Weeknight Dinner for Two: Broiled Salmon with Steamed Broccoli and Jasmine Rice

I love salmon and can eat it almost every day.  This dish is so simple to prepare.  It's colorful, tasty and full of textures.  It's one of my go-to's for a healthy weeknight dinner.  Even though this dish is easy to prepare, it makes a really nice sit down meal.  It's great for weeknights because it cooks quickly. I can prep while my husband is reading bedtime stories to our son, and then I wait until my son is asleep to start cooking so everything is still warm and fresh when we're ready to sit down to eat.

Ingredients
1 16 oz salmon filet, sliced into 2 evenly sized pieces
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Bread Crumbs (about 1 Tbsp)
Broccoli florets (for weeknights I'll use a bag of pre-cut florets)
Jasmine rice (for weeknights I'll use Trader Joe's frozen Jasmine rice)

Place salmon on parchment lined baking sheet.  Season with salt, pepper, bread crumbs and drizzle with olive oil.  Broil on Hi for 10-12 minutes (keep an eye on it), until the top of the fish is nicely browned and the fish is cooked through (I prefer my top a little on the well done side).  Meanwhile place broccoli florets into stove-top steamer basket and steam until bright green and still crispy.  Serve with rice.

Beef and Bean Chili

I love a warm, cozy bowl of chili.  It's especially satisfying on a cold winter night.  I never seem to make it the same way twice, but yesterday's chili was particularly delicious, so I thought I'd write it down.  My husband Adam prefers white beans, but any type of bean can be used in this recipe.  I find that the key with chili is to season it in layers and then let it cook slowly on the stove so the flavors really develop.  It's helpful to use a high-sided pan with a lid for this recipe.

Makes about 6-8 servings

Ingredients
2 lbs of ground beef (I used 94% lean)
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 8 oz. cans of plain tomato sauce (or 1 15 oz. can)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Smoked paprika
2 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp red chili flakes (optional)
Sea salt
Freshly ground Pepper
1 bottle of dark beer (I used Newcastle)

Over a low to medium flame, soften onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, fragrant and translucent (5-7 minutes), add a couple of shakes of salt and a few grinds of pepper as you're working.  Add ground beef and brown for about 7-8 minutes, add a couple more pinches of salt and a few grinds of pepper to season the beef as it's browning.  Drain any excess fat and liquid from the beef, onion and garlic mixture.

Next, add tomato paste and beer and make sure that tomato paste is distributed throughout the meat, and anything stuck to the bottom of the pan is scraped up.  Let simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Add cumin, smoked paprika and chili power and mix so that spices are evenly distributed throughout the meat.  Let the flavors develop for about 2-3 minutes, then add canned tomato sauce and let simmer over a low flame for 45 minutes to an hour until the chili thickens.  Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

At this point, I turned off the heat and covered the pan with a lid.  I let the chili sit on top of the stove, and when it was time to reheat it for dinner, I loosened it up with a little water (stock would probably work well here) and warmed it over a low flame.

I served the chili in bowls over rice and used fat free Greek yogurt instead of sour cream as a foil for the spice from the chili flakes.

Banana Multigrain Muffins

I hate letting food go to waste.  Of course it happens, but if I have the opportunity to spare something from the garbage I feel accomplished.  As it happens, there were 3 overly ripe bananas sitting on my counter this morning, and I was inspired to bake.  Besides, it's Sunday in December and baking just seemed like the natural thing to do.  At first I thought that I might make banana cookies, but I didn't have enough flour for the recipe I wanted to use.  Then, I remembered that I had a box of Trader Joe's Multigrain Pancake and Baking Mix in my cabinet.  Luckily, I found a recipe on the side of  the box for blueberry coffee cake, and I made some adjustments to suit my plan of making banana muffins.  I froze most of the muffins in doubled up zip top bags and kept some out for snacking and Jacob's lunch box.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups Trader Joe's Multigrain Pancake and Baking Mix
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp (splash) vanilla
1 cup buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk, so I  used 1 Tbsp white vinegar, and just under 1 cup 1% milk and let it sit for about 5 minutes)
1 egg
3 Tbsp Oil
3 ripe bananas mashed

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and spray mini muffin tin with cooking spray
• combine buttermilk, egg, vanilla and oil with a wire wisk
• add baking mix and sugar and mix until combined
• fold in bananas until fully incorporated

Spoon mixture into greased mini-muffin tins and bake for 20-25 mins until wood toothpick (I used a wood chopstick) comes out clean and muffins are golden on top.  Let cool for a few minutes and then loosen around edges with a spoon.  Remove cooled muffins, and let cool completely on a wire rack.  Yields 24-30 muffins.  

Turkey Meatloaf for Jacob

My son Jacob is 2 years old and he's a picky eater.  Meatloaf is one of his favorite dishes, and he is almost always guaranteed to clean his plate.  It's soft and savory/sweet and very easy for little hands and mouths.  I worked from home today, and in my downtime I made him a turkey meatloaf for his dinner tonight. There are sure to be plenty of leftovers for weekend snacking, sandwiches and lunches for the next few days.

Ingredients
1lb ground turkey (I used 94% lean, and I try to buy organic)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup ketchup for the mixture, and more to spread on top
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 egg
1 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic chopped

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil so that it overlaps all of the edges, then line the center of the pan with parchment paper.  I find this provides the easiest cleanup.

Sautee chopped onion and garlic in olive oil over low to medium heat until soft and fragrant.  Pour into a large mixing bowl to cool for about 5 minutes.  Add ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and ketchup to the meat and mix with your hands or a rubber spatula until all of the ingredients are incorporated into the meat.  Try not to over mix, or the meatloaf will become dense.

Pour mixture onto parchment lined cookie sheet and form into a loaf.  Brush more ketchup on the outside to cover.  Bake for 55 minutes.  Thermometer inserted in the center should read 165 degrees.