Healthy Fish Tacos

Following my ban on Red Meat I will continue with my Fish Recipe Series with Healthy Fish Tacos. Now just to clarify my definition of Healthy does not mean low in fat or calories, it means Healthy Whole Ingredients. The worst food in the recipe is Olive Oil which has health benefits.

Considering I had a limited freshly caught fish selection, I used Sole which is a flakey white fish and delicious however you can use Cod, Talapia or Halibit which have similar Nuval Scores

Guacamole:
 - 2 Ripe Avocados: Nuval Rating 89
 - 1/4 Cup Greek Yogurt: Nuval Rating 93
 - 1 Small Jalapeño: Nuval Rating 99
 - 4 Chopped Green Onion: Nuval Rating 100
 - 1 Handful Chopped Cilantro: Nuval Rating 99
 - 2 Tbl Fresh Lime Juice: Nuval Rating 91

 - 10 Cherry Tomatoes: Nuval Rating 95

Cabbage Salad:
 - 1/4 Head Purple Cabbage: Nuval Rating 100
 - 1 Tbl Olive Oil: Nuval Rating 11

 - 2 Tbl Fresh Lime Juice: Nuval Rating 91

Healthy Fish Tacos:
 - 10 Soft Corn Tortillas: Nuval Rating 91
 - 1 Pounds Sole Fillet: Nuval Rating 82

Season with Pink Himalayan Salt & Ground Pepper to taste for the Guac & Salad. Assembly is self explanatory I also added a few extra Jalapeño to add some kick. 

Credit to Wine & Food  for the recipe however didn't pair the meal with wine... We had Fresh Margaritas made with Tequila, Triple Sec & Fresh Lime Juice!!

Eat, Drink, Live Healthy...

Malbec vs Carmenere

Part 2 of My Wine Experiment to establish my own descriptors to wine and eventually determine my favorite in a side by side comparison. This time we travel to compare a 2011 Argentinian Malbec vs Carmenere of the same vintage. Lets start the swirl...

Malbec - Contrary to other Malbecs I've had, this wine had almost no smell to it, it was a more transparent than most as well. First sip was tangy and tart, like a candy. After a minute it became much smoother, I would like to say it was because the wine "opened up" after "breathing" but I'm sure my pallet just adjusted. Light fruit flavors mostly remnant to citrus. I'm sure it would pair well with heavy fair but wasn't my favorite Malbec I've had for sipping, too light.


Carmenere - Wow!! I think it was the first time I've had Carmenere I was different that other red I've had, still working through what specific differences but really enjoyed this one. It had a long and dry finish leaving big raspberry and blackberry flavors lingering for minutes. Definitely more tannic than acidic. It also had some soft leather and charcoally taste which reminded me of camping, I bet it would great with anything on the grill!!

Winner - Carmenere!! Next week: Spanish Rioja vs Garacha

Credit - Ventisquero Reserva 2011 Carmenere & Viento Sur 2011 Malbec

Healthy Baked Salmon

As a follow up to the very popular Health Seared Salmon post, L & I have been experimenting with baked fish not only simplify cooking by mixing veggies in with the fish but also making the meal a little more healthy compared to pan searing in oil. Ok lets start with the fish marinade recipe:

• 1 TBS Olive Oil
• 2 TBS Mustard
• 4 TBS Red Wine Vinegar
• Red Chili Flakes 
• Salt & Pepper
• Dash of Love

You can marinade the fish for hours or just before cooking and use the sauce for dipping. Next cut up a bunch of your favorite vegetables; we usually use yellow and orange peppers, asparagus, sweet potatoes, etc and place them in a glass pan with a little of the marinade. Set the Salmon skin side down over the veggies and bake on medium heat for 20 minutes or so depending on how you like your fish cooked. I personally feel over cooking a fish is a sacrilegious, but thats just me. 

We opened a bottle of Malbec with the meal and tasted great together. Enjoy your baked fish!!

Beaujolais vs Bordeaux

Wine Battles - being the first of hopefully many I will take this opportunity to explain the concept: I'll take 2 wines between $10 & $20 to represent the region in which I'll be comparing. The overall goal is to chose which wines I like the best through various head to head battles.

Disclaimer - by no means do I claim to know what I am talking about more than my own personal opinion and welcome any criticism as I am still learning about this vast industry.

Beaujolais - Smooth, layered, easy to drink... a tangy, zesty citrus beginning with a blackberry, raspberry finish but sewn together in a way they complimented each other; a bit sweet for my liking though. I am still trying to tell the difference between sweet and acidic, any tips? Note main grape in Gamay.

Bordeaux - Vanilla, kind of smoky smell... much more tannic and almost bitter during the first glass but acclimated nicely after a little while, I can only assume this is due to the tannins breathing. Its bolder as well, it kicks your mouth with strong flavors that seem to stick around for a while. I would guess it has mostly Cabernet Sauvignon over the other 5 grapes used in Bordeaux blends but thats only a guess.


Winner - Now this is going to seem pretty unfulfilling, especially for my first wine battle but I'm going to pick Beaujolais for the first bottle... then switch to the Bordeaux after it aged for 3 years :) I know what you're thinking and YES I can time travel on my Blog... but if I had to chose one region over the other right now I would pick Bordeaux being the winner today. I predict a future rematch but with a 2009 vintage!! I also plan to talk a bit more about the grapes from what I learn on the super awesome and educational podcast Wine for Normal People.

Credit - 2010 Beaujolais Village by Jean Bouchard & 2010 Bordeaux Chateau Bordeneuve

Health Benefits of Wine

It may be hard to imagine any alcohol to have health benefits, other than the stereotypical drink after a stressful day at work; but a glass or two of wine has more benefits than you would imagine. Not only does wine offer great taste, but in moderation can help everything from your skin to your heart health:

Antioxidants, Antioxidants, Antioxidants!!!

