JM's Memorial Day Getaway

Memorial Day weekend was spent gloriously on the beach with a group of girlfriends.  A long weekend of fun and sun was exactly what I needed after the past few very stressful weeks at work.  At the beginning of the trip I only knew half of the girls going, but we got lucky and the whole group got along really well.  Everyone was laid back and fun to hang out with.  We rented a small townhouse a block from the beach, and to save some money we decided to cook most of our meals.  We skipped the usual barbeque and grill foods, two of the girls were vegetarian and we didn’t have a grill anyway.  At first I thought meals might be difficult- I almost always cook meat- and wasn’t sure what we would eat all weekend without it.  I’m happy to report that it wasn’t difficult at all (the girls ate fish, so it made things a little easier).  Meals were cooked together and served family-style, so it was easy and a fun way to hang out. 

I learned a new meal that I am definitely planning on making again, fish tacos.  I’d had shrimp tacos before, but never ones made with fish, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  They were delicious and healthy!  We were limited on spices since we didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something we’d use once or twice, but we used such fresh ingredients that we didn’t need much more than salt and pepper anyway.  We baked tilapia with a tequila lime seasoning rub (just a packet of premixed seasoning), mixed up a cabbage-cucumber salsa, and topped off with homemade guacamole and fresh tomato salsa.  The cabbage-cucumber mixture was a big improvisation, we bought mangos with the intention of making mango salsa, but they weren’t ripe.  Instead, we threw together some red cabbage (prepackaged), diced red onion, a jalapeno, cucumber, tomato, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.  It was so easy and had a ton of flavor.  It had just enough citrus to complement the fish, and a little kick from the jalapeno.  The tacos were incredibly fresh tasting; it was a perfect summer beach meal. 

All in all it was a successful weekend away, I got plenty  of sun (my sunburned skin says too much), made some new friends, and even learned something new.  If you did anything fun or made an interesting meal, tell us about it in the comments!  

Sneaking in the Vegetables

During the winter, B and I, like most northerners, tend to go for comforting, cold weather meals- lots of starches and hearty dishes.  When spring rolls around, I get inspired to eat healthier and try to incorporate better ingredients into my cooking.  I love fruits and vegetables, especially when they are fresh, so this isn’t much of a challenge for me.  B tends to be a bit more difficult to please.  He likes when I hide vegetables (especially spinach) in meals- he usually doesn’t like to eat veggies when they’re sitting on the plate beside the more appetizing main course.  It tends to be a challenge to get him to eat, let alone enjoy, a vegetable other than a potato or corn, so I seek out ways to disguise them or sneak them into meals.  Unfortunately it tends to decrease the healthiness factor significantly, but sometimes you lose some to gain some.  This recipe incorporates spinach and heart healthy salmon, and I use nonfat cream cheese so as to not completely negate the nutrition quotient.  B loved it and even commented I could add more spinach next time, if that’s not success, I don’t know what is!  Next challenge- getting him to like zucchini and squash without frying it or coating it with cheese.  Check back later for progress on that one!

Spring Salmon Packets

Serves 2

1 salmon filet (big enough for 2 people)

4 sheets of phyllo dough (or 1 sheet puff pastry)

1 egg

Salt and pepper

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. parsley

2 tsp. nonfat cream cheese

1 c. fresh spinach

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350.  Remove skin from the salmon filet and cut in half.  Season with salt, pepper, oregano, and parsley.  Coat the top of each filet with 1 tsp. cream cheese.  Lay out the phyllo dough (or puff pastry), brushing each sheet with olive oil before layering on the next sheet (skip this step if using puff pastry).  Cut the pastry in 2 equal pieces, then place the salmon filets on each.  Top each with ½ cup spinach, then wrap each in the dough/puff pastry.  Cut off any extra pastry, and then fold the ends under like a package.  Wisk the egg to make an egg wash, then brush it on the top of each packet.  Place on a baking sheet (coated with a little nonstick spray) and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  Serve with rice.