Spicy Sweet Salmon with Asparagus and red potatoes

This is a Cooking Light recipe that my family loves and I have been using it for quite some time. I do subscribe to Cooking Light and I have found the magazine to be hit and miss for me. This one though is a keeper. If you are feeding it to the kids watch out for the pepper powders in this dish. It may be too hot for them. Simply reduce the powders to about a 1/4 of what is listed here and you may want to add a bit more paprika (smoked paprika would be good too) and brown sugar. Experiment and have fun! The recipe for the red potatoes follows.

Sweet and Spicy Salmon

• 2  teaspoons  paprika
• 1  teaspoon  chili powder
• 1  teaspoon  ground ancho chile powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1/2  teaspoon  brown sugar
• 1  teaspoon  sea or kosher salt
• 4  (6-ounce) salmon fillets
• Cooking spray
• 1  teaspoon  maple syrup

Preparation

Prepare grill, heating to medium.
Combine first 5 ingredients. Sprinkle fish with salt; rub with paprika mixture. Place fish on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 7 minutes. Drizzle fish with syrup; grill 1 minute or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Red Potatoes

1 to 2 pounds small red potatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tblsps olive oil
2 tblsps chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Heat oven to 400. Combine first 4 ingredients until potatoes are completely coated. Lay out potatoes evenly on a large sheet pan. Place in the preheated oven. Watch potatoes and using a large spoon, turn them every 10 minutes for about 40 minutes. The potatoes should be crispy and taste done on the inside, but not burnt. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top and return to the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. The kids will love these! The asparagus can be cooked in the microwave or on the stovetop with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Enjoy these yummy dishes! Have a happy (and safe) Halloween!

Sick

Good Evening All,

I'm sorry to have been away so much this week. I was down with a cold and then my son got the same thing so things have been a little crazy around here. I know all you Mom's can relate. I'm trying to get back on track this week though. I can tell you that I made some delicious mocha chocolate cupcakes and took them to the office for our Halloween party and I think people really liked them. I had a little trouble with the frosting because I really wanted a whipped cream frosting and found it's not a good idea to make whipped cream frosting the night before. The whipped cream separated in the refrigerator and it took some doing to get it right again. Moral of the story is don't refrigerate whipped cream frosting!

Also, I am back on my Jillian Michael's program this week so I will be fixing things that correspond to this way of eating. This is not a diet it's a way of life program and I don't know why I ever fall off the wagon. I always feel 100% better when I'm on her program. It's an organic food plan and I strongly encourage those who are interested in losing weight and feeling better to pluck down the money and try her online program.

Here are the menus for the week:

Sunday-Maple glazed salmon, red potatoes, asparagus (we never got to this last week)
Monday-Ham, Broccoli and Swiss cheese crust less quiche (we never got to this either)
Tuesday-Spicy Sweet Potato Soup
Wednesday-Chicken Kebabs and cucumber salad
Thursday-Leftovers
Friday-Eggplant and Mozzarella Sandwiches with pesto
Saturday-Leftovers

Grocery List
paprika
chili powder
ground ancho chili powder
ground cumin
brown sugar
salt
4 organic salmon fillets
1  teaspoon  maple syrup
1 pound red potatoes
olive oil
2 heads garlic
rosemary
Parmesan cheese
1 to 2 pounds fresh organic asparagus

2 cups whole milk

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

Pinch cayenne or paprika

3/4 cup lean ham or Canadian bacon

3/4 cup Swiss cheese

4 sweet potatoes

1 cup maple syrup

2 cups unsweetened coconut milk

garm masala

smoked paprika

4 cups veggie or chicken broth

Brown onion

turmeric
cayenne pepper
lemon

Greek plain yogurt
18 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or 12 boneless, skinless breasts

Italian parsley

fresh basil

sliced mozzarella cheese

Trader Joe's eggplant slices

Fresh multi grain rolls

walnuts or pine nuts

That's the list for this week. I'll put up the recipe for the Salmon tomorrow afternoon. Have a restful Sunday!

Enchilada Casserole

Good Evening All,

I'm still feeling a bit under the weather and now my youngest is feeling poorly too. I wanted to get you this Enchilada casserole though as soon as possible so you can make it for your family.

