Spicy Guinness Stout, and Caramelized Onion Mustard (19 calories per 1 tsp serving)

Growing up, my father loved good whole grain mustard.  He always had a good crock of Pommery Mustard, like this (Pommery Meaux Grain Mustard in Stone Jar), on hand.  He taught me to love good whole grain mustards.  Now, I make my own.

A good mustard, in my opinion, should have a good bite, be creamy, yet still show the mustard seeds, and have a sweet, but complex finish.  This Spicy Guinness Stout, and Caramelized Onion Mustard (recipe below) accomplishes all that goodness.  Nothing beats it on both a hearty burger, or a delicate piece of salmon.  Yum!

This mustard making process is a two day event, but it isn't as intense as that may sound.  Day 1 you caramelize a bunch of onions, and mix everything together, and then, you wait two days, and on Day 2, you process, or blend, everything.  Then you're done.

The first step is to caramelize a bunch of onions.  This process scares a lot of people, but it really is very easy, if time consuming, and gives you a treat you can use a number of different ways - with eggs, in a tart, on pizza, or in a salad, to name a few.

I used three larger yellow onions, to make about double the amount I needed for the mustard.  First, cut the top off of the onion, and then place the flat, cut, side down on your cutting board, and slice the onion in half, through the root end.  You want to keep the root intact, so it holds the onion together, making it easier to slice.

Place the larger sliced side down on the cutting board, slice the onion in half moons, fairly thinly, and place in a bowl.  Once you have sliced the onions, it is time to prepare your pan.

I like to use my well seasoned, 12" cast iron skillet for this task.  It's a good size, and since it is well seasoned, very little sticks to it.  Heat the skillet over medium high heat.  Once it is heated, add 1 TBS of unsalted butter, and then pour 1Tbs of decent olive oil over the top.  As the butter melts, swirl the pan to combine the two fats, and to coat the base of the skillet.

Now, add the onions.  They should immediately sizzle, and should fill the pan half to three quarters of the way up.

Let the onions sizzle for a couple of minutes, then using a large turner, begin the process of turning the onions over.  For the next 10-12 minutes, you will need to turn the the onions every couple of minutes, so they continue to sweat, and cook down, browning all the time.

After about 15 minutes, the onions will be reduced by about a half, in terms of volume in the skillet, and look somewhat browned, like the picture to the right.  At this point, sprinkle a little salt, and a little sugar over them, and toss them in the pan to mix them up.  The salt will draw out more of the moisture, and the sugar will add a little sweetness, but the onions will create their own sweetness as they caramelize, so just a dash or two is needed.

At this point you might have some fond (burnt, tasty, bits, stuck to the bottom of the pan), so pour about 2 Tbs of white wine vinegar into the pan, to deglaze (free up the fond) the pan, scraping and turning the onions as the vinegar bubbles and steams.  When the bubbling subsides, turn the heat down to medium, and continue cooking and turning the onions for at least 15 more minutes, but up to 30 more minutes, depending on how caramelized you like them.  I cooked mine about 22 more minutes.

Move the onions to a bowl, and let them cool about 30 minutes.

After the onions are cooled, it is time to start making the mustard.  This is actually the easy part.  I made it harder than I had to, because I wanted to discern how much of the caramel onions I wanted to include.

So, I started with a large (16 oz) canning jar, and poured in 1/2 cup of mustard seeds, and added a 1/4 cup of caramelized onions, then repeated the process, and ended up with the final 1/2 cup of mustard seeds on top. I then poured 6 oz of Guinness Stout over the seeds and onions, to see what it looked like.  This effort was interesting, to me, but completely unnecessary for the mustard making process.

So, I decided I should approach the process the correct way.  I  got out a medium bowl, and added the red wine vinegar, and the remaining 6 oz of Guinness Stout (remember, poor the Stout slowly and evenly, as a foamy head, here, is not helpful).  To that I added the salt (which bubbled impressively), and then the rest of the seasonings, and whisked it together.  Finally, I dumped my jar full of seeds, Stout, and onions, in (carefully, so as not to splash), and stirred them to mix them together.

