Salmon Nicoise Dinner Platter

This is a salad that’s not a salad. It’s an un-salad. No lettuce, no salad, right?!

I love a good tuna nicoise salad when I’m out for lunch. This recipe is a riff on that salad. Yes, other people have switched the tuna for salmon before (I’m not the first!) but I thought I would try the toppings without the greens. It was good and fun to eat!

For the salad

• fresh salmon – sprinkle with kosher salt/ pepper and lemon zest. bake at 425 degrees until done
• fresh green beans – cooked to desired done-ness
• black and green olives
• sliced avocado
• new potatoes, sliced boiled and chilled
• hard-boiled eggs, sliced
• tomato chunks

For the vinaigrette

• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dijon
• 1 tablespoon local honey
• kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

I made the potatoes and hard-boiled eggs earlier in the day and chilled them in the fridge. This was there was a nice combo of warm and cold on the plate. The potatoes were amazing with the dressing…kind of like a no-mayo potato salad.

Arrange on a plate and drizzle with vinaigrette. (you will have extra vinaigrette for a salad the next day) Enjoy!

 

Halibut with Basil-Mango-Avocado Salsa

I went to the store yesterday with cod on my grocery list but the halibut was on sale…endofstory. Just kidding, another selling point was the fact it was wild caught and sustainable. Halibut is awesome when paired with a little sweetness and it loves when you shower it with citrus. Toss in some fresh herbs. Avocado. Tomato. Done. For the halibut: season both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, get a pan really hot and add a splash of EVOO, then sear the fish for about 3 min per side. I made a bed of plain quinoa, then added the halibut and topped with plenty of the salsa. We ate all of the salsa between 2 people so if you are feeding more…make MORE 🙂

Basil-Mango-Avocado Salsa

• 1 medium ripe avocado, peeled and cut into a large dice
• 1/2 cup frozen diced mango, thawed
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 4-5 large fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons snipped chives (I use kitchen shears…easier than a knife!)
• 1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Toss together in a small bowl and enjoy outside!

Based on this recipe from Bon Appetit.

Cilantro Chimichurri

Hello down there cilantro!

I picked off your leaves, added spices, vinegar, garlic and EVOO and you became…

A fabulous sauce for my flank steak!

SEE!

I have some leftovers and I’m thinking chicken tacos, smeared with chimichurri, lettuce, avocado…food dreaming for another day!

I think I’ve been reading too many books to my nephews!

• a large bunch of cilantro, about 1 cup packed
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons red or white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 tablespoon fresh
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flake, optional
• kosher salt
• pepper

Method

Combine cilantro, garlic, vinegar, oregano, cumin, and optional red pepper flake in a food processor. Pulse until fine.
Turn food processor on and stream in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe from Eclectic Recipes

Rosemary and Fig Chicken Thighs

Dinner last night:

Warm Brussels Sprout Slaw with Mustard Seeds (minus the walnuts). I also used two teaspoons of powdered mustard instead of mustard seeds. Love! I could eat this everyday!

Then there was my Rosemary and Fig Chicken Thighs. I’ve made this chicken a few times before. Slightly sweet but with the kick of garlic and a slight heat from the red pepper flakes. The rosemary adds another layer of flavor that I think makes the dish taste like you spent hours in the kitchen!

Here’s what you need:

• 1 package boneless, skinless chicken thighs (usually just over a pound)
• 2 tablespoons chunky fig jam (I used a locally made jam I bought at a farmer’s market)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon (heaping) red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons rosemary, finely minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

Method

• Place chicken in a medium bowl. In a separate small bowl mix the next 6 ingredients and 1 tablespoon of the oil. Combine the fig, rosemary mixture with the chicken, it should be enough sauce to just coat all of the chicken.
• In a large saute pan heat the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add the chicken mixture and cook the chicken so that you only turn it once and it sort of caramelizes on both sides.

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

Tonight, I really wanted to make Sake-Steamed Clams with Soba noodles from the 2013 Bon Appetit Food Lover’s Cleanse…I bought some fresh clams at Whole Foods yesterday and they needed to be cooked tonight…but I also wanted to make bread. What to do? Noodles or bread? I decided to leave out the noodles from the clams, add shrimp to make it more of a meal and then make bread to dip up the yummy clam sauce!

