Pistachio Crusted Salmon with Sauteed Kale

I stumbled upon this recipe after Google-ing "salmon pistachios kale" because I was having a hankering for all three. It was simple, very tasty, and felt healthy-ish.

Note: Serves 2

Pistachio Crusted Salmon with Kale
Adapted From: DinnerTool

Ingredients

8oz wild salmon
4 cups chopped kale
1/2 cup unsalted pistachios, divided
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Fresh squeezed lemon juice (from 1-2 lemons)

1. In a food processor, grind together 1/4 cup of the pistachios, garlic, salt, and pepper to a breadcrumb consistency. Toss the mixture in a bowl with the panko breadcrumbs and set aside.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

3. Meanwhile, dry the salmon with a paper towel and use a sharp knife to separate the skin from the fillet. If necessary, pull out any bones that you can find. Rub the salmon with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Don't use all of the breadcrumb mixture, you won't need it all and you can  use the rest as a topping.

4. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a medium-large saute pan over medium heat. Place the salmon in the pan and let sear for 4-5 minutes, then turn the salmon over for another 4-5 minutes.

5.  While the salmon cooks, blanch the chopped kale in the boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and run the kale under cold water so that it stops cooking. Squeeze as much water out of the kale as possible.

6. Remove the salmon from the pan and toss in the kale and remaining pistachios for one minute. Add a little more olive oil if needed.

7. Serve the salmon alongside the kale and top with fresh squeezed lemon juice.  You can also top the salmon with any of the remaining breadcrumb mixture.

Bread Crumbed:

Searing:

The inside will be a little pink:

Chickpea Burgers

My friend Lauren made these chickpea burgers recently and they were so good that I wanted to make them myself. They're good to have on hand for lunch or dinner.

These have spices in them that give them an Indian style kick. They taste great with some toppings: tomatoes, feta, tzatziki and cucumbers - and are good in pitas.

Chickpea Burgers

Ingredients

2 15oz cans chickpeas
4 eggs
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lemon, zested and juiced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil (for onions, plus more to fry burgers)
1 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)
1/4 cup rolled outs
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or 1 teaspoon for an extra kick)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1. Drain chickpeas and add them to a food processor with the eggs. Pulse to combine, but don't puree - let the mixture remain a little chunky.

2.  Sauté the chopped onion in olive oil over medium-high heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and spices and mix together well, cooking for about another minute.

3. Let the spice mixture cool briefly, then add to the chickpea/egg mixture. Stir in the lemon zest and juice, oats, bread crumbs and parsley. Let the mixture stand for about 10-15 minutes.

4. Form the mix into 10-12 "burger" patties.  Cook in olive oil over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes per side until cooked through.

Patties: 

I love those sandwich thins:

Strawberry and Cream Paletas

Paletas are Latin American ice pops made with fresh fruit and they are delicious.  Unfortunately, I could not get the ice pops out of the cheap plastic molds that I bought, so my friend and I had to eat them with spoons. They were still eaten, so c'est la vie.

The recipe said to pour warm water over the base of the molds to release the ice pops, but that didn't work. Does anyone know a better way to do this?

Strawberry and Cream Ice Pops
(Paletas de Fresas y Crema)
From: Saveur

Ingredients

1 pound strawberries, hulled
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Purée strawberries in a blender or food processor. Set a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and push the mixture through the strainer with a flat spatula, leaving any solid strawberry pieces behind. Pour the mixture into four 3-ounce ice pop molds.

2. Freeze ice pops for at least an hour, until slushy, then put the popsicle stick into the mold. Freeze for about 3 hours more, then remove ice pops from molds by running warm water at the base of each mold.



You don't really need to see a photo of strawberries, but the color looked nice:

Mixture:

Strainer over bowl: 

Blasted molds: 

Barley with Cucumber and Yogurt-Dill Dressing

I like Mark Bittman's simple dishes, but this one didn't do it for me. I may have liked it better as a side dish, with fish or chicken or something, but I didn't love it by itself.  The yogurt kind of ruined it for me, but that is my own issue; you might like it! It was definitely refreshing, but in the future I might substitute more olive oil for the yogurt.


Barley with Cucumber and Yogurt-Dill Dressing
From: Mark Bittman

Ingredients

1 cup pearled barley
1 English cucumber, 6 Kirby (pickling) cucumbers or 2-3 medium/regular cucumbers
3-4 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup yogurt
1/2 cup fresh dill
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a saucepan, cover the barley with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil.  Cook for about 20 minutes, until the barley is tender. Drain and let cool, or rinse with cold water.

2. Peel and cut the cucumbers into bite sized pieces. (Bittman says to remove any seeds, but it was fine with seeds).

3. Make the dressing: whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, and yogurt. Toss the dressing together with barley, cucumbers, and scallions.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Avocado, Parmesan Cheese, and Basil

This is one of my favorite vegetarian dishes, and it's quick and easy to make... and even a bit healthy!  I didn't specify measurements for a few of the ingredients because it's really a matter of preference.

Note: Serves 2 for a main course, 4 as a smaller dish

 
Spaghetti Squash with Avocado and Parmesan
Adapted slightly from: The Kitchn

Ingredients

1 medium spaghetti squash
1-2 avocados, diced
1 lemon, juiced
1-2 garlic cloves, mashed
4 basil leaves, sliced or chopped
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise (be careful! it's hard) and scrape out the seeds. Lay the halves cut side down in a rimmed oven safe dish and add about a 1/4 inch of water to the pan. Roast for 40-45 minutes, until tender.

