Kale and Soba Salad with Salmon, Edamame, and Avocado

Week one of the CSA produce basket included a lot of kale, so this recipe is one of the ones I found to use it all up!

It had a rich, nutty flavor from the tahini and was very filling and delicious.

Kale and Soba Salad with Salmon, Edamame, and Avocado
(serves 4)

12 oz. of salmon fillet
dash of Kosher salt
dash of black pepper

1 large bunch of kale, washed and chopped

2 Tablespoons of tahini
2 Tablespoons of rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
1 1/2 Tablespoons of honey
dash of red pepper flakes

8 oz. of soba noodles
1 1/2 cups of shelled edamame

1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and chopped

Directions: Preheat broiler. When it's ready, place fish skin side down and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 7-10 minutes, or until fish flakes with a fork. Remove from oven and tent with foil to keep warm.

Meanwhile, mix tahini, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Place chopped kale in a large bowl and pour the sauce on top. Mix kale and the sauce with your hands for about 5 minutes, or until kale is wilted down.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, and add soba and edamame. Let boil for about 5 minutes, and then drain. Add soba noodles and edamame to kale mixture and stir to combine.

Separate into 4 bowls and top with chopped avocado and flaked salmon. Enjoy!


Adapted from Cara's Cravings, original recipe here.

Salmon with Orange Caper Relish

Yikes! It has certainly been a while, hasn't it? I don't have any excuses, I'm just going to have to jump right back in to this whole blogging world!

We've had some wonderful weather lately, lots of sunny days in the 50's and 60's. I'm really enjoying it. Some years the weather seems to skip spring completely- one day it's in the 30's and the next is in the 70's. So I'm really trying to savor it this year. H and I have already broken out the grill, and have enjoyed dinner outside on the patio a number of evenings so far. (Eating outside with the late sunlight does wonders for the quality of my photos too- certainly can't complain about that!)

I'm also starting to gravitate towards lighter, spring-ier dinners, and this is definitely one of them. This was so easy to throw together, and had great flavor. I served it with roasted asparagus and a side salad.

Salmon with Orange Caper Relish
(serves 4)

1/4 of a large red onion, cut into slivers
splash of olive oil
3/4 cup of orange marmalade
1 Tablespoon of orange juice
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons of capers

2 salmon fillets- 1/2 lb. each
kosher salt
pepper
splash of olive oil

Directions: Saute red onion slices in olive oil until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Place in a bowl, and mix in next 5 ingredients, up through the capers. Place in the refrigerator to chill through the rest of the prep.

Coat a large cast iron skillet lightly with olive oil and heat to medium-high. Season salmon fillets with kosher salt and pepper, and place on the skillet. Cook on each side for about 4-5 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from pan, and top with orange caper relish. Enjoy!

Adapted from Cooking Light, original recipe here.

Pesto Fish Kabobs

Welcome to my first attempt at healthier eating this new year! Cooking Light is one of my favorite sources for lighter recipes, and that is where I came across this recipe. It was easy as can be and delicious as well. It doesn't get any better than that, as far as I'm concerned!

Pesto Fish Kabobs
Makes 6 skewers (3 servings)

1lb. of firm white fish, such as halibut (I used cod, because halibut was way too expensive)
2 Tablespoons of basil pesto
1 large red bell pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450. Cut fish into 1" chunks. Pour pesto on top of it, and mix to coat fish. Place in refrigerator for about 15 minutes, to let flavors soak in.

Meanwhile, cut pepper into about 1" chunks as well. Alternate pepper and fish on skewers, and place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Cook in preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until fish is cooked through. Enjoy!

Adapted from Cooking Light, original recipe here.

Flounder with Tomato Caper Sauce

Even though I'm doing my best to stick to our weekly meal plan, I do switch around the days once in a while. No harm, no foul, right? On the menu for tonight was pizza. But strangely, I wasn't feeling it. OK, it wasn't so much that I wasn't feeling it, really, just that I was feeling it more for Friday night (with some Oktoberfest beer, perhaps?). So move the pizza to Friday, and move... Flounder with Tomato and Caper Sauce over brown rice to tonight.

This dish was nice and easy and turned out really well! I heavily adapted this original recipe, as to kind of cross it with another dish that we already make frequently. It really took our original dish to the next level.

Flounder with Tomato Caper Sauce

1 cup white wine
2 Tablespoons of lemon juice
2 Tablespoons of capers
1 Tablespoon of minced garlic

1 white onion, chopped
1 large ripe tomato, chopped
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped into about 1" pieces

4 filets of white fish, such as flounder or tilapia
salt and pepper to season

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
4 Tablespoons butter, softened well

Directions: Preheat oven to 425. Simmer white wine and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium high for a few minutes. Add garlic, capers, and onion, and simmer a few minutes more, until onion is slightly softened. Add asparagus and tomato, simmer a couple minutes more, and then remove from heat. Pour sauce into a 9x13" glass baking dish or large gratin dish.

Season fish with salt and pepper and place over the sauce in the baking dish. Mix butter with bread crumbs in a small bowl, until combined. Spread bread crumb mixture over fish. Place in oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until topping is slightly crispy. Serve over brown rice. Enjoy!

