Have you ever drank so much and had such an awful hangover that you SWEAR you will never drink again? Well I'm having a FOODOVER! It's Sunday night and I've essentially gone on a weekend bender!
So much food, and alcohol. Delicious? Not even! Sigh. And I feel awful. I feel so bad for people who are always feeling like this after eating huge portion sizes of food that just sits in their bellies like a rock! We've all seen (and had!) that look. The I caaaannttt believe I ate the whoooolleee thing look. Bah.
I'm actually kind of excited to spend the whole week eating things that I make, knowing what's in my food and for gods sake, eating only until I'm full and then STOPPING! Ok, this wont be because of some magical self-control I've gained, but simply because I just wont have plates of hot wings and nachos sitting in front of me along with a beer!
Lots of great stuff to post though, I even have a teaser: Salmon Pancakes (NO these aren't gross) Or The Best Use of Leftovers Ever!
Now, for the main event!
So much food, and alcohol. Delicious? Not even! Sigh. And I feel awful. I feel so bad for people who are always feeling like this after eating huge portion sizes of food that just sits in their bellies like a rock! We've all seen (and had!) that look. The I caaaannttt believe I ate the whoooolleee thing look. Bah.
I'm actually kind of excited to spend the whole week eating things that I make, knowing what's in my food and for gods sake, eating only until I'm full and then STOPPING! Ok, this wont be because of some magical self-control I've gained, but simply because I just wont have plates of hot wings and nachos sitting in front of me along with a beer!
Lots of great stuff to post though, I even have a teaser: Salmon Pancakes (NO these aren't gross) Or The Best Use of Leftovers Ever!
Now, for the main event!
His and Hers Again =) Can you tell which is mine?
After Thursday night's debauchery, all we wanted to do was have a relaxing evening at home on Friday and go to sleep early (we aren't losers, but this month we are on particularly taxing rotations!) So the goal was to make a meal that was 1) fast 2) easy on the grocery shopping 3) low maintenance and 4) had easy cleanup.
So, that morning I pulled two giant salmon filets (or whatever cut they were) out of our freezer and decided to poach them when I got home.
Poached salmon=no oil, no butter, barely any salt, one pot. Yes, this is the solution. Into a pot went one big chunk of peeled ginger (chopped), one small onion (chopped), a handful of peppercorns straight from the grinder, a nice bit of salt. Eyeball all of these ingredients because they're there for flavoring. Too much can't hurt.
So, that morning I pulled two giant salmon filets (or whatever cut they were) out of our freezer and decided to poach them when I got home.
Poached salmon=no oil, no butter, barely any salt, one pot. Yes, this is the solution. Into a pot went one big chunk of peeled ginger (chopped), one small onion (chopped), a handful of peppercorns straight from the grinder, a nice bit of salt. Eyeball all of these ingredients because they're there for flavoring. Too much can't hurt.
I turned the heat on high, let the water boil for about 10 minutes to let the ginger and the onion flavor the bath. During this time I made my Summer Sauce (keep reading!).
After 10 minutes, I plopped both salmon pieces into the pot (shoulda used a bigger pot!) and turned the heat down to a simmer. I let the salmon bathe in the water for 9 minutes (too much! Do 7 if you try this!) and VOILA, a delicious salmon prepared in no time at all using one cutting board and one pot. Plus, no stinky baking salmon smell to deal with!
After 10 minutes, I plopped both salmon pieces into the pot (shoulda used a bigger pot!) and turned the heat down to a simmer. I let the salmon bathe in the water for 9 minutes (too much! Do 7 if you try this!) and VOILA, a delicious salmon prepared in no time at all using one cutting board and one pot. Plus, no stinky baking salmon smell to deal with!
Now, the sauce. I don't have good quantities for this yet because I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants, but I'll give you the gist of it.
I originally got the idea from 5-Ingredient-Fix (click for original recipe). As you can see aside from the onions, I cooked the salmon the same way. Though I suppose poached is poached. However, her sauce calls for 1/2 cup sour cream or creme fraiche. Honestly, I don't like sour cream enough to deal with all the fat that comes with eating it and I didn't even have it in my fridge. I DID have Greek yogurt (0%) which I figured would work just as well. And did it ever! If you can imagine a sauce that tastes like summer, this would be it. So refreshing and light! I know I'm patting myself on the back here, but considering Boyfriend practically DROWNED his salmon in the sauce (and dunked bread and potato chips into it as a pre-dinner snack) I can assume it was a success.
