Food Revolution: Salmon with Chickpea Ragu

A couple weeks ago my husband and I tuned in for the premiere of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. A show about food and nutrition? Of course I was interested! The images of five and six-year-old’s being served pizza for breakfast hasn’t left my mind. I’ll admit to enjoying a slice of leftover pizza occasionally on a Saturday morning, however I never follow it up with a lunch comprised of mystery meat, French fries, and flavored milk. I admire Mr. Oliver’s passion to change this community and am hopeful that we’ll see some results.

If you haven’t seen an episode yet, I’d encourage you to check it out. The show may raise your eyebrows about what children are being served to eat in the public school system, and what kind of food is being consumed at dinner tables across America.

On that note, I’d like to share with you a new salmon recipe I tried a few weeks ago. This is a healthy recipe that combines your protein and veggies in a one-plate presentation. We really enjoyed it, and it is definitely a dinner you can feel good about eating!

I'd like to send a huge congratulations to my friend, Sunny, who, at 38.5 weeks, delivered two healthy, beautiful baby boys on Wednesday!

Salmon with Chickpea Ragu
(From Ellie Krieger’s So Easy)
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 large zucchini, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 (15.5 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup basil leaves, sliced into ribbons, plus more for garnish
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
(Kate added a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes)
4 (6 oz.) skinless salmon fillets

Directions
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the onion, and cook until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the carrot, zucchini, and garlic and cook, stirring, until the carrots are firm-tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, stirring to incorporate completely. Add the chicken broth and chickpeas and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, until the liquid thickens slightly, 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat, and add 1 cup of the basil and ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper (and crushed red pepper flakes, if using), and stir to incorporate. Cover to keep warm while you cook the salmon.

Preheat the broiler. Season the salmon with the remaining ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Broil the salmon for 8 to 10 minutes per inch thickness, turning once.

To serve, spoon 1 ½ cups of the chickpea ragu into a shallow bowl or rimmed plate. Top with a fillet of salmon and garnish with the ribbons of basil.

Eat Your Veggies: Roasted Vegetables and Quinoa Salad

I would like to thank Christina for another great recipe! I tried her Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Salad recipe the other day. I loved it, and my husband - the carnivore - really liked it as well. (I packed it in his lunch and he called me to tell me how much he enjoyed it!) This is a great way to get a lot of veggies in a really healthy dish, and the feta cheese adds a nice salty bite.

With it's balanced set of essential amino acids, quinoa (pronounced "keen-wah") contains more protein than any other grain. It also has additional nutritional value with fiber, vitamins, and minerals. You could substitute with couscous if you can't find quinoa, but if you haven't tried quinoa before, I encourage you to do so!

Roasted Vegetables and Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
1 red bell pepper
3 cups vegetable stock
1 ½ cups uncooked quinoa
¼ cup balsamic blend seasoned rice vinegar (Nakano)
2 tsp olive oil
¼ tsp black pepper
2 cups chopped carrot
Cooking spray
1 3/4 cups chopped yellow squash
3 ½ cups zucchini chopped
1 cup (4 oz) crumbled reduced fat feta cheese
1 garlic clove

Directions
Preheat broiler.
Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 15 minutes or until blackened. Place in a sip-top bag; seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel and cut bell pepper into strips.

Reduce over temperature to 500ºF.

Bring 3 cups of vegetable stock to a boil in a medium saucepan and stir in quinoa. Cover, reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove pan from heat and set aside.

Combine vinegar, oil and black pepper in medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add carrot to vinegar mixture; toss to coat. Drain carrot through a fine sieve over a bowl, reserving carrot and vinegar mixture. Place carrot on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 500º for 10 minutes. Add zucchini and yellow squash to reserved vinegar mixture in bowl; toss well to coat. Drain zucchini mixture through a fine sieve over a bowl, reserving zucchini and vinegar mixture. Add zucchini mixture to carrot on baking sheet in a single layer. Bake an additional 20 minutes or until vegetables are browned. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Combine quinoa, roasted vegetables, reserved vinegar mixture, cheese and garlic in a large bowl; stir well to combine. Cover and chill. Yield 8 servings (1 cup servings).

