Real Talk. Plus Tacos.

It's time for some real talk.

Last week my heart hurt, a lot.

It started with hearing about the Boston bombing, about the lives lost.  The limbs needing to be amputated.  The people who thought they were coming out for a day of world-wide community fun and wound up with their lives never going to be the same again.

Obviously, it breaks my heart for them. It also breaks my heart for us. Not just as a nation, but as a world. As human kind. I realized last week that in the span of this school year, Scholastic has sent me three emails out of the norm: "How to talk to children about the theater shooting in Aurora" / "How to talk to children about Newtown" / "How to talk to children about the Boston bombing" ...  What is 'getting worse' to you and I is 'just life' for my nine-year-olds.  As far as they know, that's how life goes. And that breaks my heart.

Then I realize how incredibly blessed we are that this 'only' happened three times this year. If we were living in Syria or Afghanistan or SO MANY OTHER PLACES, three times would be so few, such a relief.  And that, too, breaks my heart for those who live in this daily.

Then there was the explosion in West, Texas.  Which I hardly batted an eye at, because really -- it was sad, but I was busy grading papers and putting on band-aids and making dinner.

Until I was driving home from work on Friday and the DJ on K-LOVE said that young man, a soldier actually, had just called in to talk to a pastor there (which K-LOVE has as they are a Christian music station).  He is serving in Afghanistan and was so fortunate to get a three-day furlough to see his wife and parents.  He got on the plane, eagerly anticipating to see the look on his wife's surprised face, counting down the hours... until he arrived at his home in West, Texas, so find his home was no more, and worse -- his wife had died in the blast.  And he didn't know how to go on from there...

That's when I realized what happened. That lives were lost. I cried in the car a little, for this young man I do not know but I will never stop praying for. This nameless soldier from West, Texas, whose life will never be the same...

And then, on Saturday, I woke up to the news that one of my friends, one of my closest friends, has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. I sat in bed, still in my pajamas, with tears coming from my eyes, and asked over the phone to our friend who was breaking the news, "How long does she have?" I don't really know the answer that, and I don't know if she or the doctors know, but I know that life is hard. I have lost many I love to many things -- suicide, accidents, even violent murder.  Death can come and rob us of our lives at any moment.  It could be a bomb, an unexpected accident, an illness... and I don't always know what to do with that.

However, today I echo the words of this precious friend of mine who just found out her life has taken a turn she never expected. She said yesterday:

I know life is good, I know God is good, and I know things will get better.

And this, this, is the heart of my real talk. Life is hard. For some, it is REALLY hard. But I do still believe it is beautiful. And I know God to be good. My heart? Yes, it is still broken. But I have hope. And that's what I rest in, when things around me don't make sense, just like my friend said above.

You are probably wondering why on earth I am sharing pictures of tacos with all of this. I was thinking weekend a lot about the things I shared in post. Thinking as I was cleaning, thinking as I was walking, thinking as I was cooking. Eventually, I thought to myself, "No matter how hard, life goes on."  But there, in the kitchen, where I was cooking and baking, I realized that at the hardest times of my life -- losing my mom, losing dear friends to a brutal attack inside their home, and some other things -- time kept ticking, whether we felt it should or not. So, I bring you tacos, because no matter what goes on in the world, we still need to eat. Not going to say much about these, because really, that's not why I am here today. But they are good, and you will most likely enjoy them.

Here's to life.  Here's to hope.  And here's to love that is stronger than hate and pain and brokenness!

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MUSHROOM & BEEF TACOS WITH AVOCADO SALAD

SERVES 4 •  PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 20 MINUTES

ingredients

• 1 ½ T. olive oil
• 10 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 lb. low-fat ground beef
• salt/pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 2 avocados, halved and then fruit cut into medium sized chunks
• ½ onion, sliced
• juice from one lemon
• Greek yogurt or sour cream
• 1 pack soft taco tortillas (or make your own)

directions

1.      Heat non-stick skillet over medium heat with olive oil.  Add mushrooms and cook until soft, about 4-6 minutes. 

2.      Put mushrooms in a bowl and add ground beef to skillet, adding salt/pepper to taste.  Cook until browned, stirring and breaking up meat chunks regularly, about 6-8 minutes, adding the chives about half way through.  Remove beef from skillet and mix with mushrooms.

