Mediterranean Salmon Burger

December 20, 2012 By Laura

Holidays in my family aren’t always traditional.

My family isn’t exactly normal…

We don’t have a set “meal” every year. Each of us enjoys food and trying new things, so we take the opportunity to get creative in the kitchen while we’re all in one place.

Last year we had a Taiwanese dinner. I made this Sweet Potato and Toasted Marshmallow Cake and Hot Buttered Rum.

The year before we had spaghetti and meatballs.

I also made this Gingerbread Martini:

This year… I have no idea what we’re doing. All I know is that I’m infusing bourbon with cranberries and cinnamon for a funky take on a Manhattan.

My point? I don’t have one other than to justify the fact that less than a week until Christmas and I’m about to share a recipe for Salmon Burgers. Not a traditional holiday food… but I decorated them in holiday colors!

When I made these Lemon-Thyme Zucchini Salmon Cakes, I discovered that it’s hard (impossible?) to find canned salmon that is de-boned AND has no salt added. I made a mental note to attempt making salmon patties with fresh salmon. I promptly lost that mental note.

Months later, I finally remembered to try it out.

Lemon, rosemary, and dill were made for each other. Particularly when paired with seafood. We all know how well citrus and salmon compliment each other, but that extra herb-y punch takes this from hot bar to restaurant-worthy.

Not that there’s anything wrong with the hot bar – I adore it – but you know what I mean.

These were the perfect thing to thrown together and have for lunch during the week. If you prep your food at the beginning to the week, you already have cooked salmon and can whip this up in no-time mid-week. If not, add 10 mins to the cook time so you can broil the salmon first.

To make it festive, top them with pomegranate arils and edamame tossed in a quick nooch sauce (nutritional yeast mixed with vinegar and/or water). This may sound like a strange topping… but it was good!!!

Speaking of Strange But Good… Don’t forget to link up tomorrow! It’s the second week of the new link up here. thanks to everyone who participated last week! I’m continually inspired by you all!!!

Click here for the details, and grab the graphic below to share in your Strange But Good post tomorrow.

Remember to use #strangebutgood in any Tweets and Instragrams of your creations. 🙂

Mediterranean Salmon Burger

1/2 tsp olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic
1 pound fresh salmon filet, cooked
2 T chopped dill
2 T chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp paprika

Heat the olive oil in a small pan and sauté shallots until soft. Add garlic and continue cooking until fragrant.

Add salmon to a blender and blend until smooth. Stir in dill, rosemary, lemon juice, pepper, paprika, garlic, and shallots.

Shape into 4 patties. Place on a medium hot pan and cook until outside are browned (~3 mins each side).

Makes 4 burgers.

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I spent all last night baking… one item in particular I can’t WAIT to share for #strangebutgood tomorrow!

Does your family cook together for the holidays?

Do you like to do a traditional Christmas dinner and/or brunch? What do you have?

Attacking a Cold + WIAW

December 19, 2012 By Laura

I will not get sick. I will not get sick. I will not get sick.

Clicking my heels together 3 times…

I woke up Tuesday with a scratchy throat and stuffy nose. I spent all day feeling like I was about to cough… you know, that tickle in the back of your throat?

Time to attack. My solution (I hope):

Juice Plus – These are my ‘vitamins.” It’s awesome because the pills are made from fresh fruits and veggies. They juice them and then dry it into a powder, so you’re really getting a whole food-based pill vs. a vitamin (no, they don’t give me kickbacks… but they should!)
Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) – You guys know I love this stuff. In addition energy and digestive benefits, it is alkalizing. this is important because when you’re sick your PH balance is off
Water – LOTS of water helps flush out the germs
Luden’s Wild Cherry Throat Drops – I’m pretty sure these don’t do anything… but they taste good and have a comforting factor since my mom used to keep them on hand when we were kids #sorryimnotsorry
Zinc – Some studies have found that Zinc reduce the length and severity of a cold… some found that it does nothing. I’m covering all my bases
Vitamin C – Also questionable, but it potentially can shorten the length of a cold. Again, covering my bases
Bourbon – KIDDING. I’m not drinking away my symptoms… but I have a friend whose grandmother says to take a tablespoon of bourbon and a tablespoon of honey every hour until you feel better or pass out. In reality, I’m infusing this bourbon for a special Christmas cocktail… TBA

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Today I don’t necessarily have holiday recipes to share… but I have ~~recipes~~ creations! I’m exercising my Kitchen Workout (have you joined?), especially now that I’m feeling the ick. Lots of clean eats to heal and ward off sick germs. During cold and flu season, I think this still fits with Jenn’s What I Ate Wednesday theme this month:

Below is my day of healing eats. Check it out, and then be sure to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons and see what everyone else is cooking up the week before the fat man come creeping down your chimney!

