Fresh and Easy + Wine of the Week

Tuesday night's dinner was totally restaurant worthy. And the best part? You don't have to spend hours in the kitchen for a delectable dinner for two- the entire meal came together in about thirty minutes. This dinner incorporated all of the elements to the perfect summertime meal; lean and healthy protein, a creative salad and something from the grill.

Protein: Roasted salmon with lemon, garlic and olive oil. When in doubt, this is how our salmon gets cooked! I top a fillet (a little over 1/2 lb. for the two of us) with some minced garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon slices. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.


Salad: Roasted grape tomatoes, artichokes and red onions on a bed of arugula. I'm really into warm salads lately. I love slightly wilted greens! I tossed halved grape tomatoes, artichoke hearts and red onion together in a small baking dish with some olive oil and Herbs de Provence. I threw these in the oven to roast as the salmon roasted. 20 minutes was perfect. I served this on top of some baby arugula. 


Grill: Eggplant! While the salmon and veggies were roasting, I brushed the eggplant slices on either side with a little olive oil, then sprinkled with salt, pepper and oregano. I turned the grill pan up on medium-high heat and grilled those little guys for about 6 minutes on each side.


Everything was tasty and the variety of color on our crisp white dinner plates made for an extra lovely presentation!

This meal called for a glass of wine! When the weather warms up, I like to add more whites into the wine rotation. Twisted wines are often on sale at the market with a two bottles for $12 price tag. I don't normally buy wines without corks- not because I'm a wine snob- but because I like the save the corks and display them in a clear hurricane in the kitchen. I finally gave Twisted's Pinot Grigio a try and it's pretty good for the price. You can't beat a cool, crisp white when it's warm out.