Steamed Salmon w/ Greens, Corn, & Pickled Vegetables

Happy Friday guys!

We've got a big Labor Day weekend planned, too!  Our great friends Ike & Becca are getting married tomorrow - so congrats to the future Lehrs! 

Sunday, we'll probably head out to World Fest - which showcases the cultural diversity of Louisville by food, music, and shops!  We went last year and had a great time, so looking forward to that one! 

Still don't have any Labor Day plans, but if all else fails, I know we'll be lounging around - which is good enough for me!  Anyway, let's get to today's dish!

We haven't been eating a lot of red meat around these parts.  I don't know why, we've just been opting for lighter meals.  Salmon is always a favorite of ours, and when I saw this simple dish over at Joanne's Eats Well With Others, I knew I had to try it out!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Eats Well With Others' Recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1-inch thick slice of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 cup kale, chopped
1/2 cup spinach
1/2 cup mizuna greens
1 tablespoon soy sauce, plus extra for drizzling
2 6 oz. salmon fillets
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups fresh corn
pickled vegetables

In a large skillet under medium high heat, add both oils.  Add the ginger and garlic powder.  Stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add kale, spinach, mizuna, soy sauce, and 3 tablespoons of water.  Saute until the greens start to wilt, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Spread the greens in an even layer in the skillet.  Season the salmon with salt and pepper and place the fillets on top of the greens in the skillet.  Cover pan and lower heat to medium.  Steam fish for about 5-7 minutes, or until just cooked through. 

You can choose to cook your corn if you'd like, but I'm weird and I like the taste of raw corn.  Divide corn among two plates and top with salmon fillets.  Serve alongside the greens and pickled vegetables.  Drizzle additional sesame oil, soy sauce, and/or remaining steam liquid in pan (it was infused with the garlic and ginger, so it's tasty!).

This was a great meal.  Andy and I both had our plates cleaned on this one.  That's a sure sign of a winner there!

Hope you guys have a great holiday weekend and I'll be back Monday!

Secret Recipe Club: Fish Tacos

I know what you're thinking.  I already had my turn.  I was in Group A that posted earlier this month for The Secret Recipe Club.  Now I'm just being greedy.

But no, I'm actually being helpful!  I got an e-mail at the beginning of the month, that somebody from Group C had backed out, leaving a blogger without a "Secret" partner.  And being that last month, I happened to be a blogger that had someone back out on me (and thank goodness Winnie from Healthy Green Kitchen stepped up to volunteer to do another post - she's awesome!), I knew I had to step up and pay it forward!

And it turns out I got one of my favorite blogs - Kelly from Eat Yourself Skinny!  Everything always looks good on Kelly's blog, whether it be her Grilled Chicken Thighs with Pineapple, Corn, and Bell Pepper Salsa or her Watermelon Martinis - there's something for everyone there.  And you know what the best part is?  Most, if not all, of Kelly's recipes are absolutely figure friendly and healthy for you!  You know how I know?  She includes all of the nutritional info with all of her posts, which is always helpful!

With so many choices, it was hard to pick what to make - but I eventually settled on her Sauteed Tilapia Tacos w/ Grilled Peppers & Onions.  Fish tacos are my absolute fave, and I believe it is essential that they grace everyone's table at least once during the summer!  I made a couple small changes, just based on things that I already had on hand - I used flounder as my fish and utilized my purple peppers from our CSA, as well as adding a little Asian flare with the Ginger Miso dressing (I'm obsessed right now!).

Ingredients:
Adapted from Eat Yourself Skinny's recipe

1 small onion, sliced
2 purple bell peppers, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 large flounder fillets (about 1/2 lb.)
6 corn tortillas
Ginger Miso Dressing (I bought some from a local sushi joint - but you could easily make your own!)

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet under medium high heat.  Add onions and bell pepper and cook until starting to soften, about 6-8 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from skillet and set aside.

Season flounder on both sides with salt and pepper.  Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the same skillet used for onions and bell pepper (if needed) under medium high heat.  Add flounder and cook for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until fish is white throughout.

Place tortillas on a microwave-safe plate and cover with a semi-damp paper towel.  Microwave for about 15 seconds, or until warm.

Flake off the flounder and divide amongst the tortillas.  Top with onion and bell pepper mixture.  Then add a little bit of ginger miso dressing on top, if desired.  Fold up and enjoy!

These were seriously delicious!  And I felt good eating them!  Although, my changes probably made them a little less healthy than Kelly's.

And funny story about these tacos.  I had eaten 2 out of the 3 when I had to get up from the table and get something from another room.  When I came back, my last taco was gone.  I looked at Andy and said "where's my taco?!"  He shrugged his shoulders, and then we both saw Zappa (one of our dogs), licking his chops on his bed, and a little piece of corn tortilla by his paw - the dog stole my taco!  And apparently he liked it too!

Anyway, these were tasty, and I can't wait to try more goodies from Kelly's blog!

Want to join in all the fun?  To find out how, check out The Secret Recipe Club!

Pan Seared Trout w/ Black Trumpet Mushrooms & Almond Caper Dressing

Well, the weather is supposed to get crazy overnight.  Everybody is all in a ruckus because it's supposed to be freezing rain and snow and all that jazz.  My meteorologist friend said that it's supposed to be at it's worst between 4 and 10 am.  Guess who has to work at 7 am tomorrow?  This girl.

Mr. Invincible (I call Andy that because he thinks that just because he drives a Jeep, he can run over/through anything) is going to have to take me to work if it gets too bad.  I have bad weather driving anxiety (yes, I made that condition up, but I'm sure some of you can relate!).  So here's hoping that it won't be too bad!  But if it is,  I'm sure I'll complain about it tomorrow!

Anyway, I love fast and easy fish dishes, and this is just that!  And I'm pretty sure it's hella healthy too, so you can't beat that, right? 

Oh, and I'd just like to give a shout out to the blog Elly Says Opa! because I actually won my first blog giveaway!  Out of 274 comments, mine was picked!  And guess what I won!  The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz, an ice cream scooper (which I've needed for like... forever!), and a $25 gift card to the Spice House!  Pretty awesome, eh?  So definitely check out Elly Says Opa because there's tons of awesome recipes over there!



So let's get to that trout!


Ingredients:
Adapted from a Food & Wine Recipe

1/2 cup roasted almonds, chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins, chopped
1/8 cup capers, drained
6 tablespoons olive oil
juice from 1 lemon
8 oz. package of dried black trumpet mushrooms
6 scallions, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
2 8 oz. rainbow trout fillets

Place black trumpet mushrooms in a small bowl and add enough water to cover.  Let sit until rehydrated, about 20-25 minutes.

In another small bowl, mix together the almonds, raisins, capers, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, and lemon juice.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil under medium high heat.  Add the mushrooms and cook until tender and starting to crisp, about 4-5 minutes.  Add the scallions and cook until browned, about 2-3 more minutes.  Take off heat and set aside.

In another skillet, heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil under medium high heat.  Sprinkle trout with salt and pepper on both sides.  Add trout to skillet, skin-side down and cook for about 4-5 minutes.  Gently flip over and cook an additional 1-2 minutes longer. 

Transfer trout to plates and top with almond/caper dressing.  Serve with some black trumpet mushrooms and a side salad and you've got yourself one healthy jam-packed meal!

I absolutely loved this meal.  The original recipe called for flounder, but Whole Foods didn't have any this past weekend, so we opted for the Rainbow Trout... it never disappoints!  This was a light, but oh so filling meal and definitely hit the spot!  And hey, it was done in a matter of minutes (if you don't count the whole rehydrating the mushrooms part, of course!).  Enjoy guys!