Comfort Food and Vegetable Experiment #1

After a horrendous lunch catered by Dominos at work today, I was craving some good old comfort food.  Surprisingly, salmon had become a staple in my family's house a few years ago.  When I moved out and down to Virginia, I took my love of salmon with me and impressed it upon my husband.  No worries though, since he has expressed many times that he loves this recipe.  I also saw this as a great opportunity to pair it with my new buzz-worthy vegetable - asparagus!

This was on the menu for tonight's supper.  It was everything I hoped it would be!  Also, I do apologize for not posting pictures of the scrumptious meal.  Please chock it up to my inexperience of blogging!

Cajun Spiced Salmon with Orange Glaze

Prep Time:  10 min

Cook Time:  10 min

Servings:  Makes 4 filets

Ingredients:

4 filets of salmon, each approximately 1 in. thick

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons cajun spice

1/4 teaspoon dark brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup sweet orange marmalade

1. Combine the cajun spice, dark brown sugar and kosher salt in a small bowl.  Rub the blended ingredients on both top and bottom of the salmon filets.
   
2. Fry the salmon in a non-stick frying pan for approximately 4 minutes for top and 4 minutes for bottom.  The fish should be almost a solid pink when finished.
   
3. Pour the orange marmalade over the fish and into the pan, covering everything.  Allow to cook for a few more minutes.  Then, transfer directly to a plate and serve while hot.
   

And, this was our side for tonight's dinner:

Asparagus with Melted Parmesan Cheese

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 10-12 min

Servings: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound thin asparagus spears

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 ounce freshly shaved Parmesan cheese

freshly ground black pepper to taste

balsamic vinegar to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
   
2. Place asparagus on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and toss to coat. Arrange asparagus spears in a single layer. Spread parmesan cheese over asparagus, top with the toasted chopped garlic and season with black pepper
   
3. Bake 10 – 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is melted and asparagus is tender, but crisp. Serve immediately on warm plates, sprinkling the balsamic vinegar to taste.

Unfortunately, I forgot to drizzle the balsamic vinegar on the asparagus!  Nevertheless, this passed the taste test and I will definitely enter this into my recipe box!

I would also like to note that today was my second day in a row of exercising and working towards my ultimate "skinny" weight.  I will try to update my weight chronicles on a weekly basis, so this footnote is simply to declare that I am on track.  I am excited to see where this blog takes me!