Peach Glazed Salmon

I asked for suggestions for dinner and the response I got was, "salmon with...peaches!" After mulling it over for a while I decided to make an Asian inspired Peach Glazed Salon dish. For making it up as I went along, I say it turned out pretty damn good. I paired the salmon with some brown rice and stir fried vegetables. 

I would suggest starting the rice first.

Brown Rice with Chives

• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1 table spoon of chopped chives

1. Make the rice and once it's finished cooking, fluff the rice and add chives to add some color and flavor.

Peach Glazed Salmon

• 1 pound salmon fillet
• 2 peaches diced 
• 2 chives chopped (mainly for garnishing)
• Juice from one lime
• 1 teaspoon of lime zest
• 4 large leaves of mint finely chopped
• 3 sprigs of lemon thyme
• 1 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
• crumbled goat cheese (optional)

1. In a bowl combine everything listed above expect the goat cheese and salmon. Mix and crush everything together with your fingers. 
2. Heat the oven to 375. Take out a baking sheet and some tin foil and set the salmon fillet on the tin foil. Pour the peach mixture (glaze? salsa? chutney?) over the salmon covering the top of the entire fillet. Wrap the salmon in the foil making a nice foil pocket so all the moisture doesn't escape. 
3. Bake for 25 minutes. 
4. Though it may look a little gross, leave the peaches on the salmon! That's where flavor lives. 

Stir frying vegetables is pretty easy to do just take out a skillet or a wok, turn the stove on medium and add the following ingredients in the order they're listed in.

Stir-Fried Vegetables

• Olive Oil
• Onion
• Garlic
• Mushrooms
• Carrots
• Bell Pepper
• Snap Peas
• Carrots
• Soy Sauce
• Sesame Seeds

There are two methods of plating this dish. The traditional way of piling everything into thirds on a plate and eating them separately. The other option is to make a tower of deliciousness and top it off with some goat cheese and chives. 

Option #1

Option #2

Another healthy and delicious dish!

Photos by Katy Weaver

Quinoa Tacos

What to do with the left over filling of those stuffed peppers...How about making tacos? I just heated the filling from this recipe in a skillet and scooped it into some corn tortillas.

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

The three words I would use to describe this dish would be healthy, colorful, and delicious. These stuffed peppers are both filling and very light at the same time by the time you finish them you're full, but not stuffed (see what I did there?). 

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

• 1/2 cup quinoa cooked
• 1 can of black beans drained and rinsed
• 4 bell peppers stem and seeds removed 
• 1/4 lbs. of ground pork chorizo 
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped onion
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/2 of a large zucchini coarsely chopped
• 10 grape tomatoes cut into quarters
• 6 small mushrooms sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
• a dash of cayenne pepper if you have it

These things go on top of the peppers:

• hot sauce
• avocados
• cheddar cheese
• sour cream

1. Boil the water for quinoa about 1 cup of water. Once it reaches a boil turn down to a simmer and cook until the water is gone.
2. While the quinoa is cooking take out a skillet and add the olive oil, onions, and garlic Once the onions become golden brown in color add the mushrooms. Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine or water. Then add the chorizo.
3. Oh did you preheat the oven to 375? You should probably do that now.
4. Once the chorizo is browned add the zucchini, taco seasoning, and cayenne pepper. Mix so that the taco seasoning is no longer visible as giant clumps of red stuff. Then add the cooked beans, tomatoes, and the cooked quinoa. Mix.
5. Scoop the filling into the peppers. Place the pepper into a casserole dish or meatloaf dish, really anything that can go in the oven and can hold 4 bell peppers.
6. Place the peppers into the oven for 20 minutes.
7. Remove the peppers from the oven. Cut vertically and top it with cheddar cheese, sour cream avocado, and hot sauce, or whatever you think would be good. 

A healthy dinner that's not terribly complex to make and it looks festive. This dish can easily be turned into a vegetarian dish by replacing the chorizo with some sort of meat substitute. Are you still reading this? You should be stuffing your face with this stuffed pepper by now!

Photos by Katy Weaver

Pasta Salad

I've noticed a theme to my lunches the past couple of days; they were last night's dinner at one point and after sitting in their own sauces overnight they become even more delicious. I wasn't planning on posting this recipe, but it turned out way better than what I was expecting. Also, the lovely Katy Weaver took flawless pictures of  this dish.

The recipe for the initial dinner dish is a bit loose in structure. I'm not one for exact measurements especially in a dish like this, but I'll write out what I put into it and how to make it.

