Tilapia, corn and chard

Yup, more chard. This is how it goes when I grow a garden: at the first sight of my vegetable of choice, let's say chard, I get all excited and I practically *stare* the greens out of the soil. When it's ready to pick, I'm gung-ho about all these recipes that I've collected over the winter. So it's chard omelet, chard quesadilla, chard sautéed with garlic, chard sautéed without garlic, chard soup......you name it. Until I am so sick and tired of chard (or green beans, or zucchini, or beets or whichever vegetable is thriving) that I am glad to know the season's over and I vow to never, ever eat chard again.

And then winter comes along and I sit, all cozied up on the couch with fifty different seed catalogs. And I see a picture of some new variety of chard (or green beans, or zucchini, or beets) and I get all excited and can't wait to order the seeds, get them started and *stare* the greens out of the soil. And then the whole circle repeats itself. Isn't it wonderful to have a garden!?

Tonight I wanted to have some veggies because it's been breadbreadbread all week long. I love bread but there comes a point.....alas, see above. A girl's gotta eat some greens too, so today I picked some chard, an ear of corn and pulled a serving of tilapia out of the freezer. Summer food is easy, quick and if grown at home so tasty..................

Tilapia
1 serving of tilapia per person
Butter
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of flour per serving

Salt and pepper the fish, then coat in flour. Brown the butter in a skillet and quickly sear the fish on both sides. Lower the heat, cover and let sit for several minutes until the fish is done.

Corn with citrus chili butter

1 ear of corn per person

Water 
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 lime
1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon of chili powder

Clean the ears and place in a pot with water. Bring to a boil. The moment the water boils, the ears are done. Remove them from the water and set aside. Zest the lemon and the lime and mix in the butter, juice the lemon and add. Stir and taste. If you want more zing, add a bit more juice. Fold in the chili powder, taste again and adjust if needed. Serve a dollop of butter on each ear.

Chard with garlic
5 chard leaves per person
1 garlic clove
Splash of good quality olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Rinse the leaves and cut in 1 inch strips. Save the bottom end of the stems for the chickens or compost. Mince the garlic. Heat the olive oil in the skillet, add the chard and sauté for a minute or two until the greens go limp. Add the garlic and toss, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve everything on a plate, and sit out in the garden!

Summer goodness - chard,squash and tomatoes

The better the ingredients, the less you have to work on making them taste good. Picked fresh from the garden today, I ate sautéed chard, sautéed summer squash with onions and green beans, a quick tomato salad and some salmon from the grill, topped with a caramelized slice of pineapple.

Thank God for foodie friends - yesterday, while puttering around the house painting, cleaning and writing (since I'm riddled with something akin to ADD, these activities happen in five minutes spurts) I realized I had not eaten a "proper" meal in several days. Busy baking for BBD #32, I made too many rolls and, cheap as I am, I refused to throw any of them away. So my breakfast, lunch and dinner pretty much consisted of rolls: with cheese, with hagelslag, with fried egg.....but I'm not complaining! As the eternal bread junkie that I am, I could eat bread every day, but having taught nutrition classes for several years, I also know that bread alone does not a meal make.

So I called my dear friend Luke, my fellow food friend from West Virginia, and asked for ideas. I had some salmon in the freezer that needed to be eaten and Luke came up with this brilliant idea: salmon and pineapple. Hmmm...............didn't sound too appetizing to me, but I know better than to question his suggestions so I pulled open a can of pineapple slices, put the salmon in a foil jacket with some herbs, pineapple on top and on the grill they went.

My garden, albeit reluctantly (this has been my worst growing year yet!), let me have some chard, zucchini, green beans and tomatoes so I was able to use those as a veg. No starch this time, but two slices of homebaked bread on the side. Told ya, this girl can't eat without bread!

There is really no wrong way of doing this: slice your veg, throw a little bit of olive oil or butter in a pan, add onions, caramelize on medium heat and throw in the vegetables. When the vegetables are translucent and a little bit soft to the touch, they're done unless you want them well done. During the last couple of minutes, chop up a garlic clove or two and add them to the vegetables. Nothing worse than burnt garlic so I usually save them for last.

The salmon was wrapped in foil and grilled on a medium heat barbeque grill. Leave on for about fifteen minutes, open the package to see if the fish is done (it will flake easily and be tender to the touch). If so, leave the package open so some of the juices can evaporate. If the fish is not done, close the package back up and cook for another ten minutes.

Two quiches: salmon and chicken-vegetable

Triple hurray for the freezer in the garage! I've shuffled some items around and I have seen its bottom! Noooo....not that bottom, but I am excited about the fact that we are making progress in this effort to use up all we have in the freezer and replace it with some fresh items. Incidentally, it is giving me an excellent idea on what to skip hoarding next time, or what to safely buy five-fold when it's on sale, like half-gallons of milk or frozen vegetable mixes.

