What's for dinner? The Which Came First Bake!

I'm on a roll lately, and I'm not squelching it. I even remembered to take pictures of NOT ONLY the finished product on this meal... but some of the STEPS!! Radical... I know. Especially since I was "rationing" my camera battery until my (MARVELOUS) Mother In-Law mailed it back to me (oops).  Thanks, I got it this afternoon!! :-P

SO, since this has a catchy name... you can bet I didn't name it. Hubby did. So yes, it's the "Which Came First Bake" Why? Because it's Chicken and Eggplant Parm... but not... cause I didn't use that much Parmesan cheese... and which came first... the Chicken... or the Eggplant?!? (yes, we're ham's in this house)

ANYWAY, this is really hubby's mastermind. I'd seen some REALLY nice eggplant at the store, and bought a big one... and it sat on the counter long enough that I decided it was now or never... time for Eggplant Parmesan. But then I thought "I need protein, and brother-in-law might come for dinner... and he just needs lots of food... so I'll fry up some chicken fingers to 'spread it out a bit' and we'll be all set". Well, hubby decided that what I REALLY should do is defrost a BUNCH of chicken breasts so we could have leftovers, and "parm" them... and make them the bottom layer of the eggplant parm dish. So I did. It ends up... this is a dish you can prep-ahead somewhat and bake to finish later, and it's DELICIOUS. So are the leftovers 0:-P

The basic gist (since there are NO measurements here) is to fry up some 1/2" thick slices of eggplant like you would to make eggplant Parmesan (except I just used seasoned breadcrumbs... not Parmesan anything). Then fry up some pounded chicken breasts the same way. (real hard, right? You don't even have to finish cooking them... just get them breaded and browned.)

Now, I used my "deep dish baker" from Pampered chef for this, and a large eggplant + four chicken breasts + cheese and sauce filled it up pretty well... so pyrex might not cut it this time around. But you put some sauce in the bottom of the pan, and lay the chicken breasts in as best as possible. Then some Parmesan cheese (because this was, after all, SUPPOSED to be eggplant and chicken PARM) more sauce, and mozzarella. Then layer your eggplant in the same manner (not a ton of sauce here people though) cover, and bake for 30 minutes at 350*. Now... mine ended up sitting in the covered baker for close to an hour while I made these cookies and then remembered the pasta (totally unnecessary by the way) so it may have continued to cook a bit, but I've found that pre-cooking the chicken on the stove means 30 minutes in the oven and you're done.

Here are my "in process photos" with the short-and-sweet directions: Fry, layer, bake, eat.

ENJOY!

-Betsy

Experimental Dinner Success!! Chicken and Rice with Beans and Veggies Bake

Man, I really need to work on my "titling" skills. And my remembering to take photos of food. I'm blaming it all on pregnancy. ANYWAY, I made an "experimental dinner" tonight (which always makes Hubby a little nervous) but it came out pretty well! I was even given permission to use the technique and change up the flavors for different variations!

I always liked the idea of Cambell's Chicken and Rice bake that used condensed cream of mushroom soup... but it was never soupy enough for me, and always seemed to come out dry (maybe I cook it too long, I don't know). So today, having defrosted 2 chicken breasts with NO idea what I was going to do with them, and the only request from Hubby being that "whatever we have for dinner... I want a LOT"... I thought of chicken with black beans and rice. But I didn't know what to do with the chicken part... and since I'm working on getting more veggies and less salt in my diet to help reduce the pregnancy puff.... I was even more stumped.

So I looked up how to "bake rice" to find out how much LIQUID is required for that method. Turns out: 1.5 to 1.75 times more liquid than rice. With this knowledge, and a can of black beans... I went to brainstorming. This is what I came up with (including some changes I would do next time)

Ingredients:
2-4 defrosted and trimmed chicken breasts, pounded flat (seasoned with salt/pepper/garlic powder/cumin)
1 small/medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic (or a minced clove or two)
2 teaspoons cumin
1 cup pepper, diced (I used frozen)
1 can of black beans, drained (and rinsed if you wish. I used reduced sodium beans)
1 cup rice
1 15.something ounce can of chicken broth (aka, 1 3/4 cup, again... reduced sodium)
Ovenproof cooking vessel with some sort of lid. I used a deep-dish-baker from Pampered Chef, but a pyrex dish and some tinfoil should work too.
Frying Pan

