The most important kitchen appliance I had in undergrad was a rice cooker. I thankfully lived a train ride away from home so my mom would give me lentils, curries, and veggies. All I had to do was cook the rice and my meal was ready. When I ran out of my mom’s food then true to college tradition, I survived on Ramen and bagels and $1 pizza on St. Marks Place.
Once I started working it was time to grow up. Having my mom cook for me was no longer an option. This is when I started experimenting with food. What I love about cooking is that if you are aware of flavors and ingredients, you can really play with food. Mix and match ingredients and spices and make the dish your own. It’s like being a scientist but hopefully you can eat what you prepare.
So with experimentation, flavors, and health in mind, I want to share a recipe I recently made. It’s quite simple and delicious. Of course I’m biased. But really it’s delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 box Trader Joes Israel Couscous
- 1/2 cup shallots or onions
- 1-2 cups portabello or white mushrooms
- 1/2 cup green, red, orange, yellow peppers
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup Trader Joes sundried tomatoes
- Trader Joes Chili Lime seasoning blend
- Red chili pepper flakes
- Salt
- Pepper
- Lemons or lemon juice
- 1-2 tbsp Olive oil
- Salmon fillets
- Trader Joes Chili Lime seasoning blend
- Garlic powder or chopped garlic cloves
- Salt
- Pepper
- Lemons/limes or lemon/lime juice
- Olive oil
Instructions
Couscous
- Chop garlic, shallots or onions, mushrooms, peppers to desired size
- Heat 1-2 tbsp olive oil in medium pot on medium-high until hot
- Add chopped garlic, pinch of salt, pepper, red chili pepper flakes. Saute until garlic starts to brown.
- Add shallots or onions and stir until brown. Add mushrooms, green pepper, sundries tomatoes. Cook and stir occasionally for 3-5 minutes.
- Add desired amount of Chili Lime seasoning blend and additional salt and pepper to taste
- Add Israel couscous and stir until couscous is lightly browned. You can also use regular couscous.
- Add 1 3/4 cups water and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low, cover pot and cook for 2-3 minutes until couscous is cooked through. Add additional water as needed.
- Squeeze lemon juice and combine
Chili lime seasoned salmon
Pre-heat oven to 350°
- Wash and pat dry salon fillet. Remove skin if desired
- Line oven safe pan (I prefer glassware) with aluminum foil. Makes cleaning easy peasy! Place salmon fillets in pan
- Season salmon with salt, pepper, garlic powder or garlic cloves, and Chili Lime seasoning blend on both sides if you’ve removed the skin
- Squeeze lemon or lime juice.
- Drizzle olive oil
- Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes
Serve and enjoy!
As you can tell I clearly shop at Trader Joes. I LOVE the store. I don’t have to think about brands, prices, or walk around aimlessly looking for items. Most stores are pretty small and you can just about find everything to make a meal. I try to stick to the perimeter of the store where all the fruits, veggies, meats, and dairy products are. Though I do venture into the aisles when I’m craving something sweet or need healthy nutty snacks. I could go on forever about my love for TJs but that’s for another post.