Alright – it’s not my best plating, but aside from the picture this dinner turned out fantastic. I’m loving using the Traeger and also so incredibly happy that I was able to get my husband to admit he actually loves green beans! I know a lot of people that love smoked salmon. I don’t know why you wouldn’t. It’s healthy and so easy, great leftover and doesn’t take too long (compared to other things you would smoke)
Usually we will smoke an entire large filet, but this time we decided on just a couple of smaller pieces. We always try to buy the sustainable, wild-caught. We are not on a coast so our fresh options are slightly limited. I like to purchase the salmon the same day I plan to cook it – maybe one day before, but I don’t like to freeze and then re-thaw before smoking. I put these on a pan so that I could season and throw back in the fridge for a couple of hours before putting on the smoker.
I kept this pretty simple based on what I typically always have on hand in my kitchen/spice cabinet. Start by dusting the entire filet with a little Himalayan salt. I then added some lemon powder – if you don’t have this you could use lemon zest and/or just squeeze some lemon juice on top. Next, I drizzled each with some honey. I only use the local honey – much better for you and a better guarantee of where it actually came from. Then, sprinkle on some paprika and garlic powder. Sit in the fridge until ready to smoke.
I cooked these on smoke temp (150-200 degrees) for about an hour. The sun was going down and the smoker was staying on the lower side of temps so I decided to turn it up to medium heat and finished that way. Overall they took about another 45 minutes. You can tell when they are done with the fork test – they should flake and not show any raw pieces. That’s literally it – done with the salmon. Depending on what kind of smoker you have and temperatures we have found the average time is 1.5-2 hours total smoking time.
I served our salmon with some lemon, buttered brown rice and steamed green beans with roasted garlic. I think I’ve mentioned just how much I love veggies? Several years ago my husband declared he hated green beans. I was slightly devastated and trying to figure out why. I went with it as he will eat almost everything else. However, I couldn’t keep my eyes off the fresh beans at the store and bought some thinking I’d just make them for myself.
So easy.. break off the ends, wash and place in a pan just about covered with water. Bring to a boil. Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain the water. I added a little butter and roasted garlic (they had pre-roasted garlic in the deli section at the grocery store – score/time saver!). I let the butter and garlic and beans cook together for another 5 minutes and done!
Smoked Salmon & Green Beans
Ingredients
Smoked Salmon
- 1 filet salmon wild caught
- Himalayan salt
- honey local
- lemon powder
- garlic powder
- paprika
Green Beans
- grean beans
- butter
- roasted garlic
Instructions
Smoked Salmon
- Sprinkle you salmon filet with the salt. Drizzle the honey on top and add remaining ingredients. Just a dusting of each one across the entire filet.
- Prepare your smoker and add the salmon. If using the smaller Traeger like I was – use the smoke setting for the first hour and then turn up to medium for another 45 minutes. Fork test the fillets for doneness – they should easily flake. Enjoy!
Steamed Green Beans with Roasted Garlic
- Snap the ends off of your beans, wash and throw in a saute pan with water just about covering them.
- Bring to a boil. Cover your pan and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Drain the water. Add Butter – tablespoon depending on how many beans you are making. Add your roasted garlic. Cook for another 5 minutes or so.
Tuna “Zoodle” Casserole
I believe there are thousands of versions of tuna casserole online. My husband enjoys tuna and I was looking for inspiration for what to do with the canned version. I also recently obtained a new spiralizer and just really enjoy using it. And.. zucchini is in season here! Mine is not ready yet, but hopefully we will have some soon. For this dinner I basically took my mom’s old tuna noodle casserole recipe she had written in the cookbook she gave my sister and I each when we got married – and I used that as my inspiration. You have canned tuna, egg noodles, cream of mushroom soup and breadcrumbs.
I used my spiralizer to make zucchini ribbons. You just use the flat blade and it’s super easy. I spread them out on a cookie sheet on top of a couple of layers of paper towels and added another layer on top. I let that sit for 20-30 minutes. You don’t necessarily have to wait that long, but I had other things going on. Then you squeeze all of the water out with the paper towels and throw your ribbons in a bowl awaiting the rest of the mixture.
