Lemony Mediterranean-style baked fish with vegetables

Since the husband and I are on a continual journey to optimize our health, we try to eat fish for dinner at least once a week. That is a big improvement from our old habit of maybe going out to have fried fish and chips every other month or so. I mean, that is good too, especially since we live near the Pacific coast, and there is a plethora of fine fish restaurants, but its more of a treat, something to have on our "free" day one day a week where we can eat whatever our heart desires. The rest of the week, the plan is simple, heart-healthy variations, like chicken and fish prepared in a Mediterranean style. We had fish, lemons, basil, green beans, cherry tomatoes from our weekly box of goodness from the local farmers, so dinner practically made itself.

So last night it was a lemony baked fish, lemon-zested green beans, tomato-artichoke-cucumber salad. We did have one indulgence: cheesy olive-topped french bread. That was mostly to fill up the other two eaters at our table who don't need to watch their calories like we do. Lee and I had one slice, they had, like, six each. I didn't show you the bread here, because it was already gone. 

I got an idea to line the baking dish with basil leaves from another recipe site, and I had a bunch of large leaves that came in our tote box from SLO Veg, so it was perfect! I drizzled a bit of olive oil into a rectangular glass baking dish, then Lee lined the dish with basil leaves under my instructions. I was busy making the cucumber salad. He laid the fish on top of the basil, seasoning it with coarse sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and then grated on some lemon zest. The juice of the lemon was squeezed on top, followed by some sauteed onion rings and halved cherry tomatoes and slices of lemon. Then the fish went into the oven to bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or so. We had about one and a half pound of fish filets, which also came in our weekly tote in co-op with the Central Coast Fisheries, and that was plenty for four people. I checked it after 20 minutes and decided to let it go another five minutes. Then it was perfect and flakey and wonderfully infused with basil.  

The tri-colored green beans, also provided by our local farmers, were boiled for 15 minutes in a pot of salted water until tender; then drained and drizzled with olive oil and topped with salt, pepper, and lemon zest, same as the fish preparation. The salad consisted of sliced cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes, diced red onion, marinated artichoke hearts, Kalamata olives and dressed with olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. So simple a Cave woman could do it...if a Cave woman had a nice sharp knife and some good vinegar. 

The bread that I keep talking about but did not photograph was a loaf of French bread, sliced lengthwise, and spread with a mixture of mayonnaise, butter, parmesan cheese, garlic, green olives and green onions. It gets toasted under the broiler for about 5 minutes until slightly browned and bubbly. Then you slice it into 2-inch pieces and devour it. 

Anyway, everybody ate and was happy. That's always the goal. Goodnight. 

Chicken with Red Curry Peanut Sauce

Red Thai curry paste...that's the key to a good homemade Thai curry sauce. It comes in a little jar, and a tablespoonful is all you need.

I found a recipe from Sandra Lee that had just what I was looking for: coconut milk, red curry paste, chicken, green beans and bell pepper. I had previously frozen some vegetables from our SLO Veg boxes, so I searched through the freezer for those tri-colored string beans and bell peppers. I also took out a chicken breast which had been defrosted earlier today, so I was ready to get cooking. 

First thing is to cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks and brown it in some coconut oil. Then the semi-frozen green beans and bell peppers went into the big skillet. I let it cook until the chicken was no longer pink. I mixed up the sauce ingredients like Sandra said to, except for the red curry paste. That I held out and did something different. I made a little well in the middle of the chicken and vegies and put a scoop of red curry paste right into the pan. It sizzled and heated up the paste, releasing all those spicy flavors which I then stirred around to mix into the chicken. Then I poured in the rest of the sauce ingredients after I had whisked them together in a large measuring cup.

