Gwyneth's Salmon Marinade

In recent months, I made the personal decision to venture into pescetarian territory. I know I tout about being a vegetarian, but I also know that some of my blog readers do eat meat or fish, and so this one's for you guys.

I started having dreams where I was eating meat. In one dream, I was walking across a street nibbling on turkey sausage links (What!?). I felt that a craving was building within me that I needed to explore. Fish is low on the food chain, it's a lot cleaner (less bloody) than other proteins, and salmon is widely renowned for it's high omega 3 content. I'm eating salmon once or twice a month at this point, and I am otherwise vegetarian, and even vegan for weeks at a time. I had to admit to myself that I like the taste of this fish. So when those cravings and crazy dreams resurface, I have a food to turn to.

Enough about me, this recipe comes from Gwyneth Paltrow's book, My Father's Daughter, and whenever I make any of her recipe's I refer to them as "Gwyneth's Meuslix," "Gwyneth's Gazpacho," or even her mother, "Blythe's Muffins". She calls this marinade a "Teryaki," because she says her kids are more likely to eat it. The flavor is fantastic. I simmered the left over marinade to reduce it, poured it through a fine strainer, and drizzled it over the fish, veggies, and rice. This book of hers in particular is filled with recipes for the whole family to enjoy. So rightfully, I made this dish for my whole family on our annual trip to Newport Coast, CA. I love to cook for the people I love most. And this one's sure to please all ages....

Gwyneth's Salmon Marinade

Ingredients:

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons mirin (cooking wine found near Asian sauces in the grocery store)

3 tablespoons honey

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon peeled and finely grated ginger

2 prigs fresh cilantro

4 6-ounce salmon filet, skin discarded

1 tablespoon finely minced fresh chives, for serving

TIPS: This was my first time buying fish, EVER! So I asked a lot of questions to the guy behind the counter at Whole Foods. I chose farm-raised Salmon and he nicely cut each filet for me, even making a few smaller ones for the kiddos. 

Step1.

Combine the soysauce, mirin, honey, water, ginger, and cilantro in a small saucepan over high heat. Once it boils, turn the heat to low and let simmer for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Step2. 

Once it's cool, pour into a large bowl or plastic bag and add the salmon. Marinate in the fridge for at least an hour, up to overnight. 

Step3.

When you're ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Put the salmon on a heavy baking sheet with whateer sauce adheres to it and broil until cooked to your liking (7-8 minutes). While it's cooking, strain the extra sauce into a clean saucepan, bring to a boil, and let it reduce.

To Serve.

Drizzle extra sauce over the cooked salmon (or your entire plate). I recommend brown rice and a huge helping of stir-fry.

Know Your Roots

The first of the chakras is the Muladhara, or Root Chakra. Located at the base of the spine, and symbolized by the color red, this chakra represents survival and basic needs. Our most primal sense, the sense of smell, is also said to originate here.

Root Chakra Soup

This week I'm making a root vegetable soup for grounding and stability. And I'm filling it with plenty of things that are pleasing to the nose, such as garlic and rosemary. Coincidentally, beets are everywhere right now as they are in full season, so they also bring a nice, bright red color to the dish.

 Spring can have us bouncing around, whether you're spring cleaning, or finally enjoying the outdoors again, it's important to remember to stay grounded and since there's still a few cold days ahead, it's good to know that a comforting soup doesn't have to weigh you down. This soup is meant to nurture and heal your root chakra, attend to your most basic needs, and firmly plant you in your roots.

Ingredients: 

• 1 bunch, or 4 medium sized red beets, de-stemmed
• 1 parsnip, cut into fourths
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 3-6 sprigs of thyme 
• 1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 medium carrots or 1 bunch baby carrots, coarsely chopped
• 1 sweet potato or yam, peeled and cubed
• 1 1/2 quart vegetable broth 
• 1 small piece ginger root, peeled, sliced
• 1 garlic bulb (preferably elephant garlic since the elephant is the animal of the Root Chakra)  
• olive oil
• Salt & pepper to season as you go  
• *(white wine optional) 

Equipment:

Submersion blender or Hand blender
(if you like making soup at home, you should invest in a submersion blender. It saves a lot of mess, and it's much easier to make creamy, seamless soups)

Set your over to 450 degrees F.

Begin by cleaning your vegetables. Root vegetables can be covered in soil, and we don't need any real bits of earth getting into this soup.

Beautiful carrots from the farmer's market

Slice the tops off your beets, and split your parsnip into four pieces. On a large piece of aluminum foil, place beets and parsnips, along with as much garlic as you like, and the herbs of your choice. I used Thyme and Rosemary. drizzle olive oil, and and sprinkle about 1/4 tsp. of salt. Seal the foil like a small package and place in a roasting pan in case juices get out. Bake at 450 for at least an hour, until the beet skins peel off easily.

Beets, Parsip, Garlic, Thyme, Rosemary

In a large pot, begin to saute onions with 1-2 tbsp of olive oil, and a pinch of salt, over medium heat, until they begin to soften. If onions begin to brown, you can splash a bit of *white wine into the pot to decaramelize the pan. After 10-15 minutes, add the carrots and saute until soft, about 5-10 minutes.

To the pot, add the sweet potato, and half of the broth, bring to a simmer and cover until the broth reduces by 1/3, about 30 min.

By now, the beets should be ready. In a blender, blend the beet/garlic/parsnip mixture with the rest of the broth, until pureed. When the stock has reduced fully, add the beet puree to the pot, along with the ginger, 2-3 tbsp of olive oil, and 2-3 fresh cloves of fresh garlic. Blend everything into a fine puree with a hand blender, or by transferring 3 cups at a time into a blander. Be careful bending hot liquids. If you're using a regular blender, I suggest you let the soup cool somewhat before blending. Taste your soup, and add more garlic, ginger, salt, or olive oil to taste.  Serve hot or cold.

Root Chakra Soup w/ hardboiled egg

Toppings: 

• Suggested topping for this 'borscht' is a boiled egg. 
• My friend nicole preffered a squeeze of lemon and some shredded parmesean
• You can also roast some golden beets along with the other beets at the beginning and store them in   the fridge while you prepare the soup. When you're ready, peel and thinly slice them for a great colorful topping.