Grilled Salmon with White Bean and Spinach Salad

Another great way to enjoy salmon.

Healthy and delicious!

For The Salmon

1-1/2 lbs salmon

1/3 C olive oil

2 T lemon juice

2 T orange juice

2 T chopped fresh basil

salt and pepper

Cut the salmon filet into 4 pieces.

Combine the remaining ingredients

in a small jar and shake to blend.

Marinade the salmon for 1-2 hrs.

covered in the refrigerator 

before grilling. 

 Meanwhile prep the salad and 

vinaigrette. When you have everything

 else ready to go, preheat the grill to 

high heat. Grill the salmon for 

3-4 minutes per side. 

Balsamic Basil Vinaigrette

1/4 C balsamic vinegar

1 C olive oil

1/2 t Dijon mustard

1 T minced onion or shallot

1 T minced fresh parsley

1 T minced fresh basil

salt and pepper

Combine in a jar and shake to blend.

Salad

1 lb baby spinach, cleaned

1 can cannellini beans, rinsed

1 tomato, chopped

Warm the beans in the microwave.

Toss spinach, tomatoes and beans
together in a bowl. Dress salad
with desired amount of vinaigrette.
Add (garlic) salt and freshly ground
pepper to taste. 

To Serve

 Place salmon, hot off the grill

on top of the dressed salad. Pass 

vinaigrette as a sauce to accompany

 the salmon. 

Enjoy!

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3-Ingredient High Protein Pancakes

It doesn't get any easier than this!
Just throw 3 ingredients into a blender
for healthy pancakes that are
full of fiber and protein . 

Did I mention that they are good too?

Top with whatever you like: butter, syrup 

or your favorite jam. Try applesauce and 

cinnamon. They are all tasty.

High Protein Pancakes

1 C cottage cheese

1 C oatmeal

2 eggs

Put the cottage cheese, dry oats,
and eggs in a blender and blend until
smooth. Preheat a griddle to med-hi.

Grease pan with spray or butter. 

Pour batter onto griddle. Cook until

browned on bottom, about 1-1/2 min.

Flip and cook another minute until golden.

Serve with butter, maple syrup, or jam. 

makes 4-6 pancakes

Enjoy!

Grilled Pesto Shrimp

After you've made basil pesto from my 

previous post you're all set to make this easy 

and fast grilled pesto shrimp.

Toss large peeled shrimp with enough pesto to 

coat. Use any amount you need. 

 Let marinade for at least 30 minutes.

Grill on your outdoor grill or in a cast iron skillet

on medium high for a few minutes on each side.

Don't overcook the shrimp. Pile onto a plate and

squeeze some lemon over the top. Serve over

pasta that's been flavored with a bit of pesto,

or on top of a salad, or as an appetizer.

Basil Pesto recipe

Enjoy!

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Basil Pesto

Fresh pesto is bursting with herby garlicky bold 

flavors. Whenever my basil plant starts to get

 "leggy" I give it a good trim. It encourages the

 plant to get thicker, and it will make a 

great pesto. 

Strip the leaves from the stems.  Wash them

 in cold water in the bowl of a salad spinner. 

Rinse several times if needed until the water

 is clear. Then spin the leaves dry. 

I don't follow an exact recipe, just toss it all 

in the food processor and give it a good whirl, 

but I'll give you the recipe below to get you 

started. You can add more or less of anything 

to get it to your liking. You can also use almost

 any nuts: pine nuts, walnuts, almonds, cashews or
 even sunflower seeds. Toast them in a
toaster oven for a flavor boost. You can 

even leave out the nuts. If I'm making a small batch and I'm
out of nuts, I'll leave those out. 

Add the nut, garlic, basil and cheese, to the bowl
of a food processor. Process until chopped.
With the machine running, slowly add the
 olive oil until it reaches your desired
consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
Add a spritz of lemon juice and a pinch
of red pepper flakes, if desired. 

Pulse a few times to blend.
Total processing time will be

about 1-2 minutes. 

Store in a lidded jar adding a light film of olive oil

 on top of the pesto. So many ways to use it: with 

grilled shrimp, salmon, in a sandwich, as a dip with

 warm crusty bread, in pasta, topping for an omelet, 

grilled chicken, and more.

You'll want to make it all summer long. 

Basil Pesto

2-3 C tightly packed basil leaves

2 L cloves garlic, peeled

1/4 C nuts, toasted 
(pine nuts, almonds, walnuts
cashews, sunflower seeds)

about 1/2 C olive oil

1/2 C parmesan cheese

1/2 t salt ~ 1/4 t pepper
pinch red pepper flakes
spritz of lemon juice

Wash the basil leaves in cold water

and dry in a salad spinner. Add the nuts, basil
cheese and garlic to a food processor; process until

chopped. With the machine running add the oil and run

until pureed. Season to taste with salt, pepper,
red pepper flakes, and lemon juice. 

Run again to belnd until desired consistency. 

Enjoy!

Link: How to easily propagate basil.

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the Cubano ~ Grilled Cuban Sandwich

When you grow up in Miami you know all about 

the Little Havana area and the great Cuban food.

