Salmon Cakes are an easy yet very delicious meal, and one that I made on a regular basis when I was just starting to get into food and cooking.

They don’t require any fancy ingredients, they come together quickly and, the end result is so amazing that I made them frequently when I was trying to impress the Taster with my cooking. I think they worked!

The salmon cakes are crispy on the outside, moist and flavorful on the inside and most of the process can be done ahead of time, making dinner come together in minutes. Thanks to my friend Mercedes‘ Mom for the recipe – she made it for us when we were in college and I’ve been hooked ever since!  I lost the worn recipe card a few years ago, but I think this comes very close.

We have done a very poor job of utilizing the LA Farmers’ Markets since moving here.

So last Thursday I decided that I wasn’t going to plan every single meal of next week like I normally do. I would go to the Hollywood Farmers’ Market (considered one of the best in LA) Sunday morning and make dinner out of our findings! Sadly, this is kind of my idea of living on the edge…

The farmers’ market was amazing, and I now vow to visit more often. It was the perfect way to spend Sunday morning and I was able to buy all of the vegetables and fruit I needed for the week!

Soon after we started browsing (and people dodging/celebrity spying) I spotted some pak choi (bok choy) and had just seen a recipe on Fake Food Free that I wanted to try out (Ginger Soy Pak Choi) so our meal immediately took an Asian twist.

Then we were at the Oyster Boys stand and I over-heard one of the Oyster Boys describing Thai Mussels…um, done. Actually, we decided it over a few oysters. Um, yum.

So following his instructions, we combined coconut milk and veggies in a large pot and let the mussels cook away. Can we just take a second to discuss how amazing fresh lemongrass smells?! I almost didn’t want to throw it in the pot.

The thai mussels were incredible – the flavors so complex and spicy, creamy and fresh – all at the same time. And so easy! Mussels always strike me as complicated or a lot of work, but they really aren’t!

There is something about rye bread and salmon that just works. Don’t you think?

I suppose smoked salmon and cream cheese is the same way. Any way it is combined is usually a way that I’ll like.

This is a recipe that I worked on for French Meadow, but it was so good I just had to share with you!

In the way that my favorite recipes do, this is one that comes together in minutes and can also be made ahead of time. The salmon mixture needs a spin in the food processor and the bread simply needs to be toasted until crisp. I love the extra touch that the chive garnish adds, especially if you’ll be serving it for others.

Last weekend I was working on some shrimp recipes for a project and when I mentioned the thought of shrimp pizza to the Taster he got a little excited. Before I knew it there were multiple topping ideas being tossed out, but in the end, we went with pesto (as the sauce), red onion, roasted red pepper, goat cheese and shrimp a top none other than my favorite sprouted tortilla.

It had been weeks since I had had my beloved tortilla pizzas and as soon as I realized they were no longer a thing of the past, I was the excited one.

This pizza concept would work on any crust, I also made it on some Middle Eastern Flatbreads for my cousin who I wasn’t sure how he would feel about the sprouted tortilla. For the record, he said he liked them both the same. Score for kids eating whole grains!

I love these pizzas vegetarian, but I must say that I’ve been slacking on protein lately, and I can definitely tell. So an added opportunity for some additional protein from the shrimp is a score for a healthy adult!

P.S. Happy Halloween! I’ve got to find some sort of costume to wear tonight for trick-or-treaters…help!

I’m officially in the midst of wedding-week madness. But besides a minor breakdown on Friday (it was just a very emotional day) I think I’ve been handling everything pretty well. Others may disagree.

Yesterday was filled with last minute errands and I declared it a day for myself!

The day started with some coffee and a gorgeous sunrise. I’m definitely going to miss this view.

Then it was time to drop off the Taster at work (we are a one car family) and start my other errands:

• body work appointment
• drop off dress to be pressed

Breakfast: In between the commute and errands I had a Two Moms in the Raw Bar – Gojiberry Granola – much better than I had expected although the first ingredient was agave and I’m not really a fan of that.

10:30 Yoga Sculpt – I was at a different studio than normal and it was a great class – I felt wonderful and the class flew by. Love those.

Monday started like most – with a yoga class. But then the similarities ended.

