Quarantine Cooking

Happy Memorial Day weekend!!! We’ve now been socially isolated for over two months, so I am popping on to share some recipes I’ve made recently. I’ll start with some that I can personally vouch for from the internet, and will follow that up with some recipes I put together using what I have in the fridge and pantry! Comment to let me know if you try anything and your tips.

Recommended Recipes:

Easy Peanut Noodles (with peanut sauce) – I found this after searching for easy recipes to sate my craving for Chinese takeout. I didn’t make the whole noodle recipe – mostly made used the peanut sauce and mixed it on top of udon noodles. I used whatever ingredients I had available from the list, I’m sure it’s fine if you substitute!

Maple and Miso Sheet-Pan Salmon with Green Beans – I made this as a way to use the maple and miso that I had in the fridge and also the frozen beans that I panic bought. I suggest using fresh as the frozen ones got too soppy.

Maple Roasted Carrots – easy peasy, and came out pretty delicious! I made this as a way to use up most of a bag of baby carrots. I googled this after watching an episode of Restaurants on the Edge where the chef makes a similar dish but tops it with pesto and granola.

Microwave S’mores – the author writes that this is good for a snowy day but I say it’s good for literally any day. Bored of the usual? Try s’more combination ideas here!

Personal Recipes:

Strawberry Chocolate Box Pancakes

I made these for dinner (don’t @ me)! I sliced strawberries and followed the instructions on the box of pancake mix. I poured the mix into a heated, greased pan, then added the sliced strawberries one by one, and also chocolate bits (could be chocolate chips or crush some chocolate candies). If you have pantry staples for baking, maybe try this recipe.

Ginger and Soy Salmon

This is my husband’s and my go-to salmon recipe, inspired by my dad’s sliced-garlic-and-soy variation.

• filet of salmon (fresh not frozen!)
• 2 tbsp of minced ginger
• crushed garlic (optional)
• soy or tamari sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spoon the ginger on top of salmon filet and flatten the ginger with the back of the spoon until there is a very thin layer on top. Then gently pour the soy or tamari sauce to coat the top of the salmon. Bake for at least 20 minutes, checking on it to see if you need more time. Depending on the size and thickness of the filet you may need to add more time. (Pro tip: Bake something else at the same time, such as the carrots mentioned above or some sweet potatoes.)

“Sarah’s Kitchen Sink Salad”

This is just some ideas of what you can put in a salad when you have a few bits and pieces in the fridge. Honestly just throw it all into a bowl and eat it. Who even cares?!

• lettuce or mixed greens
• canned corn or leftover corn on the cob
• nuts (recommend pistachios, sliced almonds – if the nuts happen to be flavored that’s fine too!)
• Grated or sliced carrots
• dried or canned fruit (think, raisins, cranberries, mandarins in a cup)
• Roasted squash or other veggies, cut into bite sized pieces (can be cold or hot)
• I sometimes even put a couple baby carrots dipped in hummus off to the side of the salad bowl for a finger-food snack
• Stuffed grape leaves (I haven’t tried the brand linked but canned should be fine!)

“Quarant-angria” (Fridge Sangria)

Mix whatever’s left of a bottle of wine with a bit of any frozen or fresh fruit. Use your judgment but for red wine think darker fruits – berries, apples, plums, red grapes or similar. For white wines go with citrus such as small pieces of oranges, clementines or grapefruits, green grapes. Add any clear carbonated beverage that you have on hand (seltzer, sprite, etc) and adjust proportions to taste. You can add other alcohols as well I suppose, I just didn’t have any on hand. Store in airtight container in fridge for a few days max.

Iced Tea

Bored of drinking water? Too hot for regular tea? Boil 6 cups water. Once boiling, remove from heat, add 4 tea bags, steep for about 5 minutes (longer is fine, you can dilute with ice cubes). Remove tea bags. Wait until it is cool, add sweetener to taste.. Pour into airtight container and store in fridge.

A few different ideas below for flavor combos, feel free to experiment!

• Flavored black tea:
  • 2 bags black tea and 2 bags lemon tea
  • 2 bags black tea and 2 bags ginger tea
  • 2 bags black tea and 2 bags peach, strawberry, pomegranate or other fruit flavor tea
  • 2 bags black tea, 1 bag lemon tea, 1 bag ginger tea
  • 2 bags black tea, 1 bag peach tea, 1 bag ginger tea

• Flavored green tea:
  • 2 bags green tea and 2 bags lemon or other citrus tea
  • 2 bags green tea and 2 bags peach, strawberry, pomegranate or other fruit tea
  • 2 bags green tea, 1 bag lemon tea, 1 bag ginger tea
  • 2 bags green tea, 1 bag peach tea, 1 bag ginger tea

Lazy, long weekends call for a little creativity in the kitchen – good luck!