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Meal 1:

This was my first ACV of the day: my morning cocktail (mix of Apple Cider Vinegar, Glutamine, and Fitmixer Aminos).

For breakfast I was inspired to repeat the cauliflower “grits” I shared Monday. Carol suggested I add nutritional yeast to make cheese grits! I followed the same recipe, but added a tablespoon of nutritional yeast and some cayenne (to help clear out my nose).

Served with a toasted P28 protein bagel and a runny egg, cooked in a bit of truffle oil.

Meal 2:

Goji berries have tons of antioxidants I re-hydrated some to plop into a bowl of cottage cheese (yes, I am aware that diary isn’t good for congestion, but it’s what I wanted… and it’s about to expire). With all the add-ins this tasted like a bowl of pie!

Goji Cottage Cheese Pie

1/2 C no-salt cottage cheese
1 T vanilla protein powder
1 T goji berries (re-hydrated in water)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-2 drops english toffee flavor concentrate
3-4 drops vanilla stevia
Blob of Sunbutter

Mix together in a small bowl, adding milk/water as needed.

Meal 3:

The worst part about feeling under the weather is not wanting to eat. I LOVE to eat. Just not right now.

But I forged on. I used to love making pizza crust out of Kamut flour, and decided that would be a nice comfort food. Until I ruined the crust by letting it stick in the pan. Kamut toasts it is!

Served with a warm salad. The dressing was a mix of ACV (heal me, vinegar!) and red pepper hummus. My toppings were swordfish and sautéed red peppers, baby bellas, and onion. I very lightly sautéed my spinach at the end.

Did you know that cooked spinach increases absorption of its calcium and iron?

Meal 4:

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw I got a little package in the mail after arriving home from the gym:

My Bulu Box this month contained C-Spray!!! Perfect timing. I don’t know if it works yet, but it was pretty tasty.

After my spray, I made a random post-workout meal. Tuna burger from Whole Foods with sriracha, cucumber with fresh ground pepper, and a sweet potato topped with peanut butter.

I always eat the skin of my sweet potatoes for the fiber. Plus I like it. Is that odd? I thought everyone did until someone at work commented… Is this a Strange But Good?

Meal 5:

I wanted black bean soup. I wanted cabbage. I wanted brussels sprouts. I had no patience. This could only end in a stir fry. It was a hodge podge… and it was pretty tasty!

Mexican Trash-Fry

Brussels, chopped
Red Cabbage, rough chopped
Shallots, diced
Garlic, minced
Tempeh
Black beans, no salt added
Apple Cider Vinegar
Cumin
Cayenne
Coriander
Cilantro

Start sauteing the brussels first, as they will take the longest. I didn’t measure, I just tasted and added. It’s be best kind of cooking.

Meal 6:

More C-Spray, followed by eggs. PB & Ceggs, topped with muesli. Except I didn’t make them vegan – I used real eggs. and I used caramel extract rather than maple. Yum.

Meal 7:

I managed to take a break from the 150 Calorie Chocolate Microwave Protein Cake. I had to finish that cottage cheese!

It was a random mix, but one of my favorites:

Cottage cheese
Cocoa powder
Chocolate protein powder (1/2 scoop)
Cinnamon
Cherries (melted in the microwave)
Cake of rice

Brought to you by the letter “C.”

And yes, I ate out of the same bowl 3x today. Anything to avoid dishes.

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The protein count for the day: 165.0g. A little low, but I’ll get it back tomorrow when all my “cures” work.

Don’t forget to join the Strange But Good link up this Friday!!! 🙂

Do you have a secret remedy for colds?

What are you making for the holidays? My baking begins in earnest today!

Strange But Good

December 14, 2012 By Laura

Do people ever look at you oddly when you pull out your lunch?

I consider it a personal failure if this doesn’t occur daily.

