Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Get Real Meals (19 page)

FISH

AVOCADO BOATS

Begin with the slaw salad. In a medium bowl, combine the lime zest and juice with the cilantro, hot sauce, and vegetable oil. With a paring knife peel the light brown skin from the jicama; slice ¼-inch-thick disks, stack the disks up, then cut into ¼-inch-wide strips. Add the jicama to the dressing and toss it around, then season with salt to taste and reserve.

To make the salsa: Heat a medium nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the veg oil and jalapeños and char until blackened on all sides. Remove the pan from the heat and remove the jalapeños to a cutting board. While the peppers cool enough to handle, in a bowl combine the fire-roasted tomatoes with the cilantro, mint, and red onion. Halve the peppers and remove the tops and seeds. Chop the jalapeño and add to the salsa. Toss to combine and season with salt to taste, then reserve.

Return the nonstick skillet to the stove with the EVOO in it and heat the oil over medium-high heat. Dress the fish with lemon juice and salt and pepper on both sides. When the oil ripples and begins to smoke, add the fish and cook for 4 minutes on each side, or until firm and opaque.

While the fish cooks, cut the avocados in half all the way down to the pit. Twist to separate the avocados. Use a spoon to remove the pits and scoop the flesh from the skin, keeping each half intact. Fill the cavity or “boat” with a little lemon juice, hot sauce, a pinch of salt, and a drizzle of EVOO.

To serve, place the fish on a dinner plate and top with the salsa. Pile some jicama alongside. Add an avocado boat to the plate and serve.

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SERVINGS

Preheat the broiler and preheat a skillet over medium-high heat.

To the skillet, add the EVOO and bacon. Render the bacon fat 3 minutes, then add the onion and cook together with the bacon for another 3 or 4 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar. Add the greens in bunches, wilting into the pan. Season the greens with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Reduce the heat to medium low and let the greens cook for 10 minutes, tossing occasionally with tongs.

Grease a shallow broiler pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Set the fish into the pan, white, fleshy side up. Dress the fish with the lemon juice and some salt. Mix the 4 tablespoons of remaining butter with the mayonnaise. Broil the fish for 3 or 4 minutes, 3 or 4 inches from heat, then remove from the oven and slather the combined mayo-butter evenly over the fish. If the pan looks dry, add a splash of water to it and return the fish to the oven. Broil the fish for 5 minutes more, or until the top of the haddock is bubbly and evenly browned. Top the cooked fish with the chives and carefully transfer to dinner plates with a fish spatula. Serve with a pile of bacon-fried greens on the side.

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Preheat a broiler to high.

To a large skillet over medium heat add 1 tablespoon of the EVOO (once around the pan), 2 tablespoons of the butter, and the bay leaf. Add the fish and shrimp and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, turning carefully with fish spatula. Remove the fish and shrimp to a plate, squeeze lemon juice on the cooked fish, and reserve. Add 2 tablespoons more butter to the pan and the shallot.
Sauté the shallot for 2 minutes, then add the flour and cook another minute. Whisk in the stock and thicken for a minute. Add the cream to the sauce and bring to a bubble. Stir in the sherry, then season the sauce with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Slide the seafood back into the pan and cook together over medium-low heat to reduce the sauce and finish cooking the seafood, 5 to 6 minutes.

Heat a second skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining EVOO, the garlic, and drained artichokes. Fry for 2 minutes, then wilt in the spinach and season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn the pan off and reserve.

Pour the seafood into a shallow casserole and top with the Gruyère cheese, paprika, parsley, and Parm. Brown the casserole and serve. Pile the spinach and artichokes alongside the seafood.

When you are too exhausted to move, this simple supper stands you back up. Actually, it makes a nice Sunday brunch or late-night snack as well and can easily be adjusted to feed from one to some.

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Place the eggs in a small saucepot and add enough water to cover. Set over high heat and bring up to a simmer. Once the eggs are at a simmer, turn the heat off, cover with a lid, and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain the eggs of the hot water and then aggressively shake the pan to crack the eggshells. Run the eggs under cold water until they’ve cooled down. Peel the shells from the eggs. Set the eggs aside.

While the eggs are cooking, make the crushed cherry tomato dressing. Add the cherry tomatoes to a bowl along with the sherry vinegar, EVOO, and salt and pepper to taste. With a fork, crush the cherry tomatoes a little bit. Reserve the dressing.

Place two slices of salmon on four serving plates. Don’t overlap the salmon; you want it to cover as much of the bottom of the plate as possible. In a large bowl combine the arugula, watercress, endive, parsley, cucumber, red onion, and capers. Cut the cooled hard-boiled eggs into quarters and add to the vegetables in the bowl. Gently toss, trying not to break up the eggs too much. Place a serving of the salad in the center of the plated salmon. Mix up the reserved cherry tomato dressing with your fork, then distribute it among the 4 plates.

I have a very beautiful friend, Mariel Hemingway. She eats all organic foods, only fish, no meat, and she includes no carbs whatsoever in her diet. She makes a double dinner every night: one for her, one for the fam. However, when she makes this one really crazy blender sauce, it gets passed to everyone. (Mariel makes half of her food for each day in a blender.) The sauce is awesome with chicken, pork, meat, or fish. This is my version of her specialty. I call it Mariel’s Sauce for “Mish”—meat or fish.

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In a blender combine the vinegar, olives, no-carb sweetener or a drip of honey, mustard, spinach, and basil. Blend on high speed and stream in the EVOO. Season with salt and pepper.

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Boil the lentils in a medium pot in 2 inches of water for 20 minutes.

Preheat the broiler. Combine the thyme, lemon zest, and garlic on a cutting board. Chop together, then add the salt and pepper and mash with the flat of the knife. Drizzle EVOO over the chops. Rub them with the herb and garlic mixture and arrange on a slotted broiler pan. Broil the chops 6 to 8 inches from heat for 5 minutes on each side for medium doneness. Allow the meat to rest 5 minutes.

Heat a medium skillet over medium heat and add the butter. Melt the butter and add the shallots. Sauté for 3 minutes. Add the radishes to the skillet and coat in the butter and shallots. Drain the lentils. Add them to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Add the vinegar, dill, and parsley. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Pile the lentils and radishes on plates and serve up 2 chops per person.

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