Pan Fried Salmon with Fennel Salad

I'm a Salmon convert. I now love it and can't believe I've lived for so long without eating this wonderful fish. What a shame! So after trying the Salmon with Lemon-Cream sauce, I started going through and looking for more Salmon dishes and found this one.

Yum! I already knew that fennel went well with fish so it was no surprise that this dish worked really well. And the mustard dressing (lemon juice, mustard, crushed garlic, caster sugar, olive oil and S&P) brought it together perfectly. I made the dressing in my pestle and mortar as I don't have a garlic crusher and I find this the best way to mix it into dressings. Love the crispyness of the pan fried salmon too. I think I made this again the next day for lunch as well.

Converted. Try it. 

Poached Chicken and Spring Onion Salad

With Summer ending I'm in a mad rush to make all the 'Summer' dishes before we just don't feel like eating salads and cold shakes in the middle of a cool day. Today we went out for lunch and I had Beef Bourguignon with Parmesan Mash and sautaed Red Cabbage. Totally hit the spot. But today is overcast and cool. Last Friday wasn't. It was a lovely warm day. So I made salad.

A few months ago I'd never poached chicken, but now having done it a few times I can see how wonderful and easy it is. And so healthy! This recipe is lovely and light, including poached spring onions (in stock before poaching the chicken), celery that's thinly peeled with a vegetable peeler, butter lettuce (I didn't have any and used Iceberg instead. Had a lovely crunch that the salad might have otherwise missed), poached chicken and a lovely light citirusy lemon infused oil dressing.

In all honesty, I stuffed the dressing having made it first and set aside as the recipe suggests then just before serving I thought I'd heat it through again so it's nice and warm and absorbs into the chicken. Bad move. Burnt the lemon rind and I had to 'wash' it off the chicken in the warm stock. Oh well. I improvised and made a lemon juice and olive oil whisked dressing which worked just as well.

As we were having this dish for dinner I added a poached egg to the top to make it a little more filling. This is HUGE for me as I don't generally eat eggs on their own at all. But I felt it needed a little more and the egg worked really nicely. Not that I'm converted to eating crap loads of eggs now. Just one a blue moon I can probably handle.

Was a lovely light meal and would make a fantastic entree! 

Feta with Crispy Bread and Salad

If you're looking for a light lunch, this is it. It's so light and Summery and would serve as a great appetizer before a nice big dinner. And oh so easy.

After grilling some fresh Bruschetta, top it with Feta, Salad leaves, Parmesan, Salt and Pepper and Olive Oil.

See, told you it was easy.

It has a light salty taste from the cheeses and the crunchy toasted bread gives the added texture. Not to mention the oil soaks right in and mixes with the feta. Yum.

Try it next time you're in need of a quick but tasty lunch idea!!

Tomato Salad with Garlic and Anchovy Dressing

Do you have something you don't eat, but don't know why? It's just one of those things then when offered, you automatically turn your nose up at and 'no thanks, I don't eat them' even though you've probably never tried it. I do. I have a few actually. Oysters. Sorry, but they just look like a pile of snot sitting in a shell. How appetizing. Mussels. Brains. And Anchovies.

When I decided to start this challenge I told myself that I would try new food. Probably not everything I cook I'll eat, but I'm hoping to be brave enough to try most of it. This is the first 'new' food thing I have cooked so I was a bit apprehensive.

It was an easy dish to make. It'd be even easier if I had've kept an eye on the oil and garlic cooking the first time, rather then burn it and have to start the dressing again. The ingredients are naturally contemplative of each other. Tomatoes, beans and basil. Oil, garlic, anchovy and sherry vinegar. I didn't have any sherry vinegar so I substituted with Balsamic. Yes, I know it has a different taste but I wasn't going to go out and buy a whole bottle for a few tablespoons. And trust me, balsamic worked. 

Cut up tomatoes and beans and set aside. Heat oil, garlic and anchovy in a pan and cook till the garlic is golden. Now, you know when you're watching a cooking show and the chef puts in anchovy and they always say 'they dissapear, you'll never know they're there, it's just for flavour.' Well, I never believed them. How could it dissapear? Seriously?

I looked. It dissapeared. So sue me.

I think the best part of this dish is what I learnt. Once the garlic is cooked, remove it from the heat and carefully pour in the vinegar. The pan and oil is still so hot that it starts cooking the sugars in the vinegar and the whole dressing becomes this lovely sweet, sticky, garlicy liquid that I could've savored for days. I mean, it was awesome. Once the dressing is ready, pour over the tomatoes and let marinate for half an hour. Add some basil, shavings of pecorino (again, I didn't have this and substituted for Parmesan) and voila! 

As with the last salad it's missing the 'you'll need a big chunk of bread to soak up the remainder of the dressing or you'll end up licking the plate clean' bit at the end of the recipe. Yes, I can see how it's healthy without it, but I think the bread would round it up nicely.

Seriously good food.

Fig, Haloumi and Pomegranate Salad

I was all set to make this salad without the Pomegranate as I thought there'd be no way I could find any around here at all. How surprised I was when we got to Coles last week and they had a whole crate of them!!! Score!!

Oh, and I'm officially in love with Haloumi. I made this salad for lunch one day and had to make it again for dinner. The Haloumi....ohmigod. I'm addicted. It's amazing. Like...A-MA-ZING!!! Love it!

The beautiful subtle sweetness to the fig married wonderfully with the crispiness of the fried cheese. The red wine vinegar and juice from the pomegranate added just enough sharpness and complimented the peppery rocket. This is definitely on the regular cards for me. I might just buy a whole crate of Haloumi while I'm at it....

Working on my photography...what do you think? It tasted even better than it looks!!