On Soup (And NOT Getting Sick!)

I've been feeling a little under the weather the past couple of days. I've been Zicam-ing it up and drinking lots of fluids and going to bed early and basically doing everything I can to convince my body that no, I'm not getting sick. Not at all. Mostly cuz I'm in the water a lot this month, and until next week we're still on a skeleton crew at swim, so there are no backups. If I'm sick, I will just have to teach sick. (Also - I don't want to be sick. It's no fun.)

But I didn't get a very good night's sleep last night (I had a nightmare - what's with that? I almost never have nightmares. I can count on one hand the nightmares I've had in my life.) and I woke up still feeling off, and what I wanted most was soup. Really good, hot, healthy soup. And I made some, and it turned out amazingly, so I thought I'd better write it down while I remember what I did! :)

I stopped at the local grocery store and hit the salad bar for a big container stuffed with baby spinach, grated carrots, and mushrooms. When I got home, I chopped an entire onion (because Maggie always claims onions ward off sickness) and tons of fresh garlic (ditto) and sauteed them in a little oil. When the onions were soft and translucent, I added the mushrooms (chopped), a minute later the carrots, and finally the spinach (which I tore up). I let everything cook for a bit, then I added several good glugs of red wine because red wine makes soup and roasts better. This is, like, the first rule in my universe. (This is what I'm cooking with right now. It was $8 on sale for a huge bottle the same day I used up the last bottle on a french onion soup kick.) I brought it to a simmer and let it go for a bit to cook off the alcohol, then added water and some powdered beef stock (I really need to buy/make some nicer stuff, but that's all I had left in my pantry). And finally, I added a can of white beans for some protein.

Amazing stuff. I would have preferred about twice as much spinach, but oh, well. I could also see adding some radiatore to make it a heartier meal. Some bacon, chopped and cooked with the onion, could only make things better. And when I remember to pick up tomato paste, I'll probably add a good glop, too. :)

What's For Dinner Wednesday: Wasabi Salmon & Maple Glazed Brussel Sprouts

It's taken me a little while, what with holidays, company, and whatnot, to get back into the swing of cooking again, but hopefully from this point forward I will be more consistent! :)

This week: Wasabi Salmon (my own invention!) and Maple Glazed Brussel Sprouts (inspired by the Caramelized Balsamic Glazed sprouts over at Simply Scratch!)

First, the fish:

I don't really like fish. Bones gross me out, and the whole fishiness kind of icks me out, plus I feel like fish is so easy to destroy - overcook it and it turns rubbery, undercook it and you risk a slow, painful death by food poisoning (ok, I might be exaggerating a tiny bit lol), and it's expensive, so it's not something that I've had a lot of practice cooking. But I was trying to eat really well over the weekend (detoxing from a week of way, waaaay too much good food with Rebekah and Joe) and salmon was on sale at the local grocery store.

Salmon is one of the few fish I feel comfortable cooking and enjoy eating (though not from a can - bleh! hi Joe! :)). So I bought some, and cooked it up with brussel sprouts, and it was amazing. So much so, that I decided to cook enough for my whole family on my night to cook this week!

As usual, not a recipe per se (measurements are VERY approximate), but an overview of what I did. :)

Last night, I whisked together some of my new wasabi oil (bought with Rebekah and Joe when we ducked into a cooking shop), (maybe 1/2-1/3 cup?) with some wheat-free soy sauce (about 1/8-1/4 cup), a good squirt of lime, a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic, and a couple of very good shakes of ground ginger. If this sounds like a lot, I put it on 6ish pounds of salmon. :)

I laid the salmon out flesh-side up in a 9X13 baking dish and poured the marinade over, then refrigerated overnight.

Tonight, I transfered the salmon, also flesh side up, to a baking sheet, and brushed the excess marinade on top. I cooked it for about 25-30 minutes on 400, until not shiny anymore (because apparently that's how you know your fish is done).

Amazing! Just enough wasabi to be amazing, and overall the marinade was gentle enough to not overwhelm the fish, but enhance it. :)

Now on to an amazing side dish: glazed carmelized brussel sprouts!

I don't really like brussel sprouts, either, but frozen ones were on sale for $1 a pound, and they're a vegetable, so I got them, remembering a recipe for them on Simply Scratch. Upon further inspection I realized they had bacon (pork), onion (not a fan), and balsamic vinegar (which I love, but I was looking for something sweeter). So I ditched the recipe, kept the inspiration, and did this instead:

Cut your (frozen) brussel sprouts in half. Pour a couple "glugs" of olive oil into a pan (I used cast iron, nothing like it for browning food!), heat on medium, and place all the sprouts cut-side down. I added a little water (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan) and put a lid on them to let them steam and soften for a bit.

When they're mostly soft, drizzle 1/3-1/2 cup of pure maple syrup evenly over the tops, and add a little more olive oil (they soak it up!). Keep the lid off so that whatever water remains will cook off. Add additional maple syrup and/or oil as needed.

When the bottoms are very brown, use a spatula to flip, and cook a minute or so to finish off the tops. Serve!

These are not overly sweet - my mom hates the taste of maple but loved these.

I added a pot of rice as a final side, and we were set. The entire meal took less than 30 minutes (not counting the overnight marinade). I knew the meal was a hit when I was complimented again the next day by various members of my family. :)

Recipe Roundup

The wild, wild West has been on my mind lately, as both drama productions I'm involved in are set in the old West. It looks like we've got most of the kinks worked out and we're getting ready to jump into rehearsals. Can't wait!

In the meantime, here are two yummy things I've made recently that are both Weight-Watchers friendly! :)

Sunday Evening Pizza

1 whole wheat personal-size pizza crust (6 points)

1/4 cup no-sugar-added pizza sauce (1 point)

1/4 cup fat-free shredded mozzarella cheese (1 point)

1/4 cup reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese (2 point)

You can add your favorite low-point toppings if you like - sweet peppers, onions, fresh pineapple, tomatoes, and any other veggie is 0 points; a slice of canadian bacon chopped up or a tablespoon of bacon bits are only 1 point. I'm a cheese freak, so I'm happy with just cheese. :)

Assemble, bake, and enjoy!

Asparagus Pastries

1 tube of refrigerated crescent rolls

8 slices reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

1 bunch thin asparagus spears

Steam asparagus until just tender; divide into 8 servings. Divide the crescent rolls into eight balls of dough; roll each ball into a square and place asparagus spears in the center. Place one slice of cheddar cheese over asparagus, and wrap in dough. Bake according to directions on crescent roll tube. Makes 8. (5 points each pastry)