Sauteed Salmon with Mango Kale Salad

Long time no update! So.. I started a diet. I’m about 5 days into the diet and I’m eating the same foods over and over again because it’s easier to stay on track that way (for me at least). So hence me not having much updates.  If I have too much variety, I’ll want to eat and eat and eat!  I’m actually surprised at how much weight I’ve lost so far, even though I know that it’s mainly just water weight. But just to see the numbers on the scale change is very uplifting! It’s very motivational and it keeps me going knowing that I can do it. So yay! 

This was a dish I made one night, just a salmon filet ontop of one of my favorite salads. You can cook the salmon anyway you like using your favorite recipe. But this salad freaking rocks. I got the recipe from Aarti on the Food Network. I watched her since the beginning of the Next Food Network Star about two seasons ago. I normally don’t watch this show, but since there was sort of a connection to someone who was 3rd place on the show, I started watching.

Anyways, I’ve made this salad a few times now and I freaking love it! It’s one of my favorite salads and the best thing about this salad is that the longer the salad sits over the course of a day or two, the better it becomes. The lemon juice helps to soften the kale and the flavors end up blending together so nicely. It’s a very light and simple salad.  It’s quick to put together and your hands will get a little messy because you’ll want to massage the kale and the lemon juice together. 

The first day tastes great.  The second day tastes better.  The third day EVEN BETTER!

The Mango Kale Salad recipe was from the Food Network Show Aarti Party.  My changes are italicized.   

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale (black kale is especially good), stalks removed and discarded, leaves thinly sliced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons honey
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ripe mango, diced small (about 1 cup) (I like a lot of mangoes in this salad, so I probably used about 4 small ones, change the quantity of this anyway you like depending on your tastes)
• Small handful toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), about 2 rounded (I didn’t have any on hand so I didn’t include this this time.  But you can just as easily add almonds, or walnuts to this salad and it works really well)

Directions

1.  In large serving bowl, add the kale, half of lemon juice, a drizzle of oil and a little kosher salt. Massage until the kale starts to soften and wilt, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside while you make the dressing.

2.  In a small bowl, whisk remaining lemon juice with the honey and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Stream in the 1/4 cup of oil while whisking until a dressing forms, and you like how it tastes.

3.  Pour the dressing over the kale, and add the mango and pepitas. Toss and serve.

This is so good, you’ll have to eat it to believe it. 

Wasabi Salmon with Quinoa, Green Beans, Mushrooms, and Spinach

Salmon… mmm. I haven’t made any sort of fish dish it seems like for such a long time (maybe since my parchment paper fish entry..ignore my very very bad photography! Can’t believe I am taking you guys back to something like this ;) Hehe). So I decided to make salmon as one of my meals. Plus Dr. Oz keeps badgering me about eating fish a few times a week! You have to do what the Dr. tells you right?

I found this cool twist on salmon using a wasabi flavor base. I always love some wasabi with my sushi so I knew this had to be delish. This is a pretty easy recipe with a small number of ingredients. Easy to do on an already tiring day.

Recipe from MyRecipes for Wasabi Salmon:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon wasabi powder (dried Japanese horseradish)
• 1 teaspoon bottled minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 4  (6-ounce) skinless salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick) $
• Cooking spray

Directions

1. Combine soy sauce, wasabi, ginger, and sesame oil in a large zip-top plastic bag; add fish. Seal and marinate at room temperature 5 minutes, turning bag occasionally to coat. Remove fish from the bag, reserving marinade.
2. While fish marinates, heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add fish and marinade; cook 3 minutes. Turn fish over. Reduce heat to medium; cook 8 minutes or until fish is done.

I made some quinoa and used the leftover marinade as a sauce base to saute the vegetables in. I had spinach, green beans, and mushrooms. I sauteed the vegetables and used just a bit of the marinade to coat the veggies (can be very salty if you use too much since it was soy sauce based). I also put a bit of chicken stock to water it down so that the veggies were covered in sauce but also so that the flavors wouldn’t be toooooo intense on the veggies.

Okay, I hope you enjoy! :) To all my new followers, thank you for your follow! Yay! ^_^

“Ocean Roll” with sweet chili sauce 

Soo good.. and it’s just from the grocery store! 

-iPhone picture