"PEPPERED HALIBUT STEAK"

If you want a white fish that is meaty, try halibut or sea bass. I bought both in steak cuts yesterday...I want to try and just pair them with simple sauces made of fresh veggies and herbs I got from the farmers market.

The halibut steak here is seasoned with garlic powder, salt and pepper, baked in the oven, and topped with a simple sauce of sliced sweet yellow peppers and onions. You can add any other spices and herbs to the pepper sauce based on your taste preference. You can even add wild mushrooms if they are available.

CHICHAY TIP: If you choose to fry the fish instead of baking it, you can do so, why not. Season the fish well based on this recipe, and then lightly drench the fish in flour before frying (this will avoid sticking to the pan, and will make the fish more crisp).

-CHICHAY
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"PEPPERED HALIBUT STEAK"


What You Need:

• 2 to 4 pieces halibut steak pieces
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• hot sauce (optional)
• 2 tsp olive oil

Sauce:

• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 medium bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 1 each red, yellow and green, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (or 1/2 tbsp dry basil)
• 1 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (or 1/4 cup white wine vinegar)
• 4 pieces cherry tomatoes, cut in half and seeds removed
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

How To:

- Preheat oven at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

- Season well all sides of the steaks with Worcestershire sauce, salt, peppers hot sauce and garlic powder.

- Place the steaks on a baking sheet (sprayed with olive oil), and cover with foil.

- Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

- Then, remove the foil, and bake for another 10 minutes or until the fish is browned. Set aside.
- In large skillet, heat oil over high heat.

- Add onions and cook, stirring often, for 2 to 3 minutes.

- Add bell peppers, garlic, parsley, and thyme. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often until onions are tender, about 6 minutes.

- Season with salt and pepper to taste.

- Stir in the white wine (or white wine vinegar), tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper and cook for a couple more minutes.

To serve, top each steak with the vegetable sauce.

"VEGETABLE FIESTA (Toppings for Rice or Chow Mein"

This dish is simply a combination of several organic vegetables that I bought fresh from the farmers market, plus some pieces of marinated meat. This "Vegetable Fiesta" is a delicious toppings for noodles (like chow mein) and rice.
The meat I used here is pork, but you can substitute it any meat of your preference. I suggest use any veggie mix you want to use, or anything that you have in your kitchen. Feel free to try different kinds of vegetables and mushrooms, just so you can discover what your family likes. Listen to what they say, and remember what they like (or do not like). The fun thing about having mixed veggies in dishes like this is that you can have a "compromise" - meaning have what everybody likes in one dish. See, I like bell peppers, but my husband doesn't enjoy it, and so I add zucchini which he likes, plus my bell peppers. We then both have our favorites in one dish!

(Did I say I like garlic and celery? Ok, ok, and he likes cauliflower and spinach so we are even.)

-CHICHAY

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"VEGETABLE FIESTA TOPPINGS"

What You Need:

• 4 cups of chopped vegetables (like zucchini, bell peppers, celery, fresh wild mushrooms, snow peas, spinach, cauliflower, bokchoy, cabbage, lettuce...)
• 1 medium size onions, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of meat cubes

Sauce mix:

• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp cornstarch

meat marinade:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 tsp sugar (or 1 packet if Splenda)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin (optional)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp low sodium soy sauce (or patis)
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro (or parsley)

Prep:
-Mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl, and marinate the meat in this mixture for at least an hour.

How To:
-Drain the marinade from the meat.
-Brown the meat in a heated large skillet. Once browned, add half of the marinade to the meat in the pan, bring to a boil, then lower heat. Let this simmer for about 3-5 minutes or until the sauce is reduced.
-Add in the mixture of sauce ingredients to the pan and let this simmer for a few minutes or until reduced. Stir constantly while simmering.
-Meanwhile, in another heated pan, saute the onion and garlic, then add in the vegetables, stir well and season with salt and pepper.
-Once the vegetetables are almost done, mix it with the meat and sauce.
-Make sure the vegetables are coated well with the sauce.
-Adjust seasoning if necessary, or add some water if the sauce becomes too dry (and let this heat up some more for everything to be blended well).
-Once cooked, use your Vegetable Fiesta as topping for rice or noodles.

"EASY FAJITAS"

I used chicken for this "Easy Fajitas" recipe. Another alternative would be beef strips, but make sure you do not overcook the meat, as beef tends to turn tougher the more you cook it.

-CHICHAY

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What You Need:

• 1 lb boneless and skinless chicken breast, sliced in strips


• 3 tbsp olive oil


• 2 tbsp lime juice


• 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced


• 1/2 tsp chili powder


• 1/2 tsp cumin


• 1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes (optional)


• 1/2 tsp black pepper


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1 large white onion, chopped


• 2 sweet (bell) peppers, chopped


• 1/2 cup of sliced fresh mushrooms

Prep:
-In bowl, mix together 1 tbsp olive oil, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin, hot pepper flakes, black pepper & salt.

