by jphilo | Sep 11, 2013 | Recipes
The desire to eat healthy, delicious meals received a definite boost with another new salmon recipe. This one required cedar planks, which sounds swanky, but was easy to find in Hiram’s stash of guitar-making wood. And that was the hardest thing about preparing a dish that was absolutely delicious. So delicious, I’ve already added salmon to next week’s grocery list and to receive the coveted Hiram seal of approval.
The original recipe comes from Hy-Vee’s Seasons magazine, though my version has less salt and leaves out a few of the spices. Even so it was full of flavor and low in all the unhealthy stuff like fat and cholesterol.
Cedar Plank Grilled Spicy Salmon
Cedar plank
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2tsp Hy-Vee chili powder
1 tsp Hy-Vee cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp Hy-Vee dry mustard
1/2 tsp packed Hy-Vee brown sugar
1/4 tsp Hy-Vee crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp Hy-Vee dried oregano
2 tablespoons Hy-Vee Select olive oil, divided
1 lb skin-on salmon fillet
Fresh lemon wedges, optional
Soak a cedar plank several hours. Preheat grill to high heat.
In a small bowl, mix together salt, chili powder, black pepper, mustard, brown sugar, red pepper flakes and oregano; set aside.
Place cedar plank on hot grill, smooth-side-down, for 10 minutes, being careful not to burn the plank. (If you’re grilling over wood, make sure the flame has died down to glowing embers so the plank won’t burn. Don’t ask Hiram how he knows this.)
Turn plank over and brush smooth side of the plank with olive oil. Brush salmon with remaining oil. Place salmon, skin-side-down, on smooth side of plank. Season top of salmon with seasoning mixture.
Grill, covered, 25 to 30 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
If desired, serve with fresh lemon wedges.
by jphilo | Sep 4, 2013 | Recipes
Salsa season arrived in style last week when a heat wave hit. For gardeners, hot summer nights = ripe tomatoes aplenty.
The equation held true for the gardeners at our local CSA. Thanks to their generous policy of allowing those who purchase CSA shares to take less the extra, less-than-perfect tomatoes home for free, I’ve had enough tomatoes to make salsa several times already. The last batch was so good, I decided to share Mom’s old recipe for fresh summer salsa again. It first appeared on the blog in September of 2012.
The ingredient list and amounts are just guidelines, which can be changed to suit your taste and what’s growing in your garden. Also, I chop the tomatoes first and put them in a strainer to drain out excess liquid while chopping everything else. Otherwise the salsa can be pretty runny. With those tips in mind, have at it!
Fresh Summer Salsa
2 cups peeled, chopped tomatoes 2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup onion, chopped fine ¼ cup green pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped 1 banana pepper, chopped
¼ cup cilantro, chopped 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Put 2/3 cup of the vegetable mixture in the blender until it reaches the consistency you like. Put the blended vegetables back into the bowl and stir well. Refrigerate at least two hours before serving to allow the flavors to meld. Serve with tortilla chips.
The salsa can be refrigerated for about 2 weeks…if it lasts that long.
by jphilo | Aug 28, 2013 | Recipes
Kale has been a staple in our weekly CSA share for several weeks now. Usually I serve it stir fried with a little fresh garlic and salt, which is very good. But variety is a good thing, too, so I was pleased to find a main recipe that used kale in Real Simple Magazine, July 2013. The original recipe called for zucchini but suggested swapping it for other in season vegetables like kale or cabbage.
This dish is very easy to make and tasted divine. The hardest thing was to find puff pastry sheets rather than puff pastry shells. The sheets can be hard to work with, so read the thawing and handling directions before thawing them. (Don’t ask how I know this.) My guess is this would also work with thin crust pre-made pizza crusts, which are easy to find and handle.
If you compare the original recipe to this version, you’ll also see I doubled the recipe, used a different kind of sausage (easier to find where we live), and added a few time-saving tips. This recipe received the coveted Hiram seal of approval several times over. In fact, he asked how soon it would be on the menu again. I loved it too because the puff pastry is dairy-free!
Kale and Sausage Tart with Dijon
1 pound ground Italian sausage
2-3 cups kale, pulled off the stem and chopped coarsely
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
6 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Heat oven to 400°. Place two pizza stones in oven to heat.
Cook the sausage in a frying pan on top of the stove, breaking and crumbling it with a spoon, until halfway cooked. Transfer to a plate lined with paper toweling; reserve the skillet.
Add kale, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to drippings in the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to wilt, 2-3 minutes.
