Butterfish with Baked Crab

Another wowing meal to serve when friends come over!

The Meat

- 4 fillets butterfish

- salt, pepper to taste

- 1 tablespoon butter for frying

- 6 ounces of crab meat (although fresh is best!)

- 1 tablespoon Greek yogurt

- 8-10 pieces of Port Salut cheese

- 1 stalk celery, diced

- 1/2 a scallion, minced

- 1/2 teaspoon of horseradish

- salt, pepper, savory, marjoram, paprika to taste

The Veggies

- 3 sweet potatoes, chopped in large pieces

- 1 cup green beans, ends trimmed

- 1/2 cup water

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- salt, savory to taste

- 1 pound spinach

- 1/2 cup water

- 8-10 cloves of garlic, chopped

- 2 tablespoons butter

- lemon juice, salt, pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 380 degrees.

To begin this meal, peel the sweet potatoes and trim the green beans.  Place the veggies in a glass baking dish and sprinkle them with the salt and savory spice.  Brush everything with the olive oil and pour the water into the pan to keep the veggies from drying out.  Put the baking dish into the oven and let them cook for 40 minutes.

Next, make the crab melt.  Drain the crab and place it in a mixing bowl.  Add the diced celery, minced scallion, horseradish, and spices.  Mix in the Greek yogurt and toss in the Port Salut cheese.  Blend everything together with a fork and set aside - I warmed this in a pan until the cheese got all gooey and melted the whole mixture together into a delicious melt-style lump.

Warm the griddle pan and melt the tablespoon of butter for the butterfish.  Season both sides of your fish fillets and let them cook on medium heat, flipping every 2-3 minutes until the fish is white, opaque, and flaky.  

In another small pan, melt the rest of the butter and saute the chopped garlic, stirring occasionally, for around 5 minutes.  Set it aside to toss with the spinach - which you can put in a large pan with the water, lemon juice, pepper, and salt, and wilt on low heat.  When the spinach is wilted and dark green (don't let it go brown), drain it and toss it with the butter and garlic.  

While your spinach is wilting, you should use your fourth burner to heat up the crab mixture with some medium-low heat and turn it into a crab melt.  Use a spatula to flip the gooey awesomeness after 3-4 minutes, and after 8 minutes or so it should be ready to layer on top of the fish.  Plate everything and serve with some white wine!

Lunch Is Served

We love our light Sunday lunches.  This one is no exception.  The cucumbers add an element of crunch to the dish, while the plums are juicy and sweet, and the fresh mozzarella and slicing tomato are creamy and soft.  Each bite delights your taste buds in different ways, but all ways are good ways!

The Meat

- 2 chicken apple sausages, sliced

The Veggies 

- 8-10 stalks of asparagus

- bacon grease as needed

- 1 1/2 cups of raw spinach

- 1 slicing tomato, sliced (duh)

- 2 balls of boccioni mozzarella, sliced

- 2 teaspoons olive oil

- salt, pepper, basil, oregano, marjoram to taste

- 1/2 large cucumber, sliced

- 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

- lemon juice, salt, pepper, dill to taste

The Fruit

- 1 plum, sliced

Slice the plum, cucumber, and tomato.  Place the cucumber and plum on the plate.  Mix together the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and dill into the Greek yogurt and spoon it over the cucumbers.  Toss the tomato with the mozzarella slices, olive oil, and seasoning, then put that onto the plate next to the cucumbers.  Place the plum on the other side of the plate so it doesn't sit in the olive oil from the tomato salad.  

I precut my sausages to make sure they cooked quicker and also to let each piece have that delicious dark brown grilled coating on it.  It took around 5-7 minutes to make the meat, flipping the pieces 1-2 times to prevent charring.

At the same time, I put a small dot of bacon grease and my asparagus on the same griddle pan, rolling them so they cooked evenly.  They also only took around 5 minutes to be soft and ready to eat.  Then I lowered my heat to a low setting and wilted my spinach in the leftover bacon and sausage grease.  

Put the cooked ingredients on the plate and serve!  It doesn't take much time and it is so enjoyable to nibble on every aspect of this dish!

Turkey Patties with Dill Yogurt Sauce

This is a light dinner, it tastes amazing and the ground turkey tastes soooo good with the Greek yogurt sauce.  We have been enjoying fresh cucumber in all sorts of ways this summer, and putting the diced cucumber into the Greek yogurt is a great way to lighten up your dinner and add some zesty crunch!

The Meat

- 1 pound ground turkey, divided into 4 patties
- curry spice, salt, pepper, dill, crushed red pepper to taste

The Veggies

- 1 head of broccoli, chopped

- 1 small head purple cauliflower, chopped
-lemon juice to taste

2 summer squashes, sliced

- 1/2 cup red grapes, sliced in halves

- 1 large slicing tomato, chopped

- 1 tablespoon dried cranberries
- salt, pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon olive oil

The Sauce

- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

- 6 slices cucumber, diced

- 1 teaspoon lemon juice

- salt, dill, pepper to taste

- 1/2 green onion, sliced


Preheat the oven to 380 degrees.


Slice the squash and tomatoes and put them into your small baking dish.  Then add the water, seasoning, cranberries, and oil.  Pop it all in the oven and bake it for around 35 minutes.





Put the broccoli and cauliflower into your steamer and steam for 15 minutes.  Splash them with the lemon juice when they are all done.  I like to keep them a little firm, I feel like the vegetables taste better when they aren't too mushy.  The lemon is a nice way to give them a tangy kick without relying on too much seasoning.





The patties I cooked on my griddle pan at high heat, flipping them after 4 minutes.  While they cooked I whipped up my sauce, folding in all the ingredients and spooning it together until it is creamy and consistent.

A Favorite Simple Dessert

Giving up ice cream was tough, until I discovered Greek yogurt.  Now I use it as my base whenever I want a sweet treat.  

The Dessert

- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

- 2 tablespoons honey

- 1/4 cup blueberries

- 1/4 cup grapes, sliced

- 1/4 cup watermelon, cubed

Layer all the ingredients - I did the watermelon on the bottom, with yogurt, then honey, then grapes, then more yogurt, then more honey, and last the blueberries.  It makes the presentation fun.  I use my noshing cups to serve this dessert because they are the perfect portion size. 

You can make all sorts of varieties of this dessert - any fruit will do, and nuts are a great addition.  We often put in cashews, walnuts, or pecans, those nuts in particular go well with the honey.  You could also swap out the honey for maple syrup if you wanted, or sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon on top.  It's all good.