Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Salmon

 

Let me preface this by saying- we do not generally love salmon.  I want to love it because it is SO great for you, I want to teach Knox to love fish, and I want our family to eat fish more regularly.  This recipe is just the ticket!  The bold rosemary and garlic flavors are a perfect match for this fish, I enjoyed every single bite.  It also helped we had left over cauliflower puree to eat with it… We used a one pound wild caught sockeye salmon filet, it was perfect for 3 servings.  Nothing is quicker then cooking fish for dinner, so needless to say, this was fast and easy!  I think we will add it in to a more regular rotation.  Enjoy the simple goodness that is here:

 

 

 

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Salmon

• 4 garlic cloves
• 5-6 fresh rosemary sprigs, about 3 tablespoons chopped
• 1 pound salmon, preferably a wild caught sockeye filet
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

* For this meal we served with Cauliflower Puree and Steamed Fresh Broccoli

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Peel and chop garlic and rosemary and set aside.
2. Place salmon on a parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper- then pat on the rosemary, and chopped garlic.
4. Place in the oven and roast for 12 minutes or until the salmon is flaky.

Pickled Veggie Relish

Have you ever been to a really good Mexican restaurant where they bring you those amazing pickled carrots with jalapenos?  Yeah, they’re pretty amazing.  We’ve even posted on this before from our good friend and chef Alejandro!  We had a bunch of veggies that were getting pretty sad, so instead of being wasteful we re-purposed them in to this incredible relish.  We tossed this in to a fresh salad in lou of dressing, topped it on to some baked cod and added it like giardinera to a sandwich!  It’s very versatile and packed with flavor.  The recipe below is a loose version of what we did, use what you have on hand for vegetables- we used carrots, celery, onion, sweet mixed peppers and cilantro.

Recipe/ Directions

2-3 cups vegetables, carrots/ celery/ onion/ peppers

4-6 garlic cloves, rough chop or whole

1/2 cup chopped cilantro, optional

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1-2 cups water

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 tsp salt and pepper, to taste

1.) Chop your vegetables to bite size or relish size pieces ( however you’d like to eat them!)

2.) Place all vegetables, garlic, cilantro, vinegars and coriander, salt and pepper in to a large saucepan, add enough water to cover everything.

3.) Bring the pan to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for about 5 more minutes.

4.) Once cooled slightly, put in to Ball jars to store in the refrigerator, And they’ll keep for about 3 months.

Whole Chicken love

Making a whole chicken is pretty much the best thing to do on a Sunday before a busy week.  It’s super easy, versatile and makes great leftovers PLUS the bones can be made into a beautiful broth for this soup or this one.  It’s the best bang for your buck, so stop buying the pre-cut breasts and spending all that extra money!  Here we used a new technique of smearing butter all over the bird.  It made for a light golden crust, but I don’t really think it added much compared to our usual recipe done without the extra fat  Amazingly, we’ve never shared how we make our whole chicken, and this is crazy because we do it at least 2 times a month, sometimes more!  We use a basic Eating Well recipe for our outline, but it’s so easy to change what you throw in based on what you like and what you have on hand!  This is a nice recipe to make together, usually one of us has the clean hands to sprinkle the seasoning over the bird while the other rotates and rubs it in, clean hands also roughly chops the veggies/ herbs to hand to the bird stuffer.  It’s great team work and makes for a quicker prep time.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 teaspoon dried herbs, Italian mix, Thyme, Parsley etc.
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 small onion, peeled and rough chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1 lemon, quartered
• small handful parsley or thyme, stems are great too
• 1 4- to 5-pound whole chicken, giblets removed

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line bottom of a large roasting pan with foil, place in roasting wire rack and then spray with cooking spray.
2. Sprinkle herbs, salt and pepper all over the chicken, under the skin and over the breast and thigh meat. ( Slide finger between the skin on the breast to open the “pocket” and make sure to rub herbs, salt and pepper in there as well.)
3. Stuff the onion, garlic, lemon and parsley in the cavity of the bird, tie the legs together with kitchen string. Place the chicken in the prepared pan, breast-side up on the wire rack.
4. Roast the chicken for 45 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue roasting until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, without touching the bone, registers 165°F, 45 minutes to 1 hour more. Transfer to a clean cutting board; let rest for 10 minutes before removing the string and carving (see Tips & Notes below).

