Salmon with a Cherry Tomato Balsamic Reduction

Luke's out of town this weekend, so I had to go it alone in the kitchen. So I'm going to make a bit of a confession and say that I've actually cooked salmon before, so this isn't entirely a new recipe.

I found a nice salmon steak while grocery shopping and decided that I could make that for my meal of the week. I started off by making the cherry tomato and balsamic reduction becasue the salmon cooks so quickly. This really just means I heated up the tomatoes an balsamic vinegar...sounds fancy though, right? Then

I pan fried the salmon because that's really the simplest way to cook it.

I was most nervous about plating the meal because Luke usually gives me helpful pointers. Well, you be the judge, how does it look? If it's any consolation, this meal was super easy, super delicious and cooked in no time!

Memorial Day Trip means no cooking!

Well because Luke and I went to Milan, Italy last weekend for the holiday, I was not able to cook.

I was however, lucky enough to get the opportunity to eat some amazing foods. I even documented the phenomenal pizza we had. So there you have it...a yummy meal that I did not cook, but did enjoy!

Filet of Beef with Tomato-Bean Salsa

Tonight was my second attempt at cooking dinner for Luke. I decided this time I would try something completely new to me, cooking beef! The recipe was simple...beef tenderloin and a salsa on the side. Unfortunately, beef tenderloin is the most expensive cut of meat, so I made a recession friendly decision to cook with beef sirloin that we had in the freezer.

I started by preparing the salsa. This salsa consists of pinto beans, tomato, cucumber, avocado, red onion, basil, and red wine vinegar. We added a few extra spices to flavor it up a little. Easy and tasty.

Next, I got the pan nice and hot with oil for the steak. I added some lime juice to the steak and then put it in the hot pan to cook. About 7 minutes later the steak was medium rare and ready to serve. As you can see the meal was very quick and easy and very tasty.

I can't believe I had never cooked steak before, it is so simple! It's even easier than chicken because you don't have to worry about not cooking it enough and getting sick.

I was very happy with this meal. The hearty steak paired with a fresh bean salsa was a nice contract.

Difficulty: easy
Time: 20 minutes
Rating: A

Chicken Milanese

On Sunday evening I prepared my first meal for Luke.  I was a bit nervous, but also quite excited to finally cook for the chef!  With my handy Weight Watchers cookbook in hand, I embarked on cooking Chicken Cutlet Milanese and a salad of romaine with a balsamic vinaigrette  and corn on the cob.

I have to say that this meal was quite easy to prepare and took very little time to prep and cook.  Really just a simple egg wash and cornmeal breading of the chicken followed by a pan fry and voila! 

Luke was helping as my sous chef in case anything got out of anything got out of hand, but thankfully, I did well on my own!  And let me just say that this yummy chicken tasted scrumptious....just like fried chicken and only 5 WW points!  What a way to begin my weekly cooking experiments.

Grade: A

Level of Difficulty: 1

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 large egg white
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 4 (1/4) pound chicken breast (or turkey) cutlets
• 4 tsp olive oil

Directions

1. Whisk together the egg white and lemon juice in a large shallow  bowl.  Mix together the cornmeal, Parmesan and the salt and pepper in another bowl.
   
2. Dip each cutlet into the egg white mixture, the coat with the cornmeal mixture, pressing lightly so it adheres.
3. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the cutlets in batches if necessary, and cook until browned and cooked through, about 3 minutes on each side
4. ENJOY!