Skip to main content

Lunch rush

One recent night, I was starving when I left work, so I decided to grab some dinner on the way home at my favorite sushi place. However, I still needed to have lunch for work the next day, so I threw together a quick meal for that. I still had a couple salmon fillets left over after my birthday brunch, so I decided to cook one of those up.
The plant portion of the meal consisted of kale (chopped), baby bella mushrooms (sliced), onion (diced), garlic (sliced), orange bell pepper (diced), parsley (minced), and basil (chopped).
I seasoned the salmon skin with pepper, heated some extra virgin olive oil in my pan, and, when it was hot, put the salmon in skin side down. As it was cooking, I seasoned the meat with salt and pepper. Once the skin started getting crispy, I flipped the fillet and let it finish.
Once the salmon was finished, I dropped in the onion and garlic and cooked until they were just starting to turn translucent, at which point I dropped in the mushroom, kale stem, and bell pepper. Once the pepper and mushroom had softened a bit, I dropped in the kale and parsley, then let it all finish up together with a little salt. The basil went in with about 30 seconds left.
Since this was just for a work lunch, presentation was pretty much out the window; I just put the food in my little plastic box, put a lid on it, and tossed it in the fridge for the next day. All in all, the process took about 20 minutes or so, one pan, minimal mess, and a tasty lunch at work.

Note: I did not heat the salmon at work; I like it cold, and I didn't want to piss off the IT department by microwaving fish in their work area.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Voices in my head, or: Why do I cook?

Every time I chop a vegetable, slice a steak, drop garlic into oil, or scrub a pan, I hear voices in my head: my mom, my dad, my grandmothers, friends from college like James and Liz, friends from adulthood like Rick and Claudio, internet friends like NerdyCap , and tv chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Jeff Smith, Anthony Bourdain, Jacques Pepin, and Alton Brown, all of the folks who have taught me, directly in person or indirectly through books, tv episodes, or live streams, about cooking.  Steak frying with minced onion and minced garlic Sometimes I hear them instructing me on what I'm doing, the same words I've heard repeat in my head hundreds or thousands of times. "Don't let the garlic overcook or you'll get a bitter taste," mom says every time. Claudio often hits me with "If you hear them sizzling, they're sautéing. If they're quiet, they're caramelizing." "Why the fuck are you fucking doing this, you stupid donkey?!" ...

My Mexican restaurant

Some nights (and weekends), I just don't feel like cooking, so I do go out to local restaurants from time to time. My most frequent haunt is El Idolo, a Mexican place just on the edge of Bartlett, TN. It sits a good 1/8 of a mile from the geographic center of the county, so it's reached easily enough from everywhere. They also have the best damn margaritas in town. I've come here frequently and long enough (since they opened, to be honest), that I don't order a drink - my server brings my drink when I've been seated. Incidentally, I go for the medium (used to be large, but they added a new size that's for my Sundays only) margarita on the rocks, no ice, no salt. When a new server starts at "the 'Dolo" (as we call it), it usually takes them 2-3 visits before they remember, and then it's smooth sailing again. Most places that I've ordered this just mix a normal margarita, then top it off with their mix; the 'Dolo says, "nah, hermano,...

A Spicy Tuesday Night

 In my younger years, I did not enjoy spicy foods. Luckily, I grew up... Recipe for habanero cream sauce Tonight for dinner, I made chicken and veggies with a new favorite: habanero cream sauce. I started with a couple mushrooms, a couple radishes, some shallot, a little yellow bell pepper, and a few cloves of garlic.  I generally try to group ingredients by when I want to add them (I call them "firm," "soft," "aromatic," etc.). In this case, the sliced baby bellas and diced bell pepper were "soft," the sliced radish and slivered garlic were "hard," and the minced shallot and minced garlic were "aromatic." A little knife work, and they were ready to go, which meant it was time to tackle the habanero.  I cut it up last just to help prevent getting that heat mixed in anywhere it didn't need to go. I mince that shit down so I can mix it around pretty thoroughly, and I threw that into the a...