Tag Archives: baby spinach

Salmon Piccata with Wilted Spinach and Navy Beans

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Recently a foodie friend posted pictures of this recipe on her FB feed, and I knew I had to try it—thanks Deb! She informed me it’s from “Mostly Plants” by Tracy Pollan, an Emmy award-nominated actress who has enjoyed a successful career in television, film, and on the Broadway stage—and is the wife of Michael J. Fox.

In October 2014, Pollan, along with her two sisters and mother, co-authored the multiple award winning The Pollan Family Table, a cookbook of family recipes, kitchen tips and cooking techniques. Based on the outcome of this dish, I’m curious to try some more from the Pollan family…

If you’ve ever had chicken or veal piccata, you are familiar with the flavor components of tangy lemon, briny capers and aromatic garlic all combined together in a silken butter sauce. Paired with spinach with its range of valuable vitamins and minerals, and navy beans with their high nutritive value and protein content, you got one healthy meal here!

Our changes: Instead of four skinless fillets, we cooked the skin-on salmon whole which required a few minutes longer on each side. In lieu of canned navy beans, which the grocery store didn’t have, we used Great Northern. And there was a lot of liquid in the sauce so the cooking time was nearly doubled to reduce it enough before adding the butter.

Salmon Piccata with Wilted Spinach and Navy Beans

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 4 6-oz. skinless salmon fillets
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 15-oz. can navy beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 Tbsp. grapeseed oil
  • 3 Tbsp. finely chopped shallot
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 1⁄4 cup dry white wine
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 2 Tbsp. capers, drained
  • 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed
  • 3 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 4 lemon slices, for serving

Directions

  1. Season each fillet with salt and pepper.
  2. In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  3. Slowly add the spinach and cook, stirring until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes.
  4. Add the beans and season with salt and pepper, mix until combined. Cook until the beans are warm, about 2 minutes; remove from heat.
  5. In a separate large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat the grapeseed oil until shimmering. Gently add the fillets and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until light golden brown. Transfer fillets to a platter and tent with foil to keep warm.
  6. Add the shallots to the hot skillet and cook, stirring until translucent, about 1 minute.
  7. Add the broth, wine, lemon juice and capers. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced slightly, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the butter, and when melted, add 2 tablespoons of parsley and stir.
  8. Distribute the sautéed spinach and beans on a serving platter (or divided amongst 4 individual plates). Top with the salmon fillets and spoon the sauce over the fish.
  9. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley, and top with lemon slices. Serve hot.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe from Tracy Pollan’s cookbook “Mostly Plants”

Parchment Packets with Cod, Spinach, Tomatoes and Shallots

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Here, Molly Stevens combines mostly ordinary ingredients such as fish, spinach, tomatoes and shallots to create a dish far more elevated than the sum of its workaday parts. Your meal is folded up into a neat little packet of parchment that traps moisture so the fish steams in its own juices while the flavors mingle and intensify. And this method allows for super-easy clean up, woohoo!

The mild-tasting fish, whether it be cod, haddock or flounder fillets, are nestled onto baby spinach and topped with minced shallots, a handful of cherry tomatoes, a splash of white wine or vermouth, and a pat of butter or a drizzle of olive oil. (Our choices were dry vermouth and olive oil.)

Heart-healthy not only in appearance, but in ingredients too! For just the two of us we used two 8-ounce cod fillets, halved the quantity of spinach, but kept the same amount of tomatoes, shallots and parsley.

We were a little concerned that the fish and shallots wouldn’t be done in 14 minutes time, so we cooked for the full 18 minutes, and it was perfect. If using thin flounder fillets, make sure to fold them over into thirds, otherwise they will be overdone.

Three other tried-and-true riffs on fish packets from Molly are Flounder with Buttery Leeks; Salmon and Tomatoes, Capers and Chive Oil; and Sesame-Ginger Shrimp with Baby Bok Choy. We hope do blog on all of them in the future. A pat of butter or drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper are all the embellishments you really need, but incorporating vegetables and garnishes will turn these into complete meals.

Make Ahead: The packets can be assembled several hours before cooking. Refrigerate until ready to bake, and add 4 minutes to the roasting time.

Parchment Packets with Cod, Spinach, Tomatoes and Shallots

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter or extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the packets
  • 5 oz. baby spinach
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 4, 6-oz. cod, haddock or flounder fillets
  • 2 Tbsp. finely minced shallots
  • 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley, chives or dill
  • 1 pt. cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (about 2 cups)
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees with racks in the lower and upper thirds. Cut four 24-inch-long sheets of parchment paper. Fold each sheet in half, forming a 12-by-15-inch rectangle and, with a pencil, draw a half-heart shape on the paper, centering the heart on the folded edge and making the heart as large as you can. Using scissors, cut out the hearts. (The heart shape makes sealing easier.)
  2. Open the heart shapes flat on your counter and lightly butter or oil the center of one side of each. Place a quarter of the spinach close to the crease on the buttered side of each piece of parchment paper. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Divide the fish fillets among the packets, placing them directly on the spinach. (If the fillets are less than 1-inch thick, fold or tuck them into compact bundles that are about 1 inch thick.) Season the fish with salt and pepper and top each with shallots, herbs and tomatoes. If using butter, cut it into smaller pats and place on top of the fillets. If using oil, drizzle a little over each fillet. Splash the wine over the top.
  3. Fold the other half of the paper over to cover the fish. Then, starting at the top of the heart shape, working with about 2 inches of the edge at a time, fold over about 1/2 inch, pressing down and rubbing your thumb across the fold to make a crisp crease. Move a little way along the edge and fold over a couple more inches, so that your folds are overlapping and double-folded. Continue working your way around the edge of the packet, making overlapping folds, like pleats, always pressing firmly and creasing so that the folds hold. Don’t expect the folded edge to be perfectly even; it will be somewhat crooked — this is part of its charm. Go back around, making a second fold at any place that doesn’t appear tightly sealed. If there’s a slight “tail” when you reach the end, give it a twist to seal. (If you don’t quite master the seal, you can make a quick cheat by stapling or paper-clipping the edges in place.)
  4. Arrange the packets on two large rimmed baking sheets so that they don’t touch. Bake for 14 minutes. (If the fish packets have been in the refrigerator, increase the time to 18 minutes.)
  5. Either place the packets directly on dinner plates and provide scissors so that your guests can snip open their own packets at the table, or carefully cut open the packets in the kitchen and slide the contents out onto dinner plates or pasta bowls and serve right away.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe from Molly Stevens cookbook All About Dinner