Asian Style Salmon & Mushrooms over Quinoa & Green Beans – $2.30

I finally charged my “real” camera batteries, but not before I took these iPhone pics of this dish. Sorry about it, but I didn’t have time and hey, I’ve got a life too!  . . . who am I kidding…

I’m always kinda excited to post these yummy meals because I want you to experience how good REAL food is! I was sitting at my table eating this thinking about how much I loved the fact that I knew exactly what I was eating. In a weird way, it feels good on my conscience.

The first thing to do to get this meal going is make a pot of quinoa. You’re welcome to use rice instead, but I really think you should give this ridiculously healthy food a shot. The first time I heard about quinoa I was cooking for a huge group of hoola-hooping vegans. You can’t make that stuff up! Anyway in short, quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) isn’t rice or a grain, but more like a seed. But don’t let that turn you off. It’s relatively neutral in flavor, it’s fluffy and has great texture, it has a stupid amount of protein, fiber, amino acids, magnesium, iron and a lot of other good stuff. You can now buy this at just about any grocery store in the grain isle, and if you can’t find it there, go to your local whole foods store. There, you can most likely buy it in bulk which means you can grab just a serving or two to try it. (Not my picture below)

So follow the instructions on the bag to make a few servings. If it’s not fluffy and soft, it’s not cooked enough. It’s a weird texture unless you cook it enough! In a heated, greased pan add a serving of fresh green beans. Before you throw them in though, take a big fat whiff of them. If you’ve only ever experienced canned or frozen green beans, in the words of Bob Newhart on his TV skit, STOP IT! Fresh green beans will change your life. Anyway, after a few minutes on medium high heat, throw in some salt and maybe some garlic powder if you’d like. Once they’re browned and semi-tender, put aside.

While the pan is still hot, throw on a piece of salmon or other fish/meat. After you flip it once, throw a handful of mushrooms in the pan to get going.

In the meantime, clean up your workspace and get a plate with a handful of fresh spinach ready to roll.

And while you’re at it, get a 1/2 cup full of quinoa (or whatever measurement you prefer), and gently push it down with your fingers.

Then put it upside down on the spinach. See! Pretty. This gives ya’ a platform for your meat. Might as well plate your green beans too.

This is where the magic happens. Don’t let the picture fool you, it’s amazing. Remember that Ginger and Soy Dressing I posted? You’ll be using this too. If you haven’t made it yet, it’s not too late! If you don’t want to make it right now just throw in some soy sauce, ginger and garlic and it’ll be pretty close. (The actual sauce has olive oil and orange zest in it too).

Put a few tablespoons of the dressing in the pan. You’ll start to smell that garlic and ginger coming alive with the heat. After a few minutes when some of the liquid evaporates, take the salmon out and put it on the quinoa platform.

Then place the mushrooms on top of the salmon, drizzling the rest of the hot sauce on top. You can’t see the detail because of this terrible quality photo, but the dressing almost caramelizes and looks amazing over the mushrooms and fish.

Salmon – $1.00

Spinach – $.2.79 ($.20)

Quinoa – ~$.50 per serving

Fresh green beans – ~$.20

Baby Portabello Mushrooms – $1.99 ($.30)