Cedar Plank Cajun Salmon

INGREDIENTS
1 cedar plank
1 ½ pounds salmon fillets
Cajun seasoning

DIRECTIONS
1. Soak cedar plank in salted water for 2 hours. Make sure the plank is completely submerged, placing something heavy on it will help.
2. Season the salmon with Cajun seasoning on both sides.
3. Heat grill to medium-high heat. Place the plank on the hot grill and leave it until there is a smell of smoke, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the plank over and place the fish on top. Cover the grill and cook until the fish is cooked to desired doneness, about 10 to 15 minutes. Check the plank occasionally. If the edges start to catch fire, mist with water, or move the plank to a cooler part of the grill.

Pictures

Ok, so I have found out what is wrong with my camera, have to go buy a new cord that plugs into my computer. So until then, you are stuck with crappy cell phone pictures. Sorry, I warned you. I don't have a fancy iphone like some people I know.

Garlicy Shrimp Fusilli

1/2 pound peeled & de-veined shrimp
4 Tbsp olive oil
8 Cloves garlic chopped
1 Large shallot sliced thin
1 cup white wine
1/2 lemon juiced
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 Tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
pinch salt
pinch red pepper flakes
3 Cups dry fusilli (cooked per box directions)
Fresh shredded Parmesan to top.

Place oil in pan over low heat. Add in shrimp and cook slowly on low heat until pink throughout. You want the oil to infuse with the shrimp flavor. Remove shrimp and add garlic and shallots. Cook over low until garlic softens. Start your pasta now. Add remaining ingredients (reserving Parmesan) to pan with garlic and shallot. Bring heat to high and let boil. Reduce heat to medium high and allow sauce to thicken and reduce. Once pasta is done add in about 1/2 cup of pasta water and boil sauce again. Strain pasta and pour it into pan. Toss to combine making sure all pasta is coated with sauce. Serve with grated Parmesan.

If you want to kick up the flavor add in 1 tbsp of unsalted butter when you add pasta sauce. This will gloss your sauce and make it that much richer. I did not add it last night because I wanted a lighter more spring like sauce.

Pointer: This pasta is great for kids. Reserve some pasta and coat with butter and Parmesan to make a great dinner for your kids.

Chicken salad

I'm an asshole. I made this great awesome salad with grilled chicken on it the other night. I took a picture of the super awesome salad before I put the chicken on and then just stopped taking pictures. Soooo you get no picture with this one, but seriously picture salad with sliced grilled chicken on it, it's not hard.

Grilled chicken
1 package boneless skinless chicken
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp Goya Adobo Powder
1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning
1 Tsp chilli powder
1 Tsp Pepper
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Grill chicken on medium low for 12 minutes per side or until juices run clear. Slice and place on top of salad.

Salad
2 Cups romain lettuce chopped
2 cups baby spinach chopped
croutons
grated parmesan cheese
red onions
tomatoes
Good ranch dressing (I'm currently addicted to this brand)

I loved this recipe because the chicken had enough flavor to stand out in the salad, but not so much flavor that it over powered the fact that it was a salad. This was meant to be the entire meal not a side salad. The next day I used the chicken in some simple tacos with Pico De Gallo, but it would also make a fun and interesting chicken salad sandwich.

Dinner redoux, Asian chicken

A while back ago I posted this recipe for mushroom chicken asian lettuce wraps. Tonight I wanted to make something with the same taste but with out the lettuce cup stuff so it was easier to pack left overs. So I made the same recipe but instead of shredding the chicken I basted it with a little extra Hoisin sauce and then when it was done cooking I buried it in the mushroom cabbage mixture. My husband loved it. I served it on rice and he thought it was terrific. It also made excellent left overs! I haven't posted much this month and it's because I can't always make new food. I make a lot of stuff my husband loves. He requests his old favorites. So I thought I would take a chance to make something old but redo it so I could still post on here for you.

Turkey spaghetti

1 package Jenny-o ground turkey
2 14 oz cans garlic basil diced tomatoes
1 14 oz can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste
4 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic diced
1 medium yellow onion diced
1 package baby bellas sliced
2 packs button mushrooms sliced
2 tsp garlic powder
1 small pinch crushed red pepper flake
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Heat large dutch oven (or pot) over high heat. Add 2 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 mushrooms. Brown mushrooms. Add half of garlic and onions and reduce to medium. Cook until onions are translucent. Add diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Cook over low heat for 1 hour stirring frequently. Over high heat add remaining olive oil and mushrooms to large skillet brown mushrooms and add remaining garlic and onions. Sauté until onions are translucent. Add turkey, salt, both peppers and garlic powder. Stir until turkey is nearly cooked. There will be no fat to drain so pour turkey and mushroom mixture straight into tomato sauce. Combine and add tomato paste. Cook for additional 15 minutes. Taste and season accordingly.

Basil citrus chicken

Tonight I was sitting in the kitchen annoyed with what to cook. The menu was originally going to be chicken tacos. I got home and said NO I DON'T WANT THAT. So I stared around my kitchen for a second and noticed I had some clementines heading towards DONZO land and remembered I had bought a new flavored olive oil, Spanish basil. I combined them and the smell was awesome. It reminded me to post about that very thing. How sometimes you don't need a recipe to cook. Sometimes you just need to look around and use what you've got. Whats on the edge of it's life? What have you been meaning to use but just haven't? Take those mix em up and see what happens. I was sick of vinegars so I used the citrus instead. I was sick of regular oil so I grabbed that flavored "I'll use this some day" oil and went to work.


1 Package boneless skinless chicken
3 tbsp basil olive oil
2 clementines (or one orange) juiced (reserve peels for marinade)
1 pinch red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic finely chopped and pasted
1 pinch salt
2 pinch's black pepper


Combine all ingredients in large storage bag. Mix and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Place on grill on medium low for 15 minutes. Turn and finish cooking. I like to place the orange halves on the grill to scent the chicken also.