salmon cakes with steamed asparagus and baked sweet potato

Okay, I know that some people may think sweet potatoes do not go with salmon, but I wanted some color on the plate. ;)

This salmon cake recipe is one that I have used before and came from my Cuisine at Home magazine.  The last time I used fresh salmon, so I decided to try out canned salmon this go around.  I also reduced the sriracha sauce to keep the heat down.  Overall, I thought the flavor was good, but for some reason, the cakes did not hold together well.  I think they need a little more egg.

You all are probably tiring of seeing pictures of asparagus spears here, but we love them.  They are one of the few green vegetables that Chef D likes, so I fix them often.

All the potato needed was a sprinkling of our special cinnamon-sugar mixture (vietnamese cassia cinnamon with turbinado sugar) and a little butter (well, I used smart balance light since I am watching my calories).  

All in all, I thought this was a pretty good meal for under 400 calories.

maple glazed salmon with baked potato

This salmon recipe is really easy and definitely leaves a nice crisp exterior and tender inside.  I didn't use enough salt this time, so the flavors did not all come through like they should have.   The potato was fluffy, yet still had a nice texture.  I originally planned to have steamed broccoli, but realized I had the makings for a salad already, so made a last minute change.

In the end, I still really liked this quick and easy meal.

beef burger with southern potato salad

I decided not to make the roasted tomato ketchup and just go with the Heinz in the icebox and just have any easy-going hamburger night.  I prefer no onions in my potato salad, so I left them out -- it turned out great.  I sure love good potato salad.  We did a taste test of the pickled onions before dinner and they did not pass -- just way too sour for our taste.  I am considering adding some simple syrup and serving with our brisket tomorrow night.  We will do another taste test ahead of time before setting them out for guests, though!

slow cooker roast beef with root vegetables

This roast beef was very easy to prepare. Just a few minutes of chopping the vegetables, seasoning the roast, and starting up the crockpot at 6:00 AM. Eleven hours later, I had a tasty, tender roast. This is what I love about cooking with a crockpot. It left me plenty of time to throw together some cornbread muffins to complete the meal as well as macaroons to serve during our bible reading group tonight.

This wasn't our favorite crockpot roast beef, and Chef D passed on the root vegetables in favor of the cornbread muffins, so I probably won't recreate this meal soon. But, it served the purpose of having a hot meal on the table for dinner. The macaroons, on the other hand, were quite good.