Birthday in Seattle

This year my husband and I visited my very good friend Amy and her Husband Drew in Seattle for my birthday.  We had an amazing time while we were there. We enjoyed some site seeing, sharing a few cocktails, and most importantly eating!  After this little mini-vacation I need a detox program because Seattle has some amazing places to eat!  For my birthday dinner we opted to cook because we couldn't handle another dinner in a restaurant.  Hard life right?  We went to Pike Place Market and picked out some very fresh Wild Alaskan King Salmon.  I was tempted to eat it raw.  We decided to cook the fish in parchment paper.  With the addition of some sautéed green beens, frisee & beet salad, and roasted purple potatoes we had an awesome birthday feast.  A couple of glasses of great wine didn't hurt either. Here are the recipes to our Birthday Feast:

Lemon and Basil Salmon Cooked in Parchment Paper

4 6oz pieces of wild caught salmon
1 lemon sliced very thin
1 small bunch of basil leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive oil to drizzle



Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Clean and skin salmon.  Cut two small slits into the salmon about 1/2 inch long.  Roll basil and place into salmon.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Place salmon on parchment paper, place two slices of lemon and drizzle a little bit of olive oil on top of eat piece of salmon.  Fold parchment paper. I viewed a few videos and this one How to wrap fish in parchment paper seems to be the easiest.  We did not use egg whites and didn't have a problem. Cook for 12-18 minutes depending on the thickness of your salmon.   When ready place on dish and cut top open and enjoy.

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and frisee

4 beets, we used Chioggia beets but any kind of beets will work

1 bunch frisee
1 avocado
Goat Cheese to taste

Dressing:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Peel beets and cut off the stems. Wash the best, and wrap in aluminum foil and then place on a cookie sheet. Cook for 40-60 minutes depending on size. I prefer to peel the beets before cooking, as it helps with spoilage compared to peeling after the cooking is done.  When the beets are done, you should be able to pierce the beets easily with a knife.  Let the beets cool down, and cut cross wise and once lengthwise.

Mix all of the ingredients for the dressing and set aside.  Clean and cut frisee to bite size pieces.  Place in large bowl and sprinkle on dressing.  Hand massage the leaves with the dressing, which will soften the frisee and become less bitter.

Put small pieces of avocado, goat cheese, and beets into the frisee and mix all together.

Green beans with roasted garlic and almonds

1 pound green beans

6 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons of sliced almonds
1 tbl  coconut oil

While the beets were cooking I also put in the garlic to roast.  Place un-pealed cloves of garlic in foil and bake for about 25 minutes until soft.  After cooked and cool, cut into small pieces and set aside.

Clean green beans and cut off ends.  Boil a pot of hot water and blanch beans for 4 minutes.  In a pan heat the coconut oil, and cook the roasted garlic for 1 minute.  Add blanched green beans and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add in the sliced almonds and cook for 1 more minute while tossing together the almonds and green beans.