30 minutes: Vege / Salmon Challenge

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My mission: To make dinner with three salmon fillets (about 2 pounds) and a ton of vegetables which will not cause my children to fall over dead because of generalized yuckiness. I used a Martha Stewart recipe as a jumping off point and added from my fridge pantry.

The Plan:

1. Put broiler on "high" and set the oven rack to the top.
2. On to a rimmed baking tray place salmon fillets, fish side up. Throw on salt and pepper, then about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon each of chili powder. Rub in a little bit.
3. Around salmon arrange 1/2 sliced Vidalia onion (about 1/4 inch slices) and zucchini spears. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and just a little squidge of chili powder.
4. Put fish and vegetables under broiler and set timer for ten minutes.
5. Get out large saute pan and add about 1-2 teaspoons olive oil over medium high heat. When oil hot add a pound of frozen corn.
6. Toss corn in oil until browning slightly, then add about 1/2 cup mild salsa. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Get plates ready. Place some prewashed baby greens on each plate, season with a little lime juice, salt, and pepper. Add corn to one side of plate.
8. Get salmon & veges out from under broiler. Put onion slices on lettuce, then carefully scoop up salmon leaving skin on baking tray. Arrange on top of greens. (I put the salmon separately from the salad greens for the kids.) Arrange zucchini on plate. Squeeze a little more lime over the whole thing. Serve!

Debriefing:

Pretty decent meal! From when I turned the broiler on to actually sitting down to dinner was 30 minutes, and I didn't rush. Easy clean-up. I even managed to do a few dishes and drink a Diet Coke while cooking. Leftovers are chopped up small and topped with extra salmon in Tupperware for lunch tomorrow with a lime wedge. Could easily add a little sliced avocado (and feta!) to corn to make a salad. The veges and fish could also handily be grilled. I used about 1 tablespoon of oil in the entire meal, which included 4 vegetables and 1 omega-loaded protein.

Bottom line:

Would I do it again? Absolutely. It's dirt-ball easy for a busy weeknight and quite tasty. Kids ate every bit of salmon and corn. One ate all the zucchini! Both nibbled the salad, too. That in my house is success.

Radically Delicious Torta

This looks radically delicious to me, courtesy of The Wednesday Chef. I might give this a try for my next foodie brunch.

Pietro Gamgemi's Torta di Carciofi

Hmmmm...Delicious Sandwich Alert

This looks absolutely, positively to die for to me. I might have to try this one night for Monsieur and I. The kids can have ham or pasta. I wonder if instead of lettuce (or in addition to) some fresh basil leaves would be wonderful? I suspect the answer is yes.

'Wich of the week: Minty Green Eggplant and Feta

I still haven't made that egg and waffle sandwich. I must get cracking.

Cheers to Cheerwine Ham, and huh? Vegetarian Gumbo?

Via Cheap, Healthy, Good, two things I'm quite interested in trying:

Cheerwine Ham: From Slashfood. I'm cooking an ENORMOUS ham from my pig, Augustus, this weekend for the family's "second" Easter. Last weekend was the "Fun" Western Easter; this coming weekend is the more religious "Eastern" Easter. It will include an egg hunt, which will make it fun. There will also be a TON of fabulous food. Perhaps we should call it "Foodie" Easter. In any event, I might just try this Cheesewine Ham. I have done Coca Cola ham with a jalepeno glaze, and Cherry Coca Cola Ham with a cherry jelly glaze. Both are excellent. This recipe might be a worthy addition to my carbonated ham repetoire.

second:

Vegetarian Gumbo. Huh? I just had the most delicious decidedly non-vegetarian gumbo at City BBQ. It was to die for. I had it with a fried catfish sandwich which was also to die for. I am now intrigued by this dish I've never cooked. I might give this recipe a whirl. Or maybe add a little chorizo or andouille.

I Did It! Knocked My Socks Off with the Crock Pot!

This is, hands down, the BEST Mac-n-Cheese I have ever tasted (although Rusty Bucket comes close). And it is, hands down, the BEST Crock Pot recipe I have ever made (which may or may not be saying much!)

It is full of Velveeta cheese so if you have a problem with that, stop right here. Tonight at dinner, Nick asked me what Veveeta cheese is, and frankly, I couldn't come up with an answer. I think I mumbled something about "processed cheese-food." But the way I figure it, if you're going to have Mac-n-Cheese, have Mac-n-Cheese. Just watch the portion size. I serve it with broccoli.

Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
16-oz elbow macaroni, cooked according to package directions. Stir in some butter after you drain it so it doesn't stick.
2 12-oz cans evaporated milk
3 cups milk
2-lb brick of Velveeta cut into 1-inch squares (you could probably scale this back to a pound and a half)
2 t salt
1/4 cup melted butter
Dried onion flakes (maybe about 1/4 cup)

Toss all ingredients into a Crock Pot. Cook on low 3-4 hours. Stir occasionally so the Velveeta chunks melt.

This makes a LOT. The original recipe called for a half pound of pasta, but what kind of family does a half pound of pasta feed? So I doubled it.

Mongolian Beef

This looks utterly delicious, and I'll bet it would be decent with grilled flank steak, or stir fried (as opposed to fried fried) thinly sliced beef, as the author notes. I might put this on the list for next week.

Mongolian Beef

My new go-to 20 minute soup recipe: Chinese Vege Soup with Pillow Noodles

Cover of New Food Fast

Adapted from Donna Hay's New Food Fast. When you have one chicken breast, some frozen veges, miso, and Japanese-style ramen noodles and have to make it feed four.

4 tablespoons white miso paste
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
6-8 cups chicken broth or water

Bring to a boil in a large saucepan. In the water (while it's heating up):

1 carrot, grated
1 cup (or whatever) frozen peas
1 cup (or whatever) frozen corn
1 handful (or whatever, or not) frozen (or not) spinach

Stir occasionally to heat up miso paste. When water comes to a boil, add one package (or more) Japanese style yummy thick white ramen noodles. You might also want to add:

Leftover chicken
Trader Joe's Potsticker Dumplings
Shrimp, cooked or uncooked (but cook it till it's done, please)
Tofu
Thinly sliced beef
Thinly sliced green onions
Any other vegetable which strikes your fancy and happens to be in your fridge or freezer.

Or, if you're really fancy like I am, poach an egg in the broth before you serve. Yum!

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