Tuna Rolls

I found this gorgeous new recipe in a book I picked up this past weekend at a half price bookstore during a sale... for a whopping $2!!! Not only are the pictures in this book absolutely fantastic-make-you-salivate-esque, the recipes are inventive and different. It's called Everyday Tapas : A collection of essential recipes, and appears to be put together by Paragon Books with no particular author. Thumbing through it briefly I saw at least half a dozen recipes that I wanted to try immediately, which was enough for me to decide the $2 price tag was totally worth it. This recipe was one of those that popped out at me. I love bell peppers and go through several of them every week... so I'm almost always stocked with some, and I have (or had) about 8 cans of tuna sitting in on my cabinet shelf that I'd been contemplating how to use for the past couple of weeks. As is usual for me, I had to adapt a tiny tiny bit to account for some missing ingredients as well as personal taste. (And yes... that gorgeous photo above really is mine. This dish was so pretty that it was not hard to photograph at all!

Tuna Rolls (as adapted from Everyday Tapas)
3 bell peppers (I used yellow and orange, although the original recipe calls for red)
2 oz. olive oil (was 4 oz. - I cut this in half and didn't notice any difference)
2 T lemon juice
5 T red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 t. paprika
1 t. chili powder (called for chili flakes- which I don't have)
2 t. sugar
2 T salted capers
10 oz. tuna in water, drained

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Slice and deseed the peppers into thirds, coat lightly with olive oil and place on a baking sheet in the oven for 15 minutes, turning peppers frequently until the skin is blackened and blistered all over. When finished, set them aside and allow to cool.

In a separate bowl, whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, paprika, chili powder and sugar together.

When the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel off the skins, then place in the bowl of dressing mixture, making sure all the pieces of pepper are covered and coated, then set in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Next, rinse the salt off the capers and mix with the tuna. Drain the pepper pieces, reserving the dressing. Divide the tuna mixture between the pepper pieces and roll up. Secure the roll with a toothpick. Place the tuna rolls on a large plate or serving platter, then drizzle with the remaining dressing and serve.

Makes approximately 4 servings.


Ratings from the Experts*: 9 very easily. My husband isn't a fan of tuna so it's doubtful he'll even try these, but I loved them. The only things I would change is to add a little black pepper to the mix, and perhaps cut back the olive oil even more or change it to garlic infused olive oil for a tiny bit more flavor.

Brazilian Black Bean Stew

I was really in the mood for something flavorful and exotic a few days ago, and I wanted something that combined meat and a fruity, sweet flavor. I did some digging on allrecipes.com and found this recipe. Since I lacked a few ingredients and I can never seem to leave a recipe alone, I made some tweaks to it.

This gorgeous bowl of awesomeness is called Brazilian Black Bean Stew. And it's actually even better as leftovers than the first day of cooking, as I discovered today. The flavors soak through it all and flavor the whole dish to perfection.

Brazilian Black Bean Stew
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 lb. chicken sausage, chopped or sliced thin
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
1 can Rotel (with green chilies)
1 1/2 cups water
2 16 oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
pinch of pepper

First, heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat, and cook the chicken sausage just enough to warm it. (2 to 3 minutes). Add the diced onion to the skillet, and cook until tender. Stir in the minced garlic, then mix in the sweet potatoes, bell pepper, tomatoes with juice, Rotel, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender. Next, stir the beans into the rest of the mixture, and cook uncovered until they begin to soften a bit more. Mix in the pineapple, and season with salt, cumin, pepper, and other spices to taste. 

I recommend allowing it to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 6-8 servings depending upon portion size.

Ratings from the Experts*: Me- First night I gave it a 7. It seemed way too tomato heavy and the spices just didn't seem to blend through it all. Today... I give it a strong 9. The flavors had melded together and the tomato did not seem overbearing today at all. It was delicious. The spices were great today, although in the future I think I would increase the cumin to 1/2 a teaspoon and add more than a pinch of pepper... and possibly add some basil to the mix for good measure. Hubby gave it a 7 as well but also agreed that it only seemed to get better as leftovers. I'm thinking somehow this might do even better as a slow cooker recipe? Nonetheless... this is a definite yes to making it again.

A New Beginning...or Rather, an Expansion.

This blog is evolving a little to account for my lifestyle and interests, as cooking is just one of many things I enjoy doing in my free time. Thanks to the rise of Pinterest and many other DIY blogs and sites, my interests in home deco and organization have also been piqued and sent into overdrive lately. I've been on a six month house cleanse, donating, selling, and repurposing about three quarters of the junk, clothes, and general mess that had been clogging every closet in my house and spilling into my idyllic appearance of clean. I have the very last round of craigslist  and donation items set out in the spare bedroom now. My closets are organized and clean. Our attic space junk has been cut to about 20% of the original volume and I can now walk through front to back with zero risk of tripping over some random box of undisplayed art projects or college dorm room decor that had last seen the light of day 9 years ago.

Let me tell you... it is a WONDERFUL feeling to open a door and see everything right there in front of you, to know where everything is, and to be able to use everything that is left. My head feels clearer and I feel much more at peace with our home environment. I don't have obvious things facing me every day now like "I really need to go through that cabinet and reorganize it." There aren't any more broken or orphan phone chargers in the coat closet. I don't have clothes I haven't worn in 5 years or longer any more. That yellow gold jewelry that never suited my skin tone? It's gone too. In place of these random things is a mound of cash in our pocket, a closet that looks neater, drawers that are a little less stuffed, repurposed mason jars that actually do something other than sit empty taking up space in cabinets, and crafts that I've actually used to decorate our house instead of them sitting on a shelf somewhere upstairs for years on end.

I managed to develop a method of getting rid of stuff without the dreaded internal argument.

For example: Well... I did use that doily for Aunt Bertha's party 2 years ago... but will I use it again in the next five years?

Answer: Is the doily currently serving a purpose, or will it serve any purpose in the next six months? How many other doilies do you have? Is there a need to keep all of them especially if they aren't an heirloom or of sentimental value? NO. Repurpose, sell, or donate... or actually USE it. Don't let it sit unused on a shelf.

Those clothes that are either too big or too small or are certified relics yet still hang in your closet? Don't keep them. Donate or sell them. By the time you lose the weight they won't be in style any more anyway. They could be clothing somebody a lot less fortunate than you right now. Instead they are sitting in your closet unworn. Unless you're going to spend time mending, get rid of socks with holes, and clothes that are a little too well-worn as well.

Go through your medicine cabinets and pitch all the expired meds, vitamins, and bandaids that have lost their sticky. Trash those empty shampoo bottles in your shower. (Yes...I'm talking to you). That hairspray you haven't used in five years? Pitch it too.

Check the dates on your non-perishables in those kitchen cabinets too. I had muffin mix in my cabinet that was 4 years out of date. I found old pasta that I can't eat now since I'm gluten free... some of it was out of date too.

The biggest point is, getting rid of things is not an issue of sentimentality, it is an issue of use. Can or will you use it... and be as realistic as possible about those odds.

So step up... do what I did, be bold... and reclaim your house, sanity, and organize! In the future, I hope to share some of the organizational ideas I've picked up on lately as well as some of the recent home decor projects I've completed, so look for updates soon!