Blackened Tilapia Sandwiches with Lime-Chive Sour Cream and Black Bean Salsa- April 29, 2010

If you like some spice, blackening is a good alternative to frying. Although usually its done with butter, but still better than fried! We use the Paul Prudhomme Seafood Magic. I picked up some delicious brioche rolls and my husband made a sour cream sauce to go on the sandwiches, which was perfect. A mayonnaise would also have worked well here. I did a black bean, pineapple, tomato and cilantro salsa that was actually more like a little side salad which complemented it well.

Braised Chile-Spiced Short Ribs with Black Beans- February 19, 2010

Friday I decided to finally take a stab at short ribs. Since they have to slow-cook, I needed most of the afternoon for this. They were good, but way too heavy for me. I felt like I had lead sitting in my stomach all night. Probably the black beans were just too much.
We finished up the Stump Jump from the previous night, but this dish had some spice so something lighter would have worked too! The photo shows the ribs after browning.