You are here: Home / Archives for healthy dinner

Grilled Salmon with Corn, Tomato, & Avocado Salsa

By Leave a Comment

There are so many great things available in our co-op lately – that I really can’t seem to make a decision as to what I want each week.  This week, I got a ton of stuff, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, corn on the cob, cucumbers, avocados and more… I don’t want any of it to go bad, so I’m trying to combine as many ingredients as possible in each meal.  I bought some beautiful fish this week, too – so I decided to make Grilled Salmon with Corn, Tomato, & Avocado Salsa.  Here’s what we did:

  • 4 pieces of salmon
  • 6 ears of corn, cleaned
  • 5 super ripe tomatoes
  • 3 avocados
  • 1 lime
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt & pepper

Put up a big pot of water and when it starts to boil, put the corn in the water and turn it off.  The corn will be done in just a few minutes, but because it’s not boiling away, the time is more forgiving and it can sit a while if you get caught up in something else.  Remove from water and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, take the salmon out of the fridge, unwrap and pat down with a paper towel – you want the fish to be as dry as possible – I like to pat down the skin and flesh sides as that will help to crisp up the skin.  Allow the fish to sit out a little bit, just until it comes almost to room temperature.

Delicious Salmon

When the corn is cool enough to handle, take a sharp knife and remove the kernels.

Sweet, Local Corn

Chop the tomatoes, pretty small..

Juicy, Ripe Tomatoes

Add them to the corn, chop the avocado and squeeze the juice of the lime over everything.

Salsa

Cover and set aside.

Heat a grill pan on med/high heat and brush some olive oil on the fish (skin side) – season with salt and pepper.  Put the fish on the grill skin side down and cook until the skin gets crispy (if the fish was too wet, the skin won’t get crispy, but that’s ok – turn when the color changes almost half way up the fish).

Grilling the Salmon

Flip and cook on the flesh side (just a couple of minutes).

Plate the fish, spoon some salsa – and we served it with a tossed salad.  Drizzle a little oil over the whole plate – salt and pepper to taste and voila!  Healthy, delicious, easy dinner!

Salmon Dinner



It is OK to use my photos or content provided a link back and proper crediting is given

March 15, 2013 Filed Under: Easy Dinner, Fish, Healthy, Lowcarb Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Pomegranates

By Leave a Comment

There are so many reasons to love Fall – two of them are Brussels sprouts and pomegranates. The combination of these two foods is remarkable.  Bitter earthy sprouts, with sweet, tart pomegranates are just made for each other and they’re so pretty.  The bright green against the ruby red – I just love this. And easy?  So easy.

  • a whole mess of Brussels sprouts (I think I had two pounds)
  • 2 pomegranates
  • a big glub of olive oil
  • Sea salt (kosher salt would be ok – but I love the Mediterranean sea salt)

Clean the sprouts well – they can be pretty dirty. Cut the sprouts in half and trim the hard stem part from the end. put on a sheet pan and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

For the pomegranates… well there are lots of ways that people tell you to prepare them.  This is my favorite.  When he mentions that you should score the pomegranate, take him at his word. If you cut too deep, rather than just scoring – you’ll make a mess.

Pick through to make sure you don’t have a lot of membrane and pour the seeds onto the sheet pan with the sprouts.  Pour a big glub of olive oil and a couple of big pinches of salt over everything and using your hands, toss well to make sure everything is coated.

Brussels Sprouts and Pomegranates

Cook for about 20-25 minutes or until the sprouts are tender enough to bite. We served them with roasted chicken breast that we browned in a pan on both sides for about 4 minutes per side and the roasted in the oven for the length of time that it took to get the veggies cooked – about 20-25 minutes.

The balance of flavors and the beautiful colors make this a very appetizing dish – I would say you could make this, not only for a weeknight dinner, but it would make a beautiful addition to a winter holiday meal.

Brussels Sprouts and Pomegranates with Roasted Chicken Breast



It is OK to use my photos or content provided a link back and proper crediting is given

November 15, 2012 Filed Under: All, Easy Dinner, Healthy, Lowcarb, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,

Roasted Eggplant and Okra

By Leave a Comment

This week the local co-op had eggplant and okra available and I knew I had to do something fabulous with them, so I made a roasted eggplant and okra with peppers and onions along side a grilled, local, grass fed, chemical and hormone free skirt steak and a tossed salad.  Simple, fast, healthy and delicious!

