Poached Salmon Salad with Lemon Dill Dressing

Got inspired by a greek salad on the Martha Stewart website.

Lettuce
Tomatoes
Avocado
Cucumber
Poached Salmon

Dressing:
2 T olive oil
2 T lemon juice
1/2 t dill (used dried)
1/4 t coarse sea salt

Zucchini fritters with pesto

This is a nice recipe- very simple. You can find it online in many places.

1 lb zucchini, grated
3/4 C flour
1 egg, separated
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper

Pesto- either home made or bought.


Put the grated zucchini in a sieve and sprinkle with plenty of salt. Leave for 1 hour, then rinse thoroughly. Dry well. OR put the grated zucchini in a kitchen towel and squeeze out the excess water.

Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the enter, then add the egg yolk and oil. Measure out 5 T water and add a little to the bowl.

Whisk the egg yolk and oil, gradually incorporating the flour and water to make a smooth batter. Season and leave for 30 minutes (I don't do this step)

Stir the zucchini into the batter. Whisk the egg white until stiff, then fold into the batter.

Fry the fritters in oil until golden brown.

Serve with pesto.

**This isn't my favorite zucchini fritter recipe, but it is simple to make in a pinch.

Beetroot chips

Beautiful red and golden beetroot! I found two different ways to make the chips- raw via dehydration and cooked via the oven.

I didn't have the time to dehydrate, so I cooked them.

• beets, large, scrubbed clean
• nonstick cooking spray
• salt, to taste
Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prep 

1. 2 Using the slicing blade of your food processor, a mandoline or a sharp knife, slice beets thinly. You want them to be the size of a potato chip. 
2. 
   
3. 3 Spread evenly on a cookie sheet that has been covered in parchment paper, spray the paper with nonstick spray,  season the beets with salt, then spray the beets with the nonstick spray.
4. 
   
5. 4 Roast 20 minutes, turn, then cook another 15 to 20 minutes, until crisp. Check often to make sure they don't burn. you may need to roast for a shorter or longer period of time depending on your oven and how crisp you want them - so keep an eye on them.

**Cooking- I used the mandoline to cut them.

**Finished product- Yum! but they went fast!

Chocolate Raspberry Shortcakes

This is one of my all time favorite recipes when raspberries are in season. You can get great organic raspberries right now (June). The recipe can be found at Epicurious. Please note that this recipe only serves two, so you'll need to adjust. I tripled it and it made 6 shortcakes- although be prepared- they are more like crumbly biscuits.

For the shortcakes

• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
• 4 tablespoons heavy cream

• 1 1/2 cups raspberries
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon framboise, or to taste
• 1/3 cup well-chilled heavy cream
• confectioners' sugar for sprinkling the shortcakes
• mint sprigs for garnish if desired

Make the shortcakes:
Into a bowl sift together the cocoa powder, the flour, the sugar, the baking powder, the baking soda, and the salt, add the butter, and blend the mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Add the cream and stir the mixture with a fork until it forms a dough. Divide the dough in half, arrange each half in a mound on a lightly greased baking sheet, and bake the shortcakes in the middle of a preheated 425°F. oven for 12 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the centers comes out with crumbs clinging to it. Transfer the shortcakes to a rack and let them cool.

In a bowl mash 3/4 cup of the raspberries with a fork, stir in 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar and the framboise, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, and stir in the remaining 3/4 cup raspberries. In a small bowl with an electric mixer beat the cream until it holds soft peaks, add the remaining 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, and beat the cream until it holds stiff peaks. Carefully cut the shortcakes in half horizontally with a serrated knife and with a metal spatula transfer the bottom half of each to an individual plate. (The shortcakes are delicate and crumble easily.) Top each bottom half with half the raspberry mixture, divide the whipped cream between the 2 shortcakes, and with the spatula carefully top each serving with the top half of a shortcake. Sprinkle the shortcakes with the confectioners' sugar and garnish the plates with the mint sprigs.

