Whole 30 Day 2: creamy lemon garlic dressing

I didn't watch the President's farewell address tonight because I can't bear the idea of the Obamas leaving the White House. Instead I went to a friend's happy hour birthday party (and drank nothing tyvm), battled the wind and rain, and watched this when I got home:

Sigh.

At least my food was delicious.

Lunch was another salad with surprise Brussels sprouts. I don't know why I called them surprise. I was surprised when I found them I guess? Whatever the case, they were super tasty.

om nom nom

For dinner, Colby cooked salmon and we ate it with an arugula salad with eggs and tomatoes. It was supposed to have avocado, but the ones that we got were still super crunchy.  No bueno, but the salad was AMAZING because of the dressing.

creamy lemon garlic dressing

1/2 c two minute mayonnaise 

juice from 1-2 lemons (to taste)

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

salt

Combine everything and let it steep. 

It is so so so delicious. Colby used walnut oil to make the mayo since olive oil is too strongly flavored. The mayo itself is really good and definitely something we'll be using as a base for other dressings and salads. I definitely want to make this jalapeño slaw next week and now I'm envisioning pairing macadamia nut encrusted white fish to make tortilla-less fish tacos. Hmmm..

Asian-inspired Salmon Filet Sandwich

Have you ever had something at a restaurant that was so good that you wanted to eat it again and again and again?  A couple weeks ago I had the salmon "burger" at Central Market Cafe and to say that I loved it is an understatement.  I've been itching to recreate it, not just because it's delicious, but because it seemed simple enough: salmon filet, wasabi mayo, erm I MEAN aioli, and seaweed salad.  This turned out to be easy peasy and, perhaps, even more delicious than the original.



salmon filet sandwich

4 salmon filets
4 burger buns (I used the same buns that I used for stuffed french toast)
2 T miso paste
2 T mirin
2 T soy sauce
1/2 t sesame oil


1 T wasabi paste (more or less, to taste)
1 t soy sauce
1 t lime juice
1/3 c mayo

maggi, to taste (optional)

seaweed salad

olive oil

1) Preheat oven to 300.  Cut burger buns in half and brush with olive oil.  Put the buns in the oven for ~15 minutes, or until they're lightly toasted.

2) While the buns are cooking, whisk together the miso paste, soy sauce, mirin, and sesame oil.  Coat salmon filets with this and let sit for 5-10 minutes, minimum.  You could also let the salmon marinate for longer if you're not, say, eating second dinner at 11:00 PM.

3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the wasabi paste, soy sauce, and lime juice.  Once it's all combined, add in the mayo and stir to combine.  Taste for seasoning.  If it needs more salt, add in a couple dashes of maggi (or you could just add in a bit more soy sauce).  Set aside.

4) Cook the salmon on the stovetop over medium-high heat for ~5 minutes on a side.  The salmon will flake when it's cooked through and be a lovely pink color on the inside.

5) Assemble by spreading a layer of the wasabi mayo on your freshly toasted buns and topping it with a good handful of seaweed salad.  (We got ours from CM because I'm all about ease of preparation right now).

Yes, that's a second sandwich on Colby's plate.   It's *that* good.

Right. Because this is a food blog and not a mommy blog...

...so here's a picture.  9 months is a long time to go without smoked salmon.

Miso Glazed Salmon

I've been chronicling what I've been eating for about a week now. I told a few people about it (so, like... Colby), but it's sort of embarrassing how much I eat. I guess I understand now why I've gained so much weight. It's easy to blame it on school and stress, but in reality, I've mostly just let myself go because I'm lazy. I'm taking the opportunity now to refocus my energies in getting healthier by eating less and exercising more. I'm definitely not going to turn this into my personal diet journal (because that's what my super secret livejournal from high school that has since been deleted was all about), but I'll share insights into how much it sort of sucks and what I'm eating (since that's really what matters on a food blog).

Dinner tonight consisted of an awesome salad (if I do say so myself), leftover gnocchi, and miso glazed salmon

miso glazed salmon in parchment

2 salmon filets
1.5 T miso paste
2 T brown sugar
1 T hot water
1 T soy sauce
1 small clove garlic, grated
1/2 tsp grated ginger
salt + sichuan pepper
olive oil
parchment paper

set oven to 400. Whisk together miso paste, water, brown sugar, soy sauce, grated garlic, and grated ginger to combine. Drizzle salmon filets lightly with olive oil, only to coat. Season with salt and sichuan pepper on all sides and coat with about 1/2 of the glaze (save the rest to dip in the salmon). Place the salmon in parchment and crimp closed. Place in a baking dish and cook for ~20 minutes, or until the salmon is 145 deg in the middle.

You could also just use cooking spray instead of olive oil, but I hate cooking spray like... a lot. Also, black pepper for sichuan pepper is also fair game.

We got our (wild caught) salmon from Costco on our (yuppie) shopping day. Unsurprisingly, the pieces are freaking huge, so I only ate half. Thankfully, Colby liked the recipe and ate the rest of mine as well. :)

Fish'n'Taters

I find Guy Fieri to be crazy amounts of annoying. I only really watch Diners, Drive-ins and Dives because it's probably on the better half of Food Network's programming and nothing is more irritating than listening to Bobby Flay mispronounce "chipotle" every five seconds since he is unable to make a dish that doesn't involve chipotle and ancho chile powder. *Anywho* one of the few high points on DDD was a salmon hash that looked tasty enough to attempt to make at home. The results were nomilicious!

I had a frozen salmon filet leftover from Lent and a failed attempt at dieting, so I had the most "elusive" ingredient on the list already on hand. Hence, I definitely *had* to make this.



The salmon also looked kind of gross after being shrink wrapped in plastic in my freezer for a couple months, so I felt much less guilty for chopping up a perfectly good piece of salmon.

Salmon Hash (or "Fish'n'Taters" as proclaimed by the 'sband)

4 oz salmon
1 large russet potato (~1.25 lbs), cubed into ~1/4 in pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 onion, sliced
olive oil, butter
s+p
1/4 tsp paprika

Heat oil over medium in a large pan, add onions, pinch of salt and cook until translucent and a little bit brown.



Add potatoes and a large amount of salt, and a few grinds of black pepper (and maybe some butter if you're feeling adventurous). Cook until the potatoes are mostly done. Add in paprika and stir to coat all potatoes. Add in garlic and stir for 30s until fragrant.



Add in salmon, some more salt and stir the hash to break up and cook the salmon.



So I admit that the pictures don't look completely appetizing, but not all food must be beautiful to be delicious. I think my biggest problem was that I didn't soak the potatoes before frying which meant that they were still incredibly starchy. It wasn't a huge deal, but as one can see, they left quite a mess on the bottom of the pan. Overall, though, this didn't matter much and it was super duper tasty. :)