Some of the biggest challenges home cooks face are lack of time and accommodating different dietary preferences. I am right there with you! And this new fish in parchment recipe I am sharing is a dream come true. It is not only healthful and delicious, but it’s quick to prepare, quick to cook and customizable. You can use different fish, omit the vegetables or substitute other ones, add a spicy element, or keep it super plain for the choosier eaters.Continue reading
Spetses is one of the Greek islands and a place I visited many years ago. I love Greek food and I still remember this cod dish I had in Spetses which I have recreated often for weeknights with my family and dinners with friends. The recipe is written to serve 4, but you can easily increase to 6 if you can fit that number of filets in the skillet. I am using cod here which is very commonly used in Mediterranean areas, but you can use halibut or whatever thicker white fish you have access to. I originally had the dish with zucchini, but I have swapped in fennel because it’s in season right now. Definitely try it with zucchini in the summer!Continue reading
It’s the perfect time to try a new one-pot meal! September is like the New Year, in a way. And I am back into a cooking routine, but I want to ease back into it. This recipe is a twist on my favorite one-pot meal, Mediterranean Chicken with Rice. There’s also another variation in my cookbook, Quicker Than Quick, called Weeknight Arroz con Pollo. Delicious!Continue reading
I’m in the home stretch, friends. Manuscript is due on Monday which means that, although I love hanging out with you, we’re going to have to make this visit quick today because I have a boatload of writing to finish. Although if my editor is reading this post, have no fear, I am totally on schedule! 😉
I just arrived in New York for my annual summer vacay with my parents, my sisters and their families. We’ve descended upon my parents’ house in Long Island for a week of old fashioned backyard fun with a few trips to the beach and the ice cream parlor. It also involves some serious menu planning for 12-16 people at any given meal. If such persons were all adults, this task would be less challenging than if half of them were children ages 1-19. But I love a challenge!
Sometimes for lunch we’ll make a giant composed salad where each component has its own space and I serve the dressing in a small pitcher on the side. I notice the kids (and picky adults, in general) eat much more of a composed salad than a tossed one. My son, Mr. Picky, can always find something to choose from a composed salad versus one that is tossed, especially if there’s one ingredient that’s offensive and touching everything else. Touching ingredients is a deal breaker!! This version of a classic Nicoise salad is always a winner, plus it’s one of my favorite salads of all time.
The classic typically contains oil-packed tuna, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, green beans (usually the small haricot verts), Nicoise olives, and boiled potatoes. It’s a perfect salad for summer because it can all be prepped ahead and served cold or at room temp. And it’s a meal unto itself.
But I have made so many versions of this salad subbing chicken or slow-roasted salmon for the tuna or even white beans for the tuna for a vegetarian version. Regular string beans for the haricot verts. Even cucumbers have worked nicely. But in this version, which I call a “California Nicoise,” I sub in the very Cali avocado for the potato, because everyone seems to be watching his or her carbs lately! Because of the versatility of this salad, it was a hugely popular in my classes last summer with everyone — Paleo-types, vegetarians, vegans, gluten-free peeps and so on.
Visually, I think this salad is so beautiful and quite healthful, too. It is well balanced with high quality protein, fat and lots of veggies. I love using the very best tuna for this salad. I featured this Tonnino oil packed wild tuna in a recent Five Friday Favorites and it is perfect here. If you want to use standard canned tuna, just drizzle a little olive oil on top for added flavor.
Green beans can be blanched, radishes sliced and eggs boiled the day before and refrigerated. But again, feel free to sub other ingredients if that would make you happy. And if you notice more takers than usual for this salad, perhaps employ the composed method for other salads too!
You see that beautiful piece of fish down there? That is my idea of a perfect dinner — simple, healthy, light, delicious, seasonal, easy-to-make. If my family didn’t thrive on an ever-changing dinner menu, I would love to eat this twice a week with a fresh salad and a glass of rosé. Perfect.
Fish in parchment is easier than it looks and one of the most healthful ways to cook fish. I have taught and posted two other fish in parchment recipes which you may have tried, one with cilantro and ginger and the second with summer herbs. Both are delicious and perfect when you want something light in the summer.
The basic idea when you’re cooking in parchment, is to use ingredients that all cook pretty quickly and at the same rate. Make sure that parchment is tightly sealed and you’ll create a little steam oven in that packet. I always make sure the fish is well-seasoned with salt and pepper and that I add a smidge of fat, either butter or olive oil for flavor, and then there are lots of possibilities.
Once I see those first local tomatoes at the farmers market, I start going a little tomato-crazy. I especially love cherry tomatoes because they are always so sweet. In this recipe, you can’t beat the combination with the sautéed garlic, salty capers and olives and zingy white wine. I would eat this with a simple rice pilaf or quinoa salad or a raw zucchini salad. My family would probably love a little pasta with pesto to go with it.
I have taught this recipe in my cooking classes many, many times and sometimes I added some raw baby spinach leaves under the fish. The spinach wilts beautifully and tastes delicious with all the other ingredients. Shaved zucchini slices would also be perfect, but you could also add vegetables to the packet like blanched (not raw) green beans or slivers of roasted peppers.
