Broiled Salmon with Grapefruit Avocado Salsa

I haven’t been doing a lot of home cooking lately due to weekends away and weeknights traveling for work, so when I had a day off and a chance to feed my body something healthy and fresh, I immediately knew I wanted this for lunch. Simple broiled salmon, whole wheat couscous, and a citrusy salsa with rich avocado and piquant jalapeno.

Salt and Vinegar Crusted Oven-Fried Fish Sandwiches with Old Bay Mayo

I wish this picture properly portrayed how AWESOME these sandwiches are. I’ve been craving fish and chips lately but wanted it to be slightly healthier if I was going to make it at home. Fresh, thick pieces of cod coated in crushed salt and vinegar chips and baked until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Slather a roll (whole wheat for health!) with mayo seasoned with old bay and go to town.

And, yes, I realize that instead of frying (to be healthier), I just coated it in already fried things (chips), but it’s the kind of girl math that works for me.

Escarole-Stuffed Haddock with Sherry Tomato Sauce

This dish is perfect to start the year off on a flavorful note. Serve with pasta or some crusty bread for mopping up the yummy sauce.

Cod Cakes

I made these cod cakes on Christmas Eve and they were a huge hit. In fact, I made them early in the day (and reheated them in the oven when it was time to serve) and people kept popping in the kitchen to steal one. SO delicious and easy.

Salmon Tacos with Sriracha Ranch

These tacos are super easy, super light and super flavorful – the perfect break from heavy, complicated holiday-type foods. This was served with a cool, vinegary slaw, but honestly, crunchy shredded lettuce would have worked just as well. Enjoy!

Pan-Roasted Spiced Salmon

Dare I say this is the best salmon I’ve made? If you’re familiar at all with this blog you know I love salmon and it’s pretty much my ‘go-to fish’, but this was VERY good. Sweet and spicy (not in a heat way) – perfectly cooked (first seared on the stove and then finished gently in the oven) – Delicious flaky deliciousness. What can I say, we just loved it. Hope you do too!

Ginger and Cilantro Roasted Tilapia

This will surely be a weeknight staple. Extremely quick and easy and equally as tasty. Serve over some fragrant jasmine rice and you’re done. Win! Another for the ‘favorite’ file.

Corn Chowder with Shrimp and Chorizo

I almost titled this dish “OMG Corn Chowder with Shrimp and Chorizo”, because it’s SO. DAMN. GOOD. I took the leftovers to work today and I was literally splashing it around my desk because I was eating so enthusiastically. That’s normal, right?

Pomegranate Glazed Salmon

I saw that Costco was carrying wild salmon so I picked up a huge slab of it on Sunday. I find it more and more difficult to find wild fish these days which is SUCH a bummer. The idea of farmed fish is so creepy to me.

This salmon is yummy and SO easy. It is glazed with a zippy pomegranate molasses and spicy mustard mixture and roasted in a very hot oven for about 10 minutes. The end. We served it with sauteed spinach (I seriously could eat a pound of sauteed spinach every day – so good) and my whole wheat couscous with caramelized shallots and walnuts.

Grilled Rosemary Shrimp over Zucchini Noodles Aglio Olio

So at this point I am feeling a little bad for people who read this blog and don’t care for zucchini. But, given all of the deliciousness over here lately, I”m sorry I’m not sorrier

This dish is julienned zucchini which is cooked in an aglio olio sauce made of garlic, parsley, anchovies, and olive oil. To die. I’m a huge fan of anchovies, but if the furry little fishies bug you, you can leave them out. I guess. Don’t do that though – you’ll regret it!

Anyway, you use a mandoline or a julienne peeler to make the zucchini ‘noodles’, and then briefly saute them in the aglio olio. I found that I really only sliced the 4 sides of the zucchini as it got too seedy in the middle. Smaller zucchini that naturally have fewer seeds is your friend in this recipe. Over top, there are grilled shrimp that were marinated in rosemary and garlic. These are SO GOOD, so good that I may have eaten a leftover shrimp or two before 8 this morning. YUM.

Shrimp Tacos with Greek Yogurt Sauce

It is expected to be nearly 65 degrees tomorrow in Boston. 65! In March! In honor of this lovely turn of events, I wanted to break out some lighter fare. I’m a little obsessed with tacos in general, and a shrimp taco just seemed like a delicious idea to me.  Lucky for me that I had pinned this recipe a while back after I had fully seduced by Dani’s photography on Clean and Delicious. I opted to add a few different seasonings and chose purple cabbage since I’m in love with its color. Overall, these tacos are simple to prepare and very easy to eat (too many). Yum!

