Fish Taco Bowls, Peanut Noodles, Corn & Clam Chowder, Black Eyed Peas & Chorizo Chili

So much good food once again this week — trying to jam in as much protein, fiber and micronutrients as we can!

Red Snapper & Shrimp Taco Bowls

With Compostella’s salad greens now taking a break post freeze, a big batch of slaw seemed like the perfect way to highlight the veggies that we do actually have in their absence!

I was going to make fish and shrimp tacos, but I only had large tortillas in my freezer and some leftover rice in the fridge, so we went the bowl route instead (served on a plate! ;-).

For the slaw, I sliced green and purple cabbage and grated a bunch of carrots and watermelon and purple daikon radishes. For the dressing, I used mayo, homemade yogurt, goat creole cream cheese, some brine from my pickled radishes, mustard, garlic fermented honey, paprika, garlic powder and plenty of sea salt.

For the rice, I just added the leftover Jasmine rice to a pot with a little water, plus garlic powder and turmeric.

And for the fish and shrimp, I drained them in a colander in the fridge for a few hours to really dry out and seasoned with coriander, paprika, Trader Joe’s green goddess seasonings, garlic powder and sea salt and seared/blackened in cast iron pans.

I have been on a kick of making various versions of homemade Bitchin’ Dip with almonds, cashews, avocado oil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic, soy sauce and seasonings and that, along with salsa and avocado, was perfect on these bowls.

Meal Prep Peanut Noodles with Chicken, Cabbage & Carrots

I always make a ton of food on weekends that serve well as leftovers for the week. But recently I’ve started making something on Monday for lunch that is specifically meant for my lunches for the week. And I put it straight into portioned out containers and it makes my life during the week even easier!

This was was so delicious. I broke down two whole chickens, in order to use the breasts and tenders in this recipe. I put the backs/frames straight into the Instant Pot with some other frozen chicken bones for broth and roasted the wings and leg quarters for dinner that night to go with the chowder (below).

Then I cubed up the breasts and tenders and sautéed them in my big stainless steel wok, seasoned with chili lime seasoning and garlic powder. Then I pushed the chicken to the sides to sauté onions, eventually adding minced garlic and ginger and yellow curry paste.

Then I added purple cabbage and carrots and a little bone broth to deglaze the pan and help the veggies steam and soften more quickly. Finally, I added cooked whole wheat spaghetti and a quick peanut sauce made with peanut butter, soy sauce, a little garlic fermented honey, rice vinegar and sriracha. Normally I would have added garlic and ginger, but there was already enough in the sautéed veggies.

I topped each portion with green onions, chili crisp and lime juice and they were just so good!

Corn & Clam Chowder with Roasted Chicken

I’ve been making bone broth at least once a week lately and even though I usually freeze a lot of it, I needed another batch to make this soup!

I still have frozen sweet corn we grew in my freezer, so I decided to do another round of corn and clam chowder. I’ve made versions of this before and it’s really good. As much as I enjoy being nourished by our homegrown proteins, bivalves like clams, mussels and oysters contain some of the highest levels of digestible iron, zinc and B12, so I try to work them into my meal rotations.

For the soup, I started (like you always do!) with sautéed onions, then added frozen celery and fresh diced carrots and later minced garlic. I also used diced Yukon gold potatoes and then some of the chicken broth I had made in the Instant Pot that afternoon.

I let all that cook before added the frozen corn, so it didn’t overcook the corn (it can lose its sweetness and just end up being more starchy). With the corn I added in the chopped canned clams and some arugula pesto I had defrosted to add some greens and color (and use it up!).

We topped it with bacon, had it with the simple roasted chicken and some of the last of the salad greens from Compostella!

Black Eyed Peas with Pork Chops and Roasted Veggies

Ok wow, I this was my first time cooking Marsh Hen’s black eyed peas and they are so good! I love the Sea Island Red Peas, so I knew they’d be tasty, but they exceeded expectations — just excellent flavor and very creamy.

Like for all peas and beans, I soaked these for more than 24 hours in acidic water (with apple cider vinegar) and cooked with some kombu seaweed. Kombu helps break down the complex sugars in beans that cause gas and digestive discomfort. Soaking beans in acidic liquid also helps with digestion by breaking down enzyme inhibitors in beans. And soaking also helps break down phytic acid, which binds to minerals like iron and zinc, preventing their absorption.

Besides the kombu, I cooked the beans with sautéed onions and garlic, a little broth and some smoked hocks, plus bay leaves, black pepper and garlic powder. I didn’t salt them because the hocks can be super salty sometimes and the seaweed has plenty of salt, too. Once they were done, they did need little salt, but better to have to add than have them be too salty!

We ate the beans with rice, quick seared dijon pork chops (similar to what I made last week and posted on the blog), plus roasted turnips and Brussels sprouts. It was absolutely delicious and the black eyed peas were great as leftovers all week long.

Beef & Chorizo Chili with Red Peas & Black Beans

Finally, some chili! I did a quick batch of chili with some sautéed chorizo and ground beef, onions, garlic and frozen habanada peppers.

The goal for making this on Friday was mainly to have for friends coming over Sunday, where we made “nachos” with homemade waffle fries. I didn’t take any pictures of those, though, maybe next time!

The chili was a big batch, so we had it for dinner Friday night, Saturday lunch and still have some for the week!

I also used beef and pork bone broth from the freezer stash, canned tomatoes and soaked black beans and Sea Island Red Peas. And you know I also snuck from kombu in here (you never notice a seaweed taste, but you do notice how your gut loves the addition, I promise!). We topped with sharp white cheddar, homemade yogurt, green onions and hot sauce.

Also had the last of the Compostella salad greens with a quick vinaigrette, strawberries, chèvre, pistachios and some bread crumbs from Bellegarde’s hot honey croutons. It was a lovely combination!