Hoisin Sesame Swai with Hoisin-Roasted Radishes

Hoisin sauce and a crunchy ginger-sesame seed blend coat this firm white-fleshed fish, served with tender roasted radishes and Asian-seasoned sautéed beet greens

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Do you ever wear matching clothing? Complete track suits?  Do you wish for Adult Garanimals with coded tags that help you decide if your top and your bottom clothing choices coordinate?

Where am I going with this?

It's not very usual for me to have all the foods matchy-matchy on the plate.  [Heck, the plates don't even match each other.] Apparently I tend to get all matchy-matchy with Swai.

Like I said the first time I posted a Swai recipe, "Swai is a white fleshed fish in the "Good Alternative" category on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch website.  Protein that is a Good Alternative, that is a great price, is good for me." That remains true today. In addition to the beef in the freezer (link to my beef recipe round up featuring 106 recipes from 66 bloggers) and the wild sockeye salmon from Seldovia Point, AK, the fish we eat the most is Swai.  It's useful in a variety of preparations, I've shared some related links below.

We often like to eat fish with rice, so I wanted to try an Asian preparation for this Swai.  I picked up this sesame seed blend at a TJMaxx/Marshall's, taking a page from Heather's shopping tips, and thought it would be good rolled around inside out sushi as a coating for fish.  From there the idea of coating the fish in hoisin sauce was a no-brainer.

Since I also had radishes from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share to play with, I opted to give them a similar coating and see how it played in Peoria the dining room. The result was surprisingly good.  Roasting brings out the sweetness from the radishes and the hoisin provides them with a nice tang.  We all enjoyed this meal, and to get the entire family to enjoy radishes is an accomplishment worthy of a Week In Review post.

On the plate you'll also see beet greens.  Specifically, Asian Beet Greens.  This bonus recipe is up on my FB page and my G+ page if you'd like to check it out.


For more recipes using radishes, please see my Radish Recipes Collection. It's part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

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Guinness-braised Brats and Broccoli-topped Baked Potatoes

A seasonal topping for a St Patrick's day supper, this simple meal consists of sausages braised in Stout coupled with fresh broccoli and a baked potato, covered in cheese.

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I made this as a simple 'use what we've got from the fridge/pantry' supper.  As I thought more about what I wanted to write for March/St Patrick's day I realized this simple meal would make an excellent alternative to a more traditional bill of fare.  I mean, I love corned beef and cabbage, especially in the form of New England Boiled Dinner, but I dislike eating it when the marketing hype tells me to do so.  Don't get me wrong--in March I love to buy cabbage and potatoes on sale, and at the end of the post I'll share some other cabbage recipes--I just don't like being told when to eat things.

If you want to go rogue for St Patrick's day (heck, I'm not even Irish) join me.  This starts, as do all good Irish tales, with a bottle of Guinness.  I confess the only time I've actually relished a glass of Guinness was in a pub in Ireland--possibly in Baltimore but I'm not 100% sure which town, though of my time in Ireland, Baltimore and the Dingle peninsula was my favorite area.

For more recipes using broccoli, please see my Broccoli Recipes Collection. For more recipes using potatoes, please see my Potato Recipes Collection. These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me scrambling around in March trying to keep eating seasonally and locally and running out of fresh food and freezer inspiration.

I'm sharing more recipes on Pinterest, follow me there. If you like good reads, I share articles that catch my eye on my Facebook page, follow me there. If you like a good peek behind the scenes as much as I do, follow me on Instagram. Want to know How to Use This Blog?


Note--I microwaved my broccoli.  I probably should have roasted it, seeing as I had the oven on anyway, but this post on roasting broccoli wasn't on my mental radar screen.

Final note--do you like crispy baked potato skins with creamy potato insides?  Alyssa has a tutorial for Perfect Baked Potatoes at Everyday Maven.  Do check it out.

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili with Hatch Chiles, Corn, and Beef

Sweet and spicy chili that simmers in the slow cooker for an easy supper. This chili has beef, sweet potatoes, 3 kinds of beans, corn, peppers and Hatch chiles for amazing flavor

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When my friend Mary brought her Sweet Potato and Black Bean chili to the thrift shop for lunch, I spooned up that bowl of spicy comfort and was smitten.  Mary's chili, adapted from The Clueless Vegetarian (Amazon affiliate link) was spicy yet went down smoothly, and like all great chilies each person can customize their bowl with a variety of toppings.

I don't know about you, but I tend to become smitten with foods and cook them over and over.  Being a seasonal eater works well with this tendency, because I'm always moving onto what's up next, seasonally, and don't really have time to get into food ruts. At least it works well when fresh vegetables are appearing each week in our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share box!  During the winter months I tend to rely on the produce that can store longer, like the sweet potatoes and butternut squash in the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve, as well as vegetables I've canned or frozen.

I was so smitten with this chili that I made it several times. Each time I loved it even more.  My kids gobbled it up.  Shoot, it was even the first leftover my spouse scrounged out of the fridge when he returned from his most recent deployment.  The combination of colorful beans and sweet potatoes from this chili inspired my Harvest Sweet Potato Salsa.

Serving chili is a great meal for a variety of eaters--you can top it with a whole host of extras if you like.  Some of our favorite toppings:

• red and green salsas
• pickled peppers
• black olives
• shredded cheese
• sour cream
• tortilla chips

My friend Rebbie hosted a chili party which included an oven full of baked potatoes.  My kids created their own loaded baked potatoes from Rebbie's topping selections and missed out on her award-winning chili, but we all went home full and happy.