Panko-Crusted Trout & Green Salad

Here is another easy recipe. This one sounds fancy, but only takes about 1/2 an hour. There’s nothing to chop here, making it go pretty fast.  The only thing that might take some time is seeding the pomegranate.  If you’ve never done it before, the key is to pull apart the segments instead of cutting which will ruin some of the seeds and make a bigger mess.  Panko is a Japanese-style bread crumb which I think makes things extra light and crunchy. When we don’t have any, we use whatever other bread crumbs we have on hand. This week, we super quickly made some using about 6 inches of baguette thrown in the food processor until fairly fine. This recipe is meant to be more of a guide than anything, so if you find you don’t have enough of something, add a little more or if it doesn’t feel right, alter it. The salad was a simplified version of this week’s UT’s salad leftovers.

Serves 4

4 trout (or other mild white fish like tilapia) fillets, skin off
salt & pepper
2 eggs, beaten and placed in a shallow, wide bowl (big enough to dip the entire fillet in)
1/2 cup flour in a wide bowl or plate
2 cups panko (or any other form of bread crumb) in a wide bowl or plate
1/2 cup canola oil

4 handfuls of clean, fresh spinach or arugula
1/2 cup+ pomegranate seeds (other options: raisins, dried cranberries, cherries, figs, etc)
2-3 oz gorgonzola, crumbled (other options: salty, crumbly cheeses like feta or goat cheese, slices of grilled halloumi)
a handful of nuts or seeds, toasted
juice of 1/2 lemon
splash of olive oil

Prepare the salad first.  Combine first four ingredients and drizzle juice and olive oil on last.

Heat oil in a large frying pan.  Sprinkle salt & pepper on both sides of fish.  Dredge the fish in flour, then dip in egg mix and then coat well in panko. If you’ve fried fish before, feel free to fry them all at once.  If not, it might be less stressful to just do one or two at a time.  I know the feeling of thinking that I had to get them all flipped at once. This will take some of that pressure off.  When oil is hot, but not smoking (too hot!), place fish in the pan on medium heat and cook until golden-brown—about 3 minutes. Turn the heat down if you feel it’s cooking too fast.  Turn over and cook the other side for about 3 more minutes.

Place on top of the salad and eat up!

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Keep It Simple

Sometimes we forget to keep things simple, especially when it comes to food.  This lunch is a delicious, yet super simple meal for a light lunchtime bite. It’s almost too easy to mention, but consider it a yummy reminder to stay simple.  The quality of the ingredients is key here so think farmers’ market!

Ingredients

bread (I like Kalamata olive sourdough from Atwater’s), toasted
hummus
one ripe tomato, sliced and sprinkled with salt & pepper
fresh basil, torn into smallish pieces
other ideas: prosciutto or other deli meat; sliced mozzarella, grilled zucchini or squash

Spread hummus over toasted bread, add tomato slices & basil….eat!

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Favorite Quinoa Recipe

Here’s a quick, delicious recipe for quinoa.  It’s great for lunches. You can make some at the beginning of the week and have enough to last 4 days.  Toasting is key to making quinoa with great flavor.  To toast, place quinoa in a medium frying pan over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes (if dry;  longer if wet).  Give a good shake every minute or so to expose all the quinoa to the heat and to keep from burning.

About 4 servings

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and toasted
2 cups water
1/2 teas+ salt (depending on your preferences)
1 T olive oil
1 large shallot
1 teas rosemary (or other herb or herb combo)
1/4 cup+ dried fruit (figs are great but so are cranberries, cherries, and raisins)
1/4 cup+ toasted nuts (if not eating immediately, wait to add nuts until just before eating; they’ll stay crunchy this way
zest and juice of one lemon

Heat olive oil in a medium sized saucepan and add shallot and rosemary and cook over low heat for a few minutes until shallot is soft.  Put in 2 cups water and salt and bring to a boil.  When boiling, add quinoa and cook, covered for 15 minutes.  Add dried fruit and cook a couple more minutes until done.  Add lemon and toasted nuts.

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Greens & Pasta

Here’s a very basic quick dinner idea for those non-Urban Tastes-for-dinner nights.  It’s perhaps a little bit dated (mid 90s??) but still so good.  This one comes from my college days.  I spent most of my academic career nannying for a family who made this all the time.  I loved it when I got to eat at their house for dinner and I definitely wasn’t the salad-eating type back then…my first foray into good salads.  The possibilities are endless but the tortellini gives it a heartier twist.  It comes together as quickly as you can cook and toast the tortellini—about 20 minutes altogether.

Ingredients

mixed greens of your choice
couple handfuls of tortellini
small handful of nuts or seeds, toasted
vegetables of your choice: leftover veg like roasted potatoes are great for this, also, avocado, roasted red pepper, mushrooms, etc.
simple vinaigrette like balsamic and olive oil (be sure to add plenty of salt)

Cook tortellini according to the box.  Drain and place on a kitchen towel to remove excess moisture.  Heat a couple teaspoons of olive oil in a medium sized frying pan.  Add tortellini and cook until brown and crisp (about 5 minutes), turning as necessary.

Throw together all ingredients and mix (I like to mix all the ingredients together with my hands making sure the salad dressing coats the greens).

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