At this time, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put aside on the counter, and leave it alone for 2 days.

After 2 days, the seeds should have soaked up the Stout and the vinegar enough so you can stand a heavy spoon up in it.  It kind of looks like my granite countertops, doesn't it?  :)

Now, this is easiest done in a larger food processor, but I imagine it can also be done, possibly in batches, in a good blender, as well.


Dump the mixture into your food processor.  Once the mixture is all in, pulse it a couple of times, and then, using a spatula, wipe down the sides, and then let the food processor run for about 2 minutes.  As it runs, the mixture will thicken.  If 2 minutes isn't thick enough for your tastes, let it run longer.  This is your Mustard, after all.

I was happy with mine after 2 minutes.  This is the consistency, and thickness, I ended up with.

Enjoy!

Spicy Guinness Mustard

1 & ½ cups    Guinness Stout
1 & ½ cups    Yellow mustard seeds (about 10 oz.)

½ Cup            Caramelized onions
1 cup              Red wine vinegar
1 Tbs              Salt
1 tsp                Black pepper
¼ tsp               Ground cinnamon

¼ tsp               Ground cloves
¼ tsp               Ground nutmeg
¼ tsp               Ground allspice
¼ tsp               Ground ginger

(Makes about 3 & ½ cups of mustard)

Pour the Guinness Stout into a medium-sized, non-reactive, bowl.  Add the red wine vinegar to the bowl.

Add the onions, salt, pepper, and all the spices, and whisk together gently. Add in the mustard seeds, and whisk to incorporate.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set it aside on your counter.  Let it sit, undisturbed, for two days. This is so the seeds can soften up a bit, so you can process them easier.

After two days, your mustard seeds should have soaked up a lot of the liquid. Toss the contents of your bowl into a food processor, or do it in smaller batches in a blender.

Process the mustard mixture for about 3 minutes.

As the seeds break down, the mixture will get thicker. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, if need be.

Stop a few times to check the thickness. When you’re happy with how thick it is, stop.

Spoon the mustard out into prepared (i.e. very clean) jars or a bowl. Keep the mustard in the fridge. It’ll be good for about six months. That is, if you don’t eat it all sooner.

Making Focaccia with the Olive Oil Dough Recipe (171 Calories per serving)

I love pizza, but I hate the amount of salt put in carry-out, and take-and-bake, pizza.  I always wake up in the middle of the night, desperate for water, and wondering which salt lick I fell asleep against.  Man, it is awful, and truly unnecessary.

On top of that, add in all the processed garbage in the pizza, from the dough, to the sauce, to the variety of toppings, and no one knows what's really in those Frankenstein's monster of a pizza.

So, Kasi and I started making our own pizzas with the Olive Oil Dough (recipe here) for the crust, and the Big Sur Bakery & Restaurant Pasta Sauce (recipe here), as our pizza sauce.  We've been making a lot of these recently, including one I'll post about soon, but I, at least, am getting a little burned out, despite how ridiculously delicious they are.

So, I decided to try and make some basic Focaccia Bread (see recipe below) with the dough recipe.

I knew I wanted to top the Focaccia with onions, rosemary, and salt and pepper.  I had read that you need to saute the onions a little, to soften them first, or they will burn in the oven.  So, I sliced a quarter of an onion very thinly, and sauteed it in a tsp of olive oil, for less than 5 minutes - just until they softened, but didn't brown - and then setting them aside to cool.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

I then started preparing the Focaccia dough by taking the last quarter (1 serving) of the dough I had made, and refrigerated, last week, and sprinkled it with flour, placed it on a floured surface, and then formed it into a ball.  To form the ball, gently pull the dough between your hands, and tuck the ends in at the bottom.  Next, turn the dough a quarter of a turn, and repeat.  Continue doing this 4 or 5 times, until the top is smooth and elastic.

