Monday Motivational Meal

We tried this simple and layered recipe from Weight Watchers! Sheet Pan Salmon with Crispy Kale and Potatoes is the perfect meal you can create in under an hour right in your oven. Enjoy this healthy dinner served up right-sized on you favorite Livliga pattern!

You can get the recipe here!

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Monday Motivational Meal

Ready for a simple light meal between the big holidays? Try this Salmon Caesar Salad! It looks smashing served up on Vivente!

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Poached Salmon-- A Conerstone of Your Recipe Repertoire

Poached Salmon is a simple dish that can be a conerstone of your recipe repertoire (photo by LivligaHome)

There is something really wonderful about a simple dish. There is an elegance about them that you can't beat. It is its own art. Doing it well is trickier than it may seem. But when you get a simple dish down it ends up being a cornerstone of your recipe repertoire. Poached salmon is just such a recipe. It is simple, tasty and is the foundation for any number of menus or other dishes you might devise.

The challenge with a poached salmon is making sure it does not taste "fishy" or overdone. Ideally you want to buy the fish fresh the day you are going to poach it. Having it a little fattier is also good. The farm raised salmon rather than wild Coho works best. 

Here is a simple recipe to use:

Poached Salmon

Ingredients~

2 pounds salmon

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 cup sake**

Enough water to cover the salmon

Directions~

1. Rinse salmon and pull out any random bones with pliers.

2. Place salmon in a skillet with a cover.

3. Add all other ingredients.

4. Bring water to a boil and boil for one minute. Then turn off heat and let the fish cook in the hot water for another 7 - 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cut. When done the fish should flake with a fork and be a reddish pink. Remove from the hot water as soon as it flakes so it does not continue cooking.

5. Serve hot or cold. The poached salmon is also good to use in any any variety of recipes that call for a cooked meat or fish like salads, pasta, sandwiches, omelets or soups. You are only limited by your imagination.

**To be completely true to the Whole30 program substitute the sake for rice wine vinegar.

Serves 8.

Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!

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Health Benefits of Salmon

Health Benefits of Salmon (photo by LivligaHome).

As we continue to focus on our healthy lifestyle goals, it is a good time to remind ourselves of the benefits of key foods in our diet. Designing menus with more fish is good for our health. Salmon is a particularly healthy fish. Eating it 2 to 3 times a week is the common recommendation. Good news is there are many different ways to prepare salmon for tasty meals. Check out my blog or myrecipes.com to be inspired and motivated. I have been recently introduced to Jen Reviews where you can also find out more information and recipes regarding Salmon.

Here is what I found as a summary of the health benefits of salmon. It is quite a list!


Seven health benefits of salmon

1. Eating salmon is beneficial in the treatment of osteoarthritis and other inflammatory joint conditions. Salmon contains small proteins called bioactive peptides. One in particular, called calcitonin, has been shown to increase, regulate and stabilize collagen synthesis in human osteoarthritic cartilage. This salmon-found protein also improves bone density and strength.

2. Eating salmon makes you smarter and happier. The brain is 60 percent fat and most of that is the omega-3 fatty acid DHA. Thirty percent of the grey matter in the brain is DHA showing how critical it is to brain function and a healthy nervous system. Eating salmon regularly has been shown to reduce the risk and incidence of depression, hostility in young adults and cognitive decline in the elderly.

3. Eating salmon increases your cardiovascular health. As noted, salmon contains high levels of the omega-3 fats, EPA and DHA. These fats are responsible for many cardiovascular benefits such as reducing inflammation, keeping the blood from clotting excessively and relaxing and dilating the arteries. When eaten two to three times per week, salmon can protect you from problems such as heart attack, stroke, arrhythmia, high blood pressure and high triglycerides.

4. Salmon protects your eyes. Eating salmon twice a week has been shown to significantly decrease the risk of macular degeneration — a chronic eye condition that leads to loss of vision. For the treatment and prevention of a condition called dry eye syndrome, eat two to four servings per week.

5. Salmon helps build children’s brains. Eating salmon while pregnant and nursing can boost learning capability and academic performance in children. Salmon contains high levels of DHA (decosahexaenoic acid) which is the main structural fatty acid in the central nervous system and retina. Feeding salmon to preschool children also aids in the prevention of ADHD and can even boost academic performance.

