Monday, March 12, 2012

Bon Voyage and Welcome Home (Citrus) Food

In my last post I mentioned a citrus salsa I made for dinner, so here are the details. I made the citrus salsa salmon dish as part of a nice send-off dinner for Stephen. My husband went to New York City last week to cheer on Marquette at the Big East Basketball tournament. He also took in the sights and sounds including the Today show and Philip Seymour Hoffman on Broadway in The Death of a Salesman. (Oh yes, I am a a little bit jealous, but he had a great time! Even better, he is home now.).

Anyway, the recipe. By way of a disclaimer, let me say I am not the biggest fan of fruit (except when it is in a smoothie or in its simplest, most segregated form). I don't like to mix fruits in salads a lot nor add them into main entrees. Don't ask me why, that's just how I interact with fruit. My point is, however, that something about this citrus salsa appealed to me and it turned how delicious...so that should say a lot about the flavors and the recipe.

You can visit the recipe online from the Food Network and it includes directions for preparing the salmon. I will lay out the ingredients here for ease:
  • 2 large oranges
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 scallions, finely sliced
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
  • 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed, drained and coarsely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons orange zest
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 
Basically, mix all of that together and you have a citrus salsa to accompany the salmon. You can play with plating it (piling it on top of the salmon, etc.) for fun. I will also let you know that I forgot to get fresh parsley, so I can only imagine how much better it could take with fresh, not dried, parsley flavors. Also, I am rarely a fan of capers, so we left those out. My favorite part of the recipe was the red pepper flakes, it added a little bit of spice that really brought together the citrus flavors with the salmon. I can't wait to make it again!

Yesterday, before racing off the airport to pick up my love, I made a Raspberry Lemon Bread. My husband and I have been struggling at breakfast time for a bit, and the recipe seemed simple, nutritious (well, there is fruit here), and the perfect trick to make the house smell all yummy and homey when Stephen came home.

I found the recipe on Pinterest: 



It was a very simple recipe and one of the first breads I have made from scratch. Baking is not my favorite thing in the world, but there was not much more to this than mixing the few ingredients. I didn't need to use a mixer, just a whisk. I did use frozen raspberries because the $ value and the flavor is a lot better this time of year when raspberries are scarce. All of the lemon flavor comes from lemon zest, but was not too overpowering.

We had our first slices this morning. It was delicious and filing. It is 10:30 and I am still satisfied and not yearning for lunch...yet. The recipe includes directions for a glaze and a topping. I did neither...I went for less mess. Aside from remembering to pick up buttermilk at the store, the ingredients are simple and I will be making this again!

2 comments:

  1. Both sound delicious! I would love to try the citrus salsa on salmon cooked on the grill this summer.

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  2. Yum, that bread sounds delish. I'll have to give it a try! :)

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