Place the ball back down on your surface, cover it, and let it rest for about 10 minutes.  After it has rested, press the ball flat with the bare palm of your hand.  Next, roll the tough out to about a half an inch thickness.

Place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and place the rolled out dough in the middle of the cookie sheet.

Now, with a small fork lightly prick the surface of the dough all over.

Now is the time the toppings can be added.  Start with a light coating of the sauteed onion, leaving a small border around the edge, then sprinkle on the fresh rosemary, and dust it with some freshly ground pepper.

Next, sprinkle on some salt. I have some artisan salts that I like to use,  One is a Black Cyprus Sea Salt Flakes, and the other is a white, pyramid shaped, Bali Sea Salt.  My pink Himalayan salt is too finely ground to use on this, but I wish I had some coarse ground, because the pink would totally pop next to the black flake salt.

Finally drizzle a little, about 1 Tbs, of olive oil over the top, cover, and let the dough rise about 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes of rising has passed, pop the dough into the oven for 15 minutes, and sit back and enjoy the smells.

After 15 minutes, remove the Focaccia from the oven, and let cool about 20 minutes before slicing.

Eat, and enjoy!

Focaccia Bread

Ingredients:

1 serving           Olive Oil Dough (recipe here)
1/4                    Onion, thinly sliced, & sauteed until soft
1 tsp                 Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbs                Rosemary, fresh
To Taste           Coarse Salt
To Taste           Black Pepper, freshly ground
Drizzle              Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Seafood Enchiladas Verdes ( 296 Calories per serving)

30 days ago, I started trying to lose weight.  As chronicled in this blog, I started at 272.4, and with a three day juice diet.  After that, I signed up, for free, with the MyFitnessPal.com and started using their website and iPhone app, to track my caloric intake.  With their help I decided to lose 2 pounds a week on an 1800 calorie a day diet.  In the 30 days since I started with MyFitnessPal, I have lost 8.8 pounds, or 2.052 pounds a week, tracking my calories.  That is pretty darn accurate.  Thank you MyFitnessPal.com!

That said, I love to eat.  I especially love to eat Mexican food.  Six years ago I moved from Washington, DC to Fresno, in the California central valley, and learned, finally, what good Mexican food really is.

But , I am trying to eat healthy now, and most Mexican food, simply cannot be squeezed into my 1800 calorie a day meal plan.  I can't give up the meal plan, because it has helped me lose 15 pounds since I started this blog, so, for the most part, I have to give up heavier, cheese laden foods, which includes a lot of Mexican food, unfortunately.  So, when I find a dish that is healthier, tasty, and includes some of my favorite Mexican food flavors, I'm all over it like fur on a weasel.

This, is that type of dish.  It is very delicious. The Seafood Enchiladas are very, very, good, and the Salsa Verde recipe is, to use my daughter's vernacular, the bomb! - and, it is pretty easy.

Both recipes can be found below.

I like these Seafood Enchiladas served with some light sour cream (an additional 45 calories per serving), a quarter of a sliced avocado (an additional 50 calories per serving), vegetarian refried beans (an additional 125 calories per serving), and occasionally, mexican rice.

Today, I opted for the refried beans, with a little Salsa Verde mixed in to them to smooth them out a little bit, and to give them a little bite.

So, enough of the chit chat, let's get right down to it, and make these bad boys.

To start, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

First things first, the seafood needs to be cooked.  Rinse the sea scallops and pat them dry with a paper towel.  Place on a plate, and season both sides with garlic salt and pepper.

Using a non-stick pan (like this: Scanpan Pro IQ Nonstick Skillet, 8"), heat over medium high heat, and spray with a canola cooking spray.  When the oil is hot, place the scallops in the pan, they should sizzle.  Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2.5 minutes per side.  When done, place on a cutting board to cool. Re-spray the pan with canola oil, drop in shrimp, and season with garlic salt and pepper.  Saute quickly, tossing to turn, until the shrimp are just pink.  Remove from heat, and place them on the cutting board to cool as well.  Finally, re-spray the pan again and add the crab.  Saute the crab briefly, to warm it and to absorb any seasoning left in the pan, and then move the crab to a bowl.

