Salmon with Squash and Chard

This is another meal that looks kind of fancy but is really very simple and very healthy. The secret of course is in how you present it.

Peel and cube a butternut squash and steam it in the microwave until it's soft. Mash it however you do potatoes and add a little butter, some salt and a bit of brown sugar. Add all these things to taste (I like it sweet).

Cut a fillet of salmon into single portion pieces, spread a few drops of olive oil on each one and salt them. Lay them in a very hot pan and flip them once they get a little bit golden (probably around 2-3 minutes). Do the same to the other side then remove them from the pan.

Chop up a bunch or chard, (it's meatier than spinach with a little bit of an acidic bite, but not tough like kale or collard greens) this is what it looks like:

Throw the chopped chard into a pot of salted, boiling water and cook it for about two minutes until it's soft, but not too floppy. Drain the water, dump the chard back in the pot and add a tbsp. or so of butter and a splash of vinegar (apple cider would work nicely) or lemon juice.

I like to use a little cylinder to help me stack it all up to look pretty. I just use a Planter's nuts can that I cut the end off of. I place it on the plate, then put a bit of squash in, then some chard, the I pull it off and put the salmon on top. The extra height is much more visually pleasing than a two o'clock, six o'clock, ten o'clock arrangement.

Tilapia and Linguine

Linguine is absolutely my favorite dried pasta. It has the most wonderful toothsome bite and goes especially well with seafood. Tilapia is a great fish because it is so darn cheap. I bought 5 fillets and it only cost about $2.50. Really, this whole meal is quite inexpensive. I suppose that the whole thing cost me about 8 or 9 dollars for about 8 servings. Not bad. It is also quite simple to prepare.

Dice an onion and saute it in some olive oil until it's soft and translucent. Then add two 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes that you've crushed in between your fingers. I like to do tomatoes this way because it leaves them kind of rustic, plus it's just a good way to really feel the food. Just be careful, because they'll explode if you just squeeze them. You have to kind of puncture them first with your fingers.

After squishing all the tomatoes, add some salt, pepper, and sugar to taste, and some red pepper flakes if you like a little kick.

Depending on what brand you have, linguine takes around 10 minutes to cook, so now's the time to drop a pound of it into boiling, salted water. Time it and don't overcook it. (It's important to salt your pasta water always because if you add unsalted noodles to perfectly seasoned sauce, you'll end up with an undersalted finished product)

Bring it all up to a simmer then lay 5 or so Tilapia fillets into the sauce and kind of tuck them down in so they're covered.

Let it simmer for 10 minutes or so, then just when you're ready to serve it, add a handful of chopped parsley, and a small bottle of green olives that you've cut into quarters. As you stir it up, the tilapia should break into pieces.

Drain the pasta and dump it back into the pot. Ladle a few cups of the sauce onto the pasta and stir it around, then turn it into a serving bowl and pour the rest of the sauce over top.

Guest Chef--Anne!

Although Anne likes to pretend that I'm the only one in the relationship who knows how to cook, she is very good at selecting a recipe from my expansive collection of books, and executing it brilliantly. For fathers' day this year, she made me fabulous fish tacos, fresh pico de gallo, guacamole, and even homemade chips. The recipes are from the Williams Sonoma cookbook--Mexican. This is a meal that you'll probably want to save for a special occasion as it involves deep-frying stuff, which is kind of a pain. I know, this is only my second entree and I'm already encouraging the purchase of another distilled spirit, but I promise, I'm not a total boozer--it's just coincidence. For this one, you could just use milk instead and I don't think anyone would know the difference.

So here's the recipe:
Stir together:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup dark beer or milk

Let the batter sit while you make the creamy salsa and the pico de gallo
For the creamy salsa, stir together:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup plain yogurt

For the pico, stir together:
1 lb diced tomatoes
1/4 cup diced onion (practice the new technique)
1/4 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
1 serrano or jalapeno chile
2 tsp fresh lime juice
salt to taste

Cut 1 1/2 lbs of snapper (it's easiest to find and cheapest), sea bass, or halibut, into strips, roughly 4 inches long and 1 inch wide (Pull out any bones with needle-nose pliers). Sprinkle them with the juice of a lime, 1 tsp of garlic salt, and 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper, stir it around, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Dry them off with a paper towel, and dip them in the batter and fry them in batches in hot vegetable oil (start heating the oil on medium when you cut the fish--if it starts smoking, turn it down and wait). The fish will need to cook for about 6-7 minutes to get crispy and golden. While the fish is cooking, warm up some white corn tortillas on a griddle. When the fish is done, scoop it out and let it drain on paper towels.

Throw some fish on a tortilla with some shredded cabbage, pico, creamy salsa, and a squeeze of fresh lime.

Here are some pictures of the other components of the meal--plus Anne in action!