Baked Salmon with Avocado Salsa

We usually go out for dinner on Friday but it was too cold this time to go out so I wanted to make something different. I had 2 ripe avocados lying in my fridge for a couple of days so I wanted to use them along with salmon and I found this interesting recipe of baked salmon with avocado salsa. Trust me it was very simple and super delicious. I served salmon and avocado salsa with the side of broccoli rice. 

Baked Salmon

Salmon - Cut into pieces

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Ground Coriander - 1 tsp

Ground Cumin - 1 tsp

Ground Pepper - 1 tsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

Red Chilli powder (or paprika) - 1 tsp

Juice of 1 lemon 

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and marinade salmon with the spice mixture for 20 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 425 F and bake salmon until done. It usually takes 25-30 minutes. 

Avocado Salsa

Avocado, peeled and sliced length wise - 2

Onion, cut length wise - 1 small

Jalapeno Pepper, minced - 1/2

Juice from 1 lemon

Olive Oil - 1 Tbsp

Cilantro chopped - to garnish

Salt - to taste 

Combine the avocado, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil and salt in a bowl and mix well, chill until ready to use.

Note: You can add more jalapeno pepper based on your spice tolerance. 

Paneer Butter Masala

Well what should I say about this recipe. Every time I make this paneer, people have loved it and asked me about the recipe. It is very simple to cook and perfect to impress your guests. :)

Paneer Butter Masala 

Ingredients

Paneer - cut into small pieces

Onion - 1 medium, chopped

Tomato Paste - 1 Tbsp

Tomato Sauce - 1 Tbsp ( I used Maggi Hot & Sweet)

Cream - 2-3 Tbsp 

Milk - 3/4 Cup

Kastoori Methi - 1 Tbsp

Garam Masala - 1 Tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1 Tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 Tbsp

Ginger/Garlic Paste - 1 Tbsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 1 Tbsp

Heat oil in a pan and add onion to it, fry until onion is cooked.

Add ginger garlic paste, cook for a minute and add red chilli powder, coriander powder and half garam masala. 

Add tomato paste & tomato sauce and cook for a minute. To this add kastoori methi. Now add milk, reduce the heat to simmer, cover the pan and let it cook  for 5-7 minutes. 

Add paneer cubes and cream to this. Cook for 10 minutes. Now add salt, remaining garam masala and mix well. Serve hot! 

Note: You can replace it with yogurt if you want to reduce the calories. It tastes pretty good with yogurt, there is a minor difference in the texture. Make sure the yogurt is not very watery.

Chicken Methi

I was browsing through Sanjeev Kapoor's website for some chicken recipes and found this one. I tried it and it has become our favorite chicken dish. Whenever we cook chicken, it has to be Chicken Methi. It is easy, delicious and not very time consuming. You don't even need to marinade the chicken before hand so perfect for an impromptu cooking. 

Chicken Methi (Chicken cooked with sun dried fenugreek leaves)

Chicken - 750 grams
Onion chopped - 3 medium
Ginger grated - 2 inch piece
Green chillies chopped - 3-4
Fresh coriander leaves - to garnish
Oil - 2 tbsp
Bay Leaves - 2-3
Green Cardamom - 4-5 
Black Cardamom - 2
Colves - 2-3
Cinnamon - 1" stick
Black Peppercorns - 4-5
Garlic Paste - 2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp
Yogurt beaten - 1 cup
Kasturi Methi (Dry Fenugreek leaves) - 2 tbsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

Wash chicken and cut into medium sized pieces. 

Heat oil in a pan. Add bay leaves, green cardamoms, black cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon and peppercorns. Sauté until cardamoms start to crackle. Add onions and cook until they turn soft. 

Add ginger, garlic, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, and chopped green chillies. Saute for a minute. 

Add chicken pieces and yogurt and cook on high heat for 7-8 minutes. Add kastoori methi and 1 cup water. 

Cover pan and cook on low heat until chicken gets cooked. 

Add garam masala powder, salt and mix properly. 

Serve hot with rice or roti! 

Wild Mushroom Risotto with Spinach

My husband and I are big fans of Quartino's mushroom risotto. We have been there so many times and whenever I eat their risotto, I used to tell myself 'someday I will make it at home.' The day finally came yesterday. :) It is not difficult but you need a lot of patience. You can't pour full stock into rice and let it cook, you have to patiently add half cup of stock at a time, let it absorb and add another half cup. The taste and satisfaction you get after eating it is totally worth the effort. The recipe is adapted from Cooking Light. 

