Goodbye to Boston and Tuna Tartare

Deep breath.

It's official.  I physically and emotionally survived (part) of the big move.

And life feels almost back to normal.  No more packing.  Or boxes.  For now anyway.

Last Saturday after so many tearful goodbyes we packed the u-haul and the car to the brim and set out for Nashville.  And I have to admit...watching Boston fade away was one of the most heart wrenching things I've ever had to do.  The city of Boston I love, but it's the friends and people that I'll miss the most.  It's hard to find the right words to tell you how wonderful those people are.  Mainly because I'm not good at that, but also because I still feel like I'm on a short vacation and I'm going back to them really soon.  So Boston friends, just know that I adore you all and miss you like crazy.  Okay?  Okay.

**Chokes back any feelings of sadness.**  Because now I'm in Missouri enjoying time with my family and friends before all of the new adventures begin in Nashville!  Whew.  I made it to the other side.



Since it's been so darn long since I've posted a recipe I figured that now would be a good time to post the last true meal I made in Boston.  And I couldn't have asked for a better one.  While the dish itself was to die for, I think that the best part is that it was photographed by one of my good friends.  The pictures are amazing and so is he.  So thank you Evan!

**Make sure you check out all of Evan's other amazing pictures on his tumblr!**

Fish lovers.  Prepare yourself.  It's possible that this dish is the easiest, most delicious, beautiful thing that was produced from my Boston kitchen.  Seriously though.  That presentation?  Gorgeous.  And easy as pie.  Oh and guess what?  It's DELICIOUS.  The smooth, melt in your mouth tuna.  The crispy shallots and crunchy red onion.  The sauce.  Just a wonderfully harmonious dish all around.

These would make for a great dinner party dish.  Or a random Wednesday dish.  Whatever makes you happy.



Adapted from the James Beard Foundation

Makes: 6 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: None 
Total Time: 20 minutes

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh sushi grade tuna, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 avocado, pitted and diced,
1 small red onion, diced
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons peanut oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 shallot, diced
several sprigs of cilantro
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a small pan heat one tablespoon of olive oil.  Drop in the shallots and cook over medium heat until brown and crispy.  Using a slotted spoon remove them from the pan and place on a paper towel.  Set aside.
2. In a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, peanut oil, and sugar until sugar dissolves and set aside.
3. In another small bowl combine the avocado, red onion, and juice of one lime.  Set aside.
4. In the final small bowl combine the diced tuna, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper.
5. Place a circular mold or a biscuit cutter (which I used) onto a small plate (I used a saucer) or wide bowl.  Press several spoonfuls of the avocado/onion mixture into the bottom of the mold and press down.  Then top with the tuna mixture until the mold is full.  Carefully remove the mold so that the tartare keeps its shape.  Top with crispy shallots and a bit of fresh cilantro and then pour the sauce around the tartare.  Serve immediately.

Slow Roasted Salmon with Herbs

Whew.

That was one whirlwind of a week.

And I don't think I could have asked for a better way to end my college years.  My parents were here.  We absolutely feasted on the most delicious food at every meal.  Played an excessive amount of pool.  Had a few celebratory cocktails.  Explored some unknown parts of Boston.  Did a little shopping...

...And of course I graduated!



After the amount of food I consumed over the past week my stomach is telling me that I should not be thinking about delicious food at the moment...

But the mere thought of this salmon makes me salivate.

I realized some time ago that I have never done a salmon post.  And that's ridiculous because I absolutely love salmon and I eat it all the time.

So I'm sorry that this is the first one I've shared...but I promise you it won't disappoint.  The slow roasting.  The slathering of herbs.  The spring salad.  It exceeded my expectations.

And I'd say it will do the same for you.

slow roasted salmon with herbs

Adapted from The Right Recipe

Makes: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes + 30 minutes to bring salmon to room temperature

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:
2 lb wild salmon, with the skin on
1 lemon
1/2 cup shallots, finely diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced
2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, minced
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions: 

1. Remove the salmon from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking to bring it to room temperature.  Preheat the oven to 250° and place a shallow pan of water on the bottom rack.
2. Finely grate the zest of the lemon until you have 1 teaspoon.  Combine the lemon zest, shallots, dill, tarragon, and parsley in a small bowl.  Stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil.
3. Place the salmon, skin side down, on a baking sheet and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Smear about 1/3 of the herb mixture on the fish and turn it over.  Slather the skin side of the fist with the remaining herb mixture and sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper.
4. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake about 25 minutes or until the salmon separates into flakes.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Seared Swordfish with Gazpacho Salsa, Tomato Vinaigrette, and Lemon-Dill Quinoa

I wonder how long I'm going to talk about how good it feels to be done with school.

Having the ability to get up in the morning, go to a pilates class, come home, have breakfast, read a book, and then make my way into the kitchen to play...is still blowing my mind. (And I'm completely aware that I have to grow up very very very soon...but shhh let's not ruin it quite yet.  I'm enjoying myself.)

And this free time means that dinner around here has gotten a whole lot tastier.  And thank goodness.  I was pretty well over my go-to steamed vegetable/rice/tofu bowls.  I love "bowl" dinners but I had had one too many this semester.

So now it's on to things like this.



Which had me swooning at the title.

Seared Swordfish with Gazpacho Salsa, Tomato Vinaigrette, and Lemon-Dill Quinoa.



Uhhhhh.....okay.  I'm in.

