AmSub Grub! Tropical Flavors

One of the things I had been looking forward to in Florida was lighter food. Even though I make salads for supper several days a week at home in England, we still have a couple of meals where comfort food seems to rule. When it is cold and wet outside, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, and homemade baked goods seem to make it more bearable.

I learned some great new recipes from a friend of mine while she visited us on the island. I hope to repeat them at home if it ever stops raining or I am just a bit homesick for Florida!

One of the great things about these recipes is how easy they are. My friend R who spotted the injured hawk, not only shared them, but prepared them for us during her visit. Now for those of you who know R, she has not been known for her culinary skills. She works multiple jobs, has long hours, and racks up a ton of miles driving all around Florida in the aid of sick and injured sea turtles. Convenience used to be the most important factor, so fast food drive throughs would win out over home cooked meals. They would for most of us when driving 10+ hours in a day. Knowing even someone with that kind of schedule can make great tasting and healthy food gives hope to us all!

Our supper consisted of chicken with citrus and avocado salsa and mango salsa with whole grain tortilla chips for "dessert". Now we didn't have exactly what the recipes called for, but it didn't matter, they still tasted great.

She started by making the mango salsa and enlisted me to assist with some of the chopping. I think she said the recipe came from simply food, but I am not positive. We chopped everything and let it sit in the bowl for the flavors to combine while we were out on our bikes.

After the bike ride, I made some brown rice while R poached some chicken and did some more chopping and dinner was served! So easy, I could even handle it on vacation.

MANGO SALSA RECIPE:

One ripe mango
Tomato
(we used some plum tomatoes, but
what ever you have in your garden
would work I'm sure)
Cucumber
Onion
(we used a but of vidalia onion I had
in the fridge but I think the recipe
called for red onion)
Cilantro
(fresh coriander for my English
friends!)

Chop all the ingredients into a small dice. Remember you will be scooping it out with tortilla chips, so small is good in this case. I would add nearly equal amounts tomato to mango. The other flavors are up to you. If you like onion add lots, if you hate onion, skip it!

We didn't have any fresh cilantro on hand and the island grocery store was out as well, but it tasted fine. I loved the mango salsa but my husband found it a bit sweet (English taste buds). I thought adding some jalapeño peppers might add a nice contrast of heat to the other flavors. I'll let you know how it turns out!

CHICKEN WITH CITRUS AVOCADO SALSA:

1 grapefruit section and chopped
1 avocado chopped

Serve over chicken

I have attached a photo of the original recipe out of an old issue prevention magazine, one of those walking fit guides you find at the checkout. We once again did not follow the recipe exactly. That is the great thing about good foods, you can adapt to fit your situation, and as long as you have the basics it's pretty good.

We served over brown rice instead of salad as we had eaten salad several days in a row earlier that week. We also did not have fresh basil. The island grocery store had it, we just forgot to buy it (I think some chocolate took presidence lol). This would be great just with salad or rice as a vegetarian meal. Or try it with grilled chicken or fish.

A tip: I would always cut the grapefruit first for 2 reasons, first it takes more time, second the citric acid (grapefruit juice) prevents your avocado from going brown.

American Suburbanite in Portugal: Food!

There were two things I had been looking forward to in Portugal, the fresh fruits and vegetables and seafood. I was not disappointed by either one.

We did shop in the regular grocery store when we first arrived, but the local market wouldn't be open for a couple of days and we needed a few staples to get through until then. But even in the grocery stores the fresh fruits and fish were abundant.

One of my favorite things I ate almost every day was oranges. We could see a small orange grove across the street from our villa and the trees were laden with bright orange fruits. In the mornings we could see the woman picking buckets of oranges and her husband driving off, presumably to the market in Caldas da Rãinha. Knowing from my time in Florida this was prime citrus season, I couldn't wait to taste some. They were so sweet and juicy, better than drinking a glass of orange juice! I have told my husband to look for portuguese oranges at the grocery store here in England in hopes to find some as tasty.

At almost every restaurant you are served olives and bread. Often it is brought to the table before ordering. Unlike olives you get on a pre made salad or pizza, these have a lovely firm texture. I like a flavorful extra virgin olive oil, so I am glad I have found olives I enjoy as well. My only fault in the olives was the extremely salty brine some of them had been stored in. It did help the wine go down a bit faster though!

Another delight was the bread. We snacked on bread more in Portugal than we did in Paris. Whether it was toast, a bacon sandwich, croissants, or the yummy chorizo stuffed mini loaves, we had tons of bread.

Finally, the fresh seafood was amazing. Anytime we ate out, seafood was our choice. I had a tiger prawn the size of a small lobster. We shared a whole sole between the two of us. We were a little nervous to see the bill when they brought it out to us, but managed the bill better than the fish. We had to ask for it to be wrapped in foil to take home.

In addition to sea bass and sole, fresh sardines are quite the specialty in Portugal. I have to admit, after years of serving sardines and herring to the marine animals I cared for, eating them myself has not been easy. It has more to do with making baby dolphin/whale formulas than the fish themselves. I know they are healthy and sustainable, but they take a conscious effort to eat for me, and I wish they didn't. However, they were so fresh in Portugal, I found myself stealing some from my husbands plate. If that doesn't say they were good, I don't know what else does!

I'll tell you about our favorite restaurant and some of the local beverages of Portugal soon.

Doc Fords

After all my walking on the beach, I built up a healthy appetite.  I went to Doc Ford's, one of my favorite restaurants, for dinner.  My husband and I found it on our first visit to Sanibel and ate there several times because they aired the world cup matches.  We loved the food, it takes the best of fresh Florida ingredients and puts them together in an interesting way.  We enjoyed the menu so much we replicated some of it for our wedding menu. I had an idea of what I wanted before I got to the restaurant.   When I found out my salad did not come in a small portion it helped me finalize my decision.

Captiva Style Crab Cakes

Sorry about the blurry picture, I took the photos with my phone.  These are some of my favorite crab cakes and the spicy remoulade is a great contrast to the cool and sweet apple cider slaw.  I came into the restaurant knowing I was ordering the crab cakes.

Tropical Salad

For my main I had the tropical salad.  I was unsure if I would have a variety of appetizers or a main course.  I chose a main course and I love the tropical salad.  It has such a mix of flavors, dried cherries, tomatoes, spiced pecans, mandarin oranges, mozzarella cheese, and a balsamic vinaigrette.  I love the mix of sweet and savory, crunchy and juicy... just what an entree salad should be.

Drunken Parrot Carrot Cake

Gossling's Black Seal Rum makes this carrot cake super moist.  It was such a big piece I ate it in 3 separate sittings.  I figured I had to get some rum in if I was eating at a Rum Bar and Grille!