Next spray the pan again, and start toasting the 6" corn tortillas to soften them.  Toast each side for about 30 seconds a side, re-spraying as needed.

Once all the ingredients are ready, it is time to assemble the enchiladas.  First, pour some Salsa Verde in the bottom of the pan.  Next, dip a tortilla in the Salsa Verde, flip it and dip again, so that both sides are covered.  Next, place a small amount of shredded mexican blend cheese down the middle of the tortilla, add a layer of crabmeat, 4 or 5 scallop pieces, and 4 or 5 shrimp pieces on top of the crab.  Finally, roll the tortilla as tight as possible, and slide it into the side of the pan, seam side down.

Once all of the tortillas are rolled and in place, pour more Salsa Verde over the top cover with cheese, tent with aluminum foil (so the cheese doesn't stick to the foil and look ugly when the foil is removed), and place in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove the foil, and cook for 5 more minutes so that all the cheeses is melty and bubbly.

It is delicious!

Seafood Enchiladas Verde

Serves: 4-6

 

Ingredients:

12 oz                          Crab meat

6-8                             Sea Scallops, rinsed

6                                 Shrimp, medium, rinsed and de-veined

12                               6” Corn tortillas

1 Cup                         Grated Colby Jack cheese

1.5 Cups                     Salsa Verde (See recipe below)

Sprinkle Garlic Salt and pepper on both sides of the scallops, and over the shrimp.  Coat a nonstick pan with cooking spray, and sear scallops over medium high heat for 2 minutes a side, and set aside to cool.  Re-spray the same pan, and sauté the shrimp until just pink, and set aside.  Spray the pan again, and warm the crab meat

Once the seafood is cooked, let it cool for a few minutes and then cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Working with one corn tortilla at a time, heat a pan with a little oil, and pan-fry them briefly, to make them more pliable.

When it is time to assemble, spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and pour some salsa verde in the bottom of the pan.  Begin by dipping a tortilla in the sauce, turning it to coat it, and then sprinkling grated cheese down the center, and topping it with chunks of cooked crab, scallop and shrimp.  Roll the tortilla as tightly as possible and place in a tight row in the pan.  Continue the process until you fill the pan.

Once the pan is filled with rolled enchiladas, pour salsa verde over the top to cover the tortillas, and sprinkle the enchiladas with grated cheese.

Cover very loosely, tented slightly, with foil, and bake for 12 minutes, or until the cheese begins to melt.  Finish by removing the foil, and let the cheese cook until it is bubbly and the enchiladas are light golden brown.  About 5 more minutes

Serve them warm with vegetarian refried beans, avocado slices and light sour cream.

Salsa Verde

Makes about 48 oz, with a 2 Tbs portion size.

1 Lb                            Tomatillos, husked

4                                 Serrano peppers, roasted, seeded, and diced

1 tsp                            Salt

6                                 Garlic cloves, crushed

1                                 White onion, roughly chopped

1 bunch                       Cilantro

2 Cups                        Water

1                                 Lime

In a medium pot, place in the first six ingredients.

Add the water; bring to a boil over high heat.  Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove the pot from the heat, and add the juice of 1 lime.

Use an immersion blender to to puree the ingredients until almost smooth.  If an immersion blender is unavailable, a regular blender will do.

Let the Salsa Verde cool to room temperature.

I recommend storing it in canning jars in the refrigerator.

This makes an awesome salsa for enchiladas, a great dip, and a wonderful marinade for pork.

Olive Oil Dough Veggie Pizza (592 Calories per serving)

I wanted to reiterate what a great pizza I have been able to make using the Olive Oil Dough (recipe below) for the crust, and the Big Sur Bakery and Restaurant Pasta Sauce (Recipe Below) as the pizza sauce. 

It is, if I do say so myself, a freaking awesome pizza.

