Salmon and Arugula Pasta Salad

A while ago, I decided to do a Salmon and Arugula Pasta Salad. I am going to keep it! Although  I am not really big on strong fish like salmon, all the other ingredients really toned that fishy taste down, which made the meal really enjoyable. It was pretty easy to make. The only part I was unfamiliar about was broiling the fish, but it turned out great. If you like strong flavors, you will love it. Even if you don't, you should still try it(: 

Enjoy

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Recipe:

Servings:4 to 6

Ingredients

For the salmon

1 1 1/2-pound salmon fillet

2 teaspoons lemon zest, grated

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

For the pasta salad

1 pound linguini fini or other thin pasta

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved

1 small shallot, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise

1 4-ounce package mild goat cheese, crumbled

5 ounces baby arugula

3 tablespoons olive oil

1    Directions: 

1 1.    Preheat broiler. Line a large baking sheet with foil. Rinse salmon; pat dry with paper towels. Place salmon skin side down on baking sheet.

   2. In a small bowl combine half of lemon zest, the coriander, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Brush top of salmon with 2 teaspoons oil; rub with lemon mixture. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

   3.  Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

   4.  Broil salmon 4 to 5 inches from heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until fish begins to flake when tested with a fork. Cool salmon slightly. Remove and discard skin.

   5. Flake salmon into a large bowl. Add the remaining lemon zest, the remaining kosher salt, the pasta, the tomatoes, shallot, cheese, arugula, and 3 tablespoons oil to bowl; toss gently to combine.

   6.  If desired, garnish with additional cheese and season with pepper. Serve immediately. 

while waiting for the salmon to finish broiling, I took a few pictures of Matty and Caleb playing in the rain

back to cooking

Gram cracker, chocolate, marshmallow yumminess!

My friend Christy and I made up a recipe the other day. It was too hot to do any real baking, so we came up with this dessert. It is like s'mores since it has the same ingredients, but we did stuff differently.

Enjoy

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Ingredients

Graham crackers

chocolate

marshmallows

caramel

butter

* the amounts of ingredients depend on the pan and how sweet you want to go

Tools

pan

Directions:

first of all we made it up as we went, and you can too!

we were going to lay the crackers down but decided to crumble them instead.

What ever works for you

we added a little butter to the mix to help it stick together better.

after pouring the mix into the pan,( you want it to cover the whole bottom) melt the chocolate and pour it on top. Spreading it was kinda a mess. But it's okay if the chocolate and crackers mix because after you put it in the oven, and let it sit for a while it will harden again.

Next grab some mellows and melt them in the microwave

this will probably be hard to spread. When marshmallows are melted, they are like extreme spiderwebs.

Anyway, just do the best you can

Then turn on the oven broiler and watch the dessert carefully(:

If you notice, there are some whole mellows in there. That is because we would have had to melt more marshmallow and it was easier to just put the whole ones in since it was hard to spread.

after a few minutes, it should have some golden brown on it and then your ready to take it out of the oven.

Now you can add the caramel or any other toppings you want.

Pretty easy, yeah?

Yummy!

Just to warn you, it is very sweet.

If you want to, you can also add nuts or nutella or anything else that you'd like!

Have fun

Grilled Spicy Lime Chicken with Black Bean Salad

Tonight, I cooked dinner. I loved this recipe. It was easy, healthy, and yummy! The only thing I did different was to double the lime mixture so I would have more to marinate the chicken with and more for the salad. Just a warning to those who don't like spice, it can get a little warm. But you can adjust how many chilies and adobo sauce you put in.

Enjoy!

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Grilled Spicy Lime Chicken with Black Bean Salad

Adapted from “Cook’s Country”

Serves 4

• 1/3 CUP LIME JUICE
• 1/2 CUP CHOPPED FRESH CILANTRO
• 1/4 CUP OLIVE OIL
• 2 CHIPOTLE CHILES, ROUGHLY CHOPPED, PLUS 2 TABLESPOONS ADOBO SAUCE
• 1 TABLESPOON HONEY
• 3 MEDIUM GARLIC CLOVES, MINCED
• 2 TEASPOONS GROUND CUMIN
• SALT AND PEPPER
• 8 BONELESS, SKINLESS CHICKEN THIGHS OR BREASTS
• 2 (16-OUNCE) CANS BLACK BEANS, DRAINED AND RINSED
• 1/2 CUP CHOPPED SCALLIONS (OR RED ONION)
• 1 RED BELL PEPPER, SLICED THIN
• 1 RIPE AVOCADO, SLICED THIN (OPTIONAL)
• LIME WEDGES FOR SERVING

