Pesto Bruschetta Salmon

Who DOESN'T love pesto?  The basil, the olive oil, the garlic...omnomnom.  And Pesto goes so well on so many different things...like salmon!  I mixed diced tomato, onion, and oregano into my pesto to make a bruschetta style sauce with a big of crunch and extra kick to pair with the mild salmon flavors.  

The Meat

- 2-3 fillets of sock eye salmon

- salt, pepper, dill to taste

The Veggies

- 2 yellow potatoes, sliced

- 1 cup green beans, tips trimmed

- 1 cup spinach, raw

- 1 cup water

- 1 tablespoon bacon grease

- salt, pepper to taste

The Sauce

 - 1 (packed) cup of basil

- 3 cloves garlic

- 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts

- 1/4 cup olive oil

- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

- lemon juice to taste

- 1 small slicing tomato, diced

- 1/2 onion, diced

To prepare the veggies, I boiled them all together with the water and bacon grease, seasoning lightly.  I cooked everything on high heat in a medium sized pan for around 15-20 minutes until most of the water had boiled away and the potatoes were soft.  

I cooked the salmon fillets on high heat with my griddle pan, flipping every 4 minutes or so until the salmon was opaque and flaky, around 8-12 minutes depending on the size of your fillets.  I seasoned them lightly, and when time to serve smothered the fish with my sauce. 

In a blender or food processor, I blended together my basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, lemon juice, and parmesan cheese, pulsing and scraping down large chunks to make sure everything was smooth and consistent.  I tossed in the tomato and onion with a spoon.  

*If you don't want to go about the business of making you own pesto, I won't judge you if you buy pre-made pesto from the store.  

This meal is easy to make, slightly less easy to clean up (due to the blender), and all over delicious.

Avocado Omelet Delight

Another morning, another breakfast.  We had gotten some avocados this week, and I decided to make my husband a very happy man by making an avocado omelet for him today.

The Meat

- 4 strips of bacon

- 4 breakfast links

The Omelet

- 5 eggs, whisked

- 6-8 slices of Port Salut cheese

- 1/4 cup onion, diced

- 1/4 cup spinach, raw and chopped

- salt, pepper, dill, red chili pepper flakes to taste

- 1 avocado, pit removed

- 4 slices of slicing tomato

On your griddle pan, bring the heat up to high and cook the sausages for around 8-10 minutes, turning them at regular intervals so they cook evenly.  Throw the bacon on for 3 minutes and then turn the slices over and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.  

While the meat is cooking, crack open the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk them until frothy bubbles start to form.  This ensures your omelet will be nice and fluffy.  You can even add 1/4 cup of milk if you so desire, to make them even lighter and fluffier.  Add in the seasoning, chopped spinach, and green onion.

When the meats are finished cooking, plate them and then lower the stovetop to medium heat.  Pour the egg mixture onto the griddle pan, directly into all that delicious bacon grease.  Dot the omelet with the Port Salut cheese and if you'd like, add some of the avocado to the cooking, bubbly pan of wonderfulness.  Let the omelet cook for around 4 minutes or until the bottom is a golden brown and can easily be moved around.  Slowly and carefully use a spatula to fold over the omelet, trapping all that bubbly, gooey awesomeness inside, and then cook the omelet for 3-4 more minutes, flipping it once.  Use the spatula to divide the omelet into two and plate the two pieces.

Layer sliced tomato and more avocado on top.  Serve and take delight in the creamy avocado, soft cheese, and delicious eggs and meats.

Wahoo in Garlicky Lemon Butter

We hung out with some great friends and watched the Michigan game this afternoon at a nearby bar, but when it was all over my husband was HUNGRY and I needed to make him something fast.  Fish is always a good idea because it cooks so quickly.  I got this meal plated and served in around 35 minutes.  When I need to, I can turn on the steam, but the meal still tasted awesome!

The Meat

- 3 fillets of Wahoo fish

- bacon grease for the pan

- salt, pepper, lemon juice to taste

The Sauce

- 3 tablespoons butter

- 1/2 shallot, thinly sliced

- 3 cloves garlic, sliced thin

- 3 teaspoons lemon juice

- dill, salt to taste

The Veggies

- 1/2 eggplant, sliced then cut into quarters

- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small pieces

- 2 small turnips, cut into small pieces

- dill, basil, seasoning salt to taste

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- 1/2 cup water

- 2 summer squashes, sliced

- 1 tomato, mostly crushed

- 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

- 1 teaspoon lemon juice

- 1/4 cup water

- salt, pepper, dill to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Chop up the veggies into small pieces, so they'll cook faster.  Throw together the eggplant, sweet potato, and turnip and generously season it.  Pour in the water and brush the olive oil over the tops of the veggies.  Cook for 30 minutes.

