FitSugar

Healthy Recipe: Poached Salmon with Curried Yogurt Sauce

FitSugar — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:30:00 PDT

In this crazy heat, no one wants to turn on the oven. This salmon dish is easy to make, requires only one pan, and is cooked completely on the stove top. In other words, it is a perfect recipe for a hot Summer's day. This recipe called for a pound and a half of salmon. The wild salmon at my local fish market was beautiful but came with a very high price tag. I found a piece that was half the size the recipe originally called for and the extra meat wasn't missed. Serve this dish over brown rice for a complete meal. A crisp arugula salad makes a nice side as well.

To see the recipe just

Poached Salmon With Curried Yogurt Sauce
Adapted from Everyday Food

Ingredients

coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound green beans, ends trimmed
4 medium carrots, cut into sticks similar size to the beans
3/4 pound wild salmon
1 cup plain low fat yogurt
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

In a skillet with a tight fitting lid, pour 1/2 inch water; bring to a boil, and season generously with salt. Add green beans and carrots. Return water to a simmer, cover skillet, and steam until veggies are crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes.

Transfer to a colander; rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Rinse skillet with cold water to cool it down. Place salmon in skillet and add cold water to cover; season with salt. Bring water to a boil over high heat;

cover skillet, and remove from heat. Set aside until salmon is opaque throughout, about 20 minutes. Remove from skillet, and let cool.
In a small bowl, stir together yogurt, curry powder, and cilantro; season with salt and pepper.
Break salmon into large pieces over veggies. Top with yogurt cilantro sauce.
Serve on top of brown rice to add a whole grain carb to the meal.

Serves 4

You can make all the elements of this dish ahead of time and simply bring them all to room temperature before serving.

Also, play around with the sauce if you have a chance. I added extra coriander, cumin and turmeric.

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Hold the Ham: More Fun Twists on Eggs Benedict

Susannah Chen — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:30:54 PDT

Perfectly coddled eggs and ham on an English muffin: what's not to like? Although a grand breakfast like eggs Benedict might usually be reserved for weekends, we've happened upon National Eggs Benedict Day, so there's no excuse not to eat the country's favorite brunch item at just about any hour today.

Before you get started poaching your own eggs, however, take a look at the variations you might want to take on for this American classic.

Eggs Florentine: poached eggs and spinach atop an English muffin with hollandaise sauce.
Eggs Royale: poached eggs and smoked salmon atop an English muffin with hollandaise sauce.
Eggs Blackstone: poached eggs, side bacon (that'd be the type most commonly seen in America), and a tomato slice atop an English muffin with hollandaise sauce.
Eggs Sardou: poached eggs and creamed spinach atop artichoke bottoms with hollandaise sauce; a specialty of New Orleans.
Eggs Provençal: poached eggs and ham atop an English muffin, served with béarnaise sauce in place of hollandaise.
Eggs Beauregard: fried eggs and sausage patties atop an American biscuit, served with country gravy in lieu of hollandaise sauce.

What's your favorite twist on eggs Benny - or do you prefer the tried-and-true classic?

Photo: Nancy Einhart

Know Your Techniques: Poaching

YumSugar — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:45:58 PST

Poaching may sound like an advanced technique, but it is actually nothing more than gently simmering food in liquid until it is cooked through.

Poaching lends itself best to delicate ingredients that risk falling apart or drying out at high heats. Foods such as fish, chicken, eggs, and fruit poach beautifully; the low heat, kept between 140° to 180° Fahrenheit, preserves flavor, allowing for an incredibly tender and tasty result. Never allow the liquid to reach a rolling boil; rather, keep a watchful eye to make sure small bubbles form as the food gently simmers to perfection.

Poaching an ingredient doesn't require too much liquid - just enough to cover the ingredients.
A few ideal poaching liquids include water, milk, stock, or wine (my personal favorite). Depending on what I'm making I like to add whole spices to flavor the liquid, like bay leaf or peppercorns with salmon poached in white wine. What's your favorite thing to poach? Do you have any tried-and-true poaching recipes or tips?

5 Foods For Skin, Nail, and Hair Health

Anna Monette Roberts — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:23:26 PST

Skin, nails, and hair can be outward signals of your overall health and can indicate where you may be lacking in the nutrition department. Having a whole, well-balanced diet contributes to shiny, silky hair with minimal breakage and split ends. In addition, eating lots of antioxidant rich fruits and healthy fats can help clear skin and protect you from skin cancer. Lastly, loading up on nutrient-rich foods enables your body to grow strong, healthy nails without the dints, white spots, or hang nails. Here are the five foods you should eat regularly to start radiating health and natural beauty.

