Lenten season foods

Hello all my lovelies and Catholic friends!

I know that with this Lenten season a lot of my friends and family (including myself) will be giving up a few things, one of which is meat (beef, pork, and for most poultry) every Friday (and for you hard-core Catholics the last week) til Easter Sunday. Here are a few recipes that will hopefully tide you over til we all can start eating meat!


*You can use any fish for these recipes. I just prefer salmon and tilapia.

Goat Cheese Salmon

Ingredients:

• 4 to 6 salmon fillets (depends on how thick they are)
• 1/2 cup of herbed goat cheese (or plain if you'd prefer)
• 1/4 cup of Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup of mayonnaise

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease large baking dish.
2. Arrange salmon fillets in the baking dish. Make small incisions in each fillet, and stuff equal amounts of the herbed goat cheese (if the fillet is thick enough to cut length wise, do so and make a small pocket so you can stuff the goat cheese inside, but don't fill too much because it'll ooze out when baking)
3. Bake salmon for 15 to 20 mins in oven, or til salmon is easily flaked with a fork. 
4. In a separate bowl, mix Dijon and mayonnaise together (I prefer to use more Dijon than mayo in this recipe). Spoon over salmon once it's taken out of the oven. Wait for 10 mins before serving.  

*If the Dijon/mayo sauce is too vinegary, add a few teaspoons of honey.

Herb-Crusted Salmon with Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 tsp of olive oil
• 2 tbs of shallots minced (if you can't find shallots, mince a pearl onion)
• 1 tbs of fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of dried white wine
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil), minced
• 1/2 tsp of Kosher salt
• 1/2 of ground black pepper
• 1 tsp of dried basil
• 1 tsp of dried rosemary
• 1tsp of dried thyme
• 1/2 cup of bread crumbs (I use panko)
• 2 to 4 salmon fillets (depending on thickness)

Directions:

Sauce: (I like to make the sauce before I prepare the fish. That way the flavors are all settled in. Then I just reheat the sauce before I pour it over the fish when it's done baking)

1. In a large skillet, heat 2 tsp oil over medium heat. Sautee shallots, stirring constantly, til lightly golden.
2. Add lemon juice, wine, and sun-dried tomatoes. Turn up the heat to a medium-high flame. Cook until sauce is reduced to about a 1/2 cup.
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Fish:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 in baking dish.
2. Whatever makes it easier, use a ziplock bag, a larger bowl, or a large plate, combine bread crumbs, basil, rosemary, and thyme. Dredge each fillet in bread crumb mixture, coating well.
3. Place fillets in the baking dish. Drizzle each fillet with the remaining 2 tsp olive oil.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 mins, til salmon is easily flaked with fork. 
5. Take fillets out of oven. Make a slit lengthwise on top of the salmon. Spoon sauce over the fillets. 

Lemon Pepper Dill Tilapia

Ingredients:

• 2-4 tilapia fillets
• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)
• 1 half of a lemon
• 1 tbs of dried dill weed
• 1 tbs of lemon pepper seasoning
• 4 tsp of olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an 8x8 (or 9x9) baking dish, drizzle olive oil. 
2. Place fillets in baking dish. Sprinkle evenly dill and lemon pepper seasoning over fillets.
3. Cut up butter and place on top and around fish.
4. Place in oven and bake for 15 mins, or until fish flakes off with fork. Before serving, squeeze lemon over fish.

Bon appetit!