Green Monster Pesto with Zoodles and Roasted Salmon

Ok, ok, I am awful at keeping you updated. I know...I apologize. I've been eating Vegetarian Pizza and leftover Mediterranean Chopped Salad Sandwiches for the last week so not much to report there. However, tomorrow I'm having a cooking extravaganza for Nate's (and Papa Hart's) arrival in Raleigh! What's on the menu?


Homemade rosemary bread! Spinach salad with goat cheese and strawberries! Lasagna!




BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! And lager spiced cupcakes with cream cheese frosting!




You wish you were married to me right now, don't you? Sorry boys (and girls) but I've been off the market for 5 years.




But before I can make you jealous with pictures and descriptions of the (hopefully) beautiful food I produce, you have to suffer through last night and tonight's dinners. Sorry, I'm not sorry.




After a full day of work, a 3 mile run (uh...hello 9 minute miles), and a work-related trip to Costco, I was pretty desperate for food. I battled an internal struggle to order the $1.99 Costco pizza (seriously, it's sublime), and had there been samples, I may have tackled an employee. Things were getting desperate to say the least but I stuck to my guns and did not give into the gooey-cheesy-saucy-crunchy-borderline-religious experience that is Costco pizza. I instead decided to make Green Monster Pesto with Zoodles and Roasted Salmon.




This pesto is so versatile and fun fact: YOU CAN FREEZE IT! During all my traveling this summer I learned you can actually freeze a wide variety of things - cheese, cooked potatoes, pesto, bread! There's a whole world of freezer-capable foods and I had no idea! Anyway, so after letting it thaw for a day, I added in about 1 tsp of olive oil and bam! Delicious kale pesto.




Green Monster Pesto with Zoodles and Roasted Salmon

2 Tbsp Green Monster Pesto
1 small zucchini, spiralized
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Non-stick cooking spray
1 3 oz salmon fillet (get on that Aldi frozen seafood train, y'all)
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for reconstituting your frozen pesto
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch garlic powder


2 Tsp seafood seasoning (I used Chesapeake Bay seasoning from Penzeys Spices)


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.




Liberally spray a piece of foil with nonstick spray. Coat your salmon with 1 Tbsp olive oil per side and season both sides of the fish. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until flaky and cooked through.




When your salmon has about 10 minutes remaining, spray a deep skillet with non-stick spray and turn on the burner to medium-high heat. Throw in your garlic and bell pepper and cook until the peppers begin to blister. This took me about 5 minutes.




Create your zoodles using your spiralizer and be careful not to cut yourself trying to finish off the zucchini (I did this...it hurt. I bled. Thankfully not into my food.) Now, if you read my previous zoodle blog you'll recall that I warned zoodles are very easy to overcook! So only cook them for about 5 minutes or less. Throw the zucchini into the pan with 2 Tbsp of pesto and toss together with the bell peppers. By now, your salmon should be pink and delicious!




Plate your zoodles and salmon and dig in!




Since I am currently "Hart, Party of 1", this meal was only 1 serving but could easily be doubled, tripled, quadrupled and so on to accommodate larger parties.




Stay tuned for tonight's dinner! I'm thinking something with mushrooms...oh! And happy Friday!