Tag Archives: healthy dinner recipe

Cauliflower ‘Fried Rice’ + Baked Ginger Salmon

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Remember when cauliflower ‘mashed potatoes’ were all the rage?  Have you tried cauliflower ‘rice’ yet? It’s one of the latest trends floating around the food blog world and I’m in love. I wasn’t sure how this recipe would fly with Court as he doesn’t really like cauliflower, but he loved it. He kept saying, “I can’t believe this is cauliflower!”

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I’ve been using it in stir fry dishes or as sushi ‘rice’ for nori hand rolls or sashimi bowls. In case you’re wondering,  ”Why not just use rice?”  My answer is, it’s more nutritious and adds variety, it cooks faster and we prefer to keep our grain consumption to a minimum.  If you’d rather have rice, that’s cool.

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Cauliflower Fried Rice & Baked Ginger Salmon
Serves 2-4

Ingredients

  • 4 ‘individual’ wild salmon fillet pieces (I buy the frozen 4 packs, usually from Costco or Save On)
  • 1/2 cup tamari (or soy sauce)
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
  • dash of fresh ground pepper
  • 1 small-medium sized head of cauliflower, pulsed in a food processor until it resembles rice
  • 2 cups broccoli slaw
  • 2 cups broccoli florets
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onion
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth (or water)
  • 2 tsp Chinese Five Spice
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, for cooking
  • optional: 1/4 cup sesame seeds

Directions:
Place the salmon into a baking dish with the tamari, garlic, ginger and pepper. Marinate overnight or  at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 375F, place salmon fillets into a baking dish. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Preheat a large frying pan with coconut oil and add the spices and green onion. Cook for 1 minute, then add the cauli rice, and broccoli florets. Stir. (Add a little more coconut oil if needed.) Add the broth, salt & pepper, cover with a lid and cook for approximately 12-15 minutes, or until the veggies are tender. Add the broccoli slaw and sesame seeds during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

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What’s your favorite salmon (or fish) dish? Have you ever tried crispy salmon skin?  I used to love cedar plank salmon, but Court ruined it for me when he tried to kill me last summer. He nearly succeeded! I don’t know if it was the carcinogens smoke from the bbq or oils in the cedar, but I felt sick while I was eating, then I projectile vomited. It tasted like cedar.  I don’t know why I just told you that.

Coconut Curry (Protein Power) Bowls

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When I’m in the kitchen, I completely zone out, tuning out my surroundings and letting my instincts guide me.  Some of the best meals are created that way. Thinking back to a few years ago when I didn’t trust my cooking capabilities and followed recipes to a T, no wonder I didn’t like cooking. There was no love in the food. It wasn’t my creation.

Today, my cooking guideline/motto is something like, “Just start tossing things in the pan and hope for the best” It hasn’t failed me yet. Except for the time when I tried to make pizza dough out of coconut flour. That was not a shining moment.

Coconut Curry (Protein Power) Bowl
Serves 4
Mildly spicy and subtly sweet, inspired by Quinoa-Rice Protein Power bowls.

Ingredients/Directions

2.5 cups cooked rice
1 cup cooked quinoa (I used leftover rice/quinoa)
1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 small onion, diced
1 zucchini, quartered
2 kale leaves, stems removed, shredded
1 red bell pepper, seeded & diced
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp turmeric
2-3 tbsp curry powder
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, set aside

In a large frying pan on medium heat, melt 1 tbsp coconut oil. (Since coconut is one of the main flavors, I don’t recommend subbing it)

Sautee the onion and garlic for two minutes, then add the spices, chickpeas, zucchini, bell pepper and kale. Continue cooking until veggies are tender and chickpeas are beginning to crisp. Add more coconut oil if needed.  Now stir in rice and quinoa, followed by the salt. Adjust spices if necessary. Once rice and quinoa have heated through, remove from heat and stir in the shredded coconut. Serve immediately.

Protein power meal!

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

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Am I ever in love with the vegetarian sloppy joes I made for dinner a few nights ago. “These don’t even need meat!” Court happily proclaimed. He is a meat lover through and through and when it comes to meal planning, I try to find a balance that will please both of our taste buds. The thing is, I’m more into flavors, and ‘meat’ just doesn’t really do it for me, whereas texture plays a huge part in Courts preferences. He  enjoys American cuisine – burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, so any meal that I can serve in a bun is usually a husband-pleaser.

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes
Serves 3-4

Gluten free option: Udi’s Hamburger Buns. I didn’t want to spend $8 on buns, so I served mine over brown rice.

Ingredients/Directions

1 cup dry red lentils, cooked according to directions. While the lentils are simmering, prepare:

1 medium onion, diced (reserve approximately 1/4 of the diced onion)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 red jalapeno, seeded and diced
In a large frying pan on medium heat, sautee the above ingredients for 4-5 minutes.

While onion mixture is cooking, prepare the sauce:

1 can tomato paste
1.5 cups crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp chili spice
4 tbsp BBQ sauce (I hate BBQ sauce, but I don’t mind Amazing Dads BBQ Sauce – it’s gluten free and made by Honey Bunny)
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp Chipotle Tabasco sauce
salt & pepper, to taste

After onion mixture is done, reduce heat to low and stir in the sauce. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly. Once lentils are done, add them to the sauce, and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes. Prior to serving, stir in the remainder of the onion.

Serve sloppy joe mixture on a toasted bun or over rice.

His:

Hers:

Meat and veggie lovers, rejoice.

Do you and your partner share the same tastes? How do you compromise in the kitchen?