Recipes – Page 2 – ALESSANDRA BRIAN

Sunny Salmon Salsa

Summer in London is nonexistent this year.
My lack of Vitamin D combined with this incessant rain has left me down in the dumps.

To cheer myself up, I decided to bring some sunshine to the kitchen. I improvised a bright, tropical recipe that will put a smile on your face that will shine through the gloomiest of weather.
If you’re anywhere else in the world, experiencing a joyous summer of sun and water, this is the perfect, healthy summer lunch. Oh, and I’m jealous.

Right, the ingredients. I am not the greatest at instructing how to cook a dish. Cooking is all very “in the moment” for me. I like to look at a recipe to get a general idea of what i’m making, and then go about adding a pinch of this and a dash of that. Feel free to take out or add anything you like. You are the chef, this is your meal, make it the way you’ll most enjoy it!

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 salmon fillets

Seasoning:
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon salt
1 table spoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoon oregano
1/2 tablespoon thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly. If you’re missing something, be creative and add something else, or ignore it.

Fruit Salsa:
1/2 cup diced pineapple
1/2 cup diced mango
1/2 cup diced strawberries
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 jalepeno, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
2 tablespoons chipped mint leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Combine all ingredients and stir together. Cover with plastic wrap and allow salsa to macerate for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.

1. Preheat grill to medium
2. Drizzle Olive oil over salmon. Cover salmon on both sides with seasoning.
3. Place fish on the grill, skin side down, and cook for about 3 minutes. Flip, and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Sear sides for an additional minute each, or until cooked through to the desired doneness.
4. Plate fish and serve with fruit salsa spooned over the top.

I had mine with quinoa, but you can have it with brown rice, noodles, or even on its own. I hope you enjoy your healthy summer lunch, and I really hope the sun comes out!

S’mores Dip

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We have had the most ridiculous storm in DC for the past few days. (As if I don’t get enough rain in London) I’ve finally given up on trying to be productive and have succumb to a massive movie marathon.

Stormy weather like this can be a welcome break, lounging around, catching up on movies. This storm lead to a naughty treat break through. I had an intense craving for s’mores, but wasn’t about to be roasting any marshmallows in this weather. I took to the kitchen and developed the most amazing s’more dip.

Ingredients:
1 extra large marshmallow (2 regular sized)
1 piece of Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate bar filled with caramel and black sea salt (you can obviously substitute with any chocolate, but this is the best!)
1/3 cup of graham cracker crumbs

Place your marshmallow and delectable chocolate in a bowl and microwave for about 20 seconds. Check to ensure your marshmallow has swollen and begun to consume your chocolate slab. Pour in your graham cracker crumbs, and stir into a delicious, gooey mix. To dip, you can use graham crackers, biscuits, cookies, the options are endless. Load your cookie choice with this dip, and take a massive, gooey bite. The graham cracker crumbs add extra texture to the mix and the black salt brings out the intensity in the chocolate which contrasted well with the light, fluffy marshmallow. There you go! The perfect stormy weather/movie marathon treat.

Couscous has a developed new obsession with the Koi Fish Pond App on my iPad during the storm. She sits patiently for half an hour before striking the fish with her paw. Dissatisfied with her attack, she allows another half hour to pass before her next attempt.

Homemade Pizza

SaturdaySunday1 Comment

I’m enjoying a beautiful weekend up in Hermosa Beach, California. To accompany our movie night, we’ve decided to make some homemade pizza. There’s nothing like topping your own pizza with as much sauce, vegetables, cheese, etc. as you like.

If you’re in the States and familiar with Trader Joe’s, I would recommend popping in and picking up a bag of their wholewheat dough already made. It’s quite easy to make dough, but we want pizza right now, and I love Trader Joe’s version. You can always stop into a local pizzeria and ask for some dough, or you can put your apron on and make it yourself.

I’ll make this quick because I can tell (smell) my pizza is almost finished!

Depending on the dough you have made or purchased, follow any instructions regarding letting it rise. Flour your dough and roll it out to your desired shape thickness. Normally i’m a thin crust kinda girl, but we decided to go for a thicker crust with the deliciousness of the wholewheat. Lay your floured dough onto a pizza pan or cookie sheet and brush lightly with olive oil for some crunch.

Ingredients:
Whatever you like! This is my favourite part about homemade pizza. I would suggest using packaged mozzarella versus fresh mozzarella because the water makes the dough soggy. Other than that, anything goes. We put homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella, tomato, mushroom, bell peppers, olives, basil and lots of chill flakes on one. On the other, tomato sauce, prosciutto, arugula, and fresh parmigiano reggiano. Decadent, delicious, and not terribly unhealthy (depending on your toppings and portion control).

Mangia!