Lemony pasta with smoked salmon

Pasta with smoked salmon and lemon dressing.

I have been trying to eat salmon at least once a week but I am really hate how cooking fish (especially salmon) really stinks up the kitchen.

This week I decided to buy smoked salmon instead. While my favorite way to eat smoked salmon is on a bagel with lots of cream cheese - today I wanted something different.

I had lemon dressing left over from my last salad so I cooked up a serving of spaghetti and tossed it with a bit of olive oil and the dressing.

Best decision ever!

 
The lemon dressing really brightened up the flavor of the salmon. 

A simple and incredibly delicious dish. I love it when that happens:-)

Later today I am off to get ingredients to make my favorite curry - massaman.

Happy Friday all!
 

Toasted orzo salad

As most of you know - making the same thing day after day is not my thing.

But I do have the same goals each morning - get in some healthy fats, protein and a bit of carbohydrates.

Toasted orzo salad.

 When I woke up I realized I had this to work with:

Red corn on the cob, leftover green apple slaw, orzo, chicken broth, a carrot, leftover lemon dressing from Panera and a hard boiled egg.

At this point I have no idea where this is going either.

Then I spotted this recipe and I figured that might do with a lot of modifications.


I toasted a 1/4 cup of orzo in 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil.

Toasted orzo.

I minced one clove of garlic and shredded 1/2 of the carrot, 1/2 of the red corn (the kernels cut of the cob) and added that to the pan after the orzo had browned.


Then I added in some chicken broth and let everything simmer. No measurements on the broth because my skillet has a wonky lid and lets out a lot of steam.

Just add more broth if the orzo looks dry and let the moisture evaporate off after the orzo is plump and tender.

At this point in the venture I decided to drop the lemon dressing issue, the thyme and I realized chopped egg would be just the thing.

I whole egg (the dogs split half of the yolk) chopped with a teaspoon of Parmesan.

It was simple, fast (about 10 minutes) and filled with protein - just what I wanted to start my day. 


Toasting the orzo made a big difference - it added a great nutty/roasted flavor to the dish.

Toasted orzo salad adorned with a light dusting of dried parsley.

I am sure I am biased but my green apple slaw was stupendous after hanging out in the fridge for a couple of days. I strongly encourage you to make it - as soon as possible.

I did scale the recipe down for one portion and it still yielded 2 generous size portions. 


I am off to bring some DVD's to a friend who is recovering from shoulder surgery. I really want to bring her Otis - but I figure the whole dismemberment theme may not sit well after surgery:-)


I kid - I am bringing her Under The Tuscan Sun and 27 Dresses - light and cheery girly movies.


But I will watch Otis later today - hmm, either Otis or Black Christmas - it is a toss up.

Insalata Caprese

Insalata Caprese.

This lunch time I had this bunch of ingredients to work with:

An heirloom tomato, fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, basil and a roma tomato.

So, of course, I made a caprese salad!

This salad is so easy, you just chop the tomatoes, slice the mozzarella, arrange the basil and drizzle with the olive oil and the balsamic.

The tomatoes were incredibly sweet. 

And they must have smelled wonderful because Connor was standing beside me and drooling the entire time I was assembling this salad.

It is one of the greatest salads to enjoy on a hot summer day.

Connor is one of those strange dogs that LOVES tomatoes. I made sure he got to enjoy all the of slices that didn't look perfect :-)

Oh, and how is the green bean recipe coming? It is still a work in progress. But you can take a peak at what the second attempt looked like.

Sauteed green beans with ground pork and sriracha sauce.

Now I am off to tackle the vegan scalloped potatoes. Wish me luck!

Breakfast bruschetta

Breakfast bruschetta.

Day one of the construction went OK. It did throw a wrench in my plans when I realized the water was going to be shut off all day. But I muddled through.

In the afternoon my friend was nice enough to invite us over to hang out so we could get a break from the noise.

Connor is in the foreground and the ever mellow Scout is sleeping in the background.

This morning I woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep (I am sure I am a bit anxious about how today will work out) - so I got up and did some more cleaning.

Unfortunately, when I went to take photos of my breakfast I discovered that they had re-installed the patio blinds all wonky and they aren't working anymore, le sigh.

But that didn't stop me from enjoying my breakfast - I just moved everything out to the patio to take pictures.

This photo was taken at 5:45 am.

The bruschetta was fast and easy. I cut a baguette in half lengthwise and lightly brushed it with olive oil. Then both halves went into a skillet over medium heat.

While the bread browned, I chopped up one yellow tomato and one red and tossed them in a bowl along with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, a dash of salt, a dash of black pepper and thinly sliced basil.

When the bread was nice and crisp, I plated it and let it cool for a bit before I rubbed it with a clove of garlic. Then a generous heaping of the tomato mixture went on top.

This is wonderfully messy to eat and the sweetness of the tomatoes along with the fresh bite of the basil? Heaven :-)

Wish me a day of smooth sailing or at least smooth construction...

Salad with pan seared scallops

I started out by mixing lemon juice, olive oil, dried basil, black pepper, mirin and some nutritional yeast in the bottom of the salad bowl. Then I added in a few handfuls of baby green mix and tossed in the dressing.

Then I broke an item I picked up at the store today - 

I rinsed them and patted them dry then seasoned each side with a little salt and pepper.

They went into a skillet on high heat with a little olive oil. I cooked them for about 2 minutes on each side until each side had a nice golden brown crust.

A great fast dinner.

I am going to go lay out my exercise cloths so I will be all ready to hit the gym sometime after breakfast tomorrow!

Spaghetti with basil pesto

I had a fun day learning all about Adobe Lightroom.


For dinner I was craving something with pesto.

Spaghetti with basil pesto.

 I made a basic pesto:

Garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan, fresh basil and olive oil.

I don't just like basil pesto - I LOVE basil pesto. I could easily go overboard with this stuff. But I have learned a trick that allows me to put a heavy dose on my pasta without an enormous amount of oil.

Instead of 2 Tbsp. of olive oil that would be needed to emulsify the pesto - I add in 1 Tbsp. or so of the pasta water. That way I get to enjoy the entire batch of pesto without over doing it on fat.

Not that there is anything wrong with having the occasional rich dish - I just have to be careful about how much I have at once or otherwise I will be nursing a stomach ache all night.

I also included a side dish of broccoli and a dessert of fresh berries.

The broccoli was very, very green.

Oh, and you should get a look at what the pesto looks like after mixing.

Basil Pesto

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp. of pine nuts
a pinch of salt
1/2 a cup of parmesan
1 Tbsp. of olive oil
1 bunch of fresh basil, chopped
1 Tbsp. of pasta water


Instructions:
 
Rough chop the basil and add in the chopped garlic, pine nuts, salt, most of the Parmesan (reserve some for garnish) and olive oil in a food processor or in a large deep cup with an immersion blender. Pulse to blend - when the mixture is halfway pureed - add in 1 Tbsp of the pasta water. Feel free to add more if the mixture is not loose enough to blend well.

Another important step is add the cooked and drained pasta back into the pot on low flame. Fold in the desired amount of pesto and let the pasta warm through. This step allows any excess moisture to evaporate and allows the pesto to get a good grip on the pasta.

Enjoy!