Dinner

Last night I made Lime & Honey Glazed Salmon w/ Warm Black Bean and Corn Salad from this website. I also happened to have the recipe in  Rachael Ray’s “365: No Repeats”.

Here is the very colorful and tasty recipe:

4 T olive oil
1 med red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 – 1 t red pepper flakes
1 t ground cumin
salt and pepper
Juice of 2 limes
3 T honey
1 t chili powder
4 6-oz salmon fillets
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 10-oz box frozen corn kernels, defrosted
1/2 C chicken stock or broth
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
2-3 T fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
6 C baby spinach

Preheat medium skillet over medium heat with 2 T of oil. Add onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 mins.

While the onions are cooking, preheat a medium non-stick skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining 2 T oil. In a shallow dish, combine the juice of 1 lime, honey, chili powder, salt and pepper. Add the salmon fillets to the lime-honey mixture and toss to coat thoroughly. Add the seasoned salmon to the hot skillet and cook until just cooked through, 3-4 mins on each side.

To the make salad, add the bell peppers and corn kernels to the onion mixture and cook for 1 min. Add the chicken stock and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Add the black beans and cook until the beans are just heated through. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the juice of the second lime, the cilantro and spinach. Toss to wilt the spinach and then taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the salmon on the warm salad.

E.E. Cummings and the First Week of Spring

Spring is like a perhaps hand (which comes carefully out of Nowhere)arranging a window,into which people look(while people stare arranging and changing placing carefully there a strange thing and a known thing here)and changing everything carefully spring is like a perhaps Hand in a window (carefully to and fro moving New and Old things,while people stare carefully moving a perhaps fraction of flower here placing an inch of air there)and without breaking anything. — e.e. cummings

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Yesterday was dark. Rainy. I felt really inspired. As mentioned in yesterday’s post, I started writing in this blog again. I cleaned out a few entries, changed up the theme, and here I am.

I’m painting over the nearly deafening shade of Barney purple in my childhood bedroom at my parent’s house. Painting is cathartic and I’m excited to see the finished product.

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I am also cat-sitting for my parents as they travel to North Carolina for the week. Here is a semi-artistic Photoshop inspired picture of the cats.

And finally, here is a recipe for the Beef Teriyaki that I cooked tonight:

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 3/4 cups Swanson® Beef Stock

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 boneless beef sirloin steak

OR beef top round steak, 3/4-inch thick, cut into very thin strips (about 1 pound)

4 cups fresh or frozen broccoli florets

Hot cooked rice

• Stir the cornstarch, stock, soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic powder in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth.
• Stir-fry the beef in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it’s well browned, stirring often.  Pour off any fat.
• Add the broccoli to the skillet and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in the cornstarch mixture. Cook and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Serve the beef mixture over the rice.

I was seriously craving vegetables, so I threw in some broccoli and green peppers.

The dish could have used some crab wontons, but it was still a flavorful dinner. It paired nicely with a glass of Chardonnay.