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375*
In a frying pan, heat up some olive oil, and sautee the onion until translucent, and add garlic until aromatic.
In Baker, place 1 cup uncooked rice, 1 cup pepper (frozen is still fine - no need to defrost), onion and garlic, cumin, black beans and broth (feel free to add additional veggies like tomatoes or 1/2 cup of salsa, or corn or what-have-you) and stir together.
Season your flattened chicken breasts with black pepper, cumin, garlic, salt... whatever floats your boat.
In now-empty, but hot, frying pan, place chicken to brown on each side (maybe 2-3 minutes each side?)- don't worry... you're not cooking it through, just getting some color on the outside.
Nestle the chicken into the rice/veggie/liquid mixture, throw a lid (or tinfoil) on and put in the oven. TECHNICALLY, it should take 35 minutes... mine took 45 to fully cook the rice. The chicken was done at 35 minutes (probably an extra few to heat up the stoneware).

Let it sit for a few minutes (to cool, and let the rice finish soaking up the broth after cooking) and you'll have moist chicken, flavorful moist rice, and a yummy dinner that took very little prep and follows up with very little cleaning. Heck, you can wash the frying pan, cutting board, knife and chicken-pounder all before dinner even starts!

The changes I included were: Seasoning the chicken. oops. Using 4 breasts instead of two (because portion wise... that's the right quantity for everything else). Using TWO instead of one tsp cumin. Using a WHOLE can of black beans (I used 3/4 cause... it looked good, and meant I'd have beans for quesadilla's later... and that's what came out of the can unassisted when I dumped it in the strainer). Not cooking the pepper ahead of time, and honestly? Using a frying pan. (my stock-pot was already coated in oil from popcorn!! I just went with it. Not ideal for browning chicken however...)

The hubster wanted "a lot" of food... so I doubled the amount of rice we normally eat - and after gorging himself, I still had about 2 cups of rice left-over (which is in the freezer in a ziplock now, waiting for us to eat quesadilla's next so it can be microwaved back to marvelousness - yay for freezing rice!) It always amazes me how much COOKED rice you get from RAW rice.  If you'd like a little heat... feel free to add some chili powder. About 1/2 a cup of salsa would be great too (in an attempt to avoid heartburn tonight, I refrained from heat and tomatoes).

I'll have to think up another flavor combo to try soon... a few ingredients thrown into that covered baker for a bit, and coming out with a meal-in-one?!? I LIKE it. It might become the "Crud. I didn't defrost a freezer-meal today" solution come December...

And speaking of freezer meals (I'm babbling tonight, sorry) - the chicken-pot-pies from yesterday came out well!! (although my crust never browned :-/ It might have been that I baked them in the toaster oven... which is part of why I didn't take a photo. The other part was that I cooked them FOREVER waiting for them to get brown, so I was super hungry by the time we caved and just ate.) Hubby wanted more salt in his since I made it SUPER low sodium... I want sleep lines that disappear in less than two hours, so he can deal for now. Maybe I'll go back to "regular salt" when I don't feel as puffy ;).

-Betsy

My Lunch :-D

Well, I've discovered one good thing about not being "allowed" to eat cold meat: hot sandwiches.

Like this "cheese steak" I made with a bit of leftover onion in the fridge (cooked up first - I attempted to caramelize them, but was too hungry to wait... so sauteed), scissor cut roast beef from the deli (added to onions till pipin' hot!) and some cheddar cheese (melted and mixed in with the hot beef and onions) served on a fancy roll from my deli that's just stinkin delicious (toasted up whole in the toaster oven while cooking filling) and topped with ketchup... cause... that's how I eat my cheese steaks.

Needless to say... I didn't have an early dinner 0:-P AND I finally have an original photo posted that I actually like :-P. Used natural light and everything. And no edits!! whoot woot!

So maybe this hot-cold-cut thing isn't all bad...


-Betsy

For Hadley.

