Spicy Salmon Soup with Escarole and Mushrooms

I finally made it to the Public Market in Rochester last weekend and came away with a wonderful find: salmon pieces for $2 a pound!  They were the scraps that were too small to be sold as nice looking pieces of fish, but they looked very fresh and came from a reputable fish vendor, so I couldn't pass up the deal (and it ended up being the best salmon I've bought in a long time!).

And what does one do with scraps of salmon?  Make soup!  ...Or just broil and serve small pieces- it's not like we're particularly fancy around here.  But the soup idea came to me and I ran with it.  I spied some escarole at a neighboring vendor and knew it'd pair perfectly with the salmon.  Add some mushrooms, onion, and garlic form my supply at home, and I was set!

I give a wide range on the soy sauce amount- start by adding a little and add more to taste.  I kept our batch pretty low on it, but added more to my individual servings.  If you have fish sauce and/or sesame oil, feel free to add a little of both to add a little more oomph to the flavor.   Also, bok choy could definitely be subbed in for the escarole, or spinach would work too!

This makes four large servings, and you can make them heartier by adding a fried egg on top.  Serve with extra chili-garlic and green onions as a garnish.

What you need:

1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 small-medium onion, thinly sliced
10 ounces mushrooms, sliced
4-5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 bunch escarole, washed and torn into pieces
1 pound salmon, cut into chunks or strips
2-5 tablespoons soy sauce
~6 cups water
1 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce, plus more for garnish if desired
green onions for garnish


Start by heating a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the coconut oil.  Add the onion and garlic, and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and saute for another 2-3 minutes.  Add the escarole and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add the water, soy sauce, and chili-garlic sauce.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium.  Add the salmon. pieces, making sure all pieces are fully submerged.  Bring back to a boil, and then reduce heat to a low simmer.  Let cook for 3-4 minutes, or until salmon is cooked through.  When it is fully cooked, it will be opaque and flake apart.

Add additional soy sauce and chili-garlic sauce to taste.  Serve with a fried egg and chopped green onion on top if you're feeling it. :-)  Enjoy!

Broccoli, Radish, and Mushroom Stir Fry

While this is a tasty and simple side dish, I normally wouldn't be posting it as a recipe.  Stir-fries are basic and, well, don't really require recipes.  BUT, I've realized that a lot of people have never heard of cooking radishes!  Which I'd like to change.

You can definitely cook radishes- in a variety of ways. I usually stir fry them really quickly, but I've also broiled them (laid out sliced on a sheet pan and sprayed with cooking spray), and added them to slow-cooked stews.  Also, if you don't like raw radishes, you may very well like them cooked.  Their flavor mellows out quite a bit.

This is an Asian-flavored stir fry that I made to accompany Thai Curry Chicken with Butternut Squash.  My stir-fries usually come together as a result of what I have in the fridge.  That's what's awesome about stir-fries- you can really make all sorts of combinations depending on what you have on hand.  Today, I had broccoli, mushrooms, fresh ginger, and the radishes, so I just went with that.  I cooked them in sesame oil and added a little soy sauce to complement my curry chicken dish.   You could just do the radishes, or do the radishes with the mushrooms, or with the broccoli.  Whatever ya feel like.  This combination worked well though.

What you need:

2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 inch piece fresh ginger, minced
1 pound of broccoli, cut into ~2 inch pieces
6-7 radishes, thinly sliced
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
Pinch of salt
Pepper
Soy sauce
Chili-garlic sauce

Heat the sesame oil in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Add the ginger and saute for a minute or two.  Add the radishes, Saute for about a minute, then add the broccoli.  Stir that around for a minute, then add the mushrooms.  Sprinkle in a pinch of salt to draw a little water out.  Continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes, or until the vegetables have a little brown on them and are cooked to your liking.  You want them to retain a little crunch.  Turn off of the heat and add the green onions.  Season with soy sauce, black pepper, and chili-garlic sauce.

Enjoy!

Kimchi

Kimchi is traditionally a fermented Korean vegetable condiment.  My version is a "fresh" kimchi (meaning it hasn't fermented underground for a long time) using napa cabbage.  You can make this as spicy or not as you want.  It is supposed to be quite spicy, but sometimes I make it less so because I like to eat it more as a side dish rather than a spicy condiment.  If you can, plan ahead and make this a day or two before you want to use it. It definitely gets better.

