You may or may not know that when my husband goes out of town, this is when I love to cook up storm! It’s also when I try as much as I can to only use what I have in the fridge, freezer and pantry. I’m trying to get rid of anything that’s still hanging out there.

I had {I thought} a single-serving of wild-caught salmon that I purchased from Trader Joe’s months ago that I was dying to cook up. When I took it out, I found that there were three portions in there! I guess I’d be making salmon all weekend!

I cooked salmon three ways, but all of my dishes look very similar.

Friday:

I tried out this Microwave Sriracha Salmon recipe which worked pretty decently. {I’ve never cooked salmon in the microwave before!} Plus the flavor was good. If you like it hot, add a little more sriracha! I sauteed the spinach in some garlic olive oil, loosely based on this recipe, and added some toasted slivered almonds for crunch. And finally, I pulled out a bag of Organic Quinoa & Kale from the freezer and popped that in the microwave, too. It’s something that I’d be more inclined to think I’d purchased from Trader Joe’s or Target, but that I’m thinking I really got at Wal-mart of all places.

Saturday Lunch:

I ended up making this Spicy Grilled Salmon in my grill pan, only I didn’t find it spicy at all. I only had it marinating for the minimum 20 minutes, though. I had a bag of frozen broccoli in the freezer that I could have just steamed in the bag. But I really do prefer roasted broccoli. Did you know that you can make Oven Roasted Frozen Broccoli? It totally works! I love the addition of the Montreal Steak Seasoning, too. I have that in my pantry and hardly ever use it! I threw in some leftover Quinoa with Kale for good measure. This meal came in at 471 calories, but it felt like sooooo much food. I was quite full before I even finished it.

Saturday Dinner:

I had a reprieve from salmon. Instead, those^^ are all of the ingredients I used from my freezer and pantry for dinner: chicken breasts, diced tomatoes with green chiles, black beans, and fire-roasted garlic tomatoes.

I didn’t get a photo of my dinner because after I made the No-Cook Black Bean Soup, I realized that my chicken was not ready. {It wasn’t 100% thawed when I stuck it in the oven.} Therefore, I ate the soup first and the chicken when it finished cooking.

I made the chicken based on this Baked Chicken with Tomato Sauce recipe, substituting the can of diced tomatoes with green chiles for the homemade tomato sauce. I wanted it to taste a bit more Mexican to go with my Black Bean Soup. I also added a bit of Mexican-blend shredded cheese during the last five minutes of cooking. It didn’t turn out too bad!

Because each recipe made four servings, I shredded the leftover chicken and put in each of my containers of leftover soup to make a nice black bean and chicken soup for lunches this week.

Sunday:

Because I was mostly dealing with leftovers here {Quinoa with Kale & Roasted Frozen Broccoli}, I decided to make a bowl to make it a little more appealing to me. {I just love bowls!} I used one of the easiest salmon methods ever – Simple Baked Salmon. Then I cut it up and through it in the bowl of warmed up veggies and quinoa. I think some roasted grape tomatoes or a nice sauce would have brightened it up a bit more.

By the time I was three-quarters of the way done with this bowl, I was sick of it.

All of these dinners were super easy. I needed them to be because I was purging my closet over the weekend! BUT, remind me next time I buy salmon, to get single serving packages so that I don’t have to thaw out three portions all at once!

What is your favorite way to eat salmon or another fish?

Cheers~
Carrie