Thai Salmon Cakes

I've been wanting to make this recipe for a while. It's in my new favorite cookbook, "Quick and Easy Thai" by Nancie McDermott. I was originally turned off this recipe though as it calls for canned salmon....I had a bad experience in college with canned salmon when I didn't realise it wasn't boneless and had to throw out an entire pot of salmon curry...wasn't too happy about that. My friend, C, assured me however that the wild salmon that she buys at costco is boneless and skinless and I should have no problem. So off I went to costco today to get the salmon...I also found a 2-pack of organic blue agave nectar for just over $7, a bottle of resveratrol and a bag of ground flax to add to our smoothies....was very happy about that.
I thought this was really delicious, quick and healthy! D gave it 5 stars! I served this with steamed broccoli and non-fat greek yogurt mixed with a bit of red curry paste.










Ingredients:
1 -14.75 oz can pink salmon (I used 2-6 oz cans of boneless skinless wild salmon)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 egg
1 Tbsp red curry paste
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp vegetable oil ( I used coconut oil and you could use much less)

-Drain salmon well, place in a medium bowl. Add bread crumbs, onion and cilantro. In a small bowl, stir and mash the egg, red curry paste, fish sauce, salt and pepper until failry smooth. Add to the salmon mixture and combine everything well. Shape into patties and set aside.
-Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until a bit of the salmon mixture sizzles at once. Gently add half the salmon patties and cook, carefully turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a serving platter and cook the remaining patties the same way. Serve hot or warm.

Serves 4 ( or 3 if using 2- 6 oz cans)

Savory Palmiers

As we are hosting Thanksgiving this here, I wanted to make some hors d'oeuvres for people to enjoy with a glass of wine before the main event! I always think that a warm nibble is cheerier so I decided to try out some savory palmiers. It's basically puff pastry filled with pesto or other savory fillings.

For the test run, I just used pesto and parmesan cheese. However, when I make then for Thanksgiving, I will add toasted chopped walnuts, goat cheese and maybe some sun-dried tomatoes too. I thought these were delicious but I think they'll be even better with more goodies inside :)

This recipe is from Ina Garten's cookbook, "Back to Basics".

Ingredients

1 package frozen puff pastry, defrosted for 40 minutes ( you should have 2 sheets)

1/4 cup prepared pesto

1/2 cup goast cheese, such as montrachet

1/4 chopped toasted pine nuts (or walnuts)

1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomaties packed in oil, drained

sea salt (optional)

-Lightly flour a board and unroll a sheet of pastry. Using a rolling pin, roll it out to 9 1/2" x 11 1/2".

-Spread the pastry with half the pesto, cheese, tomatoes, nuts and salt.

-Working from the short ends, fold each end halfway in to center. Fold each side in again until the edges almost touch. Fold one side over the other and press lightly.

- Place roll on a parchment paper or silpat covered cookie sheet, cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for 40 min. Repeat with other pastry.

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

- Cut the prepared rolls into 1/4 inch thick slices, and place then 2" apart on the cookie sheet.

-Bake 14 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm.

Slow Food Potluck

I had a Slow Food Board Meeting the other night and we were all asked to bring something for a potluck dinner. As I had a busy day and also had to drive an hour to the meeting, I needed something that would easy to make and get better as it sat. The solution....?

Marinated Raw Kale Salad with Red Onion, Cannellini Beans and Tomatoes










Salad Ingredients:
1-2 bunches of kale, washed, rib removed and leaves torn into bite-size pieces
3/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 plum tomatoes, diced
Juice from 1-2 lemons
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil
sea salt
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce (or bragg's)
2 garlic cloves, minced
pinch cayenne pepper

-Put kale in large bowl, and pour lemon juice, olive oil and seal salt over kale. Massage leaves with your hands for a few minutes to allow to salt and lemon juice to soften the kale.
-Mix in the soy sauce, minced garlic and pinch of cayenne.
-Add beans, onion and tomatoes before serving


This can sit for hours before serving as it just gets bettter! It will also last in the fridge for a couple of days.

Fall is Here!

I might not be in New England anymore, and fall in S.Florida only really means that the temperature is in the mid-70's, but that's enough for me to break out my boots and make one of my favorite fall dishes. Pumpkin Barley Risotto with Turkey! I'm not going to repost the recipe as I already did last year but check my earlier post and get ready to add this one to your list of favorites.
Tomorrow morning-pumpkin smoothie!

For "P"

After some prodding from my dear friend, P, who recently started her own fantastic blog (goodcleanfuneating.blogspot.com), I have decided to return to the world of blogging....even if she and I are the only ones that look at each others blogs! So this one is for P, who seems to like a green smoothie as much as I do. It really is a great way to add a extra serving or two of veggies without compromising any flavor of the smoothie.
This mornings smoothie is not pretty to look at, which I why I did not take a picture of the end result. It is however, quite delicious and ridiculously high in anti-oxidants.
Pics to come as I can't seem to download pictures right now.....

Ingredients:
unsweetened vanilla almond milk
handful organic baby spinach
half a banana
one packet Sambazon acai puree
half a scoop of green vibrance greens powder
half a scoop of vanilla Spiru-tein protein powder

Blend and enjoy.

I love adding green vibrance to my smoothies as its so good for you! A wonderful client gave it to me a few moths ago, after I had complained about the horrific taste of many greens powders. http://http//www.vibranthealth.us/?p2=/modules/vibranthealth/products.jsp&category_id=86

I also like adding the acai puree when I don't have a lot of fresh fruit i the house as its a great hit of anti-oxidants. http://http//www.sambazon.com/products/smoothiePacks/

Mac & Cheese "Broccolissimo"!

This recipe comes from "Macaroni & Cheese" by Marlena Spieler. I am fully aware that there's really nothing healthy about this recipe but the addition of glorious green broccoli made me feel slightly better about my indulgence. This was really very good....creamy and cheesy without being overly rich or claggy. A glass of crisp pinot grigio or two and some roast chicken rounded out this meal nicely. You could make this healthier by doubling the quantity of broccoli and cutting back on the pasta, and you could use whole wheat pasta.



















Ingredients:
1-2 heads of broccoli cut into florets and stems into bite-size pieces
8 ounces of small shell pasta
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp flour
2 cups hot, but not boiling, low-fat milk
salt to taste
dash of cayenne
grating of fresh nutmeg
8 ounces Appenzeller or similar tasty firm cheese, grated
2 ounces Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, grated

Directions:
Steam broccoli and set aside. Cook pasta in salted water until almost al dente and set aside. (I did both of these things in the afternoon and then popped them in the fridge until I was ready to make dinner)
In a heavy, non-stick saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat, then sprinkle in the flour. Cook for a minute to get rid of the raw flour tatse. Remove from the heat and add the milk all at once. Stir with a spoon or whisk to remove any lumps. Return to medium-high heat and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens slightly. Season with salt, cayenne and nutmeg. (I also added pepper) Set aside a few tablespoons of cheese for the top of the casserole and stir the rest into the sauce until melted.
Spoon a few tablespoons of sauce on the bottom of a large shallow baking dish, then in layers, add the pasta, broccoli, and the remaining sauce. (I added some sauce as I layers the ingredients just to make sure everything got some cheese!) Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
Bake until hot and bubbling, and the cheese has melted and browned in spots, about 20 minutes. (as the recipe didn't specify what oven temperature to use, I did 350 degrees F then under the broiler for a minute or so to brown in more) Serve immediately.