Pan-Fried Basa with Andouille Succotash

 

It's time for dinner. Part of this blog was supposed to be motivation to find quick and easy dinner recipes for weeknights. Ideally, I would find fast, yet delicious recipes that I could cook after a long day at work, then share that gold mine with you. But I'm a baker at heart, I suppose, and pies are so much prettier on a computer screen than some things. Then I found this recipe for the tastiest, easiest fish and a side with colors that give buttercream a run for it's money.

Summer Fest: Chicken Under a Brick with Fresh Herb Sauce

 

  

Welcome to my first post for a wonderful idea called Summer Fest. Some clever bloggers have organized this party over at Pinch My Salt and A Way to Garden to celebrate the produce of summer. Every Wednesday in August a different category will be featured. Corn was highlighted last week and you can take a peek at all the recipe ideas on the participant list on these blogs (and all the others listed on their sites). This is a great way to find new favorite blogs, get fresh inspiration and tap into all the creativity that is coming from some very talented people.

 

The featured category this week is Beans, Herbs and Greens, so my contribution is this recipe for Chicken Under a Brick with Herb and Garlic Sauce. It's from a featured menu in Bon Appetit celebrating California Cuisine and it's absolutely perfect to celebrate the best of summer. I also make the side that was featured, a Grilled Vegetable Salad with Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette, which also has a bunch of fresh herbs. They were perfect together.

 

I will definitely be making this dish again. It defines, for me, the essence of summer. I love to grill. I especially love to grill chicken with the skin on so it gets charred and smoky. I'm not sure the brick was necessary, though. That technique might work better for pressing down a butterflied whole chicken, rather than a boneless breast. Mine didn't get too flattened and the brick makes it a little difficult to check underneath to make sure the chicken is browning properly. As you can see, mine is a little on the dark side.  It was just slightly more charred than I like my skin, but it was still wonderful, especially with the bright, zingy herb dressing that went with it.

 

I hope this is inspiring for anyone looking to get the most out of their summer produce. And if you haven't already, start planning that vegetable and herb garden for next year! It is so worth the work to have fresh produce at your fingertips. It makes all the difference in flavor and it's so convenient to just step out the back door and have what you need on hand. Right now I'm growing mint, rosemary, basil, oregano, thyme, chives and dill. And I love them all.

 

And don't forget to take a peek at what's happening at Summer Fest 2010. Just click here to join the party. Start planning how you're going to use all those zucchini, corn and tomatoes; summer flies by in a blur of sun, cook-outs, and vacations. I'm planning on soaking up the season the best way I know how: eating it!

 

Chicken Under a Brick With Fresh Herb and Garlic Sauce

Bon Appetit

Serves 8

12 garlic cloves, peeled, divided

1 1/2 c. (packed) Italian parsley sprig tops

1/3 c. white balsamic vinegar

1/4 c. (packed) fresh mint leaves

1/4 c. (packed) fresh basil leaves

1 t. dried oregano

1/4 t. dried crushed red pepper 

1 c. olive oil

8 large boneless chicken breast halves with skin

Nonstick vegetable spray

8 bricks, wrapped in foil (optional, in my opinion)

Cook 8 garlic cloves in boiling water 2 minutes. Drain garlic. Place in processor and cool. Add remaining 4 garlic cloves and next 6 ingredients. With machine running, gradually add oil, blending until thick sauce forms. Season with salt. Place chicken in large resealable plastic bag. Add 1/2 cup sauce and turn to coat evenly. Chill at least 1/2 hour and up to 4 hours, turning occasionally. Spray grill rack with nonstick spray and prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Place chicken, skin side down, on grill. Top each piece with 1 foil-lined brick. Grill until skin is golden brown and crisp, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken over; grill until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Arrange chicken on platter. Spoon some sauce over. Serve, passing rest of sauce separately.

Grilled Vegetable Salad with Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette

Bon Appetit

Serves 8

Vinaigrette

3 T. red wine vinegar

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 T. chopped parsley

1 T. chopped chives

1 T. chopped basil

1 T. chopped dill

1 T. Dijon mustard

1 T. lemon juice

3/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil

Vegetables

20 asparagus spears, trimmed to 5" lengths

8 green onions, green tops trimmed

4 medium zucchini, each cut lengthwise into 1/4"-1/3"-thick slices

2 large ears corn, husked

4 medium heads of Belgian endive

2 small heads of radicchio, halved through core

6 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise

Olive oil (for brushing)

