Ramen with Mushrooms, Broccoli, and Baby Bok Choy

It's fall, officially, and that means it's soup time! I love soup year-round, but I especially love it in the fall. I like the warmth and how it's the ultimate comfort food for me. This soup is a ramen bowl with a miso-chicken broth that's filled with my favorite veggies. So much goodness in one bowl! With all the variety, it can easily be a one dish meal. 

Ingredients: 

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 cup vertically sliced onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced ginger

1/2 cup broccoli florets

2 baby Bok choy, sliced diagonally into 1-inch pieces

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 quart water

2 eggs

2 tsp chicken broth

2 tsp miso

1 piece ramen

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Directions: 

Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and cook until the onion turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the vegetables, along with 1/2 cup water and allow to steam. Turn off the heat. 

Start the eggs while the vegetables are cooking. Add the eggs and water to a medium size pot. Bring the water to a boil, then boil the eggs for about 8 minutes. Remove the eggs to allow them to cool slightly. When they're cool enough to handle, peel them and slice them lengthwise. Add the chicken broth and miso to the water along with the ramen. Cook the ramen for the amount of time recommended on the package. Add the vegetables to the ramen. Taste, then add salt as needed. Serve by ladling into bowls. Top each serving with the sliced hardboiled egg. 

Serves 2

Stealthy Cooking Tip: For a gluten free option, try Lotus brand rice ramen. I find it at Costco, very reasonably priced. And, oops! You may notice that I forgot to put the egg on when I took the photos!

Tilapia Tacos with Peach Salsa

It's taco Tuesday, and I'm ready for a new kind of fish taco. I like the subtle nature of tilapia because it takes on flavors easily. This time, I used some chili powder like a blackening mixture. The sweetness of the peach plays beautifully with the heat of the chili. To top it off, it's pretty, too!

Ingredients:

for the salsa:

1 peach, chopped

2 thin slices red onion, finely chopped

1 Anaheim chili, seeded and finely chopped

2 Tbs white balsamic vinegar

1 Tbs chopped cilantro

for the tilapia filling:

1 Tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 large piece tilapia

1 Tbs chili powder

several grinds of sea salt

the extras: 

4 corn tortillas

4 slices lemon

2 Tbs mayonnaise

several shakes of sriracha

Directions: 

Make the salsa by combining all of the ingredients in a bowl. Stir and refrigerate until ready to serve. Heat the olive oil in a skillet, adding the garlic and letting it sizzle for about one minute. Dredge the tilapia in the chili powder, then add it to the skillet. Cook until the fish can easily be flaked. Flake the fish. Taste and add salt as needed. Prepare the sriracha mayonnaise while the fish is cooking by mixing the mayonnaise together with the sriracha, add more or less sriracha depending on how hot you like it. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the tortillas and cook for about 30 seconds per side. To serve, spoon some of the fish into the middle of each tortilla. Top with some of the salsa, then some of the sriracha mayo. Serve and enjoy!

Stealthy Cooking Tip: I served this with some blistered shishito peppers and a salad to some friends. We all enjoyed it ... even before the margaritas were served!