Sautee up the squash with the tomato, oil, lemon, and water.  Season it and cover it with a lid.  Let it cook on medium high heat for 25-30 minutes. 

Melt the butter with the lemon, garlic, and shallot and let it cook on low heat, stirring every few minutes.

On a griddle pan, turn your heat to high and cook your seasoned wahoo fish.  Flip it every 3-4 minutes. It should be done after 10-12 minutes.  You want the fish to be opaque, white, and flaky.  

When all the components are ready, plate the veggies and toss the fish in the butter.  Put the softened garlic and shallots on top of the fish and feed your hungry selves.

Tomato Roasted Eggplant with Turkey Meatballs

Here is another fun meal to serve to friends!  The presentation is great and it tastes just as good as anything you can find over in North Beach.  The turkey meatballs taste so good, because they have bubbly hot Parmesan cheese rolled into their mixture.  Yummmm.

The Meat

- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of ground turkey meat

- Parmesan, salt, pepper, marjoram, basil, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder to taste

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1/3 heirloom tomato, mostly crushed

The Veggies

- 1 large eggplant, sliced

- 1 summer squash, sliced

 - 6-10 Padron peppers, stems and seeds removed

- 1 heirloom tomato + the leftover tomato from the meat, mostly crushed

- 1 heirloom tomato, sliced

- salt, pepper, basil, oregano to taste

- 2 tablespoons of olive oil

- 2 cups spinach, wilted

- 1/2 cup water

- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

- salt to taste

Preheat your oven to 385 degrees. 

In a large baking dish, layer your eggplant, squash, and tomato, brushing each piece with the olive oil and then covering all of it evenly with the peppers, spices and crushed tomato.  Bake the veggies uncovered for 40 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, add the meat ingredients.  Take off your rings and get your hands in there.  Squish everything together until the spices and cheese look to be evenly mixed in with the ground meat.  Then go at it and roll some modest sized meatballs.  I ended up with around a dozen.  Bake them for 40 minutes on the rack above the eggplant and other veggies. They should be brown on the tops and the Parmesan should be hot and gooey when they are all done.

10 minutes before the baking dishes are set to finish, get a large saute pan and wilt the spinach over medium low heat.  Drain the spinach with a slotted spoon when moving it over to your serving dish.  When you pull the eggplant out of the oven, do the same, leaving the juices and crushed tomato mostly in the baking dish.

I served all of the food together on one huge serving platter. The baked eggplant and squash went on the bottom, then the spinach went on top of that, with extra Parmesan and some of the tomato sauce.  The meatballs were layered on the very top, with even more cheese and leftover tomato sauce.  Satisfying. 

Lomo De Cerdo Al Horno...with Roasted Salsa Sauce!

Our wonderful friend is in town and staying with us this week, so I made a few awesome meals to make her feel welcome and loved.  This meal is based off the Puerto Rican Pernil Al Horno, but I didn't have a bone-in pork shoulder to roast, nor did I have 6 hours plus a day in advance to prepare something that tasty.  I had a pork tenderloin and a whole lot of heirloom tomatoes, Padron peppers, and summer squashes from our weekend trip to the farm.  This worked out better than fine, the meal was fantastic and we all really enjoyed it.

The Meat

- 1 1/2 pound pork tenderloin

- salt, pepper to taste

- A few slices of Port Salut semi soft cheese

- 2 green onions, diced

The Veggies

- 2 summer squashes, cut into large chunks

- 1 large zucchini squash, cut into large chunks

- 1 large sweet potato, cubed

- dill, salt, pepper to taste

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- 1/2 cup water

The Sauce

- 3 large heirloom tomatoes, cut into really large chunks

- 1 slicing tomato, cut into really large chunks

- 1/2 red onion, cut into pieces

- 10-12 Padron peppers, stems and seeds removed

- 1 jalapeno pepper, stems and seeds removed

- 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled

- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

- chipotle habanero sauce to taste

- chili pepper flakes, chipotle pepper powder, black pepper, paprika, dill, cilantro, salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Using a strong blender or food processor, blend together the sauce ingredients until everything is mostly smooth with a few chunks of tomato still intact.  Play with the taste of the sauce - if you like it spicier, add more spice, or keep the jalapeno seeds in your mix.  If you want it milder, omit the jalapeno pepper, chipotle powder, chili flakes and chipotle habanero sauce.  

