Salmon with Grilled Pineapple and Avocado Salsa

Don't really have much to say about this one, aside from it's YUMMY!

FOR THE SALSA -

3 large fresh pineapple spears

1/2 medium red onion

1 large jalapeno

1 T fresh lime juice

1/4 C chopped cilantro

1/2 t kosher salt

1/2 t cumin

1/4 t cayenne

1 large avocado, diced

Spray grill rack with cooking spray (or brush first three ingredients LIGHTLY with olive oil). Grill over high heat until pineapple is golden and onion and jalapeno are pretty well charred. Remove from grill and cool until they are easily handled. Dice pineapple and onion. Remove skin, seeds, and ribs from jalapeno and finely chop. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Makes about 2 cups.

FOR THE SALMON -

In a small bowl, mix together the following:

1 teaspoon each -

kosher salt

cumin

paprika

granulated onion

chili powder

fresh ground black pepper to taste

Cut approximately two pounds of boneless, skinless salmon into manageable-sized pieces (3 or 4). Brush with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle evenly with spice mixture. Grill until desired doneness.

Top with prepared salsa and serve with your favorite side dishes. We had it with toasted pine nut couscous and one of my broccoli slaws, which can be found HERE.

On the off-chance you end up with leftovers, make salmon street tacos!

Mexi-Slaw

No photo of this one (yet), but I want to get it documented somewhere before I forget what I did. I came up with this recipe to go with shrimp street tacos I made the other night. It was a hit!

1/3 C mayonnaise

1/2 C chunky-style salsa

1 T freshly-squeezed lime juice

about 6 C finely shredded cabbage or packaged coleslaw mix

1/4 C chopped white onions (or sliced green onions)

1/4 C chopped cilantro

1 medium avocado, diced

In a large bowl, whisk together mayo, salsa, and lime juice. Gently stir in remaining ingredients. Serve immediately. That's all there is to it!

Mexi-slaw as a side to Arroz con Pollo

photo added 1/13/2016

Juicer Pulp Carrot Apple Ginger Snack Cakes

As I mentioned in my Pork Chops with Apple Pan Sauce post, we have a new juicer, which I have been having tons of fun playing with. I was, however, having tons of guilt just throwing away the extracted pulp. Mom always said all the vitamins and other REAL goodies are in the outer areas of fruit and vegetables, so I knew I had to do something with this stuff rather than dump it down the disposal. After a bit of internetting for ideas, I made these...

Aren't they adorable?

These moist, tasty little buggers are low fat, high fiber, egg-free, and highly addictive. You can eat them with relative abandon and still feel pretty good about it.

First of all, to make these you need a juicer. That's pretty much the only way to get the pulp you will need. I thought about possibly suggesting you just grate the carrots, apples, and ginger, but that would leave too much moisture in the fruit/vegetable mixture and the cakes just wouldn't bake right. 

Before mixing the batter, make your pulp. Wash and prep about 6-8 medium carrots, 2-3 large apples (cored but not peeled), and 3-4 nice big hunks of fresh ginger (peeled). I happen to adore ginger, so the amount you use should be according to your own tastes. Run everything through your juicer according to its directions. Drink the juice while you're baking these or reserve for later. You will need 2 cups of the mixed pulp. Pick out any really large pieces of apple peel, but don't worry if there are some hunks of apple and carrot in there... they add a really nice flavor and texture to the finished product.

Now, we are ready to start the actual cakes...

1½ C flour

2 t baking powder

1½ t cinnamon

¼ C sugar

½ t salt

1¼ C milk

¼ C vegetable oil

1½ t vanilla extract

2 C carrot/apple/ginger pulp

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Stir well with a whisk or a fork.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together oil, milk and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and gently combine, being careful not to over mix (there will be lumps... don't worry). Gently fold in the pulp, being careful to mix thoroughly but not too much.

Scoop batter into muffin tins. Unlike muffins, these do not rise very much, so don't worry about over-filling. Fill the tins almost to the top. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely. Refrigerate any leftovers (like that will happen).

Makes 24 cakes.

Pork Chops with Apple Pan Sauce

A couple of days ago, I was shopping at our local Korean supermarket and found five pound bags of Fuji apples for 99¢. NINETY NINE CENTS FOR FIVE POUNDS!! They were kind of ugly (hence the price), but I was looking for things to run through our new juicer anyway. Score! Once I got  home I did juice some of them, but then decided to make a dinner featuring them. It was fantastic!

Pork Chops with Apple Pan Sauce

4 - 1" thick boneless pork loin chops
kosher salt
pepper
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1 medium apple (Fuji, Pink Lady, Gala, even Granny Smith would be nice), peeled and diced
1 medium shallot, chopped
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 c. unsweetened apple juice (I used fresh juice, but bottled juice or cider would work just fine)
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 T. Dijon mustard

In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt butter and olive oil together until foaming subsides. Season chops liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Cook until golden brown and almost done, about 7 minutes per side. Remove from pan and keep warm in oven set on low. Add chopped apples, shallots, and thyme to pan and saute until softened. Raise heat to high and add apple juice. Boil until reduced by half. Add chicken broth, mustard, and any accumulated juices from the pork. Continue to boil until sauce is reduced and thickened, about another three minutes. Check seasoning and add more salt and/or pepper, if desired. Serve chops with sauce spooned over top.


Seasoned Brown Jasmine Rice

1 1/2 C brown jasmine rice
2 1/2 C chicken broth
1 t. granulated onion
1/2 t. granulated garlic
1 t. powdered ginger
1 T. sesame oil
1 T. rice wine vinegar
1/4 t. salt

In medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and cook until almost all liquid is absorbed (about 35 minutes). Remove from heat; let stand for 10 minutes. Stir and serve.


Celery, Apple, and Fennel Slaw

This recipe can be found on Epicurious (link below). We really liked it, but I thought the dressing was too acidic. When I make it again (and I will!), I am going to use about 2 t. of honey instead of the sugar... maybe even a little more.

Celery, Apple, and Fennel Slaw on Epicurious.com