Category: Fruit

Honeydew Melon Salad: Recipes At My Table

Honeydew Melon Salad

Honeydew Melon Salad: Recipes At My Table

Generally melons appear after supper on an Italian table or wrapped with prosciutto, but my Honeydew Melon Salad is adds a touch of savoury to any table.  I love all types of fruit and I am trying to get in more at the table.  This salad combines the sweetness of the melon with some beautiful salty Kalamata olives and fetta.  Once again Greeks ingredients come to my Italian table.

Melons and the Italian Table

My earliest memories of melon comes from the outside tables set out in Little Italy.  You went from house to house stopping, sitting, chatting and eating.  We always had honeydew and cantaloupe. My favourite melon is the yellow one from Sicily and is the symbol of summer in Sicily.  It has a white flesh and sweet taste.  It contains many vitamins, fibre and minerals.  In the early days, Sicilians put the melon inside stockings and hung it on their balconies.  It was traditional to serve it on Christmas today. On a hot Sicilian day, I love some melon, wine, bread and cheese for lunch.  Oh take me back to Sicily please.  

Another fruit salad on my blog check https://recipesatmytable.com/avocado-fruit-salad/

Ingredients for Honeydew Melon Salad

  • 2 cups diced honeydew melon
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
  • 1 cup Greek Kalamata olives
  • juice of 1/2 a lemon and the zest
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • chopped parsley

Process

Cut up your honeydew into small cubes or uses a melon baller. After scooping out the pulp of the melon, keep it for serving the salad..

Add in the blueberries.

Go in with the olives and then make slivers of your red onion using the potato peeler method.

Put in the feta next and sprinkle with the Italian seasoning.

Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, zest and honey. Mix the dressing and pour it over the ingredients and toss. Place the tossed ingredients back into the melon shell.

Honeydew Melon Salad: Recipes At My Table
Honeydew Melon Salad: Recipes At My Table

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Blueberry Salmon: Recipes At My Table

Blueberry Salmon

Blueberry Salmon

I continuously look for ways to spruce up recipes. Fish is not always a favourite with a lot of kids, but this recipe offers a sweet, fruity sauce to entice everyone. My Blueberry Salmon is a show stopper and is great for family or entertaining.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Kids love sauces, especially ones with fruit.  Make a little extra of this sauce for dipping. Maple Syrup is a good additive because it masks the strong flavour of some fish. You can be creative.  Make your own dipping sauce using plum sauce, salsa, yogurts, nacho cheese etc.  You write the recipe.   And remember, fish should never smell fishy.  If it smells, it is bad. 

I have a chocolate salmon recipe on my blog https://recipesatmytable.com/chocolate-teriyaki-salmon/

Like every other species on earth, Salmon is threatened by our environmental habits. Although they are not an endangered species, some rivers are seeing more pollution harming the Salmon population.  This is an interesting article on tire rubber killing Coho Salmon https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/qa-tire-rubber-preservative-harms-coho-salmon-study-suggests-68235

Ingredients

  • 2 portions of salmon
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 2 tbsp each of balsamic vinegar and maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup of soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup of lemon juice
  • 1 cup frozen blueberries

Process

Rub the salmon with Italian Seasoning, salt and pepper.  

Place the olive oil in a pan and sear the salmon.  

Meanwhile in a small pot pour in the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, garlic and lemon juice. 

Bring to a boil and let it thicken.

Once thickened add in the blueberries and heat through. 

Spoon the space over the salmon.

Blueberry Salmon: Recipes At My Table

We served it with roast potatoes and cucumbers with yogurt. 

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Centre Cut Pork Loin with Tomato Pesto

Centre Cut Pork Loin with Tomato Pesto

Trying to keep the summer cooking simple and flavourful.  With a few ingredients my Centre Cut Pork Loin with Tomato Pesto brings a party of flavours to the table.  Always salt and pepper your meat because it is the first infusion of flavours.  It goes on the grill with a little olive oil and Italian seasoning.