-Add chicken strips, stir to coat, and marinade for at least half an hour.

How To:

-In a large skillet , heat up 2 tbsp olive oil over medium to high heat.

-Add onions and the mushrooms, saute, stirring constantly for about 3-5 minutes or until softened.

-Add bell peppers, and saute, stirring for another minutes.

-Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

-On the same skillet, add chicken strips and saute, stirring for about 5-8 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked on all sides.

-Return the vegetables to the skillet, and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

-Serve the Fajitas with torlillas, or brown rice and salad.

-If serving with tortillas, serve with sides of salsa or chopped tomatoes, sour cream and shredded cheese.

"STUFFED (BELL) PEPPERS"

Here again is a dish featuring the vit.C-enriched bell peppers.

This "Stuffed Peppers" recipe is easy, and you can always modify the sfuffing, based on the ingredients you have in your pantry or simply based on what your family enjoys.

This recipe is like meatloaf stuffed into bell peppers and baked in the oven.

Usually, the stuffing for bell peppers include cooked rice, but here I used tofu instead - only because I am pretty sure my husband and I would eat this as "ulam" with our rice anyway.

An advantage of using tofu in this dish is that you do not have to use a lot of seasonings or cheese, because the tofu absorbs the flavor (esp of the cheese) and makes the stuffing really tasty.
You can always substitute the tofu with rice, or if you want to make this meatless, double the quantity of the tofu, and add some rice - but do not forget to adjust the seasonings before baking your "Stuffed Peppers".

-CHICHAY

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"STUFFED (BELL) PEPPERS"

What You Need:

• 4 green or red bell peppers
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium-sized onion, minced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 lb of lean ground meat (beef, pork, turkey, chicken...)
• 1 1/2 cup of crumbled or chopped tofu (or cooked rice)
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or 1 tsp of dried oregano)
• some ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup tomato ketchup
• 1/2 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce
• some Tabasco sauce (optional)

Prep:

-Cut top off peppers about an inch from the stem end (or cut the peppers in half horizontally) and remove seeds.

-Boil water in a pot over high heat, and add several pinches of salt to the boiling water.

-Add peppers and boil the peppers until brilliant green (or red if red peppers) and their flesh slightly softened, for about 3 minutes. Drain, set aside to cool.

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

How To:

-Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

-Add onions and garlic, stir and cook until soft and translucent, for about 3 minutes.

-Add the ground meat, break the pieces, and cook while stirring until the meat is browned a bit. Drain the liquid (optional).

-Add the tomatoes, tabasco and ground pepper, stir continuously for about 3 minutes.

-Add the tofu, some salt and pepper, and oregano, mix well and cook for another 2 minutes.

-Drizzle remaining 1 tbsp. oil inside peppers, arrange cut side up in a baking dish, then stuff peppers with the filling.

-Combine Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, tomato ketchup and 2 tbsp water in a small bowl, and spoon this mixture over the pepper fillings.

-Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish and place this in oven and bake for 45 minutes.

-Top with some shredded (asiago or sharp cheddar) cheese, and bake for another 5 minutes.

-Serve hot, with an extra side of ketchup.

"BELL PEPPERS AND ONIONS STIR-FRY"

Sometimes we do not need complicated side dishes to complete our meal.

Bell peppers and onions, stir-fried in sesame oil or unsalted butter with a little bit of soy sauce (or oyster sauce) is one of my favorite side dishes! It's got the texture and flavors that I really enjoy.

Bell peppers (my favorite among the "sweet" pepper variety) are fat-free, and are packed with nutrients: iron, vit A, and tons of vit C! Yes, lots of vit C. Do you know that eating one sweet green pepper will be roughly eating two oranges?

What about onions? Do you know that the onion, which is one of the staple ingredients in Pinoy cooking is packed with vit C as well?

Try this "Bell Peppers and Onion Stir-Fry" side dish. You might need it specially if you are on the run, and still want something delicious and nutritional too.

- CHICHAY

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"BELL PEPPERS AND ONIONS STIR-FRY"

• 2 medium green bell peppers, cut into strips


• 1 large sweet onion, cut and quartered


• 1 tbsp sesame oil


• 2 tbsp oyster sauce or 1 tbsp low sodium Kikkoman soy sauce
  

How To:

-sautee the onions in a hot pan until it's a half cooked

-add in the bell peppers and soy sauce, stir continously and cook for 2-3 minutes

-turn off heat and transfer to another container

[CHICHAY TIP: do not overcook the peppers and onions to keep the "crunch".)