Oven Roasted Tilapia with Baby Portobello Sauce

Sweet 31.  Yeah, I've never cared much for my birthday, but the reality is, damn. I am in my 30s now. And not so fired up about it.  Before you go concluding that I am a vain, crazed woman, please allow me to clarify. It's not a fear of wrinkles.  It's just that I have so much crap I want to do in my life that I am a bit panicked by the prospect of cramming it all into the next 60 years. How is one lifetime ever enough?? 

Sigh.  But, at least things are pretty amazing while you are trying to cram it all in. 

This was breakfast one day on our break from the world.  Divine. Not too much cooking occurred while we were away, because honestly, how much can you cook white wine and Cambozola ?

While I was busy not cooking, I read a lot, and also watched copious amounts of Robert DeNiro movies. That wasn't so much by design, more just what the Netflix overlord decreed for the week.  Consequently, by mid-week, my tough guy accent was pretty appalling.  Husband was a good sport about it.  The accent and me waking up at five a.m. expecting a home invasion. 

I arrived back home to find the garden in somewhat of a stage of mutiny.  My god forsaken tomatoes seem to have taken the summer off.  The beans and eggplant however luckily got the memo that their only job in life is to grow, and have been complying. 

Here are some very festive squash: 

Oven Roasted Tilapia with Baby Portobello Sauce

Ingredients: 

cooking spray

1 lb Tilapia

1TB olive oil 

1/4 white onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 lb baby portobello mushrooms, quartered

1 TB tomato paste

red wine vinegar 

red pepper flakes 

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: 

Season both sides of tilapia filets with salt and pepper.  Spray a foil-lined baking sheet with cooking spray and then arrange the tilapia on the sheet.  Roast tilapia in a preheated 450 oven for about 8 minutes, or until fish flakes easily.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic, and saute until soft.  Turn heat down to medium-low and add mushrooms to skillet. Saute for five-ten minutes, until mushrooms have released liquid and are soft.  If needed, add small amounts of water to mushroom mixture to prevent it from sticking to skillet while sauteing.  

Remove skillet from heat.  Add tomato paste and a splash of red wine vinegar to the mixture and stir to combine.  Season with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste. Serve tilapia with mushroom sauce on top.  Serves 2.  

Italian Salsa Verde

A confession: watching the Olympic track events gets me really fired up. Husband has been a little taken aback by my enthusiasm, hearing me being raucous in the next room, shouting encouragement, or just as often, giving advice. ‘Cuz you know, I have any idea about running in the Olympics, and I am sure I have a lot to contribute to their races.

A sort of hilarious side effect of all of this track-watching has been a definite change in my tempo when I’ve been running this past week. I mean, what, do I think I’m going to qualify for 2012? Only if there’s suddenly a special division for 34 year olds who eat a lot of Yogato and drink a lot of Pinot Grigio. Otherwise, I am not likely to make it. But, in the meantime, I am zipping through Rock Creek. Look out!

Of course, I have to eat a lot to compensate for all that speed. Yes, my mile pace is now a blistering 10 minutes, as opposed to the previously languid 10:15; bring on the calories.

To fuel my new blazing speed, I made roasted tilapia with a velvety Italian salsa verde. This sauce is perfect for summer: minimal ingredients, yet very flavorful. It's a cold sauce that's ready in seconds.

With the tilapia we had couscous with basil and mint, and roasted squash, onions, peppers and eggplant. Dinner was enjoyed outside, in the company of great friends. I hope summer never ends.

Italian Salsa Verde

Ingredients:

2-3 c Italian flat leaf parsley

3 garlic cloves

6 anchovy filets, plus oil

2 TB capers, plus juice

1 TB olive oil

2-4 TB red wine vinegar

Preparation:

Combine first five ingredients in a food processor. Add red wine vinegar slowly, until sauce has reached desired consistency. Add more of any ingredient to adjust flavor balance. Serves 4.

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This recipe is my submission to the Weekend Herb Blogging contest, hosted this week by Cooking 4 All Seasons, and created by Kayln's Kitchen.

Pasta with Eggplant, Cherry Tomato and Olive Sauce

Sunday was another one of those magical WDC days, in my book. There was something about the air pressure that almost defeated my I-had-too-much-fun-last-night-and-am-now-suffering feeling. Almost.

My husband assured me that what I really needed to get rid of that feeling was a fifty mile bike ride, naturally. We set out obnoxiously later than planned (I wouldn’t trade a night with out-of-town friends for an early start, don’t get me wrong) and it took about 30 miles to feel like I wasn’t going to fall off of the bike. But what a gorgeous ride. We made it almost to Sugarloaf , but turned around just short of it.

In hindsight, it’s sort of hilarious how self-assured I was feeling at mile 45. Because at mile 46 I was ready to vote Republican if it would have made the ride end any sooner (OK, OK, it wasn’t that bad...).

