Steak Salad w/ Homemade Croutons and English Stilton

I'm a big fan of stilton bleu cheese and since we bought a nice chunk of it, I thought it would best be served in a steak salad. I used a strip steak and simple olive oil/balsamic dressing with the salad, which consisted of an organic medley of greens.

I made the croutons fresh from a loaf of rosemary bread I had lying around, they were really unassuming and added just the right amount of crunch. I simply seasoned them with salt and pepper and toasted them with a nice olive oil.

Caprese Supreme

I caught the last farmers market of the year last week and was lucky enough to catch some great tomatoes, including some Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes. Unfortunatley, they do not taste like chocolate, but they were great. I added some balsamic and olive oil and some freshly pulled Mozz.

Here is a picture of one of the cherry tomatoes without any lighting enhancements: 

Dinner: Salt Cave Snapper with Quinoa Cucumber Salad

I've done a few salt cave fish in my day, but this was a first for the Yellow-Eyed Snapper. Typically I get Red Snapper or Yellow-Tail Snapper, but this was a really nice looking fish. It weighed about 2.5 pounds and was said to be caught within 36 hours before I bought it, but they didn't know specifically when.

To make the salt mixture, I use 6 pounds of salt and just add cold water to bind it so that it sticks together. I then lay the fish on top of it (after stuffing with lemon, lavender, rosemary and thyme). Finally, I pack the salt tightly over the top of the fish and bake it at 340 for 35 minutes or so. It came out as delicate as lump crab meat, but with more flavor. Pretty nice and light meal.

 As for the Quinoa salad, I made sure that it had a lot of fresh flavor. Before cooking the Quinoa, I added fresh mint, ginger, cucumber and a pinch of salt to a large bowl. I then boiled water and cooked the Quinoa (after soaking and rinsing it in cold water). It doesn't need any dressing and balances the succulent fish well.