Ceviche Verde

This recipe is from Epicurious website. I eat ceviche at a Mexican restaurant and I love it. I finally, made it my self. It is a great recipe. I used bassa filet for the fish. I didn't have tomatillos ad green olives. I didn't use them but it worked very well without them. It has a great fresh taste to it. It is  a great appetizer.

Ingredients

 1 pound fresh Pacific halibut or other firm-fleshed fish
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
3/4 cup green olives, sliced
1/2 cup tomatillos, diced
1/4 cup onion, very finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and minced (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Tostadas or tortilla chips

Preparation

Chop fish into 1/2" cubes; place in medium bowl. Add kosher salt; toss to coat. Add lime juice; toss to coat. Marinate until the edges of the cubes begin to turn opaque, tossing occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Dice avocados; add to bowl along with green olives, tomatillos, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño Add olive oil and season to taste with salt.

Serve over tostadas or with tortilla chips for dipping.

Mixed vegetable Balti

INGREDIENTS Scant 1 cup split yellow peas 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 tablespoon onion seeds 2 onion, sliced 115 g zucchini, sliced 115 g potatoes, cut into 1 cm cubes 115 g carrots, sliced 1 small eggplant 225g tomatoes, chopped 1  cups water 3 garlic cloves, chopped 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon coriander 1 teaspoon salt 2 fresh green chilies, sliced 1 teaspoon garam masala 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

DIRECTIONS Put the split peas in a pan and cover with lightly salted water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 30 minutes. Drain the peas and keep warm. Heat the oil in a pan then add the onion seeds and sautй until they pop. Add the onions and stir fry over medium heat until golden brown. Add the zucchini, potatoes, carrots and eggplant to the pan. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, water, garlic, cumin, coriander, salt, chilies, garam masala and the reserve split peas. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the cilantro into the vegetables. Transfer to a warmed serving dish and serve at once.

Chicken Pastitsio

I came back running 8K race. It called Jingle bell all the way. It was a fun race. I was hungry but I didn't want to eat outside this time for a change. I had still energy to cook something and I was searching to find something rich. I found this recipe called chicken pastitsio. It is a Greek dish.
The cookbook called best -ever chicken, published by HH. I made some changes recipe didn't have eggplant but I added eggplant. It wasn't easy recipe especially, after running 5 miles but I cooked it anyway. I was very happy about it. It was delicious.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Baking time: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• coarse salt and ground black pepper
• 5 tbsp tomato paste
• 1-1/4 cup red wine or beef stock
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (use less if you like)
• 1big eggplant cut slices-grill both sides.
• 2-1/2 cups cooked tubular pasta (macaroni, penne etc.)
• 1-1/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 4 tbsp whole wheat breadcrumbs
• chopped fresh parsley (for garnish)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F and if you wish line a wide casserole dish with foil for easy clean up. Heat oil in a large shallow skillet, on medium high heat, and cook the ground chicken, onion and garlic. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Keep cooking, stirring occasionally, until lightly brown in colour. Stir in the tomato paste, red wine and cinnamon. Add a bit more liquid if needed. Once everything is cooked through turn the heat off.
 2. To make the béchamel sauce, pour in the milk, butter and flour into a saucepan. On medium heat, whisk the ingredients together until thick and smooth. Add in the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Layering the casserole: Put grilled eggplants slices bottom of the pan.  Ladle the chicken sauce into the bottom of the casserole dish, then layer on the cooked pasta on top, then finally pour on the béchamel sauce. Place the sliced tomatoes evenly over top of the béchamel covered pasta, sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and place in the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes. Serve immediately.