Protein Galore!

White Bean and Tuna Salad

(adapted from)

This is another one of those great make-ahead meals that you can take with you somewhere... like on the boat. It is summer, after all. It comes together quickly and can be made earlier in the day or, hey! Maybe even the night before! Then, when you find yourself at 8pm and realize you have nothing in mind for dinner and absolutely no interest in cooking anything, you have this savior in the fridge ready to go! Plus, it's packed with protein, and who doesn't love that?

White Bean and Tuna Salad

Recipe...

• 1 c chopped red onion
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cans of tuna (6 oz. each)
• 2 cans of white beans (15 oz. each) (aka: cannellini beans or Great Northern beans), drained and rinsed
• 1/4 c mint, chopped
• 1/4 c arugula, chopped
• olive oil
• S&P

1) Sprinkle some lemon on the chopped onion to take some of the edge off.

2) Drain the tuna and place in a bowl. Break it up with a fork or a wooden spoon. Add beans, onion, mint, arugula, lemon zest, lemon juice, S&P to taste. Add olive oil and more lemon juice as needed.

3) Chill and enjoy when you're ready!

Meatless Monday: Ricotta Pasta

Ricotta Pasta

(from Cooking Light)

And once again we find ourselves at Meatless Monday! I'm going to start my week with 100% honesty. I took one look at this recipe and thought "Really? This is what we're having? Guess it's a diet night." But this dish seriously exceeded appearances! The ricotta gave it a nice creaminess and the mint gave it a nice, simple, unmuddled flavor. (Unmuddled... is that a word? Did I make that up?)

Cooking Light gives you the steps to make your own ricotta, but we went to a local Italian grocery store and bought a nice one. But the choice is yours! Another option: roast the tomatoes in the oven until they're about to burst, then cut them in half. (Wear an apron, they might splatter) 

Ricotta Pasta

Recipe...

serves 4

• S&P
• 8 oz fettuccine (fresh is best)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium zucchini (halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise)
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 c cherry tomatoes, halved
• ricotta
• 2 Tbsp small mint leaves

1) Bring a pot of water to a boil. When it comes to a boil, salt the water, and cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and reserve. 

2) Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil. Add zucchini and sauté 2 minutes. Add S&P and garlic. Sauté 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes. Combine with pasta and top with ricotta and mint.

Sole meunière (aka: heaven)

Sole meunière

(from Ina Garten)

This might be my new favorite dish. It's so easy and delicious and sort of does that melt-in-your-mouth thing that people are so fond of. I've often said that you could put lemon on anything and I would probably love it. This is one of those lemony things I love. The ingredients are pretty simple and you probably already have them in your pantry, so stop by the grocery store on your way home from work and pick up some sole! Or hey! Maybe you're having a special someone over this weekend and you'd love to impress them without inflicting any sort of garlic breath. Well, this is your dish. Or maybe you're your own special someone... nothing is standing in your way of the most amazing fish you've ever had.

Sole meunière
Recipe...
serves 2

• 1/2 c all purpose flour
• S&P
• 4 fresh sole fillets (3 to 4 oz each)
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 6 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley

1) Preheat oven to 200℉. Have 2 heat-proof dinner plates ready.

2) Combine flour, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper in a large shallow plate. Pat the sole dry with paper towel and sprinkle one side with salt.

3) Heat 3 Tbsp of butter in a large saute pan over medium heat until it starts to brown (be careful not to burn it!). Dredge 2 fillets in seasoned flour on both sides and place in the hot butter. Lower heat to medium-low and cook 2 min. Turn carefully with a metal spatula and cook another 2 min. While the second side cooks add 1/2 tsp lemon zest, 3 Tbsp of lemon juice to the pan.

4) Carefully place the fillets on the ovenproof plates and pour the sauce over them. Keep the cooked fillets warm in the oven while you repeat the process with the other 2 fillets.

5) When all the fish is cooked and on the plates, sprinkle with parsley, S&P and serve immediately.

Lemony salmon with cherry tomato couscous

Lemony salmon with cherry tomato couscous

(from Nigella Lawson)

And now a recipe from Nigella Lawson, the most sensual eater ever...

We had this beautiful piece of salmon in the fridge just waiting to be turned into a delicious dinner. It was getting to be 7:30 and we still didn't have a plan for it, so I scoured my cookbooks and found this recipe from Nigella! Nigella Lawson is one of my idols. When you watch her on TV you can feel her passion for food and for life and it's really very inspiring. Plus, she's beautiful. 

This ended up being the perfect recipe because we had everything on hand, it came together pretty quickly, and it's really pretty healthy. I sort of think you could put lemon juice on anything and I would like it, but this dish really did have some excellent yet simple flavors going on.

We served this with some simply prepared asparagus that was roasted in the oven with EVOO, S&P. (So many abbreviations!)

Lemony salmon with cherry tomato couscous
Recipe...
serves 2

• 1 heaping c couscous
• 3 tsp kosher salt or 1 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 c boiled water
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 c)
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp garlic flavored oil
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 4 salmon fillets
• 1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro or parsley (whichever you prefer)

1) Put couscous in a heatproof bowl with 2 tsp kosher salt (or 1 tsp table salt), 1/4 tsp paprika, and all the grated ginger. Give it a mix and pour the boiled water over top. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and leave to one side.

2) In a wide, shallow dish (big enough to hold the salmon), put the zest of one lemon into it. Add remaining salt and paprika and 1 Tbsp garlic flavored oil.

3) In another bowl, combine onion, juice of 1 lemon, tomatoes and 1 tsp garlic flavored oil and mix. Leave to one side.

4) Heat a large frying pan for the salmon. While the pan gets hot, turn the salmon, both sides, in the "zest" dish.

5) Place fillets in the hot pan and cook 2-3 min per side, depending on thickness. You want them still juicy and a vivid coral color in the middle, so check as you cook.

6) Uncover and fluff up the couscous, which should have absorbed all the water. Add the tomato/onion mix. Mix with a fork.

7) Add almost all the cilantro or parsley and stir. S&P to taste.

8) Serve warm and enjoy!

Meatless Monday: Zucchini Cakes

"This is not Meatless Monday. This is zucchini cakes." -Mom

I beg to differ. I was rather a fan of this simple dinner. It was light. It was delicious. And at only something like 38 calories per cake, it left room and calories for a sweet treat!

This is one of those recipes that we've held onto with a death grip. I came across it on Big Girls Small Kitchen a while ago, mentioned it to my mom, and it has become a go-to for summer. It's great for a warm day when you don't want to spend a lot of time slaving away over a hot stove. Or for Meatless Monday + dessert.

Sure, the Pender family's dinner plates have seen a variety of zucchini cakes, like this one from Ina Garten, but we keep coming back to this one. I especially like the sauce with it. Check it out, kids!