Wild Trout + Wilted Mustard Greens and Zucchini Panzanella

Please forgive me for the lack of updates - I've been terribly busy with finals and now that the semester is finally over, I have to pack up my apartment and put everything in storage before I leave for my trip on Wednesday! Lucas and I are going to spend 3 leisurely weeks in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Barcelona so expect lots of photos and food!

Back to tonight's meal: I started by cutting up some stale sourdough bread into bite sized chunks and spreading them out on a baking tray. In a small pan, I cooked up equal parts of olive oil and butter, threw in 3 minced garlic cloves, salt, pepper and some chili flakes. Once the butter had melted and the garlic had softened, I tossed the garlicky mixture with the bread and put the tray in a 450 degree oven until the bread started to turn brown.

Next, I sliced up 2 zucchinis and a bunch of mustard greens. I sautéed both vegetables together in a little bit of olive oil for about 6-7 minutes. Lucas picked up some wild trout at the market this afternoon and I simply cooked that on medium heat in the pan that I had cooked the olive oil/butter/garlic dressing for the bread in. I let the fish cook for a few minutes on each side and then put the pan in a 350 degree oven until the fish was just cooked.

When the vegetables were cooked, I poured in a little bit of balsamic vinegar, a little more olive oil and squeezed in the juice of about a third of a lemon. I then added in the toasted bread and some roughly chopped parsley and tossed everything together about 10 minutes before the fish was ready so the bread could soak up the juices from the vegetables and the dressing.

This turned out to be a very nice light spring meal! Now I must get back to packing up my apartment but here are the pictures -

Tomato, Eggplant, Basil and Mozarella Panzanella + Plum Crisp

I thought that it would be appropriate to eat panzanella and a plum crisp in honor of the beginning of spring/summer! For the panzanella, I let a loaf of sour dough bread get a little stale for the past few days and then cut it into cubes and toasted it in the oven with a mixture of olive oil, butter, garlic, chili flake, salt and pepper. I cubed up the eggplant and let that drain a little bit in a colander with some salt. After about 30-40 minutes of draining, I roasted the eggplant at about 400 degrees. I chopped up a few tomatoes and added those in with the bread. When the eggplant was done roasting, I threw that in with the bread and tomatoes, along with some chopped up mozarella and some torn up basil. I drizzled in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar and tossed everything together. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture when it was actually ready to eat (must have been very hungry) and only have the one from right after I put in the eggplant.

For the plum crisp, I simply mixed up half a stick of butter with about 1/2 cup each of oats, flour and brown sugar, and a bit of salt and cinnamon until it became crumbly. I sliced up the plums and mixed them with some maple syrup, lemon zest and about a tablespoon of lemon juice. I baked the crisp at 375 until the top was golden (about 40 minutes). This plum crisp was a perfect balance of sweet and sour!