I make my dough in the morning, let it rise, and collapse, in the mixing bowl with a towel over it, for about 2 hours.  Once it is collapsed, I transfer it to a tupperware like container, and place it in the refrigerator.

In order to make a good pizza, you need to be prepared.  A crispy crust requires a good pizza stone for your oven (like this: 15" Round Pizza Stone), a pizza peel make of wood (like this: Sur La Table Wood Pizza Peel), and some cornmeal, but more on that later.

Part of my preparation includes sauteing some of the vegetables that I want on my pizza.  Using a small, non-stick saute pan (similar to this: Scanpan Pro IQ Nonstick Skillet, 8"), sprayed for about half a second with a canola oil spray, I sauteed a quarter of a thinly sliced red onion, with half of a thinly sliced red bell pepper, two sliced mushrooms, and a half of a medium zucchini, also thinly sliced, until the onion was translucent, and the peppers were soft.  I then set his aside to cool, while I start to shape the dough.

Before starting to shape the pizza dough, however, it is important to remember to place your pizza stone in your oven, preferably on the middle rack, and preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  The oven should be ready shortly before we finish preparing the pizza.

To begin shaping the Pizza, I first flour my work surface, generously.  Then, I break off one quarter of my refrigerated dough (about 1 lb), form it into a grapefruit size ball, and place it in the middle of my floured work surface. After letting the dough rest for 5 minutes or so, I press it flat, with the palm of my hand.  Then, I pick the dough up, redust the surface, and flip the dough over so that the unfloured portion is now in the flour.  Now I'm ready to roll the dough out.

Everyone has their favorite rolling pin.  Mine is a french tapered maple dowel (like this: J.K. Adams French Tapered (Dowel) Rolling Pin) - no moving parts, easy to clean, and it gets my big fingers out of the way.

When rolling out any dough, it is important to remember these steps.  ALWAYS start from the middle and roll out - one direction at a time - this will keep your thickness even.  So, what I do is this.  I start with the pin in the middle of the dough, and roll up.  I lift the pin, return to the middle of the dough and roll down.  I then put the pin to the side, grab the dough and turn it 90 degrees, and roll again, from the middle up, then the middle down.  Then, I flip the dough over, and repeat the whole process again.  It takes about 3 complete turns of rolling the dough to get it to the size I need.

My peel is about 11" x 11".  I like to roll the dough out to about 12.5" square.

At this time, I bring my peel close, sprinkle it generously with cornmeal, and then place the dough on top of the cornmealed peel, with about 1.5' overhanging the peel on all sides.  The cornmeal does two things.  It adds flavor to the bottom of the dough, and it helps the dough slide off of the peel when you but it on the pizza stone.

Next, I roll the edges in, onto themselves so that all the overhang is gone, a wall is formed around the edge, and the pizza shell just fits onto the peel.  These edges will bake up crispy and pretty, and will stop any flow of sauce out to where you don't want it.

Then, I spread about a third of a cup of the Big Sur Bakery and Restaurant Pasta Sauce, acting as a very tasty pizza sauce, I follow that with the sauteed vegetables from earlier, a few slices black olives, about a third of a cup of shredded parmesan cheese, and about a cup of fresh spinach leaves.

At this time I place the pizza onto the pizza stone in my preheated oven, using the peel to ease it onto the stone.  I set the timer for 15 minutes, and pour a glass of wine.

In fifteen Minutes, I pull the pizza out, using the peel, and let it rest for about 5 minutes before slicing.

See how lovely it looks, with the way the edges rose and crisped up?  Yum!

This pizza was cut into four slices, but fed two people, with two slices each.  Each slice is about 296 calories a piece, or 592 calories a serving.

I hope you try it and love it as much as I do.

Olive Oil Dough

From, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois

Makes four 1-pound loaves.

