Salmon Caesar

We have been on a big baked salmon kick in our house lately because it’s so versatile. I have discovered the wild caught perfectly portioned filets in the freezer section at Whole Foods and just pull them out as needed and thaw in a bowl of water, they are ready to bake in 30-40 minutes. I have a couple of go-to seasonings, you can really go in any direction. For this version I just did a few cranks of salt and pepper, parsley, lemon zest, and a drizzle of fresh squeezed lemon juice. A 4-6 oz filet takes about 12 minutes in the oven, it’s done when it flakes when gently pressed with a fork and is still lightly pink in the center.

For this salad, I sliced up some beautiful heirloom tomatoes, shaved a bunch of parmesan cheese (can you have too much?), and tossed in a few homemade croutons. You can make homemade Caesar dressing if you have the time, but for a week night meal I say go with store bought! There are plenty of good options out there, use what you love (lately I’ve been into Cindy’s Kitchen, Brianna’s, and Gotham Greens dressings).

*Quick Croutons: This is so easy, slice up whatever bread you have on hand into one inch squares. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine. Place on a baking sheet in the oven for about 5-10 minutes at 425, check and toss every few minutes so they get evenly toasted and don’t burn.

Veggie Fajitas

Sometimes when I go to the Farmers Market or grocery store I get overly excited about the fresh local produce and I buy way more than my family can consume before it goes bad. These veggie fajitas are a perfect solution to using up whatever you have on hand, the key is that it needs to be prime ripeness to ensure it will have the most flavor. You can make these with vegetables that are out of season and have traveled far to reach you, but they won’t be as good. When you use the best summer produce you need very little seasoning and these taste incredible. For today’s purposes, I used patty pan squash, red bell peppers, Vidalia onion, cremini mushrooms, and a beautiful mix of colored green beans. Patty Pan squash is very well suited for tacos/fajitas because they are firm and hold up better than zucchini or yellow squash, plus their variety of colors makes the plate look inviting.

The recipe is very simple, chop up all the vegetables into bite sized pieces and add to a medium-hot pan that’s been prepped with a drizzle of olive oil. Add a sprinkle of fresh ground salt and pepper. Stir occasionally. When the veggies have softened and are almost cooked through, add a dusting of cumin, chili powder, and dried oregano. If you are using about 2 lbs chopped vegetables a tsp of each should be enough. I really like the veggies to speak for themselves here. When the veggies have finished cooking I divided them among corn tortillas and topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, fresh tomato salsa, and broccoli sprouts. The sprouts add a nice crunch, you could use any type but the broccoli sprouts have a peppery kick to them which is nice for this dish.

For my tomato salsa, a good ripe tomato is key as with the rest of the recipe. I used about 1 cup diced tomato, 1/4 cup finely diced vidalia onion, 1 bell pepper finely chopped, 1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro, a squeeze of lemon and lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste (for me its always a couple cranks on the grinder….maybe 1/2 tsp each).

One Dish Halibut and Summer Vegetables

Halibut is my all time favorite fish, its mild but firm and buttery. I feel like it is the meatiest and most toothsome fish and recently I discovered I could by good size wild caught filets in the freezer section (at Whole Foods) and I can just pull out a few at a time and thaw them in no-time. I try really hard to buy responsibly sourced fish and I just think wild-caught tastes better and is free from artificial dyes and stuff we don’t need. That being said, you could also make this with whatever kind of fish you like, halibut can be kind of pricey….cod or turbot would make a good alternative.

This dish comes together in under 30 minutes and uses very few dishes, the best! My recipes aren’t perfect because I am new to sharing them so please adjust to your personal preferences. I am a bit of this and dash of that type of cook and am trying to get better about measurements! What you need:

-Fresh veggies (I used squash, red onion, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper)

-olive oil

-fresh ground salt and pepper

-zest of 1 lemon

-Italian seasoning blend (oregano, rosemary, basil)

-fresh basil

-crumbled ricotta salata

-4 oz portion halibut filets

Preheat the oven to 350 and chop your vegetables into similar sized pieces, I like chopping the squash into 1 inch slices and then quartering. Place all of your vegetables on a baking dish or sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil, fresh ground salt and pepper, a dash of Italian seasoning, and 1/2 of the lemon zest. Mix around to distribute olive oil and spices evenly and bake for about 15 minutes.

Remove the veggies from the oven and scoot them to the outer edges of the pan, place your fish filets in the center. Drizzle the fish with a bit of olive oil and a healthy amount of salt and pepper, seasoning and remaining lemon zest. It depends on how many fish filets you are making but about 1 tsp of seasoning should be enough for 2 filets.…adjust to your taste levels. Place the dish back in the oven and bake for about 12 minutes until the fish is cooked through. Sprinkle the veggies with fresh basil and crumbled ricotta salata.