Zucchini Salmon Fried Rice with Cabbage

Recently I made a delish and super easy weekday salmon dinner and cooked extra food on purpose to make this salmon fried rice recipe. When I say weekday that usually means you can pull it out and start serving it in 30 minutes or less. Please don't misunderstand me. I love cooking for my family, but I was excited to try fried rice with fish for the time, and maybe a little too excited to have half of the dinner already made waiting in the fridge for a second meal.

So this is the second part of the two for one. Cook once and eat a whole different meal with the leftovers. As fall is starting and busy schedules pick up I know some that might appreciate this - I just appreciate it because my son is in the middle of this crazy growing spurt so it seems like he is always hungry. Another benefit of cooking this fast food look alike at home, is the additional fresh veggies. This is a great way to use up those last, end of the summer zucchini, cabbage, and peas.  

I heart fried rice. But its greasy and expensive these days to treat my whole family to the fast food that comes in the cute, square, white cardboard boxes. Occasionally like once or twice a year I will make it at home. It is easy and pretty fast. But with fish? I was skeptical about making this with salmon but it so worked. Fish, even salmon with a stronger taste is a natural fit in fried rice. Tasted so good! I so can't wait to try it with other fish as well.... so tasty and so much better for you than some of the greasier fast food options out there. This will be my go to when I am craving that sort of salty fried rice fast food. If you weren't sure before, now you know, I am definitely one of those gals that crave salt way more than sweet things. I have a special place for chocolate or carmel or cinnamon rolls, but cheese, tuna, pretzels, and all things salty come first. Any one else know what I am talking about here? Trust me - You aren't going to get fresh cabbage and zucchini out of a fast food restaurant fried rice container. You have to try this one. 

The other surprise at least for me, was the addition of cilantro. I was like this isn't Mexican food.... but it adds a freshness that really makes this salty yummy fast food look alike come alive. Don't omit it. You will miss out. If you love fried rice do try this. Salmon is good for you :) 

The Recipe

adapted from Real Simple magazine using leftovers from:

 Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Salmon 

with Green Beans & Shallots 

Serves 4 adult size portions (1-2 cups each)

Cooking time is approx 18-20 minutes

The leftovers that I used were: 

3 cups leftover cooked white rice

1 cup of garlicky green beans 

Two 6-7oz pieces of cooked salmon, broken up in to large pieces

Additional ingredients to complete the recipe are:

1-2 Tbs of oil

2 Tbs of finely chopped fresh ginger (or grated if you have some stored in your freezer - it lasts forever in your freezer)

1/4 -1/2 of a head of green cabbage, thinly sliced (about 2-3 cups)

1&1/2 cup of shredded zucchini, drained thoroughly*

1 cup of frozen peas

2 Tbs of rice vinegar

1/2 Tbs of soy sauce or to taste

1/4- 1/2 Tbs of salt or to your tasting (I did 1/2 Tbs)

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 handfuls of cilantro (1 cup loosely packed), chopped

1 egg

2 egg whites**

*I will have another great zucchini recipe for you next time so buy 2 or 3 small ones or 1 large one at the store or farmers market. 

**I will have a use for that egg yolk with another recipe so store it in the fridge covered for breakfast or for an amazing sandwich spread that will blow your socks off. 

How to put the fried rice together

1. Grab your largest nonstick skillet or a wok if you have one

2. Heat half of the oil over medium high heat and saute the rice, zucchini, and ginger together for 5 minutes so the everything is warm and softened. Stir often. 

3. Add the cabbage and cook until it begins to softened - 3 minutes. Keep stirring, tossing, moving the food around over the medium high heat. 

4. Add in the green beans, peas, pepper, and remaining oil as needed. Saute for about 4 minutes until peas are warm. Carefully add the salmon don't crush it into tiny pieces. 

5. Add the vinegar, and pepper. Taste and add the salt as needed. Taste again and add the soy sauce as needed. You can always add more salt but you can't take it out once its there. Keep stirring.

6. Cook up the egg. I used a separate pan just to make sure it was scrambled and cooked all the way through. Then add it to the skillet. 

7. Turn off the heat. Add in the cilantro and toss everything together so it looks like the picture. 

8. Eat & enjoy your healthier fish-ified fried rice. Try saying that ten times fast :) 

From my kitchen to yours!

