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Smoked Salmon and Pesto Scrambled Eggs
Since the beginning of the New Year, I have been very good about eating healthy and incorporating the right things during the day. I started a month long cleanse which will be coming to an end soon- I am glad I did it- I feel good and it motivates me to eat properly and exercise.
One of the things I am trying to eat more of is protein- especially the good kind. Salmon is the best way to get your protein- but the problem is that my husband and my daughter don’t enjoy eating the fish at all. I mostly end up eating it for lunch since neither of them are home.
I have been buying wild smoked salmon from Trader Joes. I usually make a sandwich or recently have started adding it to scrambled eggs. I beat two eggs and add sliced salmon and cook up the whole thing. I find the combination very satisfying, especially if I top it with some hot sauce- yum!
The other day, I bought some fresh, local pesto. I brought it home and started thinking about some yummy pasta dish I would use it in- but then I remembered I am trying to eat less pasta. So, instead I used it in the salmon and egg concoction. I just added a tablespoon to the beaten eggs and salmon. I then cooked it the same way I did before.
It was absolutely delicious. It brought the simple dish to a whole new level. I loved the sweet basil taste with the salty parmesan kick with the nutty pine nuts.
It is now a staple lunch for me – at least 2 to 3 times a week. It is very filling and satisfying. Try some pesto scrambled eggs with smoked salmon next time you are looking for a healthy lunch.
- 2 eggs, beaten with 1 teaspoon water and ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon extra light olive oil
- 1 tablespoon basil pesto
- 2 to 3 ounces smoked salmon, sliced thin
Beat the eggs and add the pesto and salmon. Mix well. Heat a non-stick pan with the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the eggs and lower the heat to medium. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon till the eggs begin to set. Turn the heat off and the eggs will continue to cook. Serve with a salad or wheat toast.
Roasted Broccoli with Blood Orange and Tamari Glaze
This side dish was served with the ma po tofu I whipped up for my husband the other day. I am always looking to serve broccoli in different ways- especially because it is the most popular vegetable with kids. It is also quite versatile. I can chop it up small and use it for fried rice or I can just broil it simply with extra virgin olive oil and salt.
I find most parents boil the broccoli for their kids. I find roasting vegetables brings out the natural sweetness in them and makes them yummier. We invested in a small toaster/convection counter top oven a few years ago. It is super handy. I use it for breakfast to make toast; for lunch to bake a quick fish fillet and for dinner to roast vegetables. Since it has a convection button as well- things cook much faster. It is very convenient and I don’t have to heat my big oven for a small job. The broccoli tastes delicious roasted in the oven.
For this dinner, since I was making a tofu and turkey stir fry, I needed a side of vegetables. Blood oranges are in season and are in abundance at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. I had a whole bunch sitting on my kitchen counter and I decided to use that as a base for this quick side dish. I mixed fresh blood orange juice (which is the most delicious thing I have ever had- a sip takes me back to last summer in Umbria), tamari and a bit of honey and of course some garlic. I reduced the sauce a bit to transform it into a glaze. I roasted the broccoli half way and then poured the glaze on top. You can substitute regular oranges in this dish. I would top the broccoli with some orange zest and it will be delicious.
The broccoli was delicious and a bit different. What I liked about it was that it was easy and quick yet flavorful and most importantly got a thumbs up from my daughter.
Next time you want to cook broccoli for dinner roast it the oven and pour a blood orange and tamari glaze.
Blood Orange Glaze
- Juice 3 to 4 blood oranges- should yield 1/3 to ½ cup juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 tablespoon tamari
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
Bring the blood orange juice, honey, tamari and garlic cloves to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 6 to 7 minutes till the juice thickens and reduces to a ¼ cup. Taste for seasonings and keep aside.
- 3 cups broccoli florets, frozen or fresh
- 1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
Roast the broccoli mixed with the olive oil and salt in a 350 degrees oven for 10 minutes or till it becomes soft. Take out of oven and pour the glaze over the broccoli, mix well and place back in the oven. Roast for another 10 minutes. Serve as a side dish with any entrée.