If you haven't noticed already, I've been a bit obsessed with the Smitten Kitchen cookbook lately.  I have followed her blog for years now and occasionally make delicious things from it but there is something about this cookbook that I can't get away from.  Every time I walk over to my cookbook collection to pull one out I feel as though the others are staring at me in contempt because I've been ignoring them for weeks now.  I should pull another one out...but Smitten Kitchen treats me so well...

Anyway.  This meal.  The weather has been absolutely gorgeous in Boston for the last week or so meaning that I'm dying for Spring/Summer meals.  And this one is it.  Fish. Gazpacho. Tomatoes.  Lemon-Dill Anything.  While I was jumping for joy about the fresh veggies and overall healthiness of the meal, I was a little worried that the men around wouldn't be all that excited about it.  But I was completely wrong.  They gobbled it up and asked for more.

So veggie lover or not, I bet that you'll love this.



Partially adapted from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Makes: 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:
quinoa-
2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
3 tablespoons fresh dill
juice from 1/2 lemon

tomato vinaigrette-
1 medium tomato, peeled (if desired), seeded, and chopped
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

fish-
four (6-8 ounce) swordfish fillets, or other flaky white fish
olive oil to coat pan
salt
freshly ground black pepper

salsa-
2 large beefsteak or 4 medium Roma tomatoes seeded and diced
1/2 English cucumber diced
2 bell peppers, diced
1/2 small sweet onion, diced
juice from 1/2 lemon

Directions:

1. For the quinoa- In a medium pot, combine 2 cups vegetable stock and quinoa.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Once a simmer is reached, reduce heat and cover.  Cook 15-18 minutes until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is light and fluffy.  When done fluff with a fork and add chopped dill and lemon juice.  Set aside.
2. For the vinaigrette- In a blender or food processor, puree the tomato until smooth.  Add red wine vinegar.  With the machine running, drizzle in olive oil slowly in a very thin stream.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.
3. For the fish- Bring the swordfish fillets to room temperature.  Season generously with salt and pepper on both sides.  Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Once the pan is hot, coat it evenly with olive oil.  Once oil is hot, lay fish in the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, until the fish is golden underneath but not sticking to the pan.  Carefully flip the fillets.  Cook for a few more minutes, until a fork cuts through easily and the meat is opaque white and flaky.
4. For the gazpacho salsa- Toss salsa ingredients in a bowl and add lemon juice.
5. To assemble- Spoon quinoa onto the plate and top with salsa.  Add swordfish fillet and drizzle with tomato vinaigrette.  Sprinkle with additional dill and serve with extra vinaigrette on the side.

Scallops with Qunioa and Pomegranate Gastrique

Ever since I purchased the Sprouted Kitchen cookbook last fall, I've had my eye on this recipe.



It's been bookmarked and calling my name for at least 4 months now.

So, after an overwhelming desire to have a sweet little scallop melting in my mouth, I made the decision to run my tush down to the fish market and pick up some of most beautiful scallops I've ever seen.  Yes.  I said it.  Little white blobs of shellfish can indeed be beautiful.  Especially when you know you'll be devouring them within several hours.

I occasionally order scallops when I go out, but for some reason these scallops blew most others I've had out of the water.  I can only assume that it had to do with the freshness (what ever will I do when I don't have fresh Boston seafood??) and not the perfection of cooking. 

I'll admit that I was a bit timid going into this thing.  I've prepared scallops before but they aren't just an every night kind of meal.  I needed them to be absolutely perfect.

And as you can already tell, I was pretty darn happy with them.  And in fact, they were absolutely perfect.  But the kicker is that they were easy and didn't require any sort of skill.  I plopped them in the pan and kept a somewhat close eye on them.  That's it.

They may pile a few dishes in your sink but...if you're making scallops...someone else should be doing the dishes.

Okay.  So you're going to make these.  Please and thank you.

One last thing.  As I mentioned on Monday, I'm heading to Missouri tomorrow to throw my sister's bridal shower!  So I'll probably be absent for a few days.  But...guess what.  Monday is this little blog's 2nd birthday!  Can you believe it?  She's growing up so fast.  And birthdays mean presents...for you...so I'll be doing a giveaway...so you should come back on Monday and celebrate with me!



Adapted from The Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook

Makes: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:
16 large scallops
1 cup red or black quinoa
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or olive oil)
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cup pomegranate juice
3/4 cup vegetable broth

Directions:

1. Remove scallops from the refrigerator and let them rest at room temperature.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the honey and vinegar, stirring to combine.  Add the pomegranate juice and bring to a boil.  Cook until reduced by half, about 8 minutes.  Add 3/4 cup vegetable broth and reduce to half again, about 8 minutes.  Set aside to cool.
3. Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer.  In a saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth to a simmer over medium heat.  Add the quinoa, cover, and cook until the liquid is absorbed. 16-18 minutes.  Remove from heat, let sit for 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork.
4. While the quinoa is cooking heat a tiny bit of olive oil in a pan and saute the mushrooms and green onions until soft.  Remove from pan and set aside.
5. Pat the scallops completely dry and sprinkle all sides with salt and pepper.  Heat the coconut (or olive) oil in a pan (the same one you just cooked the mushrooms in) over medium-high heat.  Add as many scallops as you can and cook for 3-4 minutes, flip and cook on the other side until a crust as formed and they are starting to pull away from the pan, another 3-4 minutes.  Repeat with the remaining scallops.
6. Stir the mushrooms/green onions and pomegranate seeds into the cooked quinoa, adding salt and pepper to taste.
7. To serve, divide the quinoa and scallops among 4 plates and drizzle each with the pomegranate gastrique and garnish with chives.