I served this chicken curry over a mound of hot spaghetti squash. Lotsa vegies here without all the starch!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/chicken-with-peanut-curry-sauce-recipe/index.html#!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, cut in 1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
8 ounces frozen cut green beans, thawed  

8 ounces frozen pepper strips, thawed

1 tablespoon red curry paste

For sauce:
1 1/2 cups light coconut milk
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth,
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice, plus wedges for garnishing
Cilantro sprigs for garnishing

Directions
Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add cut up chicken, season and saute until cooked through stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add green beans and pepper strips and continue cooking for 3 minutes. Make a well in the center and add a tablespoon of red curry paste. As it melts down, blend into the chicken and vegetable mixture.

While chicken cooks, start the peanut curry sauce. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the sauce. Pour sauce into a frying pan over the chicken and vegetables, stir to combine. Turn heat up to high and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 6 to 8 minutes. Serve over steamed rice or noodles (or spaghetti squash).

Wasabi Fish Bake

My husband is a wasabi freak, so I had clipped this recipe out of a magazine because I figured he would love it. I was right!

I had some cod in the freezer that came from SLO Fresh Catch through SLO Veg, so I defrosted two half-pound packages in a bowl of cold water and got set for cooking. First I started 2 cups of brown rice in 5 cups of chicken broth in the rice steamer. I like using broth to flavor the rice, because then you don't need any other seasonings. Brown rice takes a good 45 minutes to cook thoroughly, and I made double of what I would need for this meal so we could have more rice throughout the week.

Next I mixed up a small amount of wasabi powder with a dash of water to make a green paste of wasabi, just enough for this recipe. That was mixed with mayo and lemon juice and put into the frig to blend flavors.

The green beans got the ends trimmed off and strings pulled out. I left them long, figuring they'd make a good green substitute for french fries. I brought them to a boil in a saucepan onthe stovetop, simmered for 5 minutes, then drained off the water. Later they could share the oven with the fish and crisp up a bit.

What we ended up with was a hot, flavorful dinner that was healthy and satisfying at the same time.

**********

Wasabi Fish Bake
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp wasabi paste

1 lb. Cod
Fresh ground pepper and coarse sea salt
Olive oil
1/2 lbs green beans, trimmed
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Mix sauce ingredients together and let flavors blend for 15 minutes or so. Season fish with coarse salt and pepper and place in an oiled baking dish. Spread wasabi mayo on top of fish and sprinkle with a coating of panko bread crumbs. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring green beans to a boil in a saucepan of salted water. Simmer for 5 minutes, drain. Lay green beans on a baking sheet and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and panko. Bake with fish for 10 minutes. Serve with brown rice.

Chicken Spaghetti with Tri-Colored Green Beans

I love Pioneer Woman! I just got her first book, "The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl" and I am reading it from cover to cover. I actually took the slip cover off because it is so beautiful and I don't want to wrinkle it up. She is fun and funny and makes fun of herself and her family, too. I like that...kind of feels like our home. 

I needed to make something for dinner that the boys could heat up and that I could pack for my dinner at work. My supply of SLO Veg vegetables was slimming down to just some beets, some lettuce, a green bell pepper and those pretty, tri-colored green beans. Originally I had been thinking of making a Thai dish with the chicken and green beans, but as I didn't have any coconut milk on hand and I really hate to make extra trips to the grocery store during my work week, I resisted. Anyway, back to the stuff on hand: the beets will keep and maybe I will use the lettuce tomorrow, but for today its going to have to be green beans and bell peppers. 

The other night I had seen a recipe in my new cookbook that looked promising: Chicken Spaghetti. It had Cream of Mushroom soup and lots and lots of cheddar cheese...a casserole staple and a sure winner! I checked my pantry. Score! I had mushroom soup, golden mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup...any of which would work here, AND I had spaghetti. I started a pot of water boiling. Ree used the broth from her chicken to cook her spaghetti in, but I had leftover chicken legs that I plucked the meat from and no broth, so I just used regular old tap water for the spaghetti. I saved out two cups of that when it came time to drain the spaghetti and added it back into my soup mixture.

