Make-Fast Mondays: Grilled Salmon with Black Bean Salad

Grilled salmon is so simple yet so tasty. Pair it with a quick salad packed with black beans and hearts of palm and you’ve got a fresh, delicious dinner in no time!

Grilled Salmon with Black Bean Salad 
¼ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno
½ cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon agave syrup or honey
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14.5-ounce jar hearts of palm, drained and sliced
¼ cup sliced green onions
4 4-ounce salmon fillets
Salt and pepper

Make the dressing by blending first six ingredients in a blender until smooth. Reserve ¼ cup of the dressing.

To make the salad, put black beans, hearts of palm and green onions in a bowl and drizzle with the rest of the dressing, giving a quick stir so everything’s lightly coated with dressing.

Preheat the grill at medium-high heat. Season salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Place salmon, flesh side down, on a lightly oiled grill rack. Grill salmon for 8 minutes, flipping once.

Plate each salmon fillet with a scoop of the bean salad, drizzle with a little bit of dressing, and enjoy.

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.

Broiled salmon packed with sweet, smoky flavors

This easy dinner has a lot of things going for it. First off, the key ingredient is delicious salmon. Salmon’s pretty good no matter what you do to it, but it tastes particularly great with this quick miso glaze. Served with some kale wilted with soy sauce and other goodies and you’ve got a wonderful meal that doesn’t take all night to prepare.

Miso Salmon with Kale 
1 pound salmon filet
¼ cup white miso paste
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
4 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 tablespoon agave syrup
2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
½ pound kale, cleaned, stems and center ribs removed

Whisk miso paste, ginger, vinegar, 3 teaspoons soy sauce, agave syrup and 1 tablespoon sesame oil together in bowl. Place salmon in glass baking dish and coat with marinade. Cover baking dish with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 45 minutes. Position oven rack about 6 inches from broiler and preheat. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Remove salmon from glass dish and place, skin down, on baking sheet. Place salmon in oven, rotating baking sheet once, and broil for 15-20 minutes, until salmon is cooked through. Remove from oven. While salmon is in the oven, heat remaining sesame oil over medium heat in large frying pan. Add kale, soy and red pepper flakes, cooking until kale wilts. Remove from heat and serve with salmon.

The Kitchen in one word: Wow!

My favorite Wisconsinites, Chris’ parents, came out to California last week for visit. No trip to visit their favorite son is complete without dinner at The Kitchen, and Chris and I are always delighted to share the experience with his parents.

 The Kitchen serves a decadent, multi-course demonstration dinner. Nothing is off limits at this restaurant, where they invite guests to stroll through the kitchen, chat up the chefs, peek into the wine cellar, even do dishes if that’s what floats your boat. The menu changes monthly, and every ingredient has a story. But instead of trying to recall each of these stories, how about I just show you some photos?

Here’s what we feasted upon last week.

First Course: Tortilla Soup with Maine Lobster, “Creamed” Chorizo, Avocado and Smoked Chilies 

Second Course: A Salad of Foie Gras, Frisée, Sea Grapes, Grilled Chicken, Fennel and Crisped Brioche 

Not pictured (because I was too busy throwing elbows to get the best goodies): The intermezzo, when you’re invited to leave your seats, stretch your legs and help yourselves to a variety of sushi, sashimi and other treats.

Third Course: 100-Mile Salmon, Dungeness Crab Béarnaise, White Asparagus Flan and Preserved Meyer Lemon

Fourth Course: Slow Roasted Young Beef, Duck Breast and Crispy Skin with Shepherd’s Pie and Black Peppercorns

 Aaaaannd, Dessert: Nancy’s Carrot Cake with Butter Crunch Ice Cream, Caramel Popcorn and White Chocolate.

More photos than I know what to do with

I like to think of these orphaned photos as my blog b-sides. I don’t write about everything I eat/cook/discover, whether it’s because I’m taking a recipe straight out of a cookbook or because there’s not enough motivation/time/reason to generate a post.

Here are some random photos I thought should see the light of day one way or another.

Potato dumplings mushroom sauce and goat cheese. It's a recipe from the Italian Academy of Cuisine’s “La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy” that I found thanks to the Associated Press)

Delicious fishy dishy at The Press in Midtown Sacramento

Some of the snack options at our Christmas cocktail party

Cute wrapping paper I found in San Francisco

These little guys are jujubes, a small stone fruit my co-worker wrote about a while back.

Pan-roasted salmon atop lentil salad (recipe from California Country)

Friend Colleen and I wanted to try our hands at lumpia. We ended up crafting an Asian-inspired feast for our friends!