Meat & Fish Weekend

It was Sunday so I thought I had plenty of time to be Blue Apron-ing and catch up a little. I did get another shipment on Saturday so I was like 4-5 meals behind. I had gotten salmon in the last shipment and knew that B wouldn't eat that. It looked really good to me, so I figured I'd just eat both servings (on different days!) because there were at least two meals I didn't plan on eating any. Like, he ate both quesadillas. If I get around to the beef stuffed cabbage, he'll be eating all that.

I chose to make the salmon for me and the turkey burgers on brioche rolls for B and E. This was a big undertaking- making TWO of these meals in one try. But they didn't look monumentally difficult, AND I've realized I can take my lazy to a new level. Nevermind cheater garlic. There were hazelnuts that needed to be coarsely chopped for the side salad that was to go with the turkey burgers. Know how I "chopped"? I put the bag on the floor and stepped on it. Repeatedly. Worked like a charm.

My "salmon knick-knacks" were missing, which was actually fine, because while I would've made it, I really didn't want to try a chick pea and cucumber salad with goat cheese. I don't know how I feel about chick peas- I've never eaten them but I definitely don't want goat cheese. I could slice a cucumber and call it a day. I like simple raw veggies as a side. The cucumber was supposed to be scooped of seeds too which would've been a giant pain in the ass.

I really just wanted to know how to cook salmon at home, which I've never done. I really love salmon, although I have to admit a little fear of fish and meat as of late. With the garbage in the ocean and mad cow and who knows what, I know a little too much for my own good and already limited palate. But whatever, I got food shipments and I'm using them. This was salmon with blood oranges. Fruit in food always intrigues me. In a good way. I like fruity. Especially the idea of it with fish. Or meat.

All I had to make for me was the salmon, so I just sliced the blood orange- which there wasn't enough of as far as I'm concerned. But, maybe I was supposed to slice it thinner. I salted and peppered, placed it atop half the orange slices, layered some stems of thyme on it, put the rest of the orange on top, drizzled with EVOO, and added MY OWN little extra- some raspberry balsamic. I had like a fewdrops left of my favorite balsamic so I just threw it on. Unfortunately, when it's on a pan, it burns and while I washed and washed the pan, it's still on there. I didn't know how easy it was to cook salmon in the oven or I would've done it before. It took like 15 minutes.

By the way, best part of both of these recipes was the lack of mincing garlic. Even though I did already buy the Trader Joes frozen kind. I did have to use old spices again though. They packed me a shallot but it looked moldy and I just didn't feel like mincing it. I actually had minced shallots, believe it or not. Apparently, I had this grand plan some time in 2012 to make something with shallots, so I bought them minced. I guess I never made it because this bottle was never opened.

I needed the shallots for the turkey burgers. They were relatively easy to make. Even frying them, which I thought was going to suck. I've made pancakes before and I felt like it would like making silver dollar pancakes. Sliders are much, much easier than pancakes, that's for sure. I had to toast the hazelnuts which was a little bit annoying. I thought of throwing them in untoasted but I didn't know if it was something people don't eat raw. Shut up. I don't. I don't make a habit of eating nuts. Just not my thing.

I made an arugula salad with some crumbly cheese they gave, the hazelnuts, and I threw in some grape tomatoes I had. Topped it with some EVOO. Blue Apron really likes EVOO. I used Pam to put on the salmon pan to cook though.

I got E to eat one of the turkey sliders, which was a huge win. I tasted one, and B had three, leaving him one tonight to throw into the extra salad. I definitely think it yields more than the two servings per meal if you plate it right and don't go back for seconds that night. They definitely give you an ample amount of the veggies. The cucumber they gave me was enormous.

What B has firmly decided is that he likes the more casual meals, hands down. He's not into the fancy stuff. It also probably has to do with the kitchen being neater for some reason when the meal is less fancy. Also, usually, when the meal is fancier, it involves some kind of hunk of meat, which is just not his thing. Wait till I get to the pork meal for my next go round.

I put my Blue Apron on hold for a little while. I didn't really like the next two menus and I need a break. I'm back on the wagon at Jenny and just can't afford the calories for these big dinners. They're not unhealthy at all. They actually seem on the healthier side. But had I made the whole salmon thing with the chick pea salad, it would've been like 673 calories per serving. I'm doing about 300 calories right now for a dinner. I usually only like two out of three dishes on the weekly menu. I wish you could pick any three meals from all their menus (meat/fish/vegetarian etc) but since I've now had three shipments with something missing from two, maybe that would just be too chaotic. Their customer service is great, and I'm sure if I tell them my salmon knick-knacks were missing, they'll credit me, so I think it's definitely worth the money. I just can't do this much cooking right now.



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