I had all these green beans that I had not gotten to yet from last week's delivery, so I decided they would make a great addition to this casserole. Kind of a shame to hide them in a soupy casserole, because tri-colored beans are so pretty. Sigh! First I needed to cook them, because they were raw. If I didn't have fresh green beans on hand and had to use canned ones, I would just simply open the can and drain them. I have two Campbell's Soup recipe books that I used extensively while my three children were growing up and about half the recipes call for canned green beans. I trimmed up the beans and put them in a shallow pot to boil for five minutes or so. Meanwhile, I diced a half an onion and a half a bell pepper into small pieces, then I sauteed them in butter for a few minutes, throwing in some minced garlic right at the end. Ree didn't do this sauteing step in her casserole, but I thought it would add a nice touch. Also, I didn't have any pimentos in my pantry, so I left them out. Its a trade-off. I added the diced leftover chicken, about two cups worth, a can of Golden Mushroom soup and a can of Cream of Chicken soup, and gave it a stir. What next? Oh yes, seasonings! I add some seasoned salt that I had mixed up from a Lawry's Season Salt knock-off recipe. I make that by the pints around here. I put in a teaspoon of the seasoned salt, gave it a twirl of black pepper and measured out 1/4 tsp of cayenne. The last thing I added was the shredded cheese blend. I happened to have a Mexican cheese blend on hand, so that's what I used.

Since I was leaving for work in a few hours, I decided to use ramekins as the baking vessels for this Chicken Spaghetti. That way I could cook my portion now and the boys could heat their's up when they got home later tonight. Everyone would enjoy that hot, bubbly cheesy deliciousness without having to heat and reheat the same old casserole or warm it in the microwave, which is never quite the same. I received a text from the Hub later that evening while I was at work that read: "Dinner was horrible, by the way. NEVER MAKE IT AGAIN!", which in our household is code for "We loved it!" I guess I can put this one on the favorites list. 

Now it's the next day, and I have taken one of the two leftover casserole portions that I had put into plastic storage bowls and put it in a ramekin and baked it for my late afternoon lunch. I ate it while I blogged and watched my DVR'd cooking shows. Right now I am watching Trisha's Southern Kitchen espisode, "It's All About Me" and she is cooking her favorite things with her sister. They are laughing and mocking each other and making some delicious strawberry shortcake. I hope I get more strawberries in the box this week. I have been using them in smoothies mostly, but I am really hankering for some strawberry shortcake on a doughy biscuit cake. Just like Trisha made. Yum!

*I am listing Ree's recipe, but I put an asterisk on my alterations and the directions will have my variations, using leftover chicken, adding garlic and green beans and omitting pimentos. If you wanat her exact recipe, click on the link below:

CHICKEN SPAGHETTI

(AKA Mexican Chicken per Mr. Drummond)

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/?s=chicken+spaghetti&submit=

2 C diced leftover chicken*

1 pound spaghetti, broken into 2" pieces

1 4-oz jar diced pimentos, drained

1 small onion, diced

1/4 C green bell pepper, finely diced

2 cloves minced garlic*

2 Tbs butter

2 C cooked green beans*

2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup

2 C grated cheddar cheese

1 tsp seasoned salt, such as Lawry's

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the spaghetti pieces for 6-8 minutes, until al dente. Reserve 2 cups spaghetti water and drain off the rest.  While the spaghetti is cooking, dice your bell pepper and onion and saute them in butter for two or three minutes. Add in the minced garlic for the last minute. In a large bowl or your now-empty spaghetti pot, mix the sauteed vegetables, the green beans, the chicken, the soup, the seasonings and the water. Then stir in the cooked spaghetti and the shredded cheese. Pour into a casserole or individual ramekins. Bake for 35 minutes until bubbly. **Ree adds more cheese to the top prior to baking, but I thought it was cheesy enough and didn't top mine with more cheese.