Scallop Sliders

A few weeks ago I made fun of using bacon where it doesn't belong and sliders. This week I made a slider for a reason I will get to in a minute and I included bacon. I do not consider bacon out of place with scallops as that is a classic flavor combination. As a person who has always struggled with their weight I don't believe in sliders. Sliders are smaller so they are lower in calories, but when you eat the portion you are served you almost always get more calories than if you would have ordered the regular item instead of the slider. People also tend to order more because of the smaller size and perception that they are lower in calories.
On recent trip to a restaurant my wife ordered scallop sliders. She got a large bun with one scallop on it. The bun also had a piece of lettuce and a tomato slice and a big spoonful of tartar sauce. Not a good tartar sauce but mayo with relish mixed in and a squeeze of lemon. The scallop was over cooked and had a nice rubbery texture to it. Being the foodie that I am I knew I had to make this dish and right the wrongs that the restaurant served.
As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program I am from time to time given product to test and write about if I decide to. Today the ciabatta rolls I used were purchased with a coupon provided by Alexia Foods. Alexia also gave me a Calphalon pot holder and an apron. Alexia is currently running a Reinvent a Classic contest where they are selecting a new flavor of french fries. I wanted to use my coupon to try one of the french fry flavors but I checked with 2 grocery stores 2 weeks straight and they were both out of the fries. I guess that means that the fries are excellent. If you would like to try them go to www.Facebook.com/AlexiaFoods and you can get a $1 off coupon.
This recipe is based on making 4 sliders. You can adjust accordingly to make as many as you want.

Remoulade Sauce

2 tbs light mayo

1 dash of hot sauce

1 dash worcestershire sauce

1/8 stalk celery, finely chopped

1 green onion, green part only finely chopped

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp lemon juice, fresh squeezed

2 tsp smoked paprika, for color

Mix all of the ingredients together and refrigerate until scallops are ready.

Scallops
4 Alexia Ciabatta rolls
4 scallops
2 slices of bacon
1 tsp canola oil
1 leaf lettuce torn into 4 pieces to fit bun
1 plum tomato, sliced into 4 slices
Turn frying pan on medium then add the bacon. Cook bacon until it turns crispy. Remove bacon from pan and add the oil. Turn heat to medium high. When the oil is shimmering add the scallops. Cook until the scallop takes on a nice brown color and then flip them over and cook until the second side turns light brown.

Cut Ciabatta rolls in half. Put lettuce, tomato and bacon on roll. Top with sauce. Then put scallop on top of that.

Pantastic Pasta

This is a meal I came up with to use up odds and end of leftover vegetables. The type and the quantity of veggies change every time I make this, but I usually end up with 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound of veggies. Then I mix 1 to 1 1/2 oz of pasta per person. Don't cook the pasta as long as the box says because it will cook a little more in the frying pan.

Pantastic Pasta
1 to 1 1/2 oz dried pasta per person
2 to 3 oz chicken, shrimp or whatever protein you like
1/3 to 1/2 pound mixed veggies per person (I used broccoli, sun dried tomato, 1/2 yellow pepper, mushrooms, red onion and 1/4 red pepper)
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs Italian herbs

 Put a pot of water on the stove and bring to boil.

While waiting for the water to boil, chop the vegetables into bite size pieces. Put oil in a skillet and heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and thicker veggies (broccoli, peppers, red onion, etc If you were using smaller veggies like spinach, kale, etc. save until adding the pasta. Add shrimp with small vegetables.)

When the water boils add the pasta and cook until it is a couple minutes away from being done. When pasta is done drain and add to veggies. Now add any lighter vegetables as mentioned above and shrimp if using. Cook for another minute or 2. Serve and top with drizzle of olive oil, shredded parmesan cheese or chopped parsley.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup

 I could have titled this how to destroy a KitchenAid blender in one easy lesson. When pureeing the butternut squash in the is recipe I filled the blender 1/2 full as per the instructions. I then pureed the squash. It was very thick so I added a little more liquid and threw the switch. I heard a grinding sound and  noticed nothing in the blender was moving. I immediately switched the blender off. When I lifted the container off the base and found a bunch of ground up plastic. The teeth that make the blades turn were destroyed. Luckily I have a food processor and was able to finish pureeing the squash. Since the blender was a few years old we threw it out, as it turns out you can buy replacement gear and we could have just replaced that gear. We looked at the new models and they no longer have that type of gear to drive the blades.

