This recipe from Mccormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant Cookbook was deeeelicious and a great summer meal. We needed the grill on for the fish anyway, so we grilled the corn on the cob for the pan salsa. The recipe as written in the book uses a lot more butter and store-bought salsa, but we had just received tomatillos in our CSA box so I decided to make a roasted tomatillo salsa and use that instead.

Hey, it’s Black Bean Mountain!

Chris says:

Yes, but look what you get to eat at the summit.

Lisa says:

Mmmm… if only this was served at the top of *real* mountains…

Chris says:

Pretty good, huh? That corn salsa is good, and I’m glad I made that tomatillo salsa to go with.

Lisa says:

Yeah I’m a big fan of this one.

Chris says:

Can’t really go wrong with grilled fish — well, unless you overcook it…

Lisa says:

…which you didn’t, so no worries.

Chris says:

I heart summer!

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Pan-Roasted Corn Salsa and Black Beans
2 6-oz mahi mahi fillets
4 oz barbecue sauce
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup finely diced green bell pepper
1 cup corn, fresh off the cob
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup Roasted Green Tomatillo Salsa
1 28-oz can black beans, warmed

Grill the mahi mahi, basting frequently with the barbecue sauce. Meanwhile, saute the onions, peppers, and corn in the butter until cooked but still firm. Season with the cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice. Add the tomatillo salsa. Toss to blend. Place a mound of the black beans in the center of each plate and top with the mahi mahi fillets and corn salsa.

A very special guest post this evening from Lisa’s brother Chris (yes, another Chris…) and his girlfriend Jenn — a delicious Salmon Chowder from The Ultimate Soup Bible. C&J made an enormous cauldron of the chowder that fed nine or ten lucky souls over the course of two nights. I only had my point-and-shoot camera with me, so I wasn’t able to get as good a picture of the chowder as I normally would — guess, we’ll just have to make it ourselves! (As if we really needed an excuse…) We served the chowder with a few sides and salads we’ve made before, including these roasted yams, a salad featuring arugula and roasted bell peppers, and one featuring layered beets and avocados.

This is wonderful, who made this?

I really like that the broth isn’t super-thick like in a lot of chowders.

Tell Chris this chowder is better than a few others I’ve had recently…

Oooh, I like the corn in this. Good addition!

The dill is great — perfect amount.

Great success!

Salmon Chowder
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 leek, finely chopped
1 small fennel bulb, finely chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
7 cups chicken stock
2 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 lb salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1 can corn, drained
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
salt and freshly ground pepper

Melt the butter in a large pan. Add the onion, leek, and fennel and cook for 6 minutes until softened. Stir in the flour and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken stock and potatoes to the mixture in the pan. Season with a little salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat , cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Add the salmon and simmer gently 3-5 minutes until just cooked. Stir in the corn, milk, cream, and chopped dill into the pan. Cook until just warmed through, stirring occasionally. Do not boil. To thicken, smash some of the potatoes against the side of the pot. Adjust the seasoning to taste, then ladle into warm bowls.

4 (large) Servings

Lisa spotted this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink quinoa recipe over at 101 Cookbooks, where it’s titled “Heather’s Quinoa”. We’re glad that Heidi decided to post this mish-mash, we both really enjoyed all the different tastes and textures. We had a small block of Gruyere left in the fridge, so we also invited that little guy to the party.

Chris says:

Holy; what *isn’t* in this quinoa?

Lisa says:

Not much, isn’t it awesome?

Chris says:

Yeah — I like all the surprises. Also, it’s surprisingly filling.

Lisa says:

I’m sure the biscotti we’ve been eating all afternoon contributed to that.

Chris says:

Well yeah, somewhat…

Lisa says:

Wow — I just realized that even Abbie could eat this — there are no “gross vegetables”

Chris says:

Oh please; you would have had her at pesto…

Lisa says:

Well, we’ll have to make it at least one more time then!