3. When the squash is almost finished roasting, heat some olive oil in a pan and add the garlic. Cook for just a minute, until fragrant.

4. When the squash is finished, scrape out the stringy insides and separate into bowls for serving. Top each with some drizzled olive oil, lemon juice, avocado, basil and parmesan. Add salt and pepper to taste.



Roasted spaghetti squash:

Pesto of the Week! Broccoli and Feta Pesto with Pasta

I've made this pesto a few times over the past year ... it's kind of a summery dish, but I was hankering for it anyway.  It's got a nice tang to it.  My only note is don't get overzealous and add a bunch more feta into the pesto.  It seems like a good idea at first but then it's a bit too much cheese. Imagine! Use the 1/4 cup and then just crumble some extra feta on top.  I added diced tomatoes for some added zing.


Broccoli and Feta Pesto with Pasta
From: The Kitchn

Ingredients

1 pound pasta (squiggly pastas work nicely - rotini, gemelli, shells, etc)
1 pound broccoli
Olive oil
1/2 small onion or two shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup feta
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper

1. Bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions.

2. Cut the broccoli into small florets and steam over water until you can easily stick a fork through it.

3. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic and cook until they begin to soften. Add the broccoli and cook for a few more minutes, then add the parsley and continue cooking until its wilted. Add the lemon juice and simmer for about two minutes.

4. Transfer the broccoli mixture to a food processor and add a 1/4 cup of feta cheese and 1/4 cup of water. Puree until smooth, add more olive oil to make it thinner if you like. Add salt and pepper to taste and toss with pasta. Top with crumbled feta cheese. Some chopped tomatoes are a nice touch too.



Broccoli/shallots: 

Pesto!

Windowsill lighting: 

Roasted Cod with Potatoes, Onions, and Olives

I'm clearly on an olive kick. Oh well, so good and salty. This recipe was really simple and delicious ... I added some lemon zest to it for a little more flavor. Someone in the comments section of the recipe said that it comes out looking nice and rustic, and they're right! 

The cod was from the Greenpoint farmer's market ($17/pound - which was actually way more fish than I expected). I tweaked this recipe a little bit and this is what I got:

(Serves 3-4 for dinner, with a side)

Note: I heard that my adjustments on this recipe made it come out a little oily (sorry!) so I reduced the oil from 1/3 to 1/4 cup. 

Roasted cod with onions, potatoes, and olives
Adapted from: Bon Appetit

Ingredients

1 pound cod fillet - bones removed
1.5 onions, thinly sliced
4-5 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they start to soften, then add the potatoes and garlic. Cook the potatoes until they start to turn pale golden and/or are soft.

3. Remove the skillet from heat and add to the mixture the rosemary, parsley, olives, salt and pepper.

4. In a rimmed oven safe dish, place the uncooked cod in the center and season both sides with salt and pepper and cover with lemon zest.  Add the potato/onion mixture to the dish, arranging it around the cod.  Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the fish starts to flake when you push it with a fork.

5. Cut the dish into servings and squeeze lemon juice over each dish.


Cod:

I cod have eaten this dish all day long... hehe. 

Dish arrangement in case you need a visual: 

Lemon Bars

Another Bon Appetit recipe, and then I swear I'll try to move on...

These are the lemon bars I mentioned in a previous post.  My classmates seemed a bit hesitant to try them at first, but once the professor ate one and liked it, they were gone by the end of class.  Not too sweet, not too sour, was the consensus. They are also very easy to make.

Ingredients

Shortbread base:

1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup), cut into small pieces
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a food processor, pulse all ingredients together until small lumps begin to form. 

3. Put mixture into a 9x13 pan and flatten/press evenly into dish, using a spatula or your hands. Bake in middle of oven for 20 minutes until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, make lemon topping...

Ingredients

4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 8-9 lemons, squeezed through a mesh strainer)
1/3 cup all purpose flour
Confectioners sugar, for sprinkling


1. In a bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until well combined, then mix in lemon juice and flour.

2. When shortbread crust is finished, pour lemon mixture onto the crust (it will be very liquidy, but it will cook!) Reduce oven heat to 300 degrees and bake for 30 minutes, until center is set.  Cool completely before cutting, and sprinkle confectioners sugar on top.


Crust:

Lemons/mixture: 

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli

This is a great, quick week night dinner that is perfect over some rice, quinoa, or grain. Top with plenty of fresh lemon juice.

Ingredients
From: The Wednesday Chef

2 pounds broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds (or 1/2 teaspoon ground)
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds (or 1/2 teaspoon ground)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon hot chili powder
1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 1/4 teaspoons lemon zest (from 1 large lemon)
Fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss broccoli with 2 tablespoons oil, coriander, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and chili powder. In a separate bowl, combine shrimp, remaining 2 tablespoons oil, lemon zest, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper.


2. Spread broccoli in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes. Add shrimp to baking sheet and toss with broccoli. Roast, tossing once halfway through, until shrimp are just opaque and broccoli is tender and golden around edges, about 10 minutes more. Serve with lemon wedges and top with fresh lemon juice.