Wild Salmon, Asparagus, and Shiitakes in Parchment Recipe

Wild Salmon, Asparagus, and Shiitakes

Apparently my son thinks I'm awesome because I make him bacon. That's right bacon. It all traces back to last week and the homemade Mother's Day gift that my son made at school. He came home so excited from school on Friday and immediately gave me the gift that he had made. It featured a picture of me frying bacon and a story about what makes me so great. The story emphasized that I do crafts and fry bacon. Of all the things that I do, bacon has the biggest impact on my kids. I don't know if I should be flattered or worried. According to my son all the other kids put things like their mother was pretty, funny etc. He was very proud that I make great bacon. Maybe I should stop trying to dress up and look nice for my husband as well. Bacon seems to have magical qualities for the males in my family. Since having bacon everyday is not healthy I make other foods that the males in my family love. Two of their favorites are salmon and mushrooms. Tonight I tried a new recipe for Wild Salmon, Asparagus and Shiitakes in Parchment from Martha Stewart Living magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 35 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First since the shiitakes at the store I shop at only come in 5 ounce containers, I bought two and used 10 ounces total in the recipe. Secondly, I realized that I had forgotten to toss the vegetables with olive oil, so instead I drizzled the top of the salmon and vegetables. This method ended up working very well since it kept the salmon moist while cooking. I found that my cooking time was much longer than the 9 minutes suggested by the recipe. This was probably due to the fact that my fillets were much larger and had skin.

Since everything is baked in parchment this is a very easy dish to prep and cook. The clean-up just involves throwing away the used parchment, which is great for a weeknight meal. Both of my sons love salmon and this dish was popular. The sliced lemon wedges are an important component, it helps to bring out the flavor of the vegetables and enhance the flavor of the salmon.

For the recipe go to Wild Salmon, Asparagus, and Shiitakes in Parchment.

Asian Style Chicken and Rice Recipe

Asian Style Chicken and Rice

I have two boys and each of them has their own unique food habits. My youngest loves cheese while my oldest has decided that he is currently not eating any. The youngest loves spicy foods, my oldest hates them. They can both agree on a few foods. Rice and chicken are two of their favorite foods. They will literally eat plain rice out of the fridge as a snack. I like rice as much as the next person, but they take it to a whole new level. Since they can be hit or miss with so many other foods I try to make chicken at least once a week and rice is always a popular side dish. This week I tried a new recipe for Asian Style Chicken and Rice from Everyday Food magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 50 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. This recipe was very straight forward so I only made a few changes. First the sliced shiitake mushrooms that I could find and purchase were 5 ounces. So instead of using the remainder in another recipe I just added all 5 ounces. Since I added more mushrooms I found that my total cooking time was increased by approximately 5 minutes. Also make sure to trim the extra fat from your chicken thighs or your rice will end up greasy. Finally, I made my own chicken stock which I do not salt. This allows me to control the amount of sodium in my recipes.

While the title of this recipe is Asian style, the recipe resembled Southern style chicken and rice. The ginger added flavor, without making the dish taste overly Asian inspired. This would be a recipe that people that like traditional American cooking would enjoy and not even notice the ginger. That being said my family liked this recipe, especially my two boys. The rice turned out perfect and the chicken was very moist.

For the recipe go to Asian Style Chicken and Rice.

Recipe for Coconut Shrimp Curry

Coconut Shrimp Curry with Basmati Rice

As many of you already know my oldest son is a shrimp fanatic. He could eat shrimp three times a day and be completely happy. Especially if it also involved bacon in some manner. My mother had a shell fish allergy growing up so we rarely ate shrimp at home and it was always too expensive at restaurants. Luckily I haven't seemed to have inherited the allergy (except I avoid oysters) so my family has shrimp once every week or two. My kids could eat shrimp plain, but my husband and I prefer sauces and curries. Last week I tried a new recipe for Coconut Shrimp Curry from the Oxygen Summer Meals 2012.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First I served the curry over basmati rice. I used one large red onion and bought pre-sliced shiitake mushrooms. As I always do I bought wild caught US shrimp. The majority of the time spent in this recipe is from peeling and de-veining the shrimp. Since I do it so frequently I can get it done pretty quickly and I buy extra large shrimp which has about 20 shrimp to the pound.

My family loved this recipe. It had a little bit of kick from the sambal oelek, but not enough to be spicy. There were no leftovers since my kids ate their servings and the extra sauce that was left. If you don't want to serve the curry over rice it would also be delicious alone.

This recipe is not currently available online, but can be found in the Oxygen Summer Meals 2012 on page 48.

Family Circle Wild Mushroom Soup

The cold weather and I have a love-hate relationship. I love all the flavors of the fall and winter seasons, but I absolutely hate being cold. Growing up we had an old fashioned furnace that had vents that I would stand right in front of in an attempt to stay warm. I have always gotten cold easier than anyone else that I know and I stay pretty miserable once the temps drop below about 20 degrees. I have learned that hot drinks and meals warm me up effectively and are a great way to boost my mood in the colder months. Recently, the November issue of Family Circle magazine had a recipe for Wild Mushroom Soup, which looked easy, warm and full of one of family's favorite foods. 

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It makes 8 servings and takes approximately 15 minutes of prep and 28 minutes of cooking time. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and I was pleased to find that I could purchase shiitake mushrooms in bulk, which was much cheaper than buying them pre-packaged. I make all my stock from scratch, so the day before I made this recipe, I roasted a chicken and used the bones for chicken stock. I found that it took a significant amount of salt in order to flavor this recipe, don't be shy with the salt. Finally, the soup didn't thicken up as much as the photo implied, mine was a thinner consistency of cream soup than the photo. The difference in consistency didn't effect the taste, so it was more a texture issue. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written. 

My oldest son absolutely loves mushrooms. If I tell him that a recipe has mushrooms in it, he will gobble it up happily. This recipe was no exception, he ate his whole serving. The flavor on this soup is nice and it takes very little effort to prepare. The consistency is thinner than the photo implies, but doesn't effect the taste. A warm, creamy mushroom soup, that would work great to warm up in the cold months ahead. 

For the recipe go to Wild Mushroom Soup.