Salmon with sun-dried tomato/kalamata olive tapenade

This menu is a colorful healthy and packed with flavor meal. The recipe for the salmon calls for grilling the salmon, but you can easily cook the salmon filets in the oven with equally delicious results.

Salmon with sun-dried tomato/kalamata olive tapenade

Roasted tomatoes

Sautéed Green Beans

Sweet Potatoes with butter and cinnamon

Sun-Dried Tomato, Olive, Caper, and Parsley Relish for Grilled Salmon

(Adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen)

Relish Ingredients:
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, room temperature (drained)
1/4 cup drained and pitted Kalamata olives
1 TBSP chopped red onion
1 TBSP capers
2 TBSP chopped parsley
2 TBSP fresh oregano and basil leaves (optional)
2 1/2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
5 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 piece of salmon per person
olive oil, for rubbing onto the salmon
Fish Rub, for rubbing salmon

Let the salmon come to room temperature. Make sure grill grates are clean, then pour a little Grapeseed oil (or other high smoke point oil) on a paper towel and wipe the grill grates until they are coated with oil. Preheat grill to medium-high.

Put sun-dried tomatoes and remaining ingredients into food processor, and process until ingredients are uniform size and well combined.

When you’re ready to cook the fish, rub both sides with olive oil and season generously with the fish rub.

Lay fish pieces at an angle across the grill grates and cook 3-4 minutes (or until you see grill marks.) Rotate fish so it’s at an angle in the opposite direction and cook 3-4 minutes more (until you see criss-cross marks.) Carefully turn fish over and cook a few more minutes on the other side, just until it feels firm to the touch. Cooking time will be about 10 minutes total, depending on the thickness of the fish and how done you prefer your salmon. ***NOTE: you can also cook the salmon in a 400 degree F oven for roughly 15 minutes (again, depending on the thickness of the fish).

Serve the relish over grilled fish. This relish will keep at least a week in the refrigerator, and is great as a topping on other types of fish, grilled chicken, pork tenderloin etc.

Roasted Tomatoes

(Adapted from Barefoot Contessa)

I am obsessed with this recipe! It’s not only delicious, but it livens up any plate. It can be served as a side dish (which I’m doing here) but is also fabulous added to any sandwich.

2 pints grape tomatoes

4 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 TBSP balsamic vinegar

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise and place on a cookie sheet cut side up in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic. Sprinkle the garlic, sugar, salt and pepper over the tomatoes.

Roast for 15-20 minutes, until the tomatoes are beginning to caramelize. Serve warm or at room temp.

Sautéed Green Beans

This recipe is my “go to” for green beans. I’ve been preparing it this way forever and it always gets rave reviews!

1-2 lbs green beans

1 small shallot, minced

1-2 TBSP minced onion or green onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

2 TBSP butter

1 tsp Creole seasoning

2 tsp minced dill (fresh or dried)

Wash and snip the ends off the green beans. Then bring a pot of water to a boil, and add the beans. Turn the heat down to a simmer and parboil the beans for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.

In a large saute pan, add the butter, oil and all other ingredients including the beans. Cook over low/medium heat until desired doneness of the beans (making sure the onions are soft), roughly 20 minutes or so.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Wash and prick the potatoes with a fork. Bake for roughly an hour at 400 degrees. Once potatoes are cooked and soft, slice a bit of the top and add a pat of butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Enjoy!