Incredible Salmon Salad

A few weeks ago, we had my childhood best friend and her husband over for dinner. My go-to meal for guests has been a roast chicken dinner but I wanted to try something different. I had a list of 5 different meals and headed to the market to make the final decision there. I find buying fish to be a stressful experience-- mostly because you never know the price. I pulled up the 5 different recipes on my ipod touch and headed over to the fish counter... it turns out my ipod needs internet connection to scroll between the pages so I lost all the recipes! I called my father and asked him to sent me one of the recipes via text. I'm hoping I get more confident with fish recipes the more I buy it.

This recipe is awesome-- it's absolutely delicious and has a perfect mix of ingredients. I read the recipe reviews and added a soy-honey glaze to the fish before cooking it. Other than that, it's a pretty easy recipe as well as delicious and filling.

Sizzling Salmon-and-Spinach Salad with Soy Vinaigrette
Cooking Light

Dressing:
3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon chile paste with garlic or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Salad:
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil, divided
4 cups thinly sliced shiitake or button mushroom caps (about 8 ounces)
1 cup (1-inch) sliced green onions
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels, thawed
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
8 cups baby spinach
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1 cup red bell pepper strips

Fish marinade
4 tbsp soy sauce & 2 tsp honey

Preparation

Preheat broiler.
To prepare dressing, combine first 8 ingredients in a small bowl, and stir well with a whisk.
To prepare salad, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and 1 cup onions; sauté 8 minutes. Stir in corn; remove from heat.

Place the fish on a foil-lined baking sheet; brush evenly with 1 teaspoon oil. Brush salmon with a soy-honey mixture and broil 8 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. It didn't cook correctly in my oven so I cooked it in the oven for a few minutes since it was still very raw.

Place 2 cups spinach on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1/4 cup bean sprouts, 1/4 cup red bell pepper, 1/2 cup mushroom mixture, and 1 fillet. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons dressing over each salad.

Verde is Green

I love calzones and I've been wanting to make this recipe for a while. I really wanted to make my own dough but I'm horrible at planning ahead. I ended up using the canned dough and I'd rather not ever use that again. Blech. I have never used that and I don't think I ever will again. Next time, real fresh pizza dough.

This whole dinner was an experience.... shopping for the ingredients was ridiculously comical. I was pretty sure I knew what salsa verde was (at least at a restaurant). I wasn't sure how it was packaged. I searched all the aisles I thought it would be located in and wasn't having any luck. I finally asked an employee if he knew where "salsa verde" is located... his answer "well, verde is green"... Yes, I'm aware. He drags me over to the salsa... no luck and looks in all the same places. Then he asks someone else where salsa verde is and their answer "verde means green"... I got no where. I finally found it (in the salsa aisle)-- the one option they carried wasn't very well labeled.

Anyway, so I get home and working with that canned pizza dough was an absolute nightmare. I never understand how you unroll the dough from the can-- it turns into mush for me. All in all, the meal was pretty tasty. We both enjoyed it and the black bean salad paired great with it, especially with the addition of avocados.


Tex-Mex Calzones
Cooking Light

 8 ounces ground turkey breast
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup fat-free fire-roasted salsa verde
1 (11-ounce) can refrigerated thin-crust pizza dough
3/4 cup (3 ounces) preshredded Mexican blend cheese
Cooking spray parchment paper
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream


1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey to pan; cook 3 minutes, stirring to crumble. Add onion and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; cook 4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring mixture occasionally. Remove turkey mixture from heat; stir in salsa.

3. Unroll dough; divide into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 6 x 4–inch rectangle. Working with one rectangle at a time, spoon about 1/2 cup turkey mixture on one side of dough. Top with 3 tablespoons cheese; fold dough over turkey mixture, and press edges together with a fork to seal. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining dough and turkey mixture. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until browned. Serve with sour cream.
 
 
Black Bean Salad
1 (15-ounce) can rinsed and drained black beans
1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 avocado, diced

Combine all ingreients in a medium bowl; toss well to coat.

TGIF

After a long week of work and crazy animals, it's nice to welcome in the weekend! Danimal is home from 10 days away! I needed a quick meal before I settled in for a long night of preparing a lecture I need to present tomorrow (yes, a Saturday!).

I whipped up Black Bean, Corn and Shrimp Salad with toasted pita chips. I love this meal- it's so easy & quick, yet zesty & colorful. I cut up whole wheat pita bread, first in half and then each half into 5 or 6 triangles, separating at the crease. I lay out the pita triangles in a single layer on a cookie sheet and lightly sprayed with olive oil spray and cooked it at 350 for about 7-9 minutes or until toasted.

Black Bean, Corn & Shrimp Salad
Cooking Light, July 2005)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
1 1/2 cups frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
3/4 cup bottled salsa
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

Preparation

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Add shrimp; toss to coat.
Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shrimp; sauté 3 minutes or until done. Add 1 tablespoon lime juice. Remove shrimp from pan. Add corn to pan; sauté 1 minute. Stir in salsa, cilantro, and beans; cook 30 seconds or until thoroughly heated. Stir in 1 tablespoon lime juice. Serve shrimp over bean mixture.