Hi! My name is Meghan and I’m a blogger/recipe developer over at The Tasty Fork. Jenny asked me to come up with a little something for you guys while she’s taking care of her new baby & family. I’m not a Mom yet, but having two little ones around is a tough job! Whether you’re a stay at home Mom or working full time, you’ve got a lot of responsibilities on your plate…and let’s be honest, I’m sure there are times when the evening comes around and not only have you not had time to go to the bathroom, but you probably haven’t thought about what to make for dinner. Don’t worry, Ladies. I got you covered.

The recipes I share on my blog are all easy, quick and as long as you can follow directions, you’re going to have a restaurant worthy meal at home. I went to culinary school, so I like to share some of the best tips and tricks to get dinner done ASAP. As much as I love cooking, I also love my couch and Bravo TV shows. I don’t want to spend hours cooking or cleaning up the mess I made.

Today I’m sharing with you a super easy way to cook fish. This method can be done in the oven or on a grill. I chose the grill since it’s starting to get nice outside and no clean-up is required. I always grill fish in a tin foil packet. All you need is tin foil, cooking spray, a few slices of lemon, salt & pepper. Oh and of course, a 6 ounce fillet of your favorite fish. For me, that’s salmon. Put the salmon in the foil with lemon, salt & pepper; wrap it up tight so no air escapes and grill for 15 minutes. No turning required. Fish is always cooked perfectly and has a lot of flavor. You could eat your salmon just like that…or you can take it a step further.

How about topping the salmon with some Avocado Pesto?? I’m obsessed with all things avocado and it seemed like a natural ingredient to change up the everyday basil pesto recipe. If you make this, there will be a lot left over. By making the avocado pesto, you’ve lined up a second meal with no effort. It’s the perfect topping for dressing up burgers, chicken or pasta. I even put avocado pesto on an egg breakfast sandwich. It packs a lot of flavor and a super versatile to dress up any meal.

To round out the meal, I picked my favorite side – quinoa. It’s an excellent source of protein and tastes a lot like couscous. By cooking quinoa in low sodium chicken stock (instead of water), it will soak in the flavor of the stock and you won’t need to salt the quinoa. When the quinoa is done cooking (about 15 minutes), add cherry tomatoes, chopped parsley and toasted pine nuts. It makes an excellent salad and perfect for the upcoming summer months.

Since there is little prep work for this recipe, you could have this Salmon with Avocado Pesto & Tomato Quinoa salad on your table in less than 20 minutes. How easy is that??!! Not to mention it’s a healthy dinner you can feel good about serving to your family. So the next time you feel yourself wanting to call your favorite take out restaurant, keep this recipe handy. If you’ve got the time to wait for the delivery guy, you’ve got more than enough time to make this dinner. 🙂

I hope you'll head over to my blog to see more of my recipes! Be sure to keep up with me on social media.

 

Salmon with Avocado Pesto & Tomato Quinoa Salad, serves 4

For the Salmon:

• 4 sheets of tin foil
• Cooking Spray
• 4 slices of lemon
• 4 (6 ounce) Salmon fillets
• Salt & Pepper

For the Avocado Pesto:

• 3 tbsp toasted pine nuts, divided
• 1 Avocado, peeled and pitted
• .75 ounce container of fresh basil
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, or as needed
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

For the Quinoa Salad:

• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 box of quinoa
• Chicken Stock, use the amount the box states for water. (Probably around 1.5 cups)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. For the fish: Turn the grill to a medium heat. (If using oven, pre-heat to 350 degrees.) Coat 4 pieces of tin foil with cooking spray. Add lemon. Place salmon top of lemon and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Seal up tin foil into a pouch so no heat can escape. Cook on the grill for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let the salmon sit for 3 minutes. Serve with avocado pesto & tomato quinoa salad
2. For the Avocado Pesto: Toast pine nuts in a small skillet. They will be done when you can smell them and start to brown. Do not let the pine nuts burn. Take 1.5 tablespoons of pine nuts and put in the food processor or blender. Add all of the other ingredients to the blender/food processor except the oil. Blend until well combined and smooth. Stream in olive oil and blend until creamy. Taste; add salt & pepper if needed. Set aside until salmon is done.
3. For the Quinoa: In a sauce pan, cook olive oil and shallot for 2 minutes. Add chicken stock and quinoa. Follow the directions on the quinoa box on how to cook it. When the quinoa is done cooking, add the remaining 1.5 tbsp pine nuts, tomatoes and parsley. Fluff quinoa with fork. Serve with salmon and avocado pesto.

Salmon Tacos with Greek Yogurt Slaw & Mango Avocado Salsa

Seared Tilapia with Tarragon Buerre Blanc Sauce

Shrimp Quesadillas with Spicy Mango Salsa