Pasta with Edamame and Salmon

One of my favorite things to have on hand are Wild Alaskan Salmon Burgers from Costco. A bag of 12 costs about $13 and they cook in 5-8 minutes. They're super versatile; I eat them on buns, salads, with pasta, with eggs.

For a lazy, quick lunch today I boiled some pasta, added frozen edamame 5 minutes before it was done, and put a salmon burger in a skillet. When the pasta and edamame were cooked, I added them to the burger, flaked it, added a little olive oil, lime juice, dill, red pepper, salt/pepper.

delicious.

tofu

I really like tofu. I like trying new recipes for tofu. But I have awful luck with pan-fried tofu recipes. They almost NEVER turn out like they should. So many say "cook 3-4 minutes until golden brown and crispy" but I cannot get marinated tofu to brown in less than 15-20 minutes and it splatters like crazy making a mess of the range and the floor. It might get a little crispy, but as soon as I add a sauce, it gets chewy and soft. I've tried coating tofu in egg and flour or breadcrumbs, but the coating gets soggy or falls off and it sticks and splatters. I've tried "deep" frying, in an inch or two of oil, and it's okay, but both me and the house stink afterward.

Well, I think I made some awesome tofu two nights ago for pad thai. I'm really excited about the recipe, and think it's going to be my go-to method now for crispy tofu.

Crispy Tofu

1 block extra-firm tofu cut into 1/2-inch cubes and blotted dry

1/2 c cornstarch
1 tsp garlic salt
few sprinkles ground pepper
red pepper flakes to taste

Mix dry ingredients. Put tofu in big bowl, pour dry ingredients over top. Gently toss, shake, swirl tofu until each piece is totally coated with the cornstarch mixture. Add more cornstarch if necessary. Heat about a quarter inch of canola oil in a non-stick skillet over med-high heat. I usually add one piece of tofu and see if it really sizzles when added. Carefully slip tofu into skillet, piece by piece, and turn when golden brown (about 3-5 minutes depending on heat). I made two batches because I have a little skillet.

I ate about 1/4 of the tofu before adding it to to the pad thai. It was crunchy, salty, spicy, fried, and delicious. After tossing it with the sauce, it did soften up a little, but still crunched.

caramel attempt one

I was craving caramel apples last week so I looked up a few recipes. 101 cookbooks website had a delicious-looking recipe and this one on epicurious looked amazing. I compromised and used ingredients from both, although I can't quite remember the ratio. I added half&half, butter, brown sugar, honey, and salt. I had a heck of a time... the mixture looked really curdled after it came to a boil. I'm not sure if it's because I used half&half instead of heavy cream, brought it to a high temperature too quickly, or because I only made 1/2 cup of caramel sauce. Regardless, it looked gross when I took it off the heat but really came together after setting the pan on ice water and cooling while whisking. I ate it all. I'll keep working on this recipe because I think it'll be worth it once done just right :).

Lemon Parmesan Pasta

We've been settled in to our new place for almost a month, but it wasn't until a couple weeks ago that we had our first "real" meal at the table! I made about 8 oz of pasta, drained it, added some lemon zest and juice, salt/pepper, lots of grated parm, and fresh spinach. It was really simple and really delicious. Here's the table all set with new dishes and place mats! More pictures soon of our new hutch and dining/living room :). First official day of school tomorrow!

New Place!

Well here's the front porch. Mom's coming with my Great Grandmother's bedroom set and my aunt's couch on tuesday, and we're buying a hutch for the dining room! "complete" photos soon, for empty-house photos see below:

Indianola House

Quick DC Trip

Had a quick trip to DC with mom and brother Sunday and Monday. We stayed at a gorgeous hotel, walked around the mall at midnight, visited the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (mammal exhibit!), and ate delicious falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop
Downtown at Midnight

Hotel Lobby


Stuffed mammals at Smithsonian

Falafel

Time Flies

Time seems to pass so slowly sometimes. Then I realize it's been almost TWO WEEKS since I last updated! I'm sorting papers right now, but soon I'll find my camera cord and upload lots of photos of the new place and a few recipes I've made lately.
One bit of news: our wedding photos were posted on the photographers website a day or two ago! Overall I love them, and I'm excited to have some prints to hang and an album to put on our new coffee table.