Spinach Dal- Pink Lentils Cooked With Spinach
This is my easy, quick ‘go to’ meal. I use the pink lentils which cook up in a matter of minutes and it is ready to eat. I made this for a friend who requested Indian food. She said she was satisfying her craving by going to Trader Joes and buying the boxed Indian meals- what??? I couldn’t let that one go- I think she knew I would be very disturbed by that comment and she was right. Even though I had no plans on making Indian food for our dinner together- I couldn’t help myself. I decided to make a chicken dish and these lentils.
I needed to serve a vegetable and to make it easy I decided to use baby spinach- that I had in my fridge- yet another great thing to keep in there all the time. It is handy for a quick salad or even a stir fry.
The lentils were done in about 15 minutes, I added the spinach and then heated some mustard and cumin seeds in oil and was done! The result was a delicious, healthy side dish that can be served with rice or bread.
I gave it to my daughter the next day and she didn’t even notice the spinach in it- I am not sure how that happened. The bright colored greens were quite apparent to me but I think because the dal was so delicious, she didn’t even care about the spinach.
Make the spinach dal next time you are short on time…
Turkey and Pesto Panini
This is a quick lunch on the weekend or even a quick dinner through the week. My husband loves turkey sandwiches but I usually don’t end up making too many sandwiches at home and so he end up eating them for lunch at work. I am not sure why- but sandwiches don’t come to mind when I think of lunch- and then I wonder why my daughter doesn’t like them. I never gave her a sandwich while she was a baby- so she never got used to one.
I bought sliced turkey since I had a large loaf of bake at home baguette in the fridge. I planned on making turkey pesto sandwiches for my hubby. My initial thought was to bake the bread first and then assemble the sandwich- but then I thought of assembling it first and then cooking it on a grill pan. I used another heavy pan to press down on the sandwich while all the ingredients melted together. Speaking of melting- I also had mozzarella cheese in the fridge which went perfectly with the pesto and the turkey.
I served a few potato chips and a green salad with the delicious sandwich. It was really good- I had a few bites…
Next time you are in a bind and don’t know what to make for lunch- try a turkey and pesto panini.
- 2 teaspoons extra light olive oil
- One (6 inch) piece of bake at home baguette
- 3 thin sliced herb turkey
- 3 thick slices of mozzarella cheese
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon basil pesto
- 4 to 5 fresh basil leaves
- Fresh black pepper
Heat a grill pan with the olive oil. Slice the baguette in half. Spread the mayonnaise and pesto evenly on both sides. Spread the cheese and turkey slices. Add the basil leaves and black pepper on top. Place the second slice on top and place it on the grill pan. Press the panini down with another heavy pan or anything heavy. Brown the sandwich on both sides pressing well for 5 minutes each. Cut in half and serve.
Coconut Rum Flan
Flan is my all time favorite dessert. I grew up eating it and love everything about it. My Mom would serve it to us with a drizzle of fresh cream. It was the most glorious dessert ever.
Over the years I have tried making it- but have not been very successful. The flan usually doesn’t invert well and breaks apart. The reason is not enough eggs- I don’t like the custard dessert too rich so I don’t end up adding too many eggs. So my solution is to have my Mom make it for us every time she comes to visit. She doesn’t have a set recipe for me to follow and I have never watched her make it.
Last year I modified a recipe and tried it- no luck- it broke apart. Finally the other day while I was cooking for some friends, I decided to make flan. I was watching food television and saw someone make coconut rum flan. That is all I needed to get inspired. I tweaked the recipe to my taste and came up with this recipe.
I am thrilled with it. The texture is perfect- soft yet firm. It is not too sweet- exactly the way I like it. Everyone enjoyed it a lot. I also like it because I can make it with low fat milk and although it has quite a few eggs- at least the dessert has protein.
For caramel
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then wash down any sugar crystals from the side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil, without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until dark amber.
Pour into the glass dish and swirl so caramel coats the bottom.
For flan
- 1 cup 1% milk
- 1 (14 ounce) low-fat coconut milk
- ½ cup sugar
- 5 eggs
- 2 tablespoons dark rum
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
You will need a round 9-inch glass dish and a large roasting pan.
