Pasta with Salmon and Broccoli

Oh boy, do I have a recipe for you all today.  Last week, I had my graduation party at Wildfire with my family.  Wildfire is the place for parties with my family.  We have pretty much every big party there, and people always leave happy.  It's a three course meal served family style.  The best part is that you get to take all the leftovers home with you.  Hello, best week of leftovers ever.

Admittedly, though, the leftovers get a bit old after the third or fourth day.  This last party, we ended up with four large pieces of cedar planked salmon that none of us wanted to eat.  Instead of wasting the salmon, I came up with a simple pasta recipe to use up the last of our leftovers.

The recipe includes how to make the cedar planked salmon, and then mostly unnecessary directions for the other ingredients.  Because clearly you all need to be told how to boil pasta.

I ate this hot and cold.  Both ways are pretty fantastic, but I would recommend the cold for the summer months.  Serve it with a side salad, fruit and you have a wonderful summer meal!

Pasta with Salmon and Broccoli

Ingredients:


Cedar Planked Salmon: 


4 salmon filets
4 cedar planks for grill
olive oil
1 tsp salmon rub per filet
1 tsp glaze per filet


For the salmon rub:


1 tbsp paprkia
1 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cumin


For salmon glaze:


6 oz dark brown sugar
4 oz unsalted butter
3 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup dijon mustard


For the pasta:


1/2 lb whole wheat rotini
1 cup roasted broccoli


Directions:


For the salmon glaze, combine the dark brown sugar and butter in a sauce pan and heat until caramelized.  Stir in the soy sauce and dijon mustard.  Set aside.


For the salmon, soak the cedar planks for 30 minutes.  Season the filets with the rub, using 1/2 tsp for each side.  Put 1 tsp of glaze on the top of the filets.  Place the soaked planks in a heated grill and close the lid.  Turn the planks every two minutes, heating both sides.  Add the salmon and cook for 10-12 minutes.


Flake the salmon into cooked pasta.  Add roasted broccoli.  

Source:  Original Wildfire Recipe

Parsley-Panko Crusted Tilapia

 My taste buds have changed a lot over the years.  I used to be all about chicken.  Prepare it any way and I would gobble it up in no time flat.  There's a story my family likes to tell about a trip to Disney World when I was around ten, and I ordered chicken fingers at every single place we went to including a Mexican restaurant.  Clearly, I had a very sophisticated palate.

Then I went through a beef phase.  Barbecue beef.  Mongolian beef.  Beef beef.  To hell with my cholesterol, it was delicious!  Plus, I was in high school and I couldn't pass up the delectable option of a taco salad at lunch.  I mean, I was only human.

                           

Now, I've turned onto fish.  Shrimp.  Salmon.  Tilapia.  Coming from being only an occasional sea food eater, I felt like this entire new world was opened up to me.  I also discovered that most of these fish are ready to eat in about 20 minutes.  Yes and yes.

Whole Food sells these frozen tilapia filets that are only about 3 dollars for two.  Every time I see them at Whole Foods, I get super excited at the low price, despite my buying them each time I'm there.  What can I say, I live for the small things in life.

My favorite way to prepare tilapia is lightly breaded and cooked in the oven until it is delightfully crispy, but still tender and most on the inside.  I make Jessica's macaroon crusted tilapia pretty often, but last week I wanted something more savory.  Armed with some panko breadcrumbs from my pantry, I whipped up this simple recipe.

Parlsey-Panko Crusted Tilapia

Ingredients:

2 tilapia filets (fresh or frozen and thawed)

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 egg beat

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

dried parsley

lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place a cooling rack (like you would use for cookies) on a cookie sheet and set aside.

If defrosting the tilapia, place in a strainer and run cold water over the filets until thawed.  Pat the filets dry.  In a small bowl, beat the egg and set aside.  In another bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and parsley.

Dip the tilapia in the egg, shaking off any excess, and then dredge in the breadcrumb mixture.  Place the filets on the cooling rack and slide the baking sheet in the oven.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Finish off with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.