Healthy Summer Burgers

After eating out for a week in Palm Desert, all I wanted last Sunday was to make something myself. Preferably something a little lighter and something relatively quick and easy (since I didn't want to spend my too much of my last evening before going back to work slaving away in the kitchen). I decided to try a recipe for salmon burgers that I had found in the June edition of Better Homes and Gardens-- one of the magazines I had purchased to take with me to on our trip (I was such a fan of the magazine that I decided to subscribe-- a two year subscription was only $16!).

The recipe was a cinch to make-- throw skinless salmon fillets, some breadcrumbs, an egg and some Dijon mustard in a food processor and then form into patties. Since we are still grill-less (hopefully for just another couple of months), I broiled ours and they turned out really well. I served them with sliced avocado on toasted ciabatta rolls with some oven-baked sweet potato "fries" on the side. Next time I might add in some fresh herbs or make a herby-yogurt spread to serve with them for a little extra flavor. Otherwise,  a delicious and easy summer meal.

Salmon Burgers
Adapted slightly from Better Homes and Gardens

(Note: I halved the recipe to accommodate the two of us but was still left with two pretty big burgers; the amounts below make more like three normal sized patties.)


Ingredients:
2 4-6 ounce fillets of salmon, skin removed and cut into two inch pieces
3 TBL bread crumbs
1  egg
1 TBL Dijon mustard
1 avocado, sliced
2 ciabatta rolls
olive oil

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Place breadcrumbs, egg, mustard, and half of salmon into a food processor. Process until salmon is ground and mixture is thoroughly combined. Add in remaining salmon and pulse until salmon is coarsely chopped. Shape mixture into 2-3 patties (see note above).
3. Brush patties lightly with olive oil. Broil 4-5 minutes per side until burgers are cooked through. Place ciabatta rolls, cut side up, onto broiler pan for last 1-2 minutes.
4. Serve salmon burgers on rolls with sliced avocado and additional mustard (if desired).

Roasted Salmon

It's Cinco de Mayo which means I am blogging about....salmon? Well, yes. Yes I am.

Monday I made roasted salmon with dill yogurt sauce which is one of our favorite spring/summer meals. In fact, I'm surprised I haven't blogged about it before. It is one of those great recipes that is easy enough for a weeknight by polished enough for entertaining. Pair it with roasted fresh (and local!) asparagus, and it is a great way to start (or finish) the week....happy (almost) Friday!

 
Roasted Salmon with Dill Yogurt Sauce
Adapted from Everyday Food

Ingredients:
2 6-ounce fillets of salmon
1 cup of plain yogurt
3 TBL chopped fresh dill 
1 1/2 TBL chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Salt and Pepper

1. In a small bowl combine yogurt, dill, chives, and lemon zest. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place salmon fillets (skin side down) on top of it.
3. Generously top with yogurt sauce and bake for 15 minutes or until salmon is cooked through.Serve.

Salmon with Sauteed Spinach

Of all the meals I made last week, Wednesday's salmon with brown sugar and mustard glaze was my favorite. The recipe, from this month's Everyday Food, was beyond easy-- broiled salmon that is brushed with a simple glaze of shallots, whole grain mustard, red wine vinegar, and brown sugar. Originally I was going to serve this with a spinach salad but I realized when I got home from work on Wednesday that I was missing a key ingredient. So instead I decided to saute the spinach with garlic and a little olive oil instead. Yum. A healthy and delicious meal any day of the week.

Salmon with Brown Sugar Mustard Glaze
Adapted slightly from Everyday Food

Ingredients:
2 (6 oz) fillets of salmon
1 TBL olive oil
2 TBL finely minced shallot
2 TBL red wine vinegar
2 TBL whole grain mustard
2 TBL packed brown sugar
Sauteed spinach, optional (see recipe below)

1. Heat broiler. In a small saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallot and cook until slightly softened, about 2-3 minutes. Add vinegar and cook until slightly evaporated. Add mustard and brown sugar; stir until sugar dissolved and glaze is warm. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Place salmon fillets on foil-lined baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Broil for about 6 minutes or until opaque throughout. As soon as the salmon comes out, brush with as much glaze as you'd like. Serve on top of sauteed spinach if using.

Sauteed Spinach with Garlic

Ingredients:
2 TBL olive oil
3 cups baby spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add spinach and stir often. Just as the spinach starts to wilt, add minced garlic and toss. Continue to stir until spinach is wilted. Serve.