Who's Hadley? The cutest little girl of the Anderson Crew!
Why Hadley? Because the poor girl has exema and is allergic to EVERYTHING.
Her mom is super cool, and takes FAB pictures. And while I don't KNOW Hadley, I figured that if I enjoyed reading her mom's blog every day... I could post a few recipes from my box that she might be able to eat, without getting the itchies (and hopefully easy for mom)

SO: Massive Recipe Overload commencing.....

NOW!


Italian Chicken Parsels
Chicken, Mozzarella Slices, Zucchini, Onions , basil or oregano, pepper, rice
- Cut squares of foil and brush with oil.
- Slash chicken 3-4 times and tuck mozzarella in the slashes.
- Place zucchini and onions maybe on foil and season with pepper and herbs
- Place chicken on veggies and close the packets (fold up the foil)
- Place on cookie sheet and cook in a 400* oven for 30 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. The veggies will steam while the chicken cooks. (or you can do it on the grill - slightly lower temps though - due to direct heat)
- Serve with white rice


Chicken Nuggets!
Super simple.  Chunk up chicken breast. Coat with (gluten free) flour, optionally seasoned with salt and pepper (nothing else needed) and pan fry in butter. It's a light coating, but delicious. I use this method in my Popcorn Chicken Salad.

Honey-Mustard Dipping Sauce
1.5 cups mayo
1/4 cup Dijon-style mustard
1/2 cup honey. Mix well, chill for 2 hours and serve.


*side note: Lumpia Sauce is very similar to sweet and sour sauce - which generally uses corn starch and/or ketchup. Lumpia sauce uses BANANA Ketchup... which might be a good alternative to some other dipping sauces that use tomato.


Tuna Noodle
1 Can Tuna
1 Cup Gluten-Free Pasta
1 cubed apple
Mayonaise 
Easiest summer food EVER. Cook Pasta, rinse with cold water (or you can make it hot and let it cool in the fridge... or eat it warm, but I don't like it warm). Drain tuna, cut apple, mix with as much mayo as you like. DONE. 


Poppy Seed Chicken - This one's been blogged... so I won't repeat it


Mustard Baked Chicken
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp mild mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp poppy seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Arrange chicken in an oven-proof dish. Combine butter, mustard, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper.
Brush mixture on chicken (I generally use a small dish and practically sink the chicken in the sauce)
Cook in oven on 400* for 15 minutes, then turn chicken over.
Serve with gluten free pasta, egg-noodles are good (although may cause itchies... I dunno), and rice is yummy too!


Scalloped Potatoes
4 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
Salt and pepper
about 3 tbsp gluten free flour
about 4 tbsp butter
about 1.5 cups milk
Butter a 1.5 qt casserole dish. Cover bottom with a single layer of potatoes. Sprinkle generously with salt pepper and flour and add dots of butter. Repeat until all the potatoes are used. Pour milk over potatoes until almost covered. Dot top with additional butter. Bake 1 hr at 350* until potatoes are soft.

Hopefully, gluten free flour and the other alternate flours around can replace your regular flour for the wheat!  I have a lot of friends with allergies - one has celiac's, and does all her own bread making with the gluten free flour and rice flours. Another is allergic to celery (talk about not eating out - EVERYTHING is cooked with celery salt!) and has started her own garden so that she can avoid all the STUFF she's allergic to. Sunflower seeds are a hit with her. And my cousin is allergic to fruit... and that's near impossible to avoid, so he takes  a Zyrtec every day... and wishes he'd known years ago that would fix it. It's always best to avoid as many foods that cause you allergies as you can... but sometimes ya gotta go the medicinal route. Like me - I'm allergic to Virginia... but I'm stuck here for now... so Clariton and Nasonex are now part of my everyday routine :-P. Good luck! And enjoy the potatoes and water Hadley ;)
 
 -Betsy

Dinner Tonight

This is what happens when you suddenly realize you have a bajillion cherry tomatoes from your garden, a HUGE bush of basil and a nice little bit of fresh oregano!

And I ate it all forgetting the picture of the noodles tossed in. :-P mmmmmm... yummy!!

-Betsy

Two day week. What's for Dinner 2!

I've been distracted this week... and part of me wants to just post another recipe... so I think I will. :-P

(Leftovers - forgot to snap a shot first!)

