Who Lived Under The Pineapple Under The Sea?

A salmon! I couldn't help it, while thinking of something to do with pineapple, I couldn't get the Spongebob Squarepants song out of my head ;)

Soooo... while looking to make use of my fresh veggies, plus making my husband happy (he's not a fan of veggies), I made Pineapple Teriyaki Salmon from Cooking Light. As you may already know, I don't eat fish, but he gave it the thumbs up. I changed up the recipe a bit to suit his tastes, I'll definitely be making this one again, and I'm sure that the sauce would be great on chicken as well. I served this with brown rice and stir fried veggies.

Pineapple Teriyiaki Salmon

2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1 (6-ounce) can pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
2 teaspoons canola oil
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Grated orange rind (optional)

Combine first 4 ingredients and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan over high heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 15 minutes). Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle both sides of salmon with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes. Turn fish over and place in oven; bake at 400° for 3 minutes. Remove from oven; brush 1 tablespoon sauce over each fillet. Return to oven, and cook 1 minute or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. (I baked the salmon about 2 1/2 minutes longer, meanwhile I brought the remaining sauce to a boil and stirred some cornstarch slurry and simmered till thickened, then brushed on top of the salmon and baked for 30 more seconds, creating a glaze) Sprinkle with orange rind, if desired.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 salmon fillet)CALORIES 339 (41% from fat); FAT 15.4g (sat 3.3g,mono 7g,poly 3.9g); PROTEIN 36.8g; CHOLESTEROL 87mg; CALCIUM 34mg; SODIUM 644mg; FIBER 0.2g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 11.2g Cooking Light, MAY 2006

Stir Fried Veggies with Pineapple

These amounts were approximate, I tend to improvise when doing stir fries.

Veggies:

1 cup baby carrots, sliced in half
1 cup sugar snap peas
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup broccoli florets
4 oz pineapple chunks, sliced in half (I used canned)
orange zest

Stir fry till tender crisp in a teaspoon of vegetable oil, I add the carrots first, cook for 2 minutes, then add the rest and stir fry for 3 minutes.

Sauce:
3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp teriyaki sauce
salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsp pineapple juice
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
cornstarch slurry (cornstarch plus water)

Mix all ingredients and set aside till veggies are almost done. Add mixture to veggies and bring to a boil, add slurry and let boil till thickened. Sprinkle with orange zest.

Semi-Homemade Garlic Bread

No, this isn't one of Sandra Lee's recipes from the Food Network, but I did find this from another chef Ina Garten, from the Barefoot Contessa. After spending a lot of time cooking a homemade pasta dish, I didn't want to serve frozen garlic bread with it. I have made a semi-homemade versions before where I put butter & herbs on an Italian loaf, but I loved this version. It looks rustic, homemade, and soooooo good. Next time I'll try using roasted garlic or garlic paste, and fresh basil.

Garlic Bread

Recipe Summary Difficulty: Easy Prep Time: 8 minutes Cook Time: 12 minutes Yield: 4 to 6 servings

6 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano leaves (I used 2 tbsp dried oregano)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil (I used 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 basil olive oil)
1 loaf ciabatta bread (I used an Italian loaf)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the garlic in the bowl of a food processor and process until minced. Add the parsley, oregano, salt and pepper and pulse twice.

Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan and add the garlic mixture. Remove the pan from the heat.

Slice the ciabatta bread in half horizontally, and spread the butter on 1 half. Spread the garlic mixture on the other half of the bread, and put the halves together. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil.

Place the bread in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Open the foil, and continue baking for an additional 5 minutes.

Pow...I Mean Pao!!

Kung Pao - it's a staple @ chinese restaurants. I've never tried it, but Jamie loves it, so I found this recipe from i shot the chef. It turned out perfect, and it was so quick and easy, and I served this with brown rice.

Kung Pao Recipe

Marinade
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 tbsp soy sauce

Sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1/4 c chicken stock

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
4 dried red chilis, with stems and seeds removed (I used red pepper flakes, didn't have chilis)
1/2 inch piece of ginger, smashed
1 clove garlic, smashed (I used 3 cloves)
1 red pepper, thinly sliced (I used green pepper)
1/4 c roasted or fried peanuts
2 tbsp chicken stock and 1 tsp corn starch combined in small bowl (slurry)

1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a plastic ziploc bag along with the sliced chicken breast. Let marinate in the refrigerator for about an hour.

2. Combine all sauce ingredients in another small bowl and set aside.

3. Heat the peanut oil and sesame oil in a wok over high heat, until just smoking. Add the chilis, ginger and garlic and stirfry for about1 minute. Add half of the marinated chicken and quickly stirfry until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the wok and place on a plate. Repeat with the rest of the chicken and remove from the wok. Discard the smashed garlic and ginger. Add the sliced red pepper and stirfry for about 2 minutes until almost tender.

4. Add the chicken back to the wok, along with the sauce ingredients and the peanuts. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock and corn starch slurry and allow to simmer for at least 1 minute, stirring constantly. Serve over steamed rice.

Makes 4 Servings
Note: It is important to have all ingredients prepared and handy before you begin cooking, as this cooks very quickly.