This is a very simple soup with lots of flavor sweetness from squash, savory from red peppers, spice from hot sauce.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup
1 2-3 lb butternut squash
2 red bell peppers, cut in half cored and cleaned, or used purchased
Liquid to make soup consistency you want. I like it thick, so I added 1 can flow fat condensed milk and some 1/2 and 1/2. You could add milk, vegetable or chicken broth or even water. The size of the squash will also make a difference in how much liquid you need, so you are going to have to use your judgment on this.
Dash of hot sauce.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut squash in 1/2 and clean out the seeds and stringy gunk. Cut each half into 1 inch pieces. Toss squash pieces with olive oil and place on cookie sheet. If roasting peppers toss them with oil but don't add them to cookie sheet yet. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes until squash is caramelized. Add the peppers with 25 minutes to go, but watch them so they don't burn (the skin might get black and start to peel). Remove any large pieces of burnt skin from peppers.

Add enough squash and some red pepper to blender to fill it 1/2 of the way. Add some liquid and puree. pour this into a saucepan. Keep doing this until all of the squash and red pepper has been pureed. Heat over medium heat until soup is hot. Add hot sauce until it is to your liking.

Serve immediately.

  

Polenta with Mushroom & Sausage Sauce

Polenta, grits, mush, gruel or porridge is all pretty much the same thing, boiled cornmeal. The big difference comes from the type of corn used and whether it is ground coarsely or fine or anywhere in between. Anyway you look at it polenta is good and found through out the world in one form or another. The dish itself is rather bland until you add something to it, such as cheese or put something on it like a sauce. Today I topped it with a sauce.

Polenta with Mushroom & Sausage Sauce
Polenta:
Polenta, Grits or cornmeal
water
Sauce:
1 tbs Olive Oil
2 Hot Italian Sausages, casing removed, cut into 1/2 moons
4 oz Mushrooms, cut into large pieces
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 tbs Tomato Paste
1 24 oz can Crushed Tomatoes

For the Polenta:
Since I don't know whether you are cooking grits, polenta or cornmeal and how coarsely it is ground I am going to go out on a limb here and tell you to follow the directions on the package. You can add cheese, butter or any other flavoring that you desire.

For the Sauce:
Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering add the sausage and mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms start to brown. Add the garlic and let it cook for 30 seconds, then add the tomato paste. Let the tomato paste cook for a minute or so and then add the tomatoes. When the sauce starts to bubble, turn the sauce to low and let it cook until you are ready to eat. The longer you let it cook the thicker it will become.  Don't let it become to thick and dried out, but if you do add a little water or wine to loosen it back up and cook until it reaches your desired consistency.
Plating:

Polenta is traditionally served family style on a wooden board. I shaved a little parmesan cheese and sprinkled some basil ribbons over the top. The basil was more to give the photo some color than anything else. I highly recommend a glass of red wine to go with this.

Tilapia Packets

This is an easy and fast dish that can be served during the week. Best of all it's healthy.

Tilapia Packets
2 tilapia fillets
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
10-15 Kalamata olives, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbs onion, chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 dry white wine
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat grill to medium high heat.
Create a packet out of foil. I have told you how to do this before, but if you have a short memory like me. Take a 4 foot long piece of aluminum foil. Fold it in half, so you now have a 2 foot ling piece. Fold the sides over 1 inch. Fold the sides a second time 1 inch. Fold the bottom up 1 inch. The top will be open the sides will now be sealed as they have been folded over once and the bottom is folded up 1 inch for strength. Put all of the ingredients in the foil. Fold the top over 1 inch, do this 3 times. Place the pouch on a tray or cutting board to transport to grill. Place packet on grill. Cook for 5 minutes and flip the packet over. The packet will inflate like a balloon while it is cooking. Be careful when you remove from grill as this is when the seems will break if they are going to break. Remove the contents, except the liquids, and put on a plate. I usually serve this on a bed of brown rice. You can garnish with parsely or basil.

