So I am often trying to cut down on fat and calories. I figure if I workout so vigorously I want to at least see some results and since I am a whopping 5'4" I have to watch my calorie intake. Yes, I am one of those neurotic calorie counting fanatics. Anyway I had a close friend email me a recipe for Salmon Bisque....hmmm I love salmon and I love bisque...how could I go wrong, right? Um yeah no! This recipe instead of using cream and milk to make the bisque it used potatoes as a lower fat thickening agent. Well let me just say in theory it sounds like a great idea, but when I put it into practice it turned into a starchy, thick mashed potato salmon stew. It was actually described to me as," hmmm yeah salmon and mashed potatoes." Ok fair enough but not exactly what I was going for.



The flavor was actually pretty decent and honestly it probably would have even been better if I hadn't scorched the hell out of the bottom of my pan. I am thinking that because of the potato mixture it just stuck to the pan and burned like a "mo fo." Plus it could have used a bit more salt....because I like salt.

However, over dinner yesterday I did learn a handy trick that I wish I had known a few days ago. If you burn the bottom of a pan you can put a few slices of bread on the top of the concoction and it draws out the burnt flavor...you discard the bread..but at least you don't have that charred flavor left behind.

I was pretty excited when I went to the store to buy the ingredients for this recipe as I found skinless salmon. I don't have the best knife skills and as many of you know. I have an eclectic band aid collection to assist in hiding my knife skill injuries so whenever I can find an ingredient that can decrease my hospital visit quotient its a win/win. Needless to say the thought of having to skin salmon while raw was a tad bit frightening for all involved...probably even the dead fillet of salmon for that matter was a little afraid. So anyway I highly recommend skinless salmon for a recipe like this. Obviously if you plan on grilling or broiling the salmon the skin is no big deal because once you cook it  the skin comes off very easily. But for something like this its a beautiful thing!!!

Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all of our military personnel who have made the ultimate sacrifice and for those who are continuing to fight for our freedoms. This morning I am especially thankful as I am sitting on my patio enjoying a cup of coffee, toast with Nutella and a very large brown dog...and I am very content.  I know that without our military and their dedication, commitment and loyalty the world as we know it would be a much different place.

Do you ever wonder how these oh so meaningful holidays end up taking on an association of there own? Like Memorial Day, how did it go from remembering our troops to National BBQ Day? Or Easter this holiday started as a celebration of Jesus's rising and somehow an Easter bunny got involved and we started dying eggs....huh? Or Christmas we started celebrating a religious birthday and now we have a chubby, old guy in a red suit....hmmm.Don't even get me started on the less meaningful holidays like Valentines Day...well and most of you know how I feel about that one any way. Its just strange how these holidays morph...love the word morph...had to find a way to use it.



So since Memorial Day is all about bbq's I decided to make a grilled Salmon Caesar Salad. Sure I know when you think of Memorial Day BBQs you think of hot dogs, hamburgers and steaks but seriously you all should know by now that I will put my own twist on it. So last night grilled caesar it was. And it was really good!! I do have to admit I changed the recipe more than I normally do but I was very happy with the results.



Right now Fresh and Easy has a bunch of pre-packaged vegetables that you can throw directly on the grill and I tried the sweet potatoes last night. They were really good. They cooked for about 35 minutes and they had a chile butter on them that was great. It worked really well with the salad. I paired the salad and potatoes with Toad Hollow Chardonnay and it was perfect.



Let me start by sharing a great Parmesan cheese shaving tip. Put the cheese on the counter and let it get to room temperature and take a potato peeler to it and that is how you get those large strips of Parmesan that you often see on top of Caesar Salad...I was super excited to learn the technique and thrilled it was so easy and looked so good.

ingredients

• 1
  pound fresh or frozen skinless salmon fillets, about 1 inch thick
• 1
  tablespoon olive oil
• 1
  teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
• 1
  tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4
  teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1
  pound asparagus spears, trimmed
• 2
  cups sliced hearts of romaine lettuce
• 2
  cups torn curly endive **I couldn't find endive so I just used extra romaine ***
• 1/2
  of a medium cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1/2
  cup bottled Caesar salad dressing
• Finely shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)
• Thin slices baguette-style French bread, toasted (optional)
  

  
  

  directions
  1.
  

  Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, combine oil, lemon peel, lemon juice, and pepper. Brush fish with lemon mixture.

  2.
  

  In a covered large skillet, cook asparagus in a small amount of boiling water for 3 minutes; drain. Place asparagus in a grill wok. *** I did not cook the asparagus in a pan first I just put it on the grill for the same amount of time as the fish and it was super yum. I figure I make a giant mess in the kitchen naturally so I didn't need to add any additional dishes. ***

  
  

  

  
  

  3.
  

  For a charcoal grill, place fish on the greased rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals. Grill for 8 to 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork, turning once halfway through grilling. Add asparagus to the grill during the last 3 to 5 minutes of grilling or until asparagus is tender and starting to brown, turning once halfway through grilling. (For gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place fish, then asparagus on grill rack over heat. Cover and grill as above.) ***Whenever I grill fish I put it on a grill pan just because I am afraid of putting it directly on the bbq and it falling through the cracks. ***

  4.
  

  In a large bowl, combine romaine lettuce, endive, and cucumber. ***Because it was Memorial Day and I was on a grilling frenzy I also grilled the romaine and it was awesome. Just cut the romaine heart in half, brush it with olive oil and grill it on the top rack. *** Divide lettuce mixture among dinner plates. Using a fork, flake fish into bite-size pieces.  *** I didn't flake the fish because I thought it looked better just whole on the salad but I did take the skin off to allow for ease of eating. ***Arrange fish and asparagus on top of lettuce mixture. Drizzle salads with Caesar dressing. *** I bought Fresh and Easy Caesar and it was good. ***If desired, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve with toasted baguette slices.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Do you remember in high school when you would read Cosmo or Glamour and take those silly quizzes? What is your sex style? What type of boyfriend do you want? Are you a cougar in the bedroom? Ya know those type of quizzes. Well I realized this morning just how old I am as I was reading my Food Network magazine...yeah no longer Cosmo...taking a quiz called "Are You Supermarket Savvy?"

Betty Crocker

And to make matters worse I was super excited that I was learning something. So I decided to share some of my supermarket facts...guess I am on a grocery store kick this week, ay.

So get this:

• The little tabs on bread bags are color coded to let you know how fresh the bread is and what day of the week it was baked. Not very helpful since most of us never know or noticed for that matter the color of those little tabs. But now that we know-blue is for Monday, green is for Tuesday, red is for Thursday, white is for Friday and yellow is for Saturday. Yeah I don't know why they don't bake bread on Wednesday...maybe that is in next months quiz.
• Red is the color that makes people hungry so it is the #1 color used in packaging
• Meat is the #1 item stolen from grocery stores...I would have guessed alcohol or cookies
• The best time to shop is Wednesday at 9pm if you are looking forward to having the grocery store to yourself
• Ok now this is really disappointing-Betty Crocker and Aunt Jemima aren't real people. But on the positive side Chef Boyardee, Sara Lee and Duncan Hines are real. So who is that cute 1950's house wife they always portray as Betty Crocker?
• Oh and get this Hidden Valley Farm and Pepperidge Farm are real places. But Land O'Lakes and Hillshire Farm are not. I need to find out where Pepperidge Farm is because if there is a place that grows Mint Milano cookies on trees I am so there.

Yes, I am yelling!!! Come to find out "those" people are right and you shouldn't go food shopping when you are starving. Or better yet you shouldn't go food shopping after an hour long spin class, when you are a hot sweaty mess, wearing spandex shorts and a tank top and you are on the brink of death from malnutrition. Ahhh yeah!! Yes that is exactly what I did tonight...I broke the cardinal rule...and let me tell you about some of the random shit I bought.

1. Frozen breakfast burritos...when was the last time you saw me eat a frozen breakfast burrito? Oh yeah NEVER!!!
2. Instant coffee....yup I hate instant coffee
3. Yogurt parfait....I only eat those when I am traveling and they are the healthiest option I can find
4. Macaroni and Cheese...I don't eat it out of the box...I make it from scratch
5. Diet cherry coke...I don't drink soda unless its a caffeine emergency