Greek Salmon Lettuce Cups

Lettuce Cups or wraps are a common site in Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants around me. One of the first times I ever saw them was in the Asian Fusion restaurant P.F. Changs. Its been years since I have been to one of these and to be honest my Asian inspiration stops there! This dish uses traditional Greek flavors with a little twist. If you are trying to eat low carb, lettuce wraps can be a great invention since a single leaf of lettuce is almost no calories! I love using fresh local ingredients and when I saw this Boston lettuce at my local farmer's market the other day I decided that I had to create something fresh and healthy. I have done a few other versions of this type of dish using shrimp and crab so don't be afraid to make this your own based on the ingredients that you have handy.

What do Lettuce Cups have to do with phylo dough and grape leaves you ask? Well the connection here is in the spices that I used - garlic, parsley, oregano and lemon were my base ingredients. There are two ingredients that always makes me think Greek that I didn't include - Feta Cheese and Olives. My boyfriend only has one real food hate and that is olives so they usually aren't in the house unless I get them on takeout and while I do often use grated cheese on my pasta with seafood I didn't think that the flavors really worked in this situation. This recipe calls for about 1 lb of wild salmon (I used Coho which is a bit thinner than other types) if you can't find wild salmon or don't want to spend the money consider using another type of wild fish versus using a farmed fish. The health benefits of wild fish are greater than the farmed versions so the difference in price is absolutely worth it!

click through for the recipe

Tomatoes - two ways!

I love shopping at the Farmer's Market but at times it can be a little expensive so I am always looking for a deal. A few weeks ago, I notice that my normal farmer had bags of about 6 large tomatoes on sale for $3. Normally these tomatoes are close to $3 each (since they are almost a pound each!) but since they were already nice and ripe they had them on "clearance". I was able to find a bunch that wasn't over-ripe and since I was going to use them right away anyways I was happy to buy them ripe and ready to use.

One of my favorite meals in summer time is tomato salads. There is nothing so simple and perfect but dependent on the ingredients. Tomatoes are something that still really only taste right in the summer. One bite of a fresh summer tomato is enough to make me want to swear off all of the super market varieties that range from acceptable to almost orange and mealy! But unfortunately, winter will be back soon enough and there will be 8 months worth of salads that rely on these sad tomato like substances!

The first variation is a traditional Italian tomato salad. This is an easy side that is welcome at my dinner table any night. It is best when you make it in advance and give it some time in the fridge to meld together. This is a simple mix of diced tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, fresh basil and some salt and pepper. If you want to turn it up a little a splash of balsamic can also be added. Or some fresh mozzarella to turn it into a Caprese Salad.

The second is more of a chunky salsa using the fresh flavors of Mexican cooking. For this version, I rough chopped the tomatoes with some red onion, green bell pepper, garlic, lime, cilantro and of course olive oil,  salt and pepper. These flavors are naturals with the sweet ripe tomato and the addition of some hot peppers (I used a jalapeno and a cherry bomb) kicks this up to another level. Make sure you are careful with the hot peppers though and use caution when chopping and with your hands after as the oil from the peppers can remain on hands for some time.