Salmon with Lemon Yogurt and Brown Rice

We visited the farmer's market this last weekend and bought a nice piece of previously frozen sockeye salmon.  They also had fresh Keta salmon...maybe next time!

Fish and shellfish are high in triptophan.  That's the precursor to seratonin which we all could use a little more of in our brains during winter!  This makes enough for three people (or two people with leftovers!)

3/4 pound pound of very fresh, wild salmon
1 small, juicy lemon
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt (Greek for creaminess, but for added health find one with live cultures which Greek doesn't have)
1 cup brown rice
1/2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup grated parmesan
Salt and pepper

1.  Cook rice.  Add 1 cup of rice and 2 1/2 cups of water to a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and boil for 10 mins.  Cover, and reduce to low heat.  Cook for 40 minutes.

2.  Cook fish.  Lay the fish, skin side down in fillets, on a baking sheet.  Salt and pepper (coarse salt and fresh ground pepper).  Set on highest rack under broiler on high and broil 10 mins per inch (ours was a tiny bit over 1 inch at it's thickest point and 12 mins was perfect).

3.  Make sauce.  Zest and juice the lemon into a small bowl.  Add yogurt.  Stir until smooth.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  I also threw in a tiny palmful of dried thyme.  Dill would also be nice.  Optional.

4.  Once rice is done, fluff with a fork, then add in parmesan and butter.  Stir through till melted.

Serve fish, de-skinned, along side the rice.  Top fish with a couple spoonfuls of yogurt sauce.

407 calories per serving:  34 carbs (33%), 15 fat (33%), 34 protein (33%)

Sauteed Kale and Chickpeas with Tomatoes

Again, grabbing things from the fridge to use up from our last veggie box, and we enjoyed this so I think it's worth sharing.

1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and cut into ribbons
1 qt heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
coarse salt, fresh ground pepper

In a saute pan with a lid, heat the oil and garlic over med-high heat.  Add the kale and saute until bright green.  Add tomatoes and beans and cook, stirring, until softened.  Add 1/4 cup water to pan, lower heat and cover.  Cook until kale is softened and liquid is mostly gone.  Remove from heat.  Sprinkle with vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 2

Calories:  346, 52g (60%) Carbs (11g Fiber), 10g (26%) Fat, 12g (14%) protein

Beef Stroganoff

Those lovely brown crimini mushrooms, combined with the lower temperatures and falling leaves had me craving beef stroganoff!  I sort of made this up based on looking at a couple of other recipes and my own crazy idea of what I wanted it to taste like...be forewarned!

2 cups cooked brown rice (or egg noodles)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small flank steak (about 1/2 pound)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, chopped
6 oz crimini or other mushrooms, quartered
1/3 cup white wine
1 cup beef broth
1 tsp corn starch
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
salt, pepper

 1.  Dry the steak off very well with paper towels.  Drizzle, spray or brush both sides with a little of the oil.  Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat.  When hot, add the beef.  Sear until the steak releases from the pan (about 3 mins) and repeat on the other side.  Remove the steak from the pan and set aside.

2.  Reduce the heat to Medium.  Add the remainder of the oil to the pan and saute the garlic, mushrooms and onion until softened.  Resist the temptation to add more oil - the mushrooms will absorb the oil and make the pan seem dry, but after a few seconds of cooking they'll release moisture.

3.  Deglaze the pan with the broth and wine.  Add the steak back to the pan and simmer until the steak is cooked through, about 8 minutes.  Add water by the 1/4 cup if the pan starts to run dry.

4.  Remove the steak and set to rest.

5.  In a small cup or ramekin, mix 1 tsp of water (approx) to the cornstarch and stir until dissolved.  Add to hot liquid in pan and stir over medium heat until thickened.

6.  Slice the steak against the grain and add with juices back to the pan.  Heat through, about 1 min.

7.  Remove pan from heat and allow to cool slightly.  Mix in yogurt and Worcestershire sauce.  Salt and pepper to taste.

8.  Serve spooned over rice.

Per serving (serves 3):  439 calories; 41 carbs (37%), 19 fat (39%), 26 protein (24%)

Slow-cooker Avgolemono (Egg-Lemon-Chicken Soup)

I roasted a chicken last night, which we ate with glazed carrots, onions and mushrooms, along with potatoes and from-scratch chicken gravy.  Since there was just the two of us, and it was nearly a 5 pound bird, there was a lot left over.  We carved off the meat and made this soup in our slow cooker with the remains.  The soup has a creamy texture, but doesn't have any cream in it.  Along with slightly sour taste from the lemon this soup verges on addictive and is the kind of thing you wake up craving when the weather outside is stormy.

I hate having to dirty other pans when using our cooker, so this can be done completely in the cooker:

1.  Make chicken broth (do this the night before, as you clean up after enjoying your chicken dinner)

Place the chicken carcass - which should be free of skin and picked nearly clean of meat - in your slowcooker.  Break it up a bit so it's sitting nicely on the bottom of the crock.  Cover with about 2.5-3 qts of water (just fill it up so it's pretty much covering the bones, but don't overdo the water or your soup will have less flavor).  Add some herbs (fresh or dried) and a few smashed garlic cloves (no need to completely peel these; just get most of the peel more or less off).  Whatever you have on hand will work; we used fresh rosemary and three skinny cloves from the center of the garlic head, since those cloves are annoying to use for other uses.  Set the whole thing on high for 1 hr, then on low for 8-10 hrs.  When done, strain out all the solids and put the liquid broth back in the crock.
Warning:  The smell may drive your kitty a little crazy.  Ours couldn't tell where the chicken smell was coming from and kept waking us up to check to see if it was in our bed.

2.  Cook veggies (optional) and rice in broth (do this the next morning)

Add 1/2 cup of uncooked brown rice to the broth in the crock.  I like brown rice because it holds up to being re-heated.  Optionally, also add sliced celery, onion and carrots.  Add herbs, fresh or dry, such as oregano, thyme, basil, bay leaf.  Cook on high for 3 hours.  Everything should be nice and soft.  At this point you basically have a nice chicken and rice soup.
NOTE:  It's important to have a starch in this soup, as it helps stabilize the egg emulsion.  You can also use orzo (and, I've heard, tapioca) but this requires less cooking time.  You'll have to look up how much time orzo takes to soften in a slow-cooker if you prefer it.

3.  Finish the soup (just in time for lunch!)
Remove approximately 2 cups of broth from the pot (try to avoid the veggies and rice) and let cool slightly.  Salt the remaining broth, 1 tsp at a time, to taste.  Mine took about 4 tsp. of salt.  In a medium bowl, whisk 2 whole large eggs together with the juice of 2 small, juicy lemons (these are juicier than the large ones).  Very slowly, whisk in 2 cups of the still-hot broth into the eggs and lemon, pouring in the broth in a slow, steady stream and whisking vigorously.  Add this "sauce" back into the hot soup and stir.  If you like, add pieces of chopped chicken leftover from your roast, and allow to heat through.  Just before serving adjust the salt again and add some grinds of pepper.

Makes about 4 servings:
200 calories per serving
13g carb (26%), 8g fat (36%), 19g (38%) protein