Make a Meal: Hoisin Grilled Salmon and Garlic-Ginger Bok Choy

 One thing you will not find a lack of around here is salmon recipes. 

Alas, here we go again with yet another fish dish starring the freshwater swimmer that inspired its very own color...the salmon. This is a tasty combination that I found in perusing Simply Recipes and seemed like a perfectly easy Monday night meal that also had a little "umph" to it. In this sense of "umph," I'm referring to pizazz - that's a fun word, pizazz - because each 8th of the month, I try to make sure I do something special for Mr. Max in honor of our wedding date. Okay, settle the gag reflexes. As we hit month four, he took my car in for me to find it had three nails in a single tire so in return, I got a bottle of our favorite Malbec that we discovered on our honeymoon, and made him dinner using his new favorite vegetable (bok choy) and a grilled salmon.

I took this Hoisin Salmon recipe and followed it exactly, but added some of my own...pizazz....to the bok choy. When we've bought bok choy prior to this, we've only been able to find the big momma kind, but this time, the baby bok bunches were on display so I grabbed two thinking one bunch would be enough for each of us. Note to self and to you: get more than that for two people. I forgot they wilt down, much like spinach, but not as volume decreasing. Try four and if you have leftovers, that's fantastic.

Nutritional facts can be found here, calculated at SparkRecipes.com.

Grocery List:
Recipe yields 2 servings

For the salmon:

• 2 salmon fillets (nutritional facts were based on a 4oz salmon fillet and an 6 oz salmon fillet)
• 2 tbsp. Hoisin
• 2 tsp. Tamari (low-sodium, organic soy sauce)
• 1-2 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. Mirin (sweet rice wine - an adaption from original recipe)
• 1 large garlic clove, smashed then minced (smashing allows the garlic to release oils, creating a stronger flavor. Also by spreading it out and smashing before mincing, you are creating more of a minced paste, rather than minced bits, helping it to permeate into the sauce, rather than remain in chunks and burn - learned this at a Central Market cooking class and wanted to share that tidbit with you!)

For the bok choy:

•  2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup green onions, chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1-2 tbsp. of freshly grated ginger root
• 4 baby bok choy bunches, rinsed and leaves separated from the base, trimmed
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes

We start be prepping the salmon. I felt compelled to take advantage of the nicer weather and use the grill for that nice, smokey taste. First, start your grill and let it get nice and hot. Next, we make the marinade/sauce for the salmon fillets. In a small bowl, combined the hoisin, tamari, Mirin, brown sugar and garlic.

Place the fillets skin up in a dish and cover in the sauce, reserving about 3 tbsp worth of sauce for later, then flip over to skin side down. Marinate for 15-20 minutes to allow the fish oils in the skin to seem down into the meat of the fillet for those omega 3s. By removing the skin prior to cooking, you do not reap the full health benefits of the fish. That one I learned from the meat counter man at Central Market. I looked it up, he is correct. Once it has marinated, set it on a grill pan and grill for 10-12 minutes.

Finally, take a saute pan, wok or large skillet and heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the green onion and cook for about 3 minutes, followed by the garlic. Add the bok choy, followed by the ginger and sprinkle with the red pepper flakes. Add a little more olive oil if needed. Place a lid over top and let wilt down for about 3 minutes.

Finally, we take the salmon, apply the left over glaze and turn on the broiler to low. Stick the salmon in for 2 minutes and broil to finish caramelizing the sauce onto the fish and adding a nice, crisp top. Dish the fish on a plate and pair with your greens, dinner is served!

Tastefully yours,

Make a Meal: Spinach-Basil Pesto Pasta with Caprese Chicken Stacks

 

For Labor Day, I had a fun little girls weekend with my two Maids of Honor. Amy and I went southbound 35 to visit Greer for a little time together, just the three of us and one thing I knew I could count on was a fun cooking night. We went to a local farmers market to find inspiration and ended up deciding on an Italian theme. We bought fresh vegetables and Italian peppers, then found a fresh pasta place where we bought three fresh pastas: a fettuccine, a spinach fusilli, and a pecorino-peppercorn cavatelli pasta. For sauces, we bought a vodka sauce from the pasta place then made our own fresh basil pesto. For toppings, we sauteed the fresh farmers market vegetables to toss with pasta and olive oil, then made some easy balsamic chicken chunks. When we put it all together, it was ahh-mazing. See below for our little pasta bar!