This recipe is thanks to my "Cousin" (AKA, best neighbor EVER - MISS YOU!!) and I finally made it the other day for my picky little God Daughter eater - and it was DELICIOUS. Just don't think about how much fatty goodness you're putting in the pan, and you'll be FINE.

Poppy Seed Chicken Bake

Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts (I'd recommend at least 6 medium - you're going to chop it up though, so a giant can of chicken or any other shape chicken is fine too)
8 oz Sour Cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
seasoned salt
garlic powder
onion powder
2 tbsp poppy seeds
2 rolls ritz crackers
1.5 Sticks of butter, melted (I broke down at the end and only used 1... we were only feeding 4 for goodness sake!)

Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 350* because this takes no time to prepare - or prepare your pan ahead and just wait till you're ready for dinner to preheat the oven.
- Boil chicken to cook, and chop into chunks
- In pan (I used a large rectangular pyrex) combine sour cream, chicken soup, seasoned salt, garlic powder and onion powder (add to taste - or a generous "sprinkle" across the entire pan of each)
- Break up the ritz crackers - a fairly easy and less messy method is to crunch them IN their sleeves, and pour out when ready. Also helps since you can crush them ahead of time)
- In a large bowl, mix the crackers, poppy seeds and butter. (I melted the butter in a microwave safe bowl, and added the crackers and poppy seeds in and just made sure to stir well - less to clean later!)
- Pour the cracker mix on top of the chicken mix and place in oven for 30 minutes

Serve over rice (and with some kind of veggie - we at the famous Peas, because God Daughter actually LOVES them)

Out comes a crunchy, oh so delicious meal that requires no knives. :-P Just scoop and eat. SO glad I snagged this recipe from you Cousin! It was a HIT with Hubby AND picky God Daughter!

What's for Dinner? Venison Steaks

So hubby's birthday was the other day, and he requested some venison steaks, grilled up. We have a favorite venison marinade, and I'm sharing it with you today - I'm sure it'd be pretty yummy for beef steaks too... but we have a favorite BEEF marinade too (that can be a later post).  I also made some flavored rice and some grilled veggies. Yummy!!

Venison Marinade from Wild Bounty, a Special Edition Game Cookbook

1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice (1 oz)
1/2 tsp onion salt (I use straight onion powder)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp black pepper

Just mix it all together and marinate the meat for at least an hour, but up to 4 in the fridge. Then grill for about 5 minutes on each side (for a 3/4 inch steak well done)

The rice I cooked in a rice cooker.

1/2 cup of uncooked rice (basmati, cause it's my favorite)
1 cup water
1 beef boulion cube (smashed up)
a sprinkle of onion powder
a sprinkle of garlic powder
2 tbs BUTTER!

and... cook till done :-P


And the veggies...
Zucchini and Yellow Squash sliced
1/4? cup oil
1 1/2 tsp/ seasoned salt
mix up in a baggy and let marinate if desired - you can also just cook right away
slice an onion, but keep in disks... after you've placed the squash on a hot grill, place the onion in the bag and coat it GENTLY with the seasoned oil, then place it carefully on the grill. Give it a few minutes to char on one side and then flip - the onion will take longer. Oh so yummy.

Happy grilling!

What's for dinner? BBQ!!

So I confess, I write my blog entrys different days than they get posted. You probably knew that already. But today's "What's for dinner?" was actually written while I was cooking THIS dinner. It was delicious, and will DEFINITELY be cooked again.

(this is actually my photo this time, lol!)

Adobo Pork Chops, Quinoa and Broccoli

The recipe for the pork came out of a cookbook Hubby's dad gave him -The Ultimate Grilling Cookbook by Better Homes and Gardens.

Pork Chop Ingredients:
6 Boneless pork loin chops, cut 3/4" thick
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
2 tsp hot chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground red pepper (optional, if you want a little extra heat)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cloves garlic, minced (I accidentally doubled this this evening, but we love garlic, so I don't expect a problem :-P)
2 tbsp sipped fresh cilantro

Directions: 
In a small bowl, mix all ingredients (except the pork silly!)
Combine marinade and pork in a zip-top bag and marinate for 2-24 hours (we did it for 1 hr, and just in the marinade bowl - I didn't start early enough to warrant the baggie :-P) turning bag occasionally
Drain chops and discard marinade
Grill over medium head for 8-11 minutes, or until juices run clear, turning once halfway through grilling.