We slurped ourselves home and tried to sort out dinner. We had had plans to go out, to enjoy the oddly cool evening weather, but we were not ready for prime time. I think I was drooling on myself, and husband was not much better.

Having raided my parent’s garden earlier in the day, I had handfuls of cherry tomatoes at my disposal. This sauce was easy, and tasted even better the next day.

Pasta with Eggplant and Cherry Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

½ lb pasta
1 TB olive oil
½ onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 eggplants, chopped into roughly 1 inch pieces
2-3 c cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1-2 c water
¼ c Kalamata olives, chopped
2 TB tomato paste
1 TB balsamic vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
1 handful basil
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preparation:

Cook pasta according to directions, in salted water. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, add olive oil to a skillet that has been heated over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft, about four minutes.

Add eggplant and about 1 c water to skillet. Combine well. Cook covered, over medium heat, until eggplant is softened. Stir periodically to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom. Add more water as needed.

Uncover, and add tomatoes to mixture and cook until tomatoes are softened, about 3 minutes. Add olives, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and red pepper flakes and stir to combine.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Prior to serving, add basil. Heat from sauce will wilt basil. Serve with cheese on the side. Serves 4.

Pasta with Garden Vegetable Sauce

I do apologize for being so out of touch! I've been by the sea, and other fun fabulous locales. This lazy summer afternoon finds me at the Cocoa Bar in Brooklyn- I highly recommend it. Lovely garden behind the shop and very tasty iced coffee. Perfect.

In my absence, my trusty garden has been hard at work. I overcame my doubts and finally plucked my one eggplant. Now I know how only children must feel- so much pressure. Anyway, the eggplant shined, it was only my heavy-handedness in picking it that caused the jewel distress. The stems of eggplants are very reedy and woody, and apparently snap if you twist them. Who knew! So, the plant did sustain some trauma (the branch the eggplant was on split in two) but hopefully, it will knit itself back together.

Thank you now for indulging in my cheesy vegetable-scape:

These were all the veggies I found waiting for me when I returned from my eastern seaboard adventure. Those vaguely albino looking fellows are yellow peppers. And the squash in front is a mutant pattypan, grown beyond all reason.

With these vegetables, I made a lovely pasta sauce:

Pasta with Garden Vegetable Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 lb pasta

1 TB olive oil 

1/2 onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 large eggplant, cubed

2 peppers, any color, chopped

2 lbs assorted squash, cubed

1/2 c water

2 TB tomato paste

2 TB capers

1/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives

Freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

Preparation:

Cook pasta according to directions, in salted water.  Drain and set aside.  

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add onions and garlic and saute until soft, about four minutes.  Add eggplant, peppers, and squash to pan.  Turn vegetables to coat with onions and garlic.  Saute for two minutes, stirring often.   

Turn heat to low, and add 1/4 cup water to skillet, and cover. Add more water periodically as needed to prevent vegetables from sticking to bottom of pan.  Cook until vegetables are soft, about five- seven minutes.  

Uncover mixture and add tomato paste, olives and capers.  Combine thoroughly and cook over low heat for two minutes to allow flavors to combine.  Season with pepper. Season with salt to taste. (Note: salt may not be necessary as the olives and capers bring much saltiness to the sauce.) 

To serve, top portions of pasta with sauce.  Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  Serves four. 

Salmon with Lemon Basil Dressing

I never thought I'd be saying this so soon after my lovely friend fell ill, but she is doing tremendously. I feel incredibly blessed. Thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts and emails!

Life continues. This salmon was a kick-off to the weekend, otherwise known as Thursday in my house. Don't get hostile on me, it's only on occasion, with my flex schedule. And this Friday (like most) I did have to work. (I know, shed a teeny, tiny tear for me. )

Salmon can break the bank if you're buying the more environmentally friendly and sustainable wild-caught versions, but it's so tasty. I generally lean towards a sharp dijon sauce to cut the substantial fat content in salmon, but my garden is growing basil like its life depends on it. So, basil with lemon dressing it was.

Simply grill or pan grill the salmon filets, to the doneness that you desire. Heat a pan that you've sprayed with nonstick spray over medium-high heat. There's no need to use extra oil when cooking salmon, unless you prefer to. Season the non-skin side, and cook skin side down for about 3-5 minutes. Flip salmon and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

I like to take it off the stove while it's still a little translucent and pink in the center, and let it finish cooking on the plate. Salmon is very forgiving-- it's hard to overcook because it's so fatty. But a perfectly cooked piece of salmon is sublime, in my book. Total cooking time for 1-inch thick filets is normally 6-10 minutes.

This very simple dressing would also be delicious on salads, tofu or more mild fish.

Lemon Basil Dressing

Ingredients:

2 handfuls of basil

juice of 1 lemon

1 TB extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

In a food processor, chop basil until coursely chopped. Add lemon juice and olive oil, and combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon over salmon before serving. Sauce serves 4 portions of salmon.

