Fatty Salad

I am being literal actually. Everyone has heard the scare tactics of "salads are that's good for you" hinting at the calorie-fest from cheesy, creaming traditional Cesar salads and similar salad dressings. I'm sorry Zaxby's fans - fried chicken, cheese and creamy dressing do not make your salad healthy.

But healthy is also a relative term. Is low-calorie or low-fat considered healthy? Fat is a great tool in food preparation if used properly. One thing about dinner salads that puts me off is the fact that something I eat as an appetizer will be my sole menu option. Good fats promote healthy arteries and fill you up so you don't crave empty calories.

Introducing my fatty salad: this good-fat-rich dinner salad is a quick, filling meal for vegetarian foodies or those trying to watch their calorie in-take. This recipe is slightly altered from Martha's version, but I emphasize the "quick" aka store-bought salad dressing.

Avacado and nuts are some of the best ways to absorb good fats in your diet. Fish and seafood have a great reputation for their Omega-3 fatty oils, although shrimp is on the low end of high fat. Pepitas do fall into the seeds, not nuts, category, but feel free to interchange ingredients to heart-healthy almonds. Pepitas do offer a good amount of protein to the meal, which will assist pure vegetarian eaters.

Fatty Salad

1 lb. precooked shrimp

salt and lemon pepper

1 ripe avacado

Butter lettuce, Bibb lettuce or Romaine

pepitas (pumpkin seeds), salted, roasted or neither

reduced fat or full-fat Ranch (do not use fat free dressings)

Precooked shrimp will more than likely be half the price and tailed already. Raw shrimp tends to be jumbo aka more expensive, and easy to overcook. Rinse shrimp and add to a heated pan. Season and salt and lemon pepper - or preferred seafood seasoning - and cover with a fitted lip. Cook shrimp until hot but do not overcook.

While shrimp is heating, slightly chop lettuce. I used a butter lettuce because it is tender and colorful. But any lettuce preference is fine. I do recommend getting a plastic salad knife. Metal knives will bruise lettuce more easily, so the plastic knife helps to keep lettuces crisp.

To cut your avocado first slice the fruit from top to bottom and twist. Cut the unseeded side cross hatch with a butter knife. Use a spoon to scoop out the avocado cubes onto your salad. One avocado half will cover two salads. It is okay to use an avocado with some brown spots but the fruit should not be mushy. If only using half the avocado, seal tightly and use avocado slices on sandwiches.

Top avocado with cooked shrimp and pepitas. Serve dressing on the side to control how much you are using. Use a good, natural ranch dressing or buttermilk garlic dressing. I normally do not recommend fatty dressings but creamy ranch does help to fill you up and compliment the shrimp and avocado.

Yummy Fish Tacos

YEA! I got my cholesterol results back and I am finally under 200. My good cholesterol rose two points, and I dropped from 162 to 107 in bad cholesterol without prescription pills! Thank you yummy vegetarian meals.

If any of you are vegans, you are probably not going to appreciate my "vegetarian" fish tacos. But these little tacos have so much filling, you don't need the fish to enjoy. I also recently found a friend's "pure vegetarian" blog for those of you who are hard-core veggies.

Fish tacos was a foreign concept to me five years ago. And when I say "foreign" I mean Californian, where I had my first taste at seafood Mexican. Since then I have been very attracted to this dish. Cheesecake Factory (several locations), Black Cat Burrito (Boone) and Cafe Capistrano (Raleigh) are the best restaurant fish tacos I have had to date. But these tender tacos are easy enough to make at home.

I first made fish tacos from Martha's Stewart's recipe. I have since made a few adjustments based on the other taco experiences I have had.

Fish Tacos

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 small red cabbage, thinly shredded
1 lb tilapia or other firm fish (I find tilapia on better sales than most other fish)

1 jalapeno, cut in half

2 tsp olive oil

1 can refried beans or homemade beans

1 box Spanish rice (optional)

6 inch corn or whole wheat toritillas

favorite salsa (tropical varieties taste best e.g. peach or pineapple)

Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Mix sour cream, lime juice and spices together and let sit. Slowly add sour cream mix to cabbage until you have a consistency you like, but don't drown your food. Cut tilapia in half long ways. Heat refried beans in a small pot with 1/4 cup of water or make your own. Make boxed rice according to package instructions. Add oil to hot pan and add jap pepper. Push pepper around to get pan flavored with the spice. Add fish to pan and sear, turning once, until fish is done. Depending on the thickness of the fish, this will not take very long.

Steam tortillas in a damp hand towl for one minute. Layer tortilla with beans, fish, rice (if using) and slaw. Top with salsa and pepitas. You might learn now that 6 inch tortilla is not going to hold a lot of these fillers, so be sparing.

This taco recipe also goes well with cut pork chops and shredded chicken.