Pan-Seared Salmon with Lentil & Quinoa Salad

I'm currently eating this salad as I type out the recipe for this blog...it's soooo good! I found it in Rachel Ray's magazine. I've been trying to eat more salmon and apparently I've been eating the wrong kind of salmon in the past. I got a bag of sock-eye salmon at Costco and split the bag with my aunt. This salmon comes with the skin-on and it's pretty amazing! Not fishy at all and thick cuts of meat. I'll definitely be making more salmon dishes with this! The recipe serves four but I didn't want to use all my salmon up in one dish so I still made the four servings for the salad and only added one salmon fillet. I also added a tilapia fillet in case I didn't like the salmon. The way the fish is cooked, it comes out really buttery tasting. I added more lemon juice to my fish just because. I shredded my fish and added it to the salad, instead of putting the whole fillets on the salad. I will definitely make this again and again!!!

Pan-Seared Salmon with Lentil & Quinoa Salad (4 servings) (Rachel Ray Magazine):

3/4 c dried lentils, picked free of hard stones
3/4 c quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 small lemons, juiced (4 tbsp)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 c plus 1 tbsp EVOO
4 skin-on salmon fillets
1/2 c minced red onion
1 c chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

In separate saucepans, cook lentils and quinoa according to pkg directions. Drain and cool. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the lemon juice and mustard. Gradually whisk in 1/4 c EVOO; season with salt and pepper. Reserve 1/4 c of the vinaigrette.

In large skillet, heat remaining 1 tbsp EVOO and half of the reserved vinaigrette over med-high. Add the salmon, skin side down. Cover, reduce heat to med and cook until the fish flakes apart easily with a fork, about 8 minutes.

Add the quinoa, lentils, onion and 3/4 c parsley to the bowl with the vinaigrette. Toss to combine; season. Divide among plates and serve the fish on top (or shred the fish and combine into the salad). Drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette and top with the remaining parsley. Enjoy!




Lentil & Quinoa...






Fish added...Enjoy!

Salmon & Lentil Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

I was typing recipes into my computer when I came across this recipe and it stood out for a couple different reasons. I've been trying to find a good lentil salad recipe. I tried a Weight Watchers recipe a couple weeks ago and it was too acidic tasting and not a lot of flavor. I've also been trying to eat more salmon since I know it's pretty healthy. I like most anything with balsamic vinegar so the combo of all of these ingredients stood out. In my recipe, I only used 3 salmon fillets, which was a perfect amount for me. I also only used about a 1 tbsp of chopped mint, instead of the 1/2 cup mint, since I'm not a big fan. And once again, since I've never used scallions, I used 1/2 c green onions. Although I did try to find scallions this time, Whole Foods did not have them for whatever reason. The recipe called for Dijon, which I never have in the house and Google said that any other kind of mustard, with the exception of yellow mustard, would be a good substitute so I used Chipotle mustard and it tasted just fine. And I just realized that this recipe called for green lentils-I used brown since it's what I normally cook. All in all, the salad turned out pretty good and I ate 2 helpings of it. I think I'd definitely try this again.

Salmon & Lentil Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette (6 servings) (Cuisine Mediterranean Menus)

*Vinaigrette
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp EVOO
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp honey
Salt and pepper to taste

*Salad
1 c green lentils, sorted and rinsed
2 c shredded red cabbage
1 c shredded carrots
1 c thinly sliced scallions
1/2 c chopped fresh mint

*Salmon
1 tbsp Dijon
1 tbsp honey
6 salmon fillets, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 c balsamic vinegar
Chopped fresh mint

For vinaigrette, combine 1/4 c vinegar, EVOO, 1 tbsp Dijon, garlic and 1 tbsp honey in a larg bowl; season with salt and pepper. For the salad, cook lentils according to pkg directions; drain. Transfer lentils to bowl with vinaigrette; toss to coat and let cool to room temp. Stir in cabbage, carrots, scallions and 1/2 c mint.

For the salmon, combine 1 tbsp Dijon and 1 tbsp honey; spread onto flesh side of salmon. Heat 1 tbsp oil in large skillet over med; add salmon, skin side down, and cook 2 minutes. Flip salmon, remove skin, and cook 3 minutes on flesh side; flip and cook until med-rare, 1 minute more. Remove salmon to a plate and shred.

Add 1/4 c vinegar to same skillet and reduce until syrupy. Serve the salmon over the salad; drizzle with balsamic reduction and garnish with mint.




Carrots, cabbage & green onions...






Vinaigrette...






Lentils mixed with the cabbage, carrots & green onions...






Salmon with the glaze...






Enjoy!...

