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dinner

Farmer's Market Foodie Parties Lunch Recipes Main Dishes Quick and Easy Salad

Cocoa Coffee Rubbed Salmon

written by Ali

Cocoa Coffee Rubbed Salmon will transform the way you prepare fish. I have been in a salmon rut lately, regularly cooking it in parchment paper with a little lemon and butter. It is great this way, but I wanted to spice things up (literally).

#Choctoberfest is such a good time of year to experiment with chocolate. I knew I wanted to make something savory, so decided I would see how salmon fared with a little cocoa coffee rub. Plus, I have a full spice cabinet from a summer filled with canning and preserving. (Yes – I do have three types of paprika lurking on a shelf. And I promise I used ¼ teaspoon from each at some point this summer to make chutney or something similar).

So – cocoa coffee rubbed salmon to the rescue! I blended cocoa, finely ground coffee, ancho Chile powder, smoked paprika, roasted garlic powder, salt, and pepper and rubbed the heck out of a salmon fillet.

On a side note, I signed up for the Port Orford Community Supported Fishery this year. The CSF is kind of like a CSA, only you get to choose what kinds of fish you want from what is fresh at the dock. I have totally stocked up on salmon and albacore tuna, all sustainably fished off our beautiful Oregon coast. The salmon is so perfect – sashimi grade, so great for poke, and absolutely like butter when it is cooked.

But back to the point: cocoa coffee rubbed salmon is positively amazing! It is the best blend for blackened salmon. I baked it in a cast iron skillet until it was just opaque and easily flaked with a fork. I did not add anything to it but the rub. One pound of salmon lasted me for lunch for two days. I’m a big fan of salmon salad, so served it with local farm greens and late season radishes and a dash of ranch dressing.

Yum

Cocoa Coffee Rubbed Salmon

Ingredients

1 teaspoon finely ground coffee
1/2 teaspoon ancho chili pepper
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound salmon fillet

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine all the spices in a small bowl.
Rub the spices over the salmon, skin side down.
Bake in a cast iron skillet or on a baking sheet for 12 - 15 minutes, or until the fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork.
Enjoy!
Serves 2.

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October 17, 2019 1 comment

Main Dishes

Pan Seared Halibut with Roasted Vegetables

written by Ali

Photo by Peter Wendt on Unsplash

Often people feel like they can over serve fish during the warmer months as it’s a favourite for a gorgeous, light lunch. Whether it’s a juicy Nicoise salad or delectable salmon and vegetables, it’s known among chefs and food bloggers that fish is mainly prepared in summer.

As I love eating fish all year round, I have decided to come up with a delicious halibut recipe that is worthy of the coziest of winter nights, filled with warmth and seasoned roasted winter vegetables.

Halibut is the largest of all flatfish and is available mostly in steaks, fillets and cutlets. Its a firm, meaty white flesh has a delicious flavour when cooked lightly with olive oil. For the best results in the recipe, you will need to use Pacific Halibut Steaks.

This meal is the perfect winter warmer and something the whole family will enjoy both preparing and eating. Find a detailed recipe below:

Serves: 4

Recipe: Seafood

Time: 15 Minutes Prep and 45 Minutes Cook

Ingredients

4 6 oz. Halibut fillets
24 small new potatoes

5 sliced medium carrots
4 chopped white onions

2 peeled medium parsnips

1 peeled medium butternut squash

2 tbsp of pesto

To Season
olive oil

Thyme

rosemary
salt & fresh ground pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F and chop all of the vegetables into 1-inch sized pieces.
Once chopped, place the new potatoes, carrots, onions, parsnips and butternut squash into a large roasting pan. Season with the olive oil, thyme, rosemary, salt and fresh ground pepper.
Place the vegetables in the oven and roast for 45 minutes (or until they start to become chargrilled).
About 30 minutes into the vegetables are roasting, you can begin to prepare the fish. In a large skillet pan, heat around 1 tablespoon of olive oil at a medium temperature. Lightly brush each side of your Halibut steaks with a thin coating of olive oil, then lightly season them with the salt and pepper.
Once seasoned, place the halibut into the heated skillet with the skin side facing down. Wait until the skin is nice and crisp – approximately 4 minutes – then turn to cook on the other side. When cooking the second side, it should only need around 2 minutes more to be cooked through.
If needed, remove the skin with a fork (optional) and transfer to four plates.
To make a sauce that accompanies the halibut, mix the 2 tablespoons of pesto with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and place in small ramekins alongside the halibut.
Once the vegetables have roasted, sprinkle with one last seasoning of rock salt and serve with the fish and pesto sauce. Alternatively, the vegetables can be served ‘family style’, where everyone serves up their own at the dinner table.

