Talk to me long enough (like, five minutes) and a few things about me will become readily apparent: (1) I hate being cold, (2) I love to eat (and cook), (3) I’m madly in love with my kids, and (4) I love, love, LOVE spending time in California, especially San Diego.

San Diego is just about the best place on Earth. It’s beautiful, the weather is (almost) always spectacular, and it has a relaxed, laid-back attitude that always makes me feel right at home; always perfectly at ease.

One of the great side benefits to San Diego’s climate, as well as its seaside location, is that there’s plenty of great seafood, and always lots of yummy ways to eat it. In fact, if the city had a signature dish, it’d have to be fish tacos.

Usually, when I mention fish tacos (here on the East Coast), people wrinkle up their nose and say, “Huh? That doesn’t sound good.” But once people try them, they’re hooked.

Fish tacos exemplify everything that’s great about San Diego. They’re delicious, light, unpretentious, and easy to make and eat.

Since I don’t get to San Diego nearly as often as I’d like, and since fish tacos aren’t available at most restaurants back East, I had to learn to make them myself. They’ve become a staple in my house. My kids love them, friends magically appear when they hear that they’re on the menu for the day. They’ve become my signature dish.

Over time, I’ve honed my recipe pretty well, I think. Give ‘em a try on your grill tonight (you’ll be glad you did!)

Fabulous Fish Tacos Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound of your favorite white fish (my choice is Mahi Mahi, but Tilapia works well)
¼ cup olive oil (don’t use extra-virgin here; the flavor is too strong)
The juice of one lime
One jalapeno pepper, seeded, and chopped
¼ cup chopped cilantro
8 fajita-sized flour tortillas

Garnishes & Toppings

Shredded cabbage
Your favorite hot sauce
Crema (if you can find it) or sour cream
Thinly sliced scallions (green onions)
Chopped cilantro
Pico de gallo

Preparation

Put fish in a Ziploc bag. Stir together the olive oil, lime juice, jalapeno pepper, and cilantro; pour over the fish. Allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes, but not more than about an hour.

Preheat your grill to medium-high heat.

Remove the fish from the marinade and place on the hot grill. Grill for about 6 minutes, turning the fish over after about 4 minutes, or until it’s white and flaky. Flake the fish into a bowl.

Serve with warm tortillas and fill with your toppings of choice.

See how easy that was? This couldn’t come together faster, which makes it a great meal to serve during the work week. It’s light and delicious, which makes it perfect for summer. It’s even pretty doggone healthy, so you won’t feel guilty about “indulging.”

I hope you enjoy my little slice of San Diego. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to make some airplane reservations; there’s a flip-flop-wearing town on the West Coast that’s calling my name.

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Photo Credit: Neilwill

…a diet based on an understanding of evolutionary science. I think it’s more important to eat, move, and live according to how humans are designed and not according to society’s artificial developments of the last 100 years. Fortunately, this regimen is not only incredibly healthy, it’s quite simple.

In a nutshell:
- fresh, organic, unprocessed food – no junk!
- daily activity – whether it’s the gym or a walk along the beach, it all counts
- plenty of quality sleep
- plenty of water, no soda or sweetened drinks
- antioxidants galore – the key to limiting stress
- a good fish-oil supplement
- essential fats, reckless amounts of vegetables, and lean, clean protein
- time for fun – don’t take anything too seriously – ethical behavior – because what goes around comes around
- taking responsibility for yourself and your life – openness to new things and ideas

Since moving from Chicago to San Francisco, I’ve made health and fitness a priority. I regularly practice bikram yoga and I’m training for a half marathon on Halloween. Though I’ve always been a fairly healthy eater, carbs and grains were a large part of my diet.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve replaced English muffins with a half an avocado or banana with natural peanut butter. I’m eating less whole wheat pasta and bread and more fish and meat (I used to eat very little meat)… less high-fiber granola bars and more fruits and vegetables.

Making these small changes, I was surprised to quickly notice an increase in my energy and pretty drastic improvements with how I feel every day. I’ve already experienced changes to my body too! I used to get lightheaded frequently and my energy wasn’t sustainable. A diet with a heavier focus on fat and protein helps me sustain this energy. It’s quite amazing!

With that, I wanted to share an ahi tuna recipe I recently made that follows my new eating habits and is equally as delicious too.

