to seal the open edges with aluminum
foil. The key to steaming is to gently heat the food using the pressure and moisture. The food should not touch the boiling water and the pot must trap all the steam.

1. Set up your steamer. Fill with several cups of water and set to boil. When it boils, reduce heat to medium.
2. In a mixing bowl, preferably with a spout, whip the eggs with a whisk.
3. Whisk in the sugar a little at a time until dissolved.
4. Whisk in the milk and almond extract.
5. Add in the ginger juice and stir slowly. Don't whisk.
6. Pour the mixture through the strainer to remove ginger pulp, bubbles, and egg strands. It should fill four ramekins.
7. Place the four ramekins in the steamer. Steam on medium heat for five minutes.
8. The custard is set when jiggly but not liquidy. It will look exactly the same so you'll want to test with the back of a spoon. Enjoy warm. Okay as cold.

Sauteed Squash

Simply a delicious, natural, and fast way to put some veggies into a meal! The squash has a natural sweetness to it that makes it a great complement to almost any meal. Makes sure to pick squash that is firm, thin (less seeds) and unblemished or bruised.

Sauteed Squash
Serves 4

2 yellow squash, cubed
2 zucchini, cubed
2 plum tomatoes, cubed
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 heavy pinch oregano

1. In a saute pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil.
2. Add the garlic and immediately reduce heat to medium. Allow garlic to infuse the oil until fragrant.
3. Add the squash, zucchini, and tomatoes. Stir to incorporate with the oil, then cover. Cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Uncover and add the oregano and a couple heavy pinches of salt.
5. Cook until tender.

Quick Plum Granola Cobbler

I tried another batch of granola bars today and had a ton of little granola scraps at the bottom of the dish. Of course I could just enjoy as crumbly and delish as is - but why not have some fun and enjoy some extra vitamins too? Its quick, easy, and makes a super fast warm breakfast or low fat dessert.

Quick Plum Granola Cobbler
Serves 1, 10 min

1 plum diced
2 tablespoons granola
3 tablespoons milk

1. In a little bowl or dish, layer in diced plum. 
2. Top with granola from leftover granola bars scraps.
3. Spoon milk over the mixture
4. Microwave 1 minute
5. Devour

Would be excellent with peach or apple, berries or pineapple - really just go crazy.

Baked Egg in Tomato Stew

I made my hearty tomato stew last week and I really really enjoyed it. When the weekend rolled around though, I didn't feel like making anything new. Lucky for me, my leftover turned out to be the base for a perfect baked egg!

Baked Egg in Tomato Stew
Serves 1

1/3 cup Tomato Stew
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees.
2. In a ramekin or small oven safe casserole dish, spoon most of the tomato stew and reserve a two spoons.
3. Press an indent in the middle of the stew and crack the egg in. Season egg with salt and pepper.
4. Spoon the remaining stew over the top to cover the exposed egg whites.
5. Bake uncovered for 12-15 minutes until whites are cooked through.
6. Optional: Top with a mozzarella stick. Serve with toast or potatoes.

Clean dish! <3

Hiyayakko! Cold Tofu with Scallions

Quick, cool, and fresh! Hiyayakko is a cold Japanese tofu appetizer which literally takes only a minute or two to make. Ideally, its made with fresh tofu - I'm just going with the soft kind in the plastic box from Chinatown :) Feel free to mix up the seasonings and experiment!

Hiyayakko - Cold Tofu Salad
Serves one as a small entree or two as an appetizer

1/4th of a tofu block, soft or silken preferred (makes 6 2x2 inch slices)
1.5 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp grated ginger
dash of sriracha or paprika
1 scallion/green onion, white only, thinly sliced
sesame seeds

1. Drain and slice tofu and scallions.
2. Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and sriracha in a small dish. Spoon over the tofu.
3. Top with scallions and sesame seeds. TADA!

Caprese Salad

Caprese Salad is a tomato, mozzarella, and basil salad, drizzled usually with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The only thing that makes this salad amazing is the quality of your ingredients. Today's is extra special because most of my items were free! My friend/coworker grows tomatoes (and everyone knows New Jersey tomatoes are the BEST), the basil was fresh from the plant I just bought, and the greens and olive oil were from a free sample Barilla is marketing for in NYC.