Red Lentil-Rice Cakes with Simple Tomato Salsa

This recipe was HARD!! It took me a couple attempts to make this recipe. And even with the final attempt, it didn't turn out the best. Oh well, at least I attempted to make something a little more harder. The taste was pretty good, despite the mess I made with it. I ended up only making half of the cakes because I was tired of burning myself and tired of the cakes falling apart. Only about 4 of the cakes actually held their shape, otherwise I have a mess of crumbles, which I will still eat. It took me 2 attempts to make the lentils-I followed the directions for the recipe and the lentils turned into mush. When I made them tonight, I only cooked it for about half the time and they turned out much better. The salsa really makes the cakes taste amazing!

Red Lentil-Rice Cakes with Simple Tomato Salsa (Cooking Light) (6 servings):

*Salsa

3 c finely chopped plum tomatoes (about 6)
1/4 c chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp capers (I added 3 tsp)
1/4 tsp salt

*Cakes

4 c water, divided
1 c dried small red lentils
1/2 c uncooked basmati rice
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1/2 c finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 c finely chopped red onion
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 c dry breadcrumbs
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

To prepare salsa, combine all ingredients; set aside at room temp.

To prepare cakes, bring 3 c water and lentils to boil in med saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer about 10 min or until tender. (This is the time I used and I made sure to watch the lentils carefully during the last couple of minutes to make sure they weren't over-done.) Drain and rinse with cold water; drain. Place lentils in large bowl.

Combine remaining 1 c water and rice in pan; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 18 min or until liquid is absorbed. Cool 10 min. Add rice to lentils.

Heat 1 tsp oil in large skillet over med-high. add bell peppers, onion, fennel seeds and garlic to pan; saute 2 min or until tender. Cool 10 min. Add to lentil mixture. Add mozzarella and remaining ingredients, stirring until well combined. Let stand 10 min.

Wipe skillet clean with paper towels. Heat 2 tsp oil in skillet over med heat. Spoon half of rice mixture by 1/3 cupfuls into pan, spreading to form 6 (3-in) circles; cook 5 min or until lightly browned. Carefully turn cakes over; cook 5 min on other side. Remove cakes from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 tbsp oil and remaining rice mixture. Serve with salsa.

Note: I probably should have added more egg to my mixture because my cakes would not hold together to cook. I also started forming them into flat patties with my hands toward the end and carefully placing them in the skillet. Make sure to cook the patties for the full 4-5 min or they will fall apart when you try to flip them over.




Salsa...






Tender lentils...






Everything all mixed together...






How most of the cakes turned out...






My three best cakes...






Cooking in skillet...






Enjoy!...

Ham & Lentil Soup

Between my mom and I we made up this recipe. I've decided I wanted to start eating more fiber-based foods and last night I was in the mood for some soup. I stopped at a Whole Foods store on the way home to get some basil for another recipe and decided to try some lentils for the first time. I also picked up some veggies and ham and went home to experiment. It turned out pretty good. I'm not sure if i like the lentils but I'm willing to try it again..and I have leftovers so I'll eat the soup again. The broth itself turned out awesome with all the veggies I added. When I went to put the leftovers into another container, I noticed all the broth had evaporated. So when I reheat the soup, I'll add another 2 cups of broth and simmer it in it..maybe the lentils will soften up some more. The measurements listed below are just an estimate of what I used. For the carrots, onion & celery, I used a pre-cut pkg of the trio and only used half of the pkg.


Ham & Lentil Soup

1-2 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1-in piece ginger, minced
1 c sliced yellow squash
1/4 c diced carrot
1/4 c diced celery
1/4 c diced onion
2 c ham, cut into cubes
4 c chicken broth
1 c dried brown lentils
1 bay leaf
1 tsp basil
1 tsp thyme

Melt butter in Dutch oven. Add veggies and cook until squash is tender but not translucent, about 3-4 min. Add broth and bring to boil. Once broth is boiling, add lentils, bay leaf, basil and thyme.

Simmer, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes or until lentils are cooked to your desired consistency.

Remove bay leaf and serve.


All the ingredients chopped up and ready to go...

Veggies...

Enjoy!

**On A Side Note: I remade this soup a couple weeks ago with much better results!I used up all my leftover veggies in the fridge; half of a bell pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, a bay leaf, garlic and ginger, along with cubed ham and the lentils. Instead of using chicken bouillon cubes, which was a huge mistake when I first made this soup, I used 6 cups of veggie (you can also use chicken) broth and the soup tasted so much better! It wasn't as salty and the broth didn't evaporate like it did when I first made it. I also added some oregano, thyme and basil to the soup after it was done. Although it did turn green in the fridge from all the spices, it tasted even better the next day. I will definitely be making this soup on a regular basis, especially since you can basically put in any veggie you desire. Yum!


All the veggies..






Broth added...






Enjoy!