TIPS & NOTES

• How To Carve a Turkey or Chicken: After the bird is roasted, let it rest for up to 30 minutes before carving. Then, follow these easy step-by-step instructions. 1. Place the roasted bird on a cutting board. Hold it steady with a carving fork and cut through the skin between the leg and body using a large sharp carving knife. 2. Cut through the hip joint, removing the entire leg from the body. Repeat with the other leg. 3. Place a leg skin-side down and cut through the joint between the drumstick and thigh. Repeat with the other leg. (For turkey, slice the meat away from the bone of the thigh and slice the thigh meat thinly. Hold the drumstick and slice the meat off parallel to the bone.) 4. To remove the breast meat, make a horizontal cut near the base. 5. Then, hold near the breastbone with the carving fork. Use a boning knife to make a cut along one side of the breast down to the horizontal cut you made at the base of the body. Repeat with the second breast half on the other side of the breastbone. 6. Cut the breast meat into slices, if desired. 7. Bend a wing away from the body and use a knife to remove the wing piece. Repeat with the other wing. Cut off the wingtips, if desired. 8. Reserve carcass to make soup!

Pot Pies

This is a reminder recipe, you can find the original post here.  These are a favorite this time of year, warm, hearty and HEALTHY!  Enjoy,

Pot Pies

So as you can tell by now, we hope, we tend to pick recipes that are healthy and crave worthy and we HEART Ellie Krieger.  She always does just this, and these pot pies are SO amazing, they’ve been a staple in our kitchen for a couple of years now.  We finally got actual mini pie dishes, thank you Katie and Aaron, off our wedding registry so here they are to flaunt all their goodness in gorgeous little pie plates.  We used to use 2 cup pirex glass bowls and they can easily be stored with their lids as left over lunch too.  The photo is just from the iPhone and we will be working on getting our in home studio up and running again, ahem.  She uses all green veggies in this- leeks, green beans, peas and parsley- not only are they amazing together, it looks gorgeous too.

 

Pot Pies, Serves 4

Recipe provided courtesy of Ellie Krieger. © 2008-2009 In Balance, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Ingredients:

• 1-1⁄4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1⁄2-inch chunks
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 leeks, bottom 4 inches only, trimmed, washed well, and chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped (about 1⁄2 cup)
• 2 medium white potatoes, left unpeeled and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
• 1⁄2 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1⁄2-inch pieces ( you can also use frozen= faster)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1-1⁄2 cups nonfat milk
• 1⁄3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup peas, thawed if frozen
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 3 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed ( 7 or 9 work well)
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 4 individual-size baking dishes with cooking spray.
2. Season the chicken with 1⁄4 teaspoon of the salt and 1⁄4 teaspoon of the pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and brown, about 2-1⁄2 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
3. Add 2 more teaspoons of oil, the leeks, and celery to the pan and cook, stirring a few times, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the potatoes, green beans, garlic, and the remaining 3⁄4 teaspoon salt and 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring to combine everything. Add the milk. Stir the flour into the broth until dissolved and add to the pan. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in the chicken, peas, parsley, and thyme. Spoon the mixture into the baking dishes.
4. Put the remaining 1-2⁄3 tablespoons oil in a small bowl. Unroll the phyllo dough and cut it into quarters. Place a quarter-sheet on top of each baking dish and brush with the oil. Repeat layering with all three layers. Tuck the edges of the phyllo into the dish rim. Sprinkle the top of each pie with the Parmesan.
5. Place on a baking sheet and bake until the filling is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Serve hot.

 

Latin Spiced Chicken in Lettuce Cups

In our new issue of Food and Wine, they had top chefs contribute their all time favorite recipes.  Asian lettuce wraps are pretty incredible so when we saw Bill Telepan’s Latin spiced chicken, which marinates for 4 hours with some of our very favorites spices, then it is served in perfect portion sized lettuce cups with a crunchy and fresh slaw, we gave it a try! The down point where this recipes loses that umf is removing all the great flavors with the skin… but you also don’t want to have hunks of chicken leg skin in your light fresh cups.  So what we did is added a little extra salt and pepper to the shredded chicken to make up for he loss.  You can also squeeze more fresh lime juice over your cups before serving.  Enjoy

Contributed by Bill Telepan

INGREDIENTS

1. 1 tablespoon chile powder
2. 1 tablespoon dried oregano
3. 3 garlic cloves, minced
4. 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
5. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
6. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
7. 6 whole chicken legs (about 4 1/2 pounds)—excess fat trimmed, skin scored
8. 1 pound Savoy cabbage, finely shredded (8 cups)
9. 1/2 small red onion, very thinly sliced
10. 2 jalapeños, seeded and minced
11. 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
12. 16 large Boston lettuce leaves

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon each of salt and pepper with the chile powder, oregano, garlic, orange juice and 2 tablespoons each of the lime juice and olive oil. Put the chicken legs on a large rimmed baking sheet and coat all over with the spiced oil. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup each of lime juice and olive oil. Add the cabbage, onion, jalapeños and cilantro. Season the slaw with salt and pepper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 5 hours, tossing occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 400°. Roast the chicken legs skin side up for about 40 minutes, until browned and cooked through. When cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones and shred the chicken.

