Broiled/Grilled Veggies with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

I had the urge a few nights ago to make something fun and quick for dinner, using a mix of fresh vegetables. I came up with broiled veggies with a roasted red pepper sauce. My first thought was to grill the veggies – which would have worked great – but I was also juggling ‘daddy duties’ this night, so 20 minutes under the broiler spared me plenty of free time to keep the kids occupied. I went with my grilling/broiling standards: eggplant, zucchini, squash, asparagus and grape tomatoes (would have thrown in some fennel too, if I had some on hand). I did some research on red pepper sauce and found a couple of options: mixed with balsamic, olive oil, garlic and seasonings for a thinner sauce; or mixing with light sour cream and lemon zest for a creamier sauce. I decided on creamier, but instead of sour cream, I went healthy by using fresh guacamole. Unbelievably good! When I say ‘fresh guacamole,’ I mean no jarred guacamole dip (the kind that you find sitting next to the salsa and nacho cheese dip in front of the potato chip rack). Read the ingredients on on the jarred stuff and you’ll know why. If you have the time and the recipe to make a fresh guacamole dip, have at it (and please share the recipe with me!). If not, you can find good, all natural guacamole dips in the produce section of your grocery store. I recommend Wholly Guacamole.
This dish is beneficial in so many ways: it’s healthy, nutritious and tasty; it’s a quick fix for a weeknight (the most time you’ll spend is with chopping up the veggies); and it’s very versatile. It would serve well on it’s own, on top of pasta, rice or chicken, or would work as a side dish at your next grill-out. For an extra kick, try toasting up some garlic bread and use the veggies and sauce as a bruschetta-like topper!

BROILED/ROASTED VEGGIES WITH ROASTED RED PEPPER SAUCE

1 medium eggplant, skin removed, cut up into cubes
1 zucchini, cut up into cubes
1 yellow squash, cut up into cubes
1 bunch asparagus, cut up
1/2 container grape tomatoes (whole or cut in half)
1 clove garlic, minced
olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 12-oz jar roasted red peppers, drained
1/3 cup fresh guacamole (not jarred guacamole dip)

Place vegetables and garlic into a large mixing bowl. Add a few nice glugs of olive oil, enough to coat all veggies but not so much that they’re swimming in oil. Add some salt and fresh ground pepper. Mix well.

If broiling – pour veggie mix into a baking dish, sit directly under broiler at 450º for 15-20 minutes, stirring once, until slightly charred and tomatoes start to burst.

If grilling – place veggie mix on a sprayed vegetable grill tray. Grill veggies on direct heat until slightly charred and tomatoes start to burst.

*Note – broiling will allow veggies to retain most of it’s juices and the added olive oil, while grilling will allow the veggies to become more charred.

For the sauce – drain peppers of all jarred water. Place peppers in a blender and puree. Add 1/3 cup guacamole and blend until sauce is creamy. Spoon/drizzle a bit of sauce over each serving of vegetables and add additional sauce on the side of the dish for dipping.

Mangiare bene!

Salmon Cakes with Ponzu Dipping Sauce

This recipe was influenced by my good friend Lisa, who passed it along as an appetizer suggestion. It is a nice alternative to the traditional crab cake or fish cake. There’s hardly any additional filling, so you’re getting nice chunks of salmon in each bite. You can use fresh salmon, cooked and finely chopped (as Lisa did), or you can use canned salmon (which I chose to do).

Now, here’s the thing on canned salmon. It’s made from top quality salmon, and is only flavored with a pinch of salt. So it’s very nutritional. You’ll notice a couple of varieties. First, you have a choice of traditional (the big cans), or boneless and skinless (the smaller cans). Traditional cans are packed with the skin and tiny, delicate bones. Both the skin and bones are edible…seriously! The salmon is pressure cooked in the cans, so the bones become so soft, they can smushed into the meat with a fork. The bones are also rich in calcium and magnesium. The smaller cans have the skin and bones removed, so the meat resembles the texture of chunk white tuna. The smaller cans cost more, but I prefer no bones or skin in my canned salmon. Next you have a choice of pink or red (sockeye) salmon. The pink is lighter and milder, while the red is more intense in flavor and color. Both work well in all dishes.

I spoke about ponzu sauces a few posts back (click here for previous article). For this version, I’m using low sodium soy sauce as a base, and flavoring it with brown sugar, minced green onions, grated ginger and lime juice.