  • 2 lbs. eggplant (I had the long, slender, ichiban) halved and cut into 1/2 in. pieces
  • 2 lbs. okra cut into 1/2 in. pieces
  • a handful of small, sweet peppers, chopped into 1/2 in. pieces (or 2 bell peppers)
  • 2 med onions peeled and sliced into wedges
  • 5 cloves garlic peeled and diced
  • salt
  • olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400. Try to cut the eggplant, okra and onions into similarly sized pieces so that they cook evenly.  Put all the vegetables on a sheet pan, pour olive oil over all and salt.  Using your hands, toss to make sure that all the vegetables are coated.

Evenly chopped for even cooking times

Cook for 30-40 minutes or until the eggplant is soft.

Roasted eggplant and okra

Somewhere between summer and fall, this is a great option for all the vegetables in season right now.



It is OK to use my photos or content provided a link back and proper crediting is given

October 25, 2012 Filed Under: All, Easy Dinner, Healthy, Lowcarb, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , ,

Grilled Fish with Black Bean Salsa

By Leave a Comment

Have you ever craved cilantro?  I crave it a lot and I’m always looking for different ways to use it. This was fast, easy and delicious! I was afraid that adding the beans would make it to heavy, but the fish is so light and fresh that it was perfect.  I hope you enjoy this dish of grilled fish with black bean salsa.

  • 4 filets of trigger fish (any fish that you love, would be perfect)
  • 2 cucumbers peeled and diced
  • 5 tomatoes diced
  • 6 small sweet peppers (or one red, yellow or orange bell) seeded and diced
  • 2 small serrano peppers (or any of your favorite pepper with a little bit of heat) seeded and diced
  • 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
  • 1 small bunch cilantro leaves chopped
  • big pinch of salt
  • juice of one lime
  • romain lettuce hearts (I used three)

Combine all ingredients from the cucumber to the lime. Cover and set aside.

The beginning of the salsa

Preheat the grill pan (or outdoor grill), score the skin of the filets to keep them from curling up and grill flesh side down for about 3 minutes or until you have nice grill marks, flip and grill on the other side until the fish is flaky

Serve the filet on a bed of chopped romaine, and top with salsa.  Tasty, healthy, easier than you can imagine.  You could substitute lots of different proteins, different vegetables, this is really versatile and really delicious.

Trigger Fish with Black Bean Salsa



It is OK to use my photos or content provided a link back and proper crediting is given

October 19, 2012 Filed Under: All, Condiments, Fish, Recipes Tagged With: , ,

Sautéed Chicken Breast with a Fresh Tomato and Artichoke Heart Sauce

By Leave a Comment

I picked up 3 lbs. of farm fresh tomatoes today and when I got home, I realized that i still had four of them left from last week.  I knew I needed to use them so I decided to make a fresh tomato sauce. I happened to have 2 boxes of frozen artichoke hearts, so they got added as well. Add a side salad and you have a very satisfying and delicious healthy, lower carb meal. The measurement aren’t very important and you could upsize or downsize this as you see fit.

  • 1 medium shallot chopped
  • 3 chicken breasts
  • vegetable oil
  • 2 pkg. frozen artichoke hearts, prepared via stove top or microwave cooking directions and set aside
  • 4 large tomatoes chopped
  • Sea (or Kosher) salt

Preheat the oven for 400.  Heat a saute pan to med/high heat – add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil and when it ribbons, place the breasts, good side down into the pan.  You get the best brown on the first side, so I always like to cook the presenatation side first.

After about 4-5 minutes, depending on the size of the breasts, flip and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a foil lined sheet and put in the oven for 20 minutes.

About 5 minutes before the chicken is done, heat the same saute pan to med/high heat.  Add about a tablespoon more of the vegetable oil and then the shallot, and cook for a couple of minutes until it softens.

Add the tomatoes and a very big pinch of salt and cook the tomatoes down – they’ll start to release all their juice and soften. Don’t forget to scrape the chicken bits off the bottom of the pan at this point, they’ll come right up and add tons of flavor.

Add the artichoke hearts and saute until everything is hot.

Plate a chicken breast and spoon the sauce over the top.  Grind a little black pepper over everything.

Fresh and delicious – do not try to skip the salting step, it makes all the difference.  This was so easy and good and I could think of a million variations.  Maybe some parsley and lemon, or basil and garlic, or black olives and capers.  Tossed into some pasta would be wonderful…You could really eat this over fish too – Endless possibilities.



It is OK to use my photos or content provided a link back and proper crediting is given

February 10, 2012 Filed Under: All, Easy Dinner, Lowcarb, Recipes Tagged With: , , ,