6. Salmon’s an excellent source of vitamin D. Sufficient vitamin D is crucial to maintaining optimal health. A deficiency of this essential vitamin has been linked to an increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and type-1 diabetes. One can of salmon, for example, contains a day’s worth of vitamin D.

7. Salmon helps you sleep. Salmon is an excellent source of tryptophan, an all-natural sedative. Studies show that tryptophan increases sleepiness in subjects with mild insomnia and helps to shorten the time it takes to fall asleep.


Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!

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Salmon Grilled in a Pouch

Salmon cooked on the grill in a pouch is easy to do and the results are delicious (photo by LivligaHome).

Salmon we have grilled on our outdoor grill often ends up dry and with a charred skin. Don’t get me wrong, when my husband grills the salmon just right it is succulent and tasty. Regardless, though, we end up with charred skin. Sometimes it is nice not to have that charred taste as part of your meal.

Thanks to a friend we were recently reminded how to cook salmon in a pouch on the grill. It was so delicious. The meat was rosy and succulent with the flavors infused into the meat. Because it was cooked in a pouch there was no charring. It also makes for quick and easy clean up. And unlike baking in an oven, the cooking on the grill does add some smokiness to the salmon.

Preparing and cooking the salmon is easy and non-time consuming. Here is our quick and delectable version below.

Salmon Grilled in a Pouch

Ingredients

• 2 pound salmon fillet, deboned
• Fresh dill
• 1 lemon, sliced thinly
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Pinch of sea salt
• Dash of ground pepper
• Cooking spray, olive oil flavored
• Aluminum foil

Directions

1. Tear a sheet of aluminum foil that is twice as long as the salmon fillet. Make sure you will be able to roll and seal the foil once the salmon is prepared.
2. Spray the foil with cooking spray. Place the salmon in the middle of the foil
3. Drizzle the olive oil over the top of the salmon. Use your fingers to spread the oil evenly across the top.
4. Sprinkle the sea salt evenly across the top of the salmon. Do the same with the pepper. Next lay sprigs of dill all along the top of the salmon. Finally, place the lemon slices on top to cover as much of the salmon as possible.
5.  Make a pouch over the salmon and seal the top and sides.
6.  Place the pouch directly on a high, hot grill. Immediately turn the grill down to medium. Grill on medium heat for 20 minutes. Remove from grill. Open the pouch and check for doneness. The meat should be rosy and flake when separated with a fork. Serve promptly.

Serves: 8. Serving size: 4 ounces.

For other fish recipes and salmon specific recipes check out my blog.

Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!

Re-posted from Sheila's Blog on TheEpochTimes.com.

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Christmas Gift Makeover-- Smoked Salmon Salad

Smoked Salmon Salad (photo by LivligaHome)

We have a dear friend who has sent us smoked salmon as a Christmas gift for years. Each of those years our tradition has been to eat the smoked salmon on New Year's Day as we play games, have close friends over and generally hang out.

The smoked salmon appetizer comes with lots of condiments. There is chopped egg whites, sieved egg yolk, capers, diced red onion and sour cream. It all gets piled high on top of nice-sized squares of cocktail bread. We go through a lot of cocktail bread in order to eat up all the salmon, which, of course, is part of the ritual.

This year we had a different kind of New Year's Day so we didn't get around to eating the smoked salmon like we usually do. The day came and went with the package of smoked salmon sitting in the pantry.

It has been knawing at me ever since. The challenge is, on January 2, like so many others, we clean up our act and tone down our consumption. What to do with a gift of smoked salmon when you don't want to have appetizers and don't want to eat a ton of bread?

I decided to have a little fun and experiment. What about constructing a Smoked Salmon Salad? It seemed to me you could include all the condiments like before with the smoked salmon but instead of eating it on bread you could eat it on top of lettuce.

Truthfully it was a lot of fun to create. It was very tasty. And as you can see by the photo it was visually appealing. It will definitely be a repeat...maybe even when it is not New Year's Day.