Salt and pepper your meat, put it in a deep enough baking dish to contain both the meat and your sauce, and slowly pour the spicy tomato mixture over the whole tenderloin.  Stick it in the oven and cook it for an hour to one hour and fifteen minutes.  Make sure the internal temperature is at 145 degrees to ensure your food is properly cooked through.

Put the large chunks of squash and cubed sweet potatoes in a glass baking dish and sprinkle with dill, salt and pepper.  Brush the olive oil on and pour the water into the bottom of the dish.  Cook for 35-45 minutes on the same rack as the pork. 

When the tenderloin is all done, the sauce should have thickened and darkened a bit.  Slice up the tenderloin and spoon the sauce back over the top of the meat.  Layer some of the delicious semi-soft cheese on top and let it melt for a few minutes before you serve it.  Sprinkle on the green onions and present your food!  I put some fresh green grapes and some full fat Greek yogurt on the table as garnish - the sweet grapes paired great with the smoky, spicy flavors, and the Greek yogurt soothed our slightly burning tongues from all the delicious spiciness.  You could also use sour cream if you wanted, it's all about your preferences and palates.  

Turkey, Bacon, and Strawberry Salad

Salads are so good.  This was another winner for lunch.

The Meat

- 3 slices pepper turkey

- 2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

The Veggies

- 1 cup lettuce, chopped

- 1/2 cup spinach, raw and chopped

- 1/2 cup broccoli, chopped

- 1/4 cup red onion, diced

- 3-4 strawberries, sliced

The Dressing

- 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

- 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar of Modena

- dill, salt, cracked pepper to taste

Put the spinach and lettuce onto the plate, mixing them together well.  Toss all the other ingredients on top, and then drizzle the oil and vinegar over everything.  Use your fork to lift up some of the bottom ingredients to make sure everything gets coated well!  Sprinkle the top with some dill, salt, and cracked pepper and you're ready for lunch.

Creamy Chipotle Pork Chops

This meal is a total winner.  The sauce is creamy yet spicy, and the chunky salsa and shredded smoky paprika cheddar go excellently on top of the thicker pork chops.  

The Meat

- 2-3 thick cut pork chops, with around 1/4 inch thick fat

- bacon grease for frying

- salt, chipotle pepper, cilantro, celery salt to taste

The Veggies

- 3 small zucchini, sliced

- 1/3 head cauliflower, chopped

- 1/2 cup water

- 8-10 stalks asparagus

- salt, pepper to taste

- 3 medium slicing and heirloom tomatoes, chopped into large chunks

- 1/2 green bell pepper, diced

- 1/3 red onion, diced

- chipotle habanero sauce to taste

- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

- 1 tablespoon lime juice

- salt, pepper, chipotle powder, cilantro to taste

- 1/3 cup shredded smoked paprika cheese

The Sauce 

- 1/2 cup heavy cream

- 2 tablespoons butter

- chipotle habanero sauce to taste
- 1 tablespoon tapioca starch

- chipotle powder, cilantro, crushed red pepper to taste

Slice and chop your zucchini and cauliflower and put them in a saute pan with the water.  Cook on medium heat for around 15 minutes until the zucchini is soft.  Lower the heat and put the sauce ingredients into the pan.  Mix it together well and let it simmer for around 10 more minutes.

You can cook the asparagus and chops together on the same griddle pan.  Grease it well with bacon grease before hand, spice your meat, and lay out your food so it all has even cooking surface to cook on.  Flip the pork chops every 3-4 minutes until the centers are cooked through, approximately 12 minutes.  The asparagus will take less time, only around 7-8 minutes to finish.  Make sure to turn those at least twice as well to prevent charring.

Chop up all the tomato, pepper, and onion, and mix them with the lemon and lime juices.  Season liberally and add the chipotle habanero sauce to make it a little spicy.  Feel free to add jalapenos or habanero peppers to it if you'd like it to be even spicier.  Shred some smoked paprika cheese on top.

I put the veggies and sauce on the bottom of the dish and lay the pork chops on top, making to spoon a little bit extra sauce on top of them.  Then I smothered the whole plate with the salsa.  Dive into the spicy, smoky, creamy flavors that explode in your mouth throughout this tasty dish!

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!

Supreme Poached Eggs

I used my poaching pods to make my eggs this morning!  They are so easy to use and make such delicious poached eggs.  It's fun to shake up the breakfast routine every now and then - while my husband never seems to get bored, he does get a lot of the same ingredients presented in different ways.  It's an excellent challenge for me to use the same things over in new ways (if you look at the last three breakfast meals, they all use almost the same basic ingredients, but each are different and awesome in their own way!)