3.      In a medium bowl, gently stir avocado and onion together. Squeeze lemon juice over and top with salt, to taste.  Carefully mix so that the onion and avocado are coated yet the avocado is not mashed.

4.      Assemble tacos, beef first, then avocado salad, and top with dairy. Makes about eight tacos.

 COST: $10.72           COST PER SERVING (4): $2.68

Nutritional Information
calories 717.8   •    total fat 41.5g    •    fiber 8.9g    •    sugars 2.5g   •    protein 38.1g

(Click here for full nutritional information)

Steak with Parsley Sauce and Sauteed Mushrooms

I made steak.

So what and big deal, right?

Well, I would like to inform you that this was my first time.  In fact, from the age of 13 until I was a married woman (12 years later) I never even ate steak, let alone made it.  The first time I re-had red meat was on our honeymoon... we drove past a Brazilian steak house or churrascaria (which you need to go to at the earliest opportunity -- TRUST ME).  I turned to my husband and said, "If you would like to go, I will go with you.  And I will eat the meat -- FOR YOU."

I don't think he trusted me.  The only other time he had taken me to a churrascaria was in Brazil.  Tri-tip and top sirloin, leg of lamb and other great meat, coming to our table one after another, being offered up to us to eat all we wanted.

What did I choose?

The salad bar.  And the weird sushi at the salad bar.

It was a waste of a great amount of money.

But he must have felt it was worth the risk because we went.  $45 a person is always a lot, but when you are newly married and have not that many pennies to your name, it is A LOT.  So I ate the meat.  I continued eating.  I cleared off my plate and ate a little bit more.  And I discovered something... this stuff is GOOD!  That little green/red chip stayed on green the entire time and I had the worst belly ache on the way back to the hotel.

It was totally worth it.

I don't eat much red meat still.  Except when we have BBQ.  Or the occasional hamburger.  It really is a rarity to me.  My husband loves it though, and I wanted to surprise him with a dinner just for him.  No vegetarian/chic stuff this night... I brought out the meat.  Medium-rare, just how he likes it, topped with parsley sauce and sauteed mushrooms over a bed of mashed potatoes.  A side salad with a little bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

In a word: perfection.

STEAK WITH PARSLEY SAUCE AND SAUTEED MUSHROOMS

Recipe from Great Food Fast, a cookbook by the creators of Everyday Food

SERVES 4  •  PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 25 MINUTES

steak

·        2 strip, shell, or sirloin steaks (about ¾ pound each and 1 inch thick) ·        2 teaspoons olive oil ·        coarse salt and fresh ground pepper ·        Parsley Sauce (see recipe below) ·        Sautéed Mushrooms (see recipe below)	1.      Coat the steaks with the olive oil; season with salt and pepper. 2.      Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high.  Add the steaks; cook until browned, 5 to 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. 3.      Transfer the steaks to a cutting board; let rest 10 minutes before slicing thin.  Serve with the parsley sauce and sautéed mushrooms.
parsley sauce	sautéed mushrooms
·        1 glove garlic, chopped ·        1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves ·        ¼ cup olive oil ·        coarse salt and fresh ground pepper	·        6 ounces shiitake mushrooms ·        8 ounces cremini mushrooms ·        2 teaspoons olive oil ·        1 shallot, minced ·        coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
In a blender, puree the garlic, parsley, olive oil, and 3 tablespoons water until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.  Any left over sauce can be stored in the refridgerator, covered in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. Makes ½ cup	Cut off the shiitake mushroom stems and discard; thinly slice the caps.  Trim the tough ends of the cremini mushrooms, then quarter each mushroom.  Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the shallot; cook until lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the cremini; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium.  Add the shiitakes; cook until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper. Serves 4

COST: $20.48  COST PER SERVING (4): $5.12

+ mashed potatoes and salad: $5.85 per plate

(Click on 'mashed potatoes' above to be taken to the recipe.)