Here is the recipe for the Smoked Salmon Salad:

Ingredients-
3 ounces smoked salmon
1 hard boiled egg, chopped
2 tablespoons red onion, minced
1/2 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon light sour cream
3 cups mixed greens, including baby kale
2 tablespoons Sheila's light vinaigrette

Directions-
1. Measure and flake the smoked salmon
2. Clean and measure the mixed greens. Place them in a bowl. Pour the light vinaigrette onto the salad and toss.
3. Place the tossed greens on to a dinner plate. Add the salmon, then chopped egg, red onion and capers. Top with the dollop of sour cream

Serves: 1. Calories: 277. Easily scaleable to as many as you have to serve.

To make it a meal we added a Whole Wheat Dried Apricot Muffin for 126 calories. Total calorie count for the meal-- 403.

Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!

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Mediterranean Diet- Moroccan Roasted Salmon

Moroccan Roasted Salmon with Mango Salsa

It is so much fun plunging myself into the Mediterranean diet cuisine. Last night we enjoyed a Moroccan Roasted Salmon with Mango Salsa for 334 calories. This is an easy recipe to prepare. It calls for salt on the salmon before cooking which I ignored. It does have a kick to it with the harissa. Because I knew there would be heat to the salmon, I made a cooling cucumber salad to accompany it for 38 calories. to complete the meal we had 1/2 cup brown rice for 102 calories. Total calories for the meal was 474. It was delicious and satisfying. 2 out of 3 called for a repeat. My daughter, who does not like "peppery hot" food did not like the flavoring on the salmon. My husband and I loved it, however. May not end up being a regular repeat since it is not to everyone's liking.

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Salmon Caesar Salad

Every once in a while I like cleaning out my refrigerator of my leftover vegetables. This salad is one I enjoy making to help me clean out my refrigerator. It uses a lot of different veggies and lettuces. Honestly, these are items you can mix and match, depending on what is in your refrigerator.

One of my favorite salads is a Caesar Salad. Nothing like croutons and an anchovy dressing! The challenge is it can get fattening really quickly. I have found by baking my croutons I avoid a lot of unnecessary calories. They can still be very flavorful by adding California garlic powder, herbes de Provence and some Olive Oil cooking spray to them before baking.

The trick to the delicious dressing is to emulsify it in a blender. By putting the ingredients in a blender, it makes it creamy without adding the fat.

This is a cheery salad to look at and great to share with family or when you have company. And for 229 calories per serving you can choose to add a delicious muffin to complete the meal. Try a fresh baked muffin like my Cherry Limeade Wheat Germ Muffins!

For more of my Livliga recipes here is our FREE ebook:

Live Vibrant!

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Tandoori Salmon--seriously good!

It is great fun to venture into the taste buds of another culture. The spices used, the aromas and the flavors can be so different from what we are used to that they can awaken our senses to new and enjoyable meals. This simple Tandoori Salmon (246 cal) did just that for us recently. The spices were a mix of ginger, turmeric and cumin (all really good spices for our health!). The mix definitely woke up the palate without setting it on fire. The addition of the Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce helped balance of the heat. So did the cauliflower mashed potatoes (101 cal). The meal was rounded out with roasted brussel sprouts (37 cal/the link I provided adds 2 tablespoons of olive oil but I save calories by only using olive oil cooking spray).

Here are the recipes I couldn't find a link for:

Tandoori Salmon-
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillet
Cooking Spray
Cilantro-Yogurt sauce

Heat up the broiler. Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl; rub over fillets. Place fillets on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray; broil 9 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Serve with Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce. Yield: 4 servings (serving size 1 fillet and 1/4 cup sauce).

Cilantro-Yogurt
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1/4 cup). From Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast 24/7.

All in all it was an easy meal to make which offered interesting flavors for a satisfying meal. It got a thumbs up from the family. A definite repeat. Total calories for the meal: 384. From Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast 24/7.

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Orange-Glazed Salmon

Orange-glazed Salmon

This is such a simple dinner. I love those. Yet the flavor is present and satisfying. The salmon, in particular, is as easy as can be. It is all about the glaze. After pan searing and cooking the fish, you remove it from the skillet and put the ingredients for the glaze in. It takes all of 1 minute to "cook" the glaze and voilà! You have a great entrée.