What you need:

12 cups of Napa cabbage, chopped 

3 tablespoons of salt

1-2 tablespoons chili-garlic sauce (or more if you want it really spicy)

Sriracha sauce (optional, if you want it really spicy)

1 teaspoon chili oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1-2 teaspoons fish sauce 

3 tablespoons minced garlic (or a tablespoon or so of garlic powder)

1/4 + cup seasoned rice vinegar

1-2 tablespoon soy sauce

1-2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1/2 cup thinly sliced onion

1/2-1 cup thinly sliced cucumber 

Instructions:

Place the Napa cabbage in a large bowl and toss with the salt.  Place another large bowl on top of this and something heavy in this bowl to weigh it down.  Let sit for 4-5 hours, stirring once or twice.  The cabbage should really wilt down.  Dump the cabbage into a colander and thoroughly rinse to get rid of extra salt.  Put it back into a bowl and add the remaining ingredients.  Toss and let sit for at least an hour before serving, but preferably for a day or two in the fridge.  

Enjoy!

Roasted Eggplant Salad with Asian Vinaigrette

A healthy, mouthwatering accompaniment to an Asian-themed dinner and the leftovers tasted even better the next day as a lunch.  In fact, I would even recommend making this the day before you want it (if you're able to plan that much in advance, which I am usually not).  The eggplant soaks up more of the dressing and the flavors meld and intensify.

I forgot to pay attention to how much of everything I was using, but I'll give my general estimates.  Make sure to taste test the vinaigrette before pouring over the eggplant and adjust if necessary.

To make the roasted vegetables:

What you need:

Eggplant, cut into 1 inch (or maybe even slightly thicker) rounds.  I used enough to almost cover the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan... probably 5 or 6 baby eggplant or 2 large ones

Jalapeno peppers- 4/5 

1 head of garlic, with the tip top cut off to just reveal the cloves.

Olive oil spray, salt, pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Spray a 13x9 pan with olive oil.  Spread the vegetables out on it.  Spray the tops of the vegetables with olive oil.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes, or until vegetables are softened and lightly browned.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Once, they have cooled a bit, squeeze the garlic out and chop the jalapenos.  At this point, you can remove the skin the eggplant if you want, but I prefer to leave it on.  Place the eggplant in a bowl.  Reserve the jalapenos and garlic for the vinaigrette.

To make the vinaigrette:

What you need:  *Note: these are really just estimates.  I'd say the proportions are pretty accurate, but I'm not sure about the amounts, so you may need to add a little more of everything to get enough to coat the eggplant.

1 tablespoon (or more) soy sauce

juice of a lime

1/4 cup (or more) seasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon chili oil

1 tablespoon sweet chili lime sauce/ marinade

2 teaspoons Huy Fong chili garlic paste (this is pretty spicy, so use less if you don't like spicy)

1 teaspoon black pepper

Garlic Powder (optional, if you really like garlic)

1 roasted head of garlic, cloves squeezed out and chopped (from above)

Roasted jalapeno peppers, chopped roughly (from above)

Mix everything together.  Pour over eggplant and let sit for at least 30 minutes, but preferably much longer (like I said, it was definitely even better the next day).  Enjoy!

Broiled Calamari Salad

YUM.  This is so good and also really healthy.  I've now made two versions- the picture is of the "Mediterranean" version.  Both recipes are below.  The ingredients are listed separately, but the instructions are the same for both.  I served the first version with the Mediterranean Vegetable Salad recipe I posted earlier and some Parmesan garlic bread.  The "Asian" version was served with a curried pumpkin soup and some sweet potato pancakes.

The first version is largely based off of http://askgeorgie.com/?p=1795 with only slight modifications.  So thanks Georgie!

The Mediterranean Version Ingredients:

1 pound calamari, cleaned and sliced into bite size pieces (use both the tentacles and the tubes)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic (and I also added a bit of garlic powder because I like it extra-garlicky)
1/2 cup chopped roasted red pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan (optional, sprinkle on top after serving)

The Asian Version Ingredients:

3/4 pound calamari, cleaned and sliced into bite size pieces (use both the tentacles and the tubes)
1/4 pound raw shrimp, peeled (use large or jumbo so that they cook evenly enough with the calamari)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice or rice vinegar
2 tablespoons minced garlic (and I also added a bit of garlic powder because I like it extra-garlicky)
1 can (14-15 ounces) Asian stir fry mushrooms, drained and rinsed, with the extra moisture squeezed out
1/2 leek, chopped


Directions:

Preheat oven to broil on high. Mix all ingredients together and spread in a greased 13 x 9 pan.  Broil for 10-20 minutes (depends on your oven's temp) until cooked through and slightly browned.  Stir it once during this process.  Enjoy!