Salmon with Artichoke Slaw

Dave and I were so busy painting and shopping this weekend that we didn't get a chance to go grocery shopping. Good thing my fridge was stocked well enough to pull something together anyway! Today's meal turned out especially delicious, so I'll share the recipes with you. We had salmon topped with artichoke slaw and rice pilaf and green beans.

Salmon with Artichoke Slaw:
four pieces of salmon steaks
2 tsp creole seasoning
1 tbsp olive oil
1 can artichoke hearts
1 clove garlic
zest and juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp grated parmesan
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 a jalapeno, pitted
1 tbsp olive oil
1 loose cup cilantro leaves and stems
2 tsp capers
1/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced

Sprinkle creole seasoning on your salmon and place it in a baking dish. Drizzle olive oil on and cover with aluminum foil. Bake it in the oven at 350 degrees until desired doneness (check often, and remember it will continue to cook slightly in the inside after you have taken it out.
Julliene artichoke heart with the grate blade of your food processor. Put it in a bowl. Then with the regular blade, process the garlic, lemon zest, juice, parmesan, pepper, salt, jalapeno, olive oil, and cilantro until a pesto=like consistency. Add to the artichokes. Add capers and olives and mix with a spoon. Adjust seasoning as needed. Top it on cooked salmon and enjoy!

Rice Pilaf
Follow directions in Rachel Ray's simple rice pilaf recipe. When it's almost done, toss in other goodies. I tossed in a few strips of jarred roasted peppers, and diced tomatoes.

Mom's Green Beans (courtesy of my Mom-in-law)
four handfulls of green beans, cleaned and ends snipped
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp water
1 clove garlic, minced

Put all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, cover, and nuke for about 4 minutes. Shake. Serve. I had a portabella mushroom lying around and about to go bad, so I sliced that up and threw it in too.

Breakfast Ramen

On most Saturday mornings I wake up with some kind of craving or another. Sometimes it's hashbrowns and eggs, sometimes it's sausage egg McMuffins, and sometimes it's ramen. Lately it's been kimchee. A couple of ramen breakfasts I've had lately:

ramen with bacon and eggs

ramen with breakfast sausage and kimchee (not pictured)

ramen with pork belly and kimchee
This last one was sooo amazingly good. Here's how you make it.
Cut up 2 strips of pork belly (it's like unprocessed, unsalted, uncured, meaty bacon) into a fying pan and fry. Cut it into small pieces with scissors and dump out the grease. Add a teaspoon of brown sugar, a clove of minced garlic and two teaspoons of ponzu sauce (I bought mine at the store - make your own similar sauce by mixing soy sauce, rice vinegar, and citrus juice). Add cut up pieces of kimchee. stir fry. Top it on your ramen. Yuuummm....