**I've never used the framboise. My shortcakes spread, so they looked like thick cookies. I didn't cut them in half! I tripled the recipe and got 6 shortcakes. I think the shortcakes need a bit more sugar- I used 8 T instead of 6. I also added vanilla into my whipped cream and used powdered sugar (since raw sugar doesn't melt nicely in whipped cream). Delicious!

Spicy Garlic Salmon

Found this recipe on another blog. I've changed it below to match what I did.


Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed 
• 1 t chili paste with garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard 
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• sea salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large filet of wild salmon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). 
2. Blend together the marinade. Coat the salmon with the paste mixture. (I marinated the fish for a while before baking)
3. Bake salmon in the preheated oven until it registers 145 with an internal thermometer.

**Delicious! Got multiple thumbs up. 

Yogurt-zucchini bread with walnuts

Cut this recipe out of Food and Wine. It looked like a lighter recipe than most zucchini breads.

Yogurt-zucchini bread with walnuts

• 1 cup walnut halves (4 ounces)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
• 1 cup coarsely grated zucchini (from about 1 medium zucchini)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter and flour a 9-by-4 1/2-inch metal loaf pan. Spread the walnut halves in a pie plate and toast them for about 8 minutes, until they are fragrant. Transfer the toasted walnuts to a cutting board and coarsely chop them, then freeze for 5 minutes to cool.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar with the eggs, vegetable oil and fat-free yogurt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients along with the grated zucchini and toasted walnuts and stir until the batter is evenly moistened. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, until the loaf is risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the loaf cool on a rack for 30 minutes before unmolding and serving.

Make Ahead The zucchini loaf can be wrapped tightly in plastic and kept at room temperature for up to 4 days, or frozen in plastic and foil for up to 1 month. 

**I used less sugar. The loaf rose well and tastes great. 

Potato encrusted salmon

Found this recipe today and thought I'd give it a go. It indicated that the recipe is courtesy of Chef Bryan Woolley. It calls for spinach, but I didn't do that part of the recipe.


4 (6 ounce) salmon fillets
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
1 tbsp brown sugar
4 cups grated potatoes, rinsed
2 eggs
2 tbsp Italian style bread crumbs
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 cups raw spinach

1. Rinse salmon and pat dry. Divide the brown sugar and the whole grain mustard between the salmon fillets.  Cover each fillet evenly. Set aside until ready to use.
2. In a medium size bowl, whisk the eggs together.  Add the bread crumbs, and grated potatoes. Mix together.
3. Divide the potatoes evenly into 4 parts.
4. Using your hands, press the potatoes onto the flesh side of the salmon.
5. Heat a non stick skillet to medium high and add about a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil.  Sear the potato side of the salmon in the hot pan until golden.  Turn salmon over and place on a parchment lined baking sheet and place in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes to finish cooking.
6. While salmon is baking off in the oven, add the spinach to the sauté pan you were using for the salmon.
7. Lightly wilt the spinach.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Divide the spinach between four plates and serve the potato encrusted salmon over the spinach.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve and enjoy!

**I plopped the potato mixture without the salmon directly into the frying pan to sear it. I left the salmon on the baking sheet and then put the seared potato patty on top of it. This method kept the salmon from drying out. If I cook this again, I'll put some herbs into the potato mixture. I used very little brown sugar and it was still a bit sweet for me.

Zucchini pancakes with semi-dried tomatoes and marinated feta

This recipe came from a newspaper- I can't remember the source. I looked for it on the web, but couldn't find it.

2 C grated zucchini
4 eggs
1/4 C+  flour
1/2 C parmesan (can sub feta)
pepper and salt
1/2 t nutmeg (optional in my opinion)
2 T chopped mint
1 t sea salt
olive oil

Place zucchini in a clean, dry towel and gently squeeze out any excess moisture. Place into a medium sized bowl with the eggs flour, parmesan, pepper, nutmeg, mint and salt. Mix together with a wooden spoon.

Heat a heavy-based fry pan over medium heat and add oil (optional depending upon your pan). Using a third-cup measure per pancake ladle mixture into the pan and cook each pancake 2-3 minutes on each side till golden brown and cooked through.