A typical start for me.. I melted some ghee butter (about 4 tablespoons give or take). I added some garlic – probably 3 tablespoons of that as well. And then a package and a half of organic white mushrooms. Cook that down until the mushrooms are done all the way through.
Then, I added some white wine. Any dry white will do – this particular night I had a California sauvignon blanc. I added about a cup, maybe a little more and let it simmer for about 12 minutes.
Then, I removed from the heat and stirred in about 1.5-2 cups of non-fat, plain Greek yogurt and some cracked peppercorns. Stir together well. Make sure you stir constantly – you don’t want the yogurt to curdle. Once that was done and mixed well – I drained a large can of tuna and added to my bowl of zucchini ribbons. Finally, I poured my sauce or “cream of mushroom” over the tuna and zoodle mixture.
Pour your mixture into a baking dish and top with breadcrumbs. In our case I found a great gluten free rice option at the grocery store. The gluten free breadcrumbs are larger and hold their texture better than the regular, fine breadcrumbs. I threw this in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes.
The only thing I would have changed was I would suggest if you have extra long ribbons – cutting them up before adding to your mixture. Just makes serving a little easier – and maybe prettier than above. Otherwise it’s just like serving long spaghetti noodles and doesn’t impact the taste at all. My husband and I both agreed this will be added to a regular rotation for us!
Tuna “Zoodle” Casserole
Ingredients
- 5-6 medium zucchini
- 1 can tuna organic, low sodium
- 4 tbsp ghee butter
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- 1.5 pckg white mushrooms
- 1 cups white wine dry
- 2 cup greek yogurt plain, non-fat
- 2 tsp cracked peppercorns
- 3 tbsp italian breadcrumbs gluten free
Instructions
- Using the flat blade of a spiralizer, create zucchini ribbons. This makes them more like the traditional egg noodles. It will seem like you have a lot – until you squeeze the water out.
- Layer a baking sheet with several layers of paper towels – spread your zucchini on top of the paper towels and then cover with additional layers. Let sit for approx 20 minutes.
- Over medium heat, melt some ghee butter in a saute pan. Add your minced garlic and saute for a few minutes. Add in your mushrooms and stir occasionally until cooked through.
- Once your mushrooms are cooked through, add your dry white wine and let simmer for 10-12 minutes.
- Remove your mixture from the heat and stir in your yogurt and cracked pepper. Stir consistently until well mixed – do not let your yogurt curdle.
- Squeeze the water out of the zucchini ribbons with the paper towels and toss into a mixing bowl. Drain your can of tuna and add to your ribbons.
- Add your sauce to the bowl and mix well. Pour everything into a baking dish.
- Top with your breadcrumbs and bake in the over at 350 for 20 minutes.
Sauteed Carrot Ribbons
Have I mentioned just how much I love veggies? Really any veggie, I just can’t get enough. I also love the colors you can find in these organic carrots. As I was smoking my chicken the other day – it felt like summer out and that called for some colorful summer sides. I was wanting to use my spiralizer for these, but found out quickly it is just much easier to use a vegetable peeler. The carrots just weren’t fat enough. Carrots are a great veggie to saute as they are firmer than other veggies and hold their texture well.
This may not look like very many carrots, but it makes a lot more than you would think. This was plenty for the 2 of us with leftovers for both as well. So.. cut off the top and skinny little bottom parts of each carrot. Then, take our your vegetable peeler and peel the carrot down the long side – lay the carrot flat on a cutting board and hold onto the large end. At least that is what I found the easiest. Also – for consistent ribbons, I just kept shaving down the same side. I think my favorite are the purple carrots – they are yellow in the middle. One of them was a lighter purple and my husband joked that it looked like bacon!
You end up with a bowl looking something like this. Of course you can use all orange carrots or whatever you prefer. Next, I melted some ghee butter in a pan over med-high heat. I added some mushrooms and a couple of rosemary sprigs. The mushrooms really soak up the ghee butter so I added a little extra. Probably between 2-3 tablespoons total.
