Summery Salmon with Mango Chimichurri Sauce

Summer is the best time to enjoy grilling, even if you don't have an outside grill.  I take advantage of my grill pan as often as possible, usually on weeknights when I can put on some fish and then pair it with something healthy.  Immediately intrigued by a recipe I saw in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine, I tried to put a new spin on salmon by serving it with this refreshing mango chimichurri sauce, along with a side of roasted butternut squash with tons of fragrant spices and red onions.

The overall taste was light, but substantial enough to fill you up.  I also loved the freshness of the mango, intermixed with the fresh cilantro and lime juice.  It definitely tasted like summer, and even made a good salsa substitute after all the fish was gone.
Here's the recipe for the salmon with mango chimichurri and then my simple directions on the butternut squash:

Roasted Butternut Squash with Red Onions:

Ingredients (serves 2)
1 package of pre-cut butternut squash (I buy this from Trader Joe's).  Or you can simply cut it yourself into 1 inch cubes.
1/2 red onion, sliced
Olive oil
Salt (I prefer Gardenfreude's rosemary salt)
Ground pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Season the butternut squash with salt and pepper, and add two generous glugs of olive oil.  Then mix in the onions and spread on a lined baking sheet.

Bake for about a half hour to 35 minutes.  Turn the squash halfway into the baking process so both sides get golden brown.

Baked Flounder, Caprese-Style

“Hurricane” Irene served us good for one thing, in that it got us to stay home all weekend and cook.  These days with my non-stop schedule, staying home seems to be a luxury so I guess I have the tumultuous weather to thank for letting me slow down and unwind a bit.

In our nesting state, we stocked up on good ingredients to cook with.  As is the norm in our household, we bought a lot of fresh produce, fish and other proteins to sustain us.  I made a baked fish dish for dinner last night that was quite a hit with Dan, so I thought I’d share it with you.

I got the recipe for it in the latest issue of Bon Appetit magazine, which happens to be its annual restaurant issue.  In the particular section where I scoped out this recipe, chefs shared easy, turnkey recipes they often make at home.  This one came from Chef Jason Alley of Richmond’s Comfort restaurant.  Not only is it healthy, but takes about 20 minutes to put together, and the ingredients are most likely what you already have in your fridge.  Hope you give it a try one of these days.

Ingredients (serves 4)
1 lb of very ripe tomatoes, cored quartered (halved if small). I used cherry tomatoes and just halved them (but didn’t core them)
 4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. thinly sliced fresh basil
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
(4) 6 – 8 oz. boneless flounder fillets

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Toss first 5 ingredients in a large baking dish.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spread out in an even layer.

Bake tomato mixture for 5 minutes.  Season fish with salt and pepper.  Arrange fish in a single layer over tomato mixture.  Roast fish with tomato mixture until fish just begins to flake, about 10 minutes.

Healthy Summer Eats - Tilapia with Spicy Corn Salsa

Eating fresh veggies is a pleasure in the summertime and its abundance lends itself to eating healthy.  After a very food-heavy weekend, I wanted to ensure I treat my body right this week by preparing nourishing, clean food.  Here's where this delicious fish dish comes in.  Originally calling for salmon, I substituted with tilapia and  topped it with a wonderfully spicy corn salsa, sauteed just briefly over high heat.  The recipe calls for using red pepper flakes, which definitely bring up the heat factor - and I think I used a little more than what was asked for.  Yum! It created a nice fiery taste that had a kick but didn't hurt the tastebuds.

As you can tell from the above shot, I added avocado slices to the recipe as well, which I think work well with corn.  Overall, the dish took about 20 minutes to put together and what was even better was that I didn't feel weighed down or overstuffed after.  It's a win win and I urge you to substitute tilapia or salmon with the protein of your choice.

You can find the recipe on Cookstr, courtesy of Domenica Catelli.  Enjoy!

Tilapia (or Salmon) with Spicy Corn Salsa Recipe

Grilled Whole Branzino - Rest in Peace Fishie

I know...some of you may find the above sight unnerving and maybe even unappetizing, but I'd like to assure you that that's not the case.  Experimenting with whole fish is quite the culinary adventure that produces rewarding results.  I recently tried it with a whole branzino that happened to be on sale at Whole Foods' fish section.  Even though the fish there veers on the expensive side and isn't always as good as your local fish place, it's still a reliable outlet to turn to for fresh and frozen fish. 

So there I was, at the fish counter...mesmerized by what just transpired.  "Did I just order a whole fish?" I thought to myself? "With the head, eyes, mouth - the whole shebang?"  But what was done was done - now I had to move on and think creatively about how I'd prepare this thing, while my nice fishmonger scaled, gutted and de-finned poor fishie.  Sure I could've looked up an easy recipe to use, but what I really wanted to do was to cook  free-form.  So I did what any other comfortable cook would've done, I stuck to the basics. 

Getting some lemon and fresh parsley was the extent of my accouterments for the fish.  Yep, that was it, 3 ingredients besides the salt, pepper and some oil of course.

Here's how I went about my little branzino experiment:

Grilled Branzino a la Foodista:

Ingredients (serves 2):
Whole branzino, cleaned and gutted
2 lemons, cut into 8 wedges
Handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped (not too fine)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat your grill or grillpan to medium-high heat.

Butterfly the branzino (meaning cut it in half with the spine still attached). This creates more surface area for you to stuff your fish.  Oil your fish by brushing it lightly with olive oil both on the inside and outside.  The outside is especially important to make sure you get that crackly skin and so it doesn't stick to your grill/grillpan. 

Salt and pepper your fish (go lighter on the salt than the pepper) and then stuff the inside with fresh parsley and lemon wedges.  Enclose the fish again so it looks as it did before you butterflied it. 

Place it on the hot grill/grillpan and cook for about 5 - 7 minutes on each side (depends on the size of your fish).  You'll want to check on the fish periodically to make sure you're not overcooking it.  When you see that the skin has a nice sear on it, flip it over and repeat the grilling process on the other side.

Remove from grill and serve immediately with extra lemon wedges.  I made a side of wild rice that I used as a bed for this dish.  Serving it family style, I placed it on a large platter and Dan and I dug in and had a ball deconstructing fishie. 

I hope you get to try this at home and that you let me know how you liked it.