Turkish Pear Coffee Bread (freezer friendly)

I admit I enjoy just reading a cookbook from cover to cover day dreaming about food. No I don't have a lot of extra time on my hands. Its just something I enjoy during nap times or late at night when my hubby is at work. This Turkish bread is from an excellent cookbook that I have been reading through the last couple nights. So its not all daydreaming. Some of it involves shopping and baking! Hahaha. The cookbook is called Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. It is awesome. I am not paid to say that. It is my own opinion. Everything in the book looks good. Granted I usually like more pictures in my cookbooks, but I wanted to make all of these breads. Unfortunately or fortunately for my waist line's sake I settled on five. 

First up to bat (trumpet sound announcing the title) is the Turkish Pear Coffee Bread. This is not a coffee cake, which I was kind of expecting. Don't worry. It is just as good. In fact, it was excellent. My family ate the entire almost lb loaf in one setting over breakfast. It was glorious. The fact that the dough was already in made and waiting to be baked the morning of, was even better. I pulled it out of the fridge, set a timer, started coffee, awhile later someplace in my second cup of coffee I preheated the oven, and threw it in..... breakfast was served 30 minutes later and my kitchen was still clean. That is a good breakfast if you ask me. 

The first thing that happens is the smell... that smell of baking bread that waves and glides through the air filling your house is welll nothing short of amazing. The smell that drives you crazy since you want to cut it and devour it as soon as it comes out of the oven. But you wait until it has time to cool. I have had so many things fall apart on me because I have had trouble waiting for amazing smelling food to cool. Then you taste it... the first taste is texture. Its moist and soft on the inside but a bit crunchy on the outside. Then you taste the spices, the warm spices of cinnamon and cardamom, that make you feel like someone is hugging you. Then you just eat until its all gone.  Try it!!!

makes 2 almost one pound each loaves

one for now

one for later  

Ingredients

• 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 cups all purpose flour, unbleached
• 2 tsp ground coffee, gingerbread (I will up this next time since I couldn't taste it)
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 Tbs yeast (this is 1/2 Tbs + 1/4 Tbs) or one packet
• 1/2 Tbs course kosher salt
• 1/8 cup vital wheat gluten (very easy to find at sprouts or trader joes)
• 2 Tbs canola oil 
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• slightly less than 1/2 cup of water
• 1 cup pear applesauce defrosted from the freezer  (click on it for the recipe)
• 1 large eggs beaten
•  1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1/8 cup plain Greek yogurt

Directions:

1. Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. I used my new sifter and had an easy time incorporating all those wonderful spices into the flour.

2. Whisk all the wet ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. *note: I don't have a bread dough attachment for my food processor so I mixed it with a spoon and then combined it by hand. It was a piece of cake. Don't let it fool you. If you are having trouble get your hands wet. Wet hands help in the handling of this..

3. Cover in a dish - not airtight allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises approx 2 hours

4. Dough is now ready to use or store in the fridge or freezer in 1 pound increments. 

5. If you freeze it defrost in the refrigerator and on baking day continue on with step 7. 

6. The day you are baking it: Take half of it and shape it into a ball by stretching the sides around to the bottom of the ball. Use a little bit of flour on your work surface as needed - use a light hand. Aim for a narrow looking oval. 

7. Allow the dough to rest one more time in its new shape loosely covered on a buttered baking sheet or pan. I sprinkled a little bit of course cornmeal on my pan too to prevent sticking. If the dough is fresh you can start baking in 40 minutes. If the dough has been in the fridge or freezer please wait for 90 minutes. 

8. Preheat your oven to 350. Slash two small diagonal, parallel, cuts in the loaf using a serrated knife. The book says about 1/4 inch deep. I just guessed hahaha. 

9. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until its richly browned and firm. The cookbook also gives specific instructions on baking on a baking stone. If you have one, you may want to read this book for yourself and gain some really incredible advice. 

10. Allow the bread to cool on a rack before slicing.... the really hard part. 

Eat and enjoy!! Save the remaining loaf of dough for the cinnamon rolls I will post tomorrow. They are amazing!  Don't miss out. 

From my kitchen to yours.... You don't need reservations for brunch. Make this bread today and serve it up tomorrow with little effort. 

