Weeknight dinner

Tonight's dinner was easy, but not very exciting - taco salad from a kit, but with some extra veggies in the salad (radishes, bell peppers) and using ground turkey instead of ground beef.  Big meal, lots of protein, but low fat. Oh, and using the low sodium taco seasoning mix. Not bad.


Last night's dinner, however, was fabulous.  When we started this journey last May, I didn't eat fish at all, and was a little in shock when I realized that making diet changes to help Robert's cholesterol would mean more chicken, more pork, more fish, and much less red meat.  Since then we have been doing just that - red meat maybe one time per week, and lots and lots of fish and poultry in between.  For instance, have pretty much eliminated hamburgers and replaced them with salmon burgers (Robert's preference) and turkey burgers (my preference). Hot dogs are now  either turkey dogs (my preference) or 99% fat free Hebrew National all Beef Hot dogs (Robert's preference).


One of the hardest things for me about this lifestyle change has been meal planning - how do we find enough to eat without having a large portion of the plate taken up by rice or pasta or bread or something like that.  We have learned, through a lot of trial and error, that if we have a veggie and a salad (which we can eat in almost unending quantities) to go with the protein, we can find enough to eat. Also, eating lower fat chicken or pork or fish means that we can have seconds on that without feeling guilty about eating stuff we shouldn't.  This was the hardest part of the changes we have implemented, but now it just makes sense to us.


Anyhow, last night's dinner was walnut-crusted salmon, spicy green-beans with carmelized onions, and salad from a bag.  Both of these are from Betty Crocker 30 Minute Meals for Diabetes (one of our "old standards" for cookbooks).  Recipes follow:


Walnut-crusted salmon:

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
3 Tbsp finely chopped walnuts
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
3 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
4 4-oz salmon filets

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Combine bread crumbs, walnuts, olive oil, and thyme leaves in a small bowl and mix.

In another small bowl, mix mustard and honey. Spread over tops of salmon pieces. Sprinkle with bread crumb mixture, pressing gently so crumbs adhere. Place on cookie sheet

Bake 12-14 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with fork and topping is lightly browned.


Spicy Green Beans with Carmelized Onions


1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Large onion, thinly sliced
1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes


In 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion; cook 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender and light golden brown. Remove onion from skillet.


To same skillet, add remaining ingredients. Cook 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until beans are crisp tender. Stir in onions, cook until thoroughly heated.