Provencal Salmon Burgers With Cucumber Sauce

Ingredients:

3 cups each cauliflower and broccoli florets (1 lb. total)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 pound salmon fillets, skin and bones removed, cut into chunks
1 egg white
3/4 teaspoon herbes de Provence
5 kalamata olives, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped capers
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Olive oil cooking spray
4 whole wheat buns
Green leaf lettuce, torn (optional)

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce:

1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1 crushed clove garlic
1 teaspoon lemon juice


Instructions:

 1)  In a medium saucepan, bring 4 cups water to a boil.  Add cauliflower and broccoli.  Cook for 4-5 minutes, until tender but still firm.  Remove vegetables from pot and toss with lemon zest and set aside.

2)  In the bowl of a large food processor, combine salmon, egg white, herbes de Provence, olivers, capers, onion and Dijon.  Pulse 3 or 4 times until mixed but salmon is still chunky.  Remove and form mixture into four 4-ounce patties, set aside.

3)  Prepare cucumber yogurt sauce.  Grate cucumber over a cheesecloth or clean towel.  Wrap up cheesecloth or towel and squeeze tightly until all of the liquid is removed from the cucumber.  In a medium bowl, combine cucumber, yogurt, garlic and lemon juice and mix well.

4) Heat a medium saute on medium-high heat and mist with cooking spray.  Place salmon patties in pan, mist tops with cooking spray and cook for 4-5 minutes per side.

5) To assemble burgers, place each salmon patty in one bun and top with 1/4 cup cucumber yogurt sauce.  Add lettuce to burger, if desired.  Serve with one cup broccoli-cauliflower mixture on the side.

* serves four, takes about 15 minutes to prepare

* one burger with one cup vegetable mix equals 342 calories

* I don't like raw onion or garlic, so I would saute it lightly or parboil it before mixing it in.

* You could also skip the burger aspect and eat the patties over rice, or just with the vegetables.

* untested

Broiled Pineapple With Rum

Ingredients:

Prepare an average sized pineapple, cut into wedges or rings
Brown sugar, as much as needed
1/4 cup rum

Steps:

1) Spread the pineapple slices into one layer in a ceramic or glass baking dish, sprinkle lightly with brown sugar and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about ten minutes.

2)  When the pineapple begins to brown a bit, remove it from the oven.

3)  Heat 1/4 cup of rum in a small saucepan and pour the rum over the pineapple slices.  Strike a match, carefully light the rum and flame the fruit.  When the flame subsides, serve the pineapple warm from the dish, or at room temperature.

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*  Smaller pineapples tend to be sweeter.  One way to test for ripeness is to pull the center leaf out of the crown.  If it removes easily, it is ripe.

* To clean the pineapple, use a serrated knife and cut off the top and bottom of the fruit, then peel away the skin along the curves.  Next remove the "eyes" that run around the exterior in a spiral, using a sharp paring knife.  Work around the pineapple in a circular spiral fashion.

*untested

Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
1 1/2 teaspoons unsalted butter
6 ounces portobellow mushrooms, stemmed and chopped
4 ounces button mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon Italian flat-leaf parsley chopped
Sea Salt
Ground White Pepper

Steps:

1) In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine stock and cream and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about four minutes.  Remove from heat.

2) In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Add portobello and button mushrooms and saute until softened, about five minutes.  Stir into cream sauce with oregano, chive and parsley.  Season with salt and white pepper to taste.  Serve warm.

* untested

*  Makes two cups

* topper for rice or pasta or beef dish, like Salisbury Steak

Honey-Roasted Squash

Ingredients:

4 mixed winter squash such as acorn or butternut, about the same size for equal cooking time
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Steps:

1) Preheat the over to 450 degrees and position a rack in the middle of the oven.  

2)  Cut each squash in half and scoop out the seeds and fibrous flesh from inside.  Then cut larger ones in half again.  Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

3)  Thinly slice the ginger, then cut into thin matchsticks and set aside.

4)  In a small saucepan, melt the butter and honey.  Add 1/4 cup of water and the ginger and stir well.

5)  Pour the butter and honey mixture over the squash and toss well, making sure that all of the squash pieces are well coated.  Sprinkle the salt over the squash and toss.

6)  Spread the squash evenly on a treated baking sheet and transfer to the oven.  Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning and basting the squash every 10 to 15 minutes.  Add a few tablespoons of water as the squash roasts if it seems to be burning.  The squash should be golden brown and very soft when done.

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*  You can use butternut, acorn, sweet dumpling, delicata or carnival varieties of squash.

* I would put foil on the baking sheet and do a thin coating of oil to keep the pieces from sticking.

* Since you have to baste the squash every 10-15 minutes for up to an hour, I might be tempted to hold back a little of the coating, or make a little extra.

Untested

Carrot Pickle

Ingredients:

8 medium carrots, peeled
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 arbol chilies

Steps:

1)  Slice the carrots as thinly as possible, either into rounds or on the diagonal (bias.)  Put in a harge heatproof bowl.

2)  In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, spices and chilies and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt.  When the sugar and salt have dissolved, pour the pickle over the carrots.

3)  Let the pickles cool at room temperature and then put them into a plastic or glass container, cover, and refrigerate.  The carrot pickle will be ready to eatt the next day and will keep for two months.

*Untested