Beefy Baked Potatoes: Cook Once Eat Thrice Meal 3

Sweet and Spicy picadillo makes a great potato topper. Using leftovers from this previous fun easy meal  makes it genius. The only thing you have to do is throw the potatoes in the oven with a few things and reheat the meat mixture. Easy Peasy. You'll love this!!  I hope you enjoy this meaty, potato-y filling meal. My hubby doesn't really care for baked potatoes but hes not home tonight. Besides, growing up in the Northwest I assure I know how to do a good potato meal and heard plenty Idaho potato jokes over the years. 

Makes 2-3 adult servings (depending on how hungry you are)

Directions: 

I had 1 1/4 cup of picadillo leftover (approx 10 oz). If you don't have this leftover no worries make click on the recipe above to make this yummy, beefy mixture. If you only are planning on this meal make sure you quarter the recipe. 

1. Preheat your oven to 400

2. Grab one brown medium sized russet potato per adult serving. Although my 3 year old ate a whole one himself but he is a good eater. Put 4 small slits with a knife or fork in each potato. 

3. Pull the leftovers out of the fridge. Add 
 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika, and 1 tsp dried parsley flakes to the mix to rev up the taste. 

5. Pull out a baking dish and use the baking dish or a towel - drizzle each potato with olive oil and salt. Rub both all over the potatoes - will make the skin super yummy. The skin has the vitamins anyways - why not treat it special. Some will oil and salt will fall off - no big deal. 

6. Bake the potatoes for 45-50  minutes if they are fork tender they are done. You should be able to slide a fork in easily. The skin will be crispy and yummy. The inside will be super fluffy. 

look how fluffy these are - this why you don't use foil

7. Pull the potatoes out of the oven - slit them open and let them start cooling just a bit. 

8. Use the microwave or the stove to reheat the meat mixture. 



9. Top the potatoes with meat and a small handful (1/4 cup) of shredded mozzarella cheese.


Hope you love this AMAZING meal as much I did!  Take the night off and relax knowing you only dirtied one pan while cooking. Save time, Save energy, and money and enjoy your fall leftovers. 

From my kitchen to yours! 

Empanada - Like Pizza Pockets: Cook Once Eat Thrice Meal 2

Confession: Until we had adopted our son I had no desire whatsoever to learn Spanish. Now more than a year later I am cooking Mexican food, and going to be starting to learn Spanish in a few months.  I had grown up with a north western American style of Tex-Mex so I wasn't completely oblivious, but kinda close considering EVERYTHING was covered in shredded cheddar cheese! So I am starting off with learning how to say Mexican/ Latin American food words. Sounds delightful if you ask my stomach. This recipe is a mix between a pizza pocket and a empanada. 

When researching how to say this word, "Empanadas", I found that there are many countries like that to stuff meat or veggies into yummy pockets of goodness (ie...pastries/dough/bread). Good. I am in good company. While there is such a thing as empanada dough this is just a nod to it, as I rely upon my Italian food obsession with pizza dough. 

This recipe is awesome because its the second half of my bake once eat twice meal, sweet & spicy beef picadillo supper. . Also the food is self contained its perfect for football and/or movie nights. I really hope you enjoy this one because it was super easy and fun. 

I did notice that the spiciness kinda went away from the picadillo after being in the fridge for a few days. So I did add some smoked sweet paprika and some chili pwd just sprinkled over the top of mine - but that was just a preference thing. 

Directions: 

1. Make or buy pizza dough - click here for an easy recipe with a minimal rise time 

2. Take your leftover Sweet & Spicy Picadillo out of the fridge. Click here for the ingredients. 

(I divided my dough recipe into 4 pieces)

3. Roll the pizza dough in a rectangle or circle shape

4. Fill each one side of each square (approx 1/4 cup of meat filling)

5. Bake at 400 degrees for approx 10 minutes or until golden brown

6. Let it rest for a minute so you don't burn your fingers and cut in half for children so it cools down faster

 * My husband cut his open and stuffed cheese inside... not a bad idea!! 

*Makes 4 large pizza pockets. Next time I will divide the dough into 8 and do smaller ones next time and bake them with cheese inside, but this was a great first time recipe!  

My kiddo enjoying the hands on meal! 

Enjoy!!!
From my family to yours