Do you love eating fish dishes in winter? Which are your favourite? Let me know if you try this recipe and don’t forget to share your photos with me on social media!

November 28, 2018 0 comment

Foodie Lists Musings

Valentine’s Day Dining for Foodies

written by Ali

Source

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. As such, it may be too late to book a table at your favorite restaurant. On a brighter note, there’s still time to plan a magical evening all from the comfort of the home.

In truth, that privacy can add to the romance. Nonetheless, you need to know that the food is befitting of such a special night. Here’s all you need to know.

Setting The Mood

Given that it’s February 14, it’s vital to ensure that love is in the air. So, before worrying about the meal itself, it’s time to think about the table and the room. There’s no need to go overboard, but paying attention to a few finer details can make a world of difference.

A few candles, a red tablecloth, and a few rose petals will set the tone. Meanwhile, ensuring that the table is set with glasses and the fancy dinnerware is key. Essentially, if you want this to be seen as a special meal, you must treat it that way.

Starters: The World Is Your Oyster

Source

Valentine’s Day is a chance to do something you wouldn’t normally do. Oysters Rockefeller is the perfect example, and Island Creek Oysters is the perfect place to source them. It’s not as cheap or easy as creating a basic tomato soup, but it will get the flame of love burning strong.

There are many different ways to prepare this starter, and you’ll find various recipes online. If you truly wish to kick things up a notch, find one that utilizes a teaspoon or two of hot pepper sauce. This secret ingredient is a clear sign that the recipe will hit the mark.

Main: Go European

As it’s a romantic time, why not borrow some of the European romance? France and Italy are two countries that conjure up thoughts of love. Frankly, the food is a huge ingredient in that recipe for happiness. Pasta dishes are always a winner, especially when you do it from scratch.

For an average cook, ravioli dishes are brilliant. They’re easy to make, versatile, and can be coupled with fancy salads and other side dishes. Whether the filling is meat based or a something else like ricotta is entirely a matter of choice. This post will provide bags of inspiration, and proves that it can do the tricks despite being fairly simple. When coupled with the right bottle of white wine, you’ll be destined for a wonderful night.

Dessert: Go For Chocolate

A combination of chocolate and strawberries is known to be a winning combination for any romantic evening. However, there’s no need to go out to buy a chocolate fountain machine. Even if you have dietary requirements, you can learn to make paleo and vegan caramel cups at Sabrina’s Sinless Secrets. Those delightful treats are also pretty light, which is a good thing after two previous courses. Moreover, if you have the right tools, they can be designed into hearts.

If chocolate isn’t the right solution, keeping it light is still advised. Meanwhile, a collection of mini desserts is both cute and offers a variety. Besides, this gives you three attempts to find your new long-term favorite.

February 9, 2018 0 comment

Farmer's Market Freezer Meals Main Dishes Vegetarian

Freezer Friendly Broccoli Cheddar Pot Pie

written by Ali

My freezer friendly broccoli cheddar pot pie takes me back to the origin story of Fix Me a Little Lunch. Ten years ago we were still living in New Mexico. It made a lot of sense for me to bring my own lunch to work – there wasn’t really a convenient place for me to eat out, even if I’d wanted to and the food the university cafeteria where I worked was not great. I was hardly an expert on food prepping. The most food prepping I bothered with was to cut up some carrot and celery sticks to munch on as a snack. I relied heavily on frozen entrees for my lunches. I was also a vegetarian at the time, so stuck with Amy’s Organic line. One of my favorite entrees from Amy’s was the broccoli cheddar pot pie.

In my four years in New Mexico, I ate Amy’s Organics pretty much every day of the week for lunch. Fast forward to Oregon. I was still eating Amy’s Organics, but realizing, increasingly, that they were kind of pricey. We’d also signed up for a CSA and I was going to the farmer’s market pretty regularly in the summer time. I didn’t want to compost half of the produce I was getting, but was quickly drowning in veggies. That’s when I started browsing Pinterest and finding recipes that I could easily freeze and started fixing my own little lunches, using the incredible abundance that Southern Oregon has to offer.