It was a long day of traveling. I had my last work trip and so I’m currently down south in the land of shrimp and grits. For the record, I’m only allowing myself one meal of grits – do you know what they put in that stuff?! It is soooo good, but not exactly easy on the waistline. Georgia was the place that introduced me to grits, before then I had no idea of their glory. Needless to say, I’m a little obsessed. Hopefully tonight I’ll get some grits!

6:30 am Yoga Class. I needed to go to yoga before I left because I wouldn’t be able to take a class for the next few days – the horror! 

The airport was really quiet so I had plenty of time before my plane took off. I stopped into the French Meadow Cafe for coffee, water and breakfast.

 I was going to get oatmeal for breakfast but decided that eggs, bacon and toast was more what I was after. I should have just skipped the hash browns all together – I didn’t eat any of them.

On the first leg of the flight I was busy preparing for the week and doing some writing and meal planning.

When I landed in Charlotte I was ready for a meal. I always try to walk around the airports so that I’m not sitting the entire day. This way I can also scope out all of the food options at well.

 It may seem rather unlikely that I ate at Sbarro’s but it was actually pretty easy to build a healthy meal full of vegetables! I had a salad (should have gotten the small, the large was huge), side of vegetables and a meatball. It was great.

On the second leg of the flight I snacked on part of a thinkThin bar, read some Elle magazine and took a miniature cat nap (shh!!).

When I landed in my third state of the day, Florida, I jumped into a car to finish my trip to Georgia!

I managed to track down the one natural food store on the island and then it was time for dinner! Being in shrimp country, I was really on the hunt for shrimp. This grilled shrimp and scallops with succotash (SO good) and green beans was just what I was looking for.

Now I’m catching up on things online and heading to bed! Hope you had a great start to your week.

PS. I have two more weeks of work, three more weeks until the wedding and four more weeks until we move!!!

We finally got to Masu Sushi & Robata. It has been quite the hot spot since it opened a few months ago and I’ve been pretty anxious to get there – mainly because of their Pork Belly Ramen.

The decor is amazing. It’s fun and interesting, hip and each wall has something interesting for your eyes.

I went into Masu with a few things on my mind: Pork Belly Ramen Noodles, Dried Squid (I know) and Miso Eggplant. I had miso eggplant somewhere in LA a few years ago and I’ve been obsessed ever since. Thankfully since Mercedes and Tyler joined us, we could order many, many items.

Their menu is broken down in a few parts: izakaya (small plates), sushi, robata (grilled meat/veggies) and noodles. We decided it would only be right to sample things from each section.

They have a great cocktail menu and while I stuck with wine, the Taster tried a gummi shochu sour, which actually tasted a lot like a gummi bear. I was a little jealous.

Starters included steamed Edamame with Smoked Salt, Shredded Dried Squid and Sautéed Shishito Peppers. The squid was very intruiguing and I’m so glad we tried it - it was essentially squid jerky. The Peppers were amazing - smoky and charred yet soft and not at all too spicy.

For our Sushi Course we ordered an Arctic Char roll and the Firecracker (shrimp tempura, crab, avocado, cucumber with spicy tuna and tempura flakes). The artic char had some really good, fresh herbs that added a very different flavor to it and the firecracker roll? Obviously by reading the ingredients you can tell it was amazing.

The Robata Course was interesting. Robata, much to my delight is all grilled meats and vegetables, not the fried food I was expecting. They are tiny little skewers – zucchini, eggplant, bacon-wrapped shrimp and bacon-wrapped quail egg. The vegetables were both outstanding and perfectly flavored, the shrimp was good, but standard and the Taster says that the bacon wrapped quail egg was “Nothing too special, but good.”

The noodles were a tad disappointing. The Pork Belly Ramen was good, but tasted quite bland to me, until I added a fair amount of sriracha. Maybe I hyped it up too much in my mind and was expecting too much?  The Tonkatsu Curry Ramen had a lot more flavor but I’d probably be more likely to try the yakisoba noodles next time.

We will definitely be back to Masu – it is in our neighborhood and I love the different and exciting options on the menu. And while it isn’t exactly cheap, sushi is never cheap when the Taster is involved.

