AppleTella Sandwiches for World Nutella Day 2011

Tomorrow is World Nutella Day, yay! If you like Nutella stand up, if yo like Nutella do a little dance! (Hehe) World Nutella Day is an annual event hosted by Sara from Ms Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso. Every year, on the declared day, Nutella lovers from around the world show their love by posting anything to do with Nutella. As you can imagine there are a lot of Nutella lovers all over the world and so the event keeps gaining popularity. This year marks the 5th anniversary of World Nutella Day, an there is no sign of stopping all the Nutella lovers around the world!

This is my first time participating, thank you danasfoodforthought for posting this on my Heavenly Nutella Banana Bread recipe. If you read that post you know I love Nutella, actually from your comments it's seems like everyone loves this stuff! This recipe today is not as elaborate as the Heavenly Nutella Banana Bread recipe but it's another way I like to enjoy this chocolatey, ooey gooey spread.

Ingredients:
apples, cored* and sliced
Nutella

utensils:
knife or cookie cutter to core slices
paper towel
knife or spoon to spread Nutella

1. Slice the apple(s) width wise. Using a knife or a small cookie cuter, cut /core the apple slices. Rinse the slices to get rid of the broken apple seeds. Pat dry with a paper towel. Spread as much Nutella on the slices then sandwich them together.

Serve it with a glass of milk and you've got a relatively healthy snack. I ate my appletella sandwiches with a glass of homemade almond milk,mmmmm!

This makes a quick snack both for the kids in your home and for the kid in you. Don't forget to stop by the World Nutella Day website for information on how to join the celebrations. The roundup this year will be posted on February 7th on the Nutella Day website.

**If you are a vegetarian you may want to check the ingredients in the Nutella available in your market. It can contain Whey powder which is an animal byproduct.**

Did you participate this year? Let me know so I can stop by to see your recipes.

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Nile Perch with Spicy Cashew Pesto

Nile Perch is a "native fish to the Congo, Nile, Senegal, Niger, and Lake Chad, Volta, Lake Turkana and other river basins." This fish when not caught and allowed to grow, is also one of the largest freshwater fish. I looked it up on the Animal Planet's website and they state the maximum length as up to 6 ft(1.82 m), and a maximum weight of over 500 lb. or 227 kilos - it's fishzilla! (The Nile Perch fished for commercial consumption are not this big.) But because of it's enormous size it is also called a "massive environmental nightmare" because of course something that big needs to feed a lot. This fish is actually quite interesting and if you like to find out more about it I suggest you read the Animal Planet website for more fascinating facts.

image © Animal Planet/Dicovery

Nile Perch is a white fish with semi-firm flesh, that has a mild taste. Due to the mild taste it will absorb well any flavors, spices or sauces used. It also has the highest content of Omega-3 found in fish, and we all know how our bodies need and benefit greatly from Omega-3. If you cannot find Nile Perch for the recipe below try substituting Grouper, Sea Bass, Catfish, or red snapper, per Foodista. In the most recent dietary guidelines released by US goverment they stated that Americans need to eat more fish, so why not start with this recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Serves 2
2 Nile Perch fillets
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 lemon
Olive oil

Cashew Spicy Pesto Ingredients
3 red Thai chilies, or any fresh hot red chiles
1/2 cup or 70 grams of Cashews
1/4 cup or 20 grams grated Parmesan cheese
3 garlic cloves , minced
2 tbsp. Olive oil
1 tbsp. water

1. Preheat the oven to 390f or 200c and line a baking sheet with either aluminum or baking paper and rub with a little olive oil. Pat dry the fish fillets with a paper towel on both sides. Then rub a little olive oil and squeeze some lemon juice on each fillet on both sides. Then sprinkle both fillets with salt and pepper on each side and set on top of baking sheet.

2. Next we will prepare the Cashew pesto, you will need a blender or food processor for this step. Cut the stem off the chili and roughly chop then place inside the blender. Next add the remaining ingredients to the blender container and process until you have a thick and smooth paste.

3. Spread some spicy pesto sauce on top of each fillet and bake for 15 minutes. The fillets should be flaky and cooked through. Decorate with a few slices of fresh chilies and cashews. If you like you may serve the fish with some extra pesto sauce on the side as well as fresh lemon slices. This fish goes great with steamed white rice.

By the way the Spicy Cashew Pesto tastes so good spread on some bread or used as a dip for crudites(fresh raw vegetables).

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