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?

Monthly Muffin: Maple Syrup Muffins

According to Epicurious there is only one seasonal ingredient in February in Virginia or Maryland... and that would be maple syrup! Who doesn't love maple syrup? I set forth to make the following muffin.

If you're like me, you love pancakes, but you rarely make them. They're delicious, but who has time to make them from scratch in the morning? We could make a lot on the weekend, but if you've had great success in saving pancake batter or reheating pancakes I'd like to hear about it. Pancakes are one of those things I hate to have leftovers of... so what to do? Maple syrup muffins! They keep well, they're portable, you can make a bunch at once and they taste like a maple syrup heavy pancake without feeling sticky after.

Maple Syrup Muffins

Prep time: 30-35 minutes | Yields: 9-10 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Butter, softened
• 1/4 cup Brown sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup Maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/2 cups Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking powder
• 3/4 cup Oatmeal
• 1 tablespoon Oatmeal (for topping)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl mix together butter, sugar and egg.
3. In separate bowl or measuring cup mix together milk and syrup. Combine with other wet goods.
   
4. In a third bowl mix salt, flour, baking powder together.
5. Add dry ingredients to wet. Stir to combine, but do not mix beyond that.
6. Add oatmeal, again stir just to combine.
   
7. Fill non-stick greased muffin tins with batter. I recommend only fill them about 2/3rds to 3/4th of the way. (As you can see, my muffins grew like crazy!)
8. Top with remaining oatmeal.
   
9. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean.
   
10. Let cool on a rack