Layered Enchilada Casserole
1 tblsp and 1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
2 cans refried beans, heated until warm
1 2 1/4 oz can sliced olives
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
8 corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 cups grated jack cheese

This is like making lasagana and the tortillas are the noodles. Heat the oil and saute the onions and garlic until soft. Add the cumin, chili powder and can of tomatoes to the onion and garlic. Mix well, this is your sauce. Put some of your sauce in a 13 X 9 pan, put 4 tortillas into the sauce and add some more sauce on top of the tortillas. Then begin layering the beans, olives, green chiles, sour cream and then jack cheese. Put more sauce on top and repeat layering steps once more. When you are finished cheese should be on top. Then garnish top of casserole with fresh cilantro. Bake casserole at 350 for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. If the cheese is bubbly on top it's probably done. If the top starts to brown before the casserole is heated through, place some foil on the top of the casserole and continue cooking. Enjoy this easy and yummy casserole! I'm off to bed for now...

Pasta Salad

Good Evening All,

Here is my basic pasta salad recipe. Feel free to add whatever sounds good to you and your family. I would recommend though trying to sneek in as many vegetables or beans as you can. Pinto beans, kidney beans and garbonzo beans are all good choices. Also, raw vegetables make good additions. Things like broccoli, carrots, red peppers, and tomatoes are good and colorful. Try to add as many bright and colorful vegetables as you can. Remember to have fun with it and try introducing the kids to new foods.

Pasta Salad
1/2 package whole wheat rotini
1 can red kidney beans
1 can garbonzo beans
1 bag green and yellow string beans
2 cans sliced black olives
1 tomato, chopped
2 persian cucumbers, chopped
Italian or ranch dressing, to taste

This recipe couldn't be simpler, however, to make it quicker I would cook the whole wheat rotini in the morning before you go to work and then let it sit in the fridge during the day. Even simpler would be to chop your vegetables the night before too. Then simply mix all ingredients and dinner can be ready in ten minutes!
Directions: Cook rotini as package directs until just al dente, too long and you will have mushy pasta. Add all remaining ingredients and add dressing to taste. Enjoy this easy and tasty pasta salad! Until tomorrow, Lelia

Green Turkey Chili

Here is a recipe that I have been making for my family for years. I was inspired by a dish I had at the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum here in southern California. It is a turkey chili made with a lot of different green ingredients.

3/4 pound tomatillos, husked, washed and diced
1 tblsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 32 oz boxes chicken broth
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 package trader joe's taco seasoning
1 large can diced green chilies
1 large can unseasoned pinto beans, rinsed
1/2 bottle green salsa verde
2 bunches cilantro, chopped
1/4 pound grated jack cheese
tortilla chips
sour cream

Add the tomatillos, onion, and garlic to 1 tblsp of olive oil and saute until mixture is soft. In a skillet brown the ground turkey. Once browned add the taco seasoning and continue cooking, on a simmer, for 15 to 20 minutes. When the tomatillo mixture is soft add both boxes of chicken broth and continue cooking on medium heat. When the turkey is done add to soup mixture along with all of the remaining ingredients. Let cook over medium heat, do not boil, for another 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with jack cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream on top. Delicious!

Menu for Sunday, October 24-Saturday, October 30, 2010

Good Afternoon All,

Feeling slightly better today and wanted to get this week's dinners started. Our sweet treat for the week will be snickerdoodle cookies and I will be making those tomorrow, but will include the recipe today in case anyone wants to get started. Below is our menu for the week, these are the days that these dishes work best for me, but feel free to move things around.

Sunday-Green Turkey Chili
Monday-Pasta Salad
Tuesday-Enchilada Casserole
Wednesday-Leftovers
Thursday-Maple Syrup glazed Salmon, red potatos, and asparagus
Friday-Ham, broccoli and Swiss Cheese quiche
Saturday-Leftovers

Grocery List for the week
2 32 oz boxes veggie or chicken broth
Large bottle extra virgin olive oil
3/4 pound tomatillos
2 brown onions
2 heads of garlic
1 pound turkey meat ground
1 pound lean ground beef meat (not the leanest)
2 packages trader joe's taco seasoning
1 large can pinto beans
2 large can diced green chilies
1 medium jar green salsa verde
4 bunches fresh cilantro
1 lb grated jack cheese
1 large container sour cream
tortilla chips
1 package whole wheat rotini
1 can red kidney bean
1 can garbonzo beans
1 bag green and yellow string beans
2 can sliced black olives
1 tomato
2 persian cucumbers
Italian or ranch dressing (see blog for more info)
1 can diced tomatoes
paprika
chili powder
ground ancho chile powder
cumin
brown sugar
4  (6-ounce) salmon fillets
maple syrup
1 pound red potatos
Fresh rosemary
2 pounds broccoli (organic, bagged)

