Mahi Mahi, Black Beans & Wild Rice with Coconut Water

This is a dish that Greg & I love to make. He made it this night so he deserves all the credit as it was absolutely delicious!

Lime Mahi Mahi, Cilantro Lime Jamaican Jerk Black Beans, Wild Rice With Coconut Water and Steamed Broccoli:

Mahi Mahi:

We get our mahi mahi from Trader Joe's always have loved their fish selection, quality and prices. This is simply pan seared in EVOO with Jamaican Jerk seasoning (from Savory Spices in downtown Santa Rosa), a lot of lime juice and fresh cracked pepper. Just cook flipping hear and there until cooked through.

Black Beans:

We just used Organic Canned black beans with about half a bunch of cilantro, lime juice, and some of the Jamaican Jerk seasoning just cooked on low for a bit. We both agreed this was our favorite part of the meal. Beans are always something fun to experiment with - just stick to whole beans and keep it light on the salt!

Wild Rice with Coconut Water:

We get the wild rice mix from Trader Joe's and although both of us are cutting down on rice, especially late this was a little treat to ourselves. If you're going to do rice this is the way to do it with a brown rice base and some Indian rice as well as wholesome wheat berries for nutrition and amazing texture. He did the standard 2 cups water with 1 cup rice replacing the water with coconut water. The texture, taste, EVERYTHING was amazing! With the black beans it couldn't have been tastier.

Broccoli:

The broccoli was standard steamed broccoli with a little fresh black pepper on it. Mixed in with everything else it was amazing!

Everything with this dinner complimented each other. I know I wasn't too detailed in this blog, so please if you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll ask Greg. :)

Thai Lettuce Wraps - One of my Favs! Healthy and Yummy!

Thai Lettuce Wraps:

What you need:

• 1 - 2 LB Chicken Breast
• Teriyaki for Chicken (I love Yoshidas Marinade)
• 2 Bunches Cilantro
• 2 Bunches Thai Basil (reg basil is fine!)
• 1 Bunch Green Onions
• 1 Bunch Mint
• 3-4 Limes - I usually use 3 inside then one for garnish
• 1 cup - 2 cups Sweet Chili Sauce (I usually get Mae Ploy from Food 4 Less- See Below)
• 2-3 Heads of Romaine Hearts
• Optional: Chopped Peanuts - 1 Cup Chopped to incorporate into mixture plus 1/2 for garnish. I usually just do some for garnish.

Equipment Needed:

• Good chopping knife
• Cutting board(s)
• Big Bowl
• 1 Cup Measuring Cup
• Bowl for Chicken Breast
• Medium Pot to Cook Chicken

Note: This recipe is easy but requires a lot of chopping! Great if you need to get some aggression out :) Took me about 30-40 to chop but I was also distracted.

Wish my sink always looked like this! Yumm! I love herbs!!

Directions:

I like to marinate the chicken overnight in teriyaki in a ziploc bag, but it's not necessary. Place about an inch of water or so in your medium pot and add the chicken dumping and left over teriyaki in there too. Steam/boil the chicken stirring occasionally for about 15-20 minutes, you want it cooked all the way through but not dry. Turn off let cool a little then place into a bowl and put in the refrigerator to cool. Wash your herbs, as you can see in the picture I kind of keep them separated which isn't necessary but sometimes it makes it easier as they chop differently. I cut the stems off except the basil I just run my hand down the stem to remove the leaves and chop just the leaves. Chop everything up cilantro, basil, green onion, mint, and peanuts if desired.

Pull your chicken out of the fridge and if cool enough chop it up. I usually vary the chopping, some a little smaller pieces some bigger. See picture blow. (The chicken looks really pink but it is actually cooked all the way through - all I have in an iPhone for pictures).

Mix everything together pretty well. Then start with adding your limes - Because bunches of herbs and chicken content can vary I do a lot to taste. I start with 2 limes and 1 cup of sweet chili sauce. Mix well and although the texture won't be the best right now try a bite. I usually add one more like an about 1/2 cup more sweet chili sauce. Thing is, go LIGHT on the sauce because as the herbs and chicken sit together in the ridge they will blend and you don't want to over sauce it.

Let it fridgerate for a few hours. The longer the better - honestly, you can make this a day ahead because in my opinion it's better the second day.

Warning will all the chopping it can make a mess!

Wash and cut the stem off of your romaine - I like to stack them in rows for serving. Cut small pieces of lime for garnish and peanuts if you choose to.

Now put a little of your mixture into a romaine leaf, garnish as you please and enjoy! Greg likes to fill them up, and I like to make them a little lighter and add a bunch of lime.

These are very high in protein, low in fat and carbs. The only bad thing really is the sweet chili sauce but you spread it throughout so many servings that I wouldn't think about it too much. Of course adding the peanuts adds a fair amount of fat and more calories. For me as yummy as it is incorporated into the mixture I think it's better just to garnish with chopped peanuts here and there.

As soon as I get the actual site up: www.mikaelaa.com I will come up with a way to make an easy to print version for anyone that prefers to have a hard copy like me. ( Homemade three ring binder with plastic sleeves is my favorite cookbook!)

More recipes & posts to come! Please comment if you try it, have suggestions, requests, questions or anything else!