You know the “look.” They cock their head, raise their eye brows, and slightly wrinkle their nose. You know what’s coming next… “What is that?”

Welcome to the world of Strange But Good.

A lot of things healthy living bloggers/readers eat wouldn’t be considered strange inside this community; however, your co-workers, friends, and families probably give you the “look” when you top your oatmeal as if it were a bowl of fro-yo, for instance. Those things count as Strange But Good! If it’s a combo that this community would think is strange, even better! Not a requirement though.

Here are my creations this week that certainly earned me a couple of stares:

Exhibit 1

It’s a cross between a sweet potato pie, a pancake, and an omelette! This was a creamy, cake-y, breakfast from heaven. I loved the pie flavors and silky texture in this omelette-like pancake.

You know that sweet potatoes are best topped with peanut butter, so I created a maple-peanut butter sauce to use as my syrup.

Sweet Potato Pan-lette

1/2 C mashed sweet potato
1/2 C egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 heaping tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
4-5 drops vanilla liquid stevia (optional)

For the sauce:

1 T peanut flour
1 tsp ground flax
1/4 tsp maple extract
2-3 drops vanilla liquid stevia

Combine all pancake ingredients into a medium bowl and stir until smooth. Pour into a prepared (I used PAM) skillet and cook as you would a pancakes (~2-3 mins on each side).

Note: I made this as one huge pancake, but I’d advise you to turn it into 2. It required some serious acrobatics and two spatulas to flip.

Meanwhile, stir together sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

Plate your pie-cakes, top with peanut butter syrup, and enjoy!

Exhibit 2

The idea of a spicy tuna salad may not be so strange. We all like a spicy tuna roll. But what about spicy tuna with peanut flour? It’s a Pad Thai take on a lunch-lady staple!

You could mix in any veggies here, but I really liked the sweetness of the red pepper with the sriracha heat, and the nutty flavor from the zucchini was particularly good with the peanut sauce.

Pad Thai-na Salad

2 T peanut flour
2 tsp sriracha
1/4 tsp cumin
Juice of 1/3 fresh lime
2 T almond milk (or other liquid)
1 can tuna, drained
Cilantro
Zucchini
Red pepper
Pepper, to taste

In a small bowl, combine the peanut flour, sriracha, cumin, lime, and milk. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, add your canned tuna and break up with a fork. Pour peanut sauce over the tuna and stir until combined. Add remaining ingredients.

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Want to Join?

All you need to do to join this link up is create a concoction that is Strange But Good, post it with the Strange But Good logo, and link up to your recipe. (See below for code.) On the Strange But Good post each week, you’ll see a link to add your own recipe and picture at the bottom of the page. I’d prefer you use a new strange but good dish, but if you realllly have a good previous one you can add it.

Not a blogger? You can play too! Send me an email with a picture of your food and a brief description by noon on Thursday and I’ll include it in Friday’s post (too late this week, obv… but next week it’s on!).

Remember to use #strangebutgood in any Tweets and Instragrams of your creations. 🙂

Orange Cardamom TVP “Oats” + WIAW

December 12, 2012 By Laura

105 lbs doesn’t seem like a ton.

Until it’s on your lap while you’re doing dips…

Normally I do legs (my least favorite) with my trainer, but last night I had a back and tri day. It was a great reminder that – even though my upper body is more developed – I still need a “check up” every so often. With a little help I can move SO much more weight. I couldn’t have stacked those weights on my lap by myself… ~~and there is no way in hell I would have turned that last set into a drop set.~~

I’m feeling much better with my diet after last week’s adjustments, and it’s paying off. My trainer noticed growth. (He also told me I make sex-like noises while doing hack squats. Weird that hacking with 200 lbs elicits the same sort of sound…). A couple of other people have commented recently too (on the gains, not the noises). Never in my life did I think people telling me I look bigger would be a compliment! 🙂

It is a little disconcerting to have lost my abs, but I know they’ll be back and looking better than ever after bulking season. I need to print that reminder out and tape it to my mirror.

My Kitchen Workout (have you joined?) is keeping me motivated an (mostly) on track during this month of indulgences. Jenn’s What I Ate Wednesday theme this month is also a great accountability check!

Below is a day of a figure competitor’s bulking-season eats. Check it out, and then be sure to head over to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons and see what everyone else is eating during the most delicious time of year.