bourbon-glazed salmon

so even though the quick kale with bacon and onions recipe, from the seven best foods for women series, was a little sketchy, the next one in line looked very promising. not because it's salmon, but because it had a bourbon glaze.

much to scott's delight, this recipe required the purchase of a fifth of bourbon - now gone after a weekend at the ranch. i decided to go for the good stuff and got knob creek, and you should have seen his look when he asked, 'you're not going to use that in the salmon, are you?' like it would be a shame to waste any of it on something so lowly as a glaze.

yes, i did use a mere quarter-cup in the glaze, which also featured brown sugar and orange juice, and it was a hit! scott lit the coals on the grill and i thawed and marinated the salmon, which his mom and sister brought back from their recent trip to oregon.

we put a layer of tin foil on the grill, since the salmon tends to stick, and pulled up the edges so we could pour marinade over the fish and hold it in the foil. it cooked down to a nice syrup consistency, and was oh-so-good.

this one's a keeper. it's even been requested by trav, so if scott's telling others aboug it, i know it's good. :-)

along with the salmon we also enjoyed grill-roasted mushrooms with butter and garlic salt. sure, we may have negated any health benefits of the salmon with the butter, but everyone needs butter in their life. no matter how many we pile in the foil at the outset, i think we both always wish we'd fixed more. they get scooped up pretty fast.

so this was the meal that evening, with some added garlic bread also toasted on the grill. there were some salmon pieces leftover, and they were tasty for lunches throughout the week.

here's what cooking light has to say about the benefits of salmon: While the omega 3 fats in salmon do everyone a lot of good, women net a few unique benefits. Pregnant? Studies find the oils in fatty fish like salmon can help you beat the post-partum blues, particularly if you ratchet up intake during the third trimester. Building blocks for the brain and nervous system, omega 3 fats are also critical for the developing fetus. In your forties and beyond? Keep in mind that heart disease is still the number one killer of women. And once estrogen levels begin to plummet, eating fatty fish can help keep the ticker healthy. Cooking Light recommends two servings (about 4 ounces) of salmon, or other fatty fish, per week.

here's the link to the recipe: grilled orange and bourbon salmon.

and the next recipe includes vodka. they keep getting better. perhaps i better invite heather over to enjoy that one with me. :-)

new ingredient: kale

this last week i finally got back to the 'seven best foods for women' series i've been making my way through. so far, i've cooked with tomatoes and flaxseed. next on the list was kale, another ingredient with which i've never cooked before.

here's what cooking light has to say about kale: An under-appreciated leafy green, kale is chock-full of a lot of good things for health in general, and some for women in particular. Antioxidants like lutein and zeazanthin protect the eye. Add to that a day's worth of vitamin C and small amounts of calcium. But tag its womanly superstar status to vitamin K, a potent bone builder. Researchers find that women who eat diets rich in vitamin K are at lower risk of hip fracture. Seems the body requires vitamin K to activate bone proteins needed to ward off osteoporosis, the crippling bone disease that strikes women four times more often than men. According to the website, at 36 calories per cup cooked, the sky's the limit.

the recipe that went with it was 'quick kale with bacon and onions.' it's got bacon, so it's got to be at least consumable, right? i wasn't too suspicious, as i like cooked spinach. but i was, just a little.

i started with two big bunches of kale, as the recipe called for 10 cups chopped, and i think i had more than that, but, like spinach, it really wilts and cooks down when put over heat, so two bunches wasn't too much.

after browning the onions you add the kale in two batches, the second time letting it simmer a while to tenderize the leafy green. while it was simmering i fried and chopped the bacon, throwing in a good amount of extra. the entire recipe only called for two strips, and that's just not enough in my kitchen.

looks ok, right? the healthy dose of bacon ended up being about right. not sure how many strips i ended up putting in the kale, after i'd finished snacking on several as they finished frying. :-)

it ended up being pretty good, but, to tell you the truth, i probably won't seek out kale to cook for this recipe again. i might give a different recipe a try, though. and, with the salt i added to the greens themselves, plus the bacon, it ended up over-salted. if i was to make it again, i'd leave out the straight salt, add in the extra bacon and it'd probably be ok. it didn't help that i used store-bought bacon, which tends to be way more salty than bacon from the local locker.

here's the link to the recipe: quick kale with bacon and onions.

zucchini-pecan flaxseed bread

several posts ago i mentioned starting on a series of 'the seven best foods for women,' from cooking light. the first food was tomatoes, incorporated into a tuna - or salmon recipe. the second in this series is zucchini-pecan flaxseed bread.

here's what cooking light has to say about flaxseed: A "hot" ingredient in foods targeted to women, scientists are teasing out three potentially beneficial compounds in flax: plant based omega 3 fats, fiber and disease-fighting compounds called lignans. A Mayo Clinic study finds 40 grams of crushed nflaxseed can cut down on hot flashes, and several reports suggest flax can lower "bad" or LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. (Interestingly, in one Chinese study, the cholesterol-lowering impact was more pronounced in women.) The brown or gold seeds may even play a role in fighting breast cancer. One caution: if you're pregnant or nursing, some experts suggest avoiding flax until more studies are done.
The right dose: 1-2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed per day since whole seeds aren't readily digested.

being fond of zucchini, especially fried, that was nothing new for me, but i had never cooked or baked with flaxseed before. casper has a health food store downtown, called alpenglow, where i get the tahini for my fresh herb hummus, which i should share with you sometime, and that's also where i went to find the ground flaxseed.

it does have quite a nutty flavor, but it didn't come out tasting as strong as the recipe cautioned.

