nom nom :: Stuffed Salmon with Sriracha Cream Sauce

So typically, Joe doesn't like teriyaki sauce. He says he can taste the ginger and it's just not his thing. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like ginger either (unless its with sushi) but I'm so use to the flavor, it isn't something that sticks out to me. I was a little hesitant to try this recipe for that reason but decided that it looked too delicious to pass up. I adapted it from this recipe but made a few changes like swapping out the sweetend condensed milk for almond milk (it's what we had in our fridge) and wouldn't have even known the difference. After we finished dinner, I asked if he was okay with that teriyaki sauce and he said he didn't even realize that was what I used. Guess I know this is going to become a repeat dish in our house... YES! 

Start the Stuffed Salmon with Sriracha Cream sauce by marinating it in your favorite teriyaki marinade. I used Trader Joe's Island Soyaki since I noticed the original recipe called for a bit more pineapple flavors. Let it marinate for at least 30 mins.

After it is done marinating, slit the sides of each filet and create a long pocket to stuff. Insert about a tablespoon of cream cheese - I used whipped cream cheese as it was easier to push into the pocket. 

Heat a medium sized pan on low-medium heat. Add about a tablespoon of oil. Set the fillets in there skin side down and cook for 10 minutes. I put the cover on and let it steam for a bit. I did not flip it since I wasn't sure if the cheese would spill out but it turned out just fine. Drizzle with the Sriracha cream sauce (recipe below) and ta-da!

Stuffed Salmon with Siracha Cream Sauce
adapted from The Boogie Blog
Ingredients
1 cup teriyaki marinade (Trader Joe's version is a fave)
2 salmon filets
2 tbsp whipped cream cheese
1 tbsp oil

for sauce
2 tbsp Sriracha sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp almond milk, vanilla

Directions:
1. Marinate salmon filets in teriyaki sauce of your choice for at least 30 minutes.
2. Slice sides of filet to create a pocket
3. Stuff salmon pocket with cream cheese, do not overstuff. I used 1 tbsp for each filet.
4. Heat a medium sized pan on low-medium heat. Add oil to coat. Set the fillets in and cook for 10 minutes with cover. Serve once salmon is cooked
5. For sauce, mix all ingredients together. Add more sriracha for more spice.

my go-to green smoothie

the last couple weeks, I felt like I wasn't getting enough greens in my diet. This is probably due to the fact that I was throwing out our box of baby spinach from Costco week after week and trying to figure out why we didn't go through it. Cause: not enough lunch toting and salad eating. But what do you do when you are just not in the mood for some leafy greens? 

Throw it in a smoothie, of course. 

Go-To Green Smoothie

Ingredients
2 cups spinach, fresh
2 cups water
1 cup mango, fresh or frozen
1 cup pineapple, fresh or frozen
1 bananas, fresh or frozen

Directions:

1. Blend the water and fresh spinach until it is a liquid. This will make sure you don't drink leafy bits. 

2. Add the remaining fruit in and blend until smooth. 

Tips: You'll want to use one fruit frozen to make the smoothie cold. I typically use a fresh mangos and pineapple and a frozen banana. Usually when I see bananas getting too ripe, I peel, slice and freeze them for smoothies or banana bread. 

nom nom: easy chicken parmesan

Some days, you just don't want to turn on the oven. Today was one of those days. The weather was beautiful and as spring is coming, no one wants to turn on the hot oven! Joe and I both got home at around 9:30 PM and had decided to wait to do dinner together. He went to a car show with some friends and I went for a walk with some girlfriends so an easy quick late night dinner was the plan. Easy Chicken Parmesan is just that - quick and easy and ready in 20 minutes.

This version of Chicken Parmesan skips the breading but keeps the cheesy mozzerella. Instead of baking the chicken, it's cooked right in the sauce so that it stays juicy and tender. Topped with mozzerella, you do have to turn on the broiler and get the cheese nice and melty. Simple go-to meal for those late night dinners.

