Salmon and Penne in Garlic Pesto Sauce

 There's some good recipes floating out there, if you're willing to suffer through pages of scrolling. Alternately, just find the "jump to recipe" button. While looking for inspiration for dinner, I happened across a recipe from Salt & Lavender for a salmon pasta in garlic sauce. It looked good. I decided to make it and like any good online cook, I immediately made changes without trying the original recipe. Mostly I wanted to use a jar of pesto that I've had since 2014. I also wanted way more garlic than the recipe called for. I'm sure their recipe is wonderful, and I'm sure mine is as well. Feel free to try it! I don't necessarily endorse using eight year old pesto, though.

Salmon and Penne in Garlic Pesto Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 pound penne
• 1 pound salmon fillets
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 cup chicken/vegetable stock (water will do in a pinch, but you'll lose some richness in the sauce.)
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese (I used the stuff from the container. I never have fresh on hand.)
• 1/2 cup jarred pesto (I used a walnut/oregano pesto I made back in 2014. Miraculously, we did not die.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F (190C, Gas Mark 5)
2. According to directions on pasta box, cook penne until al dente. Drain and set aside
3. Pat salmon dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper on both sides (the salmon, not the paper towels)
4. Put salmon on baking sheet and cook in oven about 10-12 minutes, or until fish starts to get flaky. 
5. While fish is cooking, heat butter in a large pan/pot (I used a 5 quart enameled Dutch oven and needed every last bit of it) When the butter has melted and starts to bubble, add flour and mix to form a roux. Stir constantly until the roux starts to darken.
6. Add the garlic powder and keep stirring.
7. Add the stock and lemon juice. Then stir in the cream. Finally add the pesto and Parmesan. Stir until completely incorporated and just starting to bubble. 
8. Crumble the salmon in to the sauce and add the penne. Mix everything thoroughly. 

Good Times!

Monday Recipe: Salmon and Shrimp in Chili-Lime Tomato Sauce

     Normally I like to work from a recipe. I may make omissions and substitutions or add something here and there, but I like to have that framework to build on. Sometimes, I just wing it. This was one of those times.  Last week I wanted something fairly low in calories but big on flavor. I wanted to feel like I was really eating something substantial.  I figured that chili-lime was a classic combo. However, I decided on an alternative lime source. I thought Rose's Lime juice from the bar would be a nice compliment to the sriracha and sweet onion. I was right. This was fantastic and healthy to boot!

Salmon and Shrimp in Chili-Lime Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 4 salmon fillets
• 1/2 lb. medium shrimp, cleaned and de-tailed
• 1 large, sweet onion, diced
• 1 rib celery, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 pints tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
• 1 teaspoon Rose's Lime Juice
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in pan, add garlic, celery and onion. Saute until tender. 3-5 minutes.
2. Take medium saucepan. Add tomatoes.  Stir in basil, Sriracha, and Rose's Lime. Blitz with an immersion blender until smooth. Add onion, celery and garlic. Bring to boil, lower to simmer and let simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes.
3. While sauce is simmering, heat grapeseed oil in pan and cook salmon on medium heat until fish flakes easily with a fork. Add shrimp near end of cooking time and cook until pink.
4. Take immersion blender and blend sauce until smooth, add heavy cream and stir. 
5. Put salmon on plate, place shrimp on salmon. Cover with tomato sauce.

Serves 4 (or two really hungry people)

Good times!

Recipe Monday: Pesto Roasted Salmon with Spinach and Orzo

     This particular meal came about as a last minute change. I had originally planned on making a very rich pasta dish for dinner. I decided to go with something lighter because I ended up going out to breakfast at Huddle House and eating two sausage, egg and cheese biscuits. That burned through about half of my allotted calories for the day. The orzo still gave me my pasta fix, which was nice. I wound up substituting a pistachio-basil pesto I canned last season for the pesto mentioned in this recipe. It came out wonderfully. I'll definitely be making this again. I do so love a nice piece of fish.

Pesto Roasted Salmon with Spinach and Orzo
(via McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant Cookbook)

Ingredients
• 1 pound salmon fillets
• 3/4 cup pesto (I used a pistachio-basil pesto)
• 1 1/4 cups orzo pasta
• 5 oz. frozen, no-salt-added spinach
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Lemon slices

Pesto
• 1 cup fresh basil
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped garlic
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Combine and blend thoroughly in a blender or food processor

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. 
2. Cut salmon into 4 portions and rinse. Set aside while preparing pesto. 
3. Lightly coat baking dish with cooking spray. 
4. Pat fish dry with paper towels. Cut each salmon steak in half, removing as much of bone, cartilage and skin as possible. 
5. Coat fillets in pesto and roast for approximately 8 minutes or until the fish flakes. 
6. Meanwhile, cook orzo and spinach according to package directions. Drain pasta well. 
7. Squeeze out excess moisture from spinach then combine together with pasta. Stir in nutmeg, cheese and pepper and combine with pasta. 
8. Divide onto 4 plates. Place salmon portions on top of pasta.

Good times!

