Chilean Salmon with Avocado Cream Sauce + Island Nectar

As promised last night on my facebook page, here is Chilean Salmon with Avocado Cream Sauce and a drink I made up to use the rest of the coconut water.  If you are following my facebook page (there is a button on the right hand side of this blog) you will know that I had a bit of a fiasco with this recipe last night.  Because I had such a thick piece of salmon, and didn’t want to cut it and take away from the photographic presentation, I ended up with a portion in the middle/bottom that wasn’t quite done.  Having the skin still on the bottom side didn’t help either.  It wasn’t a big deal though, as I just flaked off the parts that were done and then put the rest back in the skillet for a minute more until it was done.  It was quite the mess however since I had already put the sauce on top.  I suggest making sure your pieces are cut more reasonably though if you want to present a beautiful piece of fish on the plate.

The flavor of this salmon was fantastic!  The actual preparation of the salmon is very simple, but allowing the lemon juice to soak in a bit and then covering the top with a generous amount of course sea salt and pepper results in such a beautiful crust that is full of flavor and allows the actual salmon flavor to really be the star.  Topped with the cool, creamy, slightly spicy avocado cream dip this is melt in your mouth good!  As I mentioned, my piece of salmon still had the skin on one side, which can be nice for presentation if you like that sort of thing, but I feel like it kind of messes up the cooking process… at least in a hot skillet since it seems to block some of the heat from reaching that bottom side and making it through to the middle to ensure a fully cooked fillet.  It would also be nice without the skin to have the option to salt and pepper both sides for even more crust.

Note : my piece of salmon was quite wet to start, and I had forgotten to pat dry it a bit before putting the lemon juice on.  As a result when I placed in into the hot oil in my skillet there was a LOT of splash from the moisture which not only caused a disaster on my stove top, but also managed to give me quite a few little burns.  I imagine even if you do dry your fish off well before putting the lemon juice on it’s going to splatter a bit from the lemon juice so beware and consider having a splatter screen handy!  And here is another little tip when cooking fish in a skillet.  Once you set the fish down don’t touch it until you see the bottom is starting to brown and the color will start to change up the side of your fillet.  You want it to be about halfway before you flip it.  If you try to move it before it starts to crust over you chance breaking the fish or having it stick to the skillet.  Also, always use oil or non-stick spray and cook in a quality skillet.

Chilean Salmon w/ Avocado Cream Sauce

Serves : 2+                          Time to make : 15 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 lb fresh salmon fillets (2 good sized fillets or you can opt for smaller pieces to serve more people)
• lemon
• course sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• olive oil (about 2-3 T.)

• 1 Haas avocado, about 2/3 cup
• 2 T. fresh lemon juice
• 1 T. finely chopped shallots
• 1/3 C. coconut water (I used Blue Monkey with pulp)
• pinch cayenne pepper
• pinch chili powder
• pinch smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 2 tsp. white wine vinegar
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 T. chopped chives

Directions :

1. Pat dry your fillets and then place on a plate and squeeze the juice of one lemon over top and allow to sit for about 5-10 minutes.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking.  Generously sprinkle your course sea salt and fresh ground black pepper onto the salmon fillets before carefully placing into the hot oil.  Cook on the first side about 3-4 minutes depending on the thickness of your salmon until browned on bottom and the color has turned light pink about halfway up the side of your fillet.  Flip and cook through.
2. Meanwhile for the sauce (It can help to have some of the sauce ingredients ready to go before you start cooking your salmon) cut open your avocado and scoop out the insides.  If you have never cut an avocado before what you do is take a knife and make a cut from top to bottom.  You won’t be able to cut through because of the pit, once you hit that sort of roll the knife around the avocado until you cut all the way around from top to bottom.  Holding both sides twist and pull and you’ll have two perfect halves with the pit in one of them.  I like to use a knife or spoon to pry the pit out at that point and then using a spoon slide it between the peel and the avocado and you can scoop it out in one swipe usually.
3. Place all sauce ingredients together in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.  Spoon over your finished salmon.

Recipe from : domestic fits

Now for the drink… I am calling it Island Nectar because the flavors are very “Island-y” and it has Guava Nectar in it… real creative I know lol.  As I mentioned on the facebook page, I just wanted to use up the rest of the can of coconut milk and figured some sort of cocktail would be the way to go.  I have a rather diverse bar in my pantry from all the various drinks we have tried over the years so I knew I could probably come up with something.  Unfortunately the ones I wanted to use, such as the rum were pretty low, hence the somewhat random amounts listed, but it actually ended up just right for my tastes.  Jeff likes a lot more alcohol in his drinks, whereas I am more about the taste, so if you are more like him you might want to add some straight rum or vodka to it so as not to change the taste too much.

