Gwyneth Paltrow's Mango-Avocado Salsa Recipe (Adapted)

Tonight I made dinner! I borrowed Gwyneth Paltrow's Mango & Avocado salsa, and made it with baked chicken instead of the fish the recipe called for. It's rather good timing for finding this recipe because I was looking for something that had a Mexican flair like the Chili's Margarita Chicken, but had a nice fresh, sweet flavor, and this salsa with the mango certainly did the trick. It has a certain Italian/Mexican flavor to it as well.

Here is the original recipe:

Gwyneth Paltrow's Grilled Halibut with Mango-Avocado Salsa

Ingredients

• 1 medium ripe avocado, peeled and cut into 1/2" dice
• 1 medium ripe mango, peeled and cut into 1/2" dice
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 4 large fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for brushing
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 6-ounce halibut or mahi-mahi fillets (substitute 1 lb chicken)
• 4 lime wedges

Preparation

• Prepare a grill to medium-high heat. Gently combine the avocado, mango, tomatoes, basil, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1 tablespoon lime juice in a large mixing bowl. Season salsa to taste with salt and pepper and set aside at room temperature, gently tossing occasionally.
• Place fish fillets in a 13x9x2" glass baking dish. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoon oil and 2 tablespoon lime juice over. Season fish with salt and pepper. Let marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes, turning fish occasionally.
• Brush grill rack with oil. Grill fish until just opaque in center, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plates. Spoon mango-avocado salsa over fish. Squeeze a lime wedge over each and serve.

Simple and delicious. I followed the recipe exactly, aside from substituting the fish for chicken.

I was going to take a picture of the final product, and low and behold, my camera wasn't charged :/ Oh well, you can use your imagination and pretend the original recipe photo is a nice piece of crispy poultry (We cooked it a a little long since we adapted from the fried chicken recipe, still good and tasty, though kinda hilarious when you tried to cut it with the steak knife since it wasn't all that cooperative).

My Mom and I also made some rice, and used up the left over spinach leaves from the Florentine Lasagna I made last week for a salad with the remaining tomatoes and two cheeses (Cheddar and Parmesan). I also made Jayma Mays' Peanut Butter Cookies. Super easy and super tasty, peanut butter and chocolate, my two favorite flavors. I'll post that recipe later, tomorrow perhaps.

I'd love to make some more of her recipes sometime in the future. Enjoy!

Chili's Margarita Grilled Chicken and Rice & Baked Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese

The idea for this recipe came from having it's namesake at Chili's when Steph and I went out for our half sister Carrie's birthday...last month sometime, a few weeks ago. I thought it would be a fun, easy, tasty recipe for home. So I looked it up online, and tried to remember things that I ate that I enjoyed in the meal (like for instance,I had them add the avocados on top).

This afternoon I was craving some chicken for dinner, so on a whim, I decided to make this tonight, and went out to the store to get my supplies.

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Chili's Margarita Grilled Chicken and Rice

-2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
-Rice (amount depending on serving size)
-1 Can Black Beans (drained)
-1 Avocado (sliced)
-1 Cup of Corn
-1/2 Chopped Green Pepper
-1-2 Lime(s)
-1/2 Tomato (chopped) or Pico de Gallo


Grill the chicken breasts, or braise in an iron skillet. Cook the rice, veggies (when needed) or chop, combine in dish, drizzle with lime juice. It's really that simple.

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I also made Baked Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, arrange asparagus, drizzled olive oil, and shredded Parmesan cheese in dish, bake until tender, 12-15 minutes.

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I forgot to take a picture before we ate :P It looked prettier earlier, but you get the idea.







Very good, very tasty. Very easy, smells awesome. I smell like lime. Next time I won't be shy with the lime, I only used one, I could have easily used two. Also, I just had my Dad grill some frozen chicken breasts he had on his BBQ; next time, when I actually have some time, I might marinate the chicken in some kind of lime concoction. It would make the chicken a little more flavorful. Still really good though.