Thanks, Lisa, for this great recipe suggestion!

SALMON CAKES WITH PONZU DIPPING SAUCE

Salmon Cakes
3 (5 oz.) cans salmon
3/4 c. bread crumbs
1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter

*Note – the mixture worked well for me without using any eggs as a binding agent. However, you can use an egg to help bind the mixture if you wish.

Mix all ingredients together. Form mini cakes by rolling the batter into meatball-shaped balls and patting down into small cakes. Heat butter in a frying pan. Pan fry 2 to 3 minutes on each side, adding more butter if necessary. Makes 10-12 cakes.

Ponzu Sauce Recipe
1/4 cup of soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime

1-1/2 tsp of brown sugar

1 tbs of minced green onions

1/2 tbs of grated ginger

Mix all ingredients together.

Lenten Meals Part 2: Baked Tilapia with Shrimp Stuffing

Another great dish to make during the Lenten season is Baked Tilapia with Shrimp Stuffing. Tilapia seems to have become the ‘go to’ fish over the past few years, holding it’s own along with flounder, shrimp, salmon and tuna. I wanted to try something other than traditional baked tilapia, and found this recipe on the web a few months back. It’s fairly simple to prepare, is very healthy and makes for a nice presentation. Serves well with steamed asparagus, rice and a nice glass of white wine.

BAKED TILAPIA WITH SHRIMP STUFFING
courtesy of applecrumbles.wordpress.com
(click here for original recipe posting)

Serves 2

1.5 fl oz Lemon Juice (or use juice of 1/2 a lemon)
8 large cooked Shrimp, chopped small
1 tbspn Olive Oil,
1 tbspn Scallions (green onion), chopped
2 cups fresh Baby Spinach
1 tspn Minced Garlic
1 tbspn Parmesan Cheese, grated
4 pcs. (4oz ea) Tilapia filet
Old Bay Seasoning, (about 1 tsp)
Sea Salt and Fresh ground Pepper to Taste

Preheat oven 425F
Squeeze/sprinkle lemon juice over tilapia and set aside.
Chop the shrimp small.
Heat oil in saute pan over med. hi heat.
Add chopped green onion, garlic, spinach, you can add sea salt & pepper if you want, to taste.
Simply toss until spinach begins to wilt … about 1 – 2 min. Add shrimp and turn off heat.
In a baking dish sprayed with non stick spray or coat with olive oil (I usually line a foil baking pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up), place 2 pcs. of fish side by side.
Sprinkle with Old Bay Seasoning…Not Too Much!
Top fish with the spinach/shrimp mixture, spreading evenly on top.
Top that layer with your other 2 pcs. of tilapia and sprinkle with Old Bay, salt & pepper to taste, and 1/2 TBS parmesan cheese on top of each fish assembly.
Bake about 20 minutes or til cooked through.

Lenten Meals Part 1: Scampi

Since we’re now about half way into the Lenten season, I’d like to share a few seafood dishes that I enjoy making on Fridays. For this post, I’m going with two scampi recipes that I’ve had on hand for a few years: traditional shrimp scampi done on a stovetop, and a baked scallop scampi done in the oven. I only make these dishes occasionally, since both call for a nice amount of butter and a seafood ingredient that is fairly high in cholesterol. I do, however, use Smart Balance butter substitute instead of regular butter which helps cut down on the fat and cholesterol. Plus, a special meal once in a while isn’t a bad thing!

SHRIMP SCAMPI

6 tablespoons butter (or butter substitute)
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely chopped
2 lbs. (62-70 count) fresh raw medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and rinsed
1/4 cup shopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons chopped fresh or dried dillweed

Melt butter in a 12-inch skillet until sizzling, add shallots and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until shallots are softened (2-3 minutes). Add shrimp, cook, stirring occasionally until shrimp turn pink (4-5 minutes). Stir in parsley, lemon and dill weed. Continue cooking until flavors are blended (2-3 minutes). Serve over hot cooked pasta.

BAKED SCALLOP SCAMPI
courtesy of cooks.com

1 lb. small scallops
1/4 lb. butter
1 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon minced garlic (fresh or jarred)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 pinch paprika
1 pinch parsley flakes

Place scallops in a casserole. Melt butter and mix lemon juice and chopped garlic. Stir together. Pour mixture over scallops. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, paprika, and flakes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Serve over cooked rice.