As we talked about in our juicing series, Dark Berries are filled with Rich in Phytochemicals & Antioxidants. Grapes also contain antioxidant which attack Free Radical which cause nothing but trouble in your body. This concept is the basis for most of the claims that Wine is Heart Healthy!! 

Some other claims of how wine can improve your help are below but I must emphasize the moderations as excessive consumption of alcohol obviously will lead to issues that greatly outweight these benefits.


1. Antioxidants: Proven to help reduce Heart Disease, Strokes and many types of Cancer

2. Resveratrol: Reduces Bad Cholesterol, prevents blood clots, lowers risk of Diabetes

3. Polyphenols: Protects cells improving brain function and helping to prevent Dementia and Alzheimer's disease

4. Longer Life: A Finnish study showed wine drinkers have a 34 percent lower mortality rate than beer or spirits drinkers

5. Healthy Skin: Tartaric Acid can improve the quality of our skin, preventing problems and reducing wrinkles

In addition to the hundreds of other perks of joining the Night Juice Wine Club hopefully this is good reason to make the switch from beer of the boring jack and coke type drinks!! Cheers,

Night Juice Wine Club

In recent months, I've became much more intrigued with wine and the different types from around the world. I love to write about working out, health, fitness and recipes; which I still plan to do however as a New Years Experiment I am temporarily rebranding The Healthy Press to talk about Wine… the good, the bad and the random facts about wine. My goal is simple... to be able to enjoy wine more than I currently do.

A little history about my wine journey… I started drinking wine when in living Australia for a term in college mainly drinking fruity white blends out of a box; bad way to introduce such an amazing drink as it tainted my perception from the start. It wasn’t until years later when I met my now wonderful fiancé that I was reintroduced to wine, in bottle form; mainly $10 reds over dinner. I enjoyed this much more than in my adolescent years eventually referring to wine as Night Juice...

We took trips to San Sebastian Spain, Bordeaux France, and Tuscany Italy drinking the local wine and absolutely loved the experience even though we didn’t have a clue what we were drinking. This sparked my enthusiasm to learn more about the subject starting with downloading all 66 episodes of Wine For Normal People; which is Awesome!!

Despite being 22 episodes in by no means am I going to claim to be an expert nor do I ever plan to inherit such title, however I would love to become familiar with the different types of wine and speak intelligently about the subject. Upcoming topics include:

• Health benefits of Wine
• Health risks of Wine
• How to avoid Wine Hangovers
• Organic & Biodynamic Wines
• Wine parings with Healthy Recipes
• Wine Battles

Hopefully everyone can learn a thing or two along The Healthy Press: Night Juice Wine Club Journey. Cheers,

New Year's Goals

Happy New Year 2013!! Hope everyone rang in the new year in grand fashion; Laura & I were at the Burj Khalifa to watch the Epic Fireworks display with some close friends.

First off, resolutions in my opinion seem very immediate, without substance; where goals have lasting effect especially when planned or simplified to easily integrate into your daily routine. For example a resolution or choice to "Eat Healthy" is great but lacks the ability to achieve the end result because the commitment is open ended... a goal on the other hand to "replace potato chips with cucumbers and hummus" or "limit coffee to one cup per day" is defined giving you the opportunity for you to be proud of achieving your target.

I have a lot of things to be proud of and grateful for in 2012. L & I really came into stride when it comes to eating healthy and cooking. Yeah we still have our pizza or thai curry every now and again but for the most part we try to stick to lots of whole foods, fruits, organic veggies, eggs and lean protein mainly fish. We even bought a Juicer!

I have turned a new leaf after watching "Forks Over Knives" practically cutting out red meat and dairy from my diet. Fish is the preferred selection with Pork & Lamb in a close tie for second.

As for working out… I’ve maintained pretty much everything throughout 2012; Weight, Muscle Mass, Body Fat & BMI hasn’t changed over the course of the year. My goal in 2013 however is to increase my muscle mass, I weight about 160 right now and would love to be up to 170 by years end; this won’t be easy especially working a full time job and trying to meet the expectations of my wonderful fiancé (who wants a puppy). Anyways, 2013 Goals: 

1. Spend more time Outdoors with L: Going to the beach, golfing, camping, fishing, hiking, etc anything to get out the apartment; while safely sustaining the Dubai summer heat. 
2. Workout at least 4 times a week focusing on Multi-Muscle Lifts: Power cleans, dead lifts, dips, pullups, squats, and core training with dumbells or kettle bells. 
3. Eat more protein: Eggs for breakfast, tuna or chicken sandwich for lunch with bean salads, nuts and dried fruits for snacks, and looking forward to trying some new recipes for dinner which I’ll be try to be more diligent to post. 
4. Stretch Everyday!! Considering I can barely touch my toes I'd like to start the day stretching.
5. Write More: Weather it’s for The Healthy Press or otherwise, allocate at least 2 hours, 2 days a week and build from there; block out the time and stay focused.
6. Make Pickles: My buddy and I started making pickles a few months back aiming to sell them at the Ripe Farmer’s Market in February; check us out Mr Pickles: Famous Pickles!

We also plan to cut down on the drinking and going out to bars to once a week. A nice night in or with close friends over a decent bottle of wine is the preferred poison now days. I have been trying to learn more about wine and fascinated with the depth of the industry, expect some upcoming posts about Wine and my progression from 2 buck to chuck to hopefully a respectable standard. 

Wishing everyone a Happy & Healthy New Year!! Cheers,