Seared Ahi Tuna Over Mixed Greens

Ingredients

2 fresh, sushi-grade ahi tuna steaks (approx. 6 ounces each) – Look for firm, ruby red flesh with no fishy odor.
1 teaspoon salt and coarse pepper
Mixed greens
1 teaspoon wasabi paste
2 tablespoons rice vinegar or rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons virgin olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper
Lemon slices

Preparation (Tuna)

1. Coat the tuna steak with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a grill pan over high heat. (I use a heavy-bottomed frying pan.)
3. Prep pan surface with a think layer of oil.
4. Add tuna steak to the hot cooking surface and sear tuna 2 minutes on each side.
5. Remove tuna from heat.

Directions (Salad)

Dressing: whisk wasabi, vinegar and soy sauce. Add in oil to combine dressing.  Combine greens in a bowl and toss with dressing.  Slice tuna, place on the salad and garnish with lemon.

Enjoy!

Photo by: foodista

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What follows is the recipe for the cookout we had that day which, in my opinion, is the best beach food I have had in years.

The supplies for the beach barbecue:

12 small flounder filets (caught earlier and cleaned on the boat by the mate)
Recycled Aluminum foil
Lemons
Ritz crackers
1 stick of butter
Salt
6 ears of corn

The cookout on the beach:

For beach cookouts in general I suggest not using utensils at all but rather eating with your hands.  When you feel the need to, just rinse them off in the ocean water.  However, in this situation it is preferable to have a medium sized knife around for prep.

Get your grill hot and clean while you prepare the fish for grilling.  Start by getting 6 large squares of foil separated.  In the center of each one put a small pat of butter and lay on top two of the fish filets.  Top the fish with hand crushed cracker pieces, another pat of butter, a squeeze of lemon, and pinch of salt.   Bring the edges of foil together and fold to create a loosely sealed packet.  Next, prepare your corn by simply removing any loose pieces of husk, and then cut off the top inch of the ear along with the majority of the silk.  Use your hands to remove any more loose strands you find.

Get your grill heat to medium to medium/hot and begin by placing the prepared corn, husk and all, directly on the hot parts of the grill.  Several things are now going to happen to the corn…As the heat builds up on the corn as a whole it will begin to steam itself in its husk.  As some moisture is lost from the steaming liquid the sugar and sweetness begins to concentrate.  Char will also start to develop, the husk will become black and begin to break apart.  Some of this char on the actual kernels themselves is desirable, as carmelization, but too much is a bad thing.  You want to try to get an even blackening of the whole husk without too much of it breaking apart.  Once evenly blackened remove the corn from the grill and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before peeling.  Be sure to remember to use a dry kitchen towel for peeling since you just steamed the corn on a very hot grill.

While the corn is resting, place the flounder packets on the grill but off of the direct heat and lower to medium to medium/low heat.  Cover the grill and let cook for 5 minutes.  At this time you want to check on one of the packets by carefully opening it and checking to see if the top of the fish has whitened with cooking at all.  If so, and it is beginning to firm up, open all the packets an inch or so, to let moisture out, re cover the grill and cook another 5 minutes.   This will allow a bit of time for the crackers to dry out and become crispy, and the fish will not cook as quickly, is it is no longer being steam grilled. Remove the fish from the grill, and let rest for 5 minutes.

While your fish is resting peel the charred corn husks off the corn and wipe clean, season with butter and salt, and enjoy while still hot.  By the time you have eaten an ear of corn the fish will be at just the right temperature to eat with your hands and should flake apart easily, being tender and crisp at the same time.

Try it for yourself the next time you have a little luck fishing and there is a beach with a grill near by.  For me there has always been something about the proximity of water that makes food just taste good.  Whether eating a hot, freshly cooked breakfast while pike fishing on the ice in January or beach dining on freshly caught fluke in July, the best food is simple, fresh, eaten outdoors, with few amenities, and a few friends, period.

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Spicy Pepper Shrimp and Rice

Recipe Credit: Men’s Health, June 2009

Ingredients

2 tsp peanut oil
1/4 tsp red-pepper flakes
1 c bite-sized strips of red and green peppers
1/4 medium onion, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp jarred jalepeno pepper slices
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
10 ounces (about 30) medium precooked frozen shrimp, defrosted, tails removed

Preparation

Heat the oil and pepper flakes in a medium-hot skillet, and then add all the remaining ingredients except the shrimp.  Cook the mixture 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the shrimp and cook 2 to 3 more minutes, stirring frequently.  Serve over brown rice.

See, told you, nice and quick (especially if you cook a batch of brown rice at the beginning of the week and use throughout the week in various recipes).  If you have some extra time, instead of using precooked frozen shrimp, you could always grill some fresh shrimp (pictured above).

Enjoy!

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Photo by: mhaithaca

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