Salmon-Asparagus Orzo Salad

Salmon-Asparagus Orzo Salad
Originally found at My Recipes.com

6 cups water
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 3-inch pieces
1 cup uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
1 (1 1/4-pound) skinless salmon fillet
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat broiler. Put water into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add asparagus; cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove from water, reserving water in pan. Place in ice water; drain and set aside.

Bring reserved water to a boil; add orzo and cook until al dente. Combine dill, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour over salmon fillet and place on a foil-lined broiler pan. Broil 5 minutes* or until fish flakes easily with fork.

Using two forks, break fish into chunks. Combine fish, orzo, and asparagus in a large bowl and toss. Season again with lemon juice and olive oil, if desired.

My Notes:
*If you're using a frozen salmon fillet, use the low broiler setting and cook 10-15 minutes, until the center is a light pink. No, I don't really trust raw fish.

A few months ago, I went to a restaurant called Orzo. The menu wasn't fabulous for a kosher-style diet, as most of the dishes contained pork. But, I lucked out and found a broiled salmon fillet over a bed of asparagus orzo. I hadn't really ever had asparagus before, so I was hesitant to get it, but I went for it, thinking I could pick out the asparagus if it came down to it. I actually found that I really liked it. This recipe basically mimics it, except that you break the salmon into the salad.

I changed the original recipe a little by using the 'vinaigrette' to flavor the salmon instead of tossing the whole salad in it. As a result, there wasn't a ton of flavor on the orzo itself, but that was easily fixed by some more lemon juice and olive oil.

And notice! It's not a dairy recipe!

Tilapia Sammies

Tilapia Sammies
Originally found in Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book (p 23)

4 tilapia filets
all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 sleeve saltine crackers
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp cajun seasoning
1 cup sour cream (optional)
1 chipotle in adobo, plus 1 tsp sauce (optional)
Rolls

Preheat oven to 400 or broiler to high.

Season the tilapia filets with salt and pepper. Crush the crackers and mix with the paprika and cajun seasoning. Set up three dishes on the counter; in one, place the flour (enough to cover the bottom well), in the next, the eggs, and in the third the cracker mixture.

Dredge each filet in the flour, then in the eggs, and then coat liberally with the cracker mixture. In a saute pan, heat a small amount of oil, then place the filets in the pan. Cook until golden brown on each side and cooked through (about 3-4 minutes). Meanwhile, cut the rolls and heat in the oven until slightly toasted.

Optional sauce: Mince the chipotle well, then mix it with the sour cream.

Place a filet on each roll, and spread the sour cream mixture on the tops. Eat with lettuce, tomato, onion, avacado, etc, as desired.

My Notes:

Without the sauce, this is pareve. And yummy. I misread the recipe and didn't put enough of my cajun seasoning in, so I thought they were a little bland, but the sauce more than made up for it. I think I love these now.

Rachael's recipe also calls for limes, and I substituted cajun seasoning for seafood seasoning because I thought it sounded good. It also has a recipe for citrus honey slaw, but being that I'm not big on cole slaw, I skipped that.

Chesapeake Spiced Salmon Cakes

Far as I see, this is pareve. Call me out if I'm wrong.

Chesapeake Spiced Salmon Cakes
Adapted from Whole Foods Website

1 lb cooked salmon
1 2/3 cups breadcrumbs, divided
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning or other seafood seasoning
1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped yellow bell pepper
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
3 tablespoons safflower or canola oil
Lemon wedges for serving

In a large bowl, break up salmon into small pieces, discarding any pieces of bone or skin. Gently fold in 2/3 cup breadcrumbs, seasoning, peppers, onions, salt and pepper, until combined and then shape into 12 small patties. (Salmon patties can be made up to a day in advance. If you’re not cooking them immediately, transfer to a large plate, cover and refrigerate.)

Transfer remaining 1 cup breadcrumbs to a wide, shallow dish. Gently coat each patty in breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess, and transfer to a large plate. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Arrange 6 of the patties in the skillet in a single layer and cook, gently flipping once, until deep golden brown all over, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate as done and then heat remaining oil in skillet and repeat process with remaining patties. Serve salmon cakes hot, with lemon wedges on the side.

My Notes:

Original recipe calls for only red bell pepper. From a recipe I did yesterday, I had half of a yellow bell pepper in my fridge too. I couldn't chop them finely enough for my taste, so I used my blender and got a pepper mush. I put all that in a bowl and added the green onion, the seasoning, and the breadcrumbs, and it was nice and crumbly and moist, so I omitted (ok, I forgot) the egg and mayonnaise in the original recipe. Feel free to reference the original recipe and see what works the best for you.

Using cooked salmon is a must, because the frying probably isn't enough to fully cook your fish, even if you could get it to flake and stuff nicely. I baked mine in some tin foil and added it in after I mixed everything else. Apparently my patties weren't small enough, though, cause I didn't get 12 of them.

My sister said they were delicious. I thought they were good, but not something I'd eat regularly. Just as a monthly or quarterly thing. They're definitely full of flavor, though. Definitely a keeper.

I linked to a recipe for Old Bay seasoning so you could see what all was in it. Since I still live with my mom (she adores shrimp and crawdads), I happened to have a canister of it in our pantry.