 

Fast forward to this week, Mr. Max and I were meal planning.  I was still having some serious food envy of all the leftovers that Greer had, and DVR envy from the ridiculous amount of recorded hours of The Hills, but that's another story. We may or may not have bypassed our Saturday plans to explore Austin so that we could watch 10.5 hours of that reality TV gold.

 

Busted. Name that scene! The "he's a sucky, sucky person" confrontation was one of the best between Lauren and Hiedi, next was the "you KNOW what you did" at Les Duex.

Back to the featured post dish, I was craving some pesto after thinking about the delicious stuff we made over Labor Day and decided to pick up some whole wheat fusilli to revamp my ever-changing chicken caprese. This recipe was quick and easy, I made it on one of my busiest work weeks of the year, meaning I was tired, maybe slightly grouchy and was ready to eat some dinner so I could go to bed. That said, this took all of 20 minutes from prep start to plated finish.

Nutritional facts can be found here.

Grocery List:
Recipe Yields 3-4 servings
For the Pesto Pasta (forgive me, rough estimates I tried to track as I went)

• 1/2 cup spinach
• 1/2 cup basil
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 large pinches of Parmesan
• 2 tbsp. pine nuts
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1.5 cups spinach, packed
• 2 cups pasta (I made extra for Mr. Max's appetite and a lunch portion)

For the Caprese Chicken

• 3 chicken cutlets (4 oz. each)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• Italian seasoning
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 6 thin slices of part-skim mozzarella
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved  
• Balsamic glaze

To start, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Bring salted water to a boil and add the pasta noodles. Cook for about 8-10 minutes or until al dente. 

Next, combine the spinach, basil, garlic, pine nuts and Parm in the food processor and grind. Add the olive oil slowly and continue to grind until you've reached a smooth, desired pesto consistency.

Toss your tomatoes in just a splash of olive oil. Spread the halves over a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Roast in the oven for twenty minutes until puckered and slightly browned.

Take your chicken cutlets and cut them in half so you have small, slider size slabs of chicken. Place them in a bowl and toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to evenly coat the chicken. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.

Place the chicken in a foil lined baking dish and place in the oven for 4 minutes to cook. After 4 minutes, remove from the oven, flip and add the sliced mozzarella to the top of each chicken. Cook for another 5 minutes.

 

 

Once the pasta is ready, drain and dry with paper towels. In a large saute pan, combine the pasta with the pesto and add the additional spinach to let wilt over low-medium heat.

Once the chicken is ready, make a bed of the pasta on a plate or bowl and then top with the chicken and scoop of roasted tomatoes, then drizzle with an ever so slight balsamic glaze. In the picture at the very top of this post, I had stacked the chicken with layer of tomatoes between and again on top. In the one below, the two chicken pieces are side by side.

Tastefully yours,

Parmesan-Pesto Crusted Halibut

 

Oh my, it is a whiny Wednesday! Do you ever have those days where you know you are just in a mood? To quote my dear, sweet, little mother, sometimes you just feel the need to "beech, beech, beeeeech, beech, beeech," - if not obvious, please infer that as the phonetic version of another word. First time she said this, mom made a cute little face, and in a high pitched voice that oddly sounds like an Italian accent, she squealed that little phrase to me and it stuck. Now we like to use it when we feel the need to "beeech" about things. So....

It is a stormy night and Mr. Max is stuck in OKC due to the weather. It took me over an hour to get home from work tonight. My camera battery is dead and a charge cord is no where to be found. I've had a sharp pain at the base of my neck for two weeks that really escalated today and I can't turn my head without sending sharp pains up and over. My left eye won't stop twitching from editing documents, working on lists and spreadsheets this week. I lost a favorite earring today.

Whooo. Done! Got anything you need to beeeech about? Go ahead, let it out! The rain and neck pain deterred me from going to yoga tonight where all this beeeeeching would have become much more subdued, so I'm going to partake in my other de-stress hobby and take it all out in the kitchen. Nothing a little glass of red wine, a Motown playlist and a cutting board can't cure.

