Salmon Cakes with Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce

I apologize for the late posting of this - I don't know what happen, lost track of time and forgot, hey today's not Monday, it's Tuesday! So on that note, the first day back after a long weekend can mean a rushed and hectic day so dinner needs to be something quick and simple. These yummy salmon cakes are a fresh approach to the traditional. With less fat and more kick they'll get your taste buds jumping and butt in gear ready for the rest of the week. I'm serving them with a big heaping of yummy bean salad. What goes better than smooth and creamy than something crunchy?

Menu: Salmon Cakes with Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce, Asian Style 3 Bean Salad

Salmon Cakes with Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce

Ingredients:
6 slices whole-wheat sandwich bread
2 (15-ounce) cans salmon, drained, skin and bones removed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
5 scallions
1/2 cup finely chopped canned water chestnuts
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce, recipe follows

1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil over a medium heat.
   
2. Add 6 patties and cook for 5 minutes on each side. Transfer the cooked patties to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
   
3. Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil to the pan, and cook the rest of the salmon cakes, 5 minutes on each side.
4. Remove crusts from the bread, break into pieces, and process in a food processor until you get a fine bread crumb. In a large bowl, flake apart the salmon with a fork.
   
5. Add the egg and mix well.
   
6. Finely chop 4 of the scallions and add to the bowl. Add the water chestnuts, cilantro, pepper, and the bread crumbs and mix well.
   
7. Shape the mixture into 12 patties.
   

   Chop the remaining 1 scallion. Serve salmon cakes with the sauce and garnish with scallion.

Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce:

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt, or 6 tablespoons nonfat Greek-style yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce

If using regular yogurt place the yogurt in a strainer lined with a paper towel. Put the strainer over a bowl and place in the refrigerator to drain and thicken for 30 minutes.
Place drained yogurt or Greek-style yogurt into a small bowl. Add mayonnaise, ginger, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Whisk until smooth.

Yield: about 2/3 cup

Asian Style 3 Bean Salad

Ingredients:

1 pound string beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 (10-ounce) bag frozen shelled edamame (green soy beans)
3 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup 100 percent fruit apricot preserves
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 scallions, sliced
Salt

1. In a small bowl whisk together the oil, vinegar, apricot preserves, sugar and ginger. Add the black beans and scallions to the other beans, drizzle with dressing, and toss to coat. Season with salt, to taste.
2. Put the string beans and frozen edamame into a steamer basket and steam them for 4 minutes. Transfer the beans to a large bowl and put them into the refrigerator to cool for 15 minutes or longer.
   

Oh I'm so hungry I gotta get in the kitchen and make these babies up!

Photos and recipes courtesy of FoodNetwork.com

Breakfast Pizza

It PIZZA night at our house. Friday nights I like to have pizza, either frozen or if I'm feeling spunky we'll make pizza. And since we've got a leftover Boboli crust I think we'll make the pizza this week.
I've always loved breakfast foods, and when Red Baron came out with their quick fix biscuit style breakfast scrambles I fell in love. They're so yummy and fill you up. The only problem is they're a bit expensive. So I'm going to solve that problem by making my own!

This is a meal in itself so no menu for the night.

Not "Barren" Breakfast Pizza

Ingredients:
1 Boboli pizza crust
1 lb ground breakfast sausage
6 eggs
1 pkg of mixed cheese
milk
flour
butter
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 450'

1. Heat large skillet to medium high. Add the ground sausage and cook until fully cooked.
2. Remove sausage from skillet with a slotted spoon, allowing the grease to remain in skillet.
3. If you need more grease/butter add a few tbsp of butter. We're making a roux so that we can make our gravy. Gradually add a tbsp of flour and mix. Your flour-grease mixture should look like peanut butter, so gradually keep working to get that consistency.
4. After you've achieved your "peanut butter" slowly add 1 cup of milk to the skillet, using a whisk, stir the milk in. Keep adding milk 1 cup at a time until you've gotten a smooth gravy consistency. You might want to make it thicker than you usually prefer since it will be the sauce on your pizza.
   
5. Salt & pepper your gravy to taste.
6. Add the sausage back into the skillet.
7. Place the pizza crust on a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes, this will harden the crust up so you don't end up with soggy pizza.
8. After crust has harden remove from oven and set aside.
9. Scramble your eggs, adding salt & pepper to taste. Add a splash of milk and a handful of cheese.
10. With a fresh skillet, cook your scrambled eggs.
    
11. When done remove them from heat and drop handfuls of egg on the pizza crust, leaving at least a 1 inch border.
12. Next spoon your sausage and gravy on top of the eggs and crust, leaving the same 1 inch border.
13. Finally generously layer cheese on top of the gravy and eggs. You want the cheese to form a nice top layer barrier.
14. Place in oven and back for 15 to 20 minutes, or until cheese has melted and the gravy is bubbly.
15. Remove from oven and allow plenty of time to cool!

Photo courtesy of CookingLight.com

Kid Friendly - Sloppy Joe's

I originally tried this recipe out from Cooking Light, and it was so yummy. But I thought it was a bit time consuming. Instead of making this sauce from scratch it would be much simpler, although not as healthy, I could just use store-bought sauce. So that's what I end up doing the majority of the time. Again since it's all about reheating for the hubby, I'll be making the meat mixture Tuesday night.

Menu: Sloppy Joe's, oven fries and cottage cheese

Kid Friendly Sloppy Joe's

Ingredients:
1 can of sloppy joe sauce
1 can of corn
1 small white onion
1 green bell pepper
1 to 2 lbs of ground beef (or venison)
4 hamburger buns

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic; sauté 3 minutes.
   
2. Add meat to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in sloppy joe sauce.
   
3. Reduce heat, and simmer 12 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Stir in corn; cook for 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
4. Spoon about 1 cup meat mixture on bottom half of each hamburger bun; cover with top half of each bun.

Oven Fries: I'd suggest preparing these first and then letting them cook while you get the sloppy joe's ready. Pre-heat your oven to around 425 to 450. Take 4 large baking potatoes and cut into medium thick wedges. Place wedges on a baking sheet and drizzle with EVOO, sprinkle with some chili powder and salt. Cook for about 20 minutes or until they are nice and crispy. Remember you want them all to sit flat on the sheet, don't overload the sheet or they're steam and not crisp. Once they're done, remove from oven and sprinkle with salt.

Now your fries and sandwiches are done so plate them up, add a dollop of cottage cheese sprinkled with salt & pepper and you've got a scrumptious sloppy supper!

Picture from CookingLight.com

Pea-za

Thrown together on the fly for a hungry boy who couldn't eat what we were eating tonight.

Pea-za

• 1 bottom of hamburger bun
• shredded white cheese (whatever you have)
• spaghetti sauce
• jar or cube of pureed peas

1. Toast the hamburger bun
2. Mix a couple of tablespoons of the spaghetti sauce and peas together
3. Spoon sauce over top of toasted bun
4. Sprinkle with cheese
5. Microwave just long enough to melt cheese

My son absolutely LOVED this and I loved that he was getting his veggies and didn't even know it. This think fast recipe will be a staple in his menu now.