BLT's with Salmon and Avocado

I knew that there had to be a way to use the rest of my salmon from dinner last night in a new way that would make it taste less dry. On my drive home today I came up with the idea to make a sandwich.

I made a quick salmon salad using the salmon from last night flaked apart, mayo, mustard, fresh chopped parsley, chopped pickle, grated gouda parana, onion salt and ground red pepper.

I prepped the lettuce, tomato, avocado, cooked the bacon and sliced some mozzarella cheese.

To make these sandwiches I put some mayo on a slice of bread and topped it with a large spoonful of the salmon mixture and two slices of mozzarella. This was placed in a large pan with melted butter and covered until the cheese was melted. I removed the half sandwich from the pan and added the other slice of bread to toast it up. I topped the half with tomato, lettuce, bacon, sliced avocado and the other slice of bread.

I served the sandwiches with some asparagus that I grilled in the same pan used to make the bacon and used some of the bacon fat to cook this until tender.

Although this was definitely not the healthiest meal, I definitely succeeded in turning this dry salmon into a wonderfully moist salad! It was so good and Dylan loved it tonight, she even asked me for more.

Salmon, Potato Salad and Tomato Cucumber Salad

Dinner tonight turned into a meal of salads with a side of salmon. It wasn't actually meant to be that way when I started out and I was originally going to make up some asparagus, but I was too tired today so I just made a quick salad to go with the leftover potato salad that I made over the weekend. I was also supposed to have some nice bread to go along with it, but waiting for that to warm up proved to be too much effort even. I'd say that even with the added shortcuts to dinner tonight it still turned out pretty decent though.

However, I did overcook my salmon by a few minutes unfortunately. I happened to get distracted (apparently easy to do today) and forgot that it needed to come out of the oven. Thankfully the sauce that I marinated it in added enough flavor that it made up for the dryness of the overcooked fish. The sauce that I made to marinate the salmon in for about an hour before cooking it at 425 for what was supposed to only be about 20 minutes, was made up of a mixture of fresh orange juice, orange zest, brown sugar, salt, ground red peppercorns and cinnamon.

The potato salad that I made over the weekend was just cooked, cubed potatoes mixed with a mayo sour cream dressing which also included chopped pickles, onions, salt, black pepper, fresh thyme and parsley. I also added a few chopped hard boiled eggs.

For the tomato cucumber salad, I simply chopped up some tomatoes, red onion and cucumber and added this to a bowl with rice wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, black pepper, chopped fresh parsley and a bit of sugar to taste. This was stirred just to coat and set aside while I made the rest of the meal.

Overall I was pretty happy with the way that everything turned out, I just really wish that I hadn't overcooked my salmon. It turned out so dry that my daughter didn't even ask for more and she LOVES to eat salmon. Better luck next time I guess.

Veggie Soup!

Because I have SO many vegetables in my fridge, acquired from the last couple of weeks of not being able to cook very much. I decided that it was definitely time to make a soup, especially since I had kale in my bin today and it is so tasty in a vegetable soup.

To a large stock pot I added chopped spring onion, rhubarb, celery, carrot and minced garlic. I sauteed this in a bit of olive oil and butter, just until the onion became translucent and the vegetables started to cook a bit. I then added chopped asparagus, red bell pepper, yellow squash and tomatoes along with a few sprigs of fresh thyme. To this I added 2 boxes of low sodium chicken stock, some sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, I brought to a boil and simmered until all of the vegetables were cooked through.  Then chopped kale, shelled peas and drained, rinsed white beans were added to the pot.  The soup was cooked just long enough for the kale to wilt and the beans to be heated through.  Once the soup was done, I added some chopped fresh parsley.

Honestly, the only thing I would have done differently was leave out the white beans. I'm not a huge fan of white beans as it is so maybe I just really wasn't in the mood for them, I think that this soup was hearty enough that I could have left those out. Other than that, this soup was extremely filling and very tasty!

Aidan (the pickiest eater in the house) preferred my soup to the canned chowder that his father gave him. I took this as a huge compliment considering he usually does not enjoy my food, but after picking out the red stuff (peppers and tomatoes) and the kale, he really enjoyed it! He said that if it didn't have that stuff in it he would be gobbling it up! His favorite part was the asparagus and yellow squash.  I'm so happy that I finally got some vegetables in him!!! Breakthrough!!

Dylan also really enjoyed it and I have enough left over to put in the freezer so that Greg can take it with him to the cabin. 

I'm extremely happy that I was able to cook dinner tonight, as it's been way too long since I've gotten to on a Friday and I was able to use up many of my vegetables and make room for the new ones.

Friday Bin 6/24

My bin today was full of green colored items!

