Soy-Maple Glazed Salmon with Cauliflower Puree

After a week-long vacation filled with all-you-can-eat buffets followed by the sobering reality that can only come from a high school reunion, today was the day I had to start eating healthy… again.

I keep trying to stick with this healthy eating concept but my plans always seem to get derailed, which I’m certain has absolutely nothing to do with my complete lack of self-control. Instead I’m blaming everyone around me who requests dessert that I have to make over and over until they come out just right. And while I’m at it I’ll blame the crappy Chicago weather for the short growing season and currently uninspiring local produce, and of course let’s not forget my mom because she thinks I blame her for everything (not true, love ya mom!).

Okay, enough with the excuses. Tonight I made a delicious meal for myself that was pretty darn healthy: soy-maple glazed salmon with cauliflower puree. Sure, I used maple syrup in the glaze but it’s a natural sugar, and you can be certain it was pure maple syrup and none of that corn-syrupy fake stuff. And there’s a little bit of non-dairy sour cream in the cauliflower puree, but it’s just the right amount to add a bit of zazz to an otherwise perfectly healthy side dish.

And what did I think of my oh-so-healthy dinner? It was great of course. The salmon was baked with a sauce made from shallots, soy sauce, maple syrup and lemon juice, which was sweet and a little tangy. The cauliflower puree was smooth and creamy with just a hint of tang from the (non-dairy) sour cream, and was enhanced even further by eating it with a drizzle of the glaze. All in all, a good first step.

Here are the recipes:

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Spinach, Cannellini Beans & Chicken Thighs in White Wine Sauce

I’m happy to announce my bout with foodblock seems to be letting up a bit. Granted, it’s not as severe as swine flu or something like that, but it has been a bit debilitating for me this past week. Luckily, I’m seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Again, I turned to Twitter to help conceptualize the ingredients I wanted to work with. I was almost there on my own but needed to verbalize it, which is why I’m grateful for social media sites like Twitter: they give communicative and sometimes indecisive people like myself an audience to bounce ideas off of.

Even better, the final dish turned out wonderfully. Basically, I made a one-pot meal of braised chicken thighs with caramelized onions, a lot of garlic, spinach and cannellini beans in a white wine sauce. It was easy, inexpensive and healthy, loaded with protein, fiber and all sorts of good nutrients.

Here’s the recipe:

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Curried Cauliflower Coconut Soup

A year ago I would’ve told you I hated cauliflower, but the truth was I didn’t understand it. But that changed last winter when I challenged myself to find the brighter side of cauliflower, a side different from the mushy cauliflower mess served in elementary school lunches mixed with overcooked and tasteless carrots and broccoli. And it turned out cauliflower that I did like cauliflower with it fairly neutral astringent taste that works in many cooking methods, although my favorites are roasted and pureed.

This soup takes the pureed route. The cauliflower is simmered with onions, garlic and ginger in a chicken broth-coconut milk liquid. Once soft, the mixture is pureed into to a silky smooth texture and seasoned with spices. And voila, a beautiful, smooth, subtly spicy soup with a hint of sweetness from the coconut milk.

Curried Cauliflower Coconut Soup

Oh, and did I mention it’s healthy and nutritious?

Here’s the recipe:

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Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: relax, there’s no soy in this faux ice cream!

I will never be able to figure out why whenever I mention “soy ice cream” people automatically make a disgusted face and say “ew.” Granted, some soy ice creams are pretty awful but many are really good, so good in fact that it’s near impossible to tell that they’re dairy-free. I also like coconut milk ice creams, although I do pass on anything made from rice milk, those really are gross.

But what about a non-dairy ice cream made from almond milk? I’d never heard of it before but figured almond milk should work just like any other fake milk, essentially adding a creamy base to a fruity sorbet.

Well, it turns out I was a little off. The biggest problem in working with almond milk was that its lack of fat made it watery, causing it ti freeze like ice. It would be like using fat-free milk to make ice cream. Through a bit of trial and error I finally came up with a winning solution using both cornstarch and gelatin to thicken and add body to the batter, making for a smooth and creamy, albeit a bit cold, version of non-dairy ice cream.

Despite the trials I was determined to make this work. Not only was I intrigued by the challenge itself, but I was smitten with the idea of almond milk and peaches, given that peaches and almonds are a classic flavor combination. Plus it was a good way to use up some of the peaches that were overflowing from my kitchen after my road trip to Michigan orchard country.

Here’s the recipe:

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