Let's talk about tonight's delicious dish, shall we? You take a fish fillet and roast it until it's crispy and flaky, that's "mmm-mmm good" right there. You top it with some fresh basil pesto then dust with breadcrumbs and Parmesan, that is "quit your beeeeching" good. There aren't many times you can pair cheese with fish, but in this case, the Parmesan mirrors the breadcrumbs and helps to create a crispy, great tasting topping. To really take this dish and your taste buds to the next level, I like to saute some cherry tomato halves in just a smidge of balsamic vinegar and garlic. Allow them  to pucker from the heat and soak in the tang, creating a tomato-relish to serve over top. This recipe also works beautifully with chicken breast, which is how I originally started making it after a restaurant experience.

This is an easy under 30 minute meal. Click here to get the nutritional facts calculated at SparkRecipes.com; 1 serving of halibut is equivalent to 8 WW points.

Grocery List:

• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 3 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp. lemon zest (especially with the fish, adds another flavor dimension that really complements natural flavors)
• 2 tbsp. fresh basil pesto, divided
• 2 halibut fillets (4-6 oz. each)
• 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

So mentioned above, I have no battery power in my camera and can't find the charger. I'm going to leave tonight's step by steps to Instagram pics which I have little to no experience with. To start, preheat your oven to 450 degrees and coat a baking dish with nonstick spray. In a small bowl, combine the panko, Parm, and the lemon zest in a bowl, mixing up with your hands.

With the pesto, evenly spread 1 tbsp. atop each fillet and set in the baking dish.

 

Lightly sprinkle the panko mixture onto the pesto and gently press down to help adhere to the top of the fillet. A little trick to assist in the browned breadcrumb top look is to lightly spray a bit of the cooking spray over the top. This is why I buy fat free spray :-) The lemon zest really stands out in this pic - it doesn't in real life.

 

Stick the fillets in the oven and let roast for about 10 minutes, or until the tops look slightly browned. While the fish is cooking, it's time to fix the topping. In a small skillet, begin to cook the minced garlic on medium heat in the olive oil until fragrant - about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and balsamic and cook until tomatoes pucker. Turn the heat down if needed to prevent the garlic from burning.

 

When the timer goes off, check the fish. If it flakes at the touch of a fork, it's ready! Remove from the oven and top with your tomato relish, serve and enjoy!

Tastefully yours, 

 

 

Make a Meal: Spicy Shrimp and Polenta

There are some days that I look forward to just sharing a recipe because we enjoyed it and I want someone else out there to be able to enjoy it too. There are other days that I look forward to the aspect of being able to write about food and life, how they connect with one another. Today is a day I feel like writing, so I will. Ahem...

For a few months toward the end of 2011, I had a little side gig as a contributor to Dallas Observer's City of Ate blog. A friend had sent me an ad they posted about looking for writers with new and different perspectives, so I decided why not. I submit an idea to take restaurant favorites and recreate to try to make them easier, cheaper and healthier than going out to dine at a restaurant. It was a fun bit to have, but one that didn't fit in well with my work schedule. I found I was spending much more money dining out, then buying ingredients for the recreation, and more time dining out, then creating, then potentially creating again, then writing, then editing, then re-writing.... it was much more than I had planned on in order to meet their deadlines and expectations. I realized that my hobby was just that, a hobby, and I would keep it as such on my own time and on my own terms.

However, I've had fun with that premise, it's intrigued me for years, and it is something that has inspired a lot of recipes I've made. When Max Man and I first started dating, he was finishing his masters and was in study mode for finals. We got to know each other by staying in and cooking together, rather than going out to eat a lot. That set the tone for our relationship where we would scour restaurant menus and look for appealing dishes to make at home or wander the grocery stores of Central Market putting together a basket of food, then making it work back at one of our apartments. The next year of our little courtship, he started the CFA exam - only offered once a year, this takes up much of his spare time in the spring months before the June test. During that time, we started coming up with low-key date night alternatives, which if we weren't going to a cooking class, we were studying various cooking school menus, researching recipes and making those at home, learning and trying new things together. It has been an activity that encompasses the beginning of our relationship and a common interest that we bonded on early. We always look forward to the nights we get to cook together - and of course, I'm biased, but I have the best sous chef in my kitchen! He is the left-brain to my right-brain tendencies and it's a great balance for us.

