Swordfish steaks with grilled veggies

And we're back! Hope everyone had a great holiday! Mine was overwhelming which means I just felt beyond bloated, full and lethargic. Time to get back on track. The next recipe I was going to present was a sandwich idea I had in my head, and when I brought it to life it didn't deliver. Maybe one day, I'll regroup and approach it a different way but what came out was kinda bland, so I started from scratch with some of those ingredients and put them towards one of my favorite, healthy dishes: Swordfish steaks with garlic aioli, grilled veggies and quinoa. This also paired with Green Flash Brewery's Cedar Plank Pale Ale, which I'll review as well. Everything was spot on for blending flavors and pairing a perfect beer on the side. This is my go-to dish after I work out (or try attempt working out), because I love how it fills me up but know that its incredibly beneficial to my health and somewhat carb free. Also, if you are garlic fan, then this dish is for you and if you're not... then you can have the "failure sandwich" I tossed aside.

Swordfish Steaks with Garlic Aioli, Grilled veggies and Quinoa.
 2 Sword Fish Steaks
3-4 Tablespoons of mayonnaise
6-7 Garlic bulbs Salt Pepper Asparagus (One bunch)
 1 red onion
2 cups of mushrooms
1 cup of quinoa
1 lemon Olive Oil

 Garlic Aioli:
1.) Pour 3-4 tablespoons of mayonnaise into a bowl. Then combine 2 teaspoons of freshly ground pepper, a dash of sea salt and 4 chopped garlic bulbs. Stir the contents with a spoon until well blended. Add in a half –cup of olive oil now and stir once all is blended.
 2.) Place the bowl in the refrigerator, with plastic covering the top, and let ingredients blend until fish, veggies and quinoa are ready to be served.

On to the main meal…
 1.) Wash fish under cold water and drizzle olive oil on both sides once you have put them on a plate to rest. Then with two lemon slices-place one on each piece, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to soak up the oil. This makes the fish more tender and juicy in a short period of time.

Quinoa: 
a. Add two coups of quinoa to a sauce pan, then add 2 cups of water to a sauce pan.
b. Boil quinoa up to 15 minutes.
c. Once all water has been steamed, set your stove top to a neutral low heat setting and hold off until it is time to serve with the fish

3.) Veggies:
a. Wash asparagus and cut off bottom, bulky ends. Either whole or chopped pieces is your preferences. Chop red onion into 1 inch pieces
b. Heat skillet or stove-top grill to about medium-high with a light coat of olive oil.
c. Stir in veggies with pepper and let grill for about ten minutes.

Back to the fish!
 4.) Heat another grill, or something sexy like it (i.e. my sexy Panini grill) to a high heat of 375 degrees.
5.) Place swordfish steaks with slices of lemons on top once grill is hot and ready.
 6.) Grill steaks until fat is drained on the sides and remove them. Simmer veggies and stir around quinoa, because now you sexy, creative genius, it’s time to create some food art. So break out the aioli!

Green Flash Brewery Cedar Plank Pale Ale - $4.99

This was an impulse buy at Trader Joes. Normally I’m staunch on buying my old favorites (i.e. Lagunitas, Deschutes, 21st Amendment), but I was persuaded by the name-Cedar Plank Pale Ale. I don’t know what it is about my love for hops but I love how piney and citrusy they can get. It just brings an amazing image into my head of what beer reminds me of: a forest. Some people might think that this is incredibly strange for someone's taste to aim towards a pine tree (Maybe I just love Christmas THAT much) but I've always loved that pine needle aroma that hops contain. I was expecting a heavy hopped beer when I popped this opened; however it was the complete opposite. If anybody has smelled Cedar wood either in your cooking or just around a forest, you’ll notice that this particular tree has a bold scent. Green Flash stored this IPA in Cedar Planks casks so a multitude of different flavors burst out at you when take the first sip. The Cedar is what made this so smooth though; it’s genuinely bearable for people who aren’t hop heads, and for those who crave beers that are hop fused to the max, this is a step back but enough to just enjoy the hoppiness with a smooth wood undertone. I don’t know if that’s sexy or not but you should give it a shot.


 Recipe Breakdown:
 *You should already have it (YSAHI)

 2 Sword Fish Steaks ($7 to $9)
3-4 Tablespoons of mayonnaise
 6-7 Garlic bulbs (YSAHI)
Salt (YSAHI) Pepper
(YSAHI) Asparagus (One bunch) ($3.49)
1 red onion ($0.69)
 2 cups of mushrooms ($2.29)
1 cup of quinoa ($3.99)
1 lemon ($0.99) Olive Oil (YSAHI)
___________________________________________
 Total: $20.26


 Modify and modernize your appetite!