Thyme for Cooking
Seasonal Weekly Menus & Shopping Lists
Healthy Food Fresh Ingredients Simple Recipes
Menu Plan for Fall I: Week 4, Day 1
Baked Salmon with Lemon Mayonnaise
Creamy Polenta with Bacon and Sage
Broccoli with Butter and Herbs
Cooking time: 30 minutes for menu Cooking schedule: see below for instructions
An easy dinner tonight. Nothing takes long to cook. I give bacon quantities in weight, rather than slices, because the thickness of a slice can vary greatly - and it's really a matter of taste, anyway... use more or less as you like.
Baked Salmon with Lemon Mayonnaise
Total time: 20 minutes
A light coating of mayonnaise, thinned with lemon and olive oil, keeps the salmon filets, moist. It gets a lovely golden color while baking and infuses the salmon with a fresh lemon flavor.
Ingredients:
- 2 salmon fillets or steaks, steaks, 6oz each (180gr each)
- 3 tbs mayonnaise
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tbs olive oil
- Olive oil for coating pan
Instructions:
- Whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon and oil.
- Put salmon on a lightly oiled baking sheet.
- Divide lemon mayonnaise evenly and spread over salmon.
- Bake at 400 F for 12 - 15 minutes, until top is light brown and fish flakes easily. Serve.
Note: For easy clean up cover pan with foil first. This is especially nice if you are using fillets with the skin on. You can carefully lift the salmon off the skin to serve, leaving the skin on the foil. Then wrap the whole mess up and toss.
Creamy Polenta with Bacon and Sage
Total time: 15 minutes
Use quick cooking polenta. Check the package directions for quantity proportion - you may have to add more (or less) liquid to get a soft consistency. It can be adjusted at the end, before serving. You can add a bit more milk to thin. It should be like mashed potatoes - but studded with crisp bacon and fragrant sage!
Ingredients:
- 1oz (30gr) bacon 1 - 2 slices
- 1 tbs chopped fresh sage substitute 1 1/2 tsp dried
- 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) chicken stock
- 1/4 cup (1.5oz, 45gr) polenta, quick-cooking
- 1/4 cup (2oz, 60ml) milk
- 1/4 cup (1oz, 30gr) Parmesan
Instructions:
- Slice bacon crosswise into 1/4 inch strips.
- Sauté in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels.
- Pour off all but 1 tsp fat from pan. Add sage to pan and sauté briefly.
- Add stock and bring to a boil.
- Slowly pour in polenta, whisking constantly - or it will have little volcanic eruptions spewing polenta all over your cook top.
- Turn heat down and cook about 5 minutes (or whatever your package tells you), stirring constantly.
- When done, stir in milk, Parmesan and bacon. Serve.
Broccoli with Butter and Fresh Herbs
Total time: 20 minutes
Butter and fresh chives are a simple finish for broccoli. Any fresh herbs will work, but my choices would be chives or thyme. Use dried herbs when fresh are not available.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 head of broccoli enough for two
- 1 tbs butter
- 1 tbs chives substitute 1 tbs dried
Instructions:
- Cut broccoli into bite size florets and stems.
- Put in a steamer basket in a saucepan with an inch of water in bottom. Put on medium heat and steam for 10 - 12 minutes or until done.
- Remove from pan and set aside, discarding water.
- In same pan heat butter.
- Add chives and sauté lightly.
- Add broccoli and stir. Serve.
Cooking Schedule: 30 minutes |
Cut broccoli, put in steamer basket, steam |
Share this:
----------------------
Get 7 Dinner Menus, Recipes, Shopping List each Thursday by e-mail: Subscribe