Salmon: Omega-3s contributes to a healthy scalp and keeps the skin lubricated. The protein helps fight against a protein deficiency, which can change your hair color, make your nails brittle, and your skin dull. Whip up some poached salmon with curried yogurt sauce to get your fix.
Cashews: High in zinc, eating cashews in trail mix or as a quick snack will keep your hair shiny, prevent white spots in your nails, and aid in healing acne or scabs on your skin. You could also opt to sprinkle them on top of your favorite veggie dish like this Indian spiced chard recipe.
Beans: Legumes and lentils have lots of biotin, a fatty acid complex that strengthens nails and hair.
Dark leafy greens: Kale, collard greens, and chard are just a few sources high in vitamin A and C, which your body needs in order to produce sebum, the oil that's secreted in your hair follicles. In addition, eating greens at every meal helps your body store more iron, which is essential for healthy hair and giving your skin a healthy glow. Here are seven ways to prepare kale - our fave green of the season.
Whole wheat: Start eating sprouted grain bread, buckwheat, and other variants of the West's favorite grain, because it contains selenium, a key mineral needed for healthy, cancer-free skin. Plus, studies have also shown eating whole wheat leads to clearer skin.

Roulades, Palmiers, Smoked Salmon on Royal Wedding Menu

Katie Sweeney — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:28:23 PDT

After the royal wedding, 650 lucky guests were invited to attend a lunchtime reception. The palace prepared a luxurious and extensive spread of appetizers and canapes. Curious what all was served? Read on!

Cornish crab salad on lemon blini
Pressed duck terrine with fruit chutney
Roulade of goat's cheese with caramelized walnuts
Assortment of palmiers and cheese straws
Scottish smoked salmon rose on beetroot blini
Miniature watercress and asparagus tart
Poached asparagus spears with hollandaise sauce
Quail eggs with celery salt
Scottish langoustines with lemon mayonnaise
Pressed confit of pork belly with crayfish and crackling
Wild mushroom and celeriac chausson

For more appetizers, the dessert menu, and more photos of the spread, keep reading!

Healthy Eating Tip: Eat Two Different Fish a Week

FitSugar — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:00:10 PDT

Many people are worried about high mercury counts in fish, so they're swearing off seafood. The thing is, many types of fish are low in saturated fat, are an excellent source of lean protein, and are high in essential heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. I'm not saying that mercury is something to overlook, since this toxin can cause brain damage, and possibly cancer, but it doesn't mean you need to give up fish entirely.

It's safe to eat fish twice a week (up to 12 ounces), but you should choose two different types of fish to get a variety of nutrients. Good sources of low-mercury fish are shrimp, oysters, scallops, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, flounder, sole, halibut, and catfish. Young children, women trying to get pregnant, those already pregnant, and nursing moms are considered "high risk," since too much mercury can affect developing brains. So for those people, the EPA recommends limiting intake of seafood that's high in mercury such as swordfish, golden bass, golden snapper, and shark.

Trying to meet your fish "quota" doesn't need to be boring. Try poached salmon with curried yogurt sauce or halibut stir-fry for dinner tonight.

Monday's Leftovers: Salmon With Sugar Snap Peas Over Rice

YumSugar — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:00:08 PDT

Salmon is remarkably versatile and can be cooked to perfection in a multitude of different ways, from roasting to searing to grilling. One of my favorite ways to prepare this pink-fleshed fish is by poaching it in water until it's just barely cooked through, which results in an ultra-moist piece of seafood.

Work a savory salmon dinner into your hectic schedule tonight by adding leftover fillets to an already-simmering pot of rice. Cooking multiple elements of a dish together simultaneously not only saves time, but it also saves resources like water and energy. Bring together this one-pot dinner in under 30 minutes when you

Salmon With Sugar Snap Peas Over Rice
From Real Simple

Ingredients

1 cup long-grain white rice
1 pound salmon fillet, skin removed
Kosher salt and pepper
4 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
4 scallions, trimmed and sliced
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

Directions

Mix the rice and 2 1/3 cups water in a medium skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
Slice the salmon on a diagonal into four 3/4-inch-thick pieces. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place on top of the partially cooked rice. Cover and cook 7 minutes.
Scatter the peas over the salmon and rice. Cover and cook until the rice and peas are tender and the salmon is opaque and beginning to flake, 3 to 5 minutes.
Mix the soy sauce, scallions, vinegar, ginger, and sugar in a small bowl. Spoon the sauce over the salmon, rice, and peas and serve.

Serves 4.

Nutritional information per serving: Calories 418, Protein 32g, Carbohydrate 49g, Sugar 5g, Fiber 2g, Fat 9g, Sodium 706mg

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Fights the Blues With Fish

FitSugar — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:00:00 PDT

When thinking of food as medicine, we have gotten a little reductive. By trying to find the one active ingredient that makes a food healthy, we have forgotten about the food itself. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish have been found to fight inflammation and reduce depression. But popping a fish oil supplement, rather than eating the fish, means you are missing out on the minerals and lean protein fish provide.

Here's another reason to add one to two servings of fish to your weekly menu. In an international breakdown of nutrition and mental health by country, researchers found that as fish consumption went up, depression rates went down. In countries where people eat the most fish - Japan, Thailand, and Hong Kong - the rates of depression were low. Conversely, countries with low fish consumption had higher rates of depression, including the US, New Zealand, and parts of Europe.The secret ingredient is the omega-3s. Rather than taking a supplement, try eating the fish for all the nutrition this lean protein can provide.

Not sure where to start when it comes to cooking with fish? For some tasty, healthy recipes featuring fish and shellfish with high amounts of omega-3s,