Cafe Manna's Root Vegetable Stir-Fry

Yet another recipe that Jim found in the local paper. This one was interesting. I think it would have been better had some shrimp or chicken been added to it, but the sauce was quite tasty!

1 tbsp. diced ginger

1 green onion

1/4 bunch cilantro

juice of 1/2 orange

1-2 tbsp. parsley

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

1-1/2 tbsp. sesame oil

1/4 cup mirin wine

1 tbsp. olive oil

3/4 cup julienned carrots

3/4 cup julienned parsnips

3.4 cup julienned Daikon radish

3/4 cup julienned yellow beet (couldn't find this so left it out)

3/4 cup julienned celery root

3/4 cup julienned turnip

hot cooked jasmine or basmati rice (we just used regular old white rice)

To prepare the sauce, in a blender (food processor), place the ginger, green onion, cilantro, orange juice, parsley, garlic, sesame oil and mirin and puree until smooth.

In a saute pan, heat the oil over high heat. Add the carrots, parsnips, Daikon radish, yellow beet, celery root and turnip and quickly saute a minute or two, keeping vegetables moving so they don't burn. Add sauce, toss and cook another 2 minutes, keepeing vegetables moving, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Serve with rice.

Poached Salmon Salad w/Beets

So I found this recipe in my Real Simple magazine and it seemed real simple to make...lol...get it? OK, moving on...Jim made this tonight while I was out "running" and when I came home the house stunk SO BAD like vinegar! So of course I immediately thought that dinner was going to be horrible. Boy was I wrong! There are some really strong flavors going on in this dish but it was so good! Our dressing was a little strong but it might have had something to do with the fact that the horseradish we used was JUST opened and that it says extra strong or something on the side of it. Yeah, Jim didn't notice that when he bought it...at least that's what he says. Oh and we couldn't find water cress so we just used spinach instead. We also used the rest of the salmon fillet from the other day. Try this recipe!

1 pound salmon fillet, skin removed
kosher salt and pepper
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 cup sour cream
3 tbsp. prepared horseradish
2 bunches watercress, thick stems removed (about 6 cups) - we used spinach
3 medium beets, peeled and sliced paper-thin - we used canned sliced beets
2 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped

Place the salmon in a large skillet and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add 1/4 cup of the rice vinegar and water to reach halfway up the salmon. Cover and simmer over medium heat until the salmon is opaque and beginning to flake, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate and refrigerate until cool, 15 to 20 minutes. Using a fork, flake the salmon into bite-size pieces.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the sour cream, horseradish, the remaining 1 tablespoon of the vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

In individual bowls, combine the spinach, salmon, and beets. Drizzle with the dressing and sprinkle with the dill.

Beet Salad

We love beets! Almost as much as we love asparagus, so we eat them pretty often. Well we get sick of just eating them the same way all the time so I tried to spruce them up a little. Here's what I came up with.

One can sliced beets
1 stalk celery, chopped
4-5 radishes, sliced
handful chopped parsley

Dressing:
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the veggies and dressing together and you have a quick and easy salad.