Of course, if there are ingredients in the recipe you don’t care for, feel free to omit. After I finish going over a recipe in my class, I take a few minutes to talk about substitutions. Questions about how to change the recipe are the most common questions that come up — how do I make this gluten-free? My husband won’t eat anything with onion. I hate olives. Etc, etc. I give you permission to take out the olives if you want.
Summer is here, friends. Let’s get cooking!
I just finished teaching this recipe in my March classes and it was a huge hit! I don’t even like chicken and I seemed to always be looking for a bite at the end of class. I had so many requests to post this recipe that I had to oblige, even though the images aren’t totally the best. I think this would be perfectly appropriate to prepare for Passover, with one minor adjustment. And it’s a great recipe to adapt as cherry tomatoes and beefsteak tomatoes become available.
The recipe is basically a braise, but the chicken is cooked uncovered for most of the time, which is why I call it Baked Chicken, versus Braised Chicken. But the formula is still very much the same — browning the meat first to create flavor and color, sauteing onions, deglazing, putting meat back in and baking in the oven until cooked through. Once you understand the steps, you can start making up your own recipe or adapting recipes like this one with other ingredients or flavors.
I personally like using bone-in, skin-on pieces of chicken since I think they taste better and stay a little moister, especially breast pieces. Unfortunately, cooking with bone-in, skin-on pieces takes longer than boneless, skinless and may not be a great option for those of you needing a really fast recipe for after work. Fortunately, this recipe can be adapted for cutlets and even a slow cooker, so look for those options in the instructions.
This dish produces very tender, flavorful chicken, as well as the accompanying onions and sauce. In the ingredient list it offers the option of draining the juice from the jar of tomatoes or keeping it. Here’s my thought process on that one: if you will be serving the chicken with noodles or pasta, polenta, mashed potatoes or something that would welcome a lot of sauce, then you should keep the juice. Otherwise, drain the juice and just use the tomato pieces. I also love this dish during cherry tomato season, when I will use 1 1/2 pounds of halved sweet cherry tomatoes in place of the jarred, and basil leaves instead of the thyme. Large vine-ripened tomatoes that have been blanched and chopped are also great. Both of these options create a much lighter, fresher dish. But every variation is very delicious.
Other adaptations I discussed in class:
I always use breasts when I teach because most of my students prefer white meat, and therefore it’s just easier for me to buy all breasts. You can certainly use any part of the chicken you want. In fact, it’s more economical to buy a whole chicken and have the butcher cut it into pieces for you. But I highly recommend not buying 1 breast per person. It’s too much meat to eat in one sitting, unless you are an Olympian or a body builder! I have never actually seen anyone at my house or at a dinner party eat an entire breast. I have seen people cut them in half and push one piece off to the side and just each one half. What I love to do is prepare the breasts, allowing for 1/2 per person, and removing the bones after the chicken is cooked and has rested a bit. Then I slice the meat on an angle. It’s much more manageable to eat it this way, as well as more elegant and attractive to serve. See this post on the gloves I use to get down and dirty when I carve chicken!
Let me know if you have specific questions about timing or with what sides to serve this. Hope your holiday planning is going well!
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I cannot get out of summer mode, people. And when it’s 80 degrees and sunny here at the beach, it’s hard not to be this way. I really wanted to post a new recipe here over the weekend, buuuuutttttt I procrastinated. A lot. The weather was so perfect and we weren’t totally overscheduled like we usually are so I helped Mr. Picky and his pal set up a lemonade stand. And then I was so exhausted from their 10-year-old exuberance that I took a nap. For the first time since 1998. And then the beach was pleading to me to come for one last summer visit. So I did. And I then I had to make a blueberry crumb cake and some salads to bring to a friend’s house. And then I just rationalized that all you people were doing the same thing I was so you wouldn’t be online waiting for a new recipe from me.
How was it waking up today? I thought it was brutal! I keep seeing hashtags like #readyforseptember #septemberhereicome #excitedforfall. You know what my last hashtag was? #fallisoverrated I actually have a lot to look forward to this fall, but I think I just feel gipped. Summer is supposed to be three months like every other season in nature. But it’s not really. My son’s school has 9 1/2 weeks off for summer. Uh… #tooshort.
I did do a fair amount of cooking this summer when I was home and at my parents’ house. But I had so many projects and recipes I wanted to test and I got around to NADA. I think that’s another reason I am not really ready for fall. Because I’m not ready! Not to worry if you’re taking any of my classes this fall– I will get my lazy rear into gear pronto.
This summer I made a lot of salads like this Fennel and Green Bean Salad with Olives. It’s everything I love when the weather’s warm and I only have an appetite for veggies, fruit and acai bowls. I happen to love fennel which I’m sure you know by know if you’ve hung around here long enough. It has such a unique flavor and great crunch and it’s actually fabulous for digestion. Green beans are loaded with Vitamin K, beta-carotene and Vitamin C. It’s a very hydrating salad too.
The dressing has a nice salty bite from a little bit of anchovy paste. But if you’re vegan or don’t want to use the anchovies, just drop it. I am a bit of a salty gal myself, so I love the dressing and the olives in the salad. This is the perfect salad to serve with seafood or a frittata or grilled chicken.
Even though summer has come and gone in the blink of an eye, I’m still looking for recipes like this one for the sultry days ahead. And for those days when I am not motivated enough to do more than slice some fennel. #indenial
