Wasabi Salmon and Crabby Potatoes

I've realized that this is really the only way Mike will eat salmon anymore. Everytime he hears I'm making it, he gets whiny and says he wants it with wasabi and soy. So, I've gotten pretty good at it. Here's what I do...


Heat sesame oil in a skillet. Put the salmon fillets in the skillet and pour a bit of soy sauce over the top. Top each fillet with as much wasabi as you can handle. ;) Then, sprinkle sesame seeds over the top. I cooked these until they were cooked about halfway through, then put them under the broiler to cook the top. I served them with a bit of soy sauce drizzled over the top.


For the potatoes, make mashed potatoes as usual, and add imitation crab and wasabi. Mike bought a different brand of imitation crab this time, and though he usually LOVES the stuff, he didn't care for it this time. I thought it was totally bland, and couldn't taste it in the potatoes at all. Dexter and Chloe loved the crabby pieces though. :)

I served the salmon and potatoes with our favorite, edamame sprinkled with sea salt. Yum!

**On a sad note: While I was eating, my lips were stinging really bad. I'm starting to think that soy sauce and/or salt is causing my strange lip reaction (swelling and cracking). This is very sad to me, because I LOVE soy sauce and I always like my food salty! This would be a devastating blow if this is the case!

Chicken & Asparagus in White Wine Sauce with Twice-Baked Parmesan Potatoes

Last night's dinner was simple, yet very tasty! I made Chicken and Asparagus in White Wine Sauce from the Cooking Light 2008 cookbook. It was so simple, I was afraid it wouldn't have that much flavor, but I actually LOVED the mild, buttery flavor of the chicken.

Chicken and Asparagus in White Wine Sauce

Ingredients

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I used two and just sliced them in half horizontally to make four thin breast slices)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound asparagus spears, trimmed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preparation

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. (I skipped this step since I had cut the breasts in half, making them 1/4-inch thick already.) Sprinkle chicken breasts evenly with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add wine, broth, and garlic to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; cook 2 minutes. Add asparagus; cover and cook 3 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender. Remove from heat; stir in parsley and juice. Serve asparagus and sauce with chicken.

Yield

4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half, about 5 asparagus spears, and about 2 tablespoons sauce)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 289(25% from fat); FAT 8g (sat 4.2g,mono 2g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 43g; CHOLESTEROL 114mg; CALCIUM 59mg; SODIUM 648mg; FIBER 2.8g; IRON 4.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 10.5g
Barbara Seelig-Brown , Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2007 Stress Free Cooking

Twice-Baked Parmesan Potatoes

My menu originally said to buy pre-made mashed potatoes and just flavor them, but that sounded like cheating to me, so I planned to make my own mashed potatoes. Once I realized how simple the chicken was, I decided to church up my potatoes a bit. I baked them at 400 degrees for an hour. I let them cool a bit, then cut a slot out of the top and hollowed them out, making little potato canoes.

The inside of the potatoes were SO soft and perfect - I can't believe I haven't baked potatoes in SO long! I mashed them with butter, Parmesan cheese, fresh chives, salt & pepper, and buttermilk, since it was the only dairy product I had available for moisture. Once the mashed potato mixture was ready, I refilled the potato canoes with the mashed potatoes, and topped them with a bit of Parmesan cheese. I put them under the broiler for about 5 minutes, until the cheese was melted and golden. Voila - I had perfect twice-baked potatoes!

This meal was SO easy and SO yummy. I'm definitely making it again!!!

Dexter really liked the chicken, too.

Garlic & Herb Oven-Fried Halibut

Tonight I made my first menu-combo of the week. I made Garlic & Herb Oven-Fried Halibut, Red Potatoes with Herbed Vinaigrette, and Steamed Broccoli. The cookbook is so cool, it even tells you what order to do things in!

I halved the recipe, from 6 servings to 3. I think that I would not have halved the first 5 ingredients though...there wasn't really enough coating for the fish.

Game Plan:

1. While oven preheats:
Cook Potatoes
Prepare Fish

2. While fish cooks:
Finish potatoes
Steam Broccoli


Garlic & Herb Oven-Fried Halibut
recipe from Cooking Light 2008
- I halved the recipe
1 C panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 T chopped fresh basil
1 T chopped fresh parsley
1/2 t onion powder
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 T flour
6 halibut fillets
3/4 t salt
1/4 black pepper
2 T olive oil, divided
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a shallow dish (I used waxed paper). Combine egg whites and egg in a shallow dish. Place flour in a shallow dish (I used waxed paper). Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Dredge fish in flour. Dip in egg mixture; dredge in panko mixture.
3. Heat 1 T oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 3 fish fillets; cook 2 1/2 minutes on each side or until browned. Place fish on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with 1 T oil and remaining fish (I didn't need to because I halved the recipe). Bake at 450 for 6 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.


Red Potatoes with Herbed Vinaigrette

Place 1 1/2 pounds quartered red potatoes in a medium saucepan. Cover with cold water; bring to a boil. Cook 8 minutes or until tender; drain. Cool. Combine 2 T white wine vinegar, 1 T EVOO, 1/4 t salt, and 1/4 t black pepper in a large bowl, stirring well. Add potatoes, 1/4 C sliced green onions, and 2 t chopped parsley to mix, toss.



Overall, this was pretty good. Light, healthy, and pretty tasty. I wasn't overly impressed. Mike and Troy liked it, but there was no overwhelming reaction. We couldn't figure out if the potatoes were meant to be served hot or cold. They would be good either way though. I like this recipe, but I don't think I'll put it into my rotation.