Now I live about 1 hour away, but managed to 

visit the famous Cafe Versailles twice last

month when I needed to go to Miami to 

renew my passport. Now I get my Cubano fix

at home. It's a great sandwich!

To make an authentic Cubano you need:

Cuban bread

roast pork slices

boiled ham

pickle slices

Swiss cheese

Yellow mustard

and butter.
I always plan on making this sandwich whenever
I make a pork roast. I know there'll be great
Cubanos the next day. You can maybe leave out
the roast pork if you don't have any, but change
 too many other ingredients and you won't have
 a real Cuban.

You'll have a nice grilled ham and cheese
sandwich instead.

Of course there is only one bread that works
best, and that's Cuban bread.  Why Cuban bread?
Cuban bread is under baked 

so it's not ready to eat when you buy it.

 It's meant to be grilled, toasted or warmed

 in the oven without getting overly browned or
 dried out.  It compresses nicely and gets golden
brown and crunchy when  grilled. Most

 grocery stores carry Cuban bread now. 

If all else fails, use Italian or French.

I had the roast pork slices leftover from 

Cuban Mojo Roasted Pork Loin 

made earlier and I always plan on making

Cubanos with the leftovers. 

 Lightly toast the buttered bread
and warm the pork slices.

 Start layering. Pork slices,

 Pickles,

 Boiled ham,

Swiss cheese,

and Yellow mustard.

 Butter the outside and grill.

It should be thin, hot, crispy, and oozing delicious
 melted cheese.

Golden brown and pressed.

Cut diagonally to serve.

~ Cubanos ~ 

Grilled Cuban Sandwich

Cuban bread

roast pork slices

boiled ham

pickle slices

Swiss cheese

Yellow mustard

and butter.

Using a grill or cast iron skillet heat the pork

slices on one side. Slice the bread 

in half horizontally and butter the cut side. 

Place buttered side down on the grill

 and grill until lightly toasted. Remove the bread 

to a cutting board and lay on the pork, pickles, 

cheese and ham on one side. Slather the yellow 

mustard on the other side and put together.

Butter the top of the bread and place buttered

side down on the grill. Butter the bottom side. 

Close the grill and cook for 2-3 minutes until

heated, browned, and the cheese melts.

Remove to the cutting board and cut

diagonally into long triangles. 

Enjoy!

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Cuban Mojo Roasted Pork Loin

This is the easy  way to do it.

You'll get a perfectly tender and juicy roast pork.

I just use bottled

Mojo marinade from the grocery store.
Mojo, a delicious citrus and garlic marinade.

Marinate a pork loin in enough Mojo sauce

to completely cover. This is about a 3 lb loin roast.

Poke some holes all over the pork to allow the
 sauce to flavor the meat. Marinate overnight. 

The next day when you are ready to roast,
season generously with salt, pepper, and 

Adobo All Purpose Seasoning.  I used
Goya Adobo here too. Put it on a rack
 and roast fat side up @400º for 1 hour.

Let rest, covered with foil while you

make some great gravy to go along with it. 

 Add about 1 C water plus 2 t beef bullion powder

 or 2 cubes to the pan. Place over a burner on
medium- high heat scraping up and browned  bits.
Dissolve 1 T cornstarch in another 1 C cold water.
 Whisk into the pan and stir until it comes to a
simmer and thickens; about 2 minutes.
Taste for seasoning adding more if needed.

 Lower the heat to keep warm. Pour into

a heated (rinse in hot water) gravy boat.

Slice the pork into thin slices. I served it with
mashed potatoes with lots of gravy and
a green vegetable.

Save some pork slices for great Cubanos ~ grilled
Cuban sandwiches.

Coming up in my next post, Cubanos! 

Enjoy!

tip: I buy a large pork loin at Costco and

cut it in half. One for dinner now and one for

the freezer. You can add the Mojo marinade

to the bag and freeze it all together. Then 

it thaw in the fridge for about 2 days 

before roasting. Have the meat at

room temperature before putting it

in the oven, or add 10 minutes to the

roasting time. 

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No-Bake Energy Bites

These are fast and easy to make for that
quick high protein energy boost.

They're perfect with a cup a joe when 

you're on the go, or after a run or sports. 

You probably have all the ingredients
except for the ground flax seed.
That you can can find in your grocery
 store by the other nuts.

 You can add a bit more honey if you like it

sweeter, up to 1/3 C total. You can also add

coconut, raisins, or craisins if you like. 

 Combine all the ingredients well.

Roll into balls. It makes about 22.
Freeze on a baking sheet until firm.

Then store in an airtight container in
the freezer or refrigerator. 

No-Bake Energy Bites

1 C oatmeal

1/2 C ground flax seed

1/2 C mini chocolate chips

1/2 C peanut butter, chunky is good

1/4 C honey

1 t vanilla

Mix well and roll into balls.

Put on a baking sheet and freeze

until firm, about 1 hour. Put into a

 container and store in the freezer

or refrigerator to grab anytime. 

Enjoy!

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