Jason's Simple Steps to Perfectly Seared Salmon

Jason doesn't do a ton of cooking, but he does have a few specialties. Pancakes. Waffles. He also makes a really good sandwich. The dish he is most proud of, however, is his seared salmon. The process is so simple, you don't need a recipe. You just follow these four steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly coat an oven-safe skillet with olive oil and heat over high. 
2. Rub a little olive oil over the salmon and season with salt and pepper.
3. Place salmon fillets, skin side up, into hot pan and leave there for exactly 3 minutes. Use a spatula to flip the salmon over.
4. Place skillet into oven and cook for exactly 10 minutes. Serve.

Moist and delicious salmon every.single. time.

Try it-- you'll like it!

Waiting for the Weekend

Is it Friday yet?

No?

Darn.

How about now?

(Sigh)…..Ok.

While we wait for the weekend together, here’s a recipe I tried out a couple of weeks ago for Soy-glazed Salmon with Watercress Salad from the most recent issue of Everyday Food. Very tasty. Very pretty (would be nice for entertaining). And the hardest part—learning how to supreme an orange. By the end I was getting pretty good. As with all things, practice makes perfect.

Soy-Glazed Salmon with Watercress Salad
From Everyday Food

Ingredients:
2 TBL soy sauce
4 teaspoons honey
2 oranges, peeled, flesh cut into segments and juice squeezed from them
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 TBL vegetable oil
2 salmon fillets
1 bunch watercress, thick ends trimmed
½ small red onion, thinly sliced

1.In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, and orange juice to make the glaze. Season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 TBL glaze, 1 teaspoon honey, vinegar, and oil. Set aside.
2.Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Season salmon with salt and pepper and broil for 5 minutes. Brush with glaze and then broil until opaque throughout, about 3 more minutes. Brush with glaze once more.
3.Add orange segments, watercress, and onion to the dressing and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Divide salad among plates and top with salmon. Serve.

Sunday Dinner: Jason Edition

Last night something miraculous happened. Something that (these days) only happens once every 8 months or so….Jason made me dinner!

No, it wasn’t my birthday or our anniversary or any sort of milestone he chose to celebrate by cooking for me.  A couple of weeks ago he was flipping through the cookbook I brought home from my trip to Seattle, came across a recipe that sounded good (and relatively easy to make) and declared “I’m going to make this for you some weekend soon.”  I’m no fool—I suggested we schedule a day right then and there before he could forget about it and/or change his mind.

So last night Jason made me a lovely Salmon with Pinot Noir Mustard Sauce (using the Pinot Noir I brought back from my brief stop in Willamette Valley). It was really good (the meal and the wine).  Perfectly cooked salmon (I was so proud!) served over a salad of arugula, red pepper, and tossed with a delightful dressing made of pinot noir, honey, mustard seeds, red wine vinegar, shallots, and tarragon.  It was lovely, light, summery meal perfect for the 90 degree weather we had over the weekend.

A couple of notes should you decide to make this recipe. 1) You are supposed to let the dressing sit for 8 hours or overnight to mix and mingle properly. We let it sit about 6.5 hours and I think it worked out just fine. Just make sure you plan ahead! 2) The recipe called for black/brown mustard seeds. After looking at several grocery stores we could not find them and ended up using yellow mustard seeds. Upon further research I found that black/brown mustard seeds are hotter than their yellow counterparts and used a lot in Indian cooking.  Still not sure where to buy them but that info was at least interesting. 3) Searing salmon can stink up your house/apartment. The fish smell seems to have subsided by this morning but we had to use quite a bit of Lysol and burned a number of candles last night trying to get the smell to go away. But it was worth it for a meal like that!

Salmon with Pinot Noir Mustard Sauce
Adapted from The Pike Place Market Cookbook

Ingredients:
1 cup Pinot Noir
¼ cup honey
¼ cup yellow mustard seeds (or black or brown if you can find them)
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon chopped shallot
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Pepper
2 (6 oz) fillets of salmon
3 TBL olive oil
Arugula
1 red bell pepper, diced

1.Place wine in a small saucepan over high heat and boil until reduced by half. Remove from heat and add honey, stirring until it dissolves
2.In a small, dry skillet, toast mustard seeds until they begin to pop and release their aroma. Remove from heat and add to wine-honey mixture. Add red wine vinegar, shallot, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Pour into a jar with a lid (we used a mason jar), shake well and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
3.Heat medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and place salmon, skin side up, on hot skillet. Sear 3 minutes on the first side and then 3 seconds or so on each additional side (ending with the skin side down) and place in 350 degree oven. Cook for 8-10 minutes until just cooked through.
4.Toss arugula, red pepper, and some of the dressing together. Divide among plates. Place salmon on top of salad. Drizzle a little more dressing on top of the salmon and serve.