seared halibut and gazpacho salsa with tomato vinaigrette

A little over a month ago I was shopping in preparation for our North Bay cottaging looking for a beach read. Although I spent a while attempting to find a novel, I ended up walking out of the store with the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. Yes, I actually brought a cookbook as my reading material for up north. I first discovered Smitten Kitchen when I was in search of a candy popcorn recipe back last December and found Deb's sweet & spicy popcorn. Everything about the recipe was simplified, fool-proof and totally delicious. I was so happy to find a site that produces legitimately great recipes. So it’s no wonder Deb had this gorgeous cookbook published. As I read her intros and explanations before the recipes in this book I felt very akin to her sensibilities and ideas of what makes great food. When I first look through cookbooks I always spot my favourite ingredients and it's those recipes I’m always willing to try first. That's why I chose Seared Halibut and Gazpacho Salsa with Tomato Vinaigrette. Field tomatoes are pretty much all I’ve been eating the past 3 weeks, so with this salsa-like gazpacho & tomato vinaigrette it seemed like the perfect recipe to try right away.

Oh, how easy and over-the-top delicious this dinner is. I was in total heaven from first bite until I woefully stared at an empty plate of tomato juice. I felt like I was eating a restaurant quality dinner the entire time. Beautiful flavours, simple and quick preparation and minimal effort with outstanding results. I’m very pleased with my initial trial of this book and look forward to trying many more of Deb’s recipes in my kitchen.

While I'm online I thought I'd throw in a 25 week pregnant shot. Yep, looking the part these days I'd say.