Meanwhile I prepare a delicious pesto.  Now most of my non-Italian friends think that pesto is always associated with basil; however, my nonna made many different types.  Pestare in Italian means to pound and we use this method to start soups and sauces.  A simple pesto of carrots, celery, onion, parsley and celery starts many of my soups.  In my lasagna meat sauce I begin with carrots, celery, onions and garlic.  Use your imagination and you too can create your own pesto. One of my favourites that I make is a kale pesto.

Today for my pork I made a tomato pesto simply by adding a Roma tomato to parsley, garlic, olive oil,and some basil.

For a family favourite don’t forget https://recipesatmytable.com/apple-butter-pork/

Ingredients

The Meat

  • 10 centre cut pork loin chops
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning

The Pesto

  • 1/2 cup of parsley
  • 10 leafs of basil
  • 2 gloves of garlic
  • 1 large roma tomato
  • 1/2 cup of very good olive oil
  • salt and pepper

The Garnish

  • Peaches and plums halved
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Process

Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper.  Brush both sides with canola oil and then dust it with the Italian seasoning.  Put in the refrigerator to marinade for a few hours.

Chop the parsley and add to the olive oil.  Add the tomato, garlic, salt and pepper to a food processor. 

Pour the olive oil and parsley over this and pulse. 

Centre Cut Pork Loin with Tomato Pesto: Recipes At My Table

I could just eat this with a spoon.  This also makes a great salad dressing or is great for a cold pasta salad too.  

Centre Cut Pork Loin with Tomato Pesto: Recipes At My Table

Cut the fruit in half and dip the cut side into the olive oil, salt and pepper.  

Centre Cut Pork Loin with Tomato Pesto: Recipes At My Table

Grilling fruit is so much fun!!

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The pork goes on.

Just a few minutes on each side.  Then pop it into a 325 F oven for 20 minutes.  This is for an indoor grill.  If doing it outside, I close the grill 10 minutes on each side.  

Presented on my platter with the fruit and my tomato pesto. 

Up close, it’s so luscious!!

 

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Fruit crumble: Recipes At My Table

Fruit crumble

Fruit crumble

Fruit crumble is always comforting anytime of the  year.  I have a lot of frozen fruit on hand.  Smoothies are my go-to before yoga.  These days I am lucky enough to do on-line yoga, but for some reason, I don’t make the smoothies.  The weather plays tricks on us, and it is back to cold;and so, I want a crumble.

Now Italians don’t make crumble and I learned from my mother-in-law Erika how to enjoy these other recipes.  She used whatever fruit was in season.  When I lived in Sault Ste. Marie, ON we had a small rhubarb patch on the property and sometimes she would make rhubarb/apple crumble.  YUM!!

Her crumble was always a little thicker because she made a little sauce with it.  This must come from our Hungarian roots and Grandma Thoma’s influence. She would make a sauce to pour over the crumble, but I thought of putting a thickener right into the dish.  I don’t have her recipe and hope I do it justice.

If you are looking for a nice collection of crumble recipes go to:  https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/crumble

Ingredients

  • 4 cups any frozen fruit
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Crumble

  • 1 cup quick oats
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup melted butter

Sauce

  • 4 tbsp sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

The Process

Begin by starting the sauce. I add the sugar and cornstarch to a small pan and whisk together as I gently pour in the water.  Add the vanilla extract and place it on the stove on medium heat and whisk.

Fruit crumble: Recipes At My Table

Mix all the crumble ingredients and put half on the bottom of your pan.  I used a deep round 8 inch pan.

Fruit crumble: Recipes At My Table

Over the crumbs place the 4/12 cups of frozen fruit.

Now pour the sauce over the fruit.

Fruit crumble: Recipes At My Table

Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Fruit crumble: Recipes At My Table

Place the remainder of the crumble over the fruit and place in a 375 F oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

Fruit crumble: Recipes At My Table

I always peek into the oven.

Fruit crumble: Recipes At My Table

It comes out, and I let it sit for a bit.

Fruit crumble: Recipes At My Table

A little whipped cream and ready to go. YUM!!

Fruit crumble: Recipes At My Table

 

 

 

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