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

Every Saturday morning my wife makes us waffles for breakfast, but don't tell my kids or they will whine about how they ever got was dry cereal. Then on Sunday morning I make some kind of egg dish for breakfast. This Sunday I decided to tempt fate and skip the eggs, well kind of since French Toast does involve eggs. Since strawberry season is going strong I decided to make strawberries the star of breakfast today. Strawberry season has been going on for awhile here in the south. In fact my wife has already canned her strawberry jam for the season. Now we can sit back and enjoy the berries until the season is over. The recipe below is for 1 serving (2 slices of bread with stuffing between them). If you make more you maybe able to cut back a little, for instance I used 2 eggs for 2 servings and had enough egg left over to make the dogs happy. I made the filling and mixed the eggs and vanilla the night before and refrigerated them. In the morning I only had to get out the filling and whisk the eggs a bit more.

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast
Filling
1 oz Neufchatel Cheese, this is like a cream cheese only low fat. use Cream cheese if you can't find it
1 tbs strawberry jam, I used my wife's homemade
2 strawberries but into little pieces

French Toast
2 slices of bread, stale if not let it sit out overnight
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla

Garnish
Powdered Sugar for garnish
3 or 4 strawberries cut into pieces

Mix the Filling ingredients together. If it tastes a little to cheesy add more jam. The goal is to get a a texture thick enough to spread so it doesn't melt and come out of the toast. Take a slice of bread and spread with the filling. Put the second pice of bread on top of it.

Whisk the vanilla and egg together. Pour the egg mixture into a pie pan. Press the " strawberry sandwich" into the egg mixture, when the first side is coated flip it over and coat the second side. Place the coated "strawberry sandwich" in a frying pan that has been preheated to medium high. Cook until egg is cooked and Golden brown. Then flip over and cook second side until the
the second side is golden brown. Remove from heat and place on a plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and then place strawberries on top.

Chicken Tostada with Queso Fresco

Thursday my wife and I celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary. My wife had taken Thursday and Friday off, I surprised her and told her I took Friday off and told her we were heading for the beach. We live close enough to the beach where we can make it a day trip. The weather was perfect 80 degrees with a light breeze. We arrived just in time for lunch. We found a nice restaurant on the beach and Annette had crab cakes and I had Lobster Newburg served over linguine. After walking the beach and exploring downtown Wilmington, NC. We headed for the Airlie Gardens. The gardens definitely had and Italian influence but with a southern twist. Check out the gardens if you are ever in the area, definitely worth the trip. Then we swung by the beach for a short stroll, it seems our shell collection was a little short and my wife needed to add a few more to complete it. Then we had to grab a little more seafood before we headed home. I had a salad with shrimp and crab, completing the seafood trifecta (shrimp, crab and lobster) all in one day. My wife had shrimp and seared tuna served over Thai noodles. I think it was probably the best day off we have had in a long time.

Friday night is usually when we do our grocery shopping, but since the beach messed that up we went Saturday. Since Saturday we have a farmers market we decided to go there first. I am glad we went. The market is bigger this year with more vendors and a better variety of foods. I bought some Queso Fresco which inspired today recipe. We also bought mixed greens (in todays recipe), strawberries which are now jam thanks to Annette, radishes and cilantro (also in todays recipe).

Chicken Tostada with Queso Fresco

Tostada and Miscellaneous Ingredients
1 tortilla per person
no-stick cooking spray
2 oz Queso Fresco, crumbled

Salad
This makes enough for 2 people
1 cup mixed greens
1 radish, sliced thinly per person
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tbs canola oil
salt and pepper to taste

Chicken
I chicken breast per person (I think we bought sparrow breasts as the one we got were so small)
1 tsp Southwestern seasoning per breast

Salsa
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved, quartered if large
1 tbs red onion, chopped
1/4 Jalapeno, finely chopped My wife likes very mild salsa add more if you like some spice
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat grill.
While grill is heating mix salsa ingredients together and let them sit to the flavors can mingle.
Sprinkle both sides of chicken breast with southwestern seasoning. Grill the breasts to desired doneness.
While breasts are grilling mix lime, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Toss the greens in the bowl to coat and set aside.
Spray the tortillas with no-stick cooking spray and place on grill when you take the breasts off. Cook until they get brown spots and start to bubble.

