Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Thanks to Melissa for Hosting!

As you can see from this yummy looking
spread, Melissa did a great job hosting Cooking Club!! The halibut came out very moist and flavorful and everyone loved it. Thanks so much for having us over...and we were all very happy to have Kate join us for the night. We all had a great time. Can't wait to see what Lisa's going to cook us for dinner in August!

Here are some photos from Cooking Club hosted by Melissa:






Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

Serves 8

1/4 cup olive oil
a little less than 1/2 cup champagne vinegar
salt to taste
1 large bin of baby spinach
1.5 pints of strawberries
slivered almonds - approximately 1/4-1/3 cup

Slice strawberries
Mix olive oil, champagne vinegar and salt
Pour dressing mixture on salad and toss - note that I did not use anywhere near the whole amount, so don't pour the whole thing on at once, just do it to taste.
Add almonds and strawberries and toss again


Halibut en Papillote

I based this recipe on one I saw in the Sonoma Diet cookbook but I made a few additions and deletions.



Serves 8

24 ounces of yellow summer squash, sliced
24 ounces of zucchini, sliced
2 cartons of grape tomatoes, cut in half
1.5 cups kalamata olives, chopped into apprximately sixths
2 fresh lemons, juiced
4 tablespoons white wine (approximately...this was one of my additions and I just used two "splashes")
1 tablespoon olive oil
fresh chopped basil (optional, I forgot this when I was doing it)
4 large cloves of garlic (or 6 average size cloves), chopped
8 halibut fillets, approximately 4-5 oz each

Take summer squash, zucchini, and grape tomatoes and mix with hands in bowl with lemon juice, wine and olive oil. Add kalamatas. Let sit while preparing other ingredients.

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Tear 8 15x15 squares of parchment paper and fold in half diagonally.

Rinse and pat dry halibut.

Place each halibut fillet on the bottom side of the parchment paper, so it is up against the crease. Top with 1/8 of the squash mixture.

Drizzle any remaining juice from the squash bowl over the mixture.

Seal packets. Use oil or butter to wet the edges and then roll them over each other and crinkle.

Cook for 17 minutes. Let sit for a minute or two and then remove from parchment. Serve with baguette or whatever else you'd like.


Melon with Salt and Mint

For a simple summer dessert, take one melon and cut into chunks. Top with fresh chopped mint and a sprinkling of salt.