Heat the milk and coconut milk with the sugar until the mixture simmers. Whisk the eggs, add the rum, salt and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Add ½ cup of hot milk mixture to the egg mixture and mix well. Add the tempered egg mixture into the milk mixture mixing well. Strain the entire mixture before pouring it into the glass dish.
Place the glass dish into the roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with hot water- about ½ inch high. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes until just set but still wobbly in center. Refrigerate over night or at least 2-3 hours.
Top with the coconut and serve chilled.
MaPo Tofu- Silken Tofu Cooked with Ground Turkey
My husband introduced this Chinese dish to me. I had never heard of it. He loves tofu- in any form. Before meeting him, I wasn’t much into tofu- not sure why but I just wasn’t interested.
We usually have this szechuan dish in restaurants. I like it a lot- definitely not a combination that comes to mind easily. I never think of pairing two proteins together. In this dish it works really well.
I was thinking of what to make and Chinese food came to mind. I typically make a broccoli and chicken stir fry but I wanted to make something different and so this dish came to mind. I went shopping for some chili paste, etc. While I was researching the dish- most of the recipes had lots of heat in them. I can’t really do that since neither my husband nor my daughter eat very spicy dishes. I still wanted to have great flavor so I decided on a black bean sauce and a chili paste I picked up in Whole Foods. I prefer tamari to soy sauce- it is more concentrated and has more flavor. The sauce is quite simple to make and so is the dish.
I served roasted broccoli and brown rice with it. My daughter looked at the dish and wasn’t very happy. I have to say- it doesn’t look very appetizing but it is delicious. She thought so too once she tasted it. I keep telling her not to judge a book by it’s cover but somehow it doesn’t register… Anyway, I would highly recommend MaPo Tofu- good for you and easy to make.
- 1 block silken tofu, drained
- 2 tablespoons extra light olive oil
- ½ to ¾ pound ground turkey (dark meat)
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 4 green onions, whites and greens separated
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons tamari
- 1 tablespoon black bean sauce
- 1 tablespoon chili bean paste
- 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
Mix well and keep aside.
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
Add the cornstarch to the chicken broth and mix well.
Heat a wok like pan with the olive oil. Add the ground meat and separate it with a wooden spoon and sauté until crispy and golden brown. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic and white part of the green onion. Saute 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tamari sauce and sauté for a minute. Add the silken tofu and break it into small pieces with the spoon. Add the cornstarch mixed with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and check for seasonings. Garnish with the green parts of the green onions. Serve with roasted broccoli.
Chili For The Big Game-What Are You Cooking For The Super Bowl?
I am not sure if some of you recognize this particular chili. I made it last year for the big game and this year I will make another kind but thought I should give a recipe in advance if you are planning ahead.
It is a very busy week for me- my darling daughter turns seven on Thursday and initially I was planning to bake cupcakes for her class as well as her party on Saturday. As the week came upon me, I realized I will be baking 4 dozen cupcakes- somehow that didn’t sound very pleasant to me. I was initially very excited about baking all the cupcakes but the thought of 20 kids in her class eating just a bit of a cupcake and throwing the rest away was not a pleasant one. All that work and effort will go right in the garbage- so I decided to buy the cupcakes for the class instead- of course I talked to my daughter first and she was okay with it. A little less work for me this week- so it opens up some time for me to plan a meal for the Super Bowl.
I think if I had a bit more time I would come up with something very different. For now the plan is to make a chili verde- which is a Mexican stew made with pork shoulder in a tomatillo sauce. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? I can’t wait to make it and taste it- I think I will make it on Saturday because soups, stews taste better the next day. I will be using this recipe as an inspiration- so if you are so inclined- you can do the same.
I will also make some guacamole and corn bread. Although beer is the beverage of choice for the big day- I will stick to wine, thank you very much.
If I can get my act together- I will post the chili recipe at the end of the week. Now that I have shared what I will be making, I want to know what you will be making for the big game?? Please share and give everyone more ideas…. No matter what you do or eat- remember to enjoy the Super Bowl but do try to eat healthy.