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The Very Best Teriyaki Salmon Recipe

This is the best and easiest teriyaki salmon recipe I have ever tried. (Ok, I haven’t tried that many.)

I make this recipe about once a week, rotating my fish selection. The photos here are of salmon. Last night we had this with a new fish that I picked up at the farmers’ market last Saturday – I think it was called Cobia. Delicious as always!

I got the original recipe out of a book: Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat. I borrowed it from my mother in law a while ago and have not given it back yet… there are just too many good recipes in there.

Teriyaki Salmon Recipe

Ingredients

  • 4 4-ounce pieces of salmon (works well with any firm fish – tilapia is the only one I’ve tried that doesn’t work well and that’s because it tends to fall apart)
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil, olive oil, or ghee

For the marinade:

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons mirin

For the teriyaki sauce:

  • 1/4 cup mirin
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

  • Mix the marinade and let the salmon sit in it, flipping once, for about 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, make the teriyaki sauce by mixing those ingredients (soy sauce, mirin, sugar).
  • Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat.
  • Remove the salmon from the marinade and pat it dry with a paper towel.
  • Reduce heat to medium and cook the salmon, skin side down, for about 5 minutes.
  • Flip the salmon and cook for one more minute (skin side up).
  • Whisk the teriyaki sauce one more time to make sure the sugar is dissolved, then pour it over the fish.
  • Tilt the pan to spread out the sauce and use a spoon to spoon some over the top of the fish.
  • Cook for about 1 more minute to let the sauce thicken.
  • Remove from heat, and pour any extra sauce over top of the fish.
  • Serve with fresh rice and a veggie side.

The only changes I made from the original recipe are:

  • I use a little more oil and sugar. It still doesn’t have a lot of oil or sugar.
  • I don’t remove the fish to wipe out the oil before I add the teriyaki sauce. It’s an extra step to reduce the fat but I don’t really mind skipping that. Fats make this dish yummy.

Original here.

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Keri’s 8 Foods Cleanse [The New You (and improved!) Diet]

A few weeks ago I received a copy of Keri Glassman’s new book, The New You and Improved Diet: 8 Rules to Lose Weight and Change Your Life Forever (it’s on the the Kindle too).

new-you-and-improved-diet

I was very excited for this book because Keri’s 3 taglines for this book are:

  • Eat more, not less!
  • Catch some zzz’s!
  • And have more sex (you heard me!)

Sounds like a plan anyone in their right mind would want to follow and enjoy following – nothing like the typical restrictive diet.

Keri catapults you right into her plan. She intros a quickstart “Eight Foods Cleanse” early on – page 27 to be exact. I figured if I am going to give this book a proper review (to come…) I should at least try out the cleanse. To be honest, I haven’t ever really followed a proper “diet” plan. I generally just try to eat less/move more. I’m really interested to see if I feel any different at the end of this “cleanse”. In the past I’ve tried doing the “raw/juicing” thing, “macrobiotic“, etc…

Cleanse… yes, that word with bad connotations. Keri’s 8 Foods Cleanse is not really a cleanse in the usual sense of the word – no long days of sipping juices with your stomach rumbling – this cleanse is simply eating a few simple, wholesome foods for just 4 short days.

I am jumping right in today, though I did make a few mods based on what I had in my kitchen this morning (yes this was a last minute decision). I’ll go shopping tonight for the proper ingredients! Here’s what my day will look like:

  • Breakfast is 1 egg and 2 egg whites with black pepper and ground black sesame (those spices are my own touch on this). I’m also having a cup of organic coffee with unsweetened almond milk and this chocolate stevia (Thanks Ron!). (Keri’s plan doesn’t include coffee… I am easing my way into this, so I’m gonna have it for now.)
  • No morning snack – I have breakfast ~10am so there is no time for a snack before lunch.
  • Lunch – a salad of romaine, seaweed, tomato, apple (leftovers) + 1/2 cup chickpeas + 1 hard boiled egg + 2 teaspoons EVOO. (Yum!)
  • Snack: 1 Ronnybrook plain whole milk yogurt with cinnamon. (This is what I have in the fridge – this is off plan.)
  • Dinner: TBD – Salmon & greens I believe, and I need to go get an avocado.