Lacinato Kale
Local Spinach
Local Leaf Lettuce
Local Snap Peas
Local Bunched Beets
Sweet Nante Carrots
Red Pepper
Yellow Squash
Roma Tomatoes
Cantaloupe
Nectarines
Valencia Oranges
Blueberries

I'm really happy to have kale in my bin today, it is one of my favorite greens and the yellow squash was so good from last week's bin that I'm glad to see it again today! Also the snap peas are a wonderful addition, I love fresh peas.  I'm also really excited that it's my first friday night that I get to cook dinner in a long time!!

Naked Burrito's with Broccoli Sauce and Nectarine Salsa

The other day when my mom was telling me about going home to make taco's for Taco Tuesday, I thought that it sounded really yummy. I started thinking of a creative twist to make my version and came up with a naked burrito.

I started off by making the salsa so that the flavors would have time to come together while I was making the rest of the meal.  I put chopped spring onion, minced garlic, chopped nectarines and tomatoes into a food processor and blended just until finely chopped.  I poured this into a small bowl with some lemon juice and sea salt.

Then I made the rice and started on the veggies.  I added chopped onion and minced garlic to a large saute pan along with some butter and olive oil. This was cooked until softened, then I added chopped yellow squash and asparagus along with some fajita seasoning.  The veggies were cooked until softened but still had a bit of a bite so that they didn't turn to mush.

For the beans I added one can of drained, rinsed black beans to a small sauce pan along with a 1/4 cup beef broth, some chopped parsley and ground red pepper and cooked until heated through.

The sauce was just simply the leftover broccoli soup from the other night that I brought to a simmer and cooked until it began to thicken up slightly.

To assemble this dish I placed a spoonful of rice into a bowl, topped with a spoonful of beans and veggies. I poured a little broccoli sauce on top and added a small scoop of the salsa along with some sour cream, avocado and a light sprinkle of parmesan cheese.  I also warmed a tortilla and served this alongside.

I have to say that this turned out surprisingly well for having so many interesting flavor combinations. Dylan loved it so much that she actually ate 4, yes 4 big bowls of this (along with two tortilla's)! Even Aidan, the picky eater that never eats my food, really enjoyed having the broccoli sauce on his rice!

Broccoli Soup with Crostini and Gremolata

While flipping through one of my cookbooks the other day, I came across this really great sounding broccoli soup. Since I was in fact looking for a broccoli recipe because I seem to have more than I know what to do with again and the recipe called for spinach, which I also happened to have, I figured I had to give this one a try.

Start off by heating olive oil and butter in a large stock pot until heated, add a tablespoon of minced garlic and cook until just beginning to brown.  To this add half an onion, chopped, and 2 celery stalks also chopped.  Cook this over medium to medium low heat for about ten minutes, without letting it brown, until softened. Add 2 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme and 5 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, add one and a half pounds of broccoli florets, bring back to a boil and simmer for about another ten minutes, until the broccoli is very tender.  Add 4 cups loosely packed spinach and 2 teaspoons lemon zest, stir until all of the spinach is wilted.

At this point, you are supposed to add it to a blender in about 3 batches and combine until well pureed. I however do not have a blender any longer, so I had the pleasure of taking about 20 minutes to puree this in a tiny 1 cup food processor. By the time I was done, I decided that this better be one hell of a good soup to go to this much effort for and I won't be making it again until I get a new blender or maybe I will invest in one of those immersion blenders, which would be perfect for this.

Once completely pureed, add soup back to stock pot and warm over medium low until just warmed back through, stir in 1 cup of heavy cream.

I also followed the recommendation to serve this with crostini and gremolata, both of which were very easy to make. For the gremolata mix together 1 tablespoon roasted hazelnuts (finely chopped), 1 1/2 tablespoons bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1/8 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley.  I also added in about a tablespoon of finely grated parmesan cheese and stirred to combine.  For the crostini, I melted 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a large saute pan, added about 6 slices of french bread and toasted until brown, I added another tablespoon of butter to the pan and flipped the slices over to brown on the other side.

To serve this soup, I ladled into bowls and added a spoonful (or two) of the gremolata on top and served 2 (or 3 or 4) slices of crostini alongside.

Wow. Thank you Michael Chiarello for your amazing broccoli soup recipe. And thank you even more for making it worth the effort of going through the hassle to blend this all together.  I am definitely going to be making this again the next time I have too much broccoli on hand!  I think that the addition of the gremolata really brings the flavors of this soup together, so if you are planning on making this I highly recommend making that too.

Fruit Salad

This morning it occurred to me that my child can not survive on cupcakes alone (even though she had one for dinner last night and it was the first thing she ate today) and realized that I have all of this wonderful fruit! I figured that the best way to showcase all of these wonderful items was to make a fruit salad, it is simple, quick and tasty.

I chopped, sliced and segmented green grapes, peaches, nectarines, apples, oranges, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries (I had these leftover from some cupcakes that I made yesterday) and then I squeezed a blood orange and an orange over the top and stirred to combine.