Arrange the lettuce on a platter and fill with the chicken; top with the slaw and serve.

New Year’s Crown Pork Roast with Cornbread Stuffing

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Welcome to 2012! We hosted a great diner party to ring in the new year and our menu was based on a few key components: easy, budget friendly, delicious, impressive.

Amazingly, this meal was all of those and more.  We had each couple bring a component to share: appetizer, salad, dessert and as the host we prepared the main entree.  This not only took a lot of pressure off us for all the little things that can add up in money and time, but it also allowed each guest to contribute something they love.  We chose crown roast pork for it’s beautiful presentation and it is very budget friendly at $5/ lb.  Our sides are all produce- whole foods with simple prep and ingredients which we mostly had on hand.  Our grocery list was very small- veggies, herbs, the roast, fresh bread, fresh flowers, wine/ champagne and our cheeses.

Our menu looked like this:

Appetizers:

Assorted Cheeses with Fresh Baguette Slices

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Sliced Tenderloin of Venison

Panko Crusted Shrimp

Shrimp Cocktail

Salad:

Wedge Salad with bacon, avocado, blue cheese, tomato and red onion

Main Course:

Crown Roast of Pork

Sides:

Cornbread Stuffing

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Carrots with Garlic, Lemon and Parsley

Parsnips in a Parsley Herb Butter Sauce

Sauces:

Homemade Butter with Honey

Homemade Chimi Churi

Dessert:

Ice Box Cake, ( Chocolate Cookies layered with Vanilla Ice Cream)

Chocolate Dipped Fruit

We had a wonderful time serving our guests and enjoying the party, everything timed perfectly.  We made sure to prep all our sides the day before and some the morning of.  The parsnips, potatoes and carrots were all tossed in their goodness the day before and in sealed bowls in the fridge, we seasoned and sealed the roast the night before, the Cornbread was baked off in the morning and then all assembled and in the fridge, we made the sauces/ butter day of, and 5 hours before serving time we took out the roast to come to room temperature.  Each of the sides were oven and stove top ready and just needed to be cooked off.  Doing a roast is the perfect way to have an easy dinner party- it needs to cook for a while so you have time to prep ( or nap if the prepping is done!) and then when it rests you can finish off all the cooking in the oven with the sides- while we enjoyed the salad with our guests.  Read below for all our recipes on how we made this easy, budget friendly, delicious, impressive meal:

Cornbread Stuffed Crown Roast of Pork
adapted from Paula Dean
Pork Roast:
6 tablespoons olive oil
8 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
1 (10-pound) crown of pork, rib ends frenched
Stuffing:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 medium white onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
6 cups crumbled cornbread ( my recipe used is next)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions
For the pork roast: In a blender, puree the oil, garlic, and sage until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Rub the mixture over the pork roast, making sure to cover the areas between the chops. Transfer the pork to a roasting pan and cover it with foil. Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours and up to 48 hours. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before roasting.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Turn the roast upside down (rib bones down) in the roasting pan. Roast for 20 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and roast until an instant-read thermometer reads 155 degrees F when inserted 2 inches into the center of the meat, about 1 1/2 hours more.

For the stuffing: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the green pepper, onion, celery, and garlic and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the vegetable mixture with the crumbled cornbread. Add the eggs, broth, rosemary, cilantro, hot sauce, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Slowly stir in more broth, if needed, until the stuffing is moistened. Press the stuffing into a 2-quart casserole.

Thirty minutes before removing the roast, place the stuffing in the oven. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes.

When the roast is done, remove it from the oven, tent with foil, and let stand for at least 15 minutes. When the stuffing is done, mound half of it on a serving platter. Flip the roast upright on top of the stuffing. Fill the center of the roast with the remaining stuffing. Slice at the table

Gluten Free Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins
adapted from The Baking Beauties
Yields 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup Pamela’s Baking mix
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pan and set aside.
In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter. Stir in sugar.
Add eggs and stir to combine, Stir in buttermilk.
Add dry ingredients, and stir until few lumps remain, scoop into prepared muffin tin.
Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack, crumble and use in the stuffing recipe above!

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Whole Carrots with Fresh Herbs and Garlic
adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients
3 lbs assorted fingerling potatoes
1 lb whole carrots, top leaves removed only
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 lemons, halved
6 cloves garlic, left unpeeled
2 cloves, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus for sheet pan
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F and place a baking sheet inside to heat.

