Salmon Salad

As I mentioned earlier I bought a huge piece of salmon at Costco and still had leftovers after eating it two nights in a row. I knew that I needed to do something different with the end of the salmon. I decided to do a take on tuna salad but with salmon and a few surprises. It turned out GREAT! Now, I definitely will PLAN to have leftover salmon so that I can make this salad!

Leftover salmon
1/2 cup cubed cucumber
1/4 sweet onion minced
juice of one lime
some garlic powder
some fresh chopped basil
2 T mayo
a few shakes of hot sauce like Frank's Red Hot

Mix it all together and eat it up!

Salmon Baked with Artichokes

I was at Costco yesterday and the very large salmon in the refrigerator section was calling out to me. It looked so good but it was a A LOT of salmon for two people. So, of course I brought it home and we enjoyed last night and TONIGHT and still have leftovers. However, having fresh baked salmon in the fridge for leftovers is not really a bad problem to have. This recipe is super easy.

1 piece of salmon (I had a 2 lb. piece but of course you could scale this back!)
Juice from two lemons
1 bag Trader Joe artichoke hearts, thawed
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T olive oil
2 T white wine vinegar

Put the salmon in baking dish, salt and pepper fish well, sprinkle artichokes over the fish. Mix the rest of the ingredients in small bowl and pour over fish. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375. Uncover, and bake for about 25 minutes (depends on how think our salmon is).

Really tasty over some brown rice.

Orecchiette with Shrimp and Arugula

Orecchiette is a funny little pasta--meaning "little ears" in Italian. I used frozen, cooked shrimp which I thawed and removed the tails. This is really easy especially if you get the chopping done early.

1/2 bag of orecchiette
16 large cooked shrimp, thawed, tails removed
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 onion, diced small
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large tomato diced
1 pkg arugula
salt and pepper
crushed red pepper

While orecchiette is cooking, in large skillet sauté onion in some olive oil, add the garlic and tomato, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Cook and stir--adding the wine and the broth and cook down a bit reducing the liquid. When pasta is done, drain. Add the cooked shrimp to the liquid and stir to coat, then add the pasta and arugula and mix well. Serve with a hunk of crusty bread. Bon Appétit!

Basil Almond Cod

I know some people who love fish but they don't cook it much at home. Here's a really easy cod dish for two.

1 pkg of Trader Joe Cod, salt and pepper
olive oil
4 T butter
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper
fresh basil
1/2 cup slivered almonds

In dry skillet, toast the almonds. Set aside. To same skillet, add a couple T of olive oil and butter. Cook the seasoned cod skin side up for about 4 minutes. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes Or more if fish is very thick. Remove to warm platter and add some more butter to pan. Add lemon juice and stir. Serve fish with sauce drizzled over and almonds and basil. Pretty yummy!

Sheet Pan Chicken

This recipe is from Melissa Clark of the NYT. I always love everything she makes. This dish is scrumptious. I actually had to make a few changes to the original recipe-some planned, some not. The original recipe called for both leeks and arugula to be used and I had neither. But I did have shallots and spinach so here we go!

4 boneless chicken thighs
1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced in 1/2 inch slices
2 T Sirracha sauce
salt and pepper
3 T olive oil

2 shallots, sliced
lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
1 T olive oil
pinch of salt

1/2 cup plain yogurt
4 roasted garlic cloves ( or 2 t minced fresh garlic)

fresh spinach
fresh dill
lemon juice

Put chicken and and potatoes in large bowl. Salt and pepper everything. In small bowl, mix Siraccha, olive oil and some salt and pepper. Pour over chicken and potatoes and mix well. Cover bowl and let stand for 30 minutes.

In small bowl, mix shallots, zest pinch of salt and olive oil

Preheat oven to 425

On large sheet pan covered with parchment, spread out chicken and potatoes. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and stir and flip potatoes and sprinkle the shallot mixture over all. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes more.

While chicken is baking, mix the garlic with the yogurt. Set aside.

When chicken is done, sprinkle with fresh dill and dollops of yogurt. I served over fresh spinach. Before serving, drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over each serving and fresh lemon juice.