To Assemble
Put the tortilla on the plate, top with greens. Put the radishes on the greens. Put the chicken breast on top of the greens. Top the breast with the salsa. Sprinkle the whole thing with Queso Fresco.


Airlie Gardens in Wilmington NC.

Cherry Tomato and Pesto Pasta

For Easter all of my children came home, even though it didn't look like that was going to happen. We had our big meal on Saturday evening and the kids left when they wanted to. With no set times for coming and going, I had to come up with a dinner that I could easily make for 8 or cut down for just 2 if they all left. I wanted something on the light side since Saturday was a eat 'til it hurts day. I looked in the fridge for ideas and saw several pints of cherry tomatoes, buy one get one free at the grocery store plus we already had some. I decided since the temperature was in the 80's a no cook sauce was going to be just the thing. Last week I bought some pesto sauce, not enough basil growing yet to make my own. So here is what I made.

Pesto and Cherry Tomato Pasta
2 tbs Pesto, homemade or store bought
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
8 oz pasta
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Cook pasta until el dente. While pasta is cooking chop tomatoes and mix with pesto. Set aside in a bowl. Drain pasta when its done and place in bowl with tomatoes. Toss until thoroughly mixed. Top with cheese and serve. You could add fresh basil leaves as a garnish if you like.

Asian Tuna with Thai Noodles

Last week I remade my mom's Tuna Noodle Casserole and I caught some flak because I didn't use tuna. So this week I remade it again and used tuna, but this time I made it Asian inspired. I used spaghetti for the noodles, because that is what I had on hand. You could use actual Asian noodles for this, such as soba.

Asian Tuna with Thai Noodles

Tuna
1 Tuna Steak, about 8 oz (there is enough marinade for at least 1 pound of tuna)
¼ cup honey
¼ cup soy sauce
4 teaspoons sesame oil
1 scallion, chopped white and green parts

Noodles with Thai Peanut Sauce
3 tbs Peanut Butter, reduce fat or natural
4 tsp Rice Vinegar
3 tbs Low Sodium Soy Sauce
2 tsp Honey
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Ginger Powder
1/8 tsp Cayenne (more or less depending on your taste preference)
4 oz spaghetti
Noodle Garnish
1 tbs Peanuts, roughly chopped
1 scallion, chopped white and green parts

Tuna Instructions
Put all of the ingredients in a plastic bag. Let the tuna marinate for at least 1 hour. Then grill it to the desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for 1 inch thick steaks grilled to medium.

Noodles with Thai Peanut Sauce
Mix all of the Peanut Sauce ingredients together. Put the mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds, this will make it much easier to mix. Pour the mixture over the spaghetti and stir together. Top with garnish.

Salmon Pasta

When I was growing up, my mom made tuna noodle casserole when my dad wasn't around. It consisted of 1 can of tuna, 1 can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup, 1 soup can of milk and egg noodles. The noodles were cooked and then everything else was mixed in with it and heated through. This is my version of Tuna Noodle Casserole. Only there is no tuna, noodles and its not a casserole.

Salmon Pasta
8 oz Salmon
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz Pasta, I used penne
1 cup peas
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
2 tbs Pine Nuts
Pesto to taste

Salmon
Preheat grill. Drizzle olive oil on the salmon and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill to desired doneness. I like to cook this until golden brown and cooked through for this dish. Set aside to cool. After it is cool flake it apart with a fork.

Pasta
Cook the pasta in salted water. Cook until done, I leave it a little bit on the firm side for this dish. Add the salmon, peas, tomatoes and pesto. I added about 2 tbs of pesto for this.

If you are not serving right away refrigerate the pasta and just before you serve it drizzle with a little olive oil, then toss the pasta.