2 cups milk

6 large eggs

ground black pepper

Pinch cayenne or paprika

Canadian Bacon

Swiss cheese

2 sticks of butter, room temp
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
Flour
vanilla extract
cream of tartar
baking soda

I know this sounds like a lot of ingredients, but remember you are making dinner for 6 nights plus a treat for the week. Also, go through the list before you actually get to the store and anything you already have enough of you certainly don't need to buy. Things like brown sugar, flour, etc. are probably staples in your house so you shouldn't buy more unless you really need it. Also, make sure you take this list to your local farmer's market first, many fresh items from this list can be purchased there and will taste so much better than what you can get in the grocery store.

Also, regarding salad dressing. There is NOTHING I can find on the store shelf that I consider good. They are all filled with preservatives, fillers, etc. Certainly, you may make your own salad dressing, but I have not been able to make a homemade dressing that I like yet. Instead I have found the most wonderful homemade salad dressing at a local restaurant. It is made from all natural ingredients and it is made fresh daily. Once a week I pick up a pint and use on everything from green salads to pasta salads. Make sure if you a find a restaurant who has a dressing or condiment that you love that you ask them what the ingredients are, is it made fresh and do they sell it? Most restaurants are more than happy to do this for you. Below is the Snickerdoodle recipe and I'll put up the Green Turkey Chili receipe tomorrow. Have fun and enjoy your weekend!

Snickerdoodles
2 sticks of butter, room temp
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 3/4 cup flour

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs. Beat until well mixed. Mix dry ingredients together and add to the butter & egg mixture. Roll about a tbsp of dough between your palms until it forms a ball then drop into a bowl with half sugar and half ground cinnamon. Roll until the entire ball is coated. Place on an ungreased sheet pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Good Afternoon All,

I've been feeling sick for a day or so and that caused me to miss a day of blogging. I'm still under the weather today and actually took a day off of work today to get some extra rest. I have been enjoying my cream of mushroom soup I made the other night and thought you might like to have this if there are others dealing with their first cold of the season. Tomorrow I will put up a grocery list for next week so you can do your shopping and the first recipe of the week, that is Sunday night's receipe. I'm trying to give you this information a day early, but feel free to move things around so they are most convenient for you.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

2 small packages dried wild mushrooms (Trader Joe's carries these)
2 32 oz boxes chicken (or veggie) broth
1 sprig fresh thyme and 2 tblsp thyme leaves
3 tblsp olive oil  and 1 tblsp butter
1 medium brown onion chopped
2 carrots diced
2 leeks chopped (white part and a little of the green part)
2 cloves garlic minced
24 ozs FRESH mushrooms sliced (whatever you like here is fine, kids will like the milder button or cremini mushrooms but you can also use portobellos or shiitake which have a somewhat stronger flavor)
4 tblsp flour
3/4 dry sherry
1 cup 1/2 and 1/2
Salt and Pepper to taste

Take the broth, sprig of thyme, and dried mushrooms and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. While that is simmering, in a large pot add the olive oil and butter, let melt, and add the onion, carrots, leeks, garlic, and mushrooms. Saute these ingredients until they begin to get soft, but not mushy. Once they become a little soft add the flour over the top and stir into the mixture gently. Remove your other pot of broth from the heat and slowly ladle some of the broth mixture into the mushroom mixture. Keep your mushroom mixture on a low heat setting and keep adding a cup or so of broth at a time to the mushroom mixture, stirring it in to the mushroom mixture and then when it is completely incorporated add another cup of broth. Repeat this until all the broth has been added to the mushroom mixture. This is your soup!

Add the sherry to the soup and stir. Turn the heat up to medium, but DO NOT allow the soup to boil. Cook for another 15 minutes allowing the flavors to develop. Season with salt and pepper and 2 tblsps of thyme leaves. Then slowly add the 1/2 and 1/2. Heat for an additional few minutes so that the soup is hot. Serve immediately with a salad and a good crusty bread. Enjoy your soup, your family, and remember to take good care of yourself!

Lelia