Max Man is typically apart of the Sunday meal planning exercise, though during the spring, with his work busy season and study season for the CFA, he can't help cook very often. We chose our challenge dish for the week and decided to make it on a night that he could get off work early enough to cook it up together.

Tonight's Make a Meal dish is inspired by a plate at a local restaurant favorite, Victor Tango's, where my Lobster Mac and Jack post derived from. We tried it recently at a birthday dinner: chili-garlic shrimp served over creamy polenta - it was to.die.for. I had a few shrimp dishes that I've made before using Sriracha, sweet chili sauce, some garlic and honey so I decided to resort to those for some ingredient choices. I searched for a lighter, lower cal polenta recipe, not wanting to compromise the creamy consistency and this one did the trick! This was just as good as the restaurant and definitely met my three objectives to be healthier (more than likely because I was in control as to what went in it), easier and cheaper than going to Victor Tango's and getting this on any given night.


Grocery List:
For shrimp - enough for 3 servings. Nutritional facts found here, calculated to 2 WW points, serving size is 5-6 shrimp.

• 3/4 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 tbsp. low sodium Ponzu (a citrus enhanced soy sauce - great for cooking with fish)
• 2 tbsp. chili sauce
• 1 tsp. mirin
• 2 tbsp. Sriracha
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Scallions, chopped

For polenta - enough for 5 servings. Nutritional facts found here, calculated to 5 WW points, serving size is equal to 1/2 cup.

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Dried thyme and parsley to taste
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups fat free skim milk
• 1 cup polenta
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano

The polenta takes about 15 minutes to make, compared to the 10 minutes for the shrimp, so we will start with the polenta. In a large stock pot, heat the butter and olive oil on medium heat to melt the butter. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the thyme and parsley.

 

Pour in the chicken broth and skim milk, bring to a boil.

 

While you are waiting for this to boil, start the shrimp. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the ponzu, chili sauce, mirin, sriracha, and garlic.

 

Add the shrimp to the sauce and mix to fully coat. Heat a skillet to medium-high heat and pour the shrimp in. Cook for about 2 minutes and flip to cook another 2 minutes on the other side. 

As the shrimpies cook, slowly whisk the polenta into the pot, a little at a time to prevent from clumping. Turn the heat down to a medium-low heat and continue to whisk as the polenta thickens.

 

Add the parm and stir until it is melted in.

Ladle one scoop of the polenta into a shallow bowl and top with the spicy shrimp and any additional sauce. Top with chopped scallions and serve!

Tastefully yours,

Ahi Tuna Tower

I have been going through a phase, frequently taking lunch to run over to Edohana Sushi to pick up a tuna tower to go, or finding any excuse to "happy hour" at Naan to indulge. This week, I decided - how hard could it be to make one? But importantly, just how "good" or "bad" are these little towers? I felt compelled to take that challenge, recreate at home and calculate the nutritional facts just to see.

Looking at the ingredients, you've got your Sashimi-grade tuna, crab meat, avocado, and sushi rice. I have a plethora of Sriracha, mayonaise, tamari but I decided I wanted eel sauce, I love eel sauce! Tuna towers are also typically topped with Masago, the little orange and black caviar beads that sit atop the tower, something I decided to do without to save some money.

I needed some kind of tube-like container to mold the tower into. I had this double-open-ended measuring device that my mom bought me at a Pampered Chef party recently. Thank you momma, I don't really use it for what it is intended for, but you helped me create the tuna tower with it. The crab and tuna was bought and measured out to my needs at Rex's Seafood, a fantastic Dallas fish market. That meant I only had to pay for what I was using, and the total was under $7! The rest of the ingredients were all things I had on hand, and the Sushi counter at Central Market gave us 2 tbsp. of eel sauce in a small container, and the sushi rice for free! Total time this took to make? A whopping 15 minutes.

Now, for the best part... one serving size is equal to half a tuna tower, meaning it's perfect to share. Click here for the awesome nutritional facts for this recipe calculated at SparkRecipes.com. For a weight watchers conversion, this is a total of 6 points per serving. 

