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!

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Cinco de Mayo Swordfish Taco

This year it seemed that more and more people were complaining that Cinco de Mayo has turn into a holiday much like St.Patrick's Day - a day of drinking that really has less to do with its roots and more with its alcohol brand sponsorship. However, I love "taco stand" style tacos and I can't pass up a fresh taco with some delicious ingredients so why skip over a good excuse to eat and drink. Traditionally you see often pork carnitas tacos and fish tacos in this style with just a bit of cabbage slaw, some salsa, cilantro, lime and usually a radish slice. These tacos are different than the tacos that are found at tex-mex type places which often are filled with sour cream and guacamole. This makes them a bit lighter so you really don't need an excuse to make them.

I decided to skip the radish slice and went with a "meaty" slice of grilled swordfish instead of a fried fish. This meal was fresh and so fast! I mean from fridge to table in about 15 min total...and anyone can make this.

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8/18/10 - Fish Simply Two Ways

The summer is the best time to eat simply. When its cold, I love spending hours in the kitchen coming up with some exotic combination. But when farms all over the state of New Jersey are working hard to provide me exquisitely ripe and juicy produce, I go with it. In my last post, I took a look at one of my favorite parts of the summer months - fresh tomatoes. Growing up my whole life, I was lucky to have grandfathers who kept amazing gardens. Summer was always filled with zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, arugala (long before I knew anything about rocket or fancy mixed baby greens) and tons of basil - everything a good Italian kitchen could need.

The top dish pictured is a fresh salsa served over pan seared swordfish with a cajun rub. I accompanied the dish with a side of wilted swiss chard and red onion.
The dish below was a one skillet meal. While I usually make this dish in the oven, the temperatures outside had me looking for another option. First, I sauteed the vegetables (peppers, onions, mushrooms, broccoli)  and then removed them from the pan. I added the haddock and once it was ready to flip (3-5 min), I returned the vegetables to the pan. I topped the fish with the tomatoes and covered the pan to allow it to heat through (5 min).

8/17/10 - Fresh Salsa

It's amazing how many uses I have for some nice delicious salsa.... this one bowl ended up in 2 dinners, a lunch and there was still a few nacho's full left over! A friend recently asked me what to do with an overflow of mangoes (she is living in sunny, beautiful Hawaii) and my first thought was SALSA! Dress it up in a wonton cup as a fancy hors'doeuvres or smother it in cheese for the big game...either way its a hit! The biggest secret to fresh salsa is dicing all the ingredients up nice and fine so that there is a lot of surface area for all the flavors to mingle together. Also salsa is always better when it is made in advance and it has time to rest and let all of the juices blend together.

This is a very basic salsa made with nice ripe jersey tomatoes, however you can feel free to add most fruits to a salsa as well - mango, peach, strawberries all work well!

3 plum (or roma) tomatoes - diced
1/2 red onions - diced
1 bunch cilantro - leaves only diced
1/3 green pepper- diced
1 jalapeno - diced (seeds removed) 
juice of 1 lime
salt & pepper
2 garlic cloves - smashed & diced

1) combine all ingredients together and refrigerate overnight

3/31/10 - Roasted Tomatillo & Red Pepper salsa

After spending a week on the couch I was ready to get back in my kitchen and decided that I wanted something light and fresh. On our shopping trip on Sunday to get more medicine, I bought a few ingredients but they ended up sitting in the fridge during my relapse. Over the past few summers I have received tomatillos from my CSA and since it is just about time to send my check in I have been thinking of all the wonderful veggies of the summer (and trying to perhaps pick out some seed suggestions for the farm as well!) It was only this past year that I really learned how to use this green tomato-like veggie (technically a gooseberry) by roasting them to make a delicious salsa.

This is a mild version that is actually somewhat sweet because of the use of the red peppers however a bit of jalapeno and a nice handful of cilantro keeps it in check. While this salsa can be served alone with chips you can also use it as an accent to many dishes including this seared mahi mahi. I added a side of green beans and an Isreali couscous with veggies (finely diced broccoli, peppers, onions, mushrooms, scallions, parsley and a squeeze of lemon)