Easy Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:
4 chicken tenders
Olive Oil
Salt-free seasoning (I used 21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joe's)
2 cups of marinara sauce 
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried italian seasoning (or basil)
4 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
4 servings pasta, any kind (I used brown rice penne pasta)

Directions:

1. If you have the time, marinate the chicken tenders in olive oil and salt-free seasoning. 1/2 hour is plenty. Overnight is great. 
2. Get the water boiling for the pasta. 
3. If there is no time to marinate, brush the chicken tenders with olive oil and season with salt-free seasoning.  Heat a large, oven-safe skillet over medium. Spray with non-stick spray and add chicken. Cook until golden brown but not all the way cooked through - about 6 minutes total. 
4. Remove the chicken from heat and put on a plate. Let the skillet cool down.
5. Return skillet to medium heat. Add marinara sauce to skillet, mix in italian seasoning and parmasan cheese. Put the chicken tenders into the sauce mixture and place lid on top. Cook for 10 minutes. 
6. During this 10 minutes, cook the pasta (the water should be plenty boiling at this point)
7. Once the chicken is cooked through, top each chicken with some sliced fresh mozzerella. Broil until golden brown and bubbly - about 5 minutes. 
8. Serve the chicken over each serving of pasta. Enjoy!

nom nom :: skillet lasagna

Hate to say it but I have been slaaaaacking the last couple of weeks to get some blog posts up. But even when I wasn't updating, I did try and do my best to snap some photos of the meals we've been cooking up and I will slowly make my way to posting them here. The last couple of weeks have been plenty busy: celebrating a bride-to-be, basketball games, friends visiting, getting sick (ew) and some much needed shopping! Yes, after twelve weeks of no shopping, I finally was able to make a few purchases to add to my spring wardrobe! Win for me (and my wallet).

Another new year's resolution was to cook more at home and spend less meals dining out. I thought we were actually doing a pretty good job of this until I started tracking my spending and realized we spent a ridiculous amount of dollars out on the town. The number was up there, and I was a little disappointed that it was so high but I learned alot from monitoring my budget -- this month's goals is to stick to my budget (yay for being an adult).

That being said, when I came home from work yesterday, cooking dinner was not on my mind. I had all the ingredients ready and had even did some prepwork the night before, but all Joe and I both wanted to do was head to Costco, grab a few things and  get cheap Costco hotdogs. And we werethisclose to doing just that but decided we shouldn't waste a meal pre-prepped and to be good and eat at home. So Skillet Lasagna it was. Comfort food, a delicious meal and easily cooked in less than 30 minutes!

Skillet Lasagna

1 tbsp olive oil

1 jar pasta sauce

1 lb ground turkey

4 lasagna noodles 

6 oz fresh mozzerella, sliced

1 cup cottage cheese

2 tsp dried parsley

heat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. In a medium-large oven safe skillet, brown ground turkey with dried parsley  salt and pepper in the olive oil. Cook until brown, 6-7 minutes. Drain excess liquid.

2. In a separate pot, prepare water for pasta and bring to boil. Once water is boiling, drop in the lasagna noodles. You can break them apart but I left them whole. 

3. Now that the turkey is cooked through, pour in the jar of pasta sauce and heat until bubbly. 

4. At this point, noodles should be cooked. Remove from the water and set aside. 

5. Scoop half of the warm sauce mixture into another bowl. 

6. Time to assemble the lasagna  Add two lasagna noodles over the remaining sauce mixture. Spoon scoops of cottage cheese and half of your sliced mozzarella on top of the noodles. Cover with the remaining two noodles. Take the rest of the sauce and pour over the noodles. Add more sliced mozzarella on top. 

7. Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes and serve! 

nom nom :: turkey-quinoa stuffed peppers

On Mondays, my friend and I usually make dinner together and watch the Bachelor. Last night, we had these awesome stuffed red peppers filled with lean turkey and protein packed quinoa! We thought of this on our drive home from Des Moines two weekends ago and wanted to make our peppers a bit healthier. In the end, we watched Catherine and Sean get engaged and enjoyed some delicious turkey-quinoa stuffed peppers. 

Pre-bake:

Turkey-Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

3 red peppers

1/2 lb ground turkey meat

1/4 cup quinoa

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup shredded cheddar, extra for sprinkleing 

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp oregeno

1/2 tsp basil

salt and pepper to taste

Set oven to 350 degrees

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Halve the peppers lengthwise and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 5 mins and drain. On the inside of each pepper, sprinkle salt, pepper and a little bit of cheese. 

2. Brown turkey, drain fat and set aside. 

3. In a medium pot, cook quinoa as directed. When the quinoa is cooked, stir in the tomatoes, basil, oregano  cooked turkey and Worcestershire sauce. Once warmed through, remove from heat and stir in the cheese. 

4. Spoon filling halfway into each of the peppers. Add a bit of tomato sauce over the filling, spoon in the rest of the filling and then top with tomato sauce again. Repeat for each pepper. 