Whole Wheat Pasta with Walnut Garlic Pesto

It has been ages since I have posted a new recipe.  And by ages I mean two weeks.  But when you love to cook, two weeks can seem like ages.

Yesterday, though, the business slowed down a bit and the rain paused long enough for me to do what I enjoy.  Who cares that there was laundry to be done and work to do?  The conditions outside were right, and I wanted to cook.

This is not actually a new recipe.  In fact, this was one of my original recipes on this blog.  But it was time to do it again.  What can I say -- my pictures in the early days were atrocious.  ATROCIOUS.  Oh well, I have lived and I have learned.  And I needed an easy unprocessed recipe for dinner.  What's easier than pasta???  I like the ingredients on this bag of penne:  organic whole wheat flour.  YES.

Pesto is always so easy to make if you have a food processor, and this pesto is no different:  walnuts, garlic, parsley, olive oil, and lemon juice.  Mix it up and that's it.

The recipe called for cooked mushrooms and spinach, but there was no spinach to be found in my fridge... but there were brussel sprouts!  Yes, you heard me correctly -- I added brussel sprouts.  Don't yuck my food just yet.  These things taste good when cooked right!  And I cooked them right :)

The end result?  A fast, unprocessed, vegan meal that you can make in 20 minutes or less.  And a happy, happy Tiffany.

Man, it feels good to be back in the kitchen!

Recipe adapted from Everyday Food with Rachael Ray, August 2010

Ingredients

TipBuy walnut pieces, which are cheaper than whole walnuts, when the shape of the nut doesn't matter.

TipToss a small handful of baby arugula with the spinach or brussel sprouts.

TipSpice up the walnut sauce with crushed red pepper.

• 1 pound whole wheat penne rigate pasta

• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 2 cups white mushrooms (about 5 ounces), thinly sliced

• 1 cup brussel sprouts, leafed or spinach

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1 cup walnut pieces (about 4 ounces), toasted

• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped parsley

• Grated peel and juice of 1/2 lemon

• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente, about 12 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, and return the pasta to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until lightly colored, about 5 minutes. Stir in the brussel sprout leaves and cook until wilted, about 1 minute.
3. Using a small food processor, mince the garlic. Add the walnuts, parsley and lemon peel and process until finely chopped. With the machine on, add the lemon juice and remaining 1/4 cup olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Process to form a paste.
4. Add the walnut pesto and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water to the pasta; toss to coat thoroughly. Stir in the mushroom mixture, adding more pasta water if needed; season with salt and pepper.

COST: $6.83   COST PER SERVING (4): $1.71 

Tortellini with Butternut Squash, Sage, and Mushrooms

I am a lover of Summer.  Truly, I think I would be happy if I had Summer all year long...

Oh, wait.  I did that.  Living on the equator for a year (Palau and Ebeye) will give you that...

Ok, let me say that again.  I think I would be totally happy having Summer nine months a year.  That would leave one for Spring (and everything would be green), one for Winter (meaning I could get my hot chocolate fix for the year), and one for Fall (allowing us to have butternut squash and other lovely Fall veggies).  However, if I were the one in charge of such things (and all of life on planet Earth did not depend on the changing of seasons) I would spread them out so there would be three months of Summer between each one.

Perfect.

Butternut squash... oh man.  I didn't even know this stuff existed until last year.  Yes, you heard me correctly.  There were/are plenty of things I never really knew of.  Chalk it up to living off of boxed food and TV dinners 90% of my younger years.  My family single-handedly kept Kraft Foods afloat.

Thank goodness for Brazil, a masters class, and Jamie Oliver!  I kid you not, that guy and his Food Revolution timed themselves perfectly with my newlywed-trying-feed-her-Brazilian-husband-who-has-never-had-box-food-in-his-life phase as well as me being enrolled in 'Advanced Health Education'.  Good things come in threes, I have been told...

So now I know (and love) butternut squash.  And sage.  Have you ever smelled that before?!  Wowsers.  It's pretty amazing.  Mushrooms, those I did know, no worries ;)

October Unprocessed is this month, and for the second year I am participating.  I learned so much last year, and am hoping to do so again.  The truth is, though, that it is not that hard this time.  Why?  Because I am pretty much stuck to this diet throughout the last year.  But there is always room to grow...

