Colorful Fall Dinner

Maybe it's because the fall colors are the least brilliant I have ever seen them or the fact that it was the warmest birthday of my life (80 degrees on October 18th), but I am really trying to bring the Autumn spirit with food this year more than ever. On tonight's menu was:
Pan-Seared Halibut with Oranges and Olives
Wilted Spinach with Roasted Garlic
Sweet Potatoes with Lime Juice and Vanilla Sea Salt

I linked to the recipes but I only used them as a guidelines. I substituted some ingredients and made the portions to serve 2 instead of 6. The fish recipe called for Mahi Mahi, but when I consulted my Seafood Watch Guide it said to avoid imported Mahi Mahi because of environmental effects. So I opted for Pacific Halibut which was equally as well for this dish. I also used Kalamata olives instead of green olives which I think was an improvement for both color presentation and flavor. I also used a bit more saffron than the recipe called for just because I love it. The Sweet Potato and Lime dish was supposed to be butternut squash but I think this substitution worked well and made a lot of sense. I seasoned the sweet potato slices with Halen Mon Sea Salt with Taha'a Vanilla which was perfect with the sweetness of the potatoes. For desert we had my mom's homemade pumpkin pie from my birthday celebration. To give my mom the props she deserves I would like to point out that she grew the pumpkins and of course makes the crust from scratch. I added a homemade whipped cream that I spiced with ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and vanilla. It was a perfect October meal.













Posted by Meredith