Spaghetti with Vegetables Cooked in White Wine 

Servings: 2 plus leftovers to make 2 servings of pasta salad

Things you'll need:

• a quarter sized fist full of whole grain spaghetti
• half of 1 large yellow onion chopped into medium sized pieces
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• olive oil
• about 6 small whole mushrooms sliced
• 1 handfull of frozen spinach (or about half a block)
• Half of 1 large zucchini sliced and then cut into fourths
• 1 handfull of grape tomatoes halfed
• 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 bottle of dry white wine (only 1/2 cup is needed for this recipe, so you can just drink whatever is left)

1. Pour about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil  into a skillet and then add the onion and garlic. Let the onions and garlic caramelize. Once the onions are golden brown and garlic is brown, but not burnt add the mushrooms. After the mushrooms have soaked up most of the oil add half of the stock and 1/4 cup of the wine. 
2. This would be a good time to start cooking the spaghetti. You know how to make spaghetti, right? Boil water. Put the pasta into the boiling water. Taste a piece to make sure it's done. Drain the pasta. Set aside until the vegetables are finished.
3. Once the mushrooms have soaked up all the liquid remove the onion and mushroom mix and place it into a bowl and set aside. Then place the zucchini into the skillet. Add the frozen spinach.  Stir and cook until the spinach is fully defrosted and isn't in a giant block any more. Then add the tomatoes and the mushroom and onion mix. Stir until everything looks mixed together. 
4. Add the cooked pasta to the vegetable mixture as well as the rest of the wine (should be about 1/3 cup) and the rest of the stock. Mix everything. Let the sauce cook down. You can serve it up hot and top it off with some parmasen or feta if you like or you can take all of it and put it into an air tight container and let it sit in the fridge until it's cooled down enough to make some pasta salad.

The good news is that you're done with the hard part. The bad news is that if you want to make the pasta salad you're going to have to wait until it cools down in the fridge. 

The Best Pasta Salad You've Ever Had*

You've already done the hard part. Things you'll need:

• Leftover cold pasta from the recipe above
• Kalamata Olives sliced (about 3 olives per serving)
• Feta crumbled over the top (about 2 tablespoons per serving)
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Arugula (about 1/2 per serving)

1. Add the sliced olives into the cold pasta.
2. Place the arugula into the bowls you're serving the salad in.
3. Scoop the pasta on top of the bed of arugula.
4. Top with feta Cheese and drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the salad.
5. Enjoy!

You could easily add the arugula and feta into the pasta salad itself if you're making this for a large group of people for a picnic or a party. 

*probably. Who knows? This might be the third best pasta salad you've ever had.

Lemon Lime Poppy Seed Muffins

I'll admit it, I basically took this recipe for lemon poppy seed muffins and changed a bunch of things about it. The first and obvious change was that I added lime to these muffins. There was only half of a lemon sitting in the fridge, so it was a good thing that there was a whole lime just waiting to be zested, cut open, and juiced.

The second change to the recipe was that I used plain yogurt instead of sour cream, which really brought out the tanginess of the lemon and lime. 

The last tweak I made to the recipe was that I used 1.5 tablespoons of poppy seeds instead of the 2 that the orignal recipe called for. You can add the full 2 tablespoons for poppy seeds if you want I can't stop you they're your muffins. I just didn't want to spend all day picking poppy seeds out of my teeth. 

Here is the copied recipe with a few my changes.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Bake Time: 18 to 20 minutes

• 2/3 cup sugar
• Grated zest and juice of ½ lemon and 1 lime
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup plain yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1½ tablespoons poppy seeds

1. Preheat your oven to 400. Grease your regular sized muffin pan with butter, spray or really any kind of lipid that you want coating your muffins. 
2. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon/lime zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the smell of lemon and lime engulfs your kitchen. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl whisk the yogurt, eggs, vanilla, lemon and lime juices and melted butter together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and with a rubber spatula, gently stir to blend. DO NOT OVER STIR THE BATTER!  If you over stir the batter it'll result in tuff and chewy muffins. Lumpy batter is ideal. Stir in the poppy seeds. Divide the batter evenly among the muffins cups.
3. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for a few minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold. Store leftovers (if there are any) in an airtight container at room temperature.

Then just crack a couple open with your morning coffee, slap on some butter and enjoy! I feel the lime and yogurt gives the muffins a more complex and tangy flavor that complements the poppy seeds. 

Photos by Katy Weaver