Adapted from epicurious, original recipe here. 

Cajun Cornmeal Crusted Fish

One of the new recipes that was on the menu last week was Cajun Cornmeal Crusted Fish with Peach Salsa. It turned out really good! The salsa was absolutely amazing, we were lucky to still find some summer peaches that were perfectly sweet. The recipe was actually originally Chipotle Crusted, but I decided to switch that up a bit. I really like Cajun seasoning, and I've never actually cooked with chipotles before, so I decided to stick with what I knew for this one.

Cajun Cornmeal Crusted Fish

Fish:
4 firm fish fillets (5-6 ounces each- I used flounder, it would be good with many white fishes though)

1 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
juice of 1/2 lime
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cornmeal, or cornbread crumbs
2 Tablespoons of butter, cut into small pieces

Salsa:
2 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped
1 ripe tomato, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2  bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
juice of 1/2 lime
pinch salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together for the salsa. Season to taste, and set aside in the refrigerator. This works best made a few hours in advance, if possible, to really let the flavors soak together.

Preheat oven to 375. For the fish, mix Cajun seasoning, thyme, salt, oil, lime juice, and garlic together in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish, spread out the cornmeal. Dip each fillet in the oil mixture, coat well, and dredge in cornmeal, flipping a few times to fully cover them. Place each fillet on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet. When all 4 are finished, spread the small pieces of butter out on the fish, and place in oven. Cook time can vary from 10 minutes up to 25, depending on size and thickness of the fillets. Cook until topping is slightly golden brown and fish flakes easily with a fork. Enjoy!

Adapted from Pink Parsley, original recipe here. 

New Recipe Review- Salmon Burritos with Chile Roasted Vegetables

For my new recipe last week, I tried Salmon Burritos with Chile Roasted Vegetables from cookinglight.com. The ingredients were different, and the combination sounded interesting to me, so I figured I'd give it a try.

I didn't make many changes. I used chili powder instead of the dried chiles, since I couldn't find them in my grocery store. I also added some shredded pepperjack cheese to them at the end, since a burrito is not a burrito without cheese, as far as I'm concerned. The salmon also needed to cook more than the recipe said, I actually doubled the time.

Although I never would have thought to put these ingredients together in a burrito, but they turned out really well. The cabbage gave it a nice crunch, and it had a lot of flavor. It was really hearty and filling. I'd definitely make them again.

New Recipe Review- Fish Tacos

For my new recipe this week, I was inspired by this recipe. However, I didn't exactly follow it. I had a multitude of reasons- the fish sounded too spicy, I couldn't find jicama, I thought it really needed some guacamole, etc. etc...

So here's what I did instead:
For the salsa: Mix together 2 cups of corn, 2 cups of black beans, 1 red bell pepper- diced small, and 1/2 purple onion- sliced thin, in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine 2 T. of lime juice, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, and 2 teaspoons of white sugar (or honey) and mix well. Chop up 2 big handfuls of cilantro in the food processor, and mix in. Pour spices on veggies, and stir to coat.

For the fish: Take 4 tilapia filets, and season with lime juice and cajun seasoning. Wrap them up in aluminum foil and let them marinate for about 2o minutes. Place aluminum packet on the grill and let cook for about 15 minutes over medium heat, flipping once. Remove from packet, place directly on the grill grate to blacken slightly.

For the guacamole: Peel and pit 2 avocados, chop and place in food processor. Add 2 T. minced garlic, 1 handful cilantro, 1 T. lime juice, and small handful of cherry tomatoes to food processor and mix to desired consistency.



I served them on flour tortillas with a dollop of sour cream. These were awesome, I will definitely be making them again. Te recipe serves 4, and they were even better the second time, the flavors really sank in. BTW, this really called for a margarita!!

New Recipe Review- Fish N'Chips

For my new recipe last week, I tried Rachael Ray's "better for you" Fish N' Chips. It was a slightly healthier version of the traditional favorite.

It was pretty good. It uses sweet potatoes for the fries, and bakes them instead of frying which I was so excited about- I love sweet potato fries! I used a bit onion powder, garlic powder, and cajun seasoning instead of the salt and pepper in the recipe, and I was glad I did- perfect combination! Sorry for such a blurry picture...

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
  
  
• Salt and pepper
• 2 sweet potatoes (1 1/2 pounds), each cut into 12 wedges
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  
  
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1/3 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• Four 5-ounce skinless, boneless tilapia fillets, each cut lengthwise into thirds

Directions:

1. 
   Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 450°. In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, shallot, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
   
2. 
   On a foil-lined baking sheet, toss the sweet potatoes with the olive oil and 1 tablespoon parsley; season with salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer and bake on the lower rack until tender and crisp around the edges, about 20 minutes.
   
3. 
   Meanwhile, coat another foil-lined baking sheet with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, breadcrumbs, the remaining 2 tablespoons parsley, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk and fish, turning to coat. Working with 1 piece at a time, coat the fish with the cornmeal mixture; transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Spray the fish with cooking spray; bake on the upper rack until golden-brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Serve with the fries, dipping sauce and lemon wedges.
   
   
   

Original recipe here.