So without a real plan I just started pouring things together and at first it was AWFUL… I mean seriously bad.  This was around the point that it was just coconut water and guava nectar.  I hadn’t really ever tried guava nectar before, but had a few cans lying around for a drink I wanted to try from Guy Fieri.  It is definitely not something I would drink on it’s own… So I knew I needed to sweeten it up and just started grabbing other things I had and voila it was suddenly good!  I don’t know how much this makes, but it about filled a basic pitcher.

Island Nectar

makes : 1 pitcher

Ingredients :

• 1 can Blue Monkey Coconut Water with pulp (or slightly less if you used some on the fish)
• 1 (11.3oz) can guava nectar (I found some called Jumex in the beverage isle at the grocery store)
• 1 can 7-up
• 2 oz. triple sec
• 6 oz. pineapple rum
• 1 oz. vanilla flavored syrup (like for coffee drinks)
• ice
• mint sprigs or lime wedges for garnish (I didn’t have anything on hand)

Directions :

1. Combine everything over a generous amount of ice in a pitcher and stir.

Day 154 : Raspberry Sauce & Raspberry Lemon Shake

I wanted to make a lemon shake and got the idea to add raspberries, but I didn’t just want to throw whole berries into the mix.  A few years ago I created this raspberry sauce I knew would be perfect for this so went ahead and whipped some of that up and then used a bit of it for the shakes.  You will end up with extra sauce, but it is great over ice cream, on pancakes, or drizzled over cake, etc.  Tonight I used sugar free/fat free pudding because it’s what I had on hand, but honestly I HATE them.  I hate that fake sugar flavor and the feeling it leaves on my teeth, so unless you are dieting (and in that case you are likely aware of the issue and it doesn’t matter) I would suggest using the regular version.

 

Raspberry Sauce

Serves : makes about 1 cup              Time to make : 5 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 cup frozen raspberries
• 1 1/4 T. sugar
• 1 T. raspberry preserves
• 4-5 T. prepared pink lemonade (I just make a glass from the powder and measure from that)

Directions :

1. Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. 
2. Push contents through a sieve to remove seeds.
3. Cover and store in the fridge.

Raspberry Lemon Shake

Serves : 1                 Time to make : 5 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 cup vanilla ice cream
• 1 T. raspberry sauce
• 1 1/2 T. lemon pudding mix (instant)
• 1/2 cup milk
• whip cream

Directions :

1. Combine all but the whip cream in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Top with whip cream.

 

Day 151 : Nanny’s Veggie Dip

While this is not my nanny it must have been someone’s, and IMO she knew what she was doing.  This is a great simple dip that uses things almost everyone has on hand at any given time.  For the purpose of showing just that I went with the dried versions as stated in the recipe, but I bet fresh ingredients could make this even better!  I almost always have onions, parsley, and garlic on hand, as I am sure many others do as well.

I made this today to dip carrots in because I was hoping to keep my caloric intake a little low for the afternoon since I knew we were eating out tonight.  However, once I made it and brought it into the living room to share in a sort of picnic Archer quickly decided he wanted some too, and I wasn’t comfortable with him having the carrots so I asked Jeff to grab some crackers for him to dip.  Tried it with the veggie ritz crackers and it was SOOOO good.  I could easily have eaten a whole sleeve of crackers that way myself.

Anyway, this is great for a crowd, either at a party or maybe a picnic or whatever.  Just make sure you give it some time to chill and let the flavors marry before you serve it.

 

Nanny’s Veggie Dip

Serves : about a cup                  Time to make : 5 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream
• 1/2 cup low fat mayo
• 1/2 T. parsley flakes
• 1/2 T. dried onion flakes
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 T. prepared mustard

Directions :

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well to mix.
2. Cover and chill for a couple hours before serving.

Day 103 : Homemade Tartar Sauce

Since my son recently decided he likes battered fish, I decided to grab a box from the store.  And with that I wanted to make my own tartar sauce.  I found this recipe on Key Ingredient, and decided to give it a try.  I think it turned out pretty well, and I think the longer it sits, and the more the flavors marry the better it will get.  I had to make it tonight rather than ahead of time so I didn’t get to chill it for as long as I would have liked.