I feel that this was the best way to start off our busy day today and I think that I will definitely be doing this more often on the weekends!

Friday Bin 6/17

Well, last week turned out to be quite a bit busier than I ever thought it would be! I didn't have hardly any time to cook dinner however, I was busy making cupcakes so I guess that worked out.

This week's bin is especially colorful, so much so that even my daughter exclaimed "Whoa, that's a pretty colorful bin!"

Sweet Nante Carrots
Cucumber
Local Spinach
Red Pepper
Roma Tomatoes
Yellow Squash
Radishes
Local Leaf Lettuce
New Crop Yellow Potatoes
Local Asparagus
Cantaloupe
Valencia Oranges
Pink Lady Apples
Bananas
Nectarines
Blueberries

I'm really thinking that with school being out now and things (hopefully) starting to slow down a bit that I should be able to make more meals this week, especially since I still have most of my veggies from last week!

Tiki Pulled Pork Sliders with Simple Spinach Mango Salad

I seem to be on a pork kick these days, but really is there anything better than pulled pork? When done right it really is my favorite thing to eat and usually the only time you will ever find me craving meat. So, when I came across this Tiki Pork Starter at Williams Sonoma, I absolutely had to try it. This sauce has pineapple, soy, onions, cider vinegar, crushed red pepper and spices which is poured over a boneless pork shoulder cut into four pieces and slow cooked on high for 4 hours.  I added a thinly sliced, halved onion to the cooker as well for some added texture and flavor.

After shredding the pork and mixing this back into the sauce, I piled it on top of toasted mini brioche buns with a little gruyere cheese and diced tomato.

To serve alongside this, I made a simple salad of chopped spinach with a light dressing of fresh orange juice, salt and black pepper. The salad was topped with chopped mango.

I also picked up a bottle of Whiskey Pickles from Williams Sonoma and served this with the sliders.

This Tiki sauce was worth every penny and I now have enough leftovers for dinner tomorrow night, which will be great considering how busy the rest of my week is going to be. The pork turned out moist and full of flavor, just like it should be.  The addition of the onion proved to be a wise choice too.

I am also pretty happy with the decision to add just a simple salad with this dish, since there is so much flavor going on already and the mango complimented the pork really well.

Dylan enjoyed this so much that she had 3 relatively good sized sliders. Honestly, I don't think that I have ever seen her eat so fast. Before I even had my first one finished she was almost done with her second and asking for a third.

Friday Bin 6/10/11

Well this is being posted a bit late considering Friday was yesterday, but I was SO busy with getting my daughter to her roller derby practice and making cupcakes for her theatre group today that I just didn't have time.  I'm still getting the smaller personal sized bin, but have plenty to make dinner with this coming week and I've just about gotten caught up with my produce so that I can go back to the full size bin in a week or so.

In my bin this week I have:

Broccoli
Cucumber
Junior Carrots
Local Spring Onions
Red Pepper
Roma Tomatoes
New Crop Yello Potatoes
Red Leaf Lettuce
Rhubarb
Local Asparagus
Cantaloupe
Pink Lady Apples
Spring Flame Peaches
Seedless Green Grapes
Bananas
Strawberries

While I do have a busy week ahead of me, I'm looking forward to finding another creative way to use the rhubarb and should be able to use most of these items to make some quick weeknight meals.

Pork Shoulder with Apple Rhubarb Sauce

So after giving it some thought, I knew that there had to be a tasty way to use rhubarb in something other than a strawberry dessert and came across a recipe where it had been used with apples to make a glaze for pork. Now, I altered my recipe quite a bit from the one that I found online, however the idea is the same.

I took a 3 pound boneless pork shoulder and placed it into a slow cooker. I rubbed all sides with salt, black pepper and finely chopped fresh sage, then poured one box of chicken stock over top and one 12 oz bottle of apple juice. This was then set to low and allowed to cook for 5 1/2 hours.

When the pork was done, I spooned out the liquid into a large sauce pan, leaving the pork fat on the bottom of the pan as well as a couple spoonfuls of the liquid (this I used to baste the pork while it stayed in the slow cooker to keep warm).  To the cooking liquid I added 2 peeled, finely chopped apples and 2 large stalks of rhubarb, finely chopped, as well as half of an onion, chopped, 3 cloves of garlic, minced, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup of unsalted butter.  This was brought to a boil, then the heat was reduced to medium for 40 minutes until the liquid was reduced by half.  I then mixed together 1/4 cup of cornstarch and 1/2 cup of water and slowly poured this into the sauce while stirring, I only ended up using about half of the cornstarch mixture because the sauce became thick as I was stirring which was my indication that I had added enough, but depending upon how much liquid you have you might end up using all of it.

