Summer Rainbow

I wish I'd done a better job photographing this meal, because it was the most festive, summery, fresh, and balanced meal I did all season. 

Grilled Halibut with Peach-Tomato Salsa

Drizzle a couple tablespoons of lime juice over halibut filet, then salt and pepper and allow to rest an hour or two.

For salsa, dice 1 peach, 1 tomato, 1 jalepeno (or to taste), handful cilantro, and mix with a teaspoon of lime juice and season with salt.

Lightly brush grill with olive oil, then grill fish until flakey and white all the way through. Serve with salsa.


Cabbage and Corn Slaw with Cilantro-Orange Dressing (recipe here)

 

Balsamic-Feta Barley

Saute ½ cup chopped onions in 1 tbsp olive oil.

When becoming translucent, add ¾ cup barley to coat with oil.

Stir in 1 -2 cloves minced garlic.

Add one can chicken broth, cover, bring to boil, then simmer for 30-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, dice 1 large tomato. Toss with 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1-2 tsp olive oil, and pepper to taste (do not use salt, as the broth and the cheese will be salty). When barley is cooked through, toss with tomato and refridgerate. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup crumbled feta and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Entertaining a Pescatarian

One of our friends is a pescatarian (vegetarian who eats fish) and she was bringing her new boyfriend to meet us for the first time, so I wanted a delicious dinner that would impress, but also be easy to prepare in advance so I could spend all my time getting to know him. I decided to make Yucatecan-Style Grilled Mahi Mahi and I developed this starchy side and green salad to pair with the flavors:

Corn and Sweet Potato SaladServes 6

2 small sweet potatoes or 1 large
2 ears of corn (preferably yellow, for color)
2 carrots (preferable purple, for color)
½ fresh basil leaves, chiffonaded
½ jalepeno, minced

Dressing:
2 T olive oil
1 T fresh lime juice
¼ t kosher salt

Dice sweet potato into small chunks and boil/steam just until tender (about 10 minutes).

Grill corn on the cob until some ears are starting to blacken. Cut kernels from cob.

Half carrots lengthwise, then crosswise in slices.

Mix dressing ingredients together, then toss all ingredients in dressing.


Arugula Salad with Peaches

3 T. olive oil
1 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 t. kosher salt
4 oz arugula
2 small, ripe peaches, peeled and sliced *
2 T. spiced pepitas **

Mix 3 dressing ingredients together with a whisk, or I like to just put them in a jar, screw down the lid, and shake it vigorously.

You can mix this salad together in a bowl, but it's prettier (and not too time consuming for only four servings) if you plate it individually. Toss the sliced peaches in 1/3 of the dressing just to coat. Separately, toss the arugula in the remaining dressing. Arrange peach slices in a fan atop a serving of greens, then sprinkle with pepitas.

* Peaches (and tomatoes too) can be dipped for a couple of seconds into a pan of boiling water, and then plunged into an ice water bath to make them easy to peel. However, I've found that when peaches are ripe-ready to eat, they peel very easily without this step.

** Trader Joes sells pepitas in the nut section, and they can be purchased in the bulk food section of natural foods markets.