Spice Rubbed Roasted Salmon with Lemon Garlic Spinach for Mother's Day at the Cooking Light Supper Club

This month's edition of the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club is a rather special one for me. We're doing a celebration of Mother's Day. I happen to have the very good fortune of having my mother, who is a holocaust survivor, still around, still sharp as a tack and still telling me what to do.

In some ways I could say that my mom, also known as baba, the babster or bugs baba is the original inspiration for this blog. Food was always a focal point in our home. I'm sure many can relate to this but I've always felt that for someone who went through a period of her life where food was so scarce, having it, respecting it, taking care of it and not wasting it was something my mom always imparted. To this day, she would be horrified to see us throwing food away.

We've captured so many of baba's recipes on this blog by trying to reproduce something that had no real recipe or by having her share her food stories and life in the "old country"

On this Mother's Day, I'd like to share this wonderful recipe for Spice Rubbed Roasted Salmon with Lemon Garlic Spinach

Ingredients

Salmon:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (2 1/4-pound) skinless salmon fillet
2 cups thinly sliced onion
Cooking spray

Spinach:
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (6-ounce) packages fresh baby spinach
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Remaining ingredients:
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Lemon wedges (optional)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°.
To prepare salmon, combine first 6 ingredients; rub spice mixture evenly over fish.
Place onion in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Place fish on top of onion; bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

To prepare spinach, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute.
Add half of spinach; cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Add remaining spinach; cook 4 minutes or until wilted, stirring frequently.
Sprinkle spinach mixture with rind and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir in juice; remove from heat.
Place salmon on a platter.
Arrange onions and spinach evenly around salmon. Sprinkle salmon with chopped fresh cilantro. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!!  I hope your day makes you feel as special as you are to us.

Ricotta Semifreddo for the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club

This month's theme of the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club is Italian and lots of fine inspiration from the members this month.



I seem to gravitate towards the dessert portions of each menu and this month is no different. I decided to make the Ricotta Semifreddo "Semifreddo" is an Italian term that refers to any number of frozen or chilled desserts. When making a dessert with ricotta cheese, it's really worth getting the best ricotta you can. It makes a huge difference to the flavour of your finished product.

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 ounces fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 (16-ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese (such as Calabro)
1/2 cup chilled heavy cream
Fresh orange sections (optional)
Fresh currants (optional)

Preparation

1. Line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, milk, honey, orange rind, vanilla extract, 1/8 teaspoon salt, cream cheese, and ricotta in a blender; process until smooth. Pour the mixture into a large bowl. Pour cream into a medium bowl, and beat with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/4 cup whipped cream into ricotta mixture. Fold in the remaining cream.

2. Spoon mixture into prepared loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap, and freeze at least 8 hours or until set. Remove semifreddo from freezer, and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Discard top piece of plastic wrap. Invert loaf pan onto a serving platter, and tap to remove semifreddo. Discard the remaining plastic wrap, and slice semifreddo crosswise. Serve with orange sections and currants, if desired.



Check out what the other members of the group are making this month.

Sandi- Pork with Lemon Caper Sauce"

Roz - Risotto with Fresh Mozzarella, Grape Tomatoes and Basil

Jerry- Apple Chicken Panini with Fig Jam

Val - Dreaming of Italy Caprese Toast

Each and every one is gorgeous.