Rigatoni with Pesto,Yellow Squash Ribbons, and Grilled Grape Tomatoes

Rigatoni with Pesto, Yellow Squash Ribbons, and Grilled Grape Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1/3 c toasted almonds

3-4 handfuls basil leaves

4 TB extra virgin olive oil

1/2 lb. Rigatoni

1 dry pint grape tomatoes

2 squash, peeled into ribbons using Y peeler (discard center, seeded part of squash)

1/3 c grated parmesan

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

In food processor, combine almonds and basil. Drizzle olive oil in (reserving 2tsp), and combine. Remove mixture from food processor, and mix in parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. 

Cook pasta according to directions in salted water. Reserve about a cup of cooking water prior to draining.

Meanwhile, drizzle 2tsp olive oil in a grill pan, and heat. When oil is almost smoking, add grape tomatoes. Grill, turning occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Return pasta to empty pot. Add pesto and squash ribbons. Add pasta water  and cheese until desired consistency is reached. Season with salt and pepper. Top with grilled tomatoes before serving. Serves 4.

Broccoli-Garlic Scape Pesto with Linguini

I know. I'm the 700th person to write about garlic scape pesto. I can't help it! It's so lovely, and I just discovered it. After staring down the scapes when we got home from the farmer's market, they still didn't tell me which end of them to use. A quick taste provided the answer: before using the scape, lop off the end with the bud. The rest of the veg can be used.

I've seen many great recipes on other blogs for scape pesto... but they seemed so... garlicky. Even though I am a huge garlic fan, I was a little daunted by the prospect of a sauce of purely raw, unadulterated garlic. Hence the addition of broccoli.

Pestos are traditionally uncooked sauces, which make them perfect for the summer. The standard pesto usually involves basil, nuts (usually pine or walnut), olive oil, and parmesan cheese. I did steam the broccoli before running it through the food processor, but besides that, this sauce is incredibly quick and easy.

Broccoli-Garlic Scape Pesto with Linguini

Ingredients:

2-3 c steamed broccoli (run 1 c under cold water to cool)

1 c chopped garlic scapes (from about 7-9 strands)

2-4 TB olive oil

1/3 c toasted almonds

1/3 c grated parmesan

salt and pepper

1/4 lemon

1/2 lb linguini

Preparation:

In food processor, combine almonds, garlic scape, and 1c cooled, steamed broccoli. Drizzle olive oil in, and combine. Remove mixture from food processor, and mix in parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook linguini in well salted water. Reserve at least a cup of water from pot before draining. Drain pasta. Return pasta to pot, and mix with pesto, and 2 c steamed, chopped broccoli florets. Add pasta water to achieve desired consistency. Drizzle with lemon juice, and serve with additional parmesan cheese. Serves 4.

Romesco

Is not the same as Romanesco. Googling Romanesco will not lead you to the type of red pepper, almond and bread based Spanish sauce that you want to make. If you also have the inept form of the internet that does not read your mind, Google Romeso for recipes. Romanesco, by the by, is a sassy kind of cauliflower that looks like a flower. Intriguing, but no Romesco.

Friday night we had roasted farm raised tilapia with Romesco, and a side of roasted potatoes, fennel and string beans for good measure. It was enjoyed by all.

In the face of the Whole Paycheck fish counter, I often become sort of debilitated. I try to bring my chart of which fish is OK to eat if you don't want to be a bad citizen of earth, but even with that as a guide, buying raw materials for dinner is occasionally daunting. I saw several kinds of fish that weren't on the chart... butterfish being one. It looked gorgeous-- firm and lush, but clearly from a large fish. Since returning from the store, I've spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out whether or not butterfish is sustainably fished... to no avail. Does anyone have more information than I do?

In addition to butterfish, there was wild Pacific Halibut. I know that Atlantic Halibut is a no-no, but my chart didn't say whether all Pacific Halibut was OK, or just wild-caught, or just farmed.... etc. So I came home with farmed tilapia. For the record, I now know that wild Pacific Halibut is a safe choice.

Turning our attention to the Romesco! It was divine. Very fresh and clean. We were having a pregnant guest, so I wanted to give baby lots of vegetables. Online, I found oodles of recipes, and then sort of made my own. Here it is:

Romesco

Ingredients:

8-10 garlic cloves

1 piece day(s)-old white or french bread, roughly chopped

1 c raw almonds 

1-2 red peppers, chopped

1 large roasted red pepper, in oil or water, chopped

1 can crushed tomatoes, well drained

3 TB olive oil

Splash of soy sauce

1 TB sweet paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Toast garlic, bread, and almonds. Combine in food processor until the crumbs are small. Do not over-process. Add all remaining ingredients to food processor. Pulse until roughly combined, leaving the sauce fairly chunky. Enjoy! (Note: the sauce is even better the next day, so consider making it a day in advance). Enough for 4 servings.