Tag Archives: quick dinner

Salsa Verde and Citrus with Walleye

Posted on April 11, 2020 by nina in the kitchen

Salsa Verde and Blood Oranges with Walleye

This isn’t a salsa I’d like with chips, but I love it with fish! It’s fresh, flavorful, spicy and colorful!

My husband doesn’t like fish and he loves lots of spice and flavor. This salsa has made eating fish enjoyable for him!

The Original Dish developed this recipe using grapefruit and parsley. She’s one of my favorite sources for recipes and food ideas.

My husband can’t eat grapefruit so I used blood oranges and lime juice instead. Also we both love cilantro which I used instead of parsley.

Ingredients

1 large whitefish, walleye or halibut fillet (4 servings)
Olive oil
1-2 cups fresh cilantro or parsley leaves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced chives
2 tablespoons minced jalapeño or more
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup olive oil
Kosher salt
1 cup fresh peeled and segmented grapefruit, blood oranges, or oranges

Directions

1. In a small bowl place the peeled and segmented fruit and any juice that follows.

2. In another small bowl combine the cilantro, chives, jalapeño, lime juice and olive oil. Season with some salt. Add 2 tablespoons of the citrus juice if you like.

Here is a quick an easy way to prepare your fish. You can follow my recipe for Flash Baked Salmon. Here is the link

https://ninainthekitchen.com/2016/02/12/flash-baked-salmon/

After you flash bake the fish, divide into 4 pieces. Place each piece on a dinner plate. Spoon the Salsa Verde over and around each fillet. Gently spoon the citrus fruit over the fish and around the plate too.

Voila!

2 Comments

Posted in main dishes and tagged blood oranges, citrus salsa, flash baked fish, grapefruit, halibut, quick dinner, salsa Verde, the original dish, walleye, whitefish. Bookmark the permalink.

Seafood Stew

Posted on January 22, 2015 by nina in the kitchen

Jan Doty made this recipe for us this winter and Dave and I have made it several times since! The fresh tarragon provides a bright flavor. Adding the seafood at the very end allows for preparing most of the stew before guests arrive. Thank you again Jan for another outstanding recipe!

Seafood Stew

Poaching is an excellent way to cook seafood, since the cooking liquid makes a flavorful base for sauce. This recipe features a French technique called monter au beurre (to mount with butter), whereby chilled butter is whisked into the cooking liquid at the last minute to ensure a satiny sauce. We often double the recipe when entertaining which serves at least 10. A single recipe is written here.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup thinly sliced leek (about 1 large)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup dry white wine

28 ounce carton of low sodium chicken stock and/or seafood stock (Swanson’s Cooking Stock is a favorite) (if you want a thicker soup, add 1/2 the amount of stock)

3/4 pound medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined or more

3/4 pound large sea scallops, cut in half or more

1 pound cod, cut into 2 inch cubes

1 pound frozen baby clams, thawed (add liquid too)

1 pound frozen mussels, thawed (add liquid too)

2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

1 and 1/2 cup chopped fresh plum tomatoes

2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon

2 teaspoons grated fresh lemon rind

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or more as desired

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven.
Add leek and garlic and cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.
Add tomatoes, wine and broth and bring to a simmer at least 10 minutes. Keep at a low simmer covered until ready to serve.
When you are ready to serve, whisk the butter in.
Add the tarragon, lemon rind, salt, pepper and cayenne and bring broth to a boil.
Add the seafood and all it’s liquid.
Bring it up to a full boil.
Serve immediately with white rice or brown rice and crusty bread or naan/Arabic bread.

Roasted Asparagus and Lettuce Salad with Poached Egg

Posted on March 27, 2014 by nina in the kitchen

Roasted Asparagus and Romaine Salad with Poached Egg

Tonight I made a light dinner in honor of the first days of Spring. The temperature this morning was 5 degrees F, but I am trying to think WARM weather. The longer days and sunshine helps.