2 & 3/4 Cup    Lukewarm Water

1 & 1/2 Tbs    Fresh Yeast (1 & 1/2 packets)

1 & 1/2 Tbs    Salt

1 Tbs              Sugar

1/4 Cup          Extra Virgin Olive Oil

6 & 1/2 Cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour

Mix the water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl, and let sit for 5 minutes as the yeast begins to foam.  Add the olive oil and salt, and stir to mix.

Add the flour and mix without kneading, with a spoon, until all the flour is incorporated.  To get the last bits of flour, use your clean wet hands to mix.

It should look like the picture to the right.

Cover the bowl with a towel, and let sit at room temperature for about 2 hours.  Dough should complete the rise and collapse cycle.

The dough can be used immediately, but is easier to handle when cold.  Additionally, I believe the flavors are better after a night n the fridge.

To use as pizza dough, place a pizza stone in your oven, and preheat your oven to 500 degrees. 

Take 1/4 of the dough, form it into a ball and let rest, covered, at room temperature, for 15-20 minutes.

Press down on the middle of the dough with the base of your hand.  With a rolling pin, on a surface well dusted with flour, place the pin in the middle of the dough, and roll out.  Place the pin in the middle again, and roll towards you.  Flip, and turn the dough 90 degrees, the dough over, dusting damp dough spots as needed, and repeat the rolling process.

Repeat theses steps until the dough is as big as you want, but no larger than your pizza peel.  Sprinkle corn meal on your peel and place the dough on the peel.  Roll the edge in a couple of turns, to create a dam, and then add your sauce and toppings.

Using your peel, slide the pizza carefully onto your pizza stone, and bake for 15 minutes.  Take it out and let it cool 5 minutes.

Slice, eat and enjoy!

Big Sur Bakery & Restaurant Pasta Sauce

From the Big Sur Bakery & Restaurant Cookbook.

3/4 cup  Olive Oil

1 Large Onion, roughly chopped

2 Medium carrots, roughly chopped

2 celery Stalks, roughly chopped

1 Fennel Bulb, roughly chopped

10 Garlic Cloves

1 Serrano Chili, stem removed, and sliced

96 oz canned Whole Tomatoes

1 Tbs Kosher Salt

Prepare raw veggies, and place in a bowl.

Heat a large, 5 qt or larger, dutch oven, over medium high heat.  Add olive oil.  When olive oil is heated, add veggies all at once, stir, and reduce heat to medium low.  Cook veggies, stirring every fem minutes, for about 20 minutes, or until they have caramelized.

At this point, add the canned tomatoes, with their juice, and the salt.  Stir to mix.  Increase heat until the sauce boils, then reduce heat and allow sauce to boil at a slow simmer for about 60 minutes.

Now, use an immersion blender (stick blender) if you have one, to puree the sauce in the pan.  If an immersion blender is unavailable, carefully puree the hot sauce, in batches, in a standard blender, until sauce is completely smooth.  I highly recommend an immersion blender though.  They are reasonably priced, and are perfect for these types of projects.

Return the sauce to the medium low heat after the pureeing, and simmer for at least 30 more minutes.  

You will be rewarded with a delicious pasta sauce that serves about 24.  The serving size is a 1/2 cup and has 81 calories, each.  The pasta sauce can be frozen in smaller batches for use later.

Here is the final product.

Salmon again? With Couscous and a Salad (762 per serving).

After a few days at cabin in Yosemite, with good friends and kids, it was time to get back to more healthy eating. So, I went back to a standby, the individually packaged & frozen, 7 oz, Atlantic Salmon filets, from Costco. These filets are sold in bags of 7 or 8, under the Kirkland brand name. I would prefer that they were wild caught, these are farm raised, but I wouldn't be able to afford them if they were.

Generally, the kids eat a healthier diet than most kids their ages.  But they still eat more processed food than I like, with a lot of dried pasta, and, at least for my daughter, very few fresh vegetables, without coercion.  In fact, she insisted she didn't like salmon, or couscous, and wondered what, besides a little salad, she was going to eat for dinner.

