Girls Night In Dinner

So a couple of weeks ago I had a couple girls from the law school over for a relaxing dinner in the midst of all the crazy midterms, paper writing, and work-related activities we had going on. At first, I was a little intimidated because usually the kind of food I make isn't necessarily refined (i.e., I make a lot of Italian food which isn't very clean and isn't necessarily healthy) and so I was a little freaked out about making food for two health nuts who work out way more than I do (i.e., they work out or go run at least a handful of times a week whereas I'm lucky if I go for a long walk more than a handful of times a year).

So I scoured through old recipes, looked online and gathered some interesting ideas about things I could possibly make. I ended up settling on a salmon dish which is quite intimidating in itself. I mean, really, how many of you make salmon dishes for the fun of it when you're cooking at your house? I don't.

What I settled on was an incredibly easy, yet delicious dinner, which impressed my guests, and to be honest with you, blew my own mind at least a dozen times. How I managed to produce such a lovely meal is still quite beyond my comprehension.

If you are intimidated about making a fish dish at your own house, don't be. Take my word for it and make this one for your next dinner party or special date night:

Salmon with Spinach and Asparagus:

3/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 1/2 tsp. olive oil

4 boneless, skinless salmon filets (approx 5oz. each) (I bought 1 lb. and it was plenty for $10.00)

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

3 cups baby spinach

1 bunch asparagus (about 20-25 small spears) 

1/2 lemon cut into circular slices (thinly sliced with rinds still on)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 4 12-by-17 inch pieces of parchment paper. Fold each piece in half diagonally to form a crease, then open.

Pulse parsley, garlic and oil in a blender or food processor to form a paste (pesto) (you can skip this pesto marinade if you choose, it tastes just fine without it!) Season each salmon fillet with the salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and rub the fish with the pesto paste.

Divide asparagus into three even groups and divide spinach into three even groups. Lay out the asparagus on the bottom in a line, lay spinach on top, and rest each fillet of fish on top of the spinach/asparagus stack. Lay lemons on top of each fish. Drizzle stack with olive oil.

Fold parchment over the ingredients making a rectangle so that all parts of the food stack are covered. Make overlapping pleats to seal.

Bake on baking sheet (the further spread the fish stack is the faster it will cook, but you can put all of the filets on one sheet. Just make sure you move them around to make sure they all evenly cook).

Bake on baking sheets for 9-15 minutes for medium rare or more for medium. Check the fish to make sure your oven is correctly heating the fish. If the outside looks raw, the inside is obviously raw. You are looking for a light pink and white-ish colored fish, not a pink and somewhat shiny fish.

Roasted Potatoes with Lemon and Rosemary:

6-9 small red skinned potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 Tbsp. rosemary, chopped

Juice of one lemon

1 tsp. olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and spread across a baking sheet. Roast on the top rack of an oven at 400 for approximately 25-30 minutes until the potatoes are crisp on the outside. Make sure you push around the potatoes half way through the cook time (the bottom of the potatoes which are the pan get crisp-ier than the up-side).

Mini-Apple Pies

Crusts:

Non-stick cooking spray

2 9-in. pie crusts

1 egg

1 tbsp. water

Filling:

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/8 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

nut meg, to taste

apple pie flavoring, to taste

3-4 medium apples, peeled and finely cubed

1 lemon, juiced

2 tbsp. butter, cubed

Pre-heat oven to 340 degrees. Roll out dough on a floured surface and smooth out with a rolling pin (the thiner the better to get enough crust for 12 mini pies). Use cookie cutter to cut out 4-inch. circles (I used the rim of a drinking glass as a cookie cutter). Roll leftover dough and cut long strips to use for lattice work on top of the mini-pies (a pizza cutter will work perfectly for this).

Put the peeled and chopped apple cubes into a bowl and add lemon juice to keep the apples from turning brown. In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients.. Stir in the sugar mixture to evenly coat the apples. Mix ingredients together thoroughly.

Cut 2 inch long strips of parchment paper to use to help get the pies out of the cupcake pan (optional, but I highly suggest for easy removal after the pies cook). Spray cupcake tin with the non-stick cooking spray. Place the dough circles into cupcake tin, pressing firmly but gently into the sides (make sure your circles do not rip). Scoop two tablespoons of the filling mixture into each mini-pie. Place a small cube of butter in each mini-pie at the very end.

Decorate the tops of the pies with lattice or a full circle top crust (but make sure you cut a slit to allow for ventilation).

Brush the tops of the pie with egg wash (egg and water) and sprinkle the top of the pies with cinnamon and sugar.

Trim the overhanging dough and crimp edges.

Bake approximately 5-8 minutes. The parchment paper strips will allow for easy lifting of the pies out of the cupcake tin. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!