BJ, my husband, is a milk-drinker but I am not, so we only freeze half gallons (remove about a 1/4 cup from each plastic bottle before you freeze it, the milk will expand and might break the container if you don't). I have come to really appreciate my huge quantity of frozen vegetables, and will probably continue to stock those, as they come in so handy for stews, soups and as we will see today, quiches. Nothing beats the fresh stuff ofcourse, but frozen is a close second. And I have also learned to freeze meat in smaller portions, to always have a fryer or two on hand and since I have learned to cut and debone a chicken, I no longer have to buy the expensive frozen chicken breasts or tenders ! See Basic Chicken Soup post from November 19 2005 for details on how to cut up a chicken.

Yesterday, I found two 9 inch pie crusts in that same garage freezer, so today we're having Quiche. This can be a great meal for lunch with a salad, or a dinner party if you offer various fillings. Be creative!

Salmon Quiche

1 cup small broccoli crowns (if you use fresh broccoli, steam them first before using)
1 can salmon (16 oz)
5 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon corn meal or breadcrumbs
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper

Preheat oven at 350F. Drain the salmon well and remove skin and bones as well as you can. Mix the eggs in a bowl, and add the milk slowly, beat again, and add in the tomato paste, and beat again until well blended. Remove the pie crust from the freezer, distribute the corn meal or breadcrumbs evenly over the bottom, and place pieces of the salmon on top. A quiche will usually be cut in 8 wedges, like a pie, so make sure each piece has a nice chunk of salmon. Place the broccoli in between the salmon pieces, ensuring that the surface of the pie is well covered. Pour the egg mixture over the salmon and the broccoli, filling the pie crust. Do not overpour.

Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 45'-50' or until a toothpick comes out clear.

This is great served straight from the oven, with a nice salad or cold the next day with some ketchup.

Chicken Vegetable Quiche

2 cups of mixed frozen vegetables: I chose corn, green beans and red peppers for this quiche.
5 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 large chicken breast
1/2 tablespoon italian seasoning
pinch of thyme
salt
pepper
olive oil
1 garlic clove
brie or grated cheese
1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs or corn meal

Mix the vegetables in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, and the herbs. Set aside. Cut the chicken in small, bitesize pieces and brown quickly in a pan with some olive oil and garlic. Add to the vegetables and stir. Mix the eggs with the milk, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Drain the vegetable/chicken mix of any liquids that might have accumulated at the bottom of the bowl and place in the pie crust, after you have covered the bottom of the crust with the breadcrumbs or the corn meal. This will soak up any liquid that might generate during cooking. Distribute the vegetable/chicken mix over the pie crust. Add grated cheese, or little chunks of brie, then pour over the egg mixture and fill the pie crust.

Place in a preheated oven at 350F and cook for 45-50 minutes.

Have a lovely meal!

Fish Ragout with Rice

My ex brother-in-law is an avid fisherman, and often he gives me part of his catch. I have no complaints, since he catches, guts and cleans them, and there is absolutely nothing I have to do except put on the frying pan and get busy! Nevertheless, I am not a big fish-eater, so every now and then a trout or two gets pushed to the bottom of the freezer and doesn't emerge until......well until now, I guess. This morning, I retrieved a ziploc bag (this one is a fancy one, it has purple daisies on it) with a frozen fishbody from the depths of the icebox.

For those of you that just joined me and are wondering why I'm listing the contents of my freezer......the people "in the know" say that once a year one should empty the contents of the freezer and either dispose or use up the items stored. Besides, you save money on groceries since these are already paid for! Since my two freezers were full-full-full, I decided to cook, bake or otherwise prepare the foods I found, and share the recipes with you. And while we're at it, we might as well get rid of some of those cans in the pantry as well. Anything past the due date is tossed, the rest is arranged by date and the ones closest to expiring are used up first! I hope you are encouraged to sort through those Unidentified Frozen Objects in your freezer and join the fun.

Back to the trout. I found a can of clam chowder in the pantry, so out comes the crockpot (brilliant invention!) and in goes the content of the can. Read on the can if it requires you to add water or milk, and if yes, please do.

Fish Ragout with Rice

1 can of clam chowder

1 fish (use pollock filets or other white fish, no salmon)

1 cup of mixed frozen vegetables

1 medium potato

1 cup of rice


Fire up the crockpot on high and add the contents of your clam chowder. When it's warmed up, add a cup of frozen vegetables. I found a bag with frozen celery, mushrooms and yellow corn and used it, but feel free to add any vegetables you like. Peppers usually don't fare well, but hey! to each his own.....

If the fish has bones, zap it for two or three minutes in the microwave, or until the meat easily pulls from the bones. Add the meat (preferably chunks) to the crockpot mix and stir once or twice. Peel a medium potato, dice it and add it to the mix.
Cook a cup of rice on the side. Let the ragout come to a boil in the crockpot, then simmer for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked and the fish is done. Salt and pepper to taste, and pour over a portion of rice. Enjoy your meal!!


Oh.......if you have any leftover rice, don't throw it away but save it until the next morning. Grab a bowl, put the rice in it, cover with milk, brown sugar and cinnamon, microwave for three minutes and hey presto! Breakfast is served. Yummmy! But not good for the waist, so we'll only do this every now and then, okay?