Plus the name of the bread is the name of my blog. I have to make it!!

We also had a bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the side 🙂

• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees Fahrenheit)
• 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast (for me this was 1 packet)
• 2 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning (I add some organic, locally made ranch reasoning so I used that)
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup bread flour + extra for kneading
• 2 tbsp. cornmeal
• 1 egg + 1 tbsp. water, whisked
• 1 tbsp. fresh rosemary for sprinkling

Method

• In a small bowl, combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let proof for 10 minutes.
• the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add flours, rosemary, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Mix to combine. Add in the yeast water and olive oil and mix until dough starts to form and starts to pull away from the bowl.
• Knead for 5 minutes with the dough hook. If it feels too sticky, add a bit of flour to it, a tablespoon at a time. (I don’t have a stand mixer so I kneaded the dough with my hands for the same amount of time)
• Once it’s been kneaded, place dough in a lightly greased bowl and place in a warm, draft-free place, and let rise for 1 hour.
• After dough has risen and doubled in size, punch it down and form it into a round loaf. Using a pizza pan (or pizza peel, whatever you have), dust with cornmeal and place loaf on top. Cover and let rise for another 45 minutes. (I don’t have a pizza peel either! I used a metal 13×9 pan with a layer of parchment paper at the bottom)
• In the meantime, put a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. (I just preheated the oven about 15 minutes before cooking since I was using a pizza stone)
• Once the dough has risen, brush the top of it with the egg wash mixture then sprinkle rosemary on top.
• Carefully slide the dough onto the pizza stone (it should slide off very easily with the cornmeal underneath it) and bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is nicely browned and there’s a hollow sound when tapped.
• Let cool slightly before slicing and dipping in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
• Store in an airtight container.

From Table For Two Blog

Rockfish Baked with Lemon and served with Herb Buttered Bruschetta

I went shopping at one of my favorite stores this evening, Ellwood Thompson’s. I had been out all afternoon taking our labradoodle, Walter, to the vet and then running company errands with my boyfriend, Travis. Dinner was on our minds after our long day out. Ellwood’s had some local, sustainably caught rockfish and I decided that would be our dinner this evening. Of course, I didn’t leave without a few other lovely purchases…bone-in pork chops from Polyface Farms (that will be dinner tomorrow night), locally grown bok choy and shiitake mushrooms, locally made artisan baguette and an organic wine from Oregon.

I knew that I wanted to bake the rockrish and did a quick Google search for some inspiration. I found in-depth and easy to follow instructions on Livestrong.com and my idea for the following recipe was taken from there. I’m excited to share this recipe because it’s the first recipe on my blog which features rosemary and olive oil 🙂

Rockfish Baked with Lemon and served with Herb Buttered Bruschetta (adapted from Livestrong.com)

Ingredients

• A little over 1 pound fresh rockfish
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 small lemons (or 1 large), sliced into rounds
• handful of fresh asparagus, ends trimmed
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 400°. On a baking sheet covered with foil place the rockfish fillets and asparagus.
• Use the ends of the lemons that can’t be used as slices and squeeze that juice over the fish and asparagus. Drizzle the EVOO over everything and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay the rosemary springs on top of the fish then cover the rosemary with the lemon slices. Sprinkle the fish with the red pepper flakes.
• Cover the baking sheet with another layer of foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and move asparagus around to make sure it is baking evenly. Cook for another 5 minutes uncovered.
• While the fish is baking prepare the bruschetta.

Ingredients for Bruschetta

• baguette, sliced
• cherry tomatoes sliced in half
• gorgonzola cheese
• Herb Butter: 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 clove garlic minced, 1/4 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary (I used just a bit of the butter, can be used within one week if stored in fridge)

Preparation

• Slice the amount of bruschetta that your family will eat that night. Spread butter on the top, add half of a cherry tomato and lightly sprinkle with gorgonzola.
• Once fish is removed from oven re-cover the fish with the foil used during the first part of baking, turn oven up to 425 degrees and bake bruschetta for 5-8 minutes until crisp.

The recipe turned out very, very well (if I do say so myself) so I will certainly make it again!