Serve with feta and sun-dried tomatoes.

**I one and a half timed the recipe- it made 7 very large pancakes. Delicious and easy.

Frozen Rhubarb Yogurt

I've got a lot of rhubarb to harvest and with it being so hot and dry- I thought this recipe looked like something interesting to try. I got it from The Rhubarb Compendium.

Rhubarb Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:

2 Cups Stewed rhubarb
1/2 Cup Plain low fat yogurt
3 Tablespoons Granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons Orange juice

Procedure:

In food processor puree stewed rhubarb until smooth. Blend in yogurt, sugar and orange juice. Freeze in icecream maker or cover and freeze in shallow metal pan for 3 to 4 hrs or until almost firm. Break up mixture and process in food processor in batches if necessary until smooth. Freeze in airtight container for 1 hour or until firm.

You'll notice that you need to stew some rhubarb for this recipe. Here is an easy way to do it:

8 C sliced rhubarb
1/2 C sugar
1/8 C water

In a large saucepan, combine the rhubarb, sugar, and water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb breaks down, about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring often, until the liquid has evaporated and the rhubarb is thick and jammy, about 10 minutes longer. 

**Shown on top of gingered rhubarb apple crisp. I used my kitchen aid ice cream attachment. Tangy goodness!

Gingered Rhubarb Apple Crisp

My rhubarb is ready for harvesting! Since I have a few apples left from the other week's harvest box, this recipe looked good to try. I got it from a site dedicated to rhubarb, The Rhubarb Compedium.

Gingered Rhubarb Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

2 c Diced rhubarb
3 lg Apples,peeled, cored and Sliced
1 c Sugar
1 tb Minced crystallized ginger
1 tb Flour

Topping

1/2 c Flour
1/2 c Brown sugar
4 tb Butter, cold, cut into Chunks
1/2 tsp Ground ginger
1/2 c Oatmeal

Procedure:

Place rhubarb, apples, 1 cup sugar, crystallized ginger, and 2 tablespoons flour in a large bowl and toss well. Turn into a greased 9" pie pan. Combine topping ingredients in a bowl and mix with a pastry blender until crumbly. Spread crumb mixture over rhubarb and apples and bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes, until fruit is tender and topping is browned. Serve warm...

**Shown with frozen rhubarb yogurt on top. Could have also been good with vanilla ice cream or cream. I would reduce the sugar next time- I thought it was a tad too sweet.

Caesar Salad with grilled chicken

Got the dressing recipe from the smitten kitchen blog. I've copied it directly below.


Caesar Salad Dressing
Because I created this for me, me, me, my Caesar salad dressing is raw egg and anchovy optional, and I swear you won’t miss them. But if this offends the Caesar purist in you, I’ve given options for both. Now can’t we all get along?

2 tablespoons mayonnaise – or – 1 egg
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, plus a drop or two more, to taste
1 oil-packed anchovy fillet, finely chopped (optional)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Whisk all except last together. Gradually whisk in 1/4 cup olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. (Dressing can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature and rewhisk before using.)

**I used romaine lettuce, shaved the parmesan cheese, marinated the chicken in Newman's organic Tuscan Italian salad dressing before grilling, and topped the salad with the last of the kalamata olives from the previous night's pizza. We used the egg instead of mayo in the dressing. I would add one more anchovy next time to better balance the garlic.

Pizza with roasted garlic and beets, spinach, olives, sun dried tomatoes, and feta

Pizza dough already on the blog.
As the dough was rising, I roasted beets and garlic together at 400 for 25 or so minutes.
I layered the beets and garlic on the bottom, added a bag of spinach on top, sprinkled feta and kalamata olives on top of the spinach, cut some marinated sun dried tomatoes into quarters and spread them around,  ground salt and pepper over it all along with a splash of olive oil.

Cooked the pizza on 400 for 25 or so minutes. Yummy!

Salad with tuna and egg

First tomato from the garden on this salad. Poached egg, tuna, and capers. Delicious!