Well-Dressed Salmon

Another great way to enjoy this is to eliminate the tomato/cucumber salad topping and just use the dressing over the broiled or grilled fish. You can also toss some greens with the dressing and place the fish on a bed of greens.

Ingredients

• 1/2 seedless cucumber
• 2 small plum tomatoes
• 1 shallot or 1/4 red onion, finely chopped, divided
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh dill
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless salmon fillets
• Seafood seasoning (recommended: Old Bay)

Directions

On a cutting board, dice cucumber into 1/4-inch pieces - to peel or not to peel is up to you. Seed and dice the tomatoes into 1/4-inch pieces. Combine the cucumber, tomatoes and half of the shallots or red onion in bowl and reserve.

In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, sugar, and white wine vinegar and remaining half of the shallots. Stream in extra-virgin olive oil while continuing to whisk. Stir in dill and season dressing with salt and pepper, to taste.

Season the salmon with seafood seasoning and a little black pepper. Heat a nonstick skillet with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Place salmon rounded side down and cook until golden and a little crispy at edges, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook 2 minutes more for a pink center, 4 minutes for opaque fish.

Transfer salmon to dinner or serving plates, top with the cucumber-tomato relish and cover with a liberal amount of dill dressing.

Asian Cucumber Salad

Yield

8 servings (serving size: 3/4 cup)

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 2 cups chopped seeded cucumber
• 1 (10-ounce) bag matchstick-cut carrots
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted

Preparation

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add cucumber and carrot; toss well. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Spicy Chipotle Grilled Chicken

Ingredients

1/4 cup canned chipotle chiles in adobo

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1/2 onion, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces

Combine chipotles in adobo, olive oil, and garlic cloves in processor; puree until paste forms. Add chopped onion, chopped cilantro, lime juice, paprika, ground cumin, chili powder, and salt; process until onion is finely chopped. Transfer 1/4 cup chipotle mixture to small bowl; cover and refrigerate. Arrange chicken pieces in 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Spread remaining chipotle mixture all over chicken pieces. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Spray grill rack with nonstick spray. Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Grill chicken until cooked through, moving to cooler part of grill as needed to prevent burning and brushing with reserved marinade during last 5 minutes of grilling, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter and serve.

Pizza Dough or Foccacia Bread

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 cup warm water (temperature 105 degrees)

1 envelope of active dry yeast

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp. of oil for bowl, baking pan and bread

1 Tsp. salt

4 cups of all-purpose flour

In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over water, stir gently until dissolved. Let stand in a warm place until a thin layer of foam forms on the surface, about 5-10 minutes.

Combine oil, salt, 4 cups of flour, and yeast mixture in a food processor using a dough blade and the dough setting.

Pulse the food processor until dough is formed. If dough is too sticky, add more flour. If dough is too dry, add more water.

Transfer dough to lightly dusted (with flour) cutting board. Knead until smooth and elastic. Add remaining flour as necessary to make dough not sticky. Shape dough into a ball.

Place in well-oiled bowl and turn dough to coat completely. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size -- 1 to 3 hours.

Gently punch down the dough roll on a dusted board. Form into a pizza crust or (to make foccacia bread) form it into a rectangle and place on a cookie sheet.

Pat the dough evenly, cover and let rise for an additional 30 minutes.

At this point, if you want to make pizza, add your toppings and bake until crust is cooked and toppings are hot (15 minutes in a 350 degree oven). Or get fancy and grill the pizza.

To grill the pizza:

- brush olive oil on one side of crust

- put crust olive oil side down over medium heated grill

- grill crust for 2-4 minutes or until crust is cooked. watch carefully so you don't burn the crust

- brush olive oil on other side of crust.

- place pizza toppings on already cooked crust side

- place pizza back on grill and cook until topping are heated through

To make foccacia bread:

1 Tbsp. sage

1 Tbsp. rosemary

1 Tsp. coarse salt

Dough should be on cookie sheet. With your fingertips, make indentions about 1 inch apart all over the surface. Brush dough with olive oil. Then sprinkle with sage, rosemary and salt. Bake until golden brown about 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

• 1 small container plain Greek Yogurt (or sour cream)
• 2 cucumbers, peeled and sliced
• 2 tbsp. white vinegar
• 1/2 onion, diced
• salt/pepper, to taste
  
• dill, to taste
  
• cayenne pepper (or crushed red pepper flakes), to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour before serving.