Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Almonds

Sometimes I like to go meat free for dinner and this recipe is a quick and easy vegetarian choice. It is from All Recipes.com. The recipe below makes 2 side dish servings or 1 meal.

* 1/2 pound fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
* 1 tablespoon and 2-1/4 teaspoons butter
* 1 teaspoon brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon soy sauce
* 3/4 teaspoon white vinegar
* 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 2/3 clove garlic, minced
* 1 tablespoon and 2-1/4 teaspoons chopped salted cashews

1. Place the broccoli into a large pot with about 1 inch of water in the bottom. Bring to a boil, and cook for 7 minutes, or until tender but still crisp. Drain, and arrange broccoli on a serving platter.
2. While the broccoli is cooking, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Mix in the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and garlic. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Mix in the cashews, and pour the sauce over the broccoli. Serve immediately.




Lets gather our ingredients. You will need some cashews or almonds, you could even use peanuts if you prefer. Soy sauce, white wine vinegar, brown sugar, butter, garlic, pepper and some broccoli. I also made some rice ahead of time to serve this over, you could also serve it over noodles or polenta.




Chop up the broccoli.




Chop the garlic and nuts.




Combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and garlic.




The recipe calls to steam the broccoli on the stove with some water, I am using a steam bag instead.




While your broccoli steams, melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.




Stir in the soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil.




Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the nuts, drain your broccoli and you are ready to eat!




The sauce and almond combo over the broccoli was amazing. This is a filling meal that is so tasty I doubt you will miss the meat. Give it a try this weekend while you enjoy the spring weather. Thanks again for all the comments and emails, I appreciate them and I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read my blog.

Smoked Paprika Roasted Salmon

I love salmon and I love paprika so I was quite excited to give this recipe a try. It is from McCormick brand seasonings.








Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and lets grab some ingredients.




I got a GREAT new cutting board that covers my entire prep area from Overstock.com. I love it! I love having such a large work area. On my new cutting board there is some OJ, salmon, olive oil, thyme, brown sugar, smoked paprika, cinnamon, and some salt. The recipe also calls for spinach but I didn't have any so I just steamed some veggies in my Ziploc steam bag while the salmon cooked.




First we need to make the marinade. Mix the OJ with the thyme and olive oil.




Send the fish in for a swim.




Refrigerate for about 30 minutes to an hour.




While the fish marinates cover a baking dish in foil.




Prepare your spice rub. Mine is in a great little Pyrex refrigerator dish. The rub is the paprika, salt, cinnamon, brown sugar and orange peel if you've got it. I didn't have any.




I also prepped some veggies to steam in my Ziploc steam bag.




After your fish is done marinating, get it out of the pool and into your foil lined pan.




Rub it down with the spice rub. Get it in the oven for 10-15 minutes.




While it cooked I steamed my veggies.




I sprinkled some of this delicious seasoning over them and gave them a quick toss with a tiny bit of olive oil.




The salmon came out smelling delicious.




I plated up the whole serving of salmon but ended up saving half to be stirred into a salad the next day. I really liked this dish and would love to play around with the spice rub some more to make different flavor combinations.

Sweet Potato Dip

With Memorial Day weekend coming up you may be having friends and family over. This is a nice appetizer to serve that I had never heard of before.








The dip is sort of like hummus but with a sweet twist. I can't say enough how much I love sweet and savory food, so I was excited about this.




You need some tahini, sweet potatoes, onion, carrot, water, cumin and curry.




I made the sweet potatoes in my Ziploc steam bag, I totally love these things. Steam them, give them a quick peel and chop, and they are ready to go.




If you are not using the steam bag, get your sweet potatoes in some water and chop up the onion and carrot.




Get the onions and carrots in a pan with 1/2 a cup of water. Cook until softened, about 8 minutes.




While those cook measure out your cumin and curry.




When the onions and carrots were almost done, I steamed up my sweet potatoes and cubed them up.




When your veggies are nearly cooked get the potatoes, cumin, curry, some salt and the tahini in a food processor.




Give those a whirl until they are combined.




After those are mixed, add in the onions and carrot and give that a whirl. Toast up some pitas and you are ready to serve.




I garnished with some cinnamon and served it warm. It was a tasty appetizer and something a little different and colorful to put out for your friends and family.

Portobello Mushroom Sandwich with Tahini Sauce

I love Portobello Mushrooms and I love tahini so this recipe really caught my interest. This is a great vegetarian sandwich and you will not miss the meat, I promise.








This is super easy and quick. Preheat your broiler and lets grab our ingredients.




You need some portobello mushroom caps, a nice roll or bread, tomato, onion, tahini, ranch dressing, swiss cheese, milk, cajun seasoning and lemon pepper.

Toss the bread in the broiler to toast up.




You can definitely tell the food I am excited to eat because I tend to forget to take prep photos. Slice up your onions and mushrooms and get them in a pan with some oil over medium high heat. Let them cook for about 10 minutes.




While the mushrooms and onions cook, slice up the tomato. A couple of readers have asked about the cute pink knife I have been using on the blog for a while. It is a Kai Komachi "Meat" knife that I picked up at a close out store called "Tuesday Morning". I did just recently see them at Target and I really recommend it. It is inexpensive, sharp and very light. And its pink!




Mix the tahini, ranch and milk together.




After the 10 minutes is up stir in the cajun seasoning and the lemon pepper. You can also hit it with a little bit of salt. Let that cook for 2 minutes more.




While that finishes up spread the sauce on your bread.




Drop the onions and mushrooms on the bread.




Layer on the cheese and tomato and then put the top on!




You will not miss the meat in this filling and tasty sandwich.

Grilled Salmon with Balsamic Blueberry Sauce

If you read my blog with any regularity, you will know I am a huge fan of savory and sweet. This salmon recipe from allrecipes.com caught my eye and I knew I'd have to try it. This uses the grill and the weather is just getting to be perfect for the rest of the country to start cooking outside. So preheat the grill and lets go!

INGREDIENTS

* 1/4 cup chicken stock
* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 2 tablespoons orange juice
* 1/2 teaspoon honey
* 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
* 2 tablespoons chicken stock
* 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
* 2 (6 ounce) salmon steaks
* 1 tablespoon olive oil

DIRECTIONS
1. Pour 1/2 cup chicken stock, vinegar, orange juice, and honey into a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium. Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup of chicken stock, and stir into the simmering sauce. Cook and stir until the sauce thickens and turns clear, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the blueberries and chives, and keep warm over low heat.
2. Preheat grill to medium high-heat.
3. Brush salmon with oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Grill until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve with blueberry sauce.




Ingredients assemble! You need some OJ, balsamic vinegar, honey, cornstarch, blueberries, chicken broth, chives, olive oil and the salmon.




Combine 1/2 cup chicken stock, vinegar, orange juice, and honey in a saucepan. Get it boiling then reduce the heat.




Combine the cornstarch with the remaining chicken stock. Feel free to admire my adorable little measuring glass.




Stir the mixture into the bubbling sauce. Let that cook for 1-2 minutes.




Stir in the blueberries and chives and keep it warm over low heat.




Get the salmon nice and covered with olive oil and salt and pepper. Get it on the grill and cook about 4 minutes per side or until done to your liking.




Give the sauce one final stir before you bring in the salmon and you are ready to eat!




I served this with a simple salad and it was delicious. The sauce was drinkable and I would not hesitate to make it again and put it on chicken or even pork. This is perfect for a spring or summer afternoon.