5. Bake covered for 25 minutes, uncovered for the last 5 minutes. 

nomnom: fried quinoa

i usually cook up a batch of quinoa on Sunday and sprinkle it in my salads throughout the week (extra protein!). Sometimes at the end of the week, we have some leftover quinoa and have to find creative ways to use it. this is where fried quinoa was born. just like fried rice-- same basic recipe, but instead of using rice we used the protein packed grain QUINOA! it's best to use leftover quinoa (just like leftover rice when making fried rice) but if you don't have any on hand, just boil up some quinoa and use as is. 

Fried Quinoa
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen carrots
1/2 cup baby corn, optional
2 cups cooked and chilled quinoa
1 tsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce (or to taste)
1/2 sesame oil
black pepper

1. Heat pan or wok over high heat. Pour in vegetable oil and then stir in vegetables; cook about 30 seconds.
2. Add eggs and scramble with vegetables.
3. Add quinoa and stir fry for about 2 minutes.
4. Pour in sauces, sesame oil and add in black pepper. Toss everything together for a min or so.
5. Taste and add more soy sauce, sesame oil, etc... as needed.

I love the flexibility of fried rice/quinoa. Growing up, we always had fried rice when we did leftovers for meals -- typically we ate just white rice. Optional things to throw in could range from meats (ham, shrimp, chinese sausage, chicken) to more veggies (onions, broccoli, mushrooms, etc...). Enjoy!

Superbowl Snacks

The Superbowl is this weekend and that means plenty of appetizers and finger foods to share with friends! Joe and I invited a few friends over to watch the game (and commercials!) so I wanted to prepare snacks that wouldn't get me stuck in the kitchen during the entire thing. Joe's only request was chicken wings and I'm headed to Costco tonight to buy the big 10 lb bag (jeeez). 

Here is what we'll be serving up this Sunday: 

Clockwise: Cinco de Mayo Glazed Wings \ Classic Velveeta Dip \ Cowboy Caviar \ Cheddar Ale Spread

nomnom: parmesan green beans

Here's the thing about green beans -- green beans can be sooo boring sometimes that you forget how awesomely tasty they are. When I'm making dinner, I usually steam them in those microwaveable bags as my goal is to just get some green on the boyfriend's plate. But these parmesan green beans! They are delicious. Not to mention they are easy to prep and then quickly into the oven. Perfect green accompaniment to our grilled cheese and tomato soups last night.

Parmesan Green Beans
1 lb green beans (trimmed)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded or grated
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Prep a non-stick baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray
3. Arrange green beans on sheet.
4. Sprinkle cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper evenly over the green beans.
5. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes.

I honestly think I could have eaten a whole plate of these. I used shredded cheese last night so the cheese formed into these little cheese crisps -- just the perfect crunch! 

chicken pot pie soup

My crock pot is likely one of my favorite tools in my kitchen. I barely use it during the summertime, but come fall and winter, it's heating up chili and soup, football apps and breakfast casseroles. For some times now, I've wanted to make pot pie but I knew we wouldn't be able to finish a whole pie on our own. So I opted to make the next best thing -- Chicken Pot Pie Soup! Served them with flaky biscuits and it was a delicious meal. This recipe makes enough for two hearty servings and one bowl for leftovers.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
1 cup of water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 cups of frozen mixed veggies

1. In a crock pot, place celery and chicken on the bottom.
2. Sprinkle all the seasonings over the chicken.
3. Pour in the soups and water.
4. Cook on high for 4 hours.
5. Stir in frozen veggies, let cook for another 1.5 hours on low.
Be sure to bake your biscuits while your soup is finishing up!

good eats: chicken tortilla soup

I've been meaning to post this recipe for some time now and am finally getting to it! Chicken Tortilla Soup is one of my all time faves -- I first made it in college for Sunday Dinner with two friends. Perfect for a cozy, chilly weekend evening. I love the complex flavors, a little spicy and citrus-y! 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 T olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
1 poblano pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
6 cups chicken broth
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes (Rotel)
2 limes
Avocado, tortillas, cheddar jack cheese and cilantro for servings

1. Poach chicken breasts in a large pot of water for 20 minutes.
2. Drain chicken and let cool.
3. Chop or shred chicken.
4. While chicken is cooking, roast the poblano pepper under a broiler until it is charred and almost black. Let cool.
5. In a dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high.
6. Cook onion and jalapeno until soft and onion is transparent. Add in garlic and diced poblano.
7. Pour in chicken stock and add the tomatoes, beans, green chilies, chicken and spices. Bring to boil.
8. Before serving, squeeze the juices of the two limes.
9. Serve with diced avocado, shredded cheese, cilantro or tortilla toppings.

