The Food Matters Project - Mexican Style Fruit Salad with Fish

This week Sarah W. chose the recipe for The Food Matters Project and I have to say, it was delicious.  I decided to make whole wheat fish sticks with strawberry salsa.  Not only was I able to use ingredients from the farmers market (except for the lime), but it was delicious, quick and healthy.  Strawberries are absolutely amazing right now.  They taste just like they're supposed to, bursting with flavor and super sweet!

All you have to do is cut a tilapia filet (or any type of fish you like) into pieces, coat with an egg and cover with whole wheat flour.

Saute with olive oil for a couple of minutes on each side.

For the salsa I made I used 1 1/2 pounds of chopped strawberries, a large handful of basil chopped, half of a diced habanero and a quick squeeze of lime.  I have never tried to make a fruit salsa before, but I really enjoyed the contrast of flavors.  It had quite the kick but was sweet and flavorful.

Squeeze some lime over the fish and serve with the salsa.  It really gives a lot of pizzaz to a mild fish.  I was craving fish sticks (not quite sure why), but this really satisfied my craving and took it to a whole new level!  I don't know about you, but I couldn't be more thrilled that strawberries are in season.  This was a clever way of incorporating strawberries into a savory meal.  Try it out!  Great pick Sarah!

The Food Matters Project - Salsa Five Ways

Now I know that we post our Food Matters Project posts every Monday, but I am a day late - sorry!  I made an incredible salsa chosen by Alisa.  Check her website out for the recipe!  I used my homemade canned tomatoes for this one and served it over tilapia and it was delicious!

Spring Vegetable Omelette

The thing, you see, that I love about May is that Green City Market moves outside as well as so many Chicagoans, and farmers markets pop up everywhere.  It's beautiful.  We relish every minute the sun beats down and the heat threatens to make us uncomfortable.  I delight in the idea of wandering outside and stumbling upon a market I've never seen before.  But my Saturday mornings are reserved for trips to Green City to fill my bags full of greens, fruits, eggs, cheeses and anything else that I stumble upon.  It is easy to eat local in the summer and I encourage you to try it!

The Food Matters Project - Roasted Asparagus and White Bean Soup

The Food Matters recipe for this week was chosen by Adrienne and I have got to say, it was absolutely incredible.  For the full version of the recipe head on over to Adrienne's website and check it out!  This challenge is seriously pushing my food horizons and I like it.  A lot.

The Food Matters Project - Whole Wheat Bread

This week the recipe for the Food Matters Project was chosen by the lovely Melissa.  I actually already posted about this recipe a couple of weeks ago because it has become a staple in my house and I didn't realize it was up on the schedule - whoops!  For my post on whole wheat bread see here! 

My favorite way to munch on this loaf is with some honeycrisp apples, sharp white cheddar, and a dollop of honey.  Whole wheat bread is such a healthy snack and this is something I like to eat if I'm not quite hungry enough for a meal but don't want to eat something junky.  Enjoy!

Homemade Ricotta

I promised last night that I would post an explanation of how homemade ricotta is done... so here it is!  I must thank my wonderful friend Sara for showing me how to do this.  It's quite simple and it's so creamy and delicious you'll never want to buy it again!  I will say that it costs more to make it than it does to buy it, but it was so rich and creamy that I didn't regret it at all, and the dairy was from a local farm which made me happy too.

Combine 2 cups of whole milk, 1/2 cup half and half, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon white vinegar into a microwave safe bowl.  Heat for two minutes.  Gently stir and put back in the microwave on thirty seconds increments until the curds separate from the whey.

It will look like this when it's ready.  It will take around 5 minutes to get it like this.

Line a colander with several layers of cheese cloth and dump the whole mixture into it.  Allow it to drain for at least 30 minutes.  Squeeze out excess whey before you use it and keep the whey!  You can make some sweet bread with it!

I am just so thrilled that I made cheese.  Isn't it a weird concept?  And it's ridiculously easy to make, so next time I'm craving a soft cheese I know what I'm doing!

Ricotta Cheese
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup half and half
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

The Food Matters Project - Mostly Whole Wheat Pizza

Making pizza has been my favorite activity by far for The Food Matters Project.  Head to Niki's site to see the full recipe!  Excellent choice lady!  I decided to do personal pizzas because I was at my parents house over the weekend and I thought more variety would be more interesting.  I am pleased to report that all of the pizzas were very successful!

We had the ingredients to make truffle mushroom, margarita, and pesto ricotta pizzas.  All were outstanding and had incredibly different flavors which was the best part!

Ian sauteed mushrooms in white truffle oil and added some truffle goo to the mixture.  We topped the dough with the mushrooms, goat cheese, and prosciutto.  Delicious!

My parents chose a more traditional margarita pizza style and it did not disappoint.  We layered the dough with gorgeous basil leaves, slices of fresh tomato, mozzarella and prosciutto.  It was classic and elegant and the prettiest of the pizzas.

I decided to make a "local" pizza.  I used frozen pesto leftover from last summer, some beautiful asparagus fresh from Ellis Family Farms, and I made ricotta cheese (recipe to come) with milk and half and half from Kilgus Farmstead.  I am telling you that this pizza rocked my world.  It was so unique and the flavors were bold.

This week has been a great success and I feel like once again I have accomplished more food goals.  Making dough from scratch isn't hard at all and it is SO good and even a little bit healthier using the whole wheat dough.  Pizza is a favorite in my book.  Who knew that you could make three completely different styles of pizza in one kitchen?