Simple Salmon

Browsing the aisles of Costco, I love that store.  You never know what you'll find, and EVERYTHING is always good.  I buy my salmon there and nowhere else, it's the best.   The fillets are huge, so when I get it home I cut it into equal size pieces and bag them separately.  My long fillet of salmon was about $16.00 but I got 2 meals for 4 people out of it, not bad.  If we went to a restaurant for this meal the cost would have been much more.  I made this simple salmon meal for my family the other night and it was delightful! Recipe below.

To print recipe, click, highlight and print.

Beautiful slices of salmon, butter, lemon, salt, pepper and a little fresh parsley for color, that was all it took. 

Pretty!

I started the veggies in the oven first.  Roasted fresh broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, yellow peppers and fennel with olive oil, salt and pepper as a side dish along with....

 Lemon Orzo - to make the Orzo follow directions on the box for the amount you will need.  Bring salted water to a boil, orzo is pasta so cook it how you like, soft or al dente.  Ingredients for making the Lemon Orzo - juice of one lemon, 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper and 2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley.

 Toss all in the pan after you drain it.

So, everything is ready for my meal to be served.  This is my Simple Salmon....

The Roasted Veggies and Lemon Orzo.

And for dessert, Apple Walnut Cake with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce.   A scrumptious, healthy meal (oh, except for this dessert, it was over the top!) on the table in less than an hour.

SIMPLE  SALMON

Ingredients

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

2 boneless skinless salmon fillets

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp pepper

2 tablespoons butter

2 slices lemon, cut the slices then use the same lemon for the juice

juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Coat the area of a baking sheet, where you will place the salmon, with the olive oil.  Pat the salmon dry with paper towels, and place on the sheet.  Sprinkle fillets with salt and pepper, divide the butter between the two, squeeze the lemon over the fillets, top with sliced lemon and chopped parsley.  Bake for 15 -20 minutes, depending on your oven.  To check to see if it is done, flake at the thickest part to make sure it is cooked. Makes 2 servings. 

Scallops in White Wine Butter Sauce with Lemon Orzo

We are big fans of scallops in this house, and I try to find new ways of making them.  I use them alone in sauces for pasta or I add shrimp to the sauces.  I like them sauteed with butter and garlic, baked with cheese or breaded and fried.  My gears were turning in the kitchen, when I took this bag of them out of the freezer that I bought at BJ's Wholesale.  I wanted to do something different with them, something I knew everyone would eat.  I experimented by using some white wine, everybody loves wine, right?  And butter, that's always a given, we all love that.  I had some fresh thyme, a shallot, garlic and lemon.  I always have these ingredients in the house, you know in case I get crazy ideas like this one.  Well, I put all this together on the counter, was looking at it, and started throwing things into the pan........ and it was fabulous!  I do have to get two bags of scallops the next time I make this dish, they were all looking for seconds.  Recipe below.

My ingredients, I used a Pinot Grigio as my wine to flavor the sauce.

 Sauteed the shallot and garlic in olive oil and butter.  Zested my lemon.

 Washed and dried my scallops and seasoned with salt and pepper.

 Sauteed them in the pan with shallot, garlic, butter and olive oil.  Added the thyme at the end of cooking.

 Boiled up my orzo and drained it, then added butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and cracked black pepper, it was really smooth and creamy. 

 Served with a mixed green salad, and a glass of the Pinot Grigio, delicious!

Scallops in White Wine Sauce

Ingredients

3 lbs fresh or frozen scallops, I used Berkley & Jensen Raw Sea Scallops from BJ's Wholesale

salt and pepper

4 Tbsp butter, divided (2T and 2T)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 small shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup Pinot Grigio, or any other dry white wine

juice of 1/2 lemon

3 - 4 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed and chopped

Directions

Wash the scallops in a colander and drain.  Lay them out on a few layers of paper towels and then cover them with a layer of paper towels.  This is to absorb any remaining water on them.  Over medium - high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with the olive oil in a shallow frying pan.  Add the shallot and garlic and cook until tender, but do not burn them.  Remove from pan to a small bowl.  Season the scallops with salt and pepper and add to the pan, searing until all are browned.  Turn heat off (you are cooking with alcohol you have to be careful when there is a flame involved!), add the shallot/garlic back into the pan, the wine, remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, lemon juice and thyme, stir.  Return to medium heat, Cook for 5 -7 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate.  Serves 4.

Lemon Orzo

Ingredients

4 cups of water

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups of orzo pasta

zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1/2 lemon

3 Tbsp of butter

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Directions

In a medium saucepan add the water and the salt.  Bring to a boil, add the orzo and stir.  Cook until your desired doneness.  Drain in fine mesh strainer.  Pour back into the pan and add the zest, lemon juice, butter and cracked black pepper, stir until butter is melted  Transfer to a bowl.  Serves 4.

Lovin the Lemon!

This is the second half of my daughters birthday dinner.  As I said in an earlier blog, she wanted Chicken Korma, and the rest of the family had roast chicken.  This was the rest of the menu - Roasted Herb and Lemon Chicken, Orzo with Butter, Lemon and Parmesan - Romano Cheese, Roasted Veggies with Garlic and Olive Oil, and there is nothing better than a Wegman's Ultimate Chocolate Cake for a birthday cake.   Both dinners were enjoyed by all!

I cooked the chicken in a large foil pan to relieve me of the cleanup afterwards.  I set it on a cookie sheet and then put it in the oven.

 The herbs I used were - rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic, along with lemon.  The cooked orzo with lemon, cheese, parsley and butter.

Cut up veggies, ready to roast in the oven.

Ummm.... Roasted and caramelized veggies - green and yellow zucchini, red pepper, red onion, whole fresh green beans, olive oil, garlic, Parmesan-Romano cheese, salt and pepper.

 The best chocolate cake ever!

Roasted Lemon Herb Chicken

4 lemons

1/3 cup olive oil

2 whole roasting chickens, washed and split in half

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

8 whole fresh sage leaves

8 fresh whole thyme leaf sprigs

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp fresh cracked pepper

In a large roasting pan use 2 Tbsp of the olive oil to coat the bottom.  Clean the chickens, pulling out anything that is inside and discarding it.  Pat them dry with paper towels.  Place both, breast side up on the cutting board and then split in half, cutting down through the breast, top to bottom.  Place the 4 pieces in the roasting pan.  Cut 2 lemons into 8 slices and place 2 slices under each chicken. Cut the other 2 lemons in half and juice them over the chicken.  Put those lemons into the pan. Using the remainder of the olive oil, coat the skin of the four pieces of chicken.  Then, take rosemary sprig and holding at the top of the sprig, pull down and pull off the rosemary needles and sprinkle on the chicken pieces. Next rip the sage leaves over the chicken.  Place the whole thyme leaves, 2 on each piece of chicken.  Add the garlic, salt and pepper.   Cover with foil and place in a 350 degree preheated oven for 1 1//2 to 2 hours.  The last 1/2 hour of cooking remove the foil so the chicken will brown up.