The Meat

- 2 slices bacon

- 3 breakfast links

- 2 eggs

The Veggies

- 3 slices of sliced tomato

- 1/3 cup raw spinach

- 1 mushroom, sliced

- 1/2 green onion

The Sauce

- 1 teaspoon French dressing (it's mostly primal...I'm a bad Grok)

- 1 teaspoon hemp seed oil based mayonnaise


The Fruit
- 1/2 pear, sliced
- 3-4 strawberries, sliced

Cook up the meat on your griddle pan, on high heat.  Flip your bacon at least twice and keep rolling the breakfast links around so they don't char too badly.  After I cooked up the meat all delicious and crispy, I put the spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes on the griddle pan for around 3 minutes to make them all soft and tasty counterparts to the meat.


Meanwhile, put around 3-4" of water into a simmer pot and bring it to a boil.  Once you get a rolling boil, grease your poaching pods, crack your eggs into them, turn off your heat and slip them into the water.  Cover the pot with its lid and set your timer for 4 minutes.


Put the fried tomato slices on the plate first, then layer the spinach and the poached eggs on top (imagine the tomato slice is an English muffin).  Mix up the French dressing (don't judge me for my small indulgences) and the mayonnaise and spoon it onto the poached eggs.  Cut up the green onion over the top (you could substitute chives if you wanted!) and arrange your fruit in a pretty pattern so you feel all special like.  

A Deconstructed Omelet

Sometimes you want all the parts of an omelet, but not the omelet itself.  I was in one of those moods today for my own breakfast, so I made a single serving breakfast that satisfied my non-omelet cravings. 

The Meat

- 1 turkey sausage

- 1 egg
- salt, dill to taste

The Veggies

- 1/4 cup slicing tomato, chopped

- 1/2 cup raw spinach

- 2 mushrooms, sliced

- 1/2 green onion, sliced

The Fruit

- 2-3 strawberries, tops sliced off

- small handful of blueberries

- spoonful of Galia melon, sliced


This is simple and straightforward.  First I sliced up the fruit and arranged it on a plate.  I cooked the sausage on my griddle pan on high heat, and after around 10 minutes it was ready.  Make sure to flip your sausage at least 3-4 times so it doesn't get too charred.  


Next I lowered the heat to medium low, and I cooked the spinach, mushrooms and tomato for only around 3 minutes on the griddle pan, in the grease created from the sausages.  I wanted the spinach to wilt but not burn or turn brown.  


The egg went on last, around 1-2 minutes for the first side and barely a minute on the other.  As soon as I crack them onto the pan I sprinkle a little bit of salt and dill on my egg, season yours how you like.  Also, I like my egg yolk to be practically raw, so if you'd prefer an over-medium egg, feel free to leave it on the griddle pan longer.  

Pan Fried Mahi Mahi With Roasted Vegetables

This meal was great!  Fish is so tasty, we love eating it!  The roasted vegetables were great with the fish and the spinach with our lovely garlic butter was fantastic, as usual.  

The Meat

- 1 pound (2-3 fillets) of mahi mahi
- salt, pepper, dill, thyme, sage, lemon juice to taste

The Veggies

- 2 heirloom carrots, sliced

- 1/2 head cauliflower, chopped

- 1 turnip, chopped
- 1/2 cup water

- salt, pepper to taste


- 3/4 pound of spinach
- 3 tablespoons of water

- 1 green onion, sliced

- 2 mushrooms, sliced

- 1/2 slicing tomato, chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil

The Garlic Butter

- 3 tablespoons butter

- garlic (looots of it)

- salt, dill to taste


Preheat the oven to 380 degrees.


Dice up your veggies and put them into your baking dish with the water and seasoning.  Prep your garlic butter (like in this post) and cook the garlic butter for around an hour.  The vegetables will cook for 40-45 minutes.  If you want to get crazy, you can add crushed red pepper or some seasoning salt into the vegetables.  





The fish was cooked on my griddle pan, but you could also bake it for 25 minutes in the oven with your veggies.  Season your fish and sprinkle some lemon juice on top of the fillets.  I cooked it for around 8 minutes per side.  You want the fish to cook until it is opaque, flaky, and still a little juicy.  Mahi mahi is so tender and full of flavor, it doesn't really need much!








I wilted the spinach in my saute pan with the water on medium low heat for around 6 minutes and then tossed it with the garlic butter.  In my smaller saute pan I cooked up the mushrooms and tomato for around 4 minutes, until they were soft but not mushy.   I placed everything on the plate and then it was time to eat!