Rosemary grows like a wild weed in Arizona – and it’s one of my favorite smells. Does anyone else do that? ..walk out to your garden and run your fingers through the herbs to smell the wonderful scents? Sometimes that is how I get my dinner inspiration. Some people don’t like how rosemary can be tough to chew in certain dishes. It will soften enough here that it should be fine, but leave the sprigs and you can easily pull them out if you prefer and still have plenty of the wonderful flavor.
Next – add your carrot ribbons to the same pan. Stir together and kind of rotate your carrots with the mushrooms so that everything in the pan soaks up the rosemary flavored butter. I also added about a tablespoon of garlic powder. I like how the powder sticks in this a little better, but you could always use fresh or pre-minced garlic as well.
Once your carrots are cooked through – sprinkle in some shredded Parmesan cheese just before serving and Enjoy! Pull the rosemary sprigs out if you would like before serving.
Sauteed Carrot Ribbons (with Mushrooms and Rosemary)
Ingredients
- 1 bunch carrots organic, mixed colors
- 3 tbsp ghee butter or regular butter or oil if you prefer
- 1 pckg white button mushrooms
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese shredded
Instructions
- Wash your carrots and cut the top and bottom off. Using a vegetable peeler, hold the carrot down flat on a cutting board and run the peeler along the carrot to create ribbons. Do this until the carrot is too thin to peel.
- Over medium-high heat, melt some ghee butter. Add your mushrooms and rosemary.
- Once your mushrooms are cooked about 1/2 way through or more, add your carrot ribbons and garlic powder.
- Stir together well until carrots are cooked through.
- Pull our your rosemary sprigs (if you choose to). Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.
Mushrooms and Butternut Squash “Zoodles”
Vegetables have ALWAYS been my favorite. Cauliflower first. Extremely close seconds are pasta and mushrooms. When I was a kid in 1/2 day kindergarten, my mom had an in-home daycare in our house and therefore was always home with lunch ready when I got off the bus. One of my favorite lunches was her creamed cauliflower. I know, not healthy at all, but oh so good. I always felt extra special when she made me that meal. These days it is a very rare occasion that I eat cauliflower or any veggie prepared that way, but veggies are still my favorite. And once I discovered my body’s dislike to gluten they have become my favorite substitute for pasta as well.
Today, I needed something that would be quick to make and also wanted healthy. I dug through my refrigerator and started pulling out what I had on hand. Luckily I had a few shortcuts to help with the time and mess – I’ll share those here.
My first shortcut today – already “zoodled” noodles. I love the Cece’s Veggie Co options. They save so much time and mess and they are Organic – even better! Don’t get me wrong – once my garden is going with fresh veggies for zoodling and ricing again I will zoodle my own as well. I also had a package of baby bella mushrooms on hand and some already minced garlic. Sitting on my counter were some of the fresh lemons from our tree outback – we still have an abundance.
First things first, I always press any extra moisture out of my zoodles. I love butternut squash because they are denser and typically don’t hold the moisture like zucchini noodles do, but I still want to make sure I get any excess out. So, once I had them pressed in between some paper towels, I melted a little ghee butter in a pan on the stove, added about a tablespoon of minced garlic and sauteed for a couple minutes before adding in my mushrooms. I decided a little extra ghee would be needed as both the mushrooms and squash will really soak it up – so about 2-3 tablespoons.
Then, I squeezed in 1/2 of a fresh lemon (mine are very juicy), and stirred around until the mushrooms were about 1/2 cooked. I then added a couple tablespoons of parsley (I used dried this time – faster!).
I then added in my “noodles.” I like to pull them apart and add a little at a time so they aren’t all stuck together. I then sauteed the noodles for about 5 more minutes. I topped my bowl off with a tiny bit of shredded Parmesan cheese and there you have it – lunch!
Mushrooms and Butternut Squash “Zoodles”
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Ghee Butter
- 1 tbsp Garlic minced
- 1 pckg Baby Bella Mushrooms small
- 2 tbsp Parsley dried
- 1/2 lemon squeezed
- 1 pckg Cece’s butternut squash “noodles”
- 1 pinch shredded parmesan
Instructions
- Melt butter in pan and add minced garlic. Saute for a few minutes.
