Last week's magazine recipe inspiration was from Runner's World; this week it was from Martha Stewart Living... her spring gardening issue that seemed to be filled with lots of fresh ideas, fresh ingredients and fresh flavours. Couldn't resist the beautiful colours of the radishes, red onions and asparagus in her article about the health advantages of both cooking with parchment paper and eating salmon (even though we ended up with rainbow trout instead). She talked about the parchment packages trapping the moist heat and sealing in all the flavours with very little added fat. Extra appealing was how quick the process is... slice up all the veggies while the oven is heating and then the cooking part took less than 15 minutes. Perfect and healthy for a busy weeknight meal. And since this was our Valentine's meal, we made heart-shaped parchment packages.
The issue also had a great recipe for a cookie variation of zucchini bread, sandwiched together with a sweet cream cheese filling. Maddie helped me make them and they flew out of our house that day with her friends and Austin's so I've included the details below.
Non-food-related follow-up... unfortunately, the cauliflower mac-and-cheese didn't work its wonders for Marathon Man's very high aspirations in New Orleans on Sunday. He achieved an amazing, outstanding, super-human time of 3:45 but didn't meet his personal goal of qualifying for Boston. Bummer for him but we still think it's an unbelievable achievement. Admit it... you've got to be a bit crazy to voluntarily run that distance to begin with so you often set yourself a crazy goal to go right along with it! He said he didn't crawl at any point so we know he didn't embarrass us and that's the main thing. There's always next year....
Lemon-Dill Rainbow Trout Over Asparagus
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living
Serves 4
20 asparagus spears, trimmed to 6 inches and halved lengthwise
4 large radishes, very thinly sliced
4 boneless trout or salmon fillets
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 small red onion, thinly slices
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp thinly sliced lemon zest strips, and juice from one lemon
3 tbsp fresh dill
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut out four 12-by-17-inch pieces of parchment paper; fold each in half and cut into heart shapes, then open.
Divide asparagus and radishes evenly among 4 parchment pieces, arranging mixture on 1 side of each crease. Lay one fish fillet on top of each pile. Season each with 1/8 teaspoon salt and some pepper.
Toss together onion, zest and juice, dill, 2 teaspoons oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; divide among fish fillets, spooning over tops. Fold parchment over ingredient; make overlapping pleats to seal.
Bake on 2 baking sheets (2 packets per sheet) for 11 to 12 minutes for medium-rare or 13 minutes for medium. Unwrap; drizzle fillets with remaining 2 teaspoons oil.
Zucchini-Nut-Bread Cookie Sandwiches
From Martha Stewart Living
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
coarse salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup finely grated zucchini
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Beat 1 stick butter and the sugars until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.
Beat flour mixture into butter mixture. Mix in zucchini, oats, and walnuts. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
Using a 1 1/2-inch ice-cream scoop (about 2 tablespoons), drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden, about 17 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
Beat together remaining 1/2 stick butter, the cream cheese, and icing sugar until smooth. Spread 1 heaping tablespoon filling onto the flat side of 1 cookie, and sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with remaining filling and cookies.
Rest of the week
Feb 13 Spaghetti with roasted vegetables and marinara sauce and salad; zucchini-nut-bread sandwich cookies
Feb 14 Lemon-Dill Rainbow Trout with sweet potatoes
The issue also had a great recipe for a cookie variation of zucchini bread, sandwiched together with a sweet cream cheese filling. Maddie helped me make them and they flew out of our house that day with her friends and Austin's so I've included the details below.
Non-food-related follow-up... unfortunately, the cauliflower mac-and-cheese didn't work its wonders for Marathon Man's very high aspirations in New Orleans on Sunday. He achieved an amazing, outstanding, super-human time of 3:45 but didn't meet his personal goal of qualifying for Boston. Bummer for him but we still think it's an unbelievable achievement. Admit it... you've got to be a bit crazy to voluntarily run that distance to begin with so you often set yourself a crazy goal to go right along with it! He said he didn't crawl at any point so we know he didn't embarrass us and that's the main thing. There's always next year....
Lemon-Dill Rainbow Trout Over Asparagus
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living
Serves 4
20 asparagus spears, trimmed to 6 inches and halved lengthwise
4 large radishes, very thinly sliced
4 boneless trout or salmon fillets
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 small red onion, thinly slices
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp thinly sliced lemon zest strips, and juice from one lemon
3 tbsp fresh dill
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut out four 12-by-17-inch pieces of parchment paper; fold each in half and cut into heart shapes, then open.
Divide asparagus and radishes evenly among 4 parchment pieces, arranging mixture on 1 side of each crease. Lay one fish fillet on top of each pile. Season each with 1/8 teaspoon salt and some pepper.
Toss together onion, zest and juice, dill, 2 teaspoons oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; divide among fish fillets, spooning over tops. Fold parchment over ingredient; make overlapping pleats to seal.
Bake on 2 baking sheets (2 packets per sheet) for 11 to 12 minutes for medium-rare or 13 minutes for medium. Unwrap; drizzle fillets with remaining 2 teaspoons oil.
Zucchini-Nut-Bread Cookie Sandwiches
From Martha Stewart Living
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
coarse salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup finely grated zucchini
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Beat 1 stick butter and the sugars until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.
Beat flour mixture into butter mixture. Mix in zucchini, oats, and walnuts. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.Using a 1 1/2-inch ice-cream scoop (about 2 tablespoons), drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden, about 17 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
Beat together remaining 1/2 stick butter, the cream cheese, and icing sugar until smooth. Spread 1 heaping tablespoon filling onto the flat side of 1 cookie, and sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with remaining filling and cookies.
Rest of the weekFeb 13 Spaghetti with roasted vegetables and marinara sauce and salad; zucchini-nut-bread sandwich cookies
Feb 14 Lemon-Dill Rainbow Trout with sweet potatoes
damn you make such elegant food. my comfort home-style food has nothing on you!
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