Last week I experimented with cooking barley in a hearty beef and barley soup. I based my soup on this recipe from Cooking Light, although I did make a few modifications because I used a slow cooker vs. the stovetop. Also, I subbed in stew meat, but this wasn't a problem because the slow cooker worked its magic on that cheap, tough cut and yielded tender goodness.
On Tuesday, we needed a fast and simple dinner, so I pulled out my standby salmon cakes recipe. I cobbled it together after looking at a bunch of recipes. It calls for 2 cans of salmon, 2 eggs, a generous amount of mashed potato flakes to serve as a binder, and whatever spices/flavors strike my fancy. I decided to tinker with a classic, and added a dollop of light mayonnaise for moistness, some jarred minced garlic, a heavy sprinkle of parmesan, and lemon pepper. Mom thought this version was more flavorful and moist than the original. I'm sure you could dress this up with a fancy sauce and sides, but we just like ours with a liberal drizzle of shoyu, and rice on the side.
I need to start doing that! It's really not that hard to cook, but some weeks when both BF and I are busy, we find out that we've gone the entire week by either going out or scrounging something together - shameful and lazy of us!
ReplyDeleteI fell out of the habit of cooking at the end of last year, but once I get into a routine, it's not so bad. An additional incentive is that we save so much money by cooking even once a week. :)
ReplyDeleteI have been eating so much junk recently that a few days of soup would be a great thing... Your salmon cakes sounded delicious too!
ReplyDeleteMmmm I love barley, and putting it in a stew sounds delicious!
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I love salmon cakes! I make them with corn, onions, carrots and such.... and breadcrumbs, but since there's such high water content they fall apart immediately! It's okay though, I just eat it over rice. :]
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by, Stacey! Good idea on the corn, onions and carrots - gotta try that out the next time. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know why I've never cooked barley before - it's healthy and delicious. :)
ReplyDeleteBessie - I love eating junk as well, but I agree - there's nothing like a home-cooked meal to counteract all that richness. :)
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