Which lead me to reading every single ingredient on the pasta in Trader Joe's.  I know, I know.  There is no artificial anything in TJ's food.  But I was looking for what I consider "the next level".  What kind of flour did they make it with?  Any added sugars?  If so, what kind?  And lo and behold, I found out something wonderful.  The pastas are made with unbleached flour (unprocessed!) and raw cane sugar (unprocessed!), not to mention the salt is sea salt (unprocessed!).  Thank you, Trader Joe's!

Not only can I enjoy my favorite Fall veggie, but I can have it with tortellini.  My favorite!  I guess I can enjoy the season of Autumn now.  If only it was followed by Summer...

PS - If you have been following me, you have seen this recipe before.  TWICE.  I did it last year for October Unprocessed, repeated it again in January (with 'better' pictures), and am sharing it today because, well, the pictures are WAY better :)  If you are new to my blog, you are in for a treat!

Recipe from Real Simple, October 2011

Ingredients

• 1 small butternut squash (2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 pound button or cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed and halved if large
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• sea salt
• 1 pound fresh, UNPROCESSED tortellini
• 2 ounces fontina or Gruyère, grated (1/2 cup), plus more for serving (Or Parmesan.  They're all good!)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450° F. On 2 rimmed baking sheets, toss the squash and mushrooms with the sage, oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once and rotating pans halfway through, until the vegetables are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water; drain the tortellini and return to the pot. Add the vegetables, fontina, ¼ cup of the cooking water, and ½ teaspoon salt and toss gently to coat (add more cooking water if the pasta seems dry). Sprinkle with additional cheese

COST: $8.26    COST PER SERVING (3): $2.75

Mushroom Risotto

I love risotto.  Along with mashed potatoes, it is probably my favorite side dish.  Yeah, I get that both are loaded with calories, and I am not even going to pretend that I made some "light" version.  Nope.  This is straight up gooey goodness, with mushrooms thrown in the middle. 

The first time I made this dish was -- shoot -- two years ago maybe?  Whenever it was is not the point though.  The fact that it was my first true meal I cooked that called for more than four steps was really the kicker.  I took a Tyler Florence recipe and made it happen.

That, my friends, was victory.

A nice, savory victory.

Now I don't have to follow the recipe; I just do it.  No measuring, no making sure things are in the right order... just toss things here, throw things there, heat it up, make it happen.  It used to take about an hour, now it takes 40 minutes.  Yes, still a little time consuming, but it is worth it.   

We eat it not as a side, but as our main dish.  I make sure we have some salad on the side to get our veggies in and dinner is served.  And it is good!

INGREDIENTS

• 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 4T butter, divided in half
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2T fresh dill
• 2 c. arborio rice
• 6 c. chicken bullion (or vegetable if you prefer)
• l/2 c. white wine (optional... tastes good both ways)
• 1/2 c. Parmesan shredded
• salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large skillet, melt 2T of butter over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms, dill, and half of the onion.  Cook 8-10 minutes until soft.  Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat chicken bullion in medium pot.  Keep heated on medium.
3. In large pot, melt remaining butter.  Add garlic and remaining onion.  Saute until clear, about 3 minutes.  Add rice and stir into onion mixture.  Let cook for 45 seconds.  Add wine and simmer for two minutes if desired.
4. Add 2 cups of bullion to the rice mixture and turn heat down to lowest setting.  Simmer and add 1 - 2 cups of bullion when needed.  Keep doing this until all the bullion is gone and there is little liquid remaining in rice mixture.
5. Add mushroom mixture and Parmesan; stir.

Yields five (5) servings.

Cost: $7.64                   Cost Per Serving (5): $1.53

Garlic and Mushroom Mashed Potatoes {Guest Post}

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and if you are anything like me, you are excited.  Excited for the good food, excited for the time with friends and family, excited for a few days off of work.  Speaking of good food... I have asked several fellow food-blogger friends to share their favorite Thanksgiving recipes with us.  Why?  Because although my food is good, it is always the same and I want to see what else there is out there! 