Herb Breaded Tilapia

Fish tacos were on the docket tonight. You see, I do my menu planning a week in advance and sometimes I’m just not feeling what I originally planned. Tonight was one of those nights, but since I had bought the fish and needed to cook it up while it was fresh, I went with a simple breaded recipe. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but I did a quick google search for breaded fish to see if anything surprising popped up. The usual suspects came up — baked and breaded, breaded and fried, and the like. I had already decided at the gym that I had earned at least a pan-fry instead of baking, and I stumbled upon a recipe on Ella Says Opa! that incorporated some herbs. Perfect.

I must say, this fish was the bomb. Ready in 10 minutes flat, crispy, flaky, pretty much exactly what I wanted. I served it along with some rice pilaf (total comfort food for me) and an apple-pecan salad with goat cheese. Yum!

Panko-crusted salmon

This salmon is simple to prepare, flavorful, crunchy, and healthy. Honestly, I can’t ask for much more in a meal. Try it once, and it will be in your repertoire of go-to methods from here on out.

Tuna and White Bean Salad

I’m always on the look out for healthy lunches that can be made with ingredients I always have. This salad is a perfect example — delicious!

Pappardelle with Scallops and Arugula

I had purchased some big fatty scallops on a whim since Brian has been hinting at a craving for, like, forever. I was a little disappointed when I couldn’t find anything interesting to do with the scallops after a quick search online (i.e. anything besides pan-searing them). I ended up finding this recipe on marthastewart.com, a resource that is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The recipe seemed to be lacking a little something, so I threw in a chopped bunch of arugula to spice it up a bit. Next time I might even add a second bunch because of the wilt factor, along with a healthy pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Overall, this pasta dish really let the flavors of the scallops shine, and for this, Brian was grateful.

Cornmeal Crusted Salmon in Basil Mussel Broth

I wanted something that was relatively healthy but still felt like somewhat of a treat suitable for the oh-so-coveted weekend. This was the perfect thing.

Roasted Shrimp with Mustard-Horseradish Sauce

Ok, it’s detox time. The holidays, while one of my favorite times of year, invites eating waaaaaay too much naughty food. This dish is a lovely detox dish after indulging at Thanksgiving. Couldn’t be easier and full of tons of flavor.

Spicy Thai Basil Shrimp (and a glimpse of my new kitchen)

I’m back! And soooo happy about it. We’ve finally settled into the new place and love love love it. At the end of this post you can catch a peek of our new kitchen (which I LOVE), but first let me tell you about this dish I whipped up for lunch on Saturday.  YUM. We had tons of veggies in the fridge and a humungous stack of recipes that have been piling up over the last couple of weeks. This dish is fresh and delicious and very reminiscent of thai take out — without waiting for delivery or wondering what exactly is in your food. Will definitely make this again, maybe next time with chicken.

Also, today marks this blog’s 2 year anniversary! I had to triple-check the dates because it feels like this little blog has been a part of my life for a LOT longer than that. Thanks, everyone, for inspiring me, reading my ramblings, and cooking along with me! xoxo.

New England Lobster Rolls

I’m new to the world of lobster. Growing up, I never really cared for it, but now, I’m starting to see what all the fuss is about. I still don’t think I could ever cook a live lobster myself though — too brutal. I bought two lobsters at the grocery store and they kindly steamed them for me. It’s a little disheartening to learn that most of the meat on a lobster lives in only a couple of small places — the claws, knuckles, and, my favorite part, the tail. Go at those areas with a hammer or a nutcracker and get your money’s worth.

Cornmeal-Crusted Catfish with Collards and Creole Mustard Vinaigrette

This recipe is from one of my all-time favorite restaurants in the Boston area — Hungry Mother. After eating and loving their catfish dish more than once, I was over the moon to find that the recipe was shared online! I actually found this recipe about a year ago and ever since have been looking for Creole mustard. Literally, every.single.grocery trip I stopped to survey the mustard selections and could never find it. Well, folks, this weekend I found it. Waaaay too excited to find mustard, let me just tell you. On the way to a friend’s house, we stopped for espresso and stumbled upon a fantastic gourmet food store called The Cook Shop. Along with the Creole mustard (yay), I grabbed some whole wheat cavatappi (also an impossible find), a rockin’ Microplane pizza wheel, and a few other fun kitchen gadgets and food stuffs.

I’m so glad I finally found this mustard. I’m sure I could have easily substituted another mustard, but because I was trying to replicate a restaurant dish, I really wanted to try to make it as authentic as possible. This dish was amazing, and well worth the search.