Bronzino on Watercress, Frisee, Golden Berries, Chestnuts and Kumato Tomato, Catuspear Vinaigrette

I finally got some free time and the urge to cook.  I went to the local market and found all these strange ingredients to put together but somehow it worked.  The balance of sweet and tart golden berries with earthy chestnuts, bitter greens and fresh tomatoes made for a great meal that takes only 30 minutes, costs $17 dollars and feeds 1-2 people.

Fall Salad
1/2 head Frisee
1/2 head watercress
8 golden berries, halved
8 Italian chestnuts, halved, cooked argo dolce style
1 Kumato tomato, cut into thirds
1/2 shallot, thin sliced

Cactus Pear Vinaigrette
1 catcus pear, peeled and strained for juice
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
dash of salt, pepper and marjoram

Bronzino
This fish is easy to filet,  Run a sharp knife down the spine on one side of the dorsal fin.  Keep knife along the bone until filet comes off.  Remove the 5 or so small pin bones from the filet.  Season with salt and pepper. Saute on high in olive oil and butter skin side down until crispy and golden, then flip fish and turn off the heat.  Place the pan in a warm oven for 7 minutes.  Serve on top of salad.  Crushed up lentil snaps are the garnish.

I love cooking.. Buon apetito!

Pan Seared Grouper with Watercress, Sprouts and Jicama Salad

This is a great lunch or early dinner salad that packs protein and tons of flavor. This feeds 1, costs $10 and takes 30 minutes.

Pan Seared Grouper
6 oz piece of grouper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350. Heat a medium sautee pan to medium high heat. Season grouper with salt and pepper and sear about 4 minutes on each side. Place the pan in the oven and let cook another 7 minutes. remove and let rest 3 minutes and serve.

Watercress, Sprouts, Jicama and Pear Salad
1 bunch babay organic watercress
1 bag organic sunflower sprouts
1 jicama root, julienned
1 red bartlet pear, sliced
2 tablespoons of shelled hemp seeds
1/4 white onion, thin sliced

Tangerine Vinaigrette
2 tablespoon tangerine-clementine juice (oj is an ok substitute)
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
1 pinch fresh thyme
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Mix all greens with jicama and pear. Toss with dressing and then toss in hemp seeds and mix once more. Top with grouper and enjoy.

Buon Apetito!

Cold Lentil Salad

Its the end of the week so I don't have much food to work with. I always look at my dry storage at these times, it helps get rid of older dry goods and forces me to think outside the box. For this dish I saw that I had some lentils from.... who knows when, could be years ago, and decided to make them.

I do not have that much experience with lentils but I figured a cold lentil salad would be a nice change of pace. I also had a few little veggies I needed to use as well so here we go.

I picked through the lentils for stones and bad lentils. I then rinsed them and put them in a saucepot with cold water. I brought the pot to a boil over medium high heat and let it boil for 3 minutes. Turned it down to a simmer and let cook for 20 minutes or until tender. The age and dryness of the lentiles will determine how long it takes to get tender, could be 10 min or an hour. Then I drained the lentils and cooled them off in an ice water bath and drained them again letting them sit in a strainner to drain well (overly water lentils wont make as good a salad). I then chopped my remaining carrots, green onion, red pepper and spinach. I blanched them in some boiling water for 3 mintues to get the rawness out and then added the drained veggies to the lentil mix. To finish I added a splash of extra virgin olive oil and white vinegar, a lot of salt & pepper, fresh basil and a squeeze of lemon juice. I mixed it up carefully as not to break the lentils, covered it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for a few hours. You can eat this a side to any meal or as a healthy main course. Bon appetit!

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Sprouts Salad

This was inspired by my trip to the organic farmers market.

The salad greens were composed of sunflower sprouts, broccoli sprouts and pea shoots.

I made battonettes of the following: jicama, anjou pear, red delicious apple, red raddish, cucumber and tomato.

For the dressing I made a white balsamic-tomato water-basil vinagrette. I shaved some vidallia onions into a bowl with salt, pepper, chopped basil and the white balsmaic. Mixed that thoroughly then added some tomato water (strained water made from seeding tomatoes). I then blended some EV olive oil and dijon mustard to emulsify the vinagrette.

I salted and peppered my greens then added the dressing, next I added the chopped fruits and veggies and hand tossed lightly. I plated the greens then the veggies/fruits on top and around. I sprikled sunflower seeds and hemp seeds for texture. Then I sauteed some old rye bread I had laying around in some butter till golden on both sides. I cubbed and added the croutons to finish off an amazing organic healthy salad.

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