Sweet Miso Salmon with Baby Bok Choy

Man, there are days when I am the laziest cook. Those are the days when we either A) Eat out, B) Make a sandwich or eat leftovers, or C) Make something like this where you plop everything on one pan, cook for 10 minutes and eat! While I would love to say I choose C every time, I think we all know that my pants would be on fire. However, I will say with complete honesty that when I do choose C, I am happiest with the results. This dish is not only fast and easy to make, but healthy and delicious as well. The trifecta for the lazy cook who still likes decent food.

This is a quick, quick, quick Asian-inspired fish dish. You can use any green vegetable that catches your fancy, but the baby bok choy and shiitake mixture goes very nicely with this and keeps with the Asian flavor profile, especially if you hit it with a dash of soy sauce at the end.

Sweet Miso Salmon with Baby Bok Choy

Sweet Miso Salmon with Baby Bok Choy

Salmon or Steelhead fillet
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. miso paste
1 tsp. soy sauce

Baby bok choy
Shiitake mushrooms
Olive oil

Turn on your oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with foil. In a small bowl mix brown sugar, miso paste and soy sauce. Lay your fish fillet on one end of the foil and pour sauce all over the top. Smear around to cover the entire surface.

On the other end of the pan spread out the baby bok choy and scatter with the shiitake mushrooms. Drizzle veggies with a bit of olive oil.

Put the pan in the oven. Broil for 8 minutes. Check the doneness of your fish by sticking a fork in about an inch from the edge and pulling away a bit. Does the fish flake off? When you pull the fork back is the fish still red in the middle? When fish is done it will flake easily and the color will be a light to medium pink in the middle instead of red. Stir around your veggies (if they look done already you can remove them). Your fish may need a couple more minutes, depending on the size of your fillet. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Remove and serve immediately. Season the veggies with a dash of soy sauce.

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CSA Week 3: Spiced Steelhead Salad with Herby Ranch

This week’s farm box brought a strange and new gift – kohlrabi! I had never tried this and didn’t have a clue as to what to do with it. A quick Facebook post yielded lots of advice. Since I had two big bulbs of it, no reason not to try it several ways. Raw, it reminds me a lot of jicama. Crisp and crunchy, somewhat radish-like, perfect for salads. I decided to use one bulb raw in salads, pickle a bit of it for rice bowls, and cook the rest with potatoes. So far, I’m a fan!

This salad used a ton of veggies and herbs I had on hand, but feel free to change it up according to your fridge’s contents.

If you don’t have steelhead available, salmon is a great substitute.

Spiced Steelhead Salad with Herby Ranch

Spiced Steelhead Salad with Herby Ranch

Fish:
4 Steelhead or salmon fillets
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. paprika
Salt & pepper

Salad:
Lettuce
Kohlrabi, peeled and diced
Zucchini, diced
Cherry tomatoes, halved

Dressing:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup fresh herbs, finely chopped (I used a mixture of chives, parsley, basil & mint)
Salt & pepper
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of paprika
1 clove garlic, finely minced

Mix dressing ingredients and put in the fridge to chill until everything is ready.

Rub fish with spice mixture. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add fish to the pan, skin side up (if there is skin on it). Cook a few minutes and then flip and cook 3-4 minutes on the other side, until fish flakes easily with a fork.

While the fish is cooking, toss together salad ingredients. Serve fish on top of salad (I removed the skin first since I don’t like to eat it), drizzle with dressing and you are good to go! Refrigerate any leftover dressing, it will keep for about a week.

CSA Box #3. The kohlrabi is that funky bulb thing with the tentacles!

Project Veggie: Day 22 – Steelhead with Hazelnut Pesto and Lemon Potatoes

I love hazelnuts.  When I lived in the midwest I could never find them, and it was always a treat to come home to Oregon, where they are available everywhere.  Turns out in the U.S. they are only grown in Washington and Oregon, so that explains that mystery.

Pesto is one of my favorite condiments.  Basil is one of the only things I can grow well, so in the summer I grow a lot of it and fill my freezer with pesto for the winter.  Sadly, last summer was a little (a lot!) rainy here and my basil crop was too wimpy to get me through to summertime.  So I bought some yesterday so I could make pesto.  Which just gave me the opportunity to change it up a bit and see how it tasted with roasted hazelnuts.  Mmmmm.

I was in the mood for salmon.  We hadn’t had fish all week and it sounded good.  At the fish counter the salmon looked a little sad, but next to it…lovely fresh steelhead was calling out to me, and it was on sale too!  Steelhead always reminds me of salmon.  It looks a lot alike, cooks up the same way, and tastes sort of similar too, but steelhead is actually a kind of trout.  In any case, I’ve made this recipe with both fish and it’s terrific either way.

My name is April, and I’m a potatoholic. I know I’ve said this before but this is one of the best potato recipes EVER!  I always make a big batch of lemon potatoes because they are so good left over the next day, either by themselves, or scrambled with eggs, or mixed with a little mayo for a potato salad.  And they go perfectly with fish.  Or anything else for that matter.

Broiled Steelhead with Hazelnut Pesto

Broiled Steelhead with Hazelnut Pesto

1 pound steelhead (or salmon) fillet
1/2 cup basil pesto (see below for hazelnut pesto recipe or you can use store bought pesto)
salt & pepper
lemon slices
olive oil

Heat broiler on oven.  Mash pesto on top of the fish, spreading over the entire top surface of the filet.  Sprinkle with sea salt & fresh ground pepper.  Top with lemon slices and a drizzle of olive oil.   Put under the broiler for 10-12 minutes, until fish easily pulls apart with a fork in the middle.

Hazelnut Pesto

Hazelnut Pesto

1 big bunch fresh basil (I used about 2 cups)
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts
1/4 cup fresh parmesan
salt & pepper
4 cloves garlic
1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Whirl everything up in a food processor except olive oil.  Scrape down the sides.  Drizzle olive oil in with the motor running until it’s the consistency you prefer.

Lemon Potatoes - Yum!!!

Lemon Potatoes
(adapted from Moosewood Restaurant, Simple Suppers)

1-2 pounds red or yukon gold potatoes, cut into 4 or 6 pieces
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
Salt & pepper
1-2 tbsp. capers
1/4 cup chopped black olives (optional)
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Bring a pot of water to boil over high heat.  Add the potatoes.  Cook 10-15 minutes until fork tender.  Meanwhile, zest and juice lemon into a large bowl.  Add capers and olives if using.  Drain potatoes and add to bowl.  Add sea salt and fresh ground pepper.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Toss to combine all ingredients.  Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.