Tag: salad

Two simple fish dishes for a light meal

Here are two simple fish dishes for light meals you can make at home very easily. And here the story goes…

Ben came home with some fish a couple of days ago, hooray!! I have been pushing off driving to the fish market to replenish our home stocks.  We do trips to the Sydney fish market every few weeks, but the idea of driving two hours (one each way, I reassure you) and missing out on a quiet day at home and a nice swim in the bay has deterred me to do the trip recently…

In the fish basket, I got some deep seabream fillets and some salmon fillets.  If you want to know more about the fish from our waters, the Sydney Fish Market has a published book which is quite good and a lot of information on species online.

The seabream is a very soft fillet and has a very delicate flesh.  The fillets are single serve most of the time.  The salmon is rather well-known, its cooking is more versatile.

Simple fish dish # 1 – Poached deep seabream with carrots

The idea of this dish is “keep it simple”! As I do not plan my meals, I had a look at what was in the fridge and those carrots were really tempting.  We had dutch baby carrots and your normal carrots.  The carrots are cooked slowly in a frypan with a little butter, a drop of water and a bit of salt (to taste) while the fish is poached separately in two centimetres of water with a little olive oil, rock salt and fennel seeds. We served it with a side salad (just lettuce and tomatoes with a balsamic vinaigrette.  The whole is ready is less than half an hour (including setting the table).

The details of the recipe can be found HERE.

fish meal

fish meal

 

Simple fish dish # 2 – Salmon with hot and cold  mix vegetables salad

This one was tonight’s dinner.  There were just three of us, so one piece of salmon was enough.  Again, here I am thinking of something light. To be honest I had no idea when opening the fridge door.  I look into the vegetables drawer and – as we all do – rediscover its content. I then pull out a little piece of red cabbage, one Brussel sprout, a sweet potato and a few more things like herbs and a piece of a pomegranate requesting to be finished soon.

There were two cooking stages, but this time all in the same roasting dish. First, the cauliflower and sweet potato first, then the fish and a little chickpeas. And finally herbs, a few crumbs of feta and some cherry tomatoes.  Over that, a dash of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, a splash of lemon and dinner is ready. A table! To my surprise the children finished it all off.

The details of the recipe can be found HERE.

fish meal fish meal

Salmon with hot and cold mix vegetables salad

This is a recipe you should feel free to adapt with what you have available at home.  It is designed to have a few roasted vegetables, a few fresh vegetables, herbs, a little feta or similar fresh cheese and of course a piece of salmon.

There were two cooking stages,  all in the same roasting dish. First, the cauliflower and sweet potatoes first, then the fish and a little chickpeas. And finally herbs, a few crumbs of feta and some cherry tomatoes.  Over that, a dash of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, a splash of lemon and dinner is ready.

fish meal

Ingredients:

This is for 2 adults for a light meal, increase the amount of fish per person for a more copious meal.

  • 1 piece of salmon fillet skin on
  • 1 cup of cut heads of cauliflower
  • 1/2 tin of chickpeas
  • 1 sweet potato
  • a few brussels sprouts ut in quarters
  • 5 cherry tomatoes cut in quarters
  • 1 cup of finely shredded red cabbage
  • about 1/4 cup of  pomegranate seeds  (omit if you don’t have, you can put walnut pieces or pepitas as an alternative)
  • Coriander, chives herbs (or other fresh herbs, about  1/4 cup)
  • Lemon, olive oil, balsamic vinegar
  • A little feta or other soft fresh cheese
Method:
  1. On a plate, sprinkle a little olive oil over the salmon and a little salt.
  2. Peel the sweet potato and cut in pieces of 2 cm size maximum.
  3. Place in a small roasting dish the chickpeas, the sweet potato, the cauliflower. Pour a fillet of olive il and a little salt, toss and place in a 200 °C oven (middle rack). Allow to cook for about 10 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are half tender.
  4. Add the fish in the middle of the vegetable and return to the oven another 10 minutes about until the fish is just cooked.
  5. Remove from the oven, add to the dish all other vegetable, placing on top the herbs, feta and pomegranate.
  6. add a fillet of balsamic vinegar over the dish, of olive oil and squeeze half a lemon over it. Serve.