For Quinoa, cook exactly like rice - I added 2 chicken bouillon to the cup of water (I know, only 1/cup! whatever!) for a little more flavor.

Steam broccoli until tender

Put it all on a plate, and EAT!

Venison Wing Burger Experiment

So we had our "SEE YOU NEXT TIME!" Open House this past weekend.  A bunch of wonderful friends were able to make it by, and we got through SOME of what was in the freezer/fridge. Still a long way to go... it's a good thing the next house isn't that far from the first... definitely ditty-moving (do it yourself) the coolers...

But we came up with a rough estimate of what we used to call "Ruck Burgers" - the hamburgers that were covered with hot sauce that we used to get at... "The Ruck" our old college dive bar. (they're on the menu as "Wing Burgers" - what did they know? pshhh! lol)

I had a little over 2 pounds of venison ground beef that was given to us by a friend of Hubby's, and so I mixed it all up with a McCormick packet of Buffalo Wing Mix, made some pattys and Hubby grilled them up like regular burgers. WOW. They were pretty nummy. Didn't taste just like Ruck Burgers... but they were made with venison instead of beef... and a McCormick packet instead of hot sauce, but hey. It's the thought that counts.

Either way, I ate mine with ranch dressing instead of ketchup, and it was DE-LISH. So if you're looking for a way to change it up from regular burgers for your next shindig (or tonight's dinner), throw some Buffalo Wing Mix in your ground meat and put the bottle of ranch (or blue cheese dressing) out and see what happens. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised :).

What's for dinner? Nutmeg Chicken

As requested... NUTMEG CHICKEN!! (and sweet potatoes!!)

Somehow... I don't have a picture of this. And since we'll be moving soon, I won't be making it in the VERY near future... I do have a picture of the sweet potatoes I had WITH this... but in the photo, the chicken is covered by a pan lid. Sorry.

**** EDIT *****

I made nutmeg chicken... and took pictures. Aren't you happy? :-D

 

 This dish is delicious with some sweet potatoes and green beans... mmmmm. It can easily be made "for 1" or for as many as you need to feed.... mostly because it's a it's also a "no measurement" dinner... :-P have no fear however... you'll be fine.

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Ground Nutmeg
Salt
Pepper
Feta Cheese

First and foremost - beat your meat. Smash those chicken breasts with a meat masher, a cup, a pan, your hand... something, until they're all one thickness. The thick part should be the same thickness as an un-smashed thin part (or at least really close) This will allow you to get even cooking of the chicken, while leaving it juicy and conveniently, very tender! (it's also pretty much required to pan-fry chicken)
P.S. That's pretty much all your "prep" work for this meal.

- Heat a frying pan with oil to medium high heat
- Shake your garlic, onion, salt and pepper so you have a 'dusting' over the entirety of the oil. Use MUCH LESS nutmeg - it's potent stuff. When I make it, I use a 10" frying pan and literally "tap" the ground nutmeg on my finger once (with the shaker top). That's it.
- Add your chicken in, top-side down (the smooth side) and let cook until golden brown. Don't touch it. Don't poke it, just wait. You should notice a bit of "white" around the edges when the bottom is cooked. Don't flip it over until the bottom is nice and brown. That should take about 5 minutes.
- While that's cooking,  slice some feta - 1/8" thick or so... it's not as good thicker.
- Flip the chicken, and place the feta slices on top of the chicken breast - I usually use 2 slices to cover the whole piece, but it will depend on the size of your feta block.
- Cover with a lid and let it finish cooking - about another 5 minutes.The feta doesn't really MELT but it gets softer and a little gooey.
- Serve. The whole process probably takes about 15 minutes.

SWEET POTATOES!
Even hubby agrees that sweet potatoes go well with this dish.
My Gramma's way of cooking them is probably one of my favorite.