Ingredients: About 1 or 3/4 cup Greek yogurt (this made a LOT of servings, though it's so good that I don't mind), two big handfuls of chopped fresh basil, zest and juice of one lime, salt, pepper, lemon seasoning, consider a touch of balsamic vinegar. It's so pretty and light green. It went really nicely with the pink salmon underneath.
I originally got the idea from 5-Ingredient-Fix (click for original recipe). As you can see aside from the onions, I cooked the salmon the same way. Though I suppose poached is poached. However, her sauce calls for 1/2 cup sour cream or creme fraiche. Honestly, I don't like sour cream enough to deal with all the fat that comes with eating it and I didn't even have it in my fridge. I DID have Greek yogurt (0%) which I figured would work just as well. And did it ever! If you can imagine a sauce that tastes like summer, this would be it. So refreshing and light! I know I'm patting myself on the back here, but considering Boyfriend practically DROWNED his salmon in the sauce (and dunked bread and potato chips into it as a pre-dinner snack) I can assume it was a success.
Ingredients: About 1 or 3/4 cup Greek yogurt (this made a LOT of servings, though it's so good that I don't mind), two big handfuls of chopped fresh basil, zest and juice of one lime, salt, pepper, lemon seasoning, consider a touch of balsamic vinegar. It's so pretty and light green. It went really nicely with the pink salmon underneath.
I made the sauce while the poaching liquid was boiling and I made the Sesame Green Beans as a side dish while the salmon was cooking. I did wind up overcooking the salmon just a bit, but I wont blame the green beans!
Now, these are TJ's frozen green beans (the only brand I'll buy, I'm such a snob!) thrown into a high-sided non-stick pan. They don't normally need oil, just a little Pam. For this though, I used 1tsp of sesame oil (less than half a serving, probably more than enough). I sauteed them with the oil, salt, garlic powder, pepper, lemon pepper and then threw in a couple of tbsp of white sesame seeds (probably overdid it there too!). What I really wanted was to add some white wine or chicken stock and some soy sauce, but we didn't have it and we didn't want to go to the store to pick it up. So they could have been better, but there weren't any leftovers in sight after dinner either.
Now, these are TJ's frozen green beans (the only brand I'll buy, I'm such a snob!) thrown into a high-sided non-stick pan. They don't normally need oil, just a little Pam. For this though, I used 1tsp of sesame oil (less than half a serving, probably more than enough). I sauteed them with the oil, salt, garlic powder, pepper, lemon pepper and then threw in a couple of tbsp of white sesame seeds (probably overdid it there too!). What I really wanted was to add some white wine or chicken stock and some soy sauce, but we didn't have it and we didn't want to go to the store to pick it up. So they could have been better, but there weren't any leftovers in sight after dinner either.
So here's the final roundup. I went to the gym after work, came back and began to cook this meal at around 7:30. We were sitting down to eat by 8:10 (I am not a speedy cook, and we had some beer and conversation during the process). Cleanup took about 15 minutes. The only leftovers were my half of salmon filet and less of the sauce than there should have been. The Blue Moon in the background is a lie. We split a Coffee Beer as an appetizer and never got to the Blue Moon, though I suspect it would have complimented the summer sauce nicely.
P.S. I also added more sauce later. The whole sauce was about 130 calories total (way less than most sauces). Of course, I had about 2 servings (calculated as 2tbsp like most sauce serving sizes), Boyfriend had about 4-5 and there was still 2-3 leftover for further use. I call this sauce 20 cals/serving TOPS. Or perhaps 40 cals/serving since there's no way to really eat just 2 tbsp of it!
P.P.S. I made an awesome breakfast with the leftovers from this meal. Will post tomorrow!
P.S. I also added more sauce later. The whole sauce was about 130 calories total (way less than most sauces). Of course, I had about 2 servings (calculated as 2tbsp like most sauce serving sizes), Boyfriend had about 4-5 and there was still 2-3 leftover for further use. I call this sauce 20 cals/serving TOPS. Or perhaps 40 cals/serving since there's no way to really eat just 2 tbsp of it!
P.P.S. I made an awesome breakfast with the leftovers from this meal. Will post tomorrow!
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