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.

Cookies made with persimmons and spice are quite nice

Our neighbor brought over some lovely hachiya persimmons a while back. I’d never cooked anything with persimmons, but figured the free fruit provided the perfect opportunity to try something new. I’ve had my mom’s persimmon cookie recipe stashed away for years. Glad I found it!

Persimmon Cookies 
1 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup hachiya persimmon pulp (from overly ripe fruit)
Butter or cooking spray (for cookie sheets)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. MIx first three ingredients in medium bowl. Whisk flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt and baking soda in separate, larger bowl. Stir contents of smaller bowl in with flour mix. Add raisins, walnuts and persimmon pulp. Thoroughly mix ingredients. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto greased cookie sheets. Bake cookies for roughly 15 minutes, until lightly brown.

Summer’s not going anywhere

I know the first day of fall’s right around the corner, but we Californians still have plenty of time to enjoy warm-weather favorites. This salad is a nice, quick fix for those days you’d rather be outside soaking up the sun than spending time in the kitchen.

Quinoa Salad with Tomatoes and Corn 
1 cup uncooked quinoa (red, white, mixed … pick your favorite!)
2 cups water
1 ½ cups tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes, halved)
1 cup white corn
½ cup green onion, chopped
½ cup cilantro
1 avocado, cubed
½ cup crumbled cotija cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Combine quinoa and water in saucepan. Bring to a boil before covering and simmering until quinoa is cooked, somewhere between 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk olive oil, orange juice, rice wine vinegar and lime juice together in a bowl. Add tomatoes, corn, green onion, cilantro, cotija and dressing to quinoa, tossing well to coat. Top with avocado chunks before serving.

Tabbouleh Thursdays

I try to be good and bring my lunch from home on work days, but there some days when I just don’t feel like eating what’s waiting for me in the lunchroom fridge. I make a deal with myself on these days: I can go out to eat, but only if I walk (as long as it’s not raining or searingly hot). A 10-minute stroll is all it takes to reach a shopping center occupied by all sorts of tempting options. I try to fight off the urge to get a cheeseburger or jumbo froyo, opting instead for a big salad or the ready-to-eat section of Whole Foods. One of the dishes they seem to only offer on Thursdays is a flavor-packed bulgur tabbouleh that has quickly become my favorite summertime lunch. Here’s my attempt at recreating it.

Tabbouleh
8 ounces quick-cooking bulgur (I used Trader Joe’s 10 Minute Bulgur)
4 medium tomatoes, seeds removed, diced
4 medium Persian cucumbers, diced
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 bunch mint, chopped
2 green onions, dark green parts thinly sliced
Juice of 2 large lemons (about ⅓ cup)
3 tablespoons olive oil

Cook bulgur according to package instructions. Combine cooked bulgur with tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, mint and green onions. Whisk lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl before stirring into bulgur mixture.

Spice cabinet is a glass act

The more I embrace my love of cooking, the more my spice collection grows. In my younger years I thought all you needed to flavor food was garlic salt, lemon pepper and packets of Taco Bell mild sauce. Over time I’ve experimented with and acquired a little bit of this and a little bit of that, to the point where I’ve considered creating a spreadsheet in order to keep track of my spicy stash.

One spice-cabinet project I recently tackled was for the sake of better organization. I buy my most-used seasonings in bulk, and used to just keep them in the baggies from the store. Sick of sifting through an assortment of these bags, I decided to find a more sturdy, reusable container. Plastic won’t break, but it absorbs scent. These jars are cute, but $2 a pop adds up quick. My solution? Jelly jars.

A dozen four-ounce jars only costs about $10. They’ve got a big enough mouth to enable easy filling and scooping, something you can’t always do with the plastic spice containers you find at the store. They also come with sticky labels, which come in handy so you can differentiate your paprika from your ancho chili powder. I’ve opted to write in pencil on these labels in case I feel like mixing up.

A lot more to these bowls than just rice

One of my favorite casual eateries, Sacramento’s Tako Korean BBQ, makes a great rice bowl packed with tons of meat (spicy chicken’s my favorite), rice, slaw and all kinds of other goodies. This recipe is inspired by the meal I’ve devoured quite a few times!

Chicken and Brown Rice Bowls
Serves 2

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon agave syrup
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
¾ pound chicken breasts, cut into cubes
2 cups cooked brown rice, divided
2 cups shredded green cabbage, divided
2 cups bean sprouts, divided
½ cup diced red bell pepper, divided

Garnishes: Sriracha, peanut sauce, cilantro, sliced green onion, toasted peanuts

Combine first four ingredients in bowl and whisk to blend. Cook chicken in frying pan (lightly coated with a teaspoon or two of oil if you’re not going the non-stick route) over medium-high heat until meat is done, which should only take a few minutes. Add sauce to pan and stir until meat is evenly coated before removing from heat. Build each bowl with one cup each of rice, cabbage and sprouts. Add half the chicken and top with ¼ cup diced red bell pepper. Customize your bowl with desired garnishes and dig in.

Feeding colleagues a family favorite

“Family Favorites” was the theme of a recent work potluck. Some of my mom’s top dishes are of the casserole variety, including the deliciously filling bake I recreated for my colleagues using my mom’s recipe.

Green Chile and Cheese Rice Bake
8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack
2 cups light sour cream
8 ounces canned diced green chiles
2 teaspoons garlic powder
4-5 cups cooked white rice (this dish works best when using day-old, cold rice)
1/2 cup grated cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first four ingredients in a bowl until blended. Alternate layers of rice and chile-cheese mixture in a greased 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish, starting and ending with rice. Top dish with grated cheddar and bake for 30 minutes.