Red Snapper in Acqua Pazza with Wilted Spinach

Adapted from Bon Appetit (May 1995) 

First off, "Acqua Pazza" means "crazy water"...according to good ole' Google anyway.  My friend Rebecca made this recipe for me a while back and I loved it, and it was also healthy! This go around I decided to change it up a bit, so this recipe is the modified version. You can find the original recipe on Epicurious. I decided to add wilted spinach!

2 red snapper fillets

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 small shallot, chopped

2 small bay leaves

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with basil and oregano

4 tablespoons olive oil (preferably extra-virgin)

2 teaspoons drained capers

 bunch of fresh spinach leaves

 handful of fresh basil

1 lemon, juiced

Saute half of the garlic and half of the shallot with 2 tb olive oil, about 3 minutes. Add the white wine, water, bay leaves, and the juice from the diced tomatoes. Arrange snapper fillets in single layer in large nonstick skillet. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and half of the lemon juice. Top with tomatoes and capers. Drizzle olive oil over. Season with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until fish is just cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer fish to platter.

While the fish is cooking, in another pan, saute the other half of garlic and shallot in the remaining 2 tb olive oil. Throw in the spinach leaves (rinsed) and fresh basil. Top with half the lemon juice and a dash of olive oil. Mix and saute over low heat until welted. Top with salt and pepper.   

Ginger Lime Swordfish

Adapted from Cooking Light

Swordfish is one of those things I only eat if fresh...and it's rarely available when I'm at the grocery store. It always reminds me of the beach because I usually order it at restaurants during the summer on vacation! I came across fresh swordfish on Saturday and couldn't resist. This dish was easy and turned out SO yummy. I highly recommend broiling this, as the recipe states. It cooked perfectly. I just modified a few of the ingredient amounts. I served this with steamed asparagus.

• 2 teaspoons grated lime rind
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons bottled fresh ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons minced green onion (didn't have on hand, so made without)
• 2 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
• 4 (6-ounce) swordfish steaks (about 3/4 inch thick)
• Cooking spray
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• Asparagus spears (portion out as desired)

Preheat the broiler. I cooked mine on high. Combine first 7 ingredients in a small saucepan. Sprinkle swordfish with salt and pepper. Dip each steak into the lime mixture to coat. Place fish on a broiling pan coated with cooking spray. I actually used aluminum foil on the broiling pan to make less of a mess. Broil 10-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.While fish cooks, place lime juice mixture over medium heat; cook until reduced by half (about 8 minutes). Serve sauce with fish and asparagus.

Chicken Parmesan Roll Ups & Pesto Pasta

Courtesy of Plated Perfection
This started because I wanted to make something on my own (without following a recipe) and I wanted it to be somewhat healthy (ok, so I added the pasta last minute -- oops). It just seemed like the right thing to do. This dish is pretty quick to assemble, and then you just bake it off! You can boil the pasta while that's going on, so it's really pretty stress free! Who can say no to fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, and pesto? Not this girl. You can either scale this down or up, very easily, but this is just the route I took so that I'd have leftovers tomorrow :)

4 thin sliced chicken breasts
4 slices of fresh mozzarella (I buy the balls and slice myself)
4 pieces of fresh basil (can use more if you so desire)
1 can (14.5 oz) fire roasted crushed tomatoes (I used Muir Glen®)
1 cup pasta (I used Ditalini)
2 tb pesto sauce (or more if desired)
1 tb olive oil
salt + pepper
1 tb Italian seasoning
grated Parmesan cheese (I usually have fresh, but didn't this go around)

Spray baking dish with non-stick cooking spray (or olive oil). Top each piece of chicken with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread enough crushed tomatoes to cover the chicken. Top with a slice of fresh mozzarella and a piece of basil (at the wider end of the chicken breast). Roll the chicken starting at this end, until it's secured. I was lucky enough to not need twine or tooth picks. I simply rolled them and laid them in the dish. Top with Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for approximately 25 -30 minutes. **Note: next go around, I would add more crushed tomatoes on the top of the chicken roll before baking.

While the chicken is baking, boil the water for pasta (amount depends on the amount of pasta). Throw in some salt, and a dash of olive oil. Bring to a rapid boil and throw in the pasta. Once the pasta is al dente, drain, leaving about 1 tb of pasta water, and mix the pesto in with the pasta. Serve the chicken over the pasta.

Tilapia Piccata

Courtesy of Plated Perfection
Let me start by saying...I <3 capers. As in, I think I have an obsession with them. I try to sneak those babies into everything. This dish welcomes them, which is probably why it's one of my go-to dinners (or lunch in this case)! 

