Halibut with Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Here's a dish I whipped up in no time at all.  Grilled Halibut with Black Bean and Corn Salsa.  Rather than making up a batch of black beans and grilling the corn which would have of course been even better, I simply used canned black beans, and frozen corn.  Of course I was in a hurry since I was running late for dinner but feel free to go the extra mile.  If you want, you can even make these into fish tacos by grilling the fish, placing it into the soft torilla and filling with the salsa.

Here's this quick, yet delicious and healthy recipe.

Grilled Halibut with Black Bean and Corn Salsa

4 (6-8 ounce) Halibut fillets
olive oil
salt and pepper

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large orange bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 jalelpeno pepper, seeded and diced
3-4 roma tomatoes, diced
1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1/2 of a small red onion diced (optional)
juice of one lime
minced cilantro for garnish, if desired

Directions:

Brush olive oil lightly on halibut and season with salt and pepper.  Grill over medium heat about 4 minutes per side.

Mix all ingredients together for salsa and set aside.

To serve: Place halibut or fish of choice on a plate and top with salsa. Or if making fish tacos, cut grilled halibut into pieces and place in a warm soft shell tortilla and top with salsa, and sour cream if desired.

Simple, delicious and healthy!

Super Bowl - Meatloaf Cupcakes!

It's amazing what you can do to make food fun. Although my photo below isn't great I thought it would be a good idea to show what it looks like just out of the oven.



I understand that meatloaf cupcakes are the rage now for catering companies. When I heard this and saw another food blogger post a comment about it I thought I would try and make them. Plus, I think this would be a great Super Bowl item to add to your Game Day Menu. They're easy to eat and delicious!


You can use my recipe, or use the meatloaf recipe that you always use. Just remember to cut the cooking time down to only 30 minutes. My typical recipe cooks for 90 minutes.

I used the recipe I always use for my meatloaf only I put them in a large muffin tin, sprayed with non-stick spray.

I put the raw meatloaf mixture into the individual muffin cups patting down well to fill each tin completely. Then I spread the sauce over the tops of each meatloaf cupcake and placed the pan into the oven at 350 degrees for just 25 minutes. Much less time than it takes for a loaf to cook.



After 25 minutes I piped the sweet potato puree that I made onto each cupcake and let it continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

Each one was so easy to scoop out of their individual cups right onto a plate. I served it with a salad and it was perfect, delicious and fun to eat!

Here's a photo of one that I placed on a plate after I deleted some of the photos off my memory card. I think it would look nice as well with some of the extra puree piped around the cupcake for looks. However, we'd already eaten the remaining sweet potato puree by the time I cleared my memory card.


While eating, it occurred to me that these would taste outstanding piped with soft cheddar cheese on top as they came out of the oven, rather than the potatoes. I love soft cheddar cheese. I definitely think I'll have to try that next time.

Here's my meatloaf recipe followed by the recipe for the sweet potato puree.

Meatloaf
serves 6

2 1/2 pounds ground beef, (I use ground sirloin)
1 cup milk, (skim)
1/4 cup dried minced onion
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Sauce:

1/2 cup chili sauce (Heinz)
1/2 tsp. Kitchen Bouquet
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard

Directions:

Mix all ingredients except sauce in a bowl. Put into a loaf pan that's been sprayed with a non-stick spray. This may be done the day before or early in the day.

Bake at 350F degree oven for 25 minutes, then pipe on the sweet potato puree and bake for 5 more minutes.

The sweet potatoe puree was easy to make.

Sweet Potato Puree
3 sweet potatoes
skim milk
1 tbsp. low fat butter

Cooked potatoes in water for approximately 30-45 minutes at a low simmer until the tip of a knife can be inserted easily.

Drain, then run cold water over them and let them cool for about 15 minutes before handling them. Peel skins off and place in a large bowl. Add skim milk, heavy cream or half and half, plus butter. Whip using a hand mixer to make sure it's a very smooth consistency.

Place in a piping bag fitted with a star tip and add the sweet potato puree to the bag. When meatloaf cupcakes have cooked for 25 minutes, open oven and carefully pipe the puree on top. Close oven and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve.

Comfort Food for my Hubby!

There aren't too many foods that put a smile on my husbands face. But, one dish that I know he'll always love is my meatloaf. So when he walked in the house today after work and asked what we were having for dinner I said, "Meatloaf." An immediate smile came over his face. I love when that happens.

I've never really been a fan of meatloaf but I've acquired a taste for it since he loves it so much. In fact, it's really a great dish to prepare when the weather is getting cooler or for a casual dinner or quite frankly I think it would be a great dish to serve on Halloween night.

We've always either made chili for a crowd or ordered out pizza. Why not do meatloaf? It's a burger with lots of flavor but cooks all at once. It's simple to prepare and tasty. Of course, we won't be having it this Sunday for Halloween since we're having it today. However, you can, and to go with it make some sweet potato fries, my favorite, and a side salad. What could be easier than that?

Here's my recipe for meatloaf. As always, my photo isn't that great but the dish is quite tasty.

Meatloaf with Sweet Sauce
serves 4-6

2 1/2 pounds ground beef, (I use ground sirloin)
1 cup milk, (skim)
1/4 cup dried minced onion
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Sauce:

1/2 cup chili sauce (Heinz)
1/2 tsp. Kitchen Bouquet
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard

Directions:

Mix all ingredients except sauce in a bowl. Put into a loaf pan that's been sprayed with a non-stick spray. This may be done the day before or early in the day.

Bake at 350F degree oven for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile mix together sauce ingredients. After 45 minutes, remove from the oven, drain grease and add the sauce on the top of the meatloaf. Cook 45 minutes longer, drain grease and serve.

Note: I always place heavy duty foil on the sheet pan that I'm cooking the meatloaf on to catch any spills that may occur during cooking.

Then after removing the meatloaf to drain for the first time I wrap more foil around the pan letting it extend over the sides of the meatloaf pan. This eleviates any splattering from the sauce.

I like to make some additional sauce in a pan while the meatloaf is cooking. Then if desired drizzle over the sides of each individual slice when served.

Enjoy!