Summer Celebration Dinner!

My family is celebrating my brother’s upcoming marriage with a small, outdoor wedding. But, I wanted to share the recipes for what we’ll be eating with you, so that you can recreate those flavors at home! So follow along with Chef Jon in the video above (or on YouTube HERE) or by following the recipe below, as we make Pistachio-Coconut Crusted Salmon with an Arugula-Pistachio Pesto and Grilled Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad. Perfect for a summer celebration!

Pistachio-Coconut Crusted Salmon 

Ingredients

• Salmon fillets, skin on
• Garlic, 3-4 cloves
• 1/2 cup of shelled pistachios
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut flakes, unsweetened
• 1 tbsp of dijon mustard — can substitute mayo if desired
• Olive oil
• 2 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp of black pepper
• 2 lemons, halved and grilled cut side down (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. While the oven is preheating, let’s make the crust — in the bowl of a food processor, add the pistachios, garlic, coconut, 1 tsp of salt and pepper
3. Pulse in the food processor until the mixture comes together and is similar in texture and size to sand — you can do this without a food processor by putting mixture into a plastic bag and taking your aggression out on it with a rolling pin!
4. Pat the salmon dry with a towel, and then season with the remaining salt, and transfer it to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper — you can use tin foil, but parchment paper will make sure the salmon won’t stick. Plus, makes for super easy cleanup!
5. Using a brush or a spoon, spread the dijon all over the flesh of the salmon — this is the glue the helps the crust stick
6. Using your hands, cover the mustard-covered salmon with the crust mixture. Make sure to cover the fish evenly, so it will cook evenly, and cover it all over — we don’t want any parts uncovered
7. Once the fish is covered, pour some olive oil over the top to help with browning the crust
8. Bake the fish for 10-12 minutes then remove from oven and let the fish cool for at least 5 minutes
9. Garnish with the Arugula-Pistachio pesto, grilled lemons and serve with Grilled Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad. Yum!

Arugula-Pistachio Pesto

Ingredients

• 1-2 cups of arugula or baby arugula
• 1 cup of pistachios — you can substitute walnuts if you’ve used up all your pistachios on the fish
• 1-2 tsps of lemon zest
• 1-2 tbsps of lemon juice
• Garlic, 4-5 cloves
• 1/2 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese or Pecorino Romano or an aged, hard cheese
• Olive oil

Directions

1. In the bowl of a food processor (or mortar and pestle) add all of the ingredients except for the oil
2. Pulse the mixture continuously while adding olive oil until it turns into a loose paste. I like mine a little coarse and chunky, but you can choose your own thickness
3. If you find it too thick, add more olive oil or a bit more lemon juice. Make sure to taste it!
4. Empty mixture into a bowl and let it sit at least 10-15 minutes before using — this pesto is also great as a pasta sauce. Just mix the cold or room temperature pesto into hot pasta. So good!

Grilled Corn, Tomato & Avocado Salad 

Ingredients

• Corn, 4-5 ears
• Cherry tomatoes, 1 pint, cut in half
• Red onion, 1 medium or 1/2 large onion, diced
• Avocados, 2 — make sure that your avocados are ripe, but not mushy, chopped in 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup of champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp of honey
• 1 tbsp of dijon mustard
• 2 tsps of dried mint
• 1/4 cup of lemon juice
• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat your grill or grill-pan to medium heat — you want it hot, but not smoking
2. While the grill is getting hot, clean your corn by removing both the husk and silk strands — you want corn to grill contact to happen
3. Place the corn on the grill (and some lemon halves which make a great garnish) — don’t worry about turning the corn too too often since you want some of that char and grill color on the corn. You should probably give it a nudge every 3-5 minutes — it will only take about 10-15 minutes total to cook
4. While the corn is grilling, dice your onion and chop the tomatoes in half and place in a large bowl big enough for mixing
5. Once your corn has come off the grill and cooled for a few min, cut off the end of the corn so you have a straight edge, and balance the corn on its straight end
6. Using a sharp, chef’s knife, starting at the top of the ear, cut of the corn kernels by cutting straight down, and rotate the corn once you get to the bottom and repeat until you’ve cut all of the corn off the cob. Repeat for all of the ears or corn. Add the corn to the tomatoes and onions
7. Cut your avocados by running a sharp knife along the outside, around the pit until you’ve gone all the way around. Use your hands to twist the 2 halves apart
8. Take your knife and thwack it into the avocado pit so it sticks into it, then twist to detach the pit from the avocado
9. Use a spoon to scoop out the avocado meat and chop into 1/2 inch pieces
10. Drizzle the avocado pieces in lemon juice to keep them bright green before you mix into the corn salad mixture.
11. For the dressing: mix honey, champagne vinegar, olive oil, dijon, salt, pepper, cilantro and mint in a bowl and mix vigorously until the dressing is one homogeneous mixture — I like to use a mason jar.
12. Pour the dressing over the corn-tomato mixture (reserving some dressing if needed later) and add the avocados
13. Gently toss everything together until all of the ingredients have a little bit of dressing on them, and make sure to be delicate with the avocado so it doesn’t get mushed
14. Garnish with more chopped cilantro, and erve with your favorite fish or chicken dish on a beautiful summer day — like for a wedding celebration perhaps. Bon appetit!