For vinaigrette: Combine first 9 ingredients in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in oil; season with salt and pepper. For vegetables: Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Arrange all vegetables on baking sheets. Lightly brush all vegetables with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill asparagus, green onions, zucchini, and corn until lightly charred and just tender, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes for corn. Return vegetables to same sheets. Grill endive and radicchio until lightly charred, turning often, about 8 minutes. Transfer to baking sheets with other vegetables. Place tomatoes, skin side down, on grill and cook until just charred, about 3 minutes. Turn tomatoes; grill until just beginning to soften, about 1 minute longer. Transfer to sheets with other vegetables. Cut asparagus, green onions, and zucchini crosswise into 1-inch pieces; place in large bowl. Cut corn kernels from cobs; add to bowl. Cut endive in half lengthwise. Remove cores from endive and radicchio. Chop into 1/2"-to 3/4" pieces. Add to bowl. Coarsely chop tomatoes. Using slotted spoon, add tomatoes to bowl. Mix vinaigrette into vegetables. Season with salt and pepper.

Summer Pea and Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Salad

 

Not your average pasta salad. That was what I was craving when I found this on Smitten Kitchen's site. The dressing is made from roasted red peppers. It's full of flavor; it's light, not heavy and it's not bottled Italian dressing. One could, I suppose, use jarred peppers. They're good. I use them for lots of dishes. But for this, I wanted soft, meltingly tender, sweet and charred peppers. Roasting them in the oven is actually less involved than charring them over a gas flame (I've done that too. It takes a long time.).          

 

  

I might try grilling them, the next time I make this, to get an even smokier flavor from them. But they get so soft in the oven after roasting, it really is a perfect application for peppers. The skins fall right of the flesh, you can save the juices to put in the processor when you're ready to blend, and then wrap the skin and seeds and core in the foil and toss it. No fuss, no mess. That's my kind of cooking. I don't mind involved recipes, if I have the time, but I love a short cut as much as the next girl. (Said the girl who just roasted her own peppers.)

  

The other reason I wanted to make this salad were the colors. We love peas in this house and I will try any recipe that includes them. I would have loved to use fresh peas, but I never see them in the grocery store. So frozen it is, and fresh snow peas, which we also love. They are so crisp and sweet and add a freshness to anything you put them in. The different contrast of soft peas, chewy pasta and crisp snow peas is a genius combination, especially with the sweetness of the pepper vinaigrette. It's colorful, healthy, light and delicious. It's exactly what I want to eat in the summertime.

  

  

Summer Pea and Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Salad 

as written by Deb, of Smitten Kitchen

This salad would also be fantastic finished with some slivered herbs, like basil, bits of soft goat cheese or crumbled feta or grated Parmesan, but really, it doesn’t need any of that to taste great. Promise.

1 pound of small pasta (I used shells because I imagined the peas would nest in there and gah, such cuteness)

1/4 pound snow pea pods, ends trimmed

1/2 pound fresh summer peas, which yielded about 1 cup once shelled

3/4 to 1 cup Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare a small ice water bath. Boil the snow pea pods for about two minutes, or until just barely cooked but still crisp. Scoop them out with a large slotted spoon and drop them in the ice water bath. Cook the peas for about 10 minutes (once again, this will be al dente, you can cook them longer if you prefer them softer), scoop them out with a large slotted spoon and plunge them into the ice water bath as well. Drain both peas. Cut the snow peas into thin slivers.

Add the pasta into the boiling water and cook it according to package instructions. Drain and let cool, then toss in a large bowl with peas and Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette, seasoning to taste.

Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette

Please don’t limit your use of this to just pasta salad, though, I can say withabsolutely no bias that it is awesome in it, but that’s no reason not to toss this with white beans for a quick bean salad or what your choice mix of greens are.

I like to slow-roast bell peppers in the oven at 350 for one hour, giving them a quarter turn with tongs every fifteen minutes so they get evenly blistered — then letting them cool and peeling them. I know it’s faster to blacken them over a gas flame, but the pepper never gets as supple and sweet as I want it to, but hey, that’s just personal preference. You know, in case you wanted to know.

Makes about one cup of dressing

1 red bell pepper, roasted, skinned and seeded or the equivalent from a jar, drained

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (and up to 2 tablespoons more if you, like us, like that extra bite in your dressing)

1 tablespoon chopped shallot (about 1 small)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Several grinds of black pepper

Puree the red bell pepper in a food processor or blender as much as possible, then add the remaining ingredients and running the machine until the dressing is silky smooth. Adjust the vinegar level and seasonings to taste.