When I was reading the recipe I wasn’t sure what a cornichon was, and figured there was no way I was going to find it.  I looked it up and it basically said it was a gherkin so I figured I MIGHT be able to find that.  To my surprise Yokes has cornichons.  I had thought to use regular pickles in place of the cornichons if I couldn’t find them, but I think there is a pretty big difference taste wise between the two.  Cornichons are these tiny little pickles that are fairly soft, and not really strong or tart like dill pickles would have been.  Anyway, the only difference I made to the recipe was to throw in a bit of lemon zest.

Homemade Tartar Sauce

Makes : about 1 Cup                 Time to make : q0  minutes (plus chill time)

Ingredients :

• 1 Cup mayo
• 3 T. capers, chopped
• 10 T. cornichons, finely chopped
• 2 T. fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 T. olive oil
• dash hot sauce

Directions :

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, cover, and chill until ready to serve.

Day 78 : Feta & Herb Dip with Crudites

Time to start throwing in some healthier recipes again after all the holidays and celebrations lately!  Tonight, after a busy day running errands, we decided to have a simple and light dinner.  Crudites (pronounced Crew-dee-tay) is an assortment of raw vegetables with either a vinaigrette or dipping sauce.  It’s often seen as an appetizer, but like we did tonight it makes a great light meal served with something like a rotisserie chicken.  Neither one of use are big fans of most cooked vegetables, so this is perfect for us.  Crudites are also great for parties and appeal to everyone from kids, to vegetarians, to dieters alike.  They are simple to put together and you can even take a bit of help and get pre-cut veggies from the store if you are pressed for time.  With a little bit of effort crudites can also be a great center piece to any table scape.  You can put them in a basket as I did tonight, or you can do a more of a bouquet type presentation.  With all the different colors it looks so beautiful, and FRESH!

Tonight I used a mixture of broccoli, cauliflower, baby carrots, snow peas, and radishes, but you can also use bell pepper strips, asparagus, celery, green onions, or whatever else you like.  The dip was very nice and I liked the tangy-ness of the feta paired with the freshness of the herbs.  The beans gave it a nice creamy consistency, and a boost of protein of course.  I might add some lemon zest next time, or a bit more of the parsley, but as with everything you can tweak to your tastes.  Just have fun with it!  Oh and the best part… it’s pretty guilt free I’d say!

 

Feta & Herb Dip with Crudites

Serves : makes 2 cups of dip                Time to make : 20 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1 (15 oz.) can of white beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup feta, crumbled
• 1 T. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup fresh dill
• 1/4 cup fresh mint
• 1/4 cup fresh chives
• various raw vegetables, washed and cut up in pieces

Directions :

1. Combine the beans, yogurt, feta, lemon juice, garlic salt, and pepper in a food processor until smooth.
2. Add in the fresh herbs and pulse until well combined.
3. Chill until ready to serve.

 

Day 27 : Ginger Lime Mayo & Ginger Citrus Marinade

Since I still haven’t gotten to the store for my main groceries I was forced to get creative again.  It’s good though, because when I have to make dinner from what I already have at the house without a plan I use up a lot of the stuff that might get thrown out otherwise.  I chose the Mayo for tonight’s main recipe because it really was the “star” of the meal, but I also threw together a quick marinade for the chicken which I will share as well.

The marinade turned out pretty well I thought.  I would have preferred to maybe throw in some lime zest to really push the lime flavor in it, but I didn’t have any on hand.  After grilling the chicken on my foreman which unfortunately lets a lot of the flavor roll off with the fat I could still taste the marinade so to me that means success lol.  I mixed up the mayo to go over the top though since I knew the flavor from the marinade would be pretty subtle if cooked that way.  Like I said, the mayo ended up being the best part of the meal for me.  I not only liked it on my chicken, but it made a great dip for our steak fries!

Ginger Lime Mayo

Makes : about 2/3 Cup              Time to make : 8 minutes

Ingredients :

• 1/2 C. light mayo
• 1 1/2 tsp. lime juice
• 3 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. fresh parsley or cilantro, minced  (more for color than anything else)
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil

Directions :

1. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl and cover.
2. Chill for a couple of hours at least to let the flavors blend.
3. Serve over meat, as a dip, or however else you’d like.

Ginger Citrus Marinade

Ingredients :

• 1/2 C. orange juice
• 2 T. lime juice
• 1 1/2 T. fresh ginger, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 T. cilantro, minced
• dash of tabasco
• 1 T. soy sauce

Directions :

1. Place all ingredients into a ziplock bag along with your chicken and set in fridge for at least 4 hours, or up to 8.  There should be enough marinade to do between 3-4 pieces of chicken at least.