You could add additional things to this pasta like capers, broccoli flowerettes or green onions.

Running and Wedgies

Well this weekend I ran my first 10K race, in fact this was my first attempt at any organized sport. I never participated in sports when I was in school. The 10K was the Ukrop's Monument Ave. 10K run in Richmond VA. My oldest daughter, Lynn, originally decided to run the race and invited me to join her. I accepted and my youngest daughter, Ashlyn, decided she wanted to run as well. Ashlyn and Lynn finished in the times they expected, but I beat my personal best time by eight minutes. Lynn was the backbone of our team. She made hotel arrangements for us, made T-shirts for us, made sure we got the race packages and feed us after the race. Richmond is the home of VCU, who was in the NCAA Final Four, so after the race she went home and cooked for not just our family but several friends as well as we cheered VCU on. Unfortunately VCU didn't fair as well as we did in the race. Thanks Lynn for making this weekend such a fun time and for making me challenge myself by running farther and faster than I have before. I appreciate all of your efforts.

The wedgies have nothing to do with the running, but pertain to potatoes cut into 8 wedges. This recipe was inspired from a Spanish Tapas recipe. There is also a dipping sauce for them.

Potato Wedgies with Dip
Potatoes:
3 pounds Potatoes, cut into 8 wedges (the long way, if you have larger potatoes you can cut into more than 8 pieces)
2 tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Dip:
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
pinch of salt
1/4 cup mayo, I used low fat
1/4 cup sour cream, I used low fat
Smoked paprika to taste

Potatoes:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While oven is preheating cut potatoes into wedges and place in a bowl. Add olive oil and salt and pepper and stir to evenly coat the potatoes. Spread the potatoes out evenly on a cookie sheet and cook for about 25 minutes. They should be soft and brown spots will begin to appear. Remove when done and let cool.

Dip:
While the potatoes are cooking you can make the dip. Mince the garlic and add salt to it. Mash the salt into the garlic until it forms a paste. Place mayo and sour cream in a bowl, then add the garlic paste to it. Mix in the smoked paprika, until you get the desired taste. Since smoked paprika seems to come in different strengths I suggest adding a teaspoon at a time and tasting until you get a flavor you like.

I sprinkled a little parsley on the potatoes so they looked good on the platter.

Chickpea Stew with Pork

Apparently I am a glutton for punishment. My first punishment is this coming weekend I will run in my first and last 10K race. It is the Ukrop Monument Run in Richmond, VA. I will be running in the race with my 2 daughters Lynn and Ashlyn. Well let me clear something up I don't actually run "I walk with style" to paraphrase Woody from Toy Story. My second act of punishment will come after the race. I decided that after a couple years of walking one day and working with weights the next it was time to try something new. I started looking at different exercise equipment. On the NordicTrack website I was asked to fill out a survey. I did this even though I usually don't fill out those things and believe it or not I won a RIP:60 workout system. That should arrive next week, so if I don't die during the 10K I can kill myself by doing a new workout routine.

I bought myself some new cookbooksOne of them was The Italian Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone. Since we went from 80 degrees on Thursday to 38 degrees on Sunday I decided I needed to try a slow cooker recipe. The recipe I decided on was Chickpea Stew, but my wife is a meat and potatoes person so I had to modify it. I had a pork loin roast that I cut up and browned and added to the stew. Here is the recipe with my changes listed.

Chickpea Stew with Pork
3 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
5 medium carrots, sliced 1/4 inch coins
2 potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes, canned or fresh I used I 28 oz can with the juice
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped I put a sprig in and removed it before serving
1/2 cup chicken broth, I used 1 1/4 cups as 1/2 did not seem like much with all of the veggies and meat I added
3 tbs olive oil, separated
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 to 2 lbs Pork Loin Roast, cut into bite size pieces

Add 1 tbs of olive oil to a pan and heat it over medium high heat. Add the pork and brown. After the pork is browned add everything to the slow cooker. Cook for 6 to 8 hours on low. Serve with some nice crusty bread.

