Agave and Ginger Glazed Salmon

2 servings- 20 min cooking plus at least 3 hr marinating

Yesterday I had one of those days where I felt like making up a recipe. I made some really good salmon a couple weeks ago from a Giada de Laurentiis recipe that used agave nectar and I wanted to spice it up.  I just started adding stuff from the Asian side of my pantry until I had something delicious.

I forgot to take a picture of the ginger, it was a last minute addition but it totally made the dish.

2 tbs agave nectar
2 tbs low sodium soy sauce
1 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs fresh grated ginger  (or a big teaspoon of ground ginger but fresh is better)
Two 4-5oz salmon fillets 

Mix the ingredients in a bowl and pour into a ziploc bag.

Then add the salmon, squish the marinade all over the fillets, squeeze the extra air out of the bag, and refrigerate for a couple hours.

You could put in 4-6 fillets but I wanted to use the extra marinade to make a glaze.

Whenever you can't wait any longer to eat, pour the excess marinade in a saucepan and simmer until reduced by half.  Heat a grill pan (the grill marks are pretty) or a skillet and pour in about 1 tbs oil.  Grill the salmon for a couple minutes on each side until medium rare.  Serve the salmon over some brown rice and spoon the glaze over the top.  It tastes great on the rice.

This was sooo tasty. I couldn't believe I just made it up on the fly but it's going to be one of my regulars now.

I paired it with a fresh salad and lemon vinaigrette.

800 calories, 14.5g fat, 1300g sodium, 7g fiber, 37g protein per serving

Chicken Strips

This is a recipe I found in Food & Wine magazine.  I've made it twice now and I must say that these are the best chicken strips ever.  They're really easy to make and best of all, they're baked, not fried.  The original recipe called for chicken wings and drumettes but those are too much work for the little meat you get so I opted to chop up a chicken breast.

The base recipe consists of:
2 tbs flour
1 tsp salt

Put this in one medium bowl.

I was making 3 flavors tonight so I had 3 bowls.

The recipe is enough for 1 chicken breast so multiply it as needed.
Cut the breasts into even strips (emphasis on the "even" so that it cooks evenly and everything stays nice and juicy.).  Mix the flour with the salt.  Add the chicken and toss to coat.

Preheat the oven to 500°.  Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray with oil.  Arrange the chicken on the baking sheet and spray again with oil.  Roast for 15 minutes, turning once or twice until brown and crispy.

In another medium bowl:
2 1/2 tbs Frank’s Red Hot
2 tbs melted butter

When the chicken is done, toss it with the hot sauce and butter until evenly coated.

From left to right:  Jamaican Jerk, Mango Curry, Sweet and Sticky

These are variations on the base recipe:


Ginger-Honey

To the flour and salt, add:
1 tsp ground Szechuan peppercorns and 1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
 
To the hot sauce and butter:
1/2 tbs soy sauce and 2 tbs each of honey, minced ginger and scallions
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Jamaican Jerk
To the flour and salt, add:

1/2 tsp each of dried garlic, thyme, and onion

To the hot sauce and butter:
1 tsp jerk paste.  Garnish with fresh thyme leaves.
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Mango Curry
To the flour and salt, add:
2 tsp hot Madras curry powder

To the hot sauce and butter:
2 tbs mango-ginger chutney. Garnish with chopped pistachios
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Maple Chipotle
To the flour and salt, add:
1 tsp dried sage

To the hot sauce and butter:
1 minced canned chipotle and 2 tbs maple syrup
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Old Bay
To the flour and salt, add:
1 tbs Old Bay seasoning

To the hot sauce and butter:
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
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Sweet and Sticky
To the flour, add:   (don't put salt in this one, the chili garlic paste has enough)
1 tsp dried garlic, 1 tsp paprika

To the hot sauce and butter:
1 tsp chili garlic paste, 1 tbs Thai sweet chili sauce
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Thai Green Curry
To the flour and salt, add:
1 tsp ground coriander

To the hot sauce and butter:
2 1/2 tbs green hot sauce (instead of the red), 1/2 tbs fish sauce, 1 tsp thai green curry paste, 2 tbs chopped cilantro
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My favorite flavor is the Mango Curry flavor.  Maybe because it uses mango-ginger chutney and I'm a huge fan of the Trader Joe's variety.  After moving from Atlanta (a TJ's rich locale) to Louisiana (a TJ's deficient locale), I was so upset that I went and bought literally 15 jars of the stuff so I would be sure to have enough should I not get back to Georgia for awhile.

Mmmmm...run along and make this tonight.  You know you want to.