July 11-15

Okay, Tam, this is all for you...have you tried any recipes yet?!?

• Thai Coconut Shrimp with Brown Rice okay don't let the picture fool you...this one was, well, pretty bad. Not sure if it was cooking error or recipe...though I'm leaning towards both. We used brown rice noodles and they were waaaay over cooked. The meal was rather flavorless. It didn't taste very Thai or coconutty (if coconutty is a word).
  
• Spiced Plank-Grilled Salmon We didn't end up grilling it on the plank. Eric grilled just the regular old way. Trout's (our local fish store) had sockeye salmon. It's a beautiful fish (if fish can be beautiful). It has a slightly different flavor than regular salmon. Eric brushed the fish with a little vegetable oil/salt/pepper. Everything we read about sockeye is that the flavor is wonderful on its own and not to put too much "stuff" on it. So we kept it simple. To finish the salmon, we sprinkled alittle fresh tarragon on top. For sides, we had wax beans, tomatoes and zucchinis in our CSA box. Eric grilled the zucchinis and I sauted the wax beans. The tomatoes were just tossed with olive oil and basil.
  
• Greek Grilled Chicken Breast Need time to marinate alert! We got a new grill pan and used it to "grill" the chicken inside. Okay, so now were asking ourselves why we didn't have a grill pan all along! I did the whole drain the yogurt thing here, but I really don't think it was all that necessary but there wasn't that much moisture that drained out. Also, we hardly used much so you definitely don't need to make a 1+ cup of it. For the sides, I got a bag of beets for $1.50 at England Acres (a farm really close to our house). I roasted the beets at 375 for an hour and sauted the tops.
  
• Baked Tilapia with Spicy Tomato-Pineapple Relish (haven't made this one yet).
• Burgers and beans Just a plain old cheeseburger here with CSA wax beans on the side. Cade tried one (cue Hallelujah chorus) and said it tasted like a french fry. Guess that's what happens when you dip it in ketchup. Cullen nibbled one, but to no avail! Don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my new favorite tomatoes are kumato (or brown tomato)...nice because we can get them from our local grocery store. Tossed with mozzarella + basil and a little olive oil=heaven