Mango Smoothie

Mango mango mangoes! Mangos are definitely one of my favorite fruits. So when I saw them on sale, I definitely bought too many - and they were all ripe. So hence today's recipe, which combines mangos and other fruits into a delectable smoothie (or shake, depending how you think about it).

Mango Smoothie
Yields 4 cups - 2 large servings

2 ripe mangoes
2/3 banana
1 apple
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons unsweetened yogurt
Optional: 3 tablespoons vanilla ice cream (it had to be eaten - it was getting all crystallized. So sue me.)

1. Peel the banana, core and cut your apple into large chunks. Toss into the trusty blender and pulse a few times.
2. Peel and dice the mango - this will be messy. Toss into blender with the yogurt, milk, and maybe the ice cream. Blend until smooth.
3. For a thinner shake, use more milk. For a thicker shake, use more ice cream, ice, or less ripe mango.
4. Enjoy!

Zucchini "Pasta"

Zucchini is a really versatile vegetable. I love its texture and its light sweetness and you can use it for practically anything. I've incorporated zucchini into stir fry, crudités (as in raw), tempura fried, as stuffing for peppers, and its often used in baking. The zucchini fruit is low in calories (approximately 15 food calories per 100 g fresh zucchini) and contains useful amounts of folate, potassium, manganese, and vitamin A. 


Zucchini pasta actually does not include ANY pasta. Instead, the zucchini is julienned into thin strips and cooked quickly so that the zucchini obtains the flexibility and texture of spaghetti. Technically, this is a more difficult dish - especially if you don't have a mandolin - and will require really good knife skills. Or, you can cheat and use a vegetable peeler. Note that the recipe can easily be made gluten free by omitting the homemade croutons.

Zucchini "Pasta"
Makes 2 side dish sized portions


1 zucchini
1 tomato
1/2 red onion (or 4 inches of leek for me)
Olive oil
1 mozzarella stick
2 slices white bread
Handful walnuts

1. Prep ingredients. Mince garlic. Slice onion (leek) into thin strips. Julienne the zucchini into linguine sized strips. Dice tomatoes and a mozz stick. Dice bread (think croutons) and chop walnuts. To make the zucchini and leek uniform in size, take a vegetable peeler and make long even strokes. This way, you get even lengthwise slices, which you can slice into narrower strips on a cutting board. This works great with leeks, carrots, and other fibrous vegetable. This cannot be done with the onion, however, as they have too much water.
2. Turn saute pan to medium heat. Add a teaspoon of butter. Toast bread and walnuts until crunchy and fragrant. Sprinkle with salt and oregano.
3. Remove croutons and walnuts from pan, allow to cool on a plate lined with a paper towel. Try to avoid eating them all while cooking zucchini.
4. In same pan, add a teaspoon and a half olive oil. Saute garlic and onion/leek. 
5. Allow to cook until translucent, then add tomatos and zucchini. Cook until zucchini is soft. Immediately remove from heat and plate (the zucchini will continue to cook). Top with diced mozzarella, croutons, and walnuts.

(Ground) Turkey a l'Orange ... ¡En Fuego!

Man, life has been crazy lately! Poor Suanne is on a huge project at work and she has been working from sun-up to sun-down and then some! And I ... well, I'm nowhere near as busy as Suanne. Either way, neither of us have had much time to post anything, so on behalf on the Chic-Peas, I apologize. I know that all of you have just been waiting with bated breath for our next riveting installment, so here goes:

Tonight, I wanted something hearty, healthy, and ... what's an 'h' word for quick? I had a ton of produce in my fridge, so I decided to use at least some of it tonight. I served the finished product over a mildly sweet, sticky, coconut rice (which will most likely make its way into another post in the future) and garnished it with avocado.

**Disclaimer: I realize that this recipe bears no resemblance to duck a l'orange. The name is simply a nod to the mishmash of ingredients, but I am open to better suggestions. Feel free to leave them in the comments below!***

(Ground) Turkey a l'Orange ... ¡En Fuego!

Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups baby spinach, chopped
1/2 cup peanuts (optional, but I like the texture they provide.)
1 lb. ground turkey (you can also use ground beef)
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 to 2 tbs. of Sriracha hot sauce, depending on how spicy you like it (or how spicy you can handle!)
Approximately 1 cup orange juice (Approximately. Eyeball it! ... Also, I used OJ with a lot of pulp, in case you were wondering.)

1. In a large skillet, saute the onion and peanuts in a bit of oil until the onion is translucent. (If your peanuts turn translucent, you have a problem.)
2. Add spinach and let it cook down.
3. Add ground turkey and season with salt. Break up the turkey as it cooks.
4. When the turkey is almost finished cooking, add the Sriracha and stir well.
5. Add orange juice and simmer until it reduces by about half.

Makes about four servings.

You know, this would probably freeze well. I will get back to you about that ...

Summer Mango Chicken

Today I staggered home through the heat and humidity of NYC. I knew I had nothing in my fridge. I knew I didn’t really want to cook – its too hot, and I don’t have air conditioning. But I did know that I bought my two other meals of the day, and spending money on the third was just plain irresponsible of me. So I inventoried the fridge:

Frozen chicken (diced)
Ripe mangos
Cilantro (left over from guacamole)
Red onions – already half gone
Garlic

And Voila! A meal!


1.    Season frozen chicken with a teaspoon and a half soy sauce, a generous pinch of cinnamon and cayenne, a teeny pinch of cumin, and a tablespoon of cooking wine. Maybe a drizzle of sesame oil too.
2.    Cube the mango. Mangos are oval and usually wider one way. The width is determined by the big skinny pit inside. Slice just above the center (hopefully skimming right by the pit) on either side. Take the halves and use your knife to score lines horizontally and vertically into bite size cubes, but don’t go thru the skin. Invert the mango skin so the fruit pops out – scoop it out with a spoon or cut it free with your knife.
3.    Chop your onion into similarly sized bite cubes. Mince the cilantro and garlic.
4.    When the chicken is defrosted, heat up your pan with a teaspoon of oil. Swirl the pan so it is coated evenly.
5.    Toss in the garlic. Cook until fragrant.
6.    Add chicken and marinade. Wait a minute or two (when the chicken is cooked at least on one side) and add onions. Cook until onions are mostly transparent.
7.    Add the cilantro and mangos. The riper the mango, the less you need to cook it. If you mango is super ripe, don’t cook it at all. Cook on medium heat for about a minute, maybe two, until the cilantro is incorporated and the mango and onion have picked up all the yummy chicken bits on the bottom of the pan. Do not cook any longer than this or you’ll end up with mango puree!
8.    Serve! Goes well with rice and beans.

Perry's Kung Fu (Kung Pao) Chicken Stir-Fry

Perry, my silent and deadly significant other, is very fond of his mom's Kung Pao Chicken. And like all ninja-girlfriends, I need to learn how to make his favorite foods so I can win his way to his heart through his stomach to fuel his iron fists.

Kung pao chicken is diced chicken with chili peppers and cashew nuts. Its pretty healthy and packs a good punch in the spice department! This version adds a serving of vegetables and a pinch of sugar. Serve over a bowl of fresh rice with a side dish of veggies.

Perry's Kung Fu Chicken
Serves two - about 15 or 20 minutes

Two chicken thighs or breasts, diced approximately into 1/2 cubes
3 tsp cooking wine
2 tbsp soy sauce
dash sriracha (because i feel like it, ok?)
2 tsp sugar
dash sesame oil
1 tsp cornstarch
two cloves garlic, smashed
one thin coin ginger
one large red pepper, diced into 1/2 cubes
1/2 tsp chili paste (adjustable)
one jalapeno, minced, no ribs or seeds if you're sensitive to spicy
one large scallion, sliced thinly
1/2 cup cashew halves, unsalted. (if you have salted, its fine but cut down the salt/soy sauce in the recipe)