Mushroom Risotto

Chicken Stock/Broth - 4 cups
Onion - 1 medium
Extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbsp
Fresh thyme chopped - 1 tsp
Garlic cloves minced - 4-5
Cremini mushrooms sliced - 3/4 cup
Shittake mushrooms  sliced- 3/4 cup
Arborio rice uncooked - 1 cup
Dry sherry or Madeira wine - 1/3 cup
Spinach Leaves - 3 cups
Fresh Asiago cheese grated - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste

Bring chicken stock to a simmer in a small saucepan, keep warm over low heat. Do not boil.
Heat a pan over medium heat and add oil, onion, thyme and garlic. Cook until onion is tender, stirring occasionally. 

Stir in mushrooms; cook 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add rice, cook 1 minute stirring constantly. 

Stir in wine; cook 1 minute or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. 

Stir in 1 cup stock, cook until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of stock is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total).

Stir in spinach; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in cheese, salt, and pepper. 

Serve hot! I served it with garlic bread, typical Quartino style. :)


Notes:

- The original recipe has baby spinach but I used regular spinach leaves
- You can use parmesan cheese, I read that in reviews. It was my first time so I wanted to use ingredients as mentioned in the recipe.

Chicken Florentine Pasta

The moment I saw this recipe in Cooking Light magazine, I was dying to try it because it looked so delicious and was one of their 40 minutes meal. Result - My husband and I loved it and I now have another recipe for the quick weeknight dinners. I wanted to serve garlic bread as a side dish but in order to make our dinner healthy, I tried 'Oven Roasted Broccoli' and it was a huge success! 

Chicken Florentine Pasta

Chicken Breast - 2/3 pieces skinless
Penne Pasta - 8 Ounces uncooked
Canola Oil - 2 tbsp
All Purpose Flour - 3 tbsp
Fresh Garlic - 1-2 tsp chopped
Milk - 1 cup 
Low fat Chicken Broth - 1 cup
Spinach leaves - 3 cups
Salt - to taste
Pepper - 1 tsp
Oregano - 1 tsp
Red chili flakes - 1/2 tsp
Parmesan Cheese - 1/4 cup grated

Heat oven to 350 F. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the chicken breast and roast in oven for 20-25 minutes or until fully cooked. Cut in small chunks. 

Cook pasta according to packages instructions. Drain well and keep warm. 

Heat oil in a non stick pan and add flour and garlic to it. Cook until garlic turn browns and keep stirring continuously. Add milk and broth to the pan and stir with a whisk. Turn the heat to simmer and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Add salt, pepper, oregano and red chili flakes and mix well. 

To this mixture add spinach and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add chicken pieces and pasta and mix well. Serve hot! 

Burrito Bowl

I tried Burrito Bowl yesterday because I was busy at work and didn't get time to cook. It is a Mexican modification to our traditional rajmah rice which makes it a little different but super tasty. 

Burrito Bowl

Black Beans - 1 Can 

Basmati Rice - 1 cup cooked

Chicken Breast - 1

Tomato - 1 chopped

Onion - 1 chopped

Cucumber - 1 chopped

Jalapeño - 1 chopped

Spring Onion - 1 chopped

Garlic - 1 clove chopped

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Fresh cilantro (Dhaniya) - chopped

Green chilli - 1 chopped

Avocado - 1 cut into small pieces

Lemon - 1

Red Chilli Powder - to taste

Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Toss cooked rice with  half lemon juice, little salt and cilantro.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. When it begins to change color, add chopped garlic, green chilli, and half onion. When onion becomes golden, add half tomatoes. Add little salt, red chilli powder and coriander powder to this mixture. 

Marinade chicken breast with lemon juice, garlic paste, ginger paste, red chilli powder, and salt. Season the chicken with oregano and cumin powder. Cook in oven at 350 F for 30-40 minutes or until cooked. Chop cooked chicken into small pieces.

Now, in a bowl add remaining chopped onion, tomato, cucumber, spring onion and toss with lemon juice. This is our salsa mixture. You can buy salsa from a superstore and use that instead.

Assembly: In a bowl, add rice in the bottom. To this add cooked black beans, chicken, salsa mixture, and avocado. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

Note: Vegetarians can skip chicken, it tastes pretty good even without it and I personally prefer that. You can also add cheese and sour cream to this. Add Tabasco sauce to make it more spicy.

