Teriyaki Salmon with Baked Potatoes & Zucchini

Grilled Zucchini & Onions:

2 Zucchini's, peeled and cut in half & 4" strips

2 Onions cut into rings
3 Tbsp of Oil

Coarse Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Mrs. Dash

Italian Seasoning

1. Place the Zucchini's and Onions in a pan with the oil and spices. Mix it all together and make sure that it's well coated.
2. Place it in the oven at 425' for 20 minutes and let it cook until its nice and soft. Then raise the temperature to 475 for 5-10 minutes to make it crispy. 


Oven Baked Potatoes:
3 Potatoes
1 Tbsp Margarine or Butter


1. Cut the potatoes in half and place it in a pan. Make a big 'X' with a knife on each half. 
2. Place a little bit of margarine/butter in each 'X' and place it in the oven at 425' for 45 minutes until soft and crispy.


(Note: When I made it recently I was running low on time so I poked the potatoes and placed them in the Microwave for 4 minutes and then cut them in half and proceeded with making the 'X', etc. Instead of cooking it then in the oven for 45 minutes I only put it in for 20. Tasted just as good!)


Teriyaki Fish:
4 pieces of Fish Fillet (Sole, Salmon, Trout, or anything else... I used Trout)
1/2 cup of Soy Sauce
1/3 cup of Brown Sugar
1 clove of Garlic, minced
1 tsp Ginger
3 Tbsp of Orange Juice


1. Place the Fish in an oven proof dish.
2. Combine all the other ingredients and mix them until the sugar has dissolved. Pour it over the fish and let it marinate for 1 hour flipping it in middle.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 and pour out the sauce into a pan. Bring it to a boil and glaze the fish with the sauce.
4. Bake it in the oven for 7-10 minutes.


Enjoy!

Noodles with Cheese & Broccoli Sauce with Gazpacho

I have off from work this week and being that I'm my parents self-appointed chef I've been making great suppers every night! Here's what I've made so far...

Day 1

Gazpacho:

4 Tomatoes seeded and cut in half

1 English Cucumber

1 Red Pepper, seeded (note: I didn't have a red pepper in the fridge so i simply used a green one)

1/2 Purple Onion ( I didn't have this either in the house so i simply omitted it and adjusted the spices)

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 cup of Tomato Sauce

1 tsp Horseradish (it gives it a nice zing)

1 tbsp Salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

A handful of fresh Parsley (or 2 tsp of dried)

Fresh Chives

1. Place 3 of the 4 tomatoes in a food processor along with 2/3 of the cucumber and pepper. Throw in the garlic and onion. Turn it on and let it puree until there are no more chunks.

2. Add the tomato sauce, horseradish, salt and spices.

3. Dice the remaining vegetables and add to the bowl. 

4. Taste the soup and adjust the spices according to your own taste.

Noodles with Cheese & Broccoli Sauce:

3 cups of Raw Pasta

2 cups of Frozen Broccoli

1 Onion

2 cloves of Garlic

1/4 of a brick of Farmers Cheese

3 cups of Milk, divided

1 tsp Osem Soup Mix (I use Onion)

3 Tbsp Flour

Salt & Pepper

1. Boil water in a pot and add pasta, cook it according to package instructions. Towards the end of the cooking time add the broccoli and let it cook with the noodles.

2. Saute the onion and garlic for 10 minutes. 

3. In a separate bowl combine the soup mix, 2 cups of milk and flour. Stir the flour dissolve. Add this to onions.  Add the salt and pepper. 

4. Let the sauce slowly thicken and then add the cheese. While it is boiling slowly add more milk as needed. 

5. Drain the noodles and combine it with the sauce. 


Enjoy!

Bok Choy Salad

2-3 heads of Bok Choy, washed and sliced
1/2 box of Mushrooms, sliced
Handful of Pine Nuts
Handful of Craisins
3 Tbsp's of Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 cup of Mayonnaise
2 Tbsp's Olive Oil
Dash of Garlic Powder
some Water to thing it out


Combine the vegetables in a salad bowl.


Combine the dressing ingredients and pout over dressing not to long before serving so that it doesn't become soggy.


Enjoy!

Quinoa with mandarin oranges and cranberry's

So this recipe goes to my sister who helped me out with this one. I was talking with her one Thursday night while I was making the salads for Shabbos lunch and I was searching for a new inspiration for my quinoa. She told me to go with mandarin oranges, craisins and slivered almonds and an apple cider dressing. I took her ideas and went from there. Thanks Hatoo!

1 cup raw quinoa
2 cups of water
1 can mandarin oranges (or you can peel fresh oranges and take each one out of their individuals sections if canned oranges are not available)
2 handfuls of dried cranberry's (or craisins - i used cranberry's cuz thats what my mother picked up for me by mistake and i think it made it taste so much better!)
1 handful of pine nuts
4 Tablespoons of Rice Vinegar (or apple cider)

Place the quinoa in a fine strainer and run water over it for 1 minute. (If you don't do this then your quinoa will taste soapy...) Put the quinoa and water in a pot and bring it to a boil. Once its boiled lowerthe flame and let it simmer for 20 minutes or until the water is absorbed.

Place the quinoa in a bowl and add the mandarin oranges, cranberry's and nuts. Pour the vinegar over everything. The quinoa should taste moist with a touch of flavor but not overwhelmingly flavorful.

Enjoy!

The Most Amazing Looking Creation Ever!

Ok so this just looks WOW!

I haven't actually tried this yet but I can't wait! (if only i could try it before Pesach...)