- Add mushrooms and saute until about 1/2 cooked or more. Sprinkle on parsley and squeeze in lemon juice and stir.
- Add the butternut squash and saute for approx 5-7 minutes.
- Top your bowl with a pinch of shredded parmesan cheese.
Sheet Pan Chicken – Bowls
The idea for these bowls came from our good friends in “Napa Valley.” They introduced us to the wonderful Korean flavors we add to these. My favorite part about this dish is the simplicity. I typically purchase my chicken in bulk, separate and marinade before freezing. There are a lot of marinades that would work well with this (I’ll add some marinade options in the near future) and you can really play with whatever ingredients you like best. Also – isn’t this pan just so pretty?
Ok, so first of all we start with the chicken. For this particular dish I chose boneless, skinless thighs. You can use chicken breasts if you would like, but I would probably cut them in 1/3rds to save on cooking time as your veggies will cook faster than your chicken. Like I mentioned above, I like to marinade and then freeze them.
For this dish I used a sweet chili marinade. The marinade is very simple: homemade sweet chili sauce and coconut aminos. I would use about 2/3 chili sauce to 1/3 coconut aminos.
Last year we had much warmer temperatures early on. I had peppers ripening by late April/early May – and I could barely keep up. I was trying to decide what to do with these beauties before I picked my next batch. I decide to try a version of homemade sweet chili sauce. Hopefully a little healthier for us. So – the majority of these peppers went in. There is a mixture of serrano, banana, shishito, jalapeno and a couple poblanos included. I minced these and left the majority of the seeds. Most of these peppers have a fairly mild flavor so I wanted to leave in a tiny bit of heat.
I used about equal parts sugar to water – so depending on how many “chilies” you have, 1 cup sugar to 1 cup water. And a tablespoon of minced garlic. Boil all of these ingredients (peppers, sugar, water, garlic) and then simmer for approx 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk the cornstarch mixture in with the remaining ingredients continuing to simmer – it should start to thicken within a few minutes. Once it’s thickened, remove from heat. You can store in canning jars in the fridge as above or use in our chicken marinade once cooled. (you don’t want to cook the chicken with your marinade)
Once you have your chicken marinated (I’d suggest at least a couple of hours or overnight). Chop your veggies. In this dish we used carrots, celery, onions, peppers and broccoli. The denser veggies work well as they don’t overcook as easily with the chicken, but you could add any of your favorites (mushrooms and zucchini are other options) If you add softer veggies I like to put them on the opposite side of the pan from the chicken so the marinade doesn’t take over.
Place your chicken on your jelly roll pan (with an edge), then layer your veggies alongside. Throw the pan in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Depending on how large/which cuts of chicken you use – just make sure your chicken hits the 165 temperature and the veggies will definitely be done by the time the chicken is.
Next you put your bowl together. This is really where personal preference comes into play. I’m going to list the ingredients we usually put out and then we each make our own bowls.
Your base layer – either brown rice, cauliflower rice, soba noodles or even a veggie noodle or sometimes we combine two.
Topping options we include are: cilantro (a favorite and must of ours), kimchi, some additional sweet chili sauce, coconut aminos, homemade sriracha (I’ll post a future recipe that excludes all of the sugar), fried garlic, diced peanuts and I’m probably forgetting some. Let me know if you have other ideas!
Sheet Pan Chicken – Bowls
Ingredients
- chicken (thighs or breasts)
- celery
- carrots
- onion (sweet or red)
- bell peppers
- broccoli
- sweet chili sauce
- coconut aminos
Instructions
- 1. Marinade your chicken2. Chop your veggies.3. Spread your chicken onto a sheet pan including the remaining marinade. Spread your veggies in layers next to your chicken – denser veggies closest to your veggies. Mix some of the remaining marinade through your veggies and/or sprinkle some olive oil or coconut aminos (sparingly) over your veggies.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for approx 30 minutes or until chicken is 165 degrees. You may want to flip your chicken over 1/2 way through cooking.
5. If needed, cut your chicken into smaller pieces – easier for eating in your bowl.
6. Choose your bowl “bottom” and toppings and enjoy!