I pulled off a few chunks of the pork, which was so juicy and tender I couldn't wait to eat it, and poured a spoonful of the sauce on top.

For the sides I made a really quick coleslaw.  All that it consisted of was a dressing made from 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, one tablespoon of sugar, one tablespoon of olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper to taste. I whisked the dressing until combined and added about two cups of shredded cabbage, tossing to coat.  I allowed this to sit while I made the sauce for the pork and every 5 minutes or so, I stirred the cabbage around so that the flavors would incorporate evenly.  I also made up some quick smashed new potatoes, mixed with a little butter and milk.

If I could eat meat covered in this sauce every day I would be one happy girl, I even put it all over my potatoes!  Even my boyfriend loved it! In fact, he enjoyed it so much that he took the rest with him on his trip out of town to the cabin. He has never taken food with him before, so I took this as a really good sign that I had fully redeemed myself when it comes to cooking meat.

Asparagus, Red Pepper and Spring Onion Omelettes

I'm posting this a day late. This was last night's dinner and since all I made for dinner tonight was some corn on the cob, I figured that wouldn't make for a very entertaining post.

I chose to make omelettes for dinner last night, even though I don't eat eggs, because for some crazy reason, it just really sounded good!  I whisked 5 eggs in a large bowl with a little milk, salt and black pepper. I poured half of the eggs into a small pan and cooked until the eggs were set. To one side I added, chopped asparagus, red bell pepper and spring onion, then sprinkled the vegetables with some wonderful gouda parana cheese and folded the other half of the egg on top. I repeated to make the other.  Then I sprinkled more of the cheese on top of the finished omelettes.

Apparently these turned out great, but I wouldn't know because I never even got to take a bite of mine. Dylan had hers finished before I even got to consider picking up my fork and was asking me for the other one too.  I really couldn't say no, considering if she was hungry I should let her eat. So, as good as they sounded, I guess I won't know how they turned out until I make them again, which I assume won't be for a while since I very rarely think of eggs sounding good. So I'm taking Dylan's word for it that these were Awesome!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Rhubarb Filling and Lemon Buttercream

When I found out that I was getting rhubarb in my bin, I was really excited remembering the strawberry rhubarb compote at Lola's the other weekend. I just knew that I had to figure out how to make my own version and thought it would make a wonderful filling for a cupcake! 

I added a cup of chopped rhubarb, a cup of chopped strawberries, a cup of sugar and the juice and lemon zest from one lemon to a sauce pan and brought this to a boil.  The heat was reduced and the mixture simmered until it began to thicken and then I removed from the heat to cool.  It turned out pretty great! Not ever having cooked with rhubarb before I was really rather impressed with myself.

So I decided on just a simple vanilla cupcake and figured that the lemon buttercream would compliment the filling pretty nicely.

So far, these cupcakes have been a huge success and have officially been added to my seasonal flavor list for Cupcakes by Jess!

Friday Bin 6/3/11

I am so happy with today's bin that I've been talking about it since last week! 

Now, I did continue with the smaller personal bin this week, however I added a few of the featured fruits and veggies in as well.

Sweet Corn
Ataulfo Mangoes
Roma Tomatoes
Seedless Red Grapes
Spring Onions
Broccoli
New Crop Yellow Potatoes
Spring Flame Peaches
Pink Lady Apples
Asparagus
Bananas
Rhubarb
Strawberries

We've already eaten the bananas, which were excellent, and I've sampled the grapes too and they were delicious! I can't wait to take them to work with me next week to snack on. I also have never cooked with rhubarb before, so I'm really looking forward to trying this out and have already got some ideas that I hope work out for it!

Stuffed Cabbage

I knew that I had to use this beautiful head of cabbage before tomorrow, so when I ran across a recipe for stuffed cabbage I figured I should give it a try.  It was really quite easy to make.  I made a pot of rice, and set a large pot of water to boil for the cabbage leaves and boiled them for about 5 minutes, just to soften them up.  In a large bowl I mixed together ground beef, chopped onion, a couple spoonfuls of canned tomato soup and canned fire roasted diced tomatoes, a beaten egg, salt, black pepper and when the rice was done, I added a cup of rice and mixed it up until just combined.

I placed a spoonful of the meat mixture into each of the cabbage leaves, rolled it up like a burrito and secured with toothpicks.  These were then placed into a large saute pan and covered with the remaining tomato soup and diced tomato. I brought this to a boil and reduced the heat to low and simmered for 45 minutes.

I still can't believe how easy this dish was and it turned out great! The bottoms of my cabbage did get a little overcooked though so next time I might consider placing some of the tomato soup on the bottom of the pan first, but really I couldn't even taste that they were over done. It was more just me being picky about the visual aspect of it when I picked them up.

Dylan is currently on her second one and says that dinner is awesome!