Note: if some people do not like lemon, you can let other people squeeze it on their serve themselves.

Wild rice, feta, roasted pumpkin salad

This wild rice, feta, roasted pumpkin salad is a killer! It is for a light meal.  The dressing is based on tahini and lemon.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

  • 1 cup of wild rice
  • 1/2 block of feta
  • 1/2 butternut pumpkin
  • 1 tablespoon of tahini
  • 1 teaspoon of honey
  • 1/2 lemon juice (up to the 1 full lemon juice if not very juicy)
  • Olive oil
  • 2 spring onions
  • 6 figs cut in quarters
Method:
  1. Preheat oven to 200°C.  Peel the pumpkin and cut into 1-2 cm length and wide cubes. Place in a roasting dish, add olive oil and salt.  Put into the oven and roast until tender.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool down.
  2. In the meanwhile, bring to the boil a pan of salted water. When it is boiling, add the rice, reduce the heat to allow for a small boil.  Wild rice will take about 20 minutes to cook and remain slightly firm.
  3. Prepare the dressing: in a small bowl, place the tahini, lemon juice and honey together, add 2 tablespoon of olive oil, 3 tablespoon of water (to make it thinner),   a touch of salt (not too much, the pumpkin, rice and feta are already bringing some salt). Mix well. Add a bit more water if very tick.  This dressing is not so thin.
  4. In a large salad bowl, place the pumpkin, the feta broken in small pieces, the rice and the spring onions.  Mix slightly being careful not to break the pumpkin and feta. Add the figs.
  5. Depending on who will be at the table you may pour the dressing on the salad or leave it for each to do so.

 

Potato and prawn salad

This potatoes and prawn salad can be made early.  It is a great family dinner or picnic dish, even a great camping meal!

Use kipfler potatoes for this dish, they are a bit firmer and their taste is a bit nutty.

Ingredients:
  • 2 potatoes per person
  • About 10 prawns per person
  • For the mayonnaise: 1 egg yolk, 1/2 spoon of mustard, olive oil (about 1/2 cup), salt, juice of half a lemon, pepper
  • Coriander or chives or spring onions.
Method:
  1. Place the potatoes in cold salted water, bring to the boil and cook until soft
  2. Drain the potatoes, remove the skin, cut in slices.
  3. Bring to the boil a large pot of salted water, throw in the (uncooked) prawn. Cook for a minute or two until pink and cooked through. Drain the prawns. If you have purchased cooked prawns, discard this step.
  4. Peel the prawns, feel free to leave the tail end. Add to the potatoes.
  5. Prepare the mayonnaise: mix the yolk and mustard slightly, keep mixing while adding slowly the olive oil. The consistency will thicken, extend the mayonnaise until you reach the volume you need. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Use straight away by mixing with the potatoes and prawns.
  6. Add cut herbs.

Tomato salad

A tomato salad is so beautiful and fresh!  it can be served as an entree for lunch or a side for a meal.  If the tomatoes were in the fridge, it is better if the salad is prepared early to allow the tomatoes to come back to room temperature.

I am yet to take a photo of it (even though we had a tomato salad as part of dinner).

You can choose to use cherry tomatoes and vary the colour of the tomatoes.

Ingredients:
  • Tomatoes, based on one tomato per person
  • Salt, pepper, red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, olive oil
Method:
  1. Rinse the tomatoes as necessary
  2. Cut the tomatoes either in half-quarters or in thin (mm) slices.  if you are in Europe (and maybe elsewhere, but not in Australia), you will find the tool below which does the cutting for you.
  3. Vinaigrette: I use the same vinaigrette than for a green lettuce.
  • 1/4 spoon of salt, slightly covered with ground pepper
  • 1 spoon of red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, mix with the salt and pepper.
  • Add 3 spoons of olive oil.
  • If you like it, cut some shallots in very small dices