I was thinking about food prepping and freezer meals a lot this last week. I had both broccoli and carrots starting to stack up on me in the fridge from the last two weeks of CSA shares. I decided it was time to make freezer friendly broccoli cheddar pot pies of my own. This recipe makes a lot of pot pie. In fact, I could easily get three 8 x 11 dishes of pot pie out of this freezer friendly cheddar pot pie recipe. Since it’s just the two of us, this is somewhere between four and six nights of dinner. I love having freezer meals on hand. For a few hours of prep on the weekend, I’ve reduced my weeknight stress by at least half. All I have to do is pull one of these out of the oven and bake it. This frees me up to do yoga, or drink wine on the patio, or play fetch with the dog.

These freezer friendly broccoli cheddar pot pies also used up all of the broccoli florets and most of the carrots from the last two weeks of CSA shares. I saved the broccoli stems for snacking on throughout the week.

Yum

Freezer Friendly Broccoli Cheddar Pot Pie

Ingredients

For the filling

1 onion, finely chopped
2 heads broccoli, broccoli florets roughly chopped (save the stems for other uses)
5 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 – 5 small potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup flour
2 cups milk
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste

For the crust

3 ¾ cups flour
1 ½ cups butter, chilled and chopped into small pieces
2 teaspoons salt
¾ cup ice cold water

Instructions

Make the crust by combining the flour, butter, salt, and ice cold water. Work the dough with a pastry cutter or your hands to combine all the ingredients. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Make the filling. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion, broccoli, carrots and potatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until all ingredients are soft.
Add the flour, making sure it coats all the vegetables, and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly. Add the milk and chicken stock, and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Simmer until the sauce begins to thicken. Take the mixture off the heat and add the cheddar cheese, salt and pepper and stir until the cheese melts.
Portion out the filling into 8 x 8 Pyrex dishes or individual ramekins. Roll out the chilled dough and cut to fit over each pot pie. At this point, you can bake the pot pies or freeze.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 – 35 minutes if not frozen and 40 – 50 minutes if frozen.
Enjoy!

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August 28, 2017 0 comment

Farmer's Market Foodie Lists Foodie Parties Lunch Recipes Main Dishes Vegetarian

My Legume Love Affair #106 Roundup

written by Ali

My Legume Love Affair #106 Roundup is going up much later than I had originally planned. I started my new job last week, and have been on the go ever since. I’m just now getting a chance to come back to the blog. So, I’m hopeful better late than never holds true here and can’t wait to share the great submissions for MLLA from April.

First up is a really yummy looking chili from Allotment 2 Kitchen. This Green Chili with Welsh Leeks and Edamame Beans combines some great flavors, including green chili, leeks, and edamame beans. I love that Shaheen also threw some chives from her garden into this. I moved my pot of chives from Vancouver, WA to our new home on the coast, so am looking for some good uses for them.

Herbs, Spices and Tradition shared this recipe for Chickpeas Flour Crepe. I love chickpeas and realized after reading this recipe that I really need to start using chickpea flour. Also, this is a great way to use up any chutney you might have stashed in the cupboard (or a great excuse to make chutney during canning season this year).

The VegHog shared this lovely recipe for Koshari. Koshari is an Egyptian dish made with beans, pasta, and tomato. This looks like such a yummy, comforting food – I’m definitely looking forward to making this one!

The Taste Space shared Slow Cooker Creamy Coconut Lentils. I love that Janet added Ancho chili powder to this recipe. It’s one of my favorite ingredients. These lentils look so creamy and luscious – what perfect comfort food for a rainy day.

My contribution to this month’s roundup was a white bean salad lettuce wrap. This was such a quick recipe to make – absolutely perfect for the hectic last few weeks.

Keep up on My Legume Love Affair on Lisa’s Kitchen. Siri at Cooking with Siri is hosting for May.

May 12, 2017 0 comment

Breakfast Main Dishes

Egg and Sausage Poutine

written by Ali

Egg and sausage poutine is a glorious comfort food. I could easily eat it for breakfast (preferably with a Bloody Mary), but am just as happy to make this for dinner, particularly on a cool, rainy autumn night, served with a crisp Chardonnay and eaten watching a comedy.

