I decided that I'm a huge fan of all-in-one dishes (and using lots of hyphens and brackets apparently) instead of protein, veg and grain all being separate on the plate. There is always the possibility of turning the latter into the former when you want to make a dish that can be heated back up all at once and will meld the flavours all together. Some people choose to eat one component at a time, while some people like to take bits of each part on the fork at once and eat that way. For these second types of eaters I hope that the ingredients all work together, otherwise there are some serious flavour combo disasters waiting to happen.
But let's say that you can indeed theoretically combine all three things you want to eat separately into one dish. Let's say I wanted to eat chicken with carrots and couscous. Couldn't I just cook each component and mix them together to make a chicken and carrot couscous? This is the logic I used when I didn't feel like having leftovers of any one component and came up with this concoction that is surprisingly (or not) really delicious!
Salmon and Asparagus Wild Rice Salad
1 c. wild rice blend
2 c. vegetable broth
1 tsp margarine or butter
pinch salt
6-8 asparagus stems
2 salmon fillets (I used frozen, you can use fresh)
1 1/2 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp dill weed
pepper
garlic powder
To make the rice:
Mix ingredients together in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook covered for 50 minutes until all but a teaspoon or so of the liquid is gone. Do not drain.*
To cook the asparagus:
Rid the stems of any knobby ends near the white ends and wash the stems thoroughly. Taking each stem at either end, gently bend the stem until it snaps. The point at which this happens is exactly where the stem stops being tough and starts being tender. Discard tough bits and dice the tender ends in 1/2 inch pieces.
Cook pieces in boiling water until they are bright green, about 2-3 minutes. Immediately soak them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside.
To cook the salmon:
Preheat the oven to 450degF. Place the fillets on a pan covered in greased aluminum foil. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients, seasoning to taste. Spread the sauce over the fillets and cook for 20 minutes. Chop cooked fillets and set aside.
To bring salad together, mix all ingredients in a bowl. Dress with a light dressing of dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Mix well and season to taste with garlic powder, salt and lots of freshly cracked black pepper.
*If you get rid of all the liquid, the rice will be dry. Wild rice tends to be a bit crunchier than white or brown rice, but this particular variety also thickens the broth such that the resulting rice is a bit creamy. Getting rid of the last little bit of broth would ruin it.
If you don't want a vinigrette-type dressing, feel free to omit and dress with lots of cracked pepper. This particular rice blend has lots of body and tastes great on its own. You could also play up the dill in the salmon and make more of the dill sauce used with the salmon to bind the salad.
Also awesome:
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 bananas
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350degF. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, paying special attention to make sure the bananas are properly mushed and incorporated into this gloopy mix. Spread evenly into a greased bread pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry. Cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
I have a picture but I think my uploader is as tired as I am.
Also, as a note, when making chocolate pudding, it boils really gently so don't wait for it to boil as obviously as you thought it would before you remove it from the heat and try to get it to set...
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