I love poached and soft boiled eggs. The French seem to use them often as a topping on their foods. I’ve eaten them on salads, toasted breads, cooked vegetables and on quickly cooked stews at home and in Paris and Corsica! Pretend you are in France enjoying the warmth and ambiance and give this recipe a try! It’s a very quick lunch or dinner that is special enough for company! It only takes 30 minutes 🙂

The original recipe is from Cooking Light May 2013. You can find the recipe there also. Today I used romaine because I could not find arugula at the grocery store. Choose your favorite lettuce variety. The arugula is more French. I also substituted cilantro for the tarragon because I had cilantro in the house. I did not add the toasted bread. If I had not eaten two pieces of bread at lunch, I would have added the bread to this salad tonight 🙂

Serves 4

1 pound asparagus, trimmed

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

3 tablespoons minced shallots

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon or other fresh herb ( I used cilantro today)

5-ounces baby arugula or other lettuce variety

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Place asparagus on a jelly-roll pan. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons olive oil. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/8 teaspoon salt
Toss gently to coat. Arrange in a single layer. Bake at 450 degrees for 5 minutes or until tender-crisp.
Place in a large bowl: remaining 7 teaspoons oil,1/8 teaspoon pepper, 1/8 teaspoon salt, shallots, lemon juice and tarragon. Whisk together.
Add arugula and toss. Divide salad onto 4 dinner plates.
Top salad with roasted asparagus.
Add water to a large skillet, filling 2/3 full. Bring to a boil. Add vinegar.
Break each egg into a custard cup and pour gently into water. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 3 minutes or to desired degree of doneness. The yolk should be runny, but the egg white should be white, not clear.
With a slotted spoon remove each egg and place one on each salad. Sprinkle with black pepper.
Voila!

Fish Packets

Posted on March 7, 2014 by nina in the kitchen

Fish and Vegetables Baked in Parchment

I love to experiment with parchment packets of fish, veggies and flavors. It takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Here is my latest based on a recipe from Cooking Light.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Take 2 pieces of parchment paper measuring about 15 x 23 inches.
Fold each piece in half and draw in half of a heart shape, using most of the paper. Cut shape and unfold.
Place a six-ounce fish fillet on one side of each heart shape. I use cod or swai. Any fish will work. Salt and pepper fillets on both sides.
Julienne slice 1 1/2 cups vegetables such as red pepper, carrot, and another veggie like snow peas, leeks or shallots.
Place half the vegetables over each fillet.
In a small bowl combine: 1 1/2 tablespoons softened butter, 1 teaspoon lemon rind, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon fresh dill weed, chopped.
With a small spatula, place 1/2 of the butter mix over the vegetables.
Place a stem of dill over the butter if you like.

Packets Ready for Folding

Wrap up the parchment packets as follows: Bring remaining half of paper over the fish. Double-Fold the raw edges together tightly to seal, starting at the top and working your way down. At the bottom, twist the tail to tighten the seal.
Place packets on a baking sheet. For more folding instructions and photos, see the link below.
Bake 15 minutes. Serve in the packets on plates.

Ready for Serving!

For step by step photos on folding these packets go to:

http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/fish-cooked-in-parchment-00412000070915/page10.html

Romano High Temperature Fish Fillets

Posted on May 23, 2013 by nina in the kitchen

Grated Romano over Swai Fillets

Dave found these Swai fillets at Kroger and were they delish! He covered a baking sheet with foil and placed the fillets down and sprinkled them with finely grated Romano cheese. Locatelli is a reliable brand we use. After grinding black pepper over, he gave them a light spray of olive oil.

The secret is in the baking. High temperature for a short time. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees and bake for 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fillets. We prefer our fish on the moist side, not overdone and dry. Serve pronto! Remember the fish continues to cook after it’s out of the oven!

Swai is a mild fish similiar to catfish. It is inexpensive and for more info go to http://news.consumerreports.org/money/2009/01/swai.html

4 Comments

Posted in main dishes and tagged high temperature, Locatelli Romano cheese, lowfat, quick dinner. Bookmark the permalink.

Spicy Shrimp Soup

Posted on March 17, 2013 by nina in the kitchen

Spicy Shrimp Soup

2 large poblano peppers, seeded and chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp olive oil

4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth (Kitchen Basics brand :))

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed dried red pepper

1 pound frozen shrimp, raw, peeled & deveined

1 cup frozen corn

1 15-ounce can cannellini beans (white kidney beans) rinsed and drained

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

2 or more tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 avocado, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

In a large 4-5 quart Dutch oven, heat the oil. Saute poblano and onion until tender. Add garlic and saute 1/2 minute.
Add broth, salt and crushed dried red pepper. Bring to a boil.
Add frozen shrimp, corn and drained beans. Return to a boil.
Simmer uncovered about 2 minutes or until shrimp turn opaque.
Stir in cilantro and lime juice.
Serve with avocado.
Makes 6 servings
This recipe is adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, February 2013 issue

1 Comment

Posted in Soups and Stews and tagged avocado, cannellini beans, cilantro, Kitchen Basics broth, poblano peppers, quick dinner. Bookmark the permalink.