the grated zucchini looked really good, and i have some leftover that i'm tempted to fry with salt like hash browns....

i apologize, i don't have a photo of the finished product, since i made this the night before my company came over last sunday, and i was busy moving on to other things when it came out of the oven. it's still hanging around my kitchen, though, and i enjoy slices with butter for breakfast or snack. here's the cooking light photo, though:

the third food on the list? kale. another ingredient with which i've never attempted to cook, but i like leafy greens, and spinach, so we'll give it a try.

meanwhile, the recipe for zucchini-pecan flaxseed bread:
Yield: 1 loaf, 18 servings (serving size: 1 slice) (i made two slightly shorter loaves out of the same recipe)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c granulated sugar
1/2 c ground flaxseed
1/4 c brown sugar
1 T baking powder
1 t ground cinnamon
3/4 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t ground nutmeg
2 c shredded zucchini (2 medium zucchini, approximately)
1 c vanilla low-fat yogurt
1/2 c egg substitute (i used two eggs)
3 T canola oil
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 c + 3 T chopped pecans, toasted

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, granulated sugar, and next 7 ingredients (through nutmeg) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
Spread zucchini onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels; cover with additional paper towels. Press down firmly to remove excess liquid.
Combine yogurt, egg substitute, oil, and vanilla in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in zucchini.
Add zucchini mixture and 1/4 cup pecans to flour mixture, stirring until well combined. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan ( i used two loaf pans because it was a lot of batter, and was glad i did) coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle batter with 3 tablespoons pecans. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; place on wire rack.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 181 (30% from fat)
Fat: 6.1g (sat 0.6g,mono 2.9g,poly 2.2g)
Protein: 4.5g
Carbohydrate: 28.5g
Fiber: 2.6g
Cholesterol: 1mg
Iron: 1.4mg
Sodium: 223mg
Calcium: 90mg

grilled salmon with basil butter and fresh tomato sauce

i have embarked on a quest to cook with new foods. some things i've never used because i'm not sure what to do with them, and other things i've never used simply because i don't know where to find them in the grocery store. yes, it's true.

my inspiration for cooking with new foods was an email that came along from cooking light that listed 'the seven best foods for women.' among them were listed kale, couscous, flaxseed and tuna steaks.

so i made out a list and went shopping for a couple of the recipes to begin with, and the first one to make it to assembly in my kitchen was 'grilled tuna with basil butter and fresh tomato sauce.' now, i couldn't find any tuna steaks at the grocery store when i was there, so i opted for the frozen salmon steaks instead. not sure what the nutritional differences are between the two, or if tuna really is better for a person, but salmon became the recipe's anchor nonetheless.

the recipe was included in the list not for the fish, but for the tomatoes. here's what cooking light had to say:

Ripe and juicy, heirloom and cherry tomatoes are an easy food to love. So it's just icing on the cake that observational studies suggest lycopene-rich foods like tomatoes may play a role in warding off breast and cervical cancers. Since no clinical trials have tested the hypothesis, it's not proof positive. And maybe the protection comes from a diet rich in vegetables rather than just one vegetable. If that's the case, consider tomatoes for heart health. After following nearly 40,000 women, Boston researchers conclude lycopene or other phytochemicals eaten as oil-based tomato products may protect against cardiovascular disease.

The right dose: To be determined.But cooking tomatoes, and adding oil, makes lycopene and other antioxidants more readily available.

the assembly:

i thawed the fish and put it under the broiler to bake, seasoned with some salt and pepper. just five minutes on each side and it was cooked perfectly, and still juicy.

the tomato sauce has grape tomatoes, capers, parsley and all sorts of good stuff in it.

and the basil butter was really good. i ran it through my food processor with butter and basil, of course, and some garlic and lemon juice as well. i later finished off the extra on tortilla chips, and it was delicious.

and here's the final product. i really liked it, and would make it again, but scott, who was there for dinner, did not care for it. i think i've come to discover that he likes most things, but doesn't like intense flavors. i made one of my other favorite dishes, salmon cakes with ginger-sesame sauce, a while back, and he liked the cakes but didn't care for the sauce, which had a strong ginger/sesame oil flavor. that, and this dish with two toppings was a little frou frou for him. :-)

here's the recipe:

Grilled Tuna w/Basil Butter and Fresh Tomato Sauce
(serving size: 1 tuna steak, 3/4 cup sauce, and about 1 tablespoon basil butter)

Ingredients

Basil Butter:
3/4 cup fresh basil leaves (i used dried, and also increased the amount of butter)
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 t salt
2 garlic cloves, minced

Sauce:
2 t olive oil
1/2 c finely chopped red onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 c grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 c dry white wine (which i actually had some)
3 T capers
2 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 t sugar
1/4 c chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (i used dried)

Tuna:
4 (6-oz) tuna steaks (salmon, in my case)
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
4 basil leaves, optional

Preparation

Prepare grill or broiler.

To prepare basil butter, combine first 5 ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth, scraping sides as needed. Set aside.
To prepare sauce, heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and 2 garlic cloves; sauté 3 minutes. Add tomatoes; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in wine, capers, vinegar, and sugar; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in parsley. Set aside.

To prepare tuna, sprinkle tuna with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Place tuna on grill rack or broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Cook 5 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Serve with sauce and basil butter. Garnish with basil leaves, if desired.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 323 (28 percent from fat
Fat: 10.2 grams (sat 4.4 g, mono 3.7 g, poly 1.1 g)
Protein: 41.8 grams
Carbs: 10.9 g
Cholesterol: 92 mg
Iron: 2.7 mg
Sodium: 770 mg
Calcium: 72 mg