- Page 34 of 69 - Wholesome Recipes Made for Sharing

April 21, 2015

Baked Salmon with Potlatch Seasoning

A favorite go-to family meal over recent years has been this baked salmon with potlatch seasoning. It’s easy and quick for a weeknight meal, but is also special enough for a weekend gathering. I first learned about potlatch seasoning, named after the traditional gatherings of Native Americans of the Northwest to commemorate special occasions, from Williams Sonoma. I usually try to keep a supply on hand, but last week I picked up some salmon for dinner only to come home and discover that I was at the very end of our tin. I quickly looked at the ingredients, came up with this DIY version, and then wondered why I hadn’t tried my own version earlier. It takes two minutes to put together and it’s so much more economical! This seasoning blend will elevate your seafood to new heights of flavor and deliciousness. We usually use potlatch on salmon, but it can also be used on steak and chicken. Up later this week- a beautiful, more elaborate, and yet still simple meal incorporating this potlatch baked salmon. Stay tuned!

Baked Salmon with Potlatch Seasoning

Serves: 3-4 mid-size portions

Ingredients

1¼ pounds salmon
1½ teaspoon potlatch seasoning
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Potlatch Seasoning

2 tablespoons kosher salt
4 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon coriander

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300.
Combine all seasoning ingredients in a jar, tighten lid, and shake to combine.
Line a baking dish or pan with parchment paper. Place salmon skin-side down. Rub salmon with olive oil and sprinkle potlatch seasoning evenly over the top and sides of the salmon. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, depending on thickness of the salmon. Salmon should be flaky, but not dry. Be careful not to overcook.

Notes

Keep remaining potlatch seasoning in a tightly sealed container for later use. Store at room temperature.

April 15, 2015

Carrot Banana Muffins {with honey cream cheese}

Last week’s spring break at home with the kids unintentionally resulted in a lot more baking and a lot less cooking. Not quite sure how it ended up that way, but the days passed by quickly and I have no regrets of how we spent our time together. One of the things my daughter looked forward to most over the break was being able to host a tea party for her grandparents. According to her, it was to be a tea party featuring her scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs are her specialty; she loves to cook them for anyone who will eat them. She has such a sense of accomplishment after she’s cracked her own eggs, whisked in the milk, sprinkled in the salt and pepper, and scrambled it together on the stove. Although it may sound simple, to her it is not, and she is proud of being able to do everything on her own. She couldn’t have been more excited about being able to cook for her grandparents. It gives me great joy to see her taking initiative in bringing others together, to share good company and delicious food .

Along with Evelyn’s scrambled eggs, we served a bowl of fresh berries and arranged a tiered tray of cardamom vanilla breakfast cookies, mini-jars of soaked muesli with chia jam, and these carrot banana muffins. I don’t know what else to say about these muffins besides that they are incredible. They are sweetened almost entirely with dates, only a touch of honey, and made with a spelt and almond flour blend. They are wonderful for breakfast, as a snack, or even as a healthy dessert. The texture is fairly dense, but also very soft and moist. The honey cream cheese is a fun surprise in the middle and makes these taste like carrot cake without all of the added sugars. Carrot cake for breakfast? Oh yes, I can always be on board with that.

Carrot Banana Muffins {with honey cream cheese}

Serves: makes 16 muffins

Ingredients

5 ounces cream cheese
3½ tablespoons honey, divided
1 cup spelt flour
1 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
3 large eggs
½ cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1½ cups mashed banana, (about 3-4 ripe bananas)
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup pitted medjool dates, chopped (about 9-10 dates)
2 medium carrots, grated
½ cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and 1½ tablespoons honey until creamy and smooth. (Using a stand or hand mixer here is helpful.) Place in the refrigerator to chill while making the muffin batter.
Preheat oven to 325. Lightly butter a 12-cup muffin tin and 4 cups of an additional muffin tin.
In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and coconut.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter, banana, vinegar, and remaining 2 tablespoons of honey. Stir in the dates. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Gently fold in the chopped walnuts.
Place about 1 slightly heaped tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup. Transfer honey cream cheese to a piping bag. Cut the tip off and pipe a small amount of cream cheese in the middle of each muffin cup, dividing evenly among the 16 muffin cups. Divide the rest of the batter among the muffin cups, gently placing on top of the cream cheese.
Bake 27-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. These taste delicious both at room temperature or chilled. Store remaining leftover muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes

adapted from Andrew Weil's True Food

April 8, 2015

Chocolate Amaretto Baked Donuts

It’s spring break and my kids are at home with me this week. It’s a welcome break in the routine and I’ve especially enjoyed the slow mornings. No alarm clocks, no last-minute lunch packing, no one frazzled running around trying to be on time for the bus. Instead the kids have been enjoying some extra playtime while I work on special breakfast treats and fill the house with enticing scents of fresh-baked goodness. For the longest time it seemed like mealtimes with small ones were always tiring, challenging, and frustrating. If I wasn’t cleaning up a mess, I was up and down every five minutes getting something for someone. I’ve recently realized that we’ve moved on from that phase of life and mealtimes with the kids are much more conversational, pleasant, and relaxing. (Although we still have our fair share of sibling bickering at the table which is not at all pleasant and relaxing.) For the most part, leisurely breakfasts are now a possibility. And along with that comes so many more possibilities for what to make for breakfast. I was fairly late to join the baked donuts fan club, but better late than never. We are big fans of baked donuts now. These Chocolate Amaretto Donuts have a classy rich grown-up flavor with the amaretto and a hint of espresso, but they are still chocolate-y and sweet enough for the kids to enjoy. Like most breakfast items I make, I prefer them not to be overly sweet, but feel free to increase the coconut sugar by a tablespoon or two if so desired.

Chocolate Amaretto Baked Donuts

Serves: 6 donuts

Ingredients

¾ cup white whole wheat flour
¼ cup dutch-process cocoa powder
⅓ cup coconut sugar (add 1-2 extra tablespoons for a sweeter donut)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
⅓ cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large egg
2 tablespoons amaretto
1 teaspoon vanilla
powdered sugar or additional cocoa powder for dusting, optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, olive oil, egg, amaretto, and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined. Do not over mix.
Pipe the mixture evenly into the donut pan. (I use a small ziploc bag and cut the tip off one corner for piping.)
Bake for 8-9 minutes, until donuts tops appear dry. Let cool in pan for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Donuts are best served slightly warm. Dust with powdered sugar or additional cocoa powder just before serving, if desired.