November 8 Meal: Spiced Salmon

Salmon is good on its own, but the recipe in the November issue of Bon Appetit makes salmon somehow twice as good.  The spices and yogurt sauce really work well together.  Along with the Spice-Crusted Salmon with Ginger-Cilantro Yogurt Sauce, I made  Parsnip, Potato, and Turnip Puree, Iron-Skillet Succotash, and Blood Orange Champagne Cocktails.

Spice-Crusted Salmon with Ginger-Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

I used frozen salmon from Trader Joe's.  As I've mentioned before, they have really good prices on frozen fish and the quality is good.  The spice mixture that goes on the meat is fennel seed, coriander, salt, and pepper.  The fish is cooked for just a few minutes on each side.  The sauce is a great addition.  I didn't have plain yogurt like I thought I did, so I used sour cream.  Just add cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, fresh ginger, and garlic.  I even started scooping up the extra sauce with the puree and succotash.

Yumminess: 10 out of 10
Cost: Approx. $7.25 for 2 servings.
Time: Bon Appetit said 30 minutes for prep and total.  It took me about that long.
Was it worth it?: Yes, I'll put this on my list of regulars.

Parsnip, Potato, and Turnip Puree
This was a good mellow side for the salmon.  Sauteed onions, parsnips, potatoes, and turnips are cooked in chicken broth until soft.  The puree gets an added boost of richness with cream cheese and a kick of flavor with dill.  There's also a topping made form butter and panko breadcrumbs.  Everything is baked for 15 minutes.  This is another good alternative to regular mashed potatoes.

Yumminess: 9 out of 10
Cost: Approx. $6.50 for 4 servings.
Time: Bon Appetit said 50 minutes for prep and 1:20 hours total.  It took me about 20 minutes of prep and 1:05 total.
Was it worth it?: Yes, it is different and cheap.

Iron-Skillet Succotash
Succotash is the best.  A bunch of chopped up vegetables sauteed together, usually featuring lima beans.  Lime beans have such a great texture, especially in combination with the other vegetables.  This one has corn (frozen from local corn, in our case), onion, zucchini, bell pepper (calls for red and orange, but I used red and green), and a bit of marjoram.  It's all sauteed together in stages and you have a great side dish.  The marjoram is key, such a great spice!

Yumminess: 10 out of 10
Cost: Approx. $5 for 5 servings.
Time: Bon Appetit said 45 minutes for prep and total.  It took me about 15 minutes of prep and 30 minutes total.
Was it worth it?: Yes, great side and cheap.

Blood Orange Champagne Cocktail

This is a really easy cocktail.  I got the champagne for only $6 a bottle at Trader Joe's.  The blood orange was from Whole Foods.  It is really dark red, so my cocktails came out a lot darker then the ones in the picture.  Maybe I used too much juice in them?  Along with the orange juice and champagne is a little bit of Cointreau or another orange liqueur.  I used orange Patron.  Overall, it's very easy and relatively inexpensive to make.

Yumminess: 8 out of 10
Cost: Approx. $11 for 4 servings.
Time: It only takes a minute to juice the orange.
Was it worth it?: Yes, it was easy and different.