I have these two ridiculous nieces – adorable, hilarious little bundles of energy.  The older one turns 7 this week; she talks like a teenager exclaiming the occasional “WHATEVER” and rolling her eyes, singing Taylor Swift in her own little world. She even coaxed me into doing the Running Man because Hannah Montana (or Miley Cyrus? What’s the difference?) does it during one of her songs.  That wasn’t a good moment for me. The little one is 2 and a half; she says inappropriate and obvious things in the funny way that kids her age do.  I can’t get enough of them!

This weekend I had a new experience with my nieces: we cooked.  My sister is trying to decrease the amount of processed foods in their diets, so I offered to help her make a complete Real Food dinner while I was in town.  We talked about what she wanted to make and she mentioned that although she loves fish, her husband and daughters do not.  So I thought I’d teach her how to make fish en papillote (in a pouch) because it was a very simple way for her to make fish for one (my husband also doesn’t eat fish).  From there, we decided to go with fish and shrimp tacos.

We went to the store and tried to find as much local produce as we could supplementing with produce from other parts of the United States.  Then we went to a local fish market and picked up some shrimp and some local catfish fillets. As we walked in to the market, the two girls both declared, “it is STINKY in here!”  The guys behind the counters agreed.  Thank goodness.

When we got home and started to prep, the girls were right there with us begging to help.  The problem was that the first steps involved cleaning and marinating the raw shrimp, something I did NOT want the little ones to be doing.  I calmly explained to the oldest why she couldn’t help with the shrimp, “raw fish can make you sick if you aren’t very careful and, even though I know you can be careful, your sister will want to help too and she doesn’t understand not to put her hands in…” And with that, the little one comes out of nowhere, stuffs her hand in the bowl of raw shrimp, swirls it around, and sticks her hand in her mouth.

That was my first, “DON’T TOUCH THAT!”

As the prep continued, the older niece was a broken record of “Can I help? Can I help?”  I really wanted to have her help, to encourage her to cook and eat fresh things, but her sister, the dimpled and sweet version of TAZ, shouldn’t be around so much raw fish and so many fast moving knives.

To make a long story short, I have never in my life uttered the phrase “DON’T TOUCH THAT!” so many times in one day never mind a couple of hours.

Once everything was chopped, it was an appropriate time for them to help.  Stir this.  Mash that.  Sprinkle here.  Which reminds me… I decided to let the little one help me season the fish.  I asked her to sprinkle it in my hand and I would rub it on the fish but PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE FISH and PLEASE ONLY DO WHAT I SAY AND LISTEN TO ME.  She did that.  It worked fine.  My hands were beyond disgusting, but that’s ok.  I walked 3 feet away to wash my hands, turned back, and there is a small mound of cumin on one of the fillets.

Me: “Did you do that?”
Little One: “Yeeeeees!”
Me: “But I asked you to listen to my directions.  Did I ask you to put that on there?”
Little One:  “Noooooo.  But I HELP!”  *Big smile*

I couldn’t resist.  It wasn’t worth trying to teach her a lesson.  She’s too damn cute for that sort of thing.

After about 2 hours of cooking a meal that takes me roughly 30 min to an hour at home, we finally got to sit down for dinner.  The older niece proudly stated, “Thank you for making this dinner!”  And the little one followed with a more staccato version, “Thank. You. For. Making. Dinner. AUNT SHEL AND MOMMY!”  That made it worth every minute and every “DON’T TOUCH THAT” that I had to utter.

For the shrimp:

Make sure the shrimp are cleaned and de-veined.  Mix a light marinade of lime juice (just a little – you’ll add more later), cumin, garlic powder, olive oil. Whisk together into an emulsion (like a salad dressing) and taste.  You don’t want too much acid at this point otherwise you’ll make a ceviche.  And don’t forget that shrimp suck up all that delicious flavor, especially salt, so don’t over do it.

Toss the shrimp in the marinade and put in the fridge until you’re ready to grill.

When you’re ready, put the shrimp on skewers for easy flipping and grill. (I think my brother-in-law did this without skewers.  Whatever works best for you is fine.) Once they get a nice char on the outside (probably only about 3-4 min on each side), they’re done.  They cook fast.

Fish in a pouch (en papillote)

Cooking fish in a pouch steams it leaving all the delicious flavors inside of the food without allowing it to evaporate.  I highly encourage you to watch this great video of Alton Brown talking about why cooking in a pouch works and how to do it.

We used catfish because that’s what was local and fresh.  Use whatever kind of fish you like.

I seasoned the fish with a little chili powder and cumin, gave it a squeeze of lime (although our limes were very dry), threw in some chopped cloves of garlic, drizzled with olive oil, and sealed up the pouch.  (In the packets that didn’t get lime juice, I drizzled with red wine vinegar.  The fish packets went into the microwave one at a time (there were 3 little fillets in each one) for 5 minutes.  Done!  Steamy, moist, and delicious.

(I told you about fish tacos once before, too.  They are different every time!)

Cucumber salad

I like to put this on my tacos instead of cabbage.  This is my cool crunch.  Dice some cukes, mix with some lime juice and cilantro.  Done.  This could also be a refreshing side dish if you prefer.

Creamy Avocado Shmear

Take some very ripe avocados (or “abadabas” as the little one called them) and mush them like you’re making guacamole.  Stir in some fat-free sour cream and a little squeeze of lime.  You get a delicious creamy topping for your tacos or any sandwich.

Salsa

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Cut tomatoes into quarters and squeeze out the goo.  Slice 1/2 sweet onion.  Toss it all with olive oil and put on a baking sheet.  Roast for 20 min or until starting to brown.

Roast a poblano pepper on your burner, under your broiler, or on your grill until black.  Put it in a paper bag or a sealed Tupperware-type container for a few minutes.  When you remove it, the skin should come off very easily.  Remove the seeds and core, and slice.

Take your tomatoes, onions, and roasted poblano and put in a blender or food processor.  Add some cilantro and a few cloves of garlic.  Give it a whir until very well combined.  Taste.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Carrots

We also made some roasted carrots.  Slice whole carrots in half long-ways.  Toss with a some maple syrup and a little olive oil until coated.  Spread in one layer on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan.  Roast for 15 minutes or until nice and roasty.  These were very good.

Barley and Black Bean Salad

Cook 1 cup of barley in 4 cups of water – should take about 40 minutes.  If it doesn’t absorb all of the water, strain.

Use either canned or cooked black beans – stir in with barley.

We were running low on time as the little ladies were getting restless.  So we sauteed some red peppers and mixed everything together along with some jarred salsa that my sister had in the fridge.  Quick.  Easy.  Yummy. (I wrote about barley and black bean salad once before.)