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Issue Date: November 12, 2006
Meet our runners-up
You'll be surprised how rich and rewarding these recipes are -- even if they didn't win the $10,000.
Healthy baked fish with a zingy mango-avocado salsa
Chris Stevenson, 56, a registered nurse, invented this delectable fish dish -- entered in the "healthy pleasures" category -- when her husband, Jim, brought home some tilapia. "I had read in a magazine that tilapia is a 'safe' seafood, meaning it's not over-fished and it's low in mercury," says Vacaville, Calif., resident and Reporter reader Stevenson, who has five children, ages 20 to 34, and two grandchildren. "I wanted to find a quick, easy way to fix it that wasn't fried." She decided to add a fresh mango salsa. "It really hit the 'wow' factor when I put in the ginger and lime. Together, they're great over the tilapia -- tangy and delicious."
Mango-licious Tilapia
For the salsa:
1 mango, peeled, seeded and diced
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
3 Roma or plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
Zest of 1 lime
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 Tb. minced fresh ginger root
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp. kosher salt
For the fish:
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 Tbs. grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
4 4- to 5-ounce tilapia fillets
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Make salsa first, so flavors can mellow. Combine all salsa ingredients in a glass bowl. Stir to blend, and set aside at room temperature until fish has finished cooking.
In a shallow baking dish that's large enough to hold the fish fillets in a single layer, combine the olive oil, orange zest, orange juice, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.
Rinse the fillets and pat them dry on paper towels. Place them in the baking dish and turn to coat with the seasonings. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until fish can be flaked with a fork.
Place fillets on a platter, and spoon the salsa over them to serve.
Serves 4
Per serving: 315 calories, 25g protein, 19g carbohydrates, 16g fat(3g saturated), 41mg cholesterol, 5g fiber, 652mg sodium
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A Tex-Mex favorite uses prepared foods to pare down time
Bobbi Wiley, 34, of Ona, W.Va., loves to go out for Mexican food but often finds dishes "too spicy and not as crispy as I would like." So the middle school language arts teacher decided to submit her chicken chimichangas for the "super quick" category. With two kids (daughter Shay, 16, and son Ethan, 4) and a part-time job as a waitress, Wiley needs any recipe to be quick and easy: "I don't have time to roast my own chilies, but the canned ones work just fine." She also employs rotisserie or leftover roast chicken. "I add cream of chicken soup to mellow it out and add a creamy consistency, and I keep the chimichangas crispyby not saucing them until I plate them." Wiley, who read about the contest in Huntington, W.Va.'s Herald-Dispatch, rounds out the meal with homemade guacamole, salsa and tortilla chips.
Chicken Chimichangas with Green Sauce
2 10.5-ounce cans condensed cream of chicken soup
2 4.5-ounce cansdiced green chilies
5 pitted green olives
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice from 1 lime
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 8-ounce package shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 of a 1.25-ounce package taco seasoning
1 pound shredded, cooked chicken meat (about 3 cups)
8 10-inch flour tortillas
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 8-ounce package shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped green onions(about 1 bunch)
1 8-ounce container sour cream
Pour the cream of chicken soup into a blender along with the green chilies, olives, jalapeño pepper and lime juice. Purée until smooth, then pour into a saucepan and warm over medium-low heat.
Next, in a large bowl, mash together the cream cheese, Monterey Jack cheese and taco seasoning until well blended. Stir in thechicken. Evenly divide mixture among the 8 tortillas, placing filling in center of tortilla. Fold top down, fold bottom up, then roll up sides to make a square packet.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Fry 4 chimichangas at a time, seam side down, until golden brown, about 90 seconds; flip with tongs and fry other side anadditional 90 seconds. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
To serve, place a chimichanga on a plate, and ladle the warm pepper sauce over top. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and green onions. Finish with a dollop of sour cream.