• 2 tilapia fillets
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon  olive oil
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon capers (or more if you're me)
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Season tilapia with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish, and dredge tilapia in flour. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add tilapia, and cook for 1 minute on each side. Add white wine, lemon juice, chicken broth, capers, and garlic to pan. Cook for 2 minutes per side or until flaky. Top with sauce; sprinkle with parsley.

Grilled New York Strip

Courtesy of Plated Perfection

Mmmmmmm steak. This is what I thought when I saw these beautiful NY strips at Teeter. I just had to have them. I usually make some sort of red wine sauce when I cook steak, but this time I wanted to do something different. I even bought a new grill pan to use :) This was pretty simple and I just served it with some veggies. Vegetables offset the butter I'll be using, right?

Herb Butter
1/4 cup butter, softened to where it's easy to work with
1 tb fresh chopped parsley
1 tb fresh chopped thyme
Mix all ingredients and refrigerate to harden a bit, if desired.

NY Strip
2 strip steaks
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp steak seasoning
salt
2 tb herb butter
1 tb olive oil

Leave the steaks out for about 30 minutes to hit room temperature. Season both sides with the salt, lemon pepper, and steak seasoning. Butter the grill pan with the herb butter, over high heat. Sear the steaks for about 90 seconds, rotate 90 degrees, and sear for another 90 seconds. This creates the grill marks! Flip and do the same on the other side. Continue to cook about 4 minutes per side for medium.


Veggies
8 oz baby carrots 
8 oz green beans, cut into bite size pieces
8 oz small yellow potatoes, cut into bite size pieces
drizzle of olive oil
1 tb Italian seasoning
1 tb fresh thyme
salt and pepper

Coat baking dish with cooking spray. Mix ingredients together and place in dish. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes.

Top steak with a dollup of herb butter!

Salmon Cakes & Veggie Skewers

Courtesy of Plated Perfection (adapted from my Dad's recipe)
When my Dad came to visit a few months back, he told me about these salmon cakes that he makes. They sounded delicious and I finally asked him for the recipe :) I made just a couple of changes just because of what I had on hand, etc. I was hoping to make fresh salmon to use, but I ended up just going with canned for this go around. I would say to be somewhat picky in the brand you get, and I would also suggest getting the boneless and skinless kind. There are a lot of people that use the bones in the recipe, but that grosses me out :) We just finished up dinner and the verdict is...delicious.

Salmon Cakes:
3 6oz. cans of boneless, skinless canned salmon
1 cup thawed, chopped spinach
4 tb feta cheese
1 tb dry mustard
1/2 tb lemon pepper
few dashes of salt and pepper
1 egg
1 tb remoulade sauce (optional)
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs or panko

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Form into patties (I was able to get 5 patties). Heat 1-2 tb olive oil and cook the salmon cakes about 4 minutes per side over medium heat, until browned. Top with remoulade sauce and a splash of lemon juice.

Veggie Skewers:
1 squash, peeled and chopped into wedges
1 zucchini, peeled and chopped into wedges
1 green pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 red pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup Italian dressing
1-2 tb olive oil
splash of salt and pepper
5 skewers

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients (except the skewers, obviously). Feel free to let marinate for a few minutes. Assemble the skewers. If using wooden skewers, make sure you soak them in water for 15 minutes so that they won't burn. Grill, if possible, for several minutes per side. Otherwise, bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Individual Chicken Pot Pies

Adapted from Ellie Krieger
Everyone loves chicken pot pie, at least to my knowledge. Maybe it's the comfort food aspect, or the thought of having your own personal pot pie :) Regardless, these are great when it's cold outside. I will say -- this is not your recipe if you're in a hurry for dinner. These do take some time! This particular recipe made 3-4 pot pies, depending on the size of your dishes. I adapted this by using different vegetables and different toppings.

• cooking spray
• 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 leeks, bottom 4 inches only, washed well and chopped
• 2 cups carrots, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes cut into bite size pieces
• 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups low-fat milk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• can of biscuits (I used Pillsbury Simply Buttermilk)
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the individual-sized baking dishes with cooking spray. Season the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few turns of pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of the oil over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, turning once. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Add 2 more teaspoons of the oil, the leeks, and the carrots to the pan and cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the potatoes, green beans, garlic, and remaining salt and pepper and cook for 2 more minutes.

Add the milk to the pan. Stir the flour into the chicken broth until dissolved and add to the pan. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in the reserved chicken, peas, parsley, and thyme. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dishes.

Open the biscuits and roll each biscuit so that it's thinned out. Place 1-2 biscuits on top of each dish (make sure most of the top is covered). Top each pie with Parmesan. Place on a baking sheet and bake until the filling is bubbling, about 25-30 minutes.