1. Put the diced chicken in a large bowl. 
2. In another bowl, combine cooking wine, soy sauce, sriracha, sugar, and sesame oil. Stir well and then add the cornstarch pinch by pinch. Mix well until you have the consistency of a sauce (aka, you dip a spoon in and the marinade sticks to the spoon so that when you draw a line with your finger in the back of the spoon, it still shows after a few seconds).
3. Pour marinade over chicken and mix well immediately. You should not have a lot of marinade puddling in the bottom of the bowl - the marinade should be thick enough to coat the chicken so its not sitting in tons of marinade. Marinate for about 10 minutes.
4. In the meantime smash the garlic, cut the ginger, dice the onion and pepper. Wash and cook the rice.
5. Heat a wok or skillet on HIGH heat. Add a tablespoon of oil. Stir fry is awesome because things cook fast, and to cook fast you need a lot of heat. 
6. When the pan is hot (you see waves of heat off it or a drop of water spits and evaporates) toss the ginger in and fry for 20 seconds. Add the garlic and fry for a bit to season the oil. Add the jalapenos. 
7. When fragrant, add the chicken. Spread chicken out in pan in a single layer (up the walls of the wok). When the chicken is cooked and browned on one side, act fast and stir everything together, flipping the chicken over.
8. When the chicken is all cooked on the outside, add the red peppers and chili paste. Toss until cooked. 
9. If you have a lot of water accumulating at the bottom of your pan, you can do one of two things: 1- keep cooking on medium heat until the water evaporates or 2 - make a cornstarch slurry. 1/2 tsp cornstarch plus tsp of water mixed WELL. Pour little by little into the puddle of water in the pan and mix thoroughly with contents. Only use as much as you need or it will taste starchy! (this is similar to a roux).
10. Taste. Season. Add more chili paste or sriracha if its not as hot as you like. Make sure everything is cooked. Then add the scallion and toss. They don't need long to cook.
11. Right before serving, add the cashews and mix in. The cashews are meant to be crunchy and if left in the dish too long,will get soggy after an hour. If you are planning for leftovers, don't add cashews to the leftover portion - add the cashews always right before eating.

Enjoy!

Secrets to Tender Chicken: Simple Stir Fry

Its 9 pm - I walk in after a long day and want something hot and filling but will get me in bed sooner rather than later. Stir fry fits the bill exactly. My mom always said the secret to good stir fry (other than good ingredients) is cornstarch. Say wha?

Lets talk to about.com: "The starch binds together the liquid ingredients in the marinade and seals them to the meat, poultry or seafood being marinated.  This technique is particularly important in quick cooking stir-fry dishes as it helps give the food more flavor. When a Chinese recipe calls for cornstarch in the marinade, always add it last unless the recipe specifically calls for blending it with the other ingredients before adding it to the food being marinated."

Easy Chicken Stir Fry
serves one, 10 minutes

4oz chicken, diced, room temperature
splash of soy sauce, cooking wine/beer
pinch of cayenne, cumin
1/2 tsp cornstarch
5oz of your favorite veggie (green beans for me!)
1 clove garlic, smashed

1. Take the chicken and toss in a bowl. Add soy sauce, cooking wine, and spices. Mix thoroughly and add cornstarch. Mix well again and set aside.
2. Heat oil in your skillet, wok, saucepan, whatever. Wait until its REALLY hot. Then toss in the garlic and you'll hear it sizzle. 
3. When the garlic is browned and fragrant, add chicken. let it brown and cook thoroughly on one side first so that when you go to stir it, it should unstick by itself . Then cook the other sides.
4. Add the veggies after the chicken is opaque on all sides. If things are starting to stick too much, the veggies will release some water to "deglaze" the pan and keep things from burning. But if the veggies aren't enough, add a few teaspoons of cooking wine or water. Cover veggies and let cook for  a few minutes until they're bright green (assuming the veggies are green to begin with)
5. Stir and make sure everything is cooked through. Serve!

Eggs to go!

I recently started a new project that transferred me to work in another office. It adds 30 minutes to my commute every day and they're a little stricter about being timely and hitting the ground running. AKA for me, no shredded wheat and yogurt at my desk at 9:30 am - I need to eat before I get there. (Getting up EXTRA early? Super bummer.)

As you may have figured out by now, I'm a big fan of poached eggs. Eggs make perfect breakfast foods because they are single small servings that are packed with protien that will keep you running through the day. I made a serving of bacon kale last night for this morning and splurged on buying turkish pide bread I found at my supermarket. But I wanted to have my egg and eat it too!

