metabolic cleanse menu #5: taste bud food

Discovered a neighbourhood gem today: Taste Bud Food. It's a friendly storefront with a chef cooking healthy "ready-to-heat" meals. Doesn't get much better than that! How's this for a cleanse-friendly menu?

Metabolic cleanse dinner menu #5

Chickpea & Carrot Salad + Yellow Roasted Beets & Walnut Salad

~I don't think I was supposed to eat walnuts...~

Grilled Salmon with Quinoa Pilaf and Braised Fennel
~Hope there wasn't any butter in this!~

Day 6 is going to be tough. I go to school in the afternoon and evening so my dinner meal choices are incredibly limited. I may have to forfeit the cleanse for an all-natural protein granola bar, which I will eat for during my dinner break. yum.

metabolic cleanse menu #2: salmon with green beans and pesto

It's Monday at 7:50 p.m. and I think I survived "day two" of the cleanse.

Metabolic cleanse dinner menu #2:

Salad

Roasted salmon with green beans and pesto

No wine

The salmon recipe is from Jamie's Food Revolution and it took all of five minutes to prep before popping it in the oven. Unfortunately, the store-bought pesto contained a little sugar (it was one of the last ingredients listed, I swear)!

Before

After

You can find the recipe here. And, if you're not on a cleanse, take Jamie's advice and serve with some roasted fingerling potatoes. I'm imagining it right now...and it tastes good!

new recipes: wild rice salad, grilled salmon

Our friends Hilly, Sue & Simone joined us for dinner on Sunday night. I took the opportunity to try two new recipes...a rice salad and a grilled salmon with a crunchy shallot mustard vinaigrette. You are going to love this rice salad and so are your friends. Trust me, this is going to become your go-to recipe for potluck dinners! The fish's vinaigrette was flavoured with shallots, grainy mustard and honey. It was a wonderful enhancement to the already delicious grilled wild salmon.

Wild rice salad with roasted red peppers

~Cook brown rice and wild rice blend according to package. After rice has cooled to room temperature, mix in chopped roasted red peppers, chopped fresh herbs like mint, basil and parsley, add lemon/olive oil dressing, lemon zest, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. You can find a more complete recipe in Jamie Oliver's book Jamie's Food Revolution.~

Grilled salmon with crunchy sweet mustard vinaigrette and sauteed green beans

This summery meal was a hit. I love when Hilly "oohs and ahhs" over the food. Do you have any summer meals that you must make before the fall is fully here?

summer comfort

It was a long day. It called for comfort food. Wild salmon burgers with feta and dill
Pulse the following in a food processor:

• 3/4 lb of wild salmon, skin and bones removed
• 1 tbs of chopped fresh dill
• 1tbs of honey or maple mustard
• 1 tbs of chopped shallot
• small handful of crumbled feta
• small handful of panko or bread crumbs
• 1 egg white
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• Form into patties and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes
• Grill or fry in a non-stick pan for about 5 minutes per side on medium heat (we fried tonight)

Easy "fancy" mayo for dipping

• Combine 2 tbs of low-fat mayo, 1 tbs of maple mustard, 1 finely chopped green onion and freshly ground pepper.

Roasted fingerling potatoes with dill

• Preheat oven to 350. Toss potatoes (sliced in half if necessary) with olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper and chopped fresh dill. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 4o minutes, flipping once.

Have a glass of Chardonnay. It's comforting.

summer birthday grill

My mom's been kind of mad at me since I publicly said that Terry taught me how to cook. So, I want to take this opportunity (on her 29th birthday!) to say thank you, I love you and you're the best mom.

On Sunday night, we celebrated my mom's special day in 36c heat! Yikes! It was so hot, we almost didn't feel like eating. But, of course, we did.

Menu:

• Guacamole & Pita Chips...that's five avocados split among three people
• Bonnie Stern's grilled salmon and corn salsa (this meal took less than 30 minutes including prep and active cooking)
• Store-bought but still delicious key lime pie

Happy birthday mom!

easy summer salmon

Menu: wild salmon, salad with freshly shucked local peas and local corn on the cob

To make the salmon:

• In a small bowl, mix 3T of mayo, 1T of tarragon mustard, drizzle of honey and a little lemon juice
• Rub 1T of the above sauce over two wild salmon fillets, sprinkle kosher salt and freshly ground pepper on the salmon
• Place fillets skin-side down on a lightly oiled piece of aluminum foil, using a second piece of foil create a little package for the salmon
• Place on a medium grill, with the lid closed, for 15 minutes

To made dipping sauce:

• Use the reminder of the sauce, add a little kosher salt & pepper and some chopped green onions or chives

Serve with salad, the side of your choice and a bottle of white wine. Easy for a weeknight, right? Do you have a simple salmon recipe that you'd like to share?

my favourite sandwich

Last night our Aunt Teri joined us for a late dinner. In my mind, we required a decadent meal that would come together quickly.

So, what did we have? A seared salmon sandwich with a fennel, arugula, goat cheese salad washed down with a bottle of 2006 Cuvaison Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros.

Honestly, what's better than seared salmon topped with dill-caper mayo sandwiched between buttery garlic bread? In terms of 'wich craft, this is perfection.

P.S. The photo above was stolen from Wish.ca and originally appeared in Wish Magazine, September 2007. Just so you know, we put WAY, WAY, WAY more dill-caper mayo on top!

happy mother's day x 3

Tonight we celebrated Mother's Day with Jay's mom, his sister's family and my mom. To suit the nieces, we started at 5:30 p.m. and ended at 7:30 p.m. The evening required a kid-friendly meal but it still had some fun twists.

Menu

Pomegranate Sparkling Sangria

Blanched asparagus and green beans with homemade green goddess dressing

(courtesy of Bonnie Stern's Friday Night Dinner)

Roasted Potato Salad

(courtesy of Bonnie Stern's Friday Night Dinner)

Salmon Burgers with Lemon and Capers

Happy Mother's Day 2009!

chicken tikka sandwich

Sometimes a dinner that takes 10 minutes to prepare is exactly what you need. By avoiding the take-out joints, you can save a bit of money and keep healthy.

Jamie Oliver's Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt recipe is so easy that I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I make it -- especially since it involves a jar of curry paste. The recipe includes ingredients that can all be purchased at a grocery store like Zehrs to get President's Choice naan bread and Patak's tandoori mild curry paste.

Usually I stick with salmon but tonight we tried chicken breasts. I suspect that halibut would work well too. In fact, as I write this I think I'm going to try lamb next time...

Ingredients for Chicken Tikka Sandwich

Naan in the oven, just follow the instructions on the package

Enjoy your sandwich with a beer, I chose Dos Equis Lager (it reminds me of Acapulco!)

enjoy!

dinner for 8 in less than an hour

On Thursday, I was in the mood to cook. Without taking into account my Saturday plans, I invited 3 couples over for dinner. Saturday arrived and I had two appointments and wasn't able to start prepping until 5 p.m. Cocktails were at 6:30 p.m.

Menu
Bruschettas x 2 -- one with roasted cherry tomatoes, the other with wilted fennel, black olives & sardines (served with prosecco!)
Silly Simple Salad with mixed greens, watercress, arugula, ferny bits of fennel and a lemony dressing
Roasted Salmon with Tarragon, Mustard and Chive Sauce (served with Niagara white and red)
Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Grilled Asparagus

easy peasy.

P.S. I must mention that my friend Suzanne was responsible for dessert. I don't bake. But she does. Suzanne made the MOST outstanding pecan cinnamon buns!