Ok, ok, so this recipe is almost straight out of this month’s bon appetit.  Like, cover image, straight out.  And the only reason it’s “almost” rather than “exactly”, is that I lacked some of the ingredients in my pantry and there were no sugar snap peas at the farmer’s market on saturday  (maybe next week, i was told).  The big difference is that bon appetit’s version is made with snap peas and pea tendrils.  I swapped in pea sprouts since I had some in my fridge, along with some nice bloomsdale spinach from this week’s CSA veggie box.  The salmon is marinated and then broiled on the same pan, which makes prep and cleanup a snap, and I’m pleased to say the finished dish truly looks glamorous enough to be on a newsstand.

Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon
Adapted from Bon Appetit’s much longer titled recipe, which you can find here.
Serves 2

1/4 cup Asian Sweet Chili Sauce, such as mae ploy
2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, divided
1 tablespoon mirin
2  8-oz center cut salmon filets with skin
1 tsp grapeseed oil, or any plain vegetable oil
1 tsp sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3-4  bunches bloomsdale spinach leaves, substitute with 2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 cup pea sprouts

Line a baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil, or lightly oiled regular foil.  Place salmon fillets skin side down on the prepared sheet pan and season with salt and pepper.  In a small bowl, stir together the sweet chili sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar and the mirin.  Spoon marinade over the salmon and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Preheat broiler.  Spoon any marinade remaining on the baking sheet over the salmon fillets.  Broil salmon without turning until browned at corners and the fish is almost opaque in the center, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the grapeseed and sesame oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Toss in the garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds until aromatic.  Add spinach leaves and cook, stirring regularly for 2 minutes.  Add the pea sprouts and stir til just wilted, about 1 minute.  Add the remaining soy sauce and rice wine vinegar and fresh black pepper, then turn off heat and set aside.

Voila!

I rounded out our meal with a sort of deconstructed salad.  The greens are a beautiful head of red-tipped romaine, tossed with a light asian-flavored dressing and sesame seeds along with some avocado slices and some simple sunomono cucumbers.  It was the perfect crisp and bright companion to the buttery-textured, sweet and salty salmon.  Enjoy!

One of the best looking pieces of produce in our first CSA box was a gorgeous head of bok choy. Usually bok choy ends up playing second fiddle in my cooking, but I knew I really wanted to showcase this great ingredient. I came up with an easy stir fry using items I had on hand, including frozen shrimp and some tasty mushrooms. I was really impressed with the simplicity of the dish. In fact, I would barely change a thing next time around, and I can’t wait to make it again.

Shrimp and Bok Choy Stir Fry
Makes 2-3 entree portions

3/4 lb shrimp (25 count), deveined and shells removed
2 tbsp dry sherry or sake
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp plus 1 tbsp soy sauce
1 large head of bok choy
6 oz sliced white or shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp mirin
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sherry, 1 tbsp cornstarch and 1 tsp soy sauce. Add the shrimp and toss to coat evenly. Set aside. In another small bowl, combine the chicken broth, mirin, sugar, the additional 1 tbsp of soy sauce and 2 tsp cornstarch and set aside.

The most important step of stir-frying is the prep work. Since the cooking happens so quickly, everything must be ready to hit the pan before you begin. Wash and prep your bok choy. I like to slice the thick white stems on the bias, and then roll up and do a large, rough chiffonade of the green leaves. Be sure to keep these separate, as they’ll hit the pan at a different time.

When everything is ready, heat your wok over the highest heat your stove top can get. When the pan is screaming hot, add 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil. Start by adding the aromatics, in this case the ginger and the garlic. Stir for only 15 seconds, as the garlic can burn quickly, then add the shrimp. Keep the shrimp moving around the pan, and when they’re still slightly translucent, about 1-2 minutes, pull them out of the pan and set aside. They’re not fully cooked through, but that’s what you’re looking for, just like in the pic below.

Allow your pan to come back to heat, then add the remaining tbsp of vegetable oil. Toss in the white bok choy stems and the mushrooms. Stir fry for about 3 minutes until the edges of the bok choy become translucent and the mushrooms soften, then add the green leaves of the bok choy and cook an additional 2 minutes.

When the greens have slightly wilted, return the shrimp to the pan. Add the broth mixture. Continue to move the ingredients around the pan until the shrimp is fully cooked and the sauce begins to thicken slightly, about 2 minutes.

Serve alongside steamed white rice and dig in!! Enjoy, my fellow foodies!

On hot days in tEh Valley, colder food is desirable. Hence my excuse for making the sush!

It’s fairly simple, just rather time consuming, but VERY cheap in the long run! You can make about 4 or 5 rolls for $20 dollars! I love cheap.

Philly Roll
Veggie Roll (keebot style!)

ingredients:
sticky white rice (2.5 cups – “cups” being from the rice cooker not actual measurement)
salmon
cream cheese
avocado
cucumber
daikon radish
mirin
brown sugar
nori (25 grams for 10 sheets)
(and a cute boyfriend who draws next to the kitchen while you cook)

Put about 1/3rd cup of mirin and a tablespoon of brown sugar in a bowl and nuke it in the microwave! Mix and stir then pour onto the rice while folding it gently.

So once you’ve made the sushi rice, let it sit!

The secret to easily manipulated sushi rice is letting it cool off! Trying to work with hot or warm sushi rice will tear your seaweed or soy paper, so let it cool off! Atleast an hour. It can be a little warm, but it should be closer to room temp.

While it’s cooling . . .

Slice! avocado, cucumber, and salmon. Leave the cream cheese in the fridge until you’re ready to add it onto the roll, it will get soft and meltly if left outside.

You’ll want to wrap some cellophane over the bamboo mat. It helps keep the rice from sticking to the wood and makes the process much more managable.

Place the nori shiney side down on the matt.

Spread out your fingers across half the nori so that it won’t move and cover the other half with rice. I use the plane rice scooper from the rice cooker. You want it to be just an even layer. Be gentle and don’t press down, just across.

Looks so yummy when it’s covered!
Flip the riced sheet over!

Now you can pile on the goodies!
Salmon, avocado, cream cheese and cucumbers!

grab
tuck
squeeze
roll
love
repeat!

When you’re done, wrap that guy in cellophane (cuz the rice is on the outside) and set him aside. The rolls need to sit for a few minutes to conform to their new transdimentional spirit animals.

VeGGiE ROLL on over!
Start the same way as nori!

Avocado, cucumber, and daikon radish!

Once again, let the guy sit!

Now the Philly Roll has sat long enough and you can slice that bad boy!

Slice it with the plastic wrap still around it.
Go ahead and slice the hell out of your veggie roll!