Grilled Swordfish with Tomatoes, Artichokes & Spinach

This was one of those recipes that came out of random experimentation and ended up being easy, delicious and filling.  Wild swordfish was looking fresh and delicious at Sprouts this past week and was determined to find a way to enjoy it beyond just plain grilling it. If you’ve been following my recipes you have seen the appearance of artichokes – due to my regular cooking of Greek Style Baked Chicken I always have jars of artichokes in the pantry.  This savory dish is very satisfying and definitely one of my repeat recipes.

Ingredients:

  • 1-2 Six ounce wild caught swordfish steaks
  • 1 jar quartered marinated artichokes
  • 2 plum tomatoes rough chopped
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 1/2 cup chopped white onion
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup beer (optional)
  • Sea salt & black pepper
  • 1 tbsp parmasean cheese

Directions:

Season swordfish with salt, pepper and drizzle with (or brush on) olive oil.  Set aside and heat up your grill or have grill pan ready to go.  In a deep pan, heat oil and garlic until it becomes fragrant.  Add onions and saute until they start to become translucent.  Add tomatoes, jar of artichokes (remove half the marinade from the jar first if you plan on not using beer), beer, and simmer uncovered stirring occasionally.  After mixture reduces, add a few chopped basil leaves, black pepper and let simmer on low.  Put swordfish on the grill and flip after a few minutes.  It cooks quickly so stay close and be ready to remove it. Add spinach to your pan in the last minute of cooking and cover to wilt. Stir to combine.

Plate fish and top with tomato mixture.  Garnish with parmesan cheese.

Roasted Tomatoes & Lemon Garlic Chicken

Tomatoes are in season and what better way to enjoy them than roasted.  Roasting tomatoes enhances their flavor and sweetness, adding flavorful dynamics to dishes.  Not only are they delicious prepared this way but also make a great homemade tomato sauce when blended up.  I used tricolor tomatoes but any small tomatoes would work. Garlic and parmesan make this all super delicious healthy and light.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups cherry tomatoes (or small tomatoes – tricolor or heirloom are super pretty!)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups spinach
  • 2-4 chicken breasts, split*
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1/2 lemon, sliced
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp parsley

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl whisk together 2 tbsp olive oil, lemon juice, 2 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper and parsley.
  2. Wash the tomatoes, place on a baking sheet, and pat dry. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Roast for 10 minutes, gently turn the tomatoes, and repeat until the tomatoes are browned, about 30 minutes. I turned the heat up to 450 at the end to get more browning to happen.
  3. In a separate glass baking dish, place chicken breasts in a single layer and dump oil and lemon juice mixture on top. Cook with the tomatoes for about 25-30 min or until cooked through.
  4. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large heavy pan. Add the last bit of garlic and sauté gently until fragrant, but do not brown, it’ll be bitter if you do. When the garlic becomes fragrant, add spinach and turn off the heat. You should be able to just keep stirring the spinach around for a minute and it will wilt and reduce in size. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
  5. To assemble, top chicken breast with spinach and roasted tomatoes, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese!

*As a cheat for this dinner I used chicken already cooked from the previous night  – Greek Style Baked Chicken is a great recipe to cook in bulk and reuse for the week.

Poached Chicken and Herb Dressing

I had never poached anything in my life up until a few months ago when I perfected poaching eggs. Poaching chicken though? I had to give it a try.  Sounded like a really easy way to prepare a dinner for my whole family without too much trouble. The recipe is one from a book called  Cook. Nourish. Glow. that I adapted to fit my needs and yours. You can batch cook this dish too so you have leftovers for days. Enjoy!

Dressing Ingredients:

  • 10 almonds chopped finely (preferably soaked in water first)
  • 2 springs of rosemary, basil, parsley and thyme, leaves removed, stalks set aside
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • sea salt
  • 1/2 cup olive oil

Chop herbs and almonds together until mixed well.  Combine in a bowl with oil and salt. (You can use whatever herbs you like here – fresh is better for this type of recipe if you can swing it.)

Chicken Ingredients:

  • 2 or 3 x 5 ounce chicken breasts
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • Herb stems from dressing

Place chicken breasts in a pan of cold water.  Add stalks and stems from herbs, garlic clove and salt to the water. Bring water to a simmer , turn off the heat and immediately cover the pan.  Allow chicken to sit in the hot liquid for 20 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove chicken from poaching liquid and slice thin.  Drizzle herb dressing and serve with extra.

I made this with some grilled zucchini.  The original recipe (adapted from one of my nutritionist idols Amelia Freer) called for blanched green beans and roasted tomatoes, fennel and carrots. That sounds amazing, however if you need to preserve some time a couple grilled veggies worked perfectly.