Salmon with Grilled Veggie Salad

My week in a nutshell: Run, Work, Work, Work, Run Work, Run, Work watch basketball. Michigan State lost :-( Duke won :-). At work I have been working on 3 projects since January. Each project had 4 parts and every time I would work on 1 part of one project for a couple of days an emergency would pop up and I would have to switch to another part and work on that. Then someone decided they all had to be done last week. So after a lot of hours I finished them all. At least all of them are done and I can move on to something new for now and catch up on some food blogs.

This is a healthy recipe that can be made quickly and is very tasty.

A couple of notes before you start. You can use any veggies that you want the ones listed ate the ones I used. Cook the salmon to your desired doneness, I like the salmon crispy but not over cooked. I usually cook the salmon over high heat to crisp it up on the outside, but not long enough so the inside is over cooked. I got a little hand held mandolin a while back and with the remodel I kind of ignored it. I cut the veggies with the mandolin for this and discovered the thinnest setting was not the best setting for grilled veggies as they became kind of a mushy. In my mind the thinly sliced veggies looked gorgeous in the picture. You can cut them any way you heart desires, but I suggest at least 1/4 inch thick.

Salmon with Grilled Veggie Salad
1 salmon fillet or steaks
1 zucchini, sliced into ribbons
1 yellow squash, sliced into ribbons
20 to 30 cherry tomatoes
5-8 mushrooms, sliced thinly
Asparagus, I grilled about 14 spears because they were so small if you get larger ones use less
1 garlic clove, minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Turn the grill on high to preheat.

Cut the veggies. Drizzle with olive oil and slat and pepper them to taste.

Drizzle olive oil on the salmon and salt and pepper it. Place the salmon on the grill and cook to desired doneness.

Add the veggies to the grill and cook until done. Place veggies in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, I use a better grade than what I cook with. and squeeze the lemon on it. Toss the veggies to coat with oil and lemon juice. serve as a side dish or top salmon with it.

Shirred Eggs

These are the genuine thing, Frodo made them for Samwise, Merry and I. After breakfast he showed me how to make the eggs and then muttered something about returning a ring. I didn't want to go to the mall so I stayed back and did the dishes. My apologies to J.R.R. Tolkien.

For those that have never had shirred eggs, they are simply baked eggs. This is a recipe I have thought about making for a while, but because it takes more time than fried or scrambled I haven't got around to making it. Today, it is rainy and I couldn't go for morning run so I decided the time had come to give shirred eggs a shot.

Shirred Eggs

No stick cooking spray
1 slice Canadian Bacon per person
1 egg per person
1 tsp of half and half per person
1 tsp grated parmesan cheese, per person

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spray ramekin(s) with no stick spray. Put Canadian bacon on bottom of ramekin. Crack egg into ramekin. Put half and half on top of egg. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Tip: I put ramekins on cookie sheet and assembled the eggs, then put cookie sheet in oven rather than trying to put individual ramekins in oven.
Bake for about 15 minutes, eggs should be a little jiggly, if you cook until eggs are set, they will be overdone. I cut up a chive and sprinkled on top for some color.

Salmon with Bacon and Maple Glaze

EatingWell magazine published a recipe for a Spinach Salad with a warm Maple Dressing. I stumbled across this recipe for trying to come up with a new salmon recipe. My version is listed below, as I thought theirs needed a little work. The maple got me thinking and I decided to do a maple glaze on the salmon. Now what would I add to bring it all together? Obviously bacon, but I think bacon is the answer to a lot of things.

Salmon with Maple Glaze and Bacon
1 salmon steak for each person
1 slice of bacon for each salmon steak
1 tsp of maple syrup for each salmon steak

Spinach Salad with Maple Dressing
2 tbs chopped walnuts
2 oz chopped spinach per person
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tbs cider vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Salmon Instructions
Preheat grill to medium high.
While grill is heating up place bacon in microwave on paper towels and cover with a paper towel and cook for 1 minute. This will make bacon partially cooked but not crisp. Pat excess grease off bacon and set aside. When Salmon is almost cooked to desired doneness, drizzle syrup over the salmon and place bacon on top. Remove when salmon is cooked to desired doneness.

