Category: Sauces, Condiments, & Marinades

Baked Cod with Basil Chive Yogurt Sauce


Cod with Basil Chive Yogurt Sauce

Last weekend, I stopped at my neighborhood Smart & Final for just a few things, and decided to pick up some frozen Cod. I typically prefer my fish to be fresh, but when in a pinch (or I’m being lazy), I’ll grab some frozen. I wanted something light, but flavorful so perused a bunch of recipes for both fish and different types of sauces. I like this Cod dish as it has some crunch on the top while remaining healthy since it’s seared quickly then baked. As for the yogurt sauce, I find it be a nice complement to the fish in terms of flavor points and adding some additional protein. I suggest making the sauce first (directions further down) so it’s ready when the fish is done.

Ingredients 

  • 2 (6-ounce) cod fillets
  • Panko bread crumbs
  • 1 egg, for egg wash
  • Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • 2 tbsp. grapeseed oil
  • 1/4 lemon, juiced
  • 1 tbsp. butter
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1/8 tsp. dried thyme)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Place the fillets on a sheet tray or rack so the fish can release its natural juices.
  2. Place the bread crumbs into a shallow dish.
  3. In a separate shallow dish, add 1 beaten egg. Season both sides of the fillet with salt and pepper. Once seasoned, brush the belly side of the cod with the egg. Dip the egg side into the panko bread crumbs.
  4. In a cast iron skillet, add grapeseed oil. Before placing fish into pan, make sure the skillet is very hot. Sear only 1 side of the fish (the side with the bread crumbs). Once the 1 side is seared, place the skillet in the oven for about 4-6 minutes until cooked. *If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, use a regular skillet, then transfer to a greased baking dish, and increase the time to about 10-12 minutes.
  5. Once the fish is cooked, flip it over and add the lemon juice, butter and sprig of thyme. Let melt and baste the fish with the juice.
  6. Remove from pan, place onto plate and top with sauce.

Chive Basil Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1/8-1/4 tsp. garlic powder, depending on your garlic preference
  • A pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
  • The finely grated zest and juice of a 1/2 small lemon
  • 4 tsp. of dried parsley
  • A small fistful (about 3 tbsp.) of fresh basil, stems removed, chopped
  • A thumb-thick bundle of fresh chives, chopped (or approx. 1 tbsp. dried)
  • 1/2 cup thick natural yogurt; use full-fat Greek yogurt if calories aren’t an issue
  • 1 tbsp. good-quality light mayonnaise, such as Hellman’s (optional)
  • Salt and milled black pepper

Directions

  1. Stir mustard, garlic, salt, lemon zest and lemon juice in a small mixing bowl, mix/mush well.
  2. Add parsley, then very finely chop the basil and chives, and add them to the bowl.
  3. Stir in the yogurt and mayonnaise (if using), and season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Seared & Baked Cod

Top ↑

Avocado-Lime Sauce


Avocado Lime Sauce

I’ve said it before, but in case you missed it… I LOVE sauces, and think they can take a dish to the next level. I made some baked fish last night (which was amazing, and will post soon), and knew I wanted some type of sauce to accompany/compliment it, so put on my creative thinking cap. I’ve been on a big avocado kick lately, and my fish recipe included lime juice, so I figured I’d whip up a sauce which included both, but also wanted it to be healthy. Thus, I used greek yogurt instead of mayo! The results were fantastic and added that little extra something to my dinner. This would be great on chicken, grilled steak, pork, fish and tacos.

Since I made this just for moi, I used half of an avocado, which still yielded enough for a few servings, but if you’re feeding four or more, I’d double the recipe.

Ingredients

  • Half medium avocado, mashed
  • 2 tbsp. lime juice
  • 2 tbsp. nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced
  • 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • Salt to taste

Directions

  1. Mash avocado well with fork in a small bowl.
  2. Add remaining ingredients, mix well and chill covered in fridge until ready to use.
  3. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Top ↑

Guiltless Blue Cheese Dip/Dressing


Healthy Blue Cheese Dressing

With summer quickly approaching, I’m doing my best to eat healthier without sacrificing flavor. I’ve been marinating chicken wings (yes, I’m baking them), and decided I wanted a blue cheese dip to accompany them this time, but know that packs a punch with fat and calories, so was on the hunt for a lighter recipe. I found quite a few using non-fat Greek yogurt, and went with the one I wanted to try, making a couple of modifications. I love that this is about half the calories of your traditional blue cheese dressing and the only fat comes from the blue cheese/gorgonzola. Blue cheese lovers rejoice!!!

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp. gorgonzola or blue cheese crumbles
  • 1/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt (I used Fage)
  • Juice of 1/4 small lemon
  • 1/2 tbsp. white vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • Pinch garlic powder
  • Pinch onion powder
  • Drizzle of honey or agave

Directions

  1. Combine blue cheese, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, Worcestershire and vinegar in a bowl and mix well.
  2. Add all seasonings and a drizzle of agave or honey and stir well with a fork.
  3. Serve with chicken wings, your favorite salad, veggies, etc.

