Pan Seared Trout w/ Black Trumpet Mushrooms & Almond Caper Dressing

Well, the weather is supposed to get crazy overnight.  Everybody is all in a ruckus because it's supposed to be freezing rain and snow and all that jazz.  My meteorologist friend said that it's supposed to be at it's worst between 4 and 10 am.  Guess who has to work at 7 am tomorrow?  This girl.

Mr. Invincible (I call Andy that because he thinks that just because he drives a Jeep, he can run over/through anything) is going to have to take me to work if it gets too bad.  I have bad weather driving anxiety (yes, I made that condition up, but I'm sure some of you can relate!).  So here's hoping that it won't be too bad!  But if it is,  I'm sure I'll complain about it tomorrow!

Anyway, I love fast and easy fish dishes, and this is just that!  And I'm pretty sure it's hella healthy too, so you can't beat that, right? 

Oh, and I'd just like to give a shout out to the blog Elly Says Opa! because I actually won my first blog giveaway!  Out of 274 comments, mine was picked!  And guess what I won!  The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz, an ice cream scooper (which I've needed for like... forever!), and a $25 gift card to the Spice House!  Pretty awesome, eh?  So definitely check out Elly Says Opa because there's tons of awesome recipes over there!



So let's get to that trout!


Ingredients:
Adapted from a Food & Wine Recipe

1/2 cup roasted almonds, chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins, chopped
1/8 cup capers, drained
6 tablespoons olive oil
juice from 1 lemon
8 oz. package of dried black trumpet mushrooms
6 scallions, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
2 8 oz. rainbow trout fillets

Place black trumpet mushrooms in a small bowl and add enough water to cover.  Let sit until rehydrated, about 20-25 minutes.

In another small bowl, mix together the almonds, raisins, capers, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, and lemon juice.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil under medium high heat.  Add the mushrooms and cook until tender and starting to crisp, about 4-5 minutes.  Add the scallions and cook until browned, about 2-3 more minutes.  Take off heat and set aside.

In another skillet, heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil under medium high heat.  Sprinkle trout with salt and pepper on both sides.  Add trout to skillet, skin-side down and cook for about 4-5 minutes.  Gently flip over and cook an additional 1-2 minutes longer. 

Transfer trout to plates and top with almond/caper dressing.  Serve with some black trumpet mushrooms and a side salad and you've got yourself one healthy jam-packed meal!

I absolutely loved this meal.  The original recipe called for flounder, but Whole Foods didn't have any this past weekend, so we opted for the Rainbow Trout... it never disappoints!  This was a light, but oh so filling meal and definitely hit the spot!  And hey, it was done in a matter of minutes (if you don't count the whole rehydrating the mushrooms part, of course!).  Enjoy guys!

Pan Seared Salmon With Zucchini Relish

It's been an eventful week.  Of course, my birthday, work, and school kept me busy as a bee.  Nonetheless, I'm ready for the weekend. 

I'm majorly excited because, just like last year, we're going to be taking our own Christmas card pictures again.  I know what you're thinking, it's not even Halloween and I'm already thinking about Christmas cards!  But I've got a great theme this year and the weather is just right for taking the pictures!  So what is my fabulous idea you ask?  Well... perusing in Target the other day, we found some cheap "ugly" dog sweaters!  And so we bought them, of course!  Well... I bought them, Andy just went along with it.  So me and Andy are going to find some "ugly" Christmas sweaters and take some shots with us and the dogs!  Genius, huh?  Maybe not as cool to you, but trust me... when you see the finished product in a month or two, you'll be impressed.  Or at least laugh at us for being so dorky!

What about you guys?  Do you ever make your own Christmas cards?  What crazy themes do you all come up with?

Anyway, I figured to end the week, I'd do a really elegant salmon dish that I prepared last Sunday.  Enjoy the weekend guys!

Ingredients:

Adapted from Bon Appetit's recipe

For Relish:


1 zucchini, peeled and diced
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon dried parsley
6 tablespoons olive oil
juice from 1 lemon
zest from 1 lemon
salt and pepper, to taste

For Salmon:

2 6 oz. salmon fillets, skin on
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

To put together relish, in a medium bowl, combine the zucchini, feta, onion, parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest.  Mix well, and season with salt and pepper, if needed.  Set mixture aside.

Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper on both sides. 

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet under high heat.  Place salmon, skin side down, in skillet and cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until skin is nicely browned.  Carefully turn salmon over and cook for 1-2 more minutes, or until flesh is opaque in the center.

To plate, mound a nice scoop of the relish and top with salmon fillet.  We also made the jalapeno goat cheese hush puppies to have with our meal, also! 

Andy definitely made the comment that the salmon wouldn't have been as good without the relish underneath.  It kind of made itself into it's own "tartar sauce," if you will.  It was quick and easy to prepare and definitely a beautiful site to look at!  Enjoy guys!

Pan Seared Salmon With French Green Lentils

How was everyone's weekend? Our weekend was pretty eventful, despite the heat. We went to one of our favorite Cuban restaurants, Havana Rumba. Sad to say, we didn't have a very pleasant experience. It's always busy, so we expected a wait. So we waited... and waited... and finally, after seeing couples and groups have their buzzer go off before us, when they came well after us... Andy decided to check on the status of when we would get seated. Come to find out, we were mistakenly skipped. (insert big sigh here)... So they seat us right away. Well, then we order and Andy always gets the "Vaca Fritas"... everyone knows what vaca fritas are right? Well, it's shredded beef that's flash fried with onions and peppers. What comes to the table? A marinated steak. NOT vaca fritas. Does Andy send it back? No, because we weren't about to cause a scene. We're not THOSE people. But sorry Havana Rumba... we probably won't be visiting again for quite some time.

Has anyone ever had any experiences like that? You've ALWAYS had consistent service at a place, and loved everything about them, until one night of service and/or food just ruins it all? It's just a bummer, that's all. We've been on a string of Friday nights where we've gone to some of our favorite places and they've just failed to deliver. Or maybe our palates have just grown too snobby to like what we once did? We're the ones that have changed, not the restaurants. Maybe? For right now, I'll leave that decision at a draw. It could be a little bit of both.

Now on to today's recipe, which is so simple, yet so flavorful. And yes, this was my first time ever cooking with lentils. I can't believe I've never used them before!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Korean American Mommy's Blog

1 cup French green lentils
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for rubbing salmon
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, white and light green parts only, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 8 oz. salmon fillets, skin on

In a medium heat proof bowl, add the lentils and cover with boiling water. Let sit for about 15-20 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

In a large skillet, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add onions, leeks, thyme, salt, and pepper. Saute for about 10 minutes, or until onions start to soften.

Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute or two. Add celery, carrots, chicken stock, lentils, and tomato paste. Stir until tomato paste is well incorporated and cover. Stirring occasionally, simmer for about 20-25 minutes, or until lentils are tender. Slowly stir in the vinegar until you reach the desired taste. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Heat a large oven-proof skillet over high heat. Rub both sides of salmon fillet with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. If you want a crispier skin of the salmon, make about 2-3 diagonal scores on the skin before you add it to skillet. This will create less surface area to heat and allow for the skin to crisp up faster.

Place salmon fillets, skin side down, in the skillet and cook for about 2-3 minutes, or until skin is browned. Carefully flip each fillet over and transfer skillet to oven for about 5 minutes, or until pink throughout. (I'd never cooked salmon this way either, I usually just use that method for steaks, but was pleasantly surprised that the salmon came out PERFECT doing this)

Serve the salmon over a mound of the lentil mixture and dig in!

I definitely loved this recipe. It came together in no time, and was definitely light and filling. Enjoy!