Quinoa with Corn, Kale, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes… and more…
extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt
brown sugar, spoonful
1 shallot, minced
2 cups quinoa
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
1 bunch kale, finely chopped
2 cups firm nigari tofu, browned
1/3 cup pesto
1/3 cup pepitas
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

Roast the cherry tomatoes: Heat oven to 350F degrees. Cut each tomato in half and arrange in a large oven-proof baking dish. Add a splash of olive oil, a spoonful of brown sugar, and some few pinches of salt, and pour over the tomatoes. Toss to coat the tomatoes, and flip them so they’re cut-side up. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, until the tomatoes look shrunken and delicious.
While the tomatoes bake, rinse the quinoa in a fine-meshed strainer. In a medium saucepan heat the quinoa and 4 cups water until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa fluffs up, about 15 minutes. Quinoa is done when completely tender. Drain any extra water and set aside.
In a dutch oven heat the olive oil and salt over medium-high heat. Stir in the shallot and cook for a minute or two. Add the quinoa and corn and cook until sizzling. Stir in the kale and the tofu, cooking until tofu is heated through. Remove from the heat and stir in the pesto and pumpkin seeds. Stir until the pesto is well incorporated. Transfer onto a platter and top with the shredded Gruyere and cherry tomatoes.

Serves 4 – 6

This is a perfect recipe to adapt to the vegetables you happen to have on hand.  Our CSA box came loaded with corn on the cob and mushrooms, so I modified a recipe from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Everyday to use the fresh vegetables of the day.  As the book suggests, one of the great things about this soup is that once you master the base broth, the variations are limited only by your imagination.

Lisa says:

Wahoo! I love walking in the door to a meal that’s ready to go!

Chris says:

I like not feeling rushed on nights that you’re home late.

Lisa says:

Nice. Is it spicy?

Chris says:

Shouldn’t be — ancho powder is relatively mild; it has a slightly smokey flavor.

Lisa says:

Mmmmm… the masa harina really gives it a nice consistency.

Chris says:

Totally — and the flavor goes really well with the fresh corn kernels. The starch from juicing the cobs also helps thicken it.

Lisa says:

I like how thin you cut the chicken.

Chris says:

Yep — it cooks pretty quickly that way.

Lisa says:

Well this soup is disappearing pretty quickly this way.

Red Chileatole with Mushrooms, Corn, Peppers, and Chicken
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium white onion, halved and sliced
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsp ancho chile powder
1 1/2 tbsp masa harina
4 cups chicken broth, divided
6 oz cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 ears of corn
1/2 poblano pepper, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 large sprig fresh flat-leaf parsley
3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
salt, to taste

Husk the corn. In a shallow bowl, hold ears of corn upright and, with a sharp knife, cut kernels from the cobs. Then with blunt edge of the knife, scrape juice from cobs. Discard the cobs.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring until golden, about 7 minutes. Transfer the onion and garlic to a food processor or blender. Add chile powder, masa harina, and 1 1/2 cups broth; process until smooth.

Return the puree to the saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups broth, mushrooms, corn kernels and juices, poblano pepper, and parsley and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in chicken and continue to simmer until cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes more. Taste and add salt if needed. Remove parsley and ladle into soup bowls.

3-4 Servings

This recipe comes from Fitness Food. A hearty – but healthy! – chowder made with chicken, corn, and veggies.

Lisa says:

What’s with all the poaching this week? And isn’t poaching illegal?

Chris says:

Different kind of poaching. But I know what you mean — the enchiladas, the tuna, now this. Not sure. Maybe it’s like when all of a sudden there’s 20 zombie movies coming out, or books being written about Ben Franklin or something.

Lisa says:

Wait a minute — why is this “Ecuadorian” Chicken Corn Chowder?

Chris says:

Well, it’s not really, but that’s where these bowls that Thad and Abbie got for us are from.

Lisa says:

Sneaky! Well, it’s still really good, in spite of your false advertising.

Chris says:

…and the portions are huge!

Ecuadorian Chicken Corn Chowder
——————————-
1/2 lb chicken breast fillet
4 cups chicken stock
1 large onion, diced
2 potatoes, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 large carrot, grated
14 1/2 oz can creamed corn
11 oz can corn kernels, drained
1/2 cup skim milk
3 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

Cut 2-3 slits across the thickest part of the chicken fillet. Heat the stock in a large saucepan over medium heat, and poach the chicken fillet for 10 minutes or until just cooked through. Remove the chicken and set aside. When cool, use two forks to shred.
Add the onion, potatoes, celery, and carrot to the stock. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are done.
Stir in the creamed corn, corn, milk, chicken, and parsley, and stir until heated through.

4 Servings