Monday Recipe: Salmon with Tomato-Basil Salsa

     This is one of the first recipes I tried when I started to really get into serious cooking at home. It was on the back of a health newsletter my wife got from the NEA. I had just begun a 1,600 calories a day diet and was looking for filling recipes that were super low in calories. Salmon and vegetables was a sure thing.  Everyone really likes the tomatoes and onion. The red wine vinegar works well with the veggies and gives a nice tang to the salmon. You could use fancy salmon steaks if you wanted, but what you're seeing here uses the bagged salmon fillets from Walmart. Serve this up with a nice salad and a side of garlic bread; you've got a solid, healthy meal.

Salmon with Tomato-Basil Salsa

Ingredients

• Cooking spray 
• 4 salmon fillets (about 4 ounces each) rinsed and patted dry 
• 3 tablespoons light mayonnaise 
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil 
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder 
• ½ teaspoon paprika 
• 6 ounces grape tomatoes 
• ¼ cup fresh basil 
• 1 to 1 ¼ ounces sweet onion 
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 375F 
2. Spray shallow baking pan with cooking spray, place fish in pan 
3. Stir remaining spices and we ingredients, lightly spread on each fillet 
4. Bake 15-20 minutes until fish flakes easily 
5. Chop tomatoes, basil and onion. Put in small bowl with vinegar. Stir to combine and spoon over cooked fillets 

4 servings, 200 calories per serving.

Good times!

Monday Recipe: Salmon Cakes with Spicy Mayo

     As much as I prefer to use an existing recipe as is, or even play around with it, sometimes I feel like going completely on my own in the kitchen. This was one of my first freestyle efforts and it took a couple of tries to get it right. It leaves a lot of room for personal interpretation, which I like in a recipe. As with most of my recipes, I attempted to keep costs and calories down as low as possible. The cost can be kept fairly low, since almost all of the ingredients can be found at ALDI.  I figure these run no more than $2 per serving, assuming you have to go out and buy staples (mayo, eggs, flour, etc). You can cut the cost further by leaving out the lox, but I really like what they add to these cakes.

     Some of my variations of this recipe add panko bread crumbs, some chopped basil, or other simple swap-outs. As far as the hot sauce goes, take it out or leave it in. I just happen to like spicy. When I make this I use my own home-made pepper paste. I also traditionally serve these on English muffins with a slice of tomato. Enjoy!

Salmon Cakes with Spicy Mayonnaise 

Ingredients

• 1 14.75oz can Alaskan Pink Salmon (skin and bones removed)
• 2 oz. smoked salmon (lox), chopped 
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 tsp water
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper sauce (or Sriracha if available)
• 1/2 cup  breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 egg
• Grape seed oil for frying
• Tomato slices for serving
• English muffins for serving
• Basil leaves (optional)

    Spicy Mayo

• 3 tbsp mayonnaise 
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika (regular paprika is fine if smoked is not available)
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper sauce (or Sriracha if available)
• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning     

     Directions

1. Clean canned salmon of bones and skin
2. Add first 11 items to a large bowl. Mix well (use your hands if you're not a squeamish baby) 
3. Form mixture into patties big enough to cover an English muffin
4. Put enough oil in the bottom of a non-stick pan to cover in a layer. Set to med-high heat.
5. Fry the patties in the grape seed oil until brown on both sides (3-5 minutes per side). Add oil as needed to keep bottom of pan coated.
6. Place salmon cakes on paper towel to absorb excess oil
7. In separate bowl, mix all ingredients for spicy mayo
8. Toast muffins
9. Spread a thin layer of mayo on the muffin. Place a slice of tomato on the muffin, place a salmon cake on the tomato. Add a dollop of mayo and a basil leaf for garnish.

Monday Meal: Teriyaki Salmon and Broccoli Packets

     Last week I promised I would post a simple, mid-week recipe. I will do that here shortly. I'm a huge fan of this type of recipe. There's a minimal amount of ingredients, it's super-easy to make, and cleaning up is a breeze. I need that from a mid-week meal. Most of the time, when I get home it's a battle to simply not pile the wife in the car and go out to eat. As awesome as that would be, it would get expensive. We'd also both weigh about 350 pounds each.

With our combined gravities, we shall control the tides!

       That's one of the benefits of this recipe. It is very low in calories, especially if you don't serve rice with it. The sodium is probably a bit high from the teriyaki sauce, but not bad.  If you're watching the money, any brand of teriyaki is fine. When available, I use Soy-Vay.  I find the flavor is better than anything else that I've tried.  As far as cost, if you're willing to buy frozen, it's possible to buy a pound of salmon for under five bucks. The packs usually come in four individually packaged fillets, which I find terribly helpful. Take what you need, everything else stays in the freezer. As for the broccoli, don't feel tied down to that vegetable. I often substitute slices of squash or zucchini. You could pretty much put in any vegetable and it would be fine.  I'm giving you the recipe for a single serving, since they're packaged in foil individually. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 4 ounce fillet of salmon 
• 1 heaping cup broccoli florets (frozen is fine)
• 3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce 
• Square of tinfoil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Lay salmon (if it has skin, skin side down) on a large square of tinfoil
3. Spread broccoli over top of salmon
4. Pour teriyaki over broccoli and salmon
5. Fold foil into packet around ingredients, making sure it's going to hold in the sauce
6. Cook 20-25 minutes or until fish flakes easily
7. Serve over steamed white rice (if you want)