Tag: Olive Oil

Salmon Salad with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

For some reason I really haven’t mastered the whole crispy skin thing for fish. Which is kind of ridiculous. I eat/prepare salmon probably once a week on average. Anyways, even when I fail at achieving crispy skin, I still thoroughly enjoy my salmon dish. And this is another one of those cases. This recipe should result in crispy skin. And. Well. It just didn’t, but it’s absolutely delicious anyways!

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes (I used heirloom)
  • 2 teaspoons plus 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 (6 ounce) salmon fillets, skin-on
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)
  • 4 oz mixed baby lettuce leaves

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Seafood Arrabbiata

My boyfriend and I have been trying to eat less meat and increase our seafood, shellfish, and vegetarian dinner options. In general, vegetarian and fish dinner options are also a great choice for a weeknight dinner because they take very little time to prepare.

 

This recipe for Seafood Arrabbiata from Cooking Light incorporates a few different types of shellfish into a spicy tomato broth that is served over pasta.

“Arrabbiata” means “angry” in Italian alluding to the spiciness of the dish. You can alter the spices to your liking. I’d suggest adding very little crushed red pepper, and then having a shaker of red pepper when serving so each person can customize their level of heat.

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • 1 (16oz box) uncooked linguine
  • 2 tablespoons chili olive oil, divided  (I used Nudo Olive Oil with Sicilian Chillies), (can substitute regular olive oil)
  • 8 ounces sea scallops
  • 8 ounces peeled and deveined medium shrimp
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or 1/2 teaspoon if using regular olive oil)
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon anchovy paste, optional
  • 1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup tomato puree
  • 1/2 cup clam juice
  • 24 littleneck clams
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish

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Chicken Piccata with Spaghetti

One of my earlier posts on this blog was a chicken piccata recipe. I used to make chicken piccata probably once a week, because it was one of the only recipes I knew! But since I’ve committed to learning how to cook, I haven’t made it in probably 2 years (there are so many recipes I have to try, I rarely go back to my previous go-to recipes). So I decided to revisit the recipe with a few tweaks.

I’ve seen commercials for Land O Lakes Sauté Express products and just loved the idea. The Sauté Starters, made with butter, olive oil, and spices, are an easy way to cook up chicken or fish effortlessly. The Sauté Express Sauté Starters are specifically made for cooking on a stovetop and are portioned out in one ounce servings, enough to cook two chicken breast or fish fillets. So I thought the Garlic & Herb Sauté Express would be great in chicken piccata.

Because I use the same pan to both make the sauce and cook my chicken, my piccata is browner than most you’ll find in restaurants. So I apologize for the presentation. But trust me, the flavor makes it worth it!

 

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 lb chicken tenderloins (about 8 pieces)
  • 2 squares Garlic & Herb Sauté Express, divided
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
  • 1/3 cup white wine (whatever you have around the house)
  • ¾ cup chicken stock
  • The juice and zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 box spaghetti (or your favorite pasta)
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
  • 2 tablespoons drained capers
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

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Cherry Ricotta Bruschetta

I continue to struggle with looking at a bunch of ingredients and imagining a meal. In general, I follow recipes and make a few changes to account for ingredients available or to suit my tastes. But yesterday, a friend and I came across fresh ricotta and the most beautiful fresh cherries. The cherries were slightly tart so I thought they would make an amazing “dessert alternative” or a somewhat sweet appetizer.

We topped toasted baguette pieces (also from the market) with some of the ricotta, pitted cherries, mint, and a touch of honey to make this Cherry Ricotta Bruschetta.

Ingredients (serves 4, multiply as needed):

  • 1/2 a baguette (or 8 pieces)
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 2 oz fresh ricotta
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon mint, chopped
  • 24 cherries, pitted
  • 1 teaspoon local honey

Continue reading Cherry Ricotta Bruschetta

Clams with Spicy Sausage

I (like most people, I’m sure) cook mostly things I want to eat. Every now and then, I will get a special request and will go outside my comfort zone (like this Meatloaf recipe, or this Sriracha Deviled Eggs recipe) but when it comes to a weeknight dinner, I’m really selfish about what I cook. So I thought it might be nice if I finally made something that was up my boyfriend’s alley more so than mine.

Don’t get me wrong, I still like what’s going on in this recipe. I just don’t usually make meals with sausage. But I was reminded of this recipe for Clams with Spicy Sausage as a suggestion to make on World Oceans Day as a Perfect Protein blogger (more information on that in my post on Thai Coconut Mussels), which was June 8. So. Um. I’m a little late. But this recipe is too tasty not to share!

This recipe can be found in the book The Perfect Protein: The Fish Lovers Guide to Saving the Oceans and Feeding the World and is from the ultimate seafood chef, Eric Ripert. This man knows his fish; one of his restaurants, Le Bernardin is known as a seafood mecca. But this recipe is really easy to make and cooks quickly, making it perfect for weeknight meals. I altered the recipe slightly but the gist is still the same.


Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 white onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • the zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 andouille sausage, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup low sodium chicken stock
  • 2 dozen littleneck clams, well scrubbed
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • lemon wedges, for serving

Continue reading Clams with Spicy Sausage

Badenjan Chalow

This month, Pomi asked that I try to create a recipe using one of their tomatoes paired with eggplant. I have been craving my favorite Afghan meal from a restaurant in Philadelphia called Ariana so my mind went immediately to trying to replicate it. The meal, Badenjan Chalow, is a lamb dish with eggplant, cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices served over basmati rice.

Pomi’s strained tomatoes are perfect for this recipe. Although I’d love to put this in a slow cooker and let it cook all day, I wanted to make this weeknight meal friendly.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup cooked basmati rice
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 eggplant, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
  • 1 lb lamb chunks
  • 1 container Pomi strained tomatoes

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Chili Oil Hummus

Hummus is probably my favorite snack. On days I don’t feel like cooking, I tend to grab some hummus with pita, tomatoes, cucumbers, or anything else that will work as a yummy vehicle for the hummus. It’s also really delicious as a spread on a sandwich instead of mayo. So I usually have at least one container of hummus in my fridge at any moment. But homemade hummus is exponentially better than the store bought stuff. Plus, you can customize it to your liking.

I recently watched a video of the hummus master himself, James Beard winner Michael Solomonov. Mike Solo has arguably the best hummus found in Philly, at his restaurant Zahav. I wanted to attempt to make my own creamy hummus at home. I tend to like mine slightly spicy, which can be achieved by adding a lot of garlic. But I have this awesome Nudo Chili Olive Oil, so I thought I’d include that to give it a bit of a kick, so I decided to make this Chili Oil Hummus!

Ingredients:
  • 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas
  • 2 large cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup Tahini sesame seed paste
  • the juice of 2 lemons
  • 2 tablespoons chili olive oil (I used Nudo)
  • Paprika, for garnish
  • Chopped parsley, for garnish

 

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Italian Frying Pepper Bruschetta

I received Italian Frying Peppers in my CSA share this week. I had no idea what an Italian frying pepper was so I was curious to find out more about these fun looking peppers. Although they look like they might be spicy, they are definitely closer to the flavor of a bell pepper, but there is a hint of spice. They come in a range of colors so I thought they’d make a beautiful bruschetta-type appetizer. I figured there was good reason they were called frying peppers, so I kept it simple and did just that: sauteed them up in some olive oil. (Sorry about the lack of amounts of each ingredient, I made this up as I was going)

Ingredients:
  • Italian frying peppers, cut small/thin enough to fit on bread slices
  • French or Italian bread, sliced
  • Olive oil (I used Nudo’s basil olive oil)
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Fresh basil, chopped

Preheat your broiler. Brush the pieces of bread with the olive oil. (I realized after I did this with basil how fantastic it would have been with Nudo’s olive oil with chili. Sigh. I’ll do that next time!)

Top with Parmesan cheese and add to a cookie sheet.

Broil for 1-2 minutes or until the bread begins to brown.

Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil per frying pepper (I cooked three so I used 1 tablespoon) to a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the peppers.

Cook until they begin to brown, turning once, about 4-5 minutes.

Remove the peppers from the pan and top the bread with slices of peppers.

If desired, add a bit more Parmesan cheese and broil for another 30 seconds to a minute, or until the cheese melts.

They can be served as is. Simple, delicious, and quick.

You can also add some freshly chopped basil to the slices to add a bit more flavor.

These were really stellar. I loved how (for lack of a better term) creamy the peppers became once fried. This recipe was really delicious with the basil olive oil, but I bet the chili olive oil would have been spectacular. Normal extra virgin olive oil would also do the trick.

Print
Italian Frying Pepper Bruschetta

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • Italian frying peppers, cut small/thin enough to fit on bread slices
  • French or Italian bread, sliced
  • Olive oil (I used Nudo’s basil olive oil)
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Fresh basil, chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat your broiler. Brush the pieces of bread with the olive oil.
  2. Top with Parmesan cheese and add to a cookie sheet.
  3. Broil for 1-2 minutes or until the bread begins to brown.
  4. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil per frying pepper (I cooked three so I used 1 tablespoon) to a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the peppers.
  5. Cook until they begin to brown, turning once, about 4-5 minutes.
  6. Remove the peppers from the pan and top the bread with slices of peppers.
  7. If desired, add a bit more Parmesan cheese and broil for another 30 seconds to a minute, or until the cheese melts.
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Grilled Duck with Warm Mushroom Salad and Truffle Vinaigrette

Happy Memorial Day weekend! Grilling is synonymous with Memorial Day in my mind, so I was so happy to receive a Grilling Cookbook from Cooking Light a few days ago.  The cookbook: Cooking Light Way to Cook Grilling: The Complete Visual Guide to Healthy Grilling is pretty darn snazzy. The photos are gorgeous, so um, please don’t compare my crummy photos for this recipe to the ones in the book, that will make me sad. Anyways, when I saw a recipe for grilled duck, I wanted to try it. I love duck, it’s a go-to for me at restaurants. But, I’m beyond terrified to cook it myself. It’s a tough meat to cook, and if overcooked, can be super crummy. Plus, it’s not exactly cheap! But grilling? I think I can handle that…
This recipe sounded like it was written just for me and my boyfriend. Before even opening the cookbook this was our conversation:
“We should try grilling a meat we’ve never made before, I’m not in the mood for a normal burger”
“Yeah, and maybe we can grill up some asparagus and mushrooms as well. I do want a meat as part of the meal though.”
We turn to this recipe, which managed to incorporate all of our requirements, and we were sold. The only thing we weren’t sold on? The marinating time. The original recipe suggested marinating the duck overnight, up to two days. We wanted duck, and we wanted it well before tomorrow, so our marinating was closer to 3 hours instead. There are also some pretty pricey ingredients in this dish, so this would definitely be a special occasion type of meal.