The thickness of the dressing will vary depending on the brand of Greek yogurt you use. If necessary, add water (one tablespoon at a time) and stir until dressing reaches desired consistency.

Top ↑

Vegetable Tempura (with Dipping Sauce)


Veggie Tempura

Here’s a simple recipe for veggie tempura that I made last week. As you should be able to tell by the picture, some of the vegetables have more of a coating due to dredging them through flour first, then the tempura batter. You can eliminate the flour if you like, but personally, I preferred the ones with the flour as they were crispier.

Ingredients

  • Vegetable oil
  • Vegetables of your choice (I used onions, kale, carrots and pickled jalapeños)
  • Flour
  • Tempura Batter, prepared according to box directions

Directions

  1. Heat about 2-3 inches of oil to 375°F in electric fryer or in a large, deep heavy pan on stove top.
  2. Place approximately 1 cup of flour into a bowl.
  3. Roll vegetables in flour and shake off excess.
  4. Dip vegetables into tempura batter and carefully place in oil to fry.
  5. Remove from oil when golden brown and place on paper towels to drain.
  6. Serve with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce (Tentsuyu)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dashi soup stock*
  • 1/4 cup mirin
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. grated ginger

* If you can’t find dash, you can use low-sodium beef broth. 

Directions

  1. Put dashi (or beef broth), mirin, soy sauce, and sugar in a sauce pan and mix well.
  2. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Stop the heat, add the ginger and let it cool.
  3. Serve with your favorite tempura.

Top ↑

Beer-Battered Fish Tacos With Chipolte Sauce and Salsa


Image

I receive numerous emails containing recipes, and got one yesterday from Kitchen Daily for this recipe, which originally came from Eating Well. As always, I modified it and came up with the chipolte white sauce to accompany the tacos. I like this because it’s not deep-fried and is really yummy. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love me some deep-fried food, but prefer to eat healthier… most of the time 😉

If you want to skip the sauce and make this even lighter, you can top the tacos off with a little plain greek yogurt with the salsa.

Ingredients

Fish Tacos

  • 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, or more for additional heat
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • 1/3 cup beer
  • 8 oz. tilapia filet, cut crosswise into 1-inch wide strips
  • 1 tbsp. canola oil
  • 4 corn tortillas, warmed
  • 1 cup shredded cabbage
  • Fresh salsa

Chipolte Sauce

  • 1/4 cup light mayo
  • 1 tbsp. low-fat milk
  • 2 tbsp. lime juice
  • 1/4 tsp. garlic salt
  • 1/4 tsp. chipolte seasoning

Directions

Chipolte Sauce

  1. Mix all of the ingredients together and put in fridge while preparing the fish.

Fish Tacos

  1. Combine flour, cumin, garlic, salt and cayenne in a medium bowl. Whisk in beer to create a batter.
  2. Coat tilapia pieces in the batter.
  3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
  4. Add the fish to the pan, letting excess batter drip back into the bowl.
  5. Cook until crispy and golden, 2 to 4 minutes per side.
  6. Serve fish with tortillas, cabbage, chipolte sauce and salsa.
With guacamole on a flour tortilla
With guacamole on a flour tortilla

Top ↑

Ranch Dip/Dressing


Being from Upstate New York, I grew up consuming a LOT of Buffalo wings, which were normally served with blue cheese dressing on the side. Flash forward many years… and now, when I do eat wings, I usually dip them in Ranch. However, I don’t keep Ranch dressing in my fridge, so decided to make my own the other day since I recently made some delicious drumettes. I’m no Ranch dressing connoisseur, but I think this easy recipe is incredibly tasty!

The consistency of this is more of a dip, so if you desire it thinner to use on a salad, eliminate the sour cream.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

 

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 2 tbsp. sour cream
  • 1/8 tsp. white vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp. dried chives
  • 1/4 tsp. dried parsley
  • 1/4 tsp. dried dill weed
  • 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/8 tsp. onion powder
  • Generous pinch of seasoned salt
  • Generous pinch of ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Combine mayo & buttermilk in a bowl.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients, and whisk well.
  3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes prior to serving.

* Tip: If you’re a blue cheese person, simply add 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire to the recipe and some gorgonzola, and voila… blue cheese dressing!

Top ↑

Quick & Easy Microwave Hollandaise Sauce


As you may (or may not) know, I have a great light Hollandaise Sauce already on here, but decided to give you another one that I’ve been using for a while and only takes five minutes to make, if that. And, this one has even fewer calories than my other recipe! Score! While it’s not as creamy as the other recipe, since there isn’t any heavy whipping cream, I still think it’s delicious and really great if you’re short on time. This recipe yields one serving so double/triple it, if necessary.

