Food Fridays: Salmon with asparagus & rice pilaf

Ever since I got Matt a grill for Christmas, the boy's been a regular grilling machine. Snow on the ground? Doesn't phase him. He's still out there, grillin' butter burgers, or steaks, or kabobs, or salmon. I'm just glad he likes his present so much :)

A week or two ago, we were going to do some cedar-plank salmon. But a lack of foresight on our part meant that when 7 pm rolled around, we realized we hadn't soaked the cedar planks. To prevent them from, you know, bursting into flame. So that idea had to be modified.

Instead, Matt seasoned the salmon with a Singapore signature blend from Penzey's Spices (part of a set his mom gave me for Christmas, actually) and some lemon, then wrapped them in foil and threw them on the grill. We could've done the same thing in the oven, really, but he just loves any excuse to use that grill. So I stayed inside, where it was warm and there was a bottle of wine with my name on it, and made the sides.



The asparagus really doesn't require a recipe at all; I just drizzle it in some really amazing olive oil (Giant Eagle Market District's "Arbequina" style) and some kosher salt, then roast it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.

The rice pilaf, however, is a recipe I got from Food Network Magazine. It's pretty simple, but it takes a while to cook because that's just how rice is.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup spaghetti, broken into small pieces
2 tbsp butter
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tsp salt

Toast the spaghetti pieces in a pot over medium-high heat with the butter for about a minute or two. Stir in the rice, then add the chicken broth, water, garlic and salt. Bring to a boil and boil for three minutes. Give everything a good stir, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for about five minutes (note: I always skip this step and it tastes just fine, haha), then fluff with a fork. Remove the garlic because ew, giant chunks of garlic, and stir in some more butter because everything tastes better with more butter. You can stir in some cilantro too, if you want, but I'm not a fan so I usually skip that.

OH AND P.S.!! Don't forget to link up to Bloggers Take the Town THIS SUNDAY. Get your super-cute-but-never-blogged-going-out-evening-clothes photos ready and show us what you got :)