Spinach Salad
Put spinach in bowl, if frozen defrost and drain first.
Heat nuts in a dry skillet, over medium heat, until they are fragrant about 2 -3 minutes. Put nuts in bowl with spinach.
Add oil and shallot to pan and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add vinegar and syrup heat until boiling. Add the salt and pepper. Poor mixture over the spinach.

Put spinach mixture on plate and top with salmon steak.

Tilapia with Romesco Sauce

Today was another freakishly warm days, for winter, so I definitely wanted to grill out. Looked in the fridge and had a few veggies that needed to be eaten. Then off to the freezer and I see several packages of Tilapia. Now what can I do to tie this this altogether? Grilled fish and veggies are just a little to boring for my taste. Off to the pantry to figure out a sauce or something to bring this together. Almonds, hmm I have some roasted peppers...Romesco sauce.

This recipe is based on the Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health Romesco Sauce recipe. It makes about 1 1/2 cups of sauce, more than you will need for this recipe. Leftover sauce can be used as a dip, a sandwich spread, thin with pasta water and use as a pasta sauce or put some on a veggie omelet.

Tilapia with Romesco Sauce
1/3 cup Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 slice whole wheat bread, lightly toasted and crumbled
3/4 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup toasted almonds, put in fry pan and heat until fragrant
2/3 cup roasted red peppers, drained
1 tbs red wine vinegar
salt and fresh ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and heat until it starts to turn color. Then add the pepper flakes, bread and tomatoes.Cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently to coat the bread on all sides and the tomato starts to soften. Remove from heat.

In a food processor place the nuts and pulse until they are roughly chopped. Add the other ingredients and process until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. This sauce will last in a refrigerator for a week. Just remove from fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.

I grilled the fish with a just a little salt and pepper and olive oil. The veggies were chopped, tossed with olive oil and dried herbs and grilled until they got some color on them (don't look to close at the picture the color was mostly black...oops).

Carmel Apple Quesadilla

This is a recipe that was completely inspired by another blogger or should I say bloggers, Mr. & Mrs. P. In the teaser for their recipe they said Apple Quesadilla and I assumed it was a dessert, it turned out to be a cheese and apple quesadilla. I decided to do a dessert version. Click here and you can check out their recipe for Apple Quesadilla.

For my version I just winged it as I watched the Super Bowl, so taste and adjust to your liking. If I make this again I would consider toasting the tortillas a little longer to add some crunch to the recipe.

Carmel Apple Quesadilla
1 tbs. butter
1 apple but into bite sized pieces, I used Granny Smith
1 1/2 tbs brown sugar
2 tortillas
no stick cooking spray
carmel, melted or carmel sauce
cinnamon sugar

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the apples and cook until they are soft. While the apples are cooking spray both sides of the tortillas with no stick spray and put them one at a time into another skillet heated over medium heat. Cook tortillas until they start to form bubbles and take on some color. Flip over and cook other side until they bubble again. Put the tortilla on a plate.
When the apples are soft add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar melts and forms a glaze. Put 1/2 of apple mixture on half of the tortilla and then fold other half of tortilla over top of it. Drizzle the carmel over the tortilla shell and then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.

Cod with White Beans and Chorizo

People are supposed to get wiser as they get older, but I just did a dumb thing. I signed up to run a 10K race with my daughters on April 2. I have never ran more than 2 miles until a couple of weeks ago. Wish me luck or at least send me a card when I am in the hospital.

Cod with White Beans and Chorizo
4 oz Chorizo sausage, crumbled
1 shallot, diced
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tsp fresh thyme
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
1 15 oz can white beans, I used Great White
1/2 pound cod fillets
1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Preheat a grill to medium heat. Heat oil in pan.
To the pan add the chorizo and the shallot. Cook until shallots are soft, then add the tomatoes and wine. Cook until tomatoes start to shrivel and pop and wine is reduced. Add the beans and thyme. Cook until beans are heated through.
While the chorizo is cooking put the cod on the grill, but first sprinkle the smoked paprika on it. Cook for about 3 minutes per side.
Plate the bean mixture and place cod fillet on top of it.