 

Ingredients:
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 (6-ounce) boneless duck breast, skinned
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
  • Cooking spray
  • 3 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 5 ounces)
  • 2 cups thinly sliced portobello mushroom caps (about 5 ounces)
  • 3/4 cup (1/4-inch) diagonally cut asparagus
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons truffle oil

Continue reading Grilled Duck with Warm Mushroom Salad and Truffle Vinaigrette

Pesto

Nothing tastes as fresh as homemade pesto. It is surprisingly easy to make and really blows the store-bought stuff out of the water. With a whopping 5 ingredients (plus salt and pepper), pesto is definitely something you need to try to make if you haven’t already! I made this to go with my gnocchi that I made for a food swap.

Ingredients (makes about 1 cup):
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup walnuts
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste

Add the basil leaves and walnuts to a food processor.

Pulse a few times to combine.

Mince your garlic.

Add to the food processor.

Pulse to combine.

While the food processor is running, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream.

Add the Parmesan cheese and pulse to combine.

Season with salt and pepper.

You can add more of whichever ingredient you think you need more of at any time. I prefer my pesto to be relatively firm, so I don’t use a lot of olive oil to make mine. I also tend to add more cheese on top of my pasta anyways, so I limit the amount of cheese I put into the pesto. You can also use pine nuts instead of walnuts; I just prefer walnuts.
Be sure to use high quality ingredients for this recipe if you can. Because none of it is cooked, you want basil when it is fresh, high quality olive oil with a smooth taste, and a nicely aged cheese. A little pesto goes a long way when used as a topping on pasta, so this recipe can luckily be frozen to use at a later date as well!

Fettuccine with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Ever since the first week of my CSA share, I have anxiously awaited the arrival of fresh tomatoes.  This week, I received my first batch! The share came with a bag of Roma tomatoes, a bag of Red tomatoes, and a pint of Sungold cherry tomatoes so expect quite a few tomato recipes to be posted in the coming days. Because this is my first real batch of in season tomatoes, I wanted to begin with a meal that would highlight how fresh these little guys are. Food & Wine’s Fusilli with Summer Tomato Sauce seemed like the perfect choice.
Ingredients:
2 pounds ripe tomatoes (about 4), chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
2/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil
1 pound fresh fettuccine pasta
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Heat a pasta pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil.
Roughly chop your tomatoes and mince the garlic.
Add the tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt & pepper to a food processor and puree.
Add the basil and pulse to mix.
Add salt to the pasta pot so that the pasta doesn’t stick together while cooking. Add the pasta. The original recipe used fusilli. If you use this, cook according to the directions on the box. I used a fresh fettuccine pasta I picked up at By George! in Reading Terminal because I thought it might soak up the sauce better.
Drain the pasta and toss with the tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese.
Set aside for one minute so the pasta can absorb the liquid.
Top with additional Parmesan and serve.
Wow. I wish a quick batch of pasta always tasted this good. I was stunned with how delicious this was for so little work. (Honestly, the longest part of the process was waiting for the water to come to a boil). I really do believe that the fresh pasta is a way to go for this dish.
The tomato sauce is super thin, so if you prefer a chunky sauce, you might want to finely chop another tomato and put it to the side. Add the chopped tomato to the puree when you are mixing it with the pasta.

Baba Ghannouj

My CSA share came with eggplant this week. My mind went immediately to Baba Ghannouj, which is sort of like hummus with eggplant substituted for the chickpeas. The eggplant is grilled or baked before pureeing it to give it a smoky flavor. I have never worked with eggplant before, so I used Eating Well’s recipe as a base for my baba ghannouj.

Ingredients:

  • 1 eggplant
  • 2 cloves of garlic (unpeeled)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus zest from the lemon
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 3/4 teaspoons salt
  • Olive oil, as needed
  • Pine nuts, optional

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Seared Salmon with Basil Oil

Yes. Another salmon recipe. I can’t help it, I love the stuff. And when you are able to purchase a salmon fillet that looks as gorgeous as this one did, you have no choice but to keep it simple and let the natural delicious salmon flavor shine through. This recipe takes less than 20 minutes, and can be made even more quickly if you make the basil oil the day before.
Ingredients (serves 4):
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound salmon fillet, skin still on
Salt and pepper, to taste
Basil oil
1/2 cup fresh basil, firmly packed
1/4 cup olive oil

Continue reading Seared Salmon with Basil Oil

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