Twice Baked Potatoes

4-6 russet potatoes (scrubbed and rinsed)

Butter

Sour cream

¼ cup milk

½ cup shredded Jack cheese (or your favorite cheese)

Bacon (optional - we had leftover bacon from breakfast that I crumbled up)

Salt, pepper, parsley

Set the oven at 350 degrees. Once you have washed the potatoes pierce them with a knife a couple of times. Place the potatoes in the oven and bake until tender, about 45 minutes.

Once the potatoes are done wait for them to cool for about 10 minutes so they are easier to handle, but don’t let them cool off too much they are easier to work with when they are still warm.

Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, scoop out the flesh and place in a bowl; leaving very little flesh on the skin. Place the potato skins on a baking sheet.

Now you are going to make mashed potatoes. Add the butter, milk, sour cream, cheese, bacon, salt, pepper, and parsley to the potatoes in the bowl. Mash thoroughly.

Take each potato skin and fill with the potatoes, placing them back on the baking sheet and return to the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

(This is where I would have placed a picture of the potatoes after they came out of the oven, but we ate them before I could take the picture)

Serve topped with sour cream as an appetizer or as a side dish. Enjoy!

Roasted Salsa

Tomatoes (you can use as many or as few as you want)

Jalapeño or Serrano chiles ( I usually add 2-3 chiles per tomato depending on how spicy you want it)

1-2 garlic cloves

¼ of a medium onion

1 handful of cilantro

Wash tomatoes and chiles. Heat a pan, place a piece of aluminum foil in the pan covering the bottom. (Roasting chiles in a pan is a bit messy, so I place a piece of aluminum foil over the pan making cleaning it easy.) Turn the tomatoes and chiles over several times until roasted. Place tomatoes, chiles, garlic, onion and cilantro in the blender. Add salt and puree to desired consistency. Serve with your favorite dish or with beans and chips. Enjoy!

Pesto

A couple handfuls of:

Basil (cut the leaves from the stem and wash, toss out the stems)

Nuts (pine nuts are normally used, but I didn’t have any on hand today; so I used walnuts, you can also use almonds)

4-6 garlic cloves (you can add more or less depending on your love of garlic, we love garlic)

Juice of 1 lemon

6oz parmesan cheese (fresh or whatever you have in the cupboard will do)

1 cup olive oil

Pepper to taste

Salt (you can hold off on adding salt until the end the cheese is plenty salty and you may not need it)

Toss everything into a blender or food processor and blend until desired consistency. You may need to add a bit more olive oil, taste for salt and add if needed. Serve with your favorite bread or toss it with pasta, or grilled chicken. Enjoy!

Tilapia fish and Vegetables grilled in aluminum foil

This recipe is great on a warm summer night, you can also prepare ahead for camping or tailgating.

4 Tilapia fish filets

4 carrots

1 medium onion

2 broccoli bunches

2 zucchinis

(You can add whatever vegetables you like, potatoes, peppers, cauliflower…this is what I had in my fridge)

Minced garlic

Butter

Salt & pepper

Aluminum foil

Olive oil

Wash, rinse and chop all vegetables, set aside. Cut a good size piece of aluminum foil, add a little bit of olive oil in the center, make a layer with the carrots (and potatoes if using, you want your hardest vegetables on the bottom) and place the fish on top of the carrots; season to taste. Add the onion, broccoli, zucchini, minced garlic and a small amount of butter.

Cut another piece of aluminum foil and place on top, you are now going to fold over both the top and bottom pieces of foil on all four sides, creating a pocket. Make sure it is tightly sealed. Repeat with the remaining fish and vegetables to make 4 packets.

Heat your grill on high, raduceheat to medium and place the foil packets on the grill. (You can also cook at 375 degrees in your oven) Cook for 15-20 minutes and remove from heat. Place on a plate in the foil, cut open (be careful as there is a lot of hot steam). Enjoy!

Tilapia Fish, Spinach and Brown Rice

1 cup brown rice

4 Tilapia fish filets

1-2 spinach bunches

2 tomatoes

1 medium onion

1 jalapeño chile

2 garlic cloves

½ cup flour

1 egg

1 bouillon cube

Salt & pepper

Rinse brown rice until the water runs clear and drain.  Chop half the onion and 1 garlic clove. Heat a skillet with enough olive oil to coat the bottom, add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes, then add the garlic. Once the onion is fully cooked add the rice and the bouillon cube and allow to brown for about 3 minutes. Add 2 ½ cups water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cover. Allow to cook for 30 minutes, undisturbed. At the end of the 30 minutes turn off the heat and let sit until ready to serve or if you prefer you can fluff it up at this time.

While the rice is cooking chop the rest of the onion, tomatoes, jalapeño, garlic. Heat a skillet and add enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of the skillet – add the onion, tomatoes, jalapeño and garlic. Rinse spinach thoroughly, I like to place it a bowl full of water and wash it to remove all of the dirt, drain and set aside.

In a bowl prepare an egg wash for the Tilapia, beat the egg and add your favorite spices. In a separate bowl add the flour; you can add spices to the flour as well. Heat a skillet and coat the bottom of the skillet with vegetable oil. Dip the Tilapia in the egg wash and then lightly turn it over in the flour, you don’t want too much flour just enough to create a light crunchy coating. Place the Tilapia in the skillet, repeat with each piece of fish. Let the fish cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until browned, fish cooks really fast. You may need to use a spatula and a spoon to turn the fish over as it is really tender and falls apart easily.

By now the onion, tomatoes, jalapeño, garlic should be cooked thoroughly, add salt and pepper to taste and toss in the spinach. Cover the skillet and let cook for about 1 minute and turn off the heat.

Serve the fish, rice and spinach together. Enjoy!