Lemon Rice

Whenever there are some left over rice, I always try to make different rice recipes the following day. This  afternoon I tried lemon rice and it actually was pretty simple to cook and good to taste. I am a big fan of South Indian food so this was a perfect lunch for me. :)

Lemon Rice

Rice - 1 cup

Lemon Juice - 2 tablespoons

Curry leaves - 7-8 leaves

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Split black gram skinless (dhuli urad dal) - 1 tablespoon

Split Bengal gram (chana dal) - 1 tablespoon

Peanuts - 1 tablespoon

Asafoetida - a pinch

Fenugreek Seeds (methi dana) - 1/2 teaspoon

Whole red chillies - 5-6 broken

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Heat oil in a pan, add asafoetida, broken red chillies, black gram, bengal gram, and fenugreek seeds. Cook until the grams turn light brown.

Add peanuts and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves and turmeric powder. Stir fry for a minute, add cooked rice, salt and lemon juice.

Mix well and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Note: You can garnish with scraped coconut, I don't like the taste of coconut so I skipped it. 

Teriyaki Salmon with Stir-Fried Vegetables

I am a fish person and after moving to the US, salmon has topped the list of my 'favorite foods.' It is healthy, tastes good and you can try it in different styles, it always tastes good.  This Saturday I tried Teriyaki Salmon, it was easy to cook and perfect for the weekend!

Teriyaki Salmon 

Salmon - 1 strip (depends on how much you want to eat)

Teriyaki sauce - 2-3 tablespoons depending on the quantity of fish

Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 teaspoon

Red Chilli powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Pepper - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Extra virgin olive oil - 1/2 teaspoon

Lemon - 1 squeezed

Oregano - to garnish the fish

Mix teriyaki sauce with ginger-garlic paste, oil, lemon juice, red chilli powder & salt. Marinade fish in this mixture for 30 minutes. 

Heat oven to 400 F and add a little oil on the surface of the oven tray. Transfer fish to this tray, add the marinade mixture on the top and grill for 15 minutes. 

Remove fish, sprinkle oregano and grill it again for 5 minutes. Turn carefully with a wide spatula and grill for another 4 to 5 minutes or until cooked which normally depends on the thickness of the fish. 

Serve warm with stir-fried vegetables.

Stir-Fried Vegetables

Totally depends on which veggies you want to eat. I added used beans, broccoli, baby corns, carrots, red bell pepper, spinach, water chestnuts and peas. Steam veggies until cooked. When cooked, add the same marinade mixture that we used for salmon. It will add an Asian flavor to the veggies. Adjust salt and serve hot! 

Mushroom Masala

Mushroom masala is one of my favorite food. It has slightly more spices and masala than other vegetables and tastes better with that. It looks good, tastes good and is easy to cook so a perfect option if you have guests coming over. :)

Mushroom Masala

Mushrooms - 500 gm

Peas - 1 cup

Onion - 1 medium chopped

Tomato - 1 medium chopped

Green chillies - 2 chopped

Ginger - garlic paste - 2-3 teaspoons

Oil - as required

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Dried Fenugreek leaves (kastoori methi) - 1 teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Slice mushrooms and heat in boiling water for 5-10 minutes.  

Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and add green chillies. Stir-fry for few seconds and add chopped onion. When onion becomes translucent, add ginger-garlic paste and cook for 5 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until the mixture reduces to a pulp.

Add coriander powder, red chilli pwder, garam masala and dried fenugreek leaves. Cook for a minute and add mushrooms & peas to this mixture.

Cook on low heat until mushrooms and peas are tender. It generally takes 15-20 minutes. 

Serve hot with roti.

Ravioli Salad

I tried this recipe when we went on a family picnic but everyone loved it so much that I made it again last week for dinner. It is an easy and quick recipe and is perfect for the weeknight lunch/dinner. I used Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli from Costco, feel free to use any kind of ravioli that you like. 

Ravioli Salad

Ravioli - 1 lb (cooked and drained well)
Grape tomatoes - 1 Cup (Cut in half)
Basil - 1/4 Cup (Chopped)
Black olives - 1/4 Cup
1 small bunch basil, torn
Feta Cheese for garnish
Dressing: 

Olive oil - 1/4 Cup
White Vinegar - 2 Tbsp
Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing - 2 Tbsp 
Salt - To Taste
Pepper - 1 Tsp

Cook Ravioli according to packaged instructions. Drain and place ravioili's in a single layer for cooling. 

Combine all ingredients for dressing and mix well with a whisk. 

All Ravioili's in a bowl and add tomatoes and olives. Pour dressing just enough to coat. 

Gently toss the ingredients and garnish with basil and feta cheese. 

Note: You can garnish this salad with toasted pine nuts as well.