Make-Fast Mondays: Grilled Maple Soy Salmon

Just because winter’s in the air doesn’t mean you can’t pop outside for a few minutes to grill up this quick dinner! Pair this delicious salmon with a side salad, some steamed rice, whatever floats your boat.

Grilled Maple Soy Salmon 
¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon sambal oelek
2 half-pound coho salmon fillets, skin removed
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

In a resealable plastic bag, combine soy sauce, maple syrup, sambal oelek and salmon fillets. Marinade for 30 minutes. Preheat the grill at medium-high heat. Remove salmon from bag and discard remaining marinade. Grill salmon for 8 minutes, flipping once. Sprinkle each fillet with sesame seeds before serving.

Independence Day weekend full of delicious fun

Wanted to share some snapshots from my holiday weekend here in sizzling Sacramento.

We kicked off the three-day weekend Friday evening by checking out Concert in the Park at Cesar Chavez Plaza. I like to make it to Concert in the Park at least one time each summer because the beer garden always makes for great people watching. We sipped on some frosty IPAs, caught up with friends and hit up the Autentico Taco Azteca truck for some tasty pollo and carne asada tacos (four for $10).

Chris and I headed up the hill Saturday in an attempt to escape the heat. We spent the afternoon hiking the south fork of Silver Creek, which presents some pretty cool waterfalls as it makes its way down into the Ice House Reservoir. Deli sandwiches taste even better when you’re enjoying them on a huge granite slab overlooking a rushing waterfall.

I struggled through a scorcher of a run Sunday morning and rewarded myself with a chilly treat.

We bumped our Independence Day celebration up a day and had quite the Sunday Funday. A few friends came over for a good old-fashioned weenie roast featuring grilled hot dogs and all kinds of toppings. We had all the classics but also pimped out a couple condiments to create this hot little ’dog:

The relish (made by the special man friend) is a combo of diced sweet midget pickles (half of a 12-ounce jar) and 1.5 teaspoons sambal chili sauce. The ketchup gets a little kick thanks to curry powder (half a teaspoon per half-cup of ketchup).

Once full of Ball Parks, everyone headed down to Raley Field for a patriotic evening of River Cats baseball, some ice-cold brews and a dazzling fireworks display.

I'm so not missing the produce department these days

I’ve scored a cornucopia’s worth of free produce in the past couple weeks thanks to generous neighbors and coworkers. Nothing says summer like fresh-from-the-garden fruits and vegetables!

First up was the watermelon our photo editor brought back from an assignment. There were a couple melons in the newsroom, just screaming to be eaten, so I carted one of those bad boys home, made a mess of my kitchen while hacking it up, and enjoyed those sweet, pink, juicy chunks with breakfast for about a week.

Carmen, our neighbor across the street, has quite the flourishing tomato plant in her yard. I sliced up a recent delivery and roasted them with breadcrumbs (Tried and liked a Meatless Mondays recipe from the ladies at Big Girls, Small Kitchen).

Yellow squash brought home from the office and sliced into thin chunks tasted zingy after a quick toss in the frying pan with a teaspoon of sambal oelek and a tablespoon each of soy sauce and rice vinegar.

And for dessert, we have peaches from neighbor Patrick. I opted to slice up five or six of these fuzzy delights and baked them into a crumble, using a Jamie Oliver recipe for inspiration.

Peach Crumble
5-6 peaches, washed and sliced
¾ cup flour
¾ cup old-fashioned oats
½ cup butter
1/3 cup plus two tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Layer peach slices in a glass baking dish and sprinkle with two tablespoons brown sugar. Combine all other ingredients in a bowl, using hands to make a crumbly mix. Spread mixture over prepared fruit. Bake at 400 degrees for roughly 30 minutes, until top is golden.

Magazine's recipe serves as starting point for noodle bowls

Eating Well is one of my favorite magazines because their recipes all have some sort of low-fat, high-fiber, hearty-healthy twist. I also love it because I get it free at work, but that’s beside the point.

The January/February issue is packed with a ton of recipes I aim to try soon, including Cod with Tomato Cream Sauce and the Rack of Lamb with Warm Apple & Lentil Salad.
First up, though, was their recipe for Brothy Chinese Noodles, which I made earlier this week.

While their recipe looks fantastic, I did doctor it a bit to account for my taste preferences and to use what I had in my kitchen. For example, while they call for hot sesame oil, I used regular sesame oil and brought the heat by way of Sambal Oelek, a chili sauce that is always in my fridge. I also amped up the garlic (four cloves instead of two) and bok choy, because why go for only three cups when you’ve got a huge bunch?

Chinese Noodles with Bok Choy
Adapted from Eating Well

2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
1 pound ground turkey
1 bunch green onions, sliced and divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
4 cups thinly sliced bok choy
6-8 ounces Chinese noodles (think ramen-style noodles)
2 tablespoons soy sauce (better if using reduced-sodium soy)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Sambal Oelek chili sauce

Heat one tablespoon oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add ground turkey, all but two tablespoons of the green onions, garlic and ginger and cook, stirring and breaking up the turkey, until the meat is no longer pink. Transfer to a plate.

Add broth, bok choy, noodles, soy cause, vinegar and remaining tablespoon of sesame oil to the pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until noodles are tender. Return turkey to the pan, stir in the Sambal Oelek, scoop into bowls and garnish with remaining green onions.