Masu Sushi and Robata

330 East Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis MN, 55414

phone	612.332.6278
fax	612.331.4705
info@masusushiandrobata.com

Living in the land of 10,000 lakes, we should probably be a little more familiar with trout. In fact, we should probably be out at one of those lakes catching our own trout. But can you really imagine the Taster and I fishing? (Hmmm, I’d probably have my laptop, or at least the tablet so that I can stumble….he’d want music and sports) All nature isn’t lost on us, we love taking hikes in states other than Minnesota and of course walks along the Mississippi. Today we are actually “up North” and have hopefully hiked at least once by now. We also did spend some time on a lake, sans all forms of technology.

See, there’s proof!

Getting back to the trout, I was a little surprised by how much we enjoyed it! It is much meatier than I expected and reminded us a lot of salmon – in that good sort of satiating fat way. We simply seasoned it with olive oil, salt and pepper and grilled it.  It is local, pretty inexpensive for fish and easy to prepare so it’s safe to say we’ll be having it again soon. Have any good trout recipes or recommendations for us?

Wednesday 6.8.11

6:25 am: Realize I’ve overslept. Ugh. Roll out of bed and head downstairs for a quick, but intense 30 minutes on the elliptical. Thank the weather gods that it is no longer 103° and humid, I like to save those temps for hot yoga.

Stop by Caribou for daily coffee + coconut creamer…where they know my name. I like it.

Finish reading The Pioneer Woman’s Love Story during commute (not while I was driving of course) – fantastic book, I loved it!

Breakfast: 2 slices sprouted bread + earth balance + peanut butter

Lunch: Brown rice + chard + tofu topped with goddess dressing + sriracha (inspired by Eat Live Run) with a side of greens.

Wonder if I’ll be able to make it through the afternoon (my snack stash is seriously lacking at work.)

End up being so busy at work that I don’t even think about being hungry.

Head out and realize I’m hungry. Actually I totally planned it. Stop by Starbucks (because I had a gift card) and order a strawberry smoothie. They are out of bananas. Stare at the menu with no clue what to order. Order a coffee Frappuccino light, 2% milk. “Wait, what is the light Frappuccino mean?” I ask the barista. “Sugar-free.” “Scratch that, I’ll take a regular, 2%.”

Afternoon Snack #1: Drink about a third of it in the car/my personal library.

Visit a precious little baby and want one.

Sitting in traffic, I practice/plan out the yoga sculpt class I’ll be teaching at camp. I’ve found driving is the perfect time to do this, even though people probably wonder what I’m doing.

Come home starving so the Taster whips up some “Minnesota Sushi.”

Afternoon Snack #2: also known as ham, pickle and cream cheese roll-ups.

God I’m glad I grew up in the Midwest.

Dinner: cod + tartar sauce and broccolini (my favorite!)

Sometimes I like to eat a light dinner just so I can snack later, is that wrong?

Have trouble deciding between popcorn and gelato.

Why decide? Have both!

Evening Snack #1: Belgian Chocolate Gelato – few bites

Umm, why is this the first time I’ve had gelato?! It’s amazing!

Evening Snack #2: Popcorn + a little butter

Rough Calorie Estimate: 1,900

Thoughts on the day: Missing fruit and different colored veggie!

I recently cleaned out all of my “stuff” for our move, just to another floor in the building, but I love this purging of everything excess – shoes, clothes, old kitchen goods and a very large stack of recipes. Some of these recipes were my old “favorites” before the idea of photographing and blogging about food had even crossed my mind. Most of these recipes remind me of the Taster as it was when we first started dating that I started having an interest in cooking and food. Ahh, memories.

I ended up tossing most of those old recipes – but a few I kept – honeydew bellini ice (that I swear I’ll make this summer), and the inspiration for this recipe - an old Cooking Light recipe for “Four Alarm Barbecue Sauce” served with shrimp.

BBQ sauce is surprisingly pretty simple to make and the smoky sauce pairs well with grilled shrimp. I recommend purchasing the largest shrimp you can – these were a little small for my preference but was the largest the store had. I took this over to our friends (who just started a blog!) house for an appetizer and thankfully they loved the spice as I added some extra heat.

Now I just need to get to that Honeydew Bellini Ice.