I’ve been trying to find a fish tacos recipe I like for a long time. I think maybe I like the idea of fish tacos more than most incarnations of them. I kept trying different versions, and Matt and I would always end up kind of saying “eh, they’re ok”, and the recipe would go in the Don’t Bother Trying This Again Unless They Stop Making Cookbooks pile. But here, I think I’ve finally found a winner!

Somehow I recently got on a mailing list from Culinate, a website about food with recipes, articles, etc., and I’m actually enjoying the suggestions rather than resenting the extra space in my inbox. That’s where this recipe comes from. The fish is marinated in lime juice and soy sauce, served with a lime-chipotle mayonnaise sauce, and topped with mango salsa. Don’t think about skipping the salsa, I think that may be the key.

We used the leftover chipotles in these chicken quesadillas the next day, which, incidentally, I recommend as well.

Matt and I had a delicious, though perhaps not all that balanced or healthy, meal of steamed mussels and artichokes the other night. We first started eating mussels while we were studying abroad in France, where they are often served with French fries as “Moules Frites.” There, mussels are eaten not with one of those silly little shellfish forks as I’ve seen them served here, but by using one of the shells as little tongs to pull the meat from the other shells. (Sorry for the blurriness in the picture, but I thought it was worth including for purposes of instruction.)

We’ve cooked them a couple times since then, and they are very easy to prepare. A recipe in this months Cooking Light inspired us to make them again. This time, we simply steamed them with chicken broth, lemon juice, and some spices, and served them with some butter for dipping.

We also steamed an artichoke, which was originally planned as an appetizer but ended up being finished about the same time as the mussels. We also had some dipping sauce for the artichoke — as I said, not very healthy, but certainly delicious! If you’ve never eaten whole artichokes before, as we hadn’t until moving to California, they may require some eating instructions too. Basically, you pull off the petals, dip them in the sauce, and scrape the little bit of pulp off with your teeth. I didn’t take pictures of that part, but Elise has a nice tutorial. Also, you want to stop eating the petals when you get to the purplish ones in the center. This part is called the “choke.” It should be scraped out, leaving the delicious “heart” of the artichoke underneath.

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I apologize that the posts have been so sparse lately. I’ve just returned from a trip to Long Beach for a meeting, and preparing for that has also been keeping me pretty busy for the past month or so. I’ve had less time to cook than usual, and even less time to blog about it. But, the good news is that things have calmed down at least a tad, and so more tasty treats from my kitchen should be appearing here in the near future.

Today, something simple: another recipe recommendation, this time from Simply Recipes. Lately, when I’m faced with persistent questions of “What’s for dinner?” or “I wonder how to make (XYZ)?” Elise’s Simply Recipes blog has become my go-to source. And she seldom lets me down. Her recipes are, as you might assume, reasonably simple, and her instructions are very clear. This recipe for pan-seared salmon with a sauce made from avocados was no exception. I don’t think I ever would have thought of combining avocados and salmon, but since both Matt and I love both of those foods, as soon as I saw the recipe Ik new I had to try it. The creamy avocado matched very nicely with the flavor of the salmon. And it’s just so pretty, too.

I was amazed how smooth the avocado remoulade got — after food processing the avocado it was a bit coarse, but as soon as you add the olive oil it becomes silky smooth.

My only complaint about this recipe is the recommended cooking time — my salmon wasn’t nearly done in the middle after the 3-4 minutes per side she recommends (and I like my meat and fish on the rare side), so next time I’ll use slightly lower heat so I can get it done all the way through without having the outside be too crispy. And yes, I’ll definitely be making this again.

You can find the recipe here: Pan-Seared Salmon with Avocado Remoulade