Brad has been dropping hints that he would like us to eat meat more. It’s not that I don’t eat meat, it’s just that I don’t really enjoy meat that much. I’ll eat it when I want it but that does not happen very often. I will definitely eat it when I am out to eat and it is the healthiest option, like sopa de pollo (chicken soup) at a Mexican restaurant. I do really enjoy fish and luckily when planning dinner the other night I remembered that there was some swordfish in the freezer that I had picked up the week prior.
Oh what to make…google will know. I found this recipe for Swordfish Siciliana on Cooking Light’s website.
Of course, my recipe was a bit different because I very rarely follow any recipe word for work, even when baking. And I adjusted the recipe (in my own little non-mathematical way) for two people.
Non-stick Spray
2 6 oz swordfish steaks
salt and pepper
sprinkling of almonds
2 cloves of garlic, minced
sprinkling of dried cranberries
the juice of about 1/4 of an orange
1/4 of a red pepper, coarsely chopped and roasted in the oven for 10 minutes
I sprinkled the fish generously with salt and pepper on both sides and sauteed for 5 minutes on each side. I removed the fish from the pan, added more non-stick spray as well as the dried cranberries, juice, and red bell pepper. The juice was absorbed almost immediately so I turned the pan down to low, stirred the mixture around, and allowed it to cook for about 3 minutes. This was served over the fish.
For my side, I knew I wanted to use the half crown of broccoli that only had about one more day of shelf (refrigerator) life. I absolutely love the combination of flavors that Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks comes up with. Her dishes always have these unique and complex combination of flavors that totally work. Her Double Broccoli Quinoa Recipe really intrigued me and I knew that I had to try it. I only had half of the main ingredients needed (the broccoli and quinoa), but luckily there were only two of us for dinner.
My take on the recipe is below.
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup of vegetable stock
1/2 crown of broccoli, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves
1/3 cup of slivered almonds
3 tbsp of grated parmesan reggiano
salt
1 big squirt of lemon juice
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 big splashes of skim milk
2 tbsp of crumbled goat cheese
I cooked the 1/2 cup of quinoa in 1 cup of vegetable stock. Then I covered the broccoli in water in my Pampered Chef microwave steamer and cooked for 1 minute. I took about 3/4 of it and put it in the food processor with the garlic, almonds, parmesan reggiano and pureed while slowly adding the olive oil. I then added the milk while the mixture was still processing and the lemon juice. I stirred the mixture in with the quinoa (when it was finished cooking) and added the remaining broccoli as well. I sprinkled generously with salt and added another big squirt of lemon juice for good measure. I served with the crumbled goat cheese on top.
The color alone made this a beautiful meal. The sweet and salty combination on the fish was absolutely delicious. I apologize for the less than stellar pictures. My camera’s battery was dead and I didn’t want our food to get cold so I snapped these with the iPhone. The broccoli pesto along with the goat cheese gave the quinoa a velvety texture that was so good.
Brad really like this meal, as did I, and will definitely be making it again.