Take pizza stones out of the oven. Spray with a small amount of cooking spray. Unfold pastry sheets onto stones, and prick all over with a fork, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the dough. Spread the mustard on the pastry, avoiding the border; top with the kale. Cut each tart into 8 pieces and serve. Can also swap chopped cabbage or 2 small zucchini (about 1 pound and sliced into rounds) for the kale.
by jphilo | Aug 21, 2013 | Recipes
Today’s recipe should perk up the ears of gardeners who have more veggies than they know what to do with. Not only does it use large amounts of tomato, sweet corn, and zucchini, but also it tastes wonderful. Other attributes on the plus side are dairy-free, uber-healthy, and pretty enough to serve to company. The only negative is that it’s complicated enough to require several cooking pans, so clean up takes some time. Even so, this recipe will again get a work out at our house when the summer veggies start taking over the kitchen.
The original recipe appeared in the July, 2013 (I think) issue of Real Simple magazine. Below is my modified version which uses ingredients I had around the house
Pasta with Summer Vegetables
3/4 pound thin spaghetti
1 cup walnut pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups fresh corn (about 2 ears)
2 cloves garlic, sliced
kosher salt and black pepper
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
2 small zucchini (about 1 pound) cut into thin ribbons with veggie peeler
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (optional)
Blanch corn in boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove from pot and plunge into cold water. Cut corn off cob with sharp knife.
Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 3/4 cup of cooking water. Drain pasta and return to pot.
Meanwhile heat oven to 350°, Spread walnuts on rimmed baking sheet and toast, tossing occasionally until fragrant, 8–10 minutes.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the corn, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook, tossing occasionally until corn is tender, 2–4 minutes.
Add pasta, tomatoes, zucchini, and 1/2 cup of cooking water to the pan. Cook over medium heat, gently tossing until liquid is slightly thickened and coats the pasta, 2–3 minutes (add more cooking water as needed to loosen the sauce).
Serve sprinkled with oregano, walnuts, and crumbled goat cheese (optional). Below is a picture of Hiram’s pasta with the goat cheese added.
by jphilo | Aug 14, 2013 | Recipes
For several years, the man of steel and I have talked about eating more fish. Unfortunately, neither of us are big fish eaters. Him because he grew up eating fresh seafood in Alaska, beside which Iowa’s inland offerings pale. Me because the only variety we ate during childhood were the bullheads Mom caught on rare fishing expeditions. Bullheads, in case you’ve never tasted them, have a strong fishy taste.
But when Hy Vee’s Season’s Magazine did a spread with some delicious sounding salmon recipes, I decided it was time to put on my big girl panties and cook some fish. Hiram and I were pleasantly surprised, for my version of the magazine’s Encrusted Salmon Fillets recipe was delicious and very, very simple. Here’s the recipe for the most recent winner of the coveted Hiram seal of approval.
Walnut Encrusted Salmon
4 (5 to 6 ounces each) salmon fillets
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
coarse black pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped English walnuts
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon fresh, chopped majoram
1 tablespoon fresh, chopped thyme
1 tablespoon fresh, chopped rosemary
4 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
lemon wedges
Preheat oven to 425°. Grease a baking dish and place salmon, skin side down in it. Brush top of each fillet with mustard (go easy on this…a little goes a long way) and sprinkle with coarse black pepper.
In a small bowl, mix chopped nuts, bread crumbs, fresh herbs, and salt. Add olive oil and mix well. Divide mixture amongst the flillets and pat firmly on top of salmon. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until crust begins to brown and fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with lemon wedges.
by jphilo | Aug 7, 2013 | Recipes
The hunt continues for recipes with ingredient lists that match the contents of our weekly CSA share and what’s growing in my herb garden. This recipe from Hy-Vee’s Summer 2013 issue of Season’s Magazine reads like a July-in-Iowa garden checklist.
The recipe is super healthy and very easy to make. It does involve boiling sweet corn (I just put 4 extra ears in the pot one night when corn-on-the-cob was on the supper menu) and cutting the corn off the cob. But the work yields a side dish salad for several meals because it keeps well in the fridge.
Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad
4 ears sweet corn
2 large tomatoes, diced, or 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small, sweet onion, minced
1/2 cup chopped, fresh basil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt (I used kosher salt)
1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Boil corn in large pot of water for about 7 minutes. Remove corn and plunge into cold water. (Or just set it aside for 15 minutes.) Cut corn off cob and set aside to cool completely.
In large bowl, combine cooled corn, tomatoes, onion, and basil. Toss with vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