The following (AMAZING) recipe is from Amanda over at Give Me Flour.  I have mentioned her before (in fact, she has a whole post dedicated to her...) because of her beautiful pictures, great tasting recipes, and the fact that she is a Brazilian woman learning English -- my counterpart, as I am an American woman learning Portuguese.  We are both navigating this American/Brazilian world at the same time, and it is fun to see it happen from the other side.  Be sure to stop by her page and give her some love (click on any picture and it will take you there).  You will not regret it!

 

The first time I made mashed potatoes (or thought I was making it), I was 10, 11, no more than 12. I simply put a bowl of smashed potatoes on the table and told everybody lunch was served. No salt, no butter, no pepper, no cream or even a drop of milk. Fortunately, my mom saw my mistake in time and nobody had to eat my insipid attempt. 

Ironically, I’m here in charge of a mashed potato recipe for the most important American food-related holiday.  Good thing I’ve learned from my mistakes and my mashed potatoes grew from that insipidness to a much more tasteful side dish. Garlic and mushrooms, come on, what could go wrong with that?

Well, potatoes are some of the most versatile ingredients I know and they go along with a bunch of good things but, when the matter is mashed potatoes, if you don’t have a good base, no other ingredient will do the job for you.

For a good base I mean a good quality, properly cooked and well smashed potato. And I have my preferences for that -- the Yukon gold potato. First because I care about the color, there’s something about a yellow “purée” that really stands out to me.  Second, it gives me the consistency I expect with mashed potatoes, smoothness without lumps.

So, for 6 to 8 servings you are going to need:

First of all, grab a large pot, add the potatoes in, and cover them with cold water. One of the first things I learned about cooking is we should always place potatoes in cold water and let everything heat together. It helps them to cook more evenly.

So, add bay leaves and 1 tbsp of salt to the pot and bring it to a boil. Cook until potatoes are tender or until they fall apart easily when pierced with a fork.

Meanwhile heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan; add garlic and thyme and sauté until lightly brown. Scoop out the garlic and set it aside.

Using the same frying pan with the thyme, heat the last two tbsp of olive oil and sauté the mushrooms in a high heat for 2-3 minutes. Scoop and set them aside.



As soon as the potatoes are tender, dry them in a colander and let them rest for about 5 minutes. That’s just another good trick to get rid of the extra humidity and the water that can make our base soggy.

Place potato in a large bowl and mash them with a potato masher. If you have a food mill, go for it, it is just the best tool for making a smooth base.

Add butter, parmesan, black pepper and milk, a bit at a time, until you get the consistency you desired. I set a limit of 1 ½ cups of milk but the quantity can vary according to the quality of potato you are using too. Add more salt if needed and mix well.

Add sautéed garlic and mushrooms to the base; mix well and place in a serving bowl. Pile some extra garlic and mushrooms on top and serve immediately. 

October Unprocessed: Tortellini with Butternut Squash and Mushrooms

Real Simple.  Love this magazine.  I don't actually buy it myself because I wait for it to show up in the staff room at my work.  I may be looking at it one month late, but whatever.  I am getting the same money saving tips, decorating ideas, and fresh recipes as the rest of you. 

Last month I changed my tune and actually purchased the magazine.  Why?  Because it had twenty fresh and easy dinners -- one month of easy and healthy meals.  WIN!  Knowing that the October Unprocessed challenge was coming (this was in September), I shelled out the 5 bucks for the magazine.

Yes, I think about spending five bucks.  I am cheap like that.

Anyway, the point is that I finally tried some of the recipes this week.  Two, actually, and I am planning on another one tomorrow.  I thought I would be all over this magazine for the month, but mostly I have been cooking things I already know how to make, but learning how to make it all unprocessed -- like tacos with my homemade tortillas or soup with with made from scratch vegetable stock.  And I have been baking, a lot.  But finally, a new recipe! 

It was worth the wait.