Enjoy!

Sweet Treats :: Pecan Pie Bars

This weekend was a great weekend for baking.The holidays are coming up, snow started to fall Saturday evening and continued all day Sunday and sweet treats were the perfect way to keep the oven on and warm up the whole house. This is an old recipe from my mom and I've kept it in my back pocket for quite some time now. Everything you love about Pecan Pie in one (or two!) quick bites.

Pecan Pie Bars

1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups pecans, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp baking powder
1-2 tbsp maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350

Blend 1 1/4 cups of flour, white sugar and butter together.
Form a crust and press into a 9x13 pan.
Bake crust for 15 minutes.
Mix all other ingredients together.
When crust is browned, pour the mixture into the crust.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool before serving.

The pan I used was a little bit smaller than a 9x13 so my bars came out pretty tall -- normally they would be a little shorter but they still tasted delicious!

our first date of christmas!

was a surf and turf date night in.

we cooked, we laughed and we ate. 

and it was delicious.

cheers to our 12 upcoming dates of Christmas.

thanks for an awesome first date! 

good eats: our thanksgiving meal

thought i'd share what was at our table on Thanksgiving. 

jalapeno popper dip

this is one of those dips that I've had in my back pocket and just hadn't found the right party to bring it to... up until a few weeks ago. we were celebrating a friend's birthday and although we weren't asked to bring food, i had a bag of tortilla chips and knew i had to make this dip. it's got a bit of a kick to it, but i knew these guys could handle the spiciness. 

Jalapeno Popper Dip

2 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened

1 cup mayonnaise

6 tablespoons of bacon bits & pieces (i used a whole bag of this)

1 4oz can chopped green chilies, drained

1 4oz can diced jalapeno peppers, drained

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup Mexican blend cheese, shredded 

Topping: 

1 cup Panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 stick of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, bacon bits, green chilies, jalapeno peppers, garlic and cheese. Stir well. Pour mixture into a baking dish.

2. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

3. While dip is baking, mix together topping ingredients. 

4. After 20 mins, remove from oven and sprinkle the Panko mixture on top. Bake again for 10 minutes.

5. Serve with tortilla chips, crackers or vegetables. 

--

when the dip is all gone by the end of the night, i think that means dip success! 

simple pasta

angel hair pasta

italian parsley

red pepper flakes

garlic

olive oil

parmasen cheese

salt and pepper

i could eat this all day. seriously. 

--

it has been lots of boxes moving and still settling. im starting to feel restless (i really want to just get things done!) but i know if i start 3 projects at once, i won't finish anything. last weekend, we spent our time in des moines. we ran a colorful 5k, ate bags of pop chips, shared a large boot of beer and dined at my favorite sushi place! it's always nice to be back and see my best friends.

Salted Caramel Cheesecake Sugar Bars

Salted Caramel Cheesecake Sugar Bars
adapted from Betty Crocker

1 (1 pound 1.5 ounce) pouch sugar cookie mix
1 package French vanilla instant pudding
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
2 packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon caramel, and more for drizzling
Sprinkle of sea salt

Mix cookie mix, pudding mix, brown sugar, melted butter, 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and 1 whole egg in bowl, until soft dough forms.
Press dough up the sides and bottom of a 13x9-inch pan. Should be about an inch ½ thick and thinner on the sides.
Beat cream cheese, sour cream, flour and sugar in bowl until smooth.
Add remaining eggs, egg yolks, vanilla and caramel; beat until smooth. Pour and spread over crust.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes.
Turn off oven and leave in oven for 15 minutes.
Drizzle with caramel and sprinkle sea salt.
Cool 30 minutes.
Refrigerate about 4 hours or until chilled. Store covered in refrigerator.



Definitely would make these again. There are a few things I would do differently like thin out the crust on the sides more and cream the cream cheese better so it's smooth. But the taste was there and it was delicious!

Chipotle Chicken + Quinoa

If Joe could go to Chipotle every day, he definitely would. So instead of visiting the delicious mexican restaurant each and every day, I thought it would be smart to try and recreate what he loves the most -- the grilled chicken. Now, Chipotle uses chicken thighs and I opted to use chicken breast, but the marinade turns any chicken smokey and spicy. I paired it with quinoa that had a chipotle honey-lime dressing that added to its deliciousness!