Serves 8
Per serving: 805 calories, 43g protein, 52g carbohydrates, 47g fat (24g saturated), 152mg cholesterol, 3g fiber, 1,910mg sodium
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Sweet-sour-spicy fish steaks that'll bite you back
As a personal chef for a supermarket chain, Tim Peterson, 44, of Sarasota, Fla., helps customers plan meals, suggests recipes, and conducts wine tastings and in-store cooking classes. "It's all about the food," says the "international" category winner, who read about our contest in the Bradenton Herald. Two years ago, he started experimenting with tuna, wanting to use Asian flavors in an original way. "I made sesame-encrusted tuna and then [thought], 'Man, everybody does that.' And then it was, 'Ooh, wasabi peas,' because I love to snack on them. It was like a light bulb went off." He crushed the peas, made a marinade and rolled the tuna in the peas. The result: a spicy fish that he serves over julienned carrots, green onions, snow peas and mung beans.
Wasabi-Encrusted Tuna Steaks
1 Tb. five-spice powder
1 Tb. grated fresh ginger
2 Tbs. sake
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
2 Tbs. tamari
1/4 cup sesame oil
2 pounds ahi (sushi-grade) tuna steaks, each about 1 inch thick
1/2 pound wasabi peas, crushed (place in zipper bag and use rolling pin or other heavy object to crush)
2 Tbs. light brown sugar
Cooking oil for sautéing fish
In a large bowl, whisk together the five-spice powder, ginger, sake, rice vinegar, tamari and sesame oil. Add the tuna steaks, and turn to coat. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the crushed wasabi peas and brown sugar in a pie plate.
Remove the tuna steaks from the marinade, and press them into the pea mixture to coat all surfaces. Then, pour the marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until the sauce has thickened, 5 to 10 minutes.
Next, heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Addseveral steaks at a time to the pan, searing each side about 30 seconds, using tongs to turn steaks so that the top, bottom and sides are seared. The tuna will be very rare, with a nice crust. Repeat with remaining steaks. Whisk sauce to recombine, then drizzle over tuna and serve.
Serves 6
Per serving: 534 calories, 55g protein, 52g carbohydrates, 12g fat(2g saturated), 68mg cholesterol, 19g fiber, 404mg sodium
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Kid-pleasing corn "dogs" that are baked, not fried
Athena Russell, 33, of Florence, S.C., doesn't have kids. But the Morning News reader's three nieces and four nephews -- and her own memories of growing up in Decherd, Tenn. -- give her plenty of clues about what youngsters like to eat. "They seem to universally love hot dogs," says Russell, who made up her recipe specifically to enter our contest in the "kid pleasers" category. "When my brother and I were kids, we would make hush-puppy batter, put hot dogs in the middle and fry them. So this is really an adaptation of our corn dogs, but baked instead of fried." The college administrative assistant enters recipe contests at least twice a month and has test-driven her culinary creations on her co-workers. Her biggest win so far? A $3,000 prize last year for her Mediterranean lamb burgers with feta sauce.
Mini Southwestern Corn Pup Muffins with Fiesta Dipping Sauce
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tb. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbs. canola oil
1/3 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 hot dogs, cut into 1-inch pieces
Fiesta Dipping Sauce:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 Tbs. taco seasoning mix from a 1.25-ounce package
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Coat two 12-cup mini-muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.
Stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, chili powder, cumin and garlic powder. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and oil. Stir until just blended, then gently stir in the cheese.
Drop a small spoonful of batter into the bottom of each muffin cup. Place a piece of hot dog on top. Fill cups with enough additional batter to cover the hot dog pieces.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until muffins are lightly browned and spring back when gently pressed. Cool slightly before removing from the muffin pans.
Serve warm with the Fiesta Dipping Sauce.
To make the Fiesta Dipping Sauce: Whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise and taco seasoning mix until smooth. Serve immediately with the muffins.
Serves 12
Per serving (2 muffins): 280 calories, 6g protein, 23g carbohydrates, 18g fat (5g saturated), 41mg cholesterol, 1g fiber, 482mg sodium
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