Hollandaise Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp. butter
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 tsp. lemon juice
  • White pepper, to taste
  • 1/4 tsp. Dijon mustard

Directions

  1. Put butter in a coffee cup (if making one or two servings) or a bowl (if making three or more servings), and microwave for about 15 seconds, until just melted. 
  2. Separate egg white & yolk, and add yolk to cup.
  3. Stir together well with a fork (or a whisk if using a bowl).
  4. Add lemon juice and white pepper, and stir.
  5. Put into microwave and set the time to 30 seconds (although you probably won’t need that much time). When the timer shows 22 seconds, open the door (pausing the microwave), remove cup and stir the hollandaise sauce vigorously with the fork. Return cup to the microwave with the hollandaise sauce and press “Start” again. Allow only about 7-9 seconds to pass, then repeat: open the microwave, remove the cup and stir the hollandaise sauce vigorously. Continue to stir and cook until the hollandaise sauce is light and fluffy.
  6. Remove from microwave and add mustard, stir well.
  7. Taste, and adjust seasonings of lemon juice and pepper, if desired.
  8. Serve over your food and enjoy!

15.9 g fat / 157 cal / 1.1 g carb / 2.8 g protein per serving

Top ↑

BBQ Sauce


I came across Carla Hall’s BBQ Chicken recipe on The Chew’s website while I was searching for chicken dishes as I had some chicken thighs that needed to be made right away, put in the freezer or thrown out. The comments on the page said there were a few missing ingredients that were on the show, so I watched the video from that day, and Carla mentioned a few of them that weren’t listed. I decided to give it a try with the addition of those ingredients, in the amounts I thought suitable, and it turned out amazing! I absolutely love this sauce!

Ingredients

Jerk Chicken Rub:

  • 2 tbsp. paprika
  • 1 tbsp. cayenne pepper
  • ½ tbsp. onion powder
  • ½ tbsp. garlic powder
  • ½ tsp. dried oregano
  • ½ tsp. dried thyme
  • ½ tsp. cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. coriander
  • ½ tsp. ground cloves
  • ½ tsp. ginger
  • ½ tsp. salt

Sauce:

  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp. Worcestershire
  • 2 tbsp. lemon Juice
  • 1 tsp. Jerk Chicken Rub

Directions

  1. Mix all ingredients together for the chicken rub in a small bowl.
  2. Mix all barbecue sauce ingredients (which includes 1 teaspoon jerk chicken rub made above) in a small pot and simmer over a low heat for 15 – 20 minutes. Adjust salt, if necessary.

I cooked my three chicken thighs (seasoned with salt & pepper) in a little extra virgin olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat for about 6 minutes on each side, then transferred to a 350F oven for approximately another 10 minutes. Once cooked through, I removed from the oven & brushed the pieces with the barbecue sauce. 

Top ↑

Cocktail Sauce


I recently bought some shrimp to make another batch of my (yummy) shrimp stew, and had about a dozen leftover, which immediately led to thoughts of devouring having shrimp cocktail. Then I realized, I didn’t have any cocktail sauce in the house, and figured I could just whip some up. After making this recipe, I probably won’t ever buy ready-made again! Oh, and I love that it takes about two minutes to make! Easy peasy!

Ingredients

  • 5 tbsp. Ketchup
  • 2 tbsp. chili sauce (I used Huy Fong chili garlic sauce since I had it on hand – original recipe calls for Heinz)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. prepared horseradish (or more if you want to increase the heat)
  • 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp. brown sugar

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
  2. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten-Barefoot Contessa

Top ↑

Pistachio-Crusted Chicken with Herbs (and Mustard Cream Sauce)


I came across this recipe a while ago, and bookmarked it to try another time. I was at the store over the weekend, and saw a bag of pistachios, which immediately brought my memory back to this dish. However, I highly recommend you buy pistachios already shelled as it took me a bit of time to crack open each pistachio to get a cup worth’s of nuts. And that way… you won’t get disappointed when you come across those shells that are not cracked at all and can’t be opened. Another recommendation I have is to butterfly/split/cut the chicken breasts in half, or you could use chicken tenders. I find the chicken is more tender when they’re a little thinner, and quite frankly, I just prefer them that way. In a nutshell (no pun intended), I found the combination of the herb mustard mixture combined with the pistachio-panko crust was simply divine! Oh, and when paired with the mustard cream sauce… WOW!!!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup shelled raw pistachios (about 4 ounces)
  • 1/2 cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
  • 4 tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp. light mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp. honey
  • 2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil (or 2 tsp. dried)
  • 1 tbsp. chopped fresh dill (or 1 tsp. dried)
  • 1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
  • 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, butterflied
  • Mustard cream sauce

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Finely grind nuts in processor. Add Panko and blend, using on/off turns.
  3. Transfer to shallow baking dish or bowl.
  4. Mix mustard, mayo, honey, basil, dill and rosemary in medium bowl.
  5. Spread mustard mixture over both sides of each chicken breast.
  6. Dip chicken breasts into nut mixture, coating completely. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  7. Transfer chicken to baking sheet.
  8. Bake chicken until cooked through, about 25 minutes.
  9. Spoon Mustard-Cream Sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from Bon Appétit

Top ↑