Sunflower in Triptych

Foil Wrapped Baked Salmon with Orange, Soy, and Scallions

I messed up a bit with the recipe entry. I didn't mess up the recipe, but I forgot to take a picture. Luckily, it was adapted From a recipe book that had gorgeous photography so that's the picture I posted.

This recipe was adapted from Take 5 Ingredients by James Tanner.
The major changes:
1) I did not use the red chilies he suggested (bird's eye). His recipe is modeled after a Thai dish. I couldn't find the chile's so I substituted jalapeno. Not the same kind of heat, but I like flavorful, but milder dishes anyway, so I used one de-seeded jalapeno.
2) I also did not cook the fish in the same manner as the book. The author baked them in foil in a pan on top of the stove, while I baked them in the foil but in the oven. 

I served this dish on brown rice, seasoned asparagus, and a fresh green side salad. Blackberry cobbler was for dessert.

Imagine those fun red peppers as fun green peppers.

 The adapted recipe:

The juice of 6 oranges
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 chili pepper, finely chopped (I used a de-seeded jalapeno)
6 scallions trimmed and slices
4 fillets of salmon, skin-on (I used beautiful wild-caught sock-eye salmon...J picked it out for us! Just be careful of the little pin bones)
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425. In a bowl mix together the oranges, soy sauce, chili, and scallions.
Prep little aluminum foil packets for the four fillets. I used bowls to help with this process by placing my foil in the bowl to create a foil base that I could eventually close in a tent-shape and seal.
In each foil bowl, place one of the fillets. Salt and pepper as desired. Pour a quarter of the juiced orange mixture on each fish in its foil bowl. Close and seal the foil for each fish to create a foil packet. Place in a glass baking dish and cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes. when done cooking fish will have a bright color and you will be able to use a fork to pull apart and flake the fish.

Bon appetit!

Balsamic and Herb Marinated Portobello Mushroom Paninis

J had a long Denver overnight yesterday so we were able to enjoy good food, a funny movie, and a suspenseful evening of schedule manipulation for his employment next month. :P

The dinner: Paninis! I love making paninis and was really sad the last time I tried to make a grilled cheese with my panini maker and could not find the plates. Needless to say, J came to the rescue and found them, so here's our first recipe (served with salad greens and J's Famous Sweet Iced Tea).

Ingredients:
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh chopped basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup olive oil
2 portobello mushroom caps
Crusty, thick wheat bread, sliced on the thicker side
Fresh mozarella (usually found packaged in a ball-form)
A handful of spinach or greens
Sweet-spicy peppers, chopped (I find this at the antipasto/olive station at the grocery. The nice thing about this is if you only need a few peppers that is all you take and pay for. You are not buying a gigantic jar that will go bad.)
Olive oil for greasing the panini maker

In a small shallow dish, combine the balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil so that is combines forming your marinade viniagarette. Marinate the portobello mushrooms in the mixture for an hour.

Drain and then grill or lightly saute the mushroom caps. You want them to be heated and cooked but not limp. I actually cut my mushroom caps in half because the bakery bread was not very large.

Cut the wheat bread in thick slices and preheat the panini maker (I make my sandwiches on medium-high). While the panini grill is warming up place the slices of bread down. On half of them place the cooked mushroom and on the corresponding half add the cheese, a few spinach leaves, and the peppers. Close the sandwich by placing the half with the portobello mushroom on top. Oil the grill with olive oil, place the sandwiches on it and hold the panini press down hard for 30 seconds. Allow to cook for 4-5 minutes or until heated through and cheese has melted. Enjoy!

Simple, Perfect Summer Picnic

The gorgeous weather has finally hit Colorado and before J left to go play in Texas for a few days with some friends he had a brilliant idea to have a picnic. We based the main dish off of something similar we'd had at a farewell party.

 

 The Menu:

-Olive sampler appetizer (bought a few different olives in the deli section)

-Sweet iced tea with a touch of mint

-Cheese tortellini and raw veggie salad

-Fresh berries with mint

The main recipe is simple. I don't have quantities and you can change up what you use: 

Cheese tortellini (cooked, drained, and slightly chilled)

Raw veggies (we used celery, tomatoes, red bell peppers, cucumbers and spinach)

Dressing: Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Pepper, Salt (to taste)

Cilantro (to taste) Sidenote: our cilantro had bugs all over it so we pitched it and didn't add it.

Combine all ingredients and voila! J and I used a lot of veggies and balsamic. ;)

The berries were equally simple. We cut up some strawberries, added blackberries and blueberries.

To this we added the juice of one lime, sugar to taste, and lots of fresh chopped mint. It was the perfect, light dessert.