The microwave-engineers-that-be are one step ahead of me! http://www.whatscookingamerica.net/eggs/microwaveeggs.htm

Microwave poached egg

Grab a mug and fill with half a cup water. Mugs are perfect because they're deep and will make your egg the perfect circle!
Grab a fresh egg. Crack the egg and gently ease it in the mug. The egg will fall to the bottom. If the yolk is still whole, poke it with a fork. (The yolk can explode).
Cover the mug with plastic wrap.
Cook the egg on full power for 1.5 to 2 minutes.
If you're doing this for the first time, better to overcook when in doubt. If the egg doesn't looked completely done, let it sit in the water for another half minute and make sure the egg white is solid. (Mine took 2.25 min but I was also running the toaster for my pide!)
Pour out excess water slowly over a slotted spoon. Serve with a pinch of salt and pepper

Sweet Potatoes with Fresh Ginger

A little while ago, I was exhausted after a very long day at work. I desperately wanted comfort food, but I really didn't have much energy. So, after surveying my fridge, I discovered a huge sweet potato that I'd bought a few days earlier. Eureka!

I had visions of Thanksgiving - the ultimate comfort food holiday. Incidentally, I missed last Thanksgiving entirely because I had Swine Flu - ugh! I decided to reclaim at least part of my lost holiday and make this awesome, entirely satisfying dish.

Sweet Potatoes with Fresh Ginger
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1-inch cubes
1 tbs. freshly grated ginger
2 tbs. butter
1/4 cup ginger tea (or water, but ginger tea gives it a really good flavor)
2 tbs. brown sugar
2 tbs. sour cream (optional, but makes the dish a little creamier. And no, you don’t taste it!)
A few pinches of salt

1. Toss sweet potato, ginger, butter, tea, and brown sugar in a two-quart, microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap.
2. Place bowl in microwave for 8 - 10 minutes, stopping to stir the mixture every two minutes or so.
3. Once all of the sweet potatoes are softened, mash the bowl ingredients together.
4. Blend in sour cream (either with a fork, a potato masher, or an electric mixer - it depends on whether you want them to be lumpy or smooth). Taste.
5. Add salt to taste. **Remember: A little bit goes a long way! The goal is not to make salty sweet potatoes, but rather to bring out the subtlety of the other flavors.**

Makes about four to six servings, depending on how you portion it. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for four to six weeks.

AH-mazing Tuna Salad

While I normally pride myself on having a well-stocked kitchen, today was one of those rare days when I was scraping the bottom of the barrel. So, as dinnertime crept ever closer, and my tummy started grumbling, my mind struggled to come up with a way to combine the odd items in my pantry and fridge into some semblance of a real meal. "Protein," I thought, "I want protein." But, alas, having not purchased groceries in almost two weeks, both my fridge and freezer were devoid of meat. As I rummaged through my pantry, looking for something - anything - that appealed to me, I found it: tuna!

"Tuna?" you say, "Really?" Oh. Yeah. Within seconds, I had a game plan and my final results were simple and delicioso! Read on for my recipe!

AH-mazing Tuna Salad

2 - 5 oz. cans tuna, drained
1.5 tbs. mayo
1.5 tbs. horseradish sauce (which I ALWAYS keep on hand)
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 tbs. red onion, minced
1/4 tsp. dill
salt
fresh ground pepper


1. Place tuna in a non-reactive bowl.

2. Add mayo, horseradish sauce, and lemon juice. Mix until well-blended.

3. Mix in onion.

4. Add dill. Taste. (It's always good to taste as you go; otherwise, you're cooking blind!)

5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve as is, over salad greens, or on toast. Store leftovers in the fridge for two to three days.

Helpful hints:
- Use a non-reactive (like glass or plastic) bowl. When you mix high-acidity foods (such as lemon or tomato) with metal, your dish can take on a metallic taste - bleh!
- Normally, I'm not a fan of lemon (neither is Suanne, for that matter); however, it does have some helpful uses. I add a touch of lemon just about anytime I use frozen or canned seafood. It seems to restore some freshness to the meat. And if you only use a small amount, it's usual undetectable.