1. Light grill, or heat grill pan to medium. Whisk lime juice, cilantro, oil, chiles and sauce, honey, garlic, cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper together in small bowl.
2. Toss chicken with 1/4 cup lime juice mixture in separate large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Marinate chicken in refrigerator while grill (or grill pan) continues to preheat.
3. For the Black Bean Salad: Toss beans, scallions, red pepper, and avocado with 1/4 cup lime juice mixture in serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Grill chicken over very hot fire (or in grill pan) until well-browned on both sides and cooked through, 8 to 13 minutes. Transfer chicken to serving platter and drizzle with remaining lime juice mixture. Serve immediately with black bean salad.

marinating the chicken

a funny looking bell pepper

F in Exams

So my neighbor let me borrow this book called F in exams by Richard Benson. It is awesome. In it are real answers people put down on their exams when they didn't know the real answer. 

I wanted to share my favorites with you!

 Math:

-A car company is having a sale. A  car that was $50,00 before the sale is now 30 percent off. What is the new price?
Sill too expensive

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- name a regular triangle

   a three-sided triangle

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-What is conditional probability?

Maybe, maybe not

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Chemistry:

-What is a nitrate?
Its much cheaper than a day rate
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-what is a vacuum?
something my mom says i should use more often
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-Give a brief explanation of the meaning of the term "hard water."
ice
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-Describe the chemical differences between H2o and co2
H20 is hot water, Co2 is cold water
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Biology:

-Adam cuts his arm. Blood gushes out and is red in color. What does this show?
He is not a robot.  He is a boy!
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-What does "terminal illness" mean?
When you become ill at the airport
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-In the Hawaiian Islands there are around 500 different species of fruit fly. Give a reason for this.
There are approximately 500 varieties of fruit

History and Geography:

-Where was the Declaration of Independence Signed?
At the bottom
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-Upon ascending the throne the first thing Queen Elizabeth II did was to...
sit down

Yellowstone Part 5

So this was our last day in the Tetons): I loved the time we spent there.

This was more of a relaxed day. 

Day 9

Guess what I had for breakfast?

Another yummy breakfast sandwich!!

Since we loved Jenny lake so much, we decided to take our raft there and enjoy the scenery.

Since it had leaked a bit of air since we last used it, we had to manually blow it up because we couldn't find a  place to plug in our air pump.

we had a crowed watching our departure

After an hour, we had to head back.

It got so windy that it was really hard to keep the boat from constantly going in circles.

when we got closer to shore, Matty and I decided to swim.

eating lunch

After that we went to a visitor center and then a few hours later went to eat an early dinner.

we went back to were we had gone the night before and got the half size nachoes and a cheese plate!

On our way to a ranger program we spoted(i think) a white tailed deer

This ranger talked about climbing  the Grand Teton

Afterward, Matty and I finished our junior ranger worksheet and became junior rangers.

Thank-fully I wasn't the oldest(:

But the badges were pretty cool, and you could only get them by completing the program.

Afterwards, we celebrated and got ice cream.

I got huckleberry and bubblegum ice cream

packing up

Day 10

The next morning, we left early-ish(6am) and visited the historical  Cunningham cabin.

We also helped a family jump their car.

If you are standing on the Grand Teton, you can look down on airplanes!

the second time in one day that we helped jump a car!

Breakfast time!!!

I laughed when I saw the name, because my nickname is Bubba

This was an amazing breakfast!

The homemade biscuit was incredible

When we got to Idaho, we took a short break and were back on the road again.

We passed up a ton of tanks and solders on the freeway!

so cool!

Then we got a little rain

When we arrived in Utah, we went to the pasta factory!

We checked into our hotel and went to bed.

Day 11

 Next morning we went to Denny's. I forgot to take a picture of my food until after I had finished!

 After a hour more of driving we reached Las Vegas in Nevada.

My great uncle took us out to a Chinese buffet, which was amazing. I tried a lobster, oysters and different kinds of sushi.

 After, we drove around town.

This building reminded me of the Walt Disney Concert Hall

A cool show of lights on the roof

 Our hotel

view from our room

cool ice bucket

Day 12

 After a lot more driving we are back in California!

And that ends our Yellowstone trip!