Before we go on, two things:

1. If you want to smell something good, go cut some sage with your kitchen shears.  WOW.  I have never actually smelled fresh sage before.  WOW again.
2. When I googled "how to chop butternut squash" the link I found said, "Once you figure out how easy it is to cut up butternut squash you will want to use this versatile vegetable again and again."  Um, once I figure out how easy it is?  If easy means a stabbed finger, a bruised toe, and butternut squash all over my kitchen, then sure... EASY.  (I think I need to read the directions again.)

I had never heard of Fontina cheese before.  I am a simple girl, really. I know my cheddar, jack, and colby.  Now I have added to my cheese vocabulary.

The tortellini you see below is not homemade.  However, I found one that was preservative free (hip hip horray for Trader Joe's!) and with all ingredients I own, meaning it fits the qualifications for the October Unprocessed challenge. 

(Out of curiosity, I checked out the "fresh" tortellini being sold at my local Lucky, under a brand name we all know.  LOADED with things I do not have in my kitchen nor can I pronounce.  And more expensive, too.)

In true Real Simple fashion, this took about 10 minutes of my time, 35 minutes from start to finish. 

Ingredients

1 small butternut squash (2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 pound button or cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed and halved if large

1/4 cup fresh sage leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

kosher salt and black pepper

1 pound fresh cheese tortellini (2 packs if from Trader Joe's)

2 ounces fontina or Gruyère, grated (1/2 cup), plus more for serving

 

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450° F. On 2 rimmed baking sheets, toss the squash and mushrooms with the sage, oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once and rotating pans halfway through, until the vegetables are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water; drain the tortellini and return to the pot. Add the vegetables, fontina, ¼ cup of the cooking water, and ½ teaspoon salt and toss gently to coat (add more cooking water if the pasta seems dry). Sprinkle with additional fontina.

COST: $10.48               PER SERVING (4): $2.75



A Week of New Recipes -- Day 6: Salmon with Lemon-Dressed Veggies

Veggie lovers, behold!  I have found the perfect summer dinner.  Perfect.  And there is no exaggeration there.

This was, by far, the easiest and most tasty recipe this week.  The asparagus soup is probably the one that could give a run for its money on the tasty side, although I am not sure which one would actually win, but this meal, WOW.  Great taste, fresh ingredients, and super quick and simple.  So simple, in fact, that it was a little like A B C or 1 2 3... 4.

ONE --  Cook the potatoes       TWO -- Make a simple vinaigrette 
THREE -- Roast the potatoes and asparagus         FOUR -- Toss all together

And FIVE I guess -- Add cooked salmon on top.  Ta-da!

This seriously took me about 25 minutes from start to finish, and half of that time was free time waiting for things to cook.  My only disappointment was my salmon.  I am a great salmon cook-er.  Usually I just sprinkle some lemon-pepper on top and broil it on high for about 7 minutes.  EXCELLENT salmon, my friends.  This recipe had me bake it, which I think would have been OK except I went all cheap-o and bought frozen salmon.  The cheapest frozen salmon, not the kind I usually buy.  Tried to save a buck and I was met with lots of white ooze on my salmon (which is why you will see no close-up the fish itself, I want to spare you).  So next time I will make these veggies, broil my salmon -- FRESH SALMON -- like normal, and enjoy one of the freshest meals mother nature has to offer.

My trusty sidekick for this week.

One more day of this new recipe week and I will be done... so far so good.  Let's see what the next meal has in store for me! 


But for now, enjoy this on a nice summer evening.  You will not regret it. 
Scores?  10 and 10. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 pound small red-skinned potatoes (about 6), quartered lengthwise
• 2 cups white mushrooms (about 5 ounces), halved
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 bunch asparagus, cut crosswise into thirds (about 2 cups)
• Four 6-ounce salmon fillets with skin
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• Grated peel and juice of 1/2 lemon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. In a large, ovenproof skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the oven and roast for 10 minutes. Stir in the asparagus and roast in the oven until the asparagus is crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, rub the salmon all over with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the salmon, skin side down, on a foil-lined baking sheet; roast until opaque in the center, about 10 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the parsley, garlic, lemon peel, lemon juice and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Toss with the roasted vegetables and serve with the salmon.

(Recipe from rachaelray.com)

COST = $14.70        PER SERVING (3) = $4.90