I have been trying for about a year now to come up with a vegetarian version of crab cakes, a perfect task for Meatless Mondays. My family members can testify if need be: at least two dozen attempts.
Then my neighbor Joyce, who owns the on-line business Dr. Grandma’s specializing in healthy and convenient products, decided to host a recipe contest using her products. My favorites are her whole-grain muffin and pancake mixes. ( If you can’t find Dr Grandmas where you live, you can buy Dr G’s online or just use any multigrain pancake mix that requires the addition of an egg.) I decided to toy with making a veggie pancake using veggies with just a bit of pancake mix as a binder to hold the veggies in a patty while cooking.
Since zucchini season is coming, I went heavy on the zuks, but you can try any grated veggie you like. These are so tasty and make perfect sides for your main course, or three of them make a fine vegetarian entree. They take only about 20 minutes to make – a great healthy weeknight meal! I like them drizzled with a Greek yogurt sauce mixed with a little Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and some cumin. Yum.
It’s strange. I don’t like peanut butter, but a good spicy Thai peanut sauce is one of my favorite things. I love it drizzled on just about everything and I discovered that it is a fabulous flavor pair with spinach. This recipe is re-worked to make it low-glycemic and vegan this time around and for the May vegan recipe challenge – SOS (a.k.a Sweet or Savory) - by Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs and Kim of Affairs of Living. We agree with these two fabulous food bloggers: spinach is one of the healthiest things you can put in your mouth – calorie for calorie dark greens have the most nutrients of any food! We should all eat it every day!
I always had trouble making good peanut sauce until it finally dawned on me: to have really good Thai peanut sauce, you must start with really good peanut butter. It was one of those “Duh” moments for me! It is a little more expensive, but you only use a little and it is well worth it. I like the all-natural “dark roasted” style with only two ingredients: salt and peanuts. I made this recipe with the idea of serving it cold on salads, so it is more like a vinaigrette than a sauce you would serve warm with chicken. I must admit that I tried to mimic Trader Joe’s Peanut Vinaigrette, which is also good BUT mine turned out even better – fresher tasting and more of a flavor punch!
I very lightly and briefly sauteed some rough chopped spinach for less than a minute until it just barely started to wilt. You could also blanch it quickly in boiling water. I then drained it and drizzled it with peanut vinaigrette, and sprinkled it with some diced roasted peanuts. Wow! Such an explosion of flavors!
You just can’t have a frugal cooking blog without at some point featuring spice rub recipes. (( I’m pretty sure there is a law somewhere requiring frugal foodies to use spice rubs!)) The Mother of all Spice Rubs is Spike Seasoning, which boasts 39 ingredients – no, I am NOT making that up! – and has been around since my mom was a kid.
Spice rubs are so very handy, healthy and frugal, whether you just use them as a shortcut to spice up a dish or as a rub. I use three rubs pretty frequently and try to keep them mixed up and on hand. Even in the dead of winter (hello – right now!) these rubs will make you feel like you are having a backyard barbecue. So here, beloved frugal readers, are Donna’s Top Three Spice Rubs of all time – with a bonus: Donna’s Techniques for cooking Spice Rubbed Fish Fillets!
Fish is on many “I Should Eat More of” Lists. White fish fillets are perfect as a canvas for spice rubs! Here’s an easy, budget-friendly fish recipe to do just that – and only takes just 20 minutes total time. Using small fish that are lower on the food chain is an environmentally friendly thing to do – they are sustainable fish, AND – more good news: they’re less expensive than larger varieties. For this technique, you could use tilapia, snapper, trout, cod or any other firm white fish fillets. (Pictured above is tilapia.) This technique is one that can be used with most any spice rub – try one of our three different spice rubs with different flavor profiles – Indian Tandoori Spice Rub, Southwest Chile Cumin Spice Rub and Jamaican Jerk Spice Rubs. All three are delicious – but feel free to use your own creation or purchased spice rub. Just make sure to watch the salt content so your fish isn’t too salty.
SPICE RUBBED FISH FILLETS
Serves 4
Prep and cook time – 20 minutes
3 tablespoons Spice Rub
1 teaspoon cornstarch
4 white fish fillets, 5 to 6 ounces each
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
Mix spice rub with cornstarch and then coat one side of each fish fillet with 2 teaspoons of spice mixture, pressing down with fingers to adhere spices to fish. Heat a large skillet to medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to skillet. Place 2 fillets in pan, spiced side down. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until lightly browned on bottom. Carefully turn fillets over, so that uncooked side is down. Cover and cook another 2 to 3 minutes, until fillets are cooked through. Repeat this process to cook remaining 2 fillets. Serve warm with spiced side up on rice or pasta.