This cleanse may be a little low in calories, but it’s only 4 days – and after a few months of indulging (during renovations we didn’t have a kitchen – and even if you’re careful, eating out for every single meal can get really old really fast). I think I can follow it for 4 days and then start adding in more of Keri’s favorite Empowering Foods.

I’ll be back later with my take on the rest of Keri’s Diet Rules – one of them is “Clean Out Your Closet” – so you know I am gonna love it.

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Fun Food Friday

Time for some Friday Fun Foods!

Here is a vegetarian breakfast:

  • pita + tomato + avocado + cheese (grilled)

A vegetarian lunch:

  • pita French toast (whole eggs + almond milk + cinnamon), honey, cream cheese
  • spinach sauteed in butter + cream cheese

And a pescatarian shrimpalicious dinner:

  • 2 sweet potatoes cut into fries with coconut oil and ketchup
  • shrimp and spinach cooked in butter and peanut dressing

Sometimes I think my blog should be called “Better With Butter”. Do you have funny blog-name ideas? (For your blog or for mine.)

I am off for some R&R. And Burn Notice.

Happy Friday! (I have a bunch of great Saturday Links for tomorrow, so come back in a day.)

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Nectarine Tilapia Recipe

Blogger ate my photos! Pictureless post today…

My oh my have I been lazy…

More tilapia! Another marinade, this time with fruit.

Nectarine Tilapia (serves 2)

Ingredients

  • 2 tilapia filets

Marinade

  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1.5 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon honey OR 1 tablespoon orange juice (I used OJ)
  • 2 teaspoons minced ginger + juices
  • 1 nectarine, chopped

Directions

  1. Mix together all of the marinade ingredients.
  2. Marinate the fish for 30 minutes to an hour, refrigerated.
  3. Turn on the oven broiler. Remove the fish from the marinade and grill in the oven, about 3 -4 minutes per side.
  4. Meanwhile, heat the leftover marinade and peaches in a saucepan on the stove until the liquid boils. Serve over the cooked filets.
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Korean Shrimp Bulgogi Recipe

Blogger ate my photos! A pictureless post today.

I think this may be my first attempt at Korean cooking. I have to say, it came out very nicely. At our favorite Korean restaurant, one of the Bobby’s favorite dishes is beef Bulgogi. Tonight I decided to do it with shrimp and lots and lots of vegetables. I love vegetables.

The bulgogi sauce came out a little thinner than it does at the restaurant (Four Seasons in Ithaca, if you’re interested). But, I think I might be better this way – it’s too gooey at Four Seasons.

As for the shrimp, we bought a big bag of frozen ones at Wegmans – precooked and deveined – and they’re incredibly easy to work with. Before you start making the marinade, just take out however many you need and defrost them in cold water. Change the water every time it gets really cold – maybe 2-3 times – and the process will only take about 10 minutes. Just enough time to make your marinade!

As always, you can definitely sub the shrimp for something vegetarian – I like using chopped up seitan. Extra firm tofu would also be GREAT, but you might want to make more marinade because it really soaks up the juices.

Korean Shrimp Bulgogi Recipe

Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 8 ounces of shrimp (or seitan, or extra firm tofu)
  • 1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup of chopped pepper (I used red, but green is more common for bulgogi)
  • 1/2 cup of chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon butter (or oil), for sauteing
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
  • crushed pepper, to taste
  • steamed rice, for serving

Marinade

  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
  • 2 scallions, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ginger juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil

Directions

  1. First make the marinade – mix all the ingredients well. (Defrost shrimp while you do this.)
  2. Soak the shrimp, mushrooms, pepper, and onion in the marinade for at least 30 minutes, covered, in the refrigerator. (I let it soak for 2 hours.)
  3. Toast the sesame seeds – I like to do this in the toaster oven, but it’s also easy to broil them in the oven. Just place them on a baking pan and roast for 7-8 minutes.
  4. Drain off the liquid of the marinade (there won’t be much). Heat the butter (oil) in a pan over high heat until it’s melted, then add the shrimp and veggies. Saute for 4-5 minutes, or until the marinade caramelizes.
  5. Arrange on lettuce leaves and serve with rice. Sprinkle with pepper and sesame seeds.

Enjoy 🙂 This recipe for Korean shrimp bulgogi was really easy, but it seems pretty exotic. It’d be great for parties because you can prepare everything beforehand and just toss it on the stove – then it’s ready in 5 minutes.