- Wash your sweet potatoes, and poke some fork holes in them
- Pop them in the microwave and microwave for 5 minutes per potato. This basically cooks the potato.
- In a small frying pan, melt a pad of butter on medium heat - just enough to coat the pan, not enough to puddle
- Cut the cooked sweet potatoes in half, and lay the "open" sides down.
- Let cook until carmelized (it will "blacken" a bit, and that's OK)
DONE! Hubby requires marshmallows with his... I don't :-P
Stovetop, this probably takes 10 minutes.

Tips for this making this meal a 15-20 minute event (for 1 or two) - Measure out your green beans (I use frozen) and place them in some water in a small saucepan on the stove. Just leave them for now. Wash the potatoes, poke-em, pop em in the microwave and hit go. Throw the oil in one pan on the stove and turn the heat on. Throw some butter in a second pan and turn the heat on. Pound your chicken (wash your hands), throw in the spices, throw in the chicken (with tongs).  Swish around your butter, cut your potatoes, throw them on. Turn on the burner with your green beans. Slice some feta. Flip your chicken (when it's time), throw your feta on and a lid. If the potatoes are done before the chicken, just remove the pan from heat - they'll stay warm.Once the green beans are boiling, let them go for a minute or two and turn the burner off. You can leave them a few minutes more in the hot water. Once your chicken is done, drain the beans, throw some garlic, butter, salt maybe on em, swish 'em a round and plate everything.

Ready, set, EAT!

Make Up "What's For Dinner" - Lamb... mmmmm.

1st... what I made, then what you can add :-P

Directions: Mix all ingredients together in a marinating container (zip lock?) and add Lamb and marinate at least 1.5 hours, or up to overnight.

Ingredients:

5 Tbsp lemon juice

5 Tbsp olive oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

4 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp rosemary

2 tsp dried majoram

Now... instead of dried marjoram, the recipe calls for a cup of chopped fresh mint.

Let me tell you, I did have a FABULOUS cut of meat (it was Easter), but this was delicious. It was delicious the first time I had it too though.  Great when grilled.

mmmmmmm. For Easter, we ate it with sweet potatoes, a fabulous salad, and green beans

Delicious, see?

What's for Dinner? Salmon! Salmon! Salmon!

Today, I'm sharing TWO recipes for Salmon. One is more a "on a whim" salmon, and the other is... not. Neither have any real measurements... so good luck :-P

Lemon Dill Salmon

Easy salmon recipe that you can make just about any time. If you don't have a lemon on-hand, you can PROBABLY sprinkle some lemon JUICE on top before cooking and it'll still be yummy.

Ingredients:
Salmon
Dried Dill Weed
Lemon
Olive Oil

Directions:
-Choose enough salmon for each person to have about 2" of salmon steak.
-Put some olive oil in the bottom of a baking pan and lay the salmon, skin side down on top of it.
-Drizzle oil over the salmon and sprinkle generously with dill. You should still be able to see the pink of the salmon through the dill, but this is where almost all your flavor is coming from, so don't be shy.
-Slice a lemon into thin circles, and cover the salmon and dill with the slices
-Cover the pan with tinfoil and bake in an oven at 350* for 45 minutes or until done

Pistachio Encrusted Pesto Salmon

This is like "gourmet" salmon, but super easy - and marvelously decadent. It has a very full flavor that makes people think you tried really hard, even though you could do it in your sleep!

Ingredients:
Salmon
Pesto Sauce (Jarred works, fresh is better - either homemade or from the refrigerated section)
Pistachios - shelled (I shelled mine myself, but if you can afford the extra $$ for the pre-shelled ones.. you'll save your fingers some tenderness)

Directions:
-Choose enough salmon for each person to have about 2" of salmon steak. 
-Coat the bottom of a baking dish with oil and place the salmon, skin side down, in the pan.
-Pile the pesto on top of the salmon- about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick (no need for oil on top of the salmon, since it's in the Pesto)
-Place the shelled pistachios on top of the pesto - as many as you can, but only about 1 layer thick
-Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350* for 45 minutes or until done.


Both these recipes go very well with potato, but you can use any starch you like. Remember to remove the skin from the salmon before serving. You can peel the skin off before baking, or just slide the salmon sideways carefully after it's cooked and the skin will separate.  Never eat the skin of any fish if it has scales on it. OK, that was my "public service announcement" for the day :-P