Copper River Salmon on Seared Garlic Greens with Herbed Oil, Sicilian Orange and Fennel Salad

Have you heard of Copper River Salmon?

Wild and sustainably caught, Copper River Salmon is one of the most sought after salmon in the world. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game monitors Copper River Salmon weekly to ensure that an abundant number of salmon reach their spawning grounds, ensuring a long-term replenishing supply of Copper River Salmon in the future.

Copper River is a 300 mile river in Alaska, the 10th longest river in the United States. It's quite a hike for these local, wild salmon to swim this long stretch of river to reach their spawning grounds, requiring the salmon to store up on those healthy omega-3 fatty acids to make the journey.

Wild Alaskan Salmon is super healthy- high in protein, more vitamin D than a glass of milk (in a 3.5 oz filet).  And those omega-3's...  they are likely to have a role in:

• Lowering chance of sudden cardiac death, risk of a first heart attack, and the chance of having a second heart attack.
• Stabilization of abnormal heart rhythms
• Reducing chance of developing degenerative conditions like Alzheimer's
• Reducing chance of development and severity of varied severe mental disorders
• Stabilization and regression of plaques (deposits that clog arteries) that could fatally rupture.
• Optimum development of the brain and eye in the womb and in young children (when integrated into pregnant womens' diets)
• and many other health benefits as well!***

What does that mean in relation to the taste of the fish?  It means Copper River Salmon is succulent.  The extra omega-3's combat the fishy flavor, making for a 'meatier' fillet of salmon (almost like cutting a steak!) This salmon is a deep red in color, and when preparing this fish, I opt for simplicity- let the quality and taste of this fish shine through. 

I simply pan seared it with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.  I had a bunch of greens I had harvested myself when working on a CSA (community supported agriculture farm), so I sauteed them all up together with some bacon and a bunch of garlic- fresh spinach, swiss chard, kale, mizuna, and the leaves from radishes and turnips (yes, you can eat those too!) Added a squeeze of lemon juice towards the end and seasoned with salt and pepper.  So good The Boyfriend even liked them.. and he hates cooked dark greens. You should have seen his face when I told him what I was making. 'I hate spinach' he said.  He didn't know what anything else was.  :)   If you know someone that doesn't like dark greens, saute them in bacon. Sure, it's not the healthiest way of preparations, but if you want all those vitamins and nutrients in your loved one's diet- bacon will do the trick.

A simple and fresh Sicilian Orange Fennel Salad accompanied the salmon and greens.  This is one of my favorite summertime side dishes- use blood oranges if you can find them, but whatever you can find will suffice. To slice the fennel thinly, use a vegetable peeler! It's so much easier and provides really thin slices of fennel, making for a delicate presentation. This makes for a great picnic/BBQ salad, by the way. 

Black olives are often added to this salad- the salty, briny olives complement the oranges really nicely. 
The Boyfriend would have left me if I tried to serve him olives, so I skipped them.

You can find Copper River Salmon at most supermarkets.  It's usually advertised heavily when it's available (mid-May to mid-June-ish).  It generally runs about $14.99/lb, and is worth the price.  

Copper River Salmon on Seared Garlic Greens,

 Sicilian Orange Fennel Salad, Herb Oil

 Serves 2

Two 7 ounce Copper River Salmon fillets 

(makes two just-over-5 ounce servings)

1 lb Fresh spinach, kale, or mixture of dark leafy greens on hand, washed and dried, stems removed

2 slices of bacon

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 oranges, peeled, segmented, and pith removed- INSTRUCTIONS FOLLOW

1/2 large fennel bulb, sliced thinly (or vegetable peeled into thin slices)

1/2 cup red onion, very thinly sliced

About 2 tbsp fresh basil (chiffonade- cut thinly)

One lemon

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper
Herb Oil Recipe follows

1. Make the Sicilian Orange Fennel Salad.  In a bowl, gently toss together the oranges, fennel slices, red onion, basil, a pinch of salt (omit of adding olives), and drizzle with 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 
2. Make the Salmon. Brush salmon with olive oil until coated and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat a skillet over medium heat until hot (about 3 minutes).  Add the salmon to the skillet, meat side down and the skin up. Cook for 3- 4 minutes, checking to make sure salmon is not sticking to the pan and until golden in color. Flip the salmon, skin side down, and continue cooking until the salmon flakes easily with a fork- about 5-7 minutes, depending on thickness of your fillet. Slice a couple slices of lemon and serve on top of the salmon.
3. Make the Seared Garlic Greens. Add the bacon to a large, cold skillet. Turn heat on medium.  Cook bacon until crispy, flipping once. Remove bacon and set aside. Add half the greens, stirring to coat in bacon grease. Saute for a minute or two, until beginning to wilt. Add the rest of the greens and the garlic. Stir to coat. Saute another 2 minutes, until wilted. Season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of 1/4 of a lemon.

Herb Oil:
Super simple-  Add 1/4 cup oil to a small pot, and throw in a handful of fresh herbs (I used rosemary, thyme, parsley, and a bit of oregano. Heat oil over medium low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring with a rosemary sprig. 

Use rosemary spring to brush the herb oil over the salmon.  

How to segment and remove pith from an orange:

1. Cut the top and bottom off of the orange.
2. Peel the orange.
3. Use a paring knife to slice the pith (the skin) off each orange segment. Do this gently to maintain the orange slices. Try not to break them in half. 
4. Reserve any orange juice that leaks out and add to the Sicilian Salad. 

