baked almond-honey salmon

another cooking lesson with mom in her kitchen… except this time, i was teaching mom how to cook! :) i’ve been having fun taking mom & dad on some culinary adventures in clean eating & cultural cuisine. on a recent visit, mom had some fresh coho salmon fillets in the fridge and i thought it would be the perfect opportunity to channel my inner julia! and so it became a lesson on cooking en papillote…

quoi? en papillote (french for ‘in parchment’) is a cooking technique where you bake food in a folded parchment paper bag (placed in a baking dish) and essentially steam the ingredients to lock-in the juicy flavours. although some may think it’s fancy-schmancy, it’s quite a simple way to prepare fish and poultry. perfect for an easy weeknight meal or weekend brunch-a-roo…

and check out that coho salmon… gorgeous, isn’t it?

almond-honey marinade:
combine & fold together the following ingredients in large prep bowl:
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (evoo)
- 1/2 cup whole almonds (crushed in mortar & pestle)
- dash of ground nutmeg

baked coho salmon:
- pre-heat oven to 350F
- place 4 fillets of fresh coho salmon in almond-honey marinade, cover both sides evenly (using your hands to roll the salmon fillets in the marinade bowl)

balsamic strawberry summer salad

and the strawberry extravaganza continues…

this easypeasy lunch was inspired by a spinach salad from a previous yumyumyummers recipe. lots of strawberries. organic mixed greens. some cottage cheese. some pantry staples. and a few minutes to pull together a light lunch after a lovely noonhour run in the fresh rain. pretty fab lunch, if you ask me. :)

the salad:
- organic mixed greens (including spinach leaves & radicchio)
- 1 cup fresh strawberries (hulled & sliced)
- 1/3 cup organic cherry tomatoes
- handful of whole, unsalted almonds
- 1/4 cup light cottage cheese (divided)

the dressing:
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar (drizzled over salad)
- season w/ ground black peppercorns to taste

blackberry & sweet oatmeal breakfast parfait

dessert-for-breakfast? a new culinary movement, perhaps? many people enjoy breakfast-for-dinner because steak, eggs & hashbrowns make them happy at any meal of the day. so why not dessert-for-breakfast for those of us who like to kickstart our day with something sweet? love it.

inspired by fellow foodie blogger much a munch’s trifle dessert recipe, i figured the layered approach could work just as well for a breakfast parfait. easypeasy & so good. and it was the perfect pre-workout snack, along with a fruit smoothie, before my long run yesterday.

the parfait goodies:
- 1-2 squares baked sweet oatmeal (warmed)
- 2 tbsp fresh blackberries
- 1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese

baked sweet oatmeal:
- the baked oatmeal takes about 10-15min to prep/bake. if you’re tight on time in the morning, you can save time by baking the oatmeal the night before. it keeps well in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
- check out the previous yumyumyummers post for the recipe

food styling:
- in a small tumbler or glass (i used a stemless wine glass), start layering the parfait by adding a generous dollop of low-fat cottage cheese at the bottom
- add a layer of crumbled baked oatmeal, followed by fresh blackberries
- continue alternating layers of cottage cheese & baked oatmeal
- top w/ a small dollop cottage cheese & fresh blackberries
- double ingredient quantities & repeat food styling for 2 servings

good morning! :)