Grocery List:

3 oz. Sashimi grade tuna

2/3 cup chopped crab meat

1/2 cup cooked sushi rice

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. Sriracha 

1 tbsp. fat-free mayonnaise  

1 tsp. Tamari (organic, low sodium soy sauce)

1 finely chopped avocado (used about 1/3 cup's worth)

Ponzu sauce

Eel Sauce 

To start, mix your mayo with the sriracha in a small bowl.

Make sure your sashimi tuna is chopped up nice and small! Add the sesame oil and the Tamari to give it some flavor.

Combine 1 spoonful of the mayo combo with the diced crab meat and mix together well to get completely coated. I added just a small shake of Ponzu sauce as well.

Drizzle the leftover mayo on the plate, along with some ponzu and eel sauce. That part for me was rather hasty and not so tactful, a less than mediocre presentation attempt... I used a fat-free olive oil spray to just "grease" the inside of the tube so that I could gently push the contents out with ease. With one end of the container on the plate, start with your rice and push it down, packing it in. Follow and top with the crab mix.

Next, take your avocado and add that layer over top the crab.

Finally, it's tuna time - add this layer over top your avocado, gently pushing down. 

Lift the tube about 1 inch from the plate and again, gently push on the top, sliding the contents out slowly to keep them from coming apart at each layer. As more slide out, lift the tube higher until it is all done and then ta-da - it's a tower!

After transporting from the kitchen to the table, it started to become a little wobbly. I used just a little bit of mayo in the crab to keep the fat and calories down. That means it didn't have enough to hold it together for a solid second-layer base. By the time I got to the table, it was a leaning tower of tuna but I guess that didn't really matter because it was time to smash it up! To eat, take two forks and begin to mash it all together. Drizzle with additional sauce of your choice and dig in. Even Mr. Max was wild about this one, it was a perfect portion for the two of us to share.

Tastefully yours,

Crab Wontons

I'm excited to bring you a guest post by one of my favorite foodie friends and Girls Night In chickies, Meredith at Average Insanity. Mere and I went to "rival" elementary schools and have known each other since the 7th grade through mutual friends. We then ended up at the same college, and fate continued to put us together in the real-world; we realized that life really wanted us to be friends! When she had heard about a project I was developing, she was one of the first on board to help start the young professionals, non-profit organization for the pediatric hospital that I work for. We've worked closely together in this volunteer role, serving on the board together for now the third year, and she's become such a dear friend. Meredith is one of the most genuine, tell-it-like-it-is girls I know, with a true servant's heart. She works hard on all she does and is the first to say - let me help! I admire how fun she is, how humble she is, how real she is. At our monthly Girls Night In, it was her turn to host and her contribution consisted of these amazing little crab wontons. Without further adieu, meet Meredith!

 Hi, I'm Meredith.

Our Asian-Fusion themed girls cooking night started out with a great little recipe from the Reckless Abandon food blog.   Rachel is an amazing cook and blogger who we met through involvement in "The One" Society: Young Professionals for Children's.  These Mini Crab Rangoons are quite possibly my new favorite little appetizer to make and so easy.  Since there was only three of us, I halved her original recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 package wonton wrappers
• 1 can crab mea, drained
• 1 block light cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup light sour cream
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp lemon juice
• 1 mini cupcake pan

I went to Whole Foods and they were out of wonton wrappers, so I figured the egg roll wrappers next to the empty row of wonton wrappers would do when in a pinch! 

1. Heat the oven to 350. 

2. Cut the egg roll wrappers to fit a mini cupcake tin and push into the cup to make a shell.  Once they are ready, place the muffin tin into the oven for around 5 minutes to get the shell crispy.

 

3. While the shells are getting all nice and golden browned add all the other ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. 

 

4. Once the shells are done browning, about 5 min, take them out of the oven and cool for a minute.   

5. Once the shells have cooled a bit, add about a tablespoon of the crab mix to the shell and top with a small square cut wrapper to cover the entire mixture inside.

 

6. Last but not least, pop them in the oven for about 12 to 15 minutes until browned. 

 

7. Let them cool for about 5 minutes before eating. 

 

I made a little peanut/soy sauce dip to go with the rangoons, which was just a eyeballed combination of soy sauce and peanut sauce mixed together.  Easy peasy and soooooo yummy!  This is a definite keeper, thanks to Rachel for the GREAT recipe!!!!