Best way to cook salmon

So I swear the food and random clothing drivel will be put on hold for a few days after this as I adventure in Boise this weekend...but I have a few more recipes for you :) Also, just got news that hopefully my boyfriend will be spending part of next weekend in Boise with me, which would mean tons of new adventures (so hopefully that happens).

I mentioned other ways to cook salmon, but this new way is by far my favorite.  Warning: It is a little scary to do at first with the super high temperature.

I got the recipe from "Forever Young" by Nicholas Perricone, where I get most of my recipes for salmon and chicken.

You have to admit, the man does look pretty young.
The recipe is called "Salmon Fillets with Puy Lentils."  However, Perricone got the recipe from Williams-Sonoma New Healthy Kitchen: Main Dishes."  It was featured in at least two cookbooks, so that must mean it is pretty tasty.

Recipe serves 4:
1 and 1/2 cups Puy lentils
1 and 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
two tablespoons minced shallots or yellow onions (you know I used onion)
salt
4 skin on salmon fillets (4 to 6 ounces each) [I only made two]
freshly ground pepper
1 cup arugula or mixed greens (use the arugula!)

So first, lets tackle the lentils side of the recipe.  The recipe calls for one and a half cups of puy lentils.  What the hell are puy lentils you ask?  They are "the best, most delicate lentils" and a peppery French green lentil.  They were originally grown in the volcanic soils of Puy in France, but now are also grown in North America and Italy.  Perricone says they are especially good in salads, because they remain firm after cooking and have a rich flavor.

I spent about two seconds looking for these lentils at my grocery store, and quickly decided the store did not carry them, so I used the lentils that are very cheap and still very delicious.  Lentils are great for you -- low in fat and high in protein and fiber (plus easy to cook).

To start, you are supposed to pick over the lentils, then rinse and drain them well.  I didn't bother to "pick over them" and they turned out fine. 

Then, heat one tablespoon of the oil in a saucepan over high heat.  Add the onion and lentils, and cook, stirring until the onions are translucent and the lentils glisten, about two minutes.  I don't think my lentils started to glisten, but they did start to burn...I would recommend medium high and stir the lentils a lot.

Then, add four cups water, with some salt. Bring it to a boil, reduce it to a simmer (medium low), and cover for for about thirty five minutes.

In the meantime, take your salmon fillets and rub some olive oil on them.  The recipe says a half tablespoon...I put more than that and it definitely freaked me out because the oven started smoking a bit, so I would totally recommend going on the lighter side with the olive oil.  Then, coat both sides with salt and pepper.  I rarely add salt to many things, but this is one time I would say add as much salt as you want -- lots of it!

Heat your oven to 500 degrees and put the salmon in a greased baking dish.  This is where I got nervous...I don't think I have ever cooked anything that high!

I cooked mine for fifteen minutes and kept checking on them because the temperature freaked me out a bit.  I would say if you start noticing the oil smoking a bit, turn the fan on high, and open the oven periodically so all the smoke doesn't come out at once and turn your smoke alarm on.

As you can see, I was taste testing :)

The final product - the most delicious salmon I have made so far! Next time I make it (after a Costco trip) I am going to try it with a marinade and baked in the oven...I am thinking something with a bit of orange juice.

On another note entirely, I have been watching 20/20 tonight, about criminals using internet dating sites to target victims.  It is pretty interesting and pretty sad.  I also go to one of the gossip websites it mentioned, so it was really interesting to see how a supposedly unbiased (or maybe they don't even bother to claim that) news source can clearly pick a side.  The saddest was the women and men who have been scammed on dating sites.  Hard to believe it happens though -- one lady sent 20 iPhones to a man and said it was because the government was holding his gold and diamonds (whatever that means).

Tomorrow? Birds of Prey, people watching at Thomas Hammer (maybe the saturday market), and seeing if the gargoyle store is open. EXCITED!

Artichoke and Watercress Soup

In honor of my first day of work and my still-sore throat, I decided to make a warm soup chock full of veggies.  The recipe came from Forever Young by Nicholas Perricone.

To make, I started with 28 ounces of chicken stock (a little less than the bottle pictured), and a quarter cup of rice.  I brought it to a boil and let it simmer for about twenty minutes.

Meanwhile, I had two giant jars of artichoke hearts.  I used a little less than half a jar, and rinsed off the hearts so they wouldn't be so oily.  I put them in my magic bullet (the little blender thing), along with the juice of a lemon (roll it around first -- it will juice way easier) and two eggs.  I blended this into a puree.

Once the rice was done cooking, I spooned half of it and about a quarter of the liquid into the puree inside the blender, and reblended everything.  Be careful with hot liquids because I am pretty sure they expand in a blender and I have had everything explode on me before.

After that, pour the puree back into the rice/chicken mixture and now you heat it up.  This was tricky because I rarely use thermometers while cooking, and the recipe was very adamant that the temperature needed to be 160 degrees and should not boil.  I think this was so the egg would cook properly.  I started out slow and kept the temperature really low (about a two on my oven dial).  You are supposed to stir constantly too.  To be honest, I got a bit tired of stirring so much, and stirring on and off every minute or so worked fine.  I also upped the temp, which caused it to start to bubble a tiny bit, but it turned out great.

In addition -- I just used a meat thermometer to take the temperature of the soup and that worked perfectly.

After that, I added a tablespoon and a half of chopped dill, as well as a whole bunch of chopped watercress.  Watercress is awesome because I get it still attached to the root, and it stays fresh, lasts forever, and has a really strong peppery flavor.

After that, the soup is done!  I let it sit for a little bit and it thickened up even more.  The soup is really great if you love artichokes.  I actually started to like it more the more I ate it, because it took me a little bit to get used to the artichoke flavor.  I also thought the dill would be stronger than it was, so don't worry about adding too much dill.

Finally, the soup is good with lots of pepper and also tasted  with flax seed sprinkled over it.

In other news, I found my old playboy bunny toe ring.  The "bunny" isn't usually my style, but for some reason I love this toe ring, so I have been rocking it a lot :)

And on the work front, things were fantastic.  Top two favorite things?  Cheap soup and salad (bye bye U of I charging out the ass per ounce of salad), as well as probably one of the most photogenic pictures of me ever for my ID!

PS I may be alone on this, but I am loving Teen Wolf! I think it is going to get really juicy, really fast.  Perfect guilty temptation.  Anyone else watching it??