I told her to trust me, she would like it.  Needless to say, she loved it, and said that all the other salmon she had tried was tasteless, and this had good flavor.

This was a key breakthrough for me.  You can have one with your picky eating child, significant other, or parent, too.  Trust me.  :)

The first step in this meal is making the Couscous.   Couscous preparation is so simple, really just follow the directions on the bag, and add anything extra as it sets up, like mushrooms, or after it sets, like I did here with diced onions.

Just place 2 cups of water (or broth, if you're so inclined), a tsp of olive oil, & a dash of salt, in a medium sauce pan, and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, pour in 1.5 cups of couscous, return it to a boil, cover, and remove from the heat.

While the couscous is resting for about 5 minutes, finely dice an onion, and sauté in a tsp of vegetable oil, until translucent.

Once the onions are ready, remove the lid from the couscous, add the diced onion, stir into the couscous, recover and set aside.

Next, I took some defrosted salmon filets, and generously salted & peppered them, and set them aside.

In a large non-stick skillet, sprayed with Pam, or other spray oil, and heated over medium-high heat, add the filets - they should sizzle immediately.

You want a nice sear on these, so cook them for about 4 minutes on each side, and then keep warm.

While the salmon filets were cooking, I made a quick honey wasabi sauce to put on the salmon. I took a tsp of wasabi paste, a dash of soy sauce, a half tsp of garlic powder, a tsp of honey, and a Tbs of sesame oil, and mixed well, and set aside.

Finally, Kasi make a salad. She used a bag of spring mix greens, some finely sliced carrots, cucumbers, and red bell pepper, and a diced Roma tomato. Then she made a quick vinaigrette of balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, some Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, and garlic powder.

To assemble the plate, I placed a cup of couscous in the center, laid a salmon filet up on the couscous, and added the dressed salad behind the couscous. Then, using a silicone brush, I wiped the wasabi sauce on the salmon, and drizzled it over the plate.

All-in-all, the meal took about 30 minutes to prepare, looked great, and tasted delicious. :)

Couscous (Serves 4)

1.5 cups          Couscous

2 cups             Water, or broth

1 tsp                Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Dash               Salt

1 tsp               Vegetable oil

1                    Onion, medium, diced

In a small sauce pan, bring water, olive oil, and salt, to a boil.  Add couscous, return to a boil, cover, and remove from heat and set aside.  Finely dice the onions and saute them in the vegetable oil until translucent.  Remove cover from couscous, stir onions in, and recover pan.  Set aside.

Seared Salmon with Honey Wasabi Sauce (Serves 4)

4                      Salmon Filets (7 oz, each), previously frozen

Liberal spray   Pam

To Taste          Salt & Pepper

1 tsp                Wasabi paste

Dash               Soy sauce

.5 tsp               Garlic powder

1 tsp                Honey

1Tbs               Sesame oil

Generously salt and pepper each side of the filets.  Heat a large, non-stick skillet, over medium hight heat, and spray with a non-stick oil.

Add the filets (they should sizzle immediately), and sear for 4 minutes on each side.  Remove from skillet, and place on a plate, and keep warm in the oven.

In a bowl, mix well the wasabi paste, soy sauce, garlic powder, honey, and sesame oil, and set aside with a basting brush.

Mixed Green Salad with a Balsamic Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette (serves 4)

1 bag              Mixed Greens

1                     Carrot

.25                  Cucumber

.5                    Red Bell Pepper

1                     Roma tomato, diced

3 Tbs              Balsamic vinegar

2 tsp                Dijon mustard

.5 tsp               Garlic powder

Dash               Salt and pepper

.25 Cup          Extra virgin olive oil

Finely slice carrots, cucumber, and red bell pepper, and add, with the diced tomatoes, to the greens, in a salad bowl.

Next mix well together, in a small bowl, the vinegar, mustard, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.  Using a small whisk, add the oil slowly, whisking constantly, to fully emulsify the vinaigrette.

Pour the vinaigrette over the salad, and toss well, so that each piece is coated, but not drenched.