The glaze: 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, 3 tablespoons orange juice (I just use a fresh orange to squeeze the juice), 1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil (put this in at the end and just stir it in).

The rice is very similar in ease. With your prepared rice (I made brown rice), you simply add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon orange rind. That is it!

The snow peas are even easier. All you do is steam them for a maximum of 3 minutes. You can then add a seasoning like herbes de Provence or a little butter spray to taste.

Calories for the meal are: 4 ounces of orange-glazed Salmon (148), 1/2 cup brown rice pilaf (108) and 1 cup snow peas (36) for a total of 292 for the complete meal.

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Pan-Roasted Salmon and Tomatoes

Pan-roasted Salmon and Tomatoes Served Up on Livliga's Vivente pattern!

This family loves capers. Whenever I see a recipe using them, I always put it on the list to try. In perusing my new cookbook- Cooking Light fresh food fast 24/7, I found what looked to be a tasty salmon recipe that uses capers- Pan-Roasted Salmon and Tomatoes with Capers (266 calories). It was simple enough to make and the flavors really were tasty! As you can see from the photo, it is also visually appealing, a key aspect to a successful dinner. I wrote a blog earlier in the week on the asparagus that accompanied the salmon- Asparagus with Lemon-Basil Yogurt (46 calories). I recommend you check out that recipe too. To complete the meal I added a 1/2 cup of mixed rice (108 calories) for a total calorie count of 420 for the meal.

The recipe for the Pan-Roasted Salmon is:

Ingredients

• 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cooking Spray
• 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

 

Directions

Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add fillets, skin side up, to pan. Cook 3 minutes or until browned. Carefully turn fillets over. Add tomatoes, wine, and capers. Cover and cook 7 minutes or until salmon flakes when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Sprinkle with basil. 

Yield: 4 servings. Serving size: 1 fillet and 1/4 cup tomato mixture.

 

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Salmon over Warm Lentil, Apple & Walnut Salad-an Awkward Recipe

Sometimes you try recipes and they just aren't very easy to execute. I think it is important to share the occasional flop along with all the great recipes I have found. I came across a recipe last week that I thought sounded delicious and with a quick cursory review, did not look too difficult to do-Salmon over Warm Lentil, Apple & Walnut Salad. In actually doing it, though, I found it to be very "awkward" to follow. Some of the steps didn't make much sense and were hard to do. For instance, it calls for cooking the onion whole and then later on in the recipe it calls for you to cut up the steaming onion...really?!? Making the lentil puree also seemed to be extra work for little benefit since the puree comes out an ugly, unappetizing grey color. So, I do not recommend this recipe and it will not be a repeat for us. The search will continue for a similar recipe that works!

Oh well, you win some and then...you lose some.

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Healthy Recipes Made With Orange Marmalade

Orange Beef Sitr-Fry made with Marmalade and Served Up on Healthy Halsa Dinnerware

With all our jars of marmalade, it is nice to find a variety of recipes that use it as part of the ingredients. Honestly, there are only so many peanut butter & jelly sandwiches you can make or pieces of bread you can toast and put marmalade on top of...it just doesn't make that much of a dent in a yearly harvest. So I have tried out a number of healthy recipes that use marmalade. Below is a list of some of our favorites:

Broiled Salmon with Marmalade-Dijon Glaze
Herb-Orange Pork Tenderloin
Sesame Shrimp Salad
Orange Beef Stir-Fry
Orange-Glazed Carrots and Onions
Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints (use marmalade as the "jelly")

Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies Made with Orange Marmalade and Served Up on Halsa dishware

Enjoy!

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Delicious Recipe for Salmon!

We fixed this delicious recipe for Salmon last night. It is Salmon with Mustard Crust and Sauteed Spinach from Rocco Dispirito's Now Eat This! on page 88. It amazingly only has 242 calories per serving. It is packed full of flavor with the mustard, red onion and garlic. The surprise ingredient is real bacon bits. The bacon bits add texture and heighten the flavor even though there are only 2 tablespoons in the recipe for 4. Dispirito uses bacon bits in a number of his recipes I  have noticed. I think he does because, for the calories, the bacon bits add a lot to the satisfying flavor of the dish. It was truly yummy and a repeat for this family.

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