***Information on Omega-3 fatty acids gathered here 

No-Fuss Blackened Chicken

I made some most delicious blackened chicken.  

I also made cat shaped polenta.  But that's not really relevant.

This is super easy and pretty fast.  Just rub the seasoning on, and bake. The longer you leave the rub on, the more the flavors will permeate the chicken.  Rub it on the night before for big flavor.

I didn't plan ahead for that myself, just rubbed it on and threw it in the oven. 

It was finger-lickin good.  Just a bit spicy, but not too hot.  You can adjust the heat by adjusting the cayenne.  The chicken was so moist, the skin nice and crispy. Just simple, healthy, and delicious!

For summertime this would be awesome grilled! It would make a great addition to a BBQ or picnic. :)

Blackened Chicken

Serves 2

1 lb chicken parts, skin on (I used drumsticks and thighs)

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Blackened Seasoning:

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped (or 1 tsp dried thyme) 

1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 tsp dried oregano)

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)

2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp salt

Mix all the spices together to make the blackened seasoning.  Rub on the chicken.  Place in fridge to marinate, if desired.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle the chicken with the olive oil, and place skin side down on baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes. Flip the chicken over, and bake another 15 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

A Healthier Honeycake

I've been delving into a bit of Paleo eating habits.  

Paleo is the 'caveman' diet- you eat only what cavemen could've gotten their hands on- nothing processsed.  That means no dairy, flour, rice, corn, legumes, beans, sugar, etc.

I think this diet has some merit in getting people to eat healthier, to be more aware of eating whole versus processed food.  Though I see nothing wrong in eating super-healthy quinoa, brown rice, and forbidden legumes.

However, I think particularly in the baking arena, this diet is a healthier way of eating.

Baking using the paleo principle means no processed sugar, no white flour, and no butter.  In this recipe, honey (while technically not paleo) replaces white sugar. Coconut milk replaces butter. And almond flour replaces while flour.

The almond flour alone works wonders for your health.  It has higher protein and more vitamins than white flour.  Which makes you feel more full.  Which is great news for those of us with no self-control in eating baked goods (surely I'm not speaking of myself here...)  While I could eat close to a dozen mini cupcakes myself, there's no way I could eat that many of these honeycakes.  

They satisfy the sweet tooth, but are so filling you won't be able to eat tons of them.

That's what I need in a baked good. 

I served these honeycakes with a coffee creme-anglais (made with coconut milk, egg whites, and coffee grounds). They are quite good with some tea or coffee on their own as well.

A Healthier Honeycake

Makes 24 mini-cupcakes

Modified from Elana's Pantry Honeycake Recipe

2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 tsp celtic sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup honey (I used raw organic honey)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (organic, nothing added but apples!)
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350.

1. Combine almond flour, sea salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves.
2. In a separate bowl, combine honey, applesauce, coconut oil, and eggs.
3. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry.
4. Grease and flour a 24 count mini-muffin tin.
5. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Persian Turkey Kofte Kebabs with Shirazi Salad

I love Middle Eastern flavors.  The spices, the flavor, the simplicity of the preparation.  This is one of my favorite meals, and it also happens to be a healthy, gluten free, paleo, low fat recipe. 

Popular in Iran, Turkey, Armenia, and other Middle Eastern countries, kofte kebabs are typically made with ground lamb meat and herbs like parsley and mint. These ground meat 'meatballs' are skewered and grilled.  There are endless amounts of variations in meats and herbs, and lentil and potato kofte can be made with no meat at all.

These kebabs are traditionally heavily seasoned with spices like coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, and allspice.  I used ground turkey to make them healthier, and spiced them up to disguise that they are not lamb or beef.  

I served these with my favorite Persian Shirazi Salad, which sounds fancy but is really a simple salad of tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and mint. The cold shirazi salad is a perfect cooling complement to the spiced kebabs. 

Add plain rice and some grilled (or in my case broiled) green peppers, and you've got an exotic, healthy meal. 

Persian Turkey Kofte Kebabs with Shirazi Salad

1 lb ground turkey
4 cloves garlic, peeled, mashed with the flat side of knife, and minced
1 tsp kosher salt
3 tbsp grated onion
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire 
1 1/2 tbsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
fresh ground black pepper
Olive Oil
skewers - if using wood skewers, soak first. 
1 Green Pepper, seeds removed and cut into 6 large pieces

Shirazi Salad recipe follows.

Place everything except olive oil and green pepper (and skewers obviously) in a bowl and mix together. Let meat marinate in the fridge for an hour or all day if you have time. 

Form into 6 inch 'sausages.' If using metal skewers, coat in the skewers in olive oil so meat doesn't stick. Thread two sausages to a skewer through the two sausage ends.  You may need to adjust the sizes of your sausages according to the size of your skewers,  Keep them all the same size though. Throw the green pepper on the same pan if there's room, or a separate pan will do.

Broil on Hi for about 15-20 minutes, turning skewers and green peppers occasionally.  They are done when juices run clear, there is no pink, and outsides are evenly charred.

Shirazi Salad:
2 English Cucumbers
4 round tomatoes
1 medium red onion
1 tbsp dry mint or parsley (try to use mint if you have it)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp olive oil

Dice tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions in a uniform small cube size.

Mix olive oil, lime juice, and dried mint (or parsley) in a bowl.
Pour over the vegetables.  Can be consumed immediately, but best if refrigerated for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

Serve with plain rice.  You can cook the plain rice in chicken or vegetable stock instead of water for extra flavor.