The Vegetarian's Guide to Cooking... Panko-Crusted Salmon (And Salad. And Tortilla Soup.)

The following post is sponsored by Blue Apron. Thank you for making me cook, Blue Apron! I am madly in love with you/get anxiety every time you arrive on my doorstep. Best frenemies forever.

Waldorf-style salad

This, I've gotta say, was my favorite Blue Apron experience. For those unfamiliar with Blue Apron, it is an ingredient + recipe delivery service for normal people who don't know they're chefs... yet. Blue Apron empowers its customers to go outside their cooking comfort zones and prepare meals for themselves and/or their families (you can sign up for a 2 or 4 person plan). This is my second post of a series with Blue Apron who have been extremely cool to work with and understandable with our family's diet requirements. (No red meat. No pork. One vegetarian meal per box, please.) Also, less waste this time around which I know was a concern for many of you (and me as well).

Both recipes felt far easier than meals past. Or perhaps I'm just getting the hang of this whole cooking thing? (I said, adjusting my personalized chef's hat.)

I let the kids pick what they wanted first. The salmon unanimously won which had me thinking, huh, I need to start cooking salmon, regularly. (WWW is going to do a salmon series for the Veggie's Guide to Cooking Meat of the Sea.)

In the meantime/first up...

Panko-Crusted Mustard Salmon

with roasted potatoes & waldorf style salad

For those interested in giving this is a shot at home with their own ingredients, here is what you will need:

Fable wanted to help with this one so she did the prep/lemon squeezing/de-leafing + vegetable washing and I did the slicing: 

Fable also did the salmon dipping/prep which brings up a helpful tip for those who have a hard time handling meat/bodies. Put unsqueamish kids to work:

We cooked the salmon in a pan (with a splash of olive oil) for about 8 minutes (4 on each side), then removed and topped with microgreens. It looked like this:

Then, after roasting the potatoes in the oven for 20 minutes and tossing the salad (apples + celery + lettuce + parslep topped with dressing*), voila! Dinner was served: 

*greek yogurt + lemon juice + olive oil

Kids ate everything but the potatoes so we threw in a piece of sourdough toast as an addition. Everyone loved it! 

Later that week, we went for meal #2:

Vegetable Tortilla Soup

with Hominy + Avocado + Queso Fresco

P.S. HOMINY is my #1

Nobody wanted to help me with this one so I was on my own. HOWEVER. This was the easiest recipe of all time and now I feel like I can confidently make tortilla soup which is exciting.

1. Heat Garlic, Onion + Spices in a large pot. 

2. Add canned tomatoes, hominy and juice of two lime wedges:

Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
***
3. Cut tortillas into slices, drizzle with olive oil bake in oven for 17 minutes

Throw it all together in a bowl. Top with queso fresco, radishes, cilantro and avocado (and lime juice!) and marvel at the amazingness...

ED: I knew the soup wouldn't be for everyone. (Archer and Bo ate it all up. Revi had a few bites and stopped. Fable, too. ) SO! I heated up a platter of taquitos and a plate full of berries and that was a wrap. We had leftover soup in the morning and I finished it for lunch. Two thumbs way up. 

Blue Apron is offering two free meals for the first 50 GGC readers who click here. (There is no commitment. You can skip or cancel the service at any time -- subscribe sporadically, etc.)  Thanks again to Blue Apron for sponsoring this post. Catch you on the flip. 

GGC