Serves: 6-8 people
Hands-on time: 10 min
Total time: 22 min
This recipe for basic roasted salmon couldn’t be easier. The quantity is limited only by the size of your oven! I can do 2 pounds of salmon in my Breville Smart Oven (I have the Breville BOV900BSS — it’s the biggest size they have).
Serves: 4 people
Hands-on time: 40 min
Total time: 40 min
This recipe was adapted from a Bobby Flay Fit recipe called “Quinoa con Pollo with Peas and Green Olives.” It took me a ridiculously long time to make (ok, I admit it, it was 2 hours, ugh) but was absolutely delicious. It was worth spending the time figuring out how to get it down to a 40-minute recipe. If you have the chicken already pre-made from a previous night’s meal you can shave another 10 minutes off of the hands-on time.
Given that it’s winter, I opted for the meatier toothiness of farro instead of the more delicately textured quinoa. That turned out to be a great adaptation because the meal is very flavorful and the farro holds its own better than I think the quinoa would have. Continue reading “Farro con Pollo”
Serves: 2-4 people
Hands-on time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
I made this Pork Loin with Pears recipe last year when I found it on the Williams Sonoma website and it was “quite good” or at least that’s what I wrote in my notes. It just so happens that we received a box of Harry and David pears for Christmas this year and I’m looking for something to make with them, so decided to try this recipe again.
I changed a few things this time around. Since I wanted to create a larger quantity of pork, I bought a 3-lb pork loin roast instead of the 1-lb loin the original recipe called for. Obviously this big roast was going to take much longer than the 1-lb loin, so I sliced it into three pieces and increase some of the other ingredients to compensate. Some of the pork is going to be saved for later in the week so I didn’t need to triple the pears and such, just the seasonings and browning oil.
Anyway, here’s the recipe. I think it makes a great-tasting but easy Sunday night meal. Continue reading “Roasted Pork Loin with Pears”
This is one of my favorite ways to use up leftovers at the end of a week. It was inspired by those assembly line-style, create-your-own-salad restaurants that are popping up like weeds in malls across America.
Start with the base, usually lettuce or rice (I prefer lettuce), then just add a bunch of healthy add-ins (leftover items from your frig) and top with a homemade vinaigrette. It’s a perfect “clean out the fridge” meal.
The thing to remember here is that you are going for a balance of colors, textures, and macro-nutrients. Try to use ingredients that have not been previously seasoned, so you won’t have strange combinations of seasonings from different meals. (Hey, if you want to try that anyway, go for it, sometimes you hit the jackpot.) Try different things! Experimentation is good — it teaches you what works and what doesn’t work — it helps you improve your ability to “throw a meal together.”
So, enough preamble. Let’s get to the instructions already. Continue reading “The Versatile Salad Bowl”
Serves: 1
Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Also called “muesli” in many parts of Europe, you don’t need to soak this no-cook oatmeal overnight. A good one-hour soak in the morning will do the trick. Make it while you’re waiting for your coffee and by the time you get out of the shower it’ll be ready to go. Continue reading “Easy No-Cook Oatmeal”
Serves: 4 people
Hands-on time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
This roasted salmon recipe came from Cooking Light magazine. The basic recipe is intact but I modified a few things to make it healthier and fixed the time (as usual) to reflect actual prep work. (Read here about why cooking always take longer than the recipe says.) Continue reading “Moroccan Roasted Salmon and Cauliflower”