Roasted

Roasted Panzanella

~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

I had so much basil sitting on the counter. I always buy some not knowing if what I have at home is still good and then I get home to see that it is and now I have all this basil to deal with, first world problems. Not wanting to make pesto or have Caprese, again, I decided on a Panzanella salad. However this time I wanted to roast the veggies because, no Caprese again. This recipe is super easy and you’re left with very few dishes, always a win. But you guys, it’s soo good, I mean it’s basically a deconstructed pizza.

INGREDIENTS

8 oz. French or Italian bread, about 5 cups, cut into 1″ pieces

12 oz. cherry tomatoes

1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 small red, yellow or orange bell pepper thinly sliced.

10 cloves of garlic, peeled.

1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 c. shaved parmesan

8 oz. small fresh mozzarella balls (ciliegine or bocconcini)

2 c. packed baby arugula

1 c. packed fresh basil leaves 

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400°F. On a rimmed and lined baking sheet, toss bread, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper and garlic with 6 tablespoons oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and several grinds black pepper. Shake the sheet to arrange everything in an even layer.

Bake, shaking the sheet halfway through, until bread begins to turn golden, 10 to 15 minutes.

Scatter the Parmesan over everything and continue to bake until tomatoes burst and bread is golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes longer.

Remove sheet from oven and let cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Add mozzarella, arugula, and basil to sheet pan. Drizzle with vinegar and remaining 2 tablespoons oil, season with ½ teaspoon salt and toss to combine, scraping up any melted bits from the sheet. Serve hot.

*Recipe adapted from Delish.com

Roasted Whole Fish

~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

I have always loved dining on a whole roasted fish, faces don’t scare me. I mean I sucked the brains out of a chicken head in China! But cooking a whole fish was intimidating because one….how do you know it’s really a fresh fish, aside from the eyeball test…and two….. where do I get a whole fish from? Well, luckily we found a local wholesale fish market that serves all the finest local restaurants here. Catalina Offshore is where all the chefs go to get their seafood, so now when I eat at a restaurant and I order an amazing Branzino or Salmon, I know where they got it. Priceless in my opinion. Not only because you know exactly what you are putting into your body and where it came from but NOW, I know that I can also make that same dish, just as good, for a lot less chaaaa-ching!

We all know I have talked Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook to death, but in all seriousness, I think she and I share palates. I could cook through the book and probably not be disappointed in anything. When I decided on cooking a whole fish for the second time in my life, I wanted to do what she did, clearly can’t go wrong!

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Team Players

1 (2 lb.) whole fish, white striped bass or branzino

Kosher salt and pepper

15 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 Tbs olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 lemon, sliced

3-4 springs of herbs, thyme, rosemary, sage

1 lbs heirloom tomatoes, slices or cut into wedges

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup. ( just do this with anything you roast)

Place fish on the foil lined sheet and season like its your job all over with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes and then rub it all over and inside the fish.  Place the lemon rounds inside the cavity along with the herbs.

Arrange the tomatoes underneath and around the fish, then drizzle the whole party with olive oil.

Roast until fish is flaky, 20 minutes should be perfect.

Serve right away.

AND don’t forget the fish cheeks, the best bite of the entire fish!

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Roasted Veggie Galette

~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

This was so much easier than I thought it was going to be. You could make it harder on yourself and make your own pastry dough, but really, no need to.

Now that I did a test run I am excited to make it again with some of the vegetables that came in my Farm Fresh box.

All you do is roast a bunch of veggies, drizzled with olive oil and showered lightly with salt and pepper in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. I used red and yellow peppers, zucchini and onion. You could use eggplant, mushrooms, leeks, yellow squash, anything really.

Prepare a baking sheet with your pie dough, spread a generous layer of cream cheese and then follow up with a generous dollop of Boursin garlic and herb cheese. Top with the veggies and then pull up the edges of the pie dough around the vegetables to make a rustic little pie. Brush the pie dough with milk and sprinkle with parmesan. Pop back in the 400 degree oven for another 20 minutes and prepare to wow the socks off of your guests, or just eat it all by yourself. No need to share something so good!

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