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 :)

Breakfast burgers

It's been a while since I did a recipe post, mainly because it's been a while since I've actually cooked something delicious and not just fried some chicken to serve with instant mashed potatoes and frozen veggies. Let's face it...summertime is not exactly made for spending in a hot kitchen.

But I had this photo sitting in my "unposted photos" queue, so I figured why not? It may not look very pretty, and in fact it's quite messy to eat, but this burger was deeee-licious!

Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb ground turkey
- parsley
- garlic powder
- 6 slices bacon (I used applewood smoked)
- 5 eggs
- cheese (I like Colby-Jack, but cheddar is also good)
- 4 English muffins

In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, one egg, and a dash each of parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Don't over-season, you just want to give your burger a little background flavor. (Note: You can see from the photo that I didn't do this next step, but trust me, it's a modification that will make chowing down a bit easier.)

Chop the bacon into small pieces (it helps to stick it in the freezer for about 15 minutes first) and add it to the turkey burger mixture. Mix everything together really well, incorporating the egg into all of it so the burgers won't break up.

Shape the meat into 8 mini-patties. You want them to be relatively flat, and slightly larger than the circumference of the English muffins, because the patties will shrink up a bit when you cook them. Cook in a frying pan over medium-high heat for a few minutes on each side to get a good sear on the outside, then reduce heat and cover with a lid, cooking for several minutes more on each side.

While the patties are cooking over low heat, crack the other 4 eggs into another skillet that's been sprayed with cooking spray (or, if you're a fat kid at heart like me, grease up the pan with butter). Break the yolks and fry those babies up! (Again, you'll notice I cooked my egg over-medium, so the yolk was still runny. While this was delicious, it was also really messy and really difficult to eat. I definitely suggest yolk-breakage.)

Just before the burgers are finished, top them with the cheese of your choice. Cover again for about a minute so the cheese will melt. Divide the fried eggs into 8 sections and top each burger with one. Each burger will be relatively small, so this recipe will really only serve four. Two mini-burgers is a great portion size :)

And the best part? These taste great in the morning or for dinner. Yum!