Add potatoes, rosemary, sage, thyme, and garlic to a medium bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Remove sheet pan from oven, lightly coat with olive oil, and pour potatoes onto pan. Place potatoes in oven and reduce heat to 425 degrees F. Roast for 20 minutes, or until crispy on outside and tender on inside.

Herbed Butter Parsnips
adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 pounds parsnips, peeled and sliced into circles
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Herb Butter:
1 stick ( 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup mixed chopped parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Put the olive oil and butter into a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the vegetables and toss to coat them well with the fat; season with salt and pepper. Add 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the Herb Butter by combining the soft butter and herbs together; season with some salt and pepper.

Add the hot vegetables and Herb Butter.

Chimi Churi
adapted from Food.com

1 bunch flat leaf parsley
8 cloves garlic
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 lemon (juice of)
2 tablespoons diced red onion
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Pulse parsley in processor to chop. Add remaining ingredients and blend.

Homemade Butter

1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey

In a stand mixer with whisk attachment, whip cream with salt and honey until it becomes solid and separates from the liquids, 6-8 minutes.  Drain excess liquid and scoop into serving dishes.

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Corn Cakes

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With the holidays upon us, so quickly as usual, easy and fast meals are the ticket!  Here you can use easy ingredients that you most likely have in your pantry and fridge to whip up these cakes.  This whole meal is surprising decadent, and filling.  Serve with a small mixed greens salad with fresh cilantro and lime vinaigrette to really round it all out.

Serves 4

adapted from Eating Well

Ingredients:

1 cup instant brown rice

6 scallions, trimmed and sliced

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 large eggs

4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed

1 cup tomato salsa, mild, medium or hot

Method:

1.Cook rice with the amount of water called for in the package directions, adding scallions, garlic and thyme to the water. Remove from heat and stir in corn, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Let stand for about 5 minutes to cool slightly.

2.Whisk eggs in a large bowl until frothy. Add the rice mixture and mash with a potato masher until the mixture holds together (it will be fairly soft), about 1 minute. Shape the mixture into 8 patties.

3.Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully transfer 4 patties to the pan with a spatula and cook until browned and crispy, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate; cover to keep warm. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil and repeat with the remaining 4 patties.

4.Meanwhile, combine beans and salsa in a small saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until hot, about 5 minutes. To serve, divide the beans among 4 plates and top with 2 patties each.

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Shrimp Succotash

It’s been a long week, 5 days of working after the 4 day week last week, feels like eternity.  With Friday left to go, making an easy recipe like this was a welcome addition to the night!

Fresh, light, bursting with flavor and color- this recipe is the perfect summer meal to fill you up without leaving you with that heavy feeling.  The freshness really shines through with basil and parsley, both easy to pick from your garden!  Plus tomatoes, corn and zucchini are all in season for summertime.  So hooray for Friday and the weekend, and this recipe!  Enjoy,

Ingredients:
Serves 4
Adapted from Ellie Krieger, So Easy
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 ounces no salt added corn kernels,drained and rinsed
10 ounces lima beans, thawed
1 medium zucchini (about 1/2 pound) quartered lengthwise and sliced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 pound shrimp
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 cup parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, corn, lima beans, zucchini, and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes.

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray, and preheat it over medium-high heat.  In the meantime, prepare the shrimp. Pat them dry and season them with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Add the shrimp and cook until the inside is opaque, 3 to 4 minutes, turning once.

Stir the vinegar and basil into the succotash, season with additional salt and pepper, to taste, and serve topped with grilled scallops. Garnish with Parsley Drizzle.

Parsley Drizzle:

1 cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons water, as needed to slacken

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree.

Yield: 1/2 cup

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Soba Noodle Salad

This noodle salad is fast, delicious, and can be served to 4 for a dinner portion, or 6-8 smaller salad portions.  This stores really well and can be brought as lunch for up to 3 days!

8 ounces whole-wheat soba noodles

4 ounces Firm Tofu, diced

1 large shallot, thinly sliced

1 1/2 cups shredded carrot, 2 carrots

1 red pepper, julienne

1/3 cup shredded fresh basil leaves

1/3 cup shredded fresh mint leaves

2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Dressing:

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1 teaspoon lime zest

juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon fish sauce

   1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce

 

Boil noodles according to package directions. Strain and rinse with cold water.

 

In a large bowl, combine noodles, tofu, shallot, carrot, pepper, basil, mint, and cilantro.

 

Combine all dressing ingredients, season with salt to taste, add to noodle mixture, and toss lightly.

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