Vermont Maple Salmon

I used to really dislike salmon.  When your only experiences eating it were in hotel ballrooms where it's mass cooked and over-heated, it tends to give you a negative impression.  But everyone loves salmon right?  It's so good for you, packed with good brain fats, and protein and omega something or others. A few better experiences and I realized salmon is pretty darn good when  it's cooked with a little TLC. 

This recipe made salmon go from "not so bad" to "Um Wow!" 

So maybe salmon doesn't come from Vermont.  After a taste of this dish though, you'd swear it swam around maple trees instead of up rivers.  The sweet maple syrup combined with the salty soy sauce makes this meaty fish really shine.  Practically speaking, it also helps the salmon to keep from drying out which is the cardinal sin of cooking salmon as far as I'm concerned. The delicious marinade and glaze works well in the oven or grilled.

Vermont Maple Salmon
Serves 2-3

Orange Teriyaki Rice Noodle Saute

My daughters have been really into Asian food lately so I figured I'd try something that was inspired by the East that doesn't come in a take-out container.  However, as a busy mom, I realize that not every single thing can come from scratch, it's just not possible.  If I had that kind of time....well, let's just say I don't have that kind of time.  So what's the middle ground? 

Borrowing my good "friend" Sandra Lee's "Semi-Homemade" concept, I used store bought Teriyaki sauce/marinade and added fresh ingredients to make this dish entirely my own.  You'll notice that the recipe is ripe with substitutions.  That's just because you can really use whatever meat/tofu or veggies you might have on hand. It's a great meal to throw together when you've forgotten to plan dinner....but who does that, right? 

Orange Teriyaki Rice Noodle Saute

Easy-Peasy Hummus

My Daddy-O is your basic traditional Arab guy. And, being raised in granola-crunchy California, we ate a lot of Mediterranean foods... Suffering from intense wanderlust, I tend to be away from home - alot. So, to battle that homesick feeling, I seek out comfort food - Arabic foods! This is ridiculously easy, quick hummus recipe... and always reminds me of home!

This is the easiest recipe ever - you just eye ball, taste, and adjust to your liking...


Easy-Peasy Humus

Farmers Market Pizza

Thursdays from March to November are Farmers Market days.  I love Thursdays.  This past Thursday, I made out like a bandit at my local Farmers Market.  Summertime brings a bounty of fresh veggies to the market and my cook's creativity gets moving.

I came up with this take on a margherita pizza using only ingredients from my farmers market - with the exception of the pizza dough, oregano, and the Italian cheese blend.  I somehow managed to sweet talk the guy at the corner pizza shop into selling me some pizza dough.  If you don't have a generous corner pizza shop, use a pre-made crust or dough from your grocery store's deli section.  If you're using raw dough, I would recomend baking it for 4-5 minutes before adding your toppings.  This pizza doesn't need to cook long and you'll want to make sure your dough isn't....well, doughy.

We served this pizza with a fresh salad (also from the market) and Syd's Sweet Squash (see post).

Farmer's Market Pizza

Syd's Sweet Squash

My pre-teen daughter accompanied me on a trip to our local farmer's market.  Unlike my son, my daughters have adventurous palates and both love fresh veggies so the farmers market is full of exciting prospects.  We got our usual tomatoes, some green beans, cucumbers, fresh mozzarella and some lettuce.  As we were turning to leave, her eyes caught something that really got her excited....squash. 

There's a long-standing joke in my house about my aversion to zucchini and squash.   Try as I might, the flavors just are not for me.  My kids, however, have come to love both.  Admittedly, the squash at the market looked great - bright yellow and healthy....bursting with all the nutrition I was denying my children if I turned down Sydney's request.  Darn you, squash!  So I agreed to get them (two for a dollar, not bad) if she agreed to cook them.  Her eyes lit up and we brainstormed on the way home about how to prepare her finds.

All three of the kids loved it and my darling Syd was beaming with pride at her culinary creation.  It also sparked an idea.  Every week, I plan to bring one of the kids with me to the market.  They'll be responsible for choosing one vegetable and preparing it.  It might be a hard sell with my son but then again, it might be a good way to get him to expand his horizons.

Syd's Sweet Squash

Sweet Apple Cole Slaw

Given any option in the world, employing any of his darling mother's culinary skills, my son requested Popeye's Fried Chicken for his 8th grade graduation party.  Sigh.  Oh well.

So we bought a boatload of chicken and I made some sides.  Pasta salad, roasted potatoes (his one homemade request) and cole slaw.  I looked online for a simple cole slaw recipe and threw one together based on a few different ideas I found as well as my family's preferences.  I prefer my cole slaw sweet and this one is as good as dessert.  Confession: I just had the leftovers for breakfast.   

Sweet Apple Cole Slaw