My husband, Clay, is the person who brought poutine into our world. I am pretty sure he found a recipe for it on a video on Facebook. My initial reaction was one of skepticism – sure, it was a food that included French fries and cheese, but gravy? After some trial and error though, this has gone into my rotation of go-to comfort foods for days I’m feeling especially stressed out or unhappy. It’s a tie for me which is better – poutine or pasta carbonara.

Some food trivia: poutine is a dish that originated in Quebec and is very popular in Canada and some of the states that border Canada. In its simplest form, it is fries, curds, and gravy, but you can definitely add other things to it, including bacon (my favorite), ham, etc. I suppose if you felt really guilty about eating it, you could add a veggie component – I can imagine (though have yet to try) that some shaved and crisped Brussel sprouts could be really lovely with this.

Egg and Sausage Poutine
Serves 4

Brown gravy (recipe below)
1 bag frozen French fries
1 package link breakfast sausages
4 eggs
1 package cheese curds

Brown Gravy
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup beef broth

Bake the fries according to the package directions. As the fries bake, cook the breakfast sausages until they are browned. While fries and sausage cook, make the gravy. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and gradually whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook the roux for a minute, continuing to whisk. Pour in the beef broth and continue to whisk. Cook for about five minutes or until the gravy comes to your preferred thickness. Remove the gravy from the heat and set aside.

Set aside the sausage. Fry the eggs – I prefer a slightly runny yolk with this recipe, but you can also cook the eggs until the yolk is set if you prefer. Once all components are cooked, plate the poutine by setting down a base of French fries on each plate. Divide the curds over each plate of fries. Drizzle some of the gravy over the top. Place the sausages and egg on top and top with more gravy. Enjoy!

September 29, 2016 0 comment

Main Dishes

Chipotle Chicken

written by Ali

Post 4th of July holiday (read: post ribs, corn with butter, and rootbeer floats), I am ready for a light and quick meal. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with baking chicken breasts that have been spiced up and marinated for at least an hour. They are quick and easy, in that prep time takes about ten minutes, I can wander off and read for an hour and drink a glass of wine, and then can throw the chicken breast (marinade and all) in the oven for another half hour and dinner is then served. This latest variation, chipotle chicken breasts, can be sliced up and added to a salad or tossed into a tortilla with cheese to make an easy quesadilla.

I’ve also become slightly obsessed with ground chipotle chili as a spice. I found it at Whole Foods in a cute little spice box and have been adding it to the marinade for these chicken breasts, as well as in barbecue sauce, as a rub for meat, and in eggs. It’s smokier than regular chili powder and brightens up everything.

Chipotle Chicken
Serves 2, but could easily be doubled

2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 shallot, minced
Juice from one lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine all the ingredients from the smoked paprika to the olive oil in an oven safe baking dish. Add the chicken and coat with the marinade. Cover and let marinade in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. When the chicken breasts are marinated, place in the oven and bake for twenty minutes (to 170 degrees on a meat thermometer).

July 6, 2016 0 comment

Main Dishes Quick and Easy

Easy Baked Chicken Breasts

written by Ali

Last week was one of those weeks that I just didn’t feel very enthusiastic about anything, particularly cooking. By Friday night, I was just tired – it had been raining all week, and as much as I love rain and love the PNW, I’m not a huge fan of this occasional season called Juneuary. Sometimes, even a PNW girl needs some sunshine. All of this is a long way of saying that on Friday, I just wanted to make an easy dinner, curl up under a blanket, have a glass of wine, and just be done.

Fortunately, I have just the recipe for such a situation. Easy baked chicken breasts are just that: easy. They can be accompanied by all manner of roasted veggie, including potatoes, green beans, cauliflower, and my personal favorite, fava beans. I had fava beans from the farmer’s market from the previous Sunday, and I have an abundance of herbs in the garden right now, so all of these combined, along with a little bit of easy focaccia, made for the perfect weekend night meal.

(Showing off my herb garden – all in pots and all doing better than I expected).

This is designed to be an easy meal for two, but could easily be adjusted to make more.

Easy Baked Chicken Breasts
Serves 2

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 – 3 tablespoons finely chopped herbs (I used basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme and parsley)
2 or 3 finely chopped garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
A few grinds of fresh pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine the herbs, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Put the chicken breasts on a foil lined baking sheet and spread the herb and oil combination over them with a spoon.

You can also put vegetables on the baking sheet with the chicken – just keep an eye on them as you cook the chicken as they may cook at different speeds.

Bake the chicken for 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees.

June 26, 2016 0 comment