Lazy Dinner: Maple Glazed Salmon

I've been busy withs finals lately and have had some stuff come up in my personal life, but I decided Friday to thaw some salmon I had in the freezer. Today it was fully thawed and while I love cooking, I didn't want to buy extra ingredients or spend a lot of time in the kitchen. So next time you don't feel like cooking a lot or have less than 30 minutes to toss together a great meal... here's a recipe for you:

Maple Syrup Glazed Salmon

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Serves 2

Ingredients:

• ~1lb salmon (I used two 6 oz fillets), fully thawed if frozen
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 pinch of sea salt
• 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees
2. Whisk together maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, salt and black pepper
3. Brush sauce all on the flesh side of the salmon (if using fillets with skin) or on both sides (if skin is removed).
4. Pour excess sauce right on top of salmon
5. OPTIONAL: Let salmon marinade in a air tight container in the fridge for 30 minutes. (Can be skipped, but the flavor won't be quite the same. 30 minutes to hop in the shower, or sip some beer or wine in front of the TV. If you do this, you can wait to preheat the oven.)
6. Bake for about 15 minutes or once the glaze seems to caramelize and you can pull some of the salmon easily with a fork. If you used skinless the time might be a little less and you'll want flip it over halfway through baking. If you use a fattier salmon, some of the fat will ooze out, that's normal!

To complete the easy dinner, I made Basmati rice which worked well because once I stuck the salmon in the oven and made the rice... both were ready! I also steamed some broccoli in the microwave:

1. Cut florets from two broccoli heads and toss into a large microwave safe bowl
2. Wash and drain while in bowl, twice. The excess water that clings to the bowl and the broccoli will help steam it.
3. Cover bowl tightly in saran wrap. Poke 2 or 3 holes with a knife.
4. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.

Easy! If you don't count or if you skip letting the fish marinade in the fridge this all will take less than half in hour including prep!

What are your favorite under 30 minute and/or super easy dinners?

Bacon Bonanza #3: The BBC (Bacon, Broccoli and Cheese)

Now for the final recipe in the bacon bonanza. This one was inspired by my friend Lauren who told me I should ad bacon to mac & cheese. I could also say that this was inspired by another friend, Michelle, who I made mac & cheese with a few weeks ago. She suggested we add extra cheese and broccoli, which seemed painfully obvious to me after hearing it but for some reason I've never really done.

Thus the BBC was born: Bacon, Broccoli and Cheese. I hate to admit I used a box for the mac & cheese, but if it is any consolation it was a Trader Joe's variety! I am pretty confident I will be exploring homemade mac & cheese recipes soon enough so I may very well replace this at some point. But if you're a fellow grad student, undergrad or simply breaking the glass to grab that emergency box of mac & cheese here's a good way to jazz up your cheesy cheap dinner.

This was by far my favorite bacon application. The added texture, saltiness and slight meat flavor of the bacon really added to the whole dish.

Bacon, Broccoli and Cheese

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• One box of your favorite macaroni and cheese/shells and cheese/whatever shape and cheese. (I used Trader Joe's Organic White Cheddar and Shells. I highly recommend finding an organic variety. They're not much pricier and I like to think the cheese is real or more real despite still being a powder.)
• Milk (amount as specified by box... I really discourage using water if you want to a good creamy sauce)
• Butter (amount as specified by box... this really adds to any box brand. Why oh why do they claim this is optional?)
• 1 cup Cheddar cheese, grated. (I used a slightly sharp yellow cheddar, but you can pick what you'd like. I thought it was a good compliment to my white cheddar box flavor.)
• 1-2 cups Broccoli, chopped into small florets. (I used one head so unless it's tiny or massive just use one head's worth).
• 3-4 strips of Bacon, diced into bacon bits.

Directions:

1. Follow recipe on box.
2. After mixing in cheese mix, milk and butter, add additional cheese, broccoli and bacon.
3. Cook on low heat and stir until cheese has melted and broccoli begins to tender.
4. Enjoy!