Honey-Lime Salmon over Quinoa {and dolphin watching!}

Pin It Now! What a beautiful Sunday!  One of the benefits of living right on the coast is the opportunity to watch stunning sunsets on the beach.  Hubby and I took a walk to the Ellwood Bluffs/Coronado Butterfly Preserve to catch the sunset, and we were definitely in for a treat...  dolphins!  While we took in the sunset from the bluffs, dozens of dolphins played in the waves below.  It was really an amazing sight. 

Another benefit to living on the coast is fresh seafood.  We have a great fish market in the Harbor, with a selection of lots of local seafood as well as some flown in from around the nation. We chose a beautiful wild salmon from Washington.  (ALWAYS buy wild when possible.)

Santa Barbara Fish Market 

We love salmon in our house.  My usual standby is to drizzle it with olive oil, squeeze a bunch of lemons over it, scatter garlic slices on it and toss it in the oven.  Nothin' wrong with that, but it was time to switch it up.  So this time I went with a glaze of lime and honey, and it turned out great!  Hubby loved it (yay!) and even had seconds.

Another switch-up to our usual salmon dinner was with quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).  I've been meaning to give this a try for quite some time and I'm really not sure why I didn't do it sooner.  We loved it!  Quinoa is one of those superfoods you've been hearing about.  Each serving is loaded with protein, fiber, folate, magnesium (great for people like me who get migraines), iron AND all eight amino acids!  It's no wonder the Incas called quinoa "the mother of all grains."  And if you're not sold yet, it cooks in 15 minutes with zero supervision.  That scores high, in my humble opinion.  Quinoa is like a blank canvas; you can do anything with it.  We'll definitely be enjoying quinoa quite frequently.  Give it a try!

Honey-Lime Salmon
Juice of three limes
3-4 tablespoons honey
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, honey, salt & pepper.  Place salmon in baking dish and pour half of the glaze over it, letting it rest for five minutes before baking.  Bake until cooked to desired doneness.  Serve over a bed of quinoa, drizzling the rest of the glaze over the filets immediately prior to serving.

Garlic & Shallot Quinoa
1 c uncooked quinoa
2 c water or chicken broth
1 small shallott, thinly sliced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed. 

We enjoyed our salmon and quinoa with steamed broccoli and corn.  Enjoy!

Lemon Scallion Pasta with Shrimp

Pin It Now! Is it really December 10th?!  Eek!  This little elf needs to kick her Christmas planning into high gear!  This year we are spending the holiday in the snow with my family.  We are very much looking forward to our white Christmas!!  (And by "we" I mean Hubby and myself.  Chico isn't so much a snow dog.)  ;)

After running errands this afternoon and trying to get a 6-year-old chihuahua to model for our Christmas photo (yes, we're those people) we needed something quick & simple for dinner.  I remember catching the tail end of an episode of Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals a couple of years ago in which she was finishing up a lemony pasta side dish.  I took inspiration from that and customized, adding some shrimp to make it a more hearty meal. I'm so bad about measuring, so these are approximations.  Just fiddle with it until it tastes good to you.  My Hubby likes lots of lemon, so I went a bit heavy.

Lemon Scallion Pasta with Shrimp
1 lb spaghetti
2 c low sodium broth (chicken or vegetable)
1/4-1/2 c low sodium soy sauce
2-3 lemons, zested and juiced
drizzle of olive oil
1 bunch scallions, cut into slices on the diagonal
1/2 lb shrimp

Cook the pasta according to package, draining just shy of al dente.  While the pasta cooks, combine broth, soy sauce, lemon juice and lemon rinds in a small saucepan.  Bring to a simmer and cover, heat off, for about 7 minutes (allowing the lemons to steep.)  As the sauce steeps, saute shrimp in olive oil until pink and opaque.  Toss shrimp into drained pasta.  Pour sauce through a strainer onto pasta and shrimp and toss to coat.  Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.  The pasta will soak up the sauce and finish cooking to the perfect al dente.  Fold in scallions and lemon zest and top with a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan.

Grow your own scallions!