Dinner & a Movie: Kate's "Fried" Zucchini Chips

My husband and I love watching movies. Whether it is in a dark movie theater, on our couch in our pajamas, or in a lecture hall - we love any kind of movie experience. (To explain the lecture hall - we took several film classes together in college and watched some of the great classics in hard plastic chairs behind a desk.)

During the summer we were delighted to find that a restaurant next to our local movie theater was offering a "dinner and a movie" pre-fix. For a very reasonable rate, a couple can get two entrees, two salads or soups, and two movie tickets. We jumped at this opportunity and have been frequenting these venues most Friday evenings since July. So much so now, that they know us. They don't card us. They know what we order. They ask us what movie we're seeing. They gave us a frequent diner card. And last week when we brought two of our good friends with us, they were so excited that they gave us free dessert!

I love this restaurant's fried zucchini chips. They are a delicious appetizer, however we've learned the hard way that ordering an appetizer on top of the salad and entree, is just too much food. I had been saying for a while that I should make some at home for us to enjoy, and I finally got around to it. I believe that my version is much healthier, as I bake mine instead of frying them. These are really tasty, and while we snacked on them one day before dinner, they would be great to put out at a party as an hors d'oeuvre. We dipped them in pizza sauce, which was a great pairing, but if you want to experiment, I also think ranch dressing or marinara sauce would be a good accompaniment.

Kate's "Fried" Zucchini Chips
Ingredients
1 pound zucchini (about 2)
½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
½ cup plain dry bread crumbs
2 eggs, eggs whites only
cooking spray
½ teaspoon oregano
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup pizza sauce (I use Trader Joe’s)

Directions
Preheat oven to 450°F. Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Slice zucchini in ¼ inch-thick rounds. Crack egg whites into a small bowl, discarding egg yolks. In another small bowl, combine Parmigiano-Reggiano, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and oregano. Dip zucchini in egg whites, and then in bread crumb mixture, thoroughly coating zucchini in each. Lay zucchini on a large baking sheet in a single layer. Coat all zucchini with cooking spray.

Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes (until crispy and golden), turning zucchini halfway. Serve with pizza sauce, for dipping.

Staff Meeting Surprise: Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bars

Based on my recent posts, you may not believe it, but I do buy produce other than tomatoes at the farmers’ market. In fact, I did yesterday. I stopped by my local market on the way to work (alright, I went there intentionally to buy tomatoes). I made my tomato purchase and started to walk away, but turned back and also picked up some bright green zucchini that were staring at me. Instead of roasting, grilling, or tossing the zucchini into a soup, I decided to bake with it.

A few weeks ago a colleague who regularly pawns off shares her baked goods at staff meetings brought in a zucchini cake that contained chocolate chips. I’m up for trying anything with chocolate. I got my hands on a copy of her recipe and gave it a whirl tonight. The recipe says that you can substitute nuts for the chocolate chips, but I don’t know why anyone would want to do that. In fact, I think it would be good with both. The frosting is more of a glaze, and while it's seasoned with cinnamon, there are several different variations you could do, or just leave it out altogether if you're looking for something less sweet.

These are quite good, and an untrained taste bud might not even notice the zucchini in these! They are a fun treat for brunch, dessert, or your next staff meeting!

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients
¾ Cup butter, at room temperature
½ Cup brown sugar
½ Cup granulated sugar
2 Eggs, at room temperature
1 Teaspoon vanilla
1 ¾ Cup flour
¼ Teaspoon salt
1 ½ Teaspoons baking powder
2 Cup shredded zucchini
1 Cup shredded coconut
1 Cup mini chocolate chips (or substitute chopped walnuts/pecans)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F degrees.

Cream butter; add sugars gradually, add eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Stir in zucchini, coconut and nuts/chips. Spread in greased 15x10x1½ inch pan. (You can use a 9x13 inch pan and it will come out thicker and a bit more cake-like.)

Bake for 40 minutes (check and bake a little longer if in 9x13 pan). Cool completely and then frost.

Cinnamon Frosting
Ingredients
1 Cup powdered sugar
2 ½ Tablespoons milk
1 ½ Tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 Teaspoon vanilla
½ Teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
Beat until smooth. Spread on bars.