Sweet Potato & Chicken Salad

Okay, so either the idea of Sweet Potato and Chicken sounds amazing to you or it sounds revolting... I personally think that sweet potato is one of those foods that tastes great with anything; from cheese, to chicken, to sushi (that may sound like its stretching it but once you try it there is not turning back!) or just by itself, but whichever way its great! So that's why this recipe came to me when i was searching through the fridge one Sunday night only to find some Romaine Lettuce, Chicken from Shabbos and a Sweet Potato.....

Chicken Breast, cooked and cut into bite size pieces
1 Sweet Potato, cooked until its just soft enough to eat (you don't want it to mush in your salad)
Romaine Lettuce cut into small pieces
Avocado (up there on my favorite list with sweet potato) cut into cubes
1/2 a Red Pepper, cut into cubes
Corn Niblets (about a 1/3 of a can)

Dressing:
1/4 cup of Mayonnaise
Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Pepper
Salt

Mix the salad ingredients and the dressing seperately. The salad will look nice and colorful and the dressing should be a thick mixture. Once both are well mixed combine but dont saturate the salad with the dressing because you don't want it to take over the yummy taste of chicken and vegetables!

When dressing a salad be aware that there is a point when a salad is perfectly dressed and even though you may have extra dressing it should not be poured over. Just put it aside to use with something else... 

Enjoy!

French Toast

I know that this is a really simple classic breakfast/lunch/supper recipe and you usually don't need to follow directions for it but sometimes you do want something to follow! So here goes nothing...

4 eggs
1 teaspoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 cup Milk
10 to 12 slices of bread
Oil
Maple Syrup

Break eggs into a wide, shallow bowl or pie plate; beat lightly with a fork. Stir in the sugars, cinnamon, salt, and milk.

 Over medium-low heat, heat a pan with oil.

Place the bread slices, one at a time, into the bowl or plate, letting slices soak up egg mixture for a few seconds, then carefully turn to coat the other side. Soak/coat only as many slices as you will be cooking at one time.

Transfer bread slices to the pan,  heating slowly until bottom is golden brown. Turn and brown the other side. Serve French toast hot with butter and syrup. 

Acorn Squash

This recipe is really sweet! Don't say I didn't warn you!

1 Acorn Squash
1 tbsp each Margarine
Salt
1 1/2 tbsp each Brown Sugar
Maple Syrup

Cut the squash in half by using the biggest knife you have and slowly sawing at the center. The skin is the hardest part to get through but after that you should be fine.

Put each half in a pan. Sprinkle it with salt. Make a few lines with a knife in the centre of the squash so that the liquid will permeate the insides. Add margarine  and brown sugar to each half and pour some maple syrup over them. Pour a little water on the bottom of the pan and cover it but poke a few holes so that the steam can escape.

Put it in the oven at 350' covered for 30 minutes. Then uncover it and back for another 40 minutes at 400'.

When it is done it should cut like butter and smell amazing!

Let it cool for 10 minutes and then cut it up into bite size pieces. Enjoy!

Endive Salad

This is a really interesting salad and something I would have never made on my own - my sister found if in a cookbook one friday night and we improvised and it turned into this...

3 Endives (1 package)
1 Orange
2 Tomatoes
2 Scallions
1 Avocado

Dressing:
1/4 cup Orange Juice
1/8 cup Oil
1 tbsp Sugar
Salt and Pepper

Combine the vegetables. Prepare the dressing and pour over 1/2 an hour before serving.

Tuna Patties

2 Cans of Tuna Fish (or Salmon if you want)
1/4 cup of Mayonaisse
1/3 cup of Bread Crumbs or Matza Meal
2 Eggs
1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
1/2 tsp. of onion powder
salt
pepper
parsley flakes

Preheat the oven to 475'f. Mix everything together. The texture should be gooey but not to gooey that you can work with it to create balls. Line a small cookie sheet or a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper. Spray it well with a non-stick cooking spray. Form the tuna mixture into small balls and place them in the pan. Spray thetop of them well with more oil. Set the oven to Broil and place the tray in the oven. After 10 minutes or when the tops area nice brown colour take them out and flip them over. Spray the tops with oil and put it back in the oven for another ten minutes. When they are done they should have  a nice brown colouring on both sides.

Enjoy!

Broccoli Craisin Salad

K, so I know that you are all thinking "Another Broccoli Craisin salad?" cuz really we've all tried one and it always tastes the same! now don't think I dont love broccoli salad cuz I do but this one has a little bit of a twist...

1/2 A bag of frozen Broccoli
2 cups of frozen Corn
A handful of craisins
Soy nuts
Pecans (not the sugared kind)
1/4 of a Purple onion

Dressing:
Mayonaise
Sugar
Garlic powder
Pepper
Vinegar
Oil
Water

Combine the salad ingredients the night before and put them in the fridge to defrost together.
make the dressing. I didn't place amounts because I really don't remember how much of everything I used but just put a bit of everything until it is nice and creamy but not to thick - you want it to be able to pour easily... Pour it over the salad an hour before serving so that it has the chance to sink in! Enjoy!

Note: I discovered frozen corn and I love it! It's got this nice crunch to it that canned corn doesn't have and it has this fantastic yellow colour to it! start using it and you'll see what i mean!

Mushroom Cheese Sauce

1 Onion, diced
2 Cloves garlic, diced
2 Big mushrooms, sliced
Oil for frying
1 Tbsp soup mix dissolved in 1 cup of water
2 Cups milk
3 Tbsp flour
Salt and pepper
Handful of mozzarella cheese

Saute the onion and garlic for 10 minutes. (My trick is to let it slowly saute over a medium low flame so that it doesn't burn and tastes crunchy). Add the mushrooms and saute for another 3 minutes. Add the milk. In a separate bowl combine the soup mixture and flour and let the flour dissolve. Add this to the vegetables. Add the salt and pepper. Let the sauce slowly thicken and then add the cheese.

Serve over any kind of noodle. Tastes best fresh out of the pot!