Pan Seared Salmon - Laura

Pan Seared Salmon

My roommate asked me to cook her a quick dinner the other day, so here it goes!   Fusion-y flavor-wise since I just used random things that I had...the most important part is cooking the fish right!     

Pan Seared Salmon

Difficulty: Easy-Medium 

Yields: 1 serving

Time: ~1 hour for marinating, ~20 minutes for everything else

Ingredients: 

1 salmon filet 

rosemary, thyme, oregano, or italian seasoning (to taste)

salt (to taste)

fresh ground pepper (to taste)

cooked rice

canola oil

Simple Marinade:

~2T sesame oil

~2T cooking wine (I used rice wine) 

~2T soy sauce

~1T red wine vinegar 

~2 tsp brown sugar

minced garlic 

green onions 

Process:

1. Make sure the salmon filet is dry by patting with paper towels, then season well with salt, desired seasoning (I used oregano and rosemary), and pepper to taste. Gently press seasoning into the fish. 

2.  In a deep plate or shallow bowl, mix together the ingredients for the marinade.  Place salmon in the marinade and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, flip the filet and marinate the other side for 30 minutes.  (can marinate longer, but I didn't have time)

3.  Put some canola oil in a medium pan and turn the heat up to just before "high."  When the pan is hot (you can test this by taking the salmon filet and barely putting a corner of it on it pan), place salmon in the pan. 

4. Cook in the pan until the color of the salmon changes to about 2/3 of the filet (so the bottom 2/3 should be a lighter pink, the top 1/3 should be the same color as the raw filet), then flip to the other side of the filet. Turn the heat down to medium and cook until the entire filet is a consistent color.

5. Sear the sides of the salmon by turning it on its side, and serve with rice when the fish is cooked through :)

Rotisserie Chicken Pasta Salad - Laura

Rotisserie Chicken Pasta Salad

Another easy dish from the potluck :) these measurements are very rubato because I forgot to measure :( 

Pasta Salad

Difficulty: Easy 

Yields: ~15 servings/a lot

Time: ~45 minutes

Ingredients: 

1 package spaghetti noodles 

shredded rotisserie chicken 

2 cucumbers, julienned

2 tomatoes, diced

6 T soy sauce, then to taste from there

3 T balsamic vinegar, then to taste from there

1 T sweet chili sauce (or to taste)

3 T sesame oil, then to taste from there

salt (to taste)

pepper (to taste)

2 green onions

2 T rice vinegar 

0.5 cups chicken broth

Optional: 

bell peppers

sautéed mushrooms 

baby spinach

Process:

1. Cook pasta as directly and drain.

2.  Chop green onions and divide into two portions.  Cook one portion in a bit of canola oil for a few minutes, then add chicken and chicken broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes. 

3.  Meanwhile, move drained pasta to a large bowl and combine with soy sauce, vinegars, chili sauce, and sesame oil.

4. Season with salt, pepper, and more soy sauce/vinegar/chili sauce/sesame oil to taste.  Add the other half of the green onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, and chicken.  Mix/toss.  

5.  Divide and serve :) 

Creamy, Nutmeggy Rice Pudding - Laura

Creamy, Nutmeggy Rice Pudding

Here's the recipe for the rice pudding that I brought to the sophomore/junior sisters potluck this past Saturday. Yeap, I just invented a new word. :)

Rice Pudding

Difficulty: Easy

Yields: 16 individual servings

Time: ~ 1 hour and 30 minutes

Ingredients: 

8 (half gallon) cups whole milk

4 eggs (beaten)

4 T butter

3 tsp vanilla

3 cups uncooked medium grain rice 

1.25-1.5 cups white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon, extra for garnish

1 nutmeg 

1 tsp salt 

Optional:

raisins  

chocolate chips for garnish

Process:

1. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a deep pan or medium pot and add rice and stir. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes (until rice is cooked), stirring occasionally to avoid rice sticking to the bottom. 

2. In a large pot or saucepan, combine 6 out of the 8 cups of milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cooked rice.  Cook until creamy (about 20 minutes), stirring frequently (sticks to the bottom easily). 

3. Stir in remaining 2 cups of milk and beaten eggs (add raisins here, if using). Stir quickly so the eggs don't scramble.  Cook for about 5 more minutes, stirring constantly.

4. Remove pot from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Divide into portions, garnish with cinnamon (to taste), and serve either warm or chilled.  

Easy Banana Bread - Laura

Easy Banana Bread

 

Okay I haven't posted in a really long time, so I'm just going to try to throw down some of the more recent things :) It's going to be really difficult ingredients-wise because I don't remember too far back...but I'll try:) 

We had some really gross, overripe bananas lying around, so my roomies decided that they wanted to eat them in the form of banana bread.  This one was really quick to make, and I decreased the amount of sugar since the bananas were really ripe.  Serve warm with peanut butter...! :) [sorry for the lack of pictures...use your imagination! hehe]

Easy Banana Bread

Difficulty: Easy

Yields: 1 loaf

Time: ~ 1 hour and 15 minutes

Ingredients: 

3 overripe bananas

2 cups all purpose flour

0.67 cup white or dark brown sugar (depending on how sweet you like things)

0.25 cup buttermilk* 

2 large eggs

0.5 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla 

dash of salt

5 T melted butter 

Optional:

chocolate chips 

chopped walnuts or pecans

dash nutmeg (to taste)

dash cinnamon (to taste)

Note:

If you do not have buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk when I made this last night :( ), here is a good substitution:

1 T white vinegar (or rice vinegar, which is a little sweeter and less acidic, but it also works)

milk

Put the tablespoon of vinegar into a cup, then fill up the rest of the cup to the top with milk. Let sit for 10 minutes and then use in the recipe :) 

Process:

1. Mash bananas in a bowl.  

2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.  

3. Add butter, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk to the bananas and mix.  

4. Gently combine the two mixtures until they form a wet dough (do not over mix...just mix enough to incorporate). [Note: if using chocolate chips, walnuts, or other goodies, this is when you would mix them in:)] 

5.  Preheat the oven to 375° F. 

6.  Line a loaf pan with foil, grease the bottom, and pour in banana bread mixture.

7. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes to an hour, or until you poke it with a toothpick/chopstick and it comes out clean. Cool, slice, and enjoy! :)