Nice and fresh and healthy. Fills you up without filling you out :) Great for Spring/Summer. Did I mention I smell like lime?

Oh, and also, two things. One, while looking though the memory card on my camera, I found the pictures I took of the Peppermint Bark I made in December, and a cake I made a few months ago. Is it unseasonal to post a recipe of Peppermint Bark on April? Or should I just post them anyways?

And number two, I was beyond thrilled when "The King's Speech" was released in theaters as PG-13 (and absolutely loved it like I thought I would). I only wish they'd release a PG-13 version on DVD because I would buy a copy in a second, no hesitation. *sigh*

And hi, long time no post. I'm doing well. I think tomorrow I'll work on my shirt again, and work past the facing (I've never sewn facing, so it just seems incredibly difficult). I have work to do if I want to get the rose outfit done by Easter Sunday.

Chocolate Cake Truffles

Recipe Number 2!

I initially made these a while ago in July, and I made a new batch tonight, so here is the recipe and photos of tonight's creation. They are super duper tasty.

Chocolate Cake Truffles

The original recipe called for 5 oz of crumbled cake, instead I roughly tripled the recipe for a 16 oz (1 pound), 1 box of cake mix.

Ingredients:

-16 oz (1 lb) Chocolate Cake, crumbled (app. 1 box)

-6 Tablespoons of Butter

-6 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder

-3/4 cup Powdered Sugar

-9 Tablespoons of Orange Juice

-1 whole Orange

Crumble Cake, sift Cocoa Powder, and Powdered Sugar. Remove lumps.

Melt butter, and pour over cake crumble mix.

Add 9 Tablespoons of Orange Juice (or 2 Tablespoons of Vanilla Extract, 7 Tablespoons of OJ)

Mix lightly, add zest of orange, and combine.

Place wax paper on cookie sheet, roll mix into balls, refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Decorate as desired. Suggestions: Melted Dark, Milk, and White Chocolate Chips. Melt half of bag to cover, crush or food process other half for decoration. Refrigerate leftovers.

Truffles from July:



Tonight's Truffles:

I dolloped melted Milk Chocolate Chips on the truffles sitting on the baking sheet, and drizzled melted White Chocolate Chips on top.

Golden Grain Mission Florentine Lasagna

Via Steph's request, I will be posting some recipes that I have made and liked over here :) I will start printing out these recipes for my own recipe cookbook binder...thingy. And also own my cooking/baking skills at the same time. So enjoy, and here is the official part one, as it were.

I saw this recipe on the box of lasagna noodles a while ago, and knew I had to make it, so I made it tonight :)


Florentine Lasagna

15 Min Prep Time - 40 Min Cook Time - Serves 6

Ingredients:

8ox (1/2 pkg) Lasagna Noodles
1 Container (15 oz) Ricotta Cheese
2 Cups shredded fresh Spinach Leaves
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Jar (26 oz) Spaghetti Sauce
2 Cups (8 oz) Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:

Preheat over to 400 degrees F.
Cook and drain pasta according to package directions
In bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, eggs, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste
Spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce in 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
Layer with 3 lasagna noodles, half of ricotta, 1/2 cup of mozzarella, and 1/2 of sauce.
Repeat layers once.
Top with remaining lasagna, sauce, and mozzarella.
Bake uncovered in oven for 35 to 40 minutes.





Well, one's own pictures never look as good as the actual pictures on the recipe, do they? :P (How do they make them so pretty and colorful, I wonder?)
But the dish was 1) Easy to make (much easier than the other veggie lasagna that I tried, which I didn't care for as much as I hoped taste wise either) 2) Smelled so good while it was baking 3) Was tasty.
We've never been a big lasagna eating family, but this one is good, and uncomplicated. And very festive with it's yellow cheesy, red, and green combo. Mozzarella cheese is always good, I say. I think I'll defiantly make this one again.