Chipotle Chicken

2 oz dried ancho chiles

1 can of chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, just the liquid (save 1-2 peppers for the quinoa recipe) 

1 tsp black pepper

2 tsp cumin powder 

1 tsp dried oregano

6 cloves garlic

1 small red onion, roughly chopped

2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

4 chicken breasts 

Soak ancho chilies overnight in water. Remove seeds.

Add all ingredients except for chicken into food processor. Puree until smooth. 

Rub the marinade all over the chicken and marinate for at least one hour, up to 24 hours.

Grill chicken on medium high heat, about 5 minutes per side. 

Quinoa with Chipotle Honey-Lime Dressing

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

1/2 cup cooked black beans

1/4 cilantro, chopped

Chipotle Honey-Lime Dressing

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tsp honey

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp seeded and minced chipotle pepper (canned in adobo sauce)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 olive oil

Combine quinoa and water in medium saucepan over high heat

Once water boils, cover and reduce heat to low, cook until all water is absorbed (15-20 minutes)

Stir in black beans and then fluff with fork

In a separate bowl, whisk together all ingredients for Chipotle Honey-Lime Dressing and set aside

Add dressing to quinoa and gently toss to combine

Stir in cilantro and enjoy!

you could probably eat this quinoa dish on its own. over and over again. it was just that good. 

kale with white beans

last week I bought a bag of kale with plans to make kale chips but that didn't end up happening. instead, i found this recipe and decided to give it a go. it was a great healthy meal for dinner and I even used the leftovers for lunch. yum!

Kale with White Beans

4 slices of bacon
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup uncooked onion, diced
1 pound of kale, stemmed and chopped
1 cup chicken broth
15 oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

cook bacon over medium heat to desired crispness.
remove back from pot/skillet and set aside.
add onions and red pepper flake to bacon drippings, cook until soft (about 10 mins)
add garlic and kale, stirring occasionally for 5-7 minutes
pour chicken broth into pot, cover and simmer over low heat for 8-10 minutes
add beans and simmer uncovered until liquid evaporates
stir in salt, vinegar and sugar.
sprinkle with bacon and serve.

Egg White Breakfast Frittatas To Go!

ingredients

• 9 egg whites
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup of diced onion
• 2 jimmy dean turkey sausage patties, diced
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup of spinach, roughly chopped up
• 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

directions

preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

1. Spray a muffin tin (12 muffins) with non-stick spray
2. Beat egg whites and milk in a bowl until they are almost double the amount
3. Mix together onions, tomatoes, spinach, cheese, salt and pepper in the egg mixture
4. In each muffin tin, place a few pieces of diced turkey sausage
5. Pour egg mixture into each muffin tin, spread evenly
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until eggs are set


7. ** Frittatas can be plastic wrapped and frozen. Just let it thaw overnight and nuke it in the microwave for 1 min and enjoy!

--

I have been on a weird breakfast sandwich kick for the maybe two months (whole wheat english muffins, egg whites, turkey sausage and american cheese). We had a lot of extra eggs this week and I didn't want them to go to waste so I thought I'd try and make some breakfast frittatas for the week. Maybe these frittatas will become my new breakfast obsession.

salmon patties

ingredients

• 8oz canned salmon
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 4 celery stalks, finely diced
• 2 small bell peppers, finely diced
• 1 tbsp capers, drained
• ¼ tsp hot sauce
• ½ tsp worcestshire sauce
• 1 ½ tsp old bay seasoning
• 1 ½ cup breadcrumbs, divided
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 eggs, lightly beatened
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

directions

preheat oven to 425 degrees.

1. Heat a sauté pan to medium-low and melt 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp olive oil together.
2. Add onion, celery, bell peppers, capers, hot sauce, worcestsie sauce, old bay, salt and pepper and cook until vegetables are soft. let cool.
3. Mix together the salmon, 1 cup of bread crumbs, mayo, mustard and eggs.
4. Add the vegetable mixture.
5. **If time allows, cover and chill the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes (i skipped this part)
6. Shape into ~10 patties
7. Using the other 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, cover the handmade patties
8. Bake patties for 20 mintues, 10 min each side

--

Joe and I decided that we'd go vegetarian for the whole week. I think he thought it'd be alot harder but it was pretty easy - I made sure to fill our week's menu with delicious veggie meals that weren't just salad (and stocked the fridge with some cheese pizzas for him for lunch)! The other night we made these salmon patties and they were tasty - I'm starting to become a big fan of seafood cakes/patties (tuna, crab, etc..).

This recipe would be a great make ahead - you could do everything and stop at step 5 and chill it overnight and have it ready for lunch/dinner the next day.