Lemon& Parsley Cornish Hens

I constantly see cornish hens at the grocery store and have wanted to make then for quite some time. Well, I finally made them and they turned out pretty damn good and tasty!

The hens were prepared with minimal effort and were enjoyed by myself and my guest.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cornish hens

salt

black pepper

(any other type of seasoning if you like)

bunch of thyme

bunch of parsley

2 lemons

Instructions:

Thaw your chicken to room temperature.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Loosen the skin from your chicken but do not totally separate it from the chicken.

Cut lemons in half. Place half a lemon and 2-3 sprigs of thyme in the cavity of each hen.

Place chopped parsley evenly under the skin of the chicken.

Squeeze juice of half a lemon over each hen.

Rub butter over hens and coat evenly.

Season with salt and black pepper.

Bake hens for 45-55 minutes until the skins are a golden brown.

Serve with your choice of side dish.

I served my Cornish Hens on a bed of spinach with wild rice and my fave fruit "chow". Happy eating!

Toodles,

        Takeisha

Sriracha Honey Lime Salmon

This is a different twist on making salmon that I think is interesting. It's a mix of very different flavors coming together but it works. Who knew that sriracha, honey and lime mixed together could taste heavenly!

Here's how to make this delicious meal.

Ingredients:

2 salmon fillets
2 tbsps honey
4 tbsps sriracha
1 tbsps olive oil
1/2 a lime
salt
black pepper
sesame seeds

Instructions:

First mix the sriracha, honey and juice of lime together in a bowl. Set aside.

Season salmon fillets with a little salt and black pepper.

Heat your grill to a medium temperature.

Brush olive oil on top part of salmon. Place top side down on grill. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes.

After salmon is cooked, remove from grill and and apply sriracha mixture on top side of salmon. Plate salmon and garnish with sesame seeds.

I paired my salmon with sautéed spinach and rice. Veggies only can be used as your choice of side dish or whatever your taste buds desire.

You can use salmon with or without the skin attached. I used skinless salmon for this recipe. The salmon was cooked on a stove top Lodge grill pan. A great tip is to tent the pan with foil while cooking so that your fish does not "dry-out".  Lime juice can be substituted if fresh lime is not available. The sprinkling of the sesame seeds is purely for aesthetic purposes but I think it's a lovely touch.

Adding this mixture to the salmon was a great medley of flavors. A sweet and spicy taste was achieved. I added extra sriracha as I prefer it to be more spicy. You can adjust the ingredients for the coating of the salmon to your specific taste preference.

This meal is very time efficient to make and does not require much effort. prep time is very minimal.
I hope you try to replicate this dish and find it as delicious as I do!

Toodles,

        Takeisha

My go to Salad

One of my go to salads is a mandarin orange and spinach salad with a homemade honey-lime dressing. I usually have a stock pile of canned mandarin oranges and always have spinach in my on hand. You prepare it just as it looks above. Toss some spinach with a can of the mandarin oranges(drained) and drizzle some of the honey-lime dressing. Here's the recipe for the homemade dressing.

Honey-Lime Dressing

What you need:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup honey

pinch of black pepper

chopped cilantro

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk. Taste. Add more of any ingredient until it's 

to your liking. Place to chill in the fridge for a few hours ( I think it tastes better like this plus the ingredients are able to marinate together) and then serve.

I also make variations to this salad as its my basic salad. You can add some grilled chicken, cranberries, pineapple, almonds, avocado, salmon, walnuts, to name a few. The possibilities are 

endless....

Toodles,

        Takeisha

Fancy Asparagus

I love asparagus. It's such an easy vegetable to prepare and it goes well with most meals. You can have asparagus grilled, steamed, baked, chopped and put into salads or pasta. There are endless possibilities. I decided to wrap my asparagus in prosciutto. This is a dish that I make from time to time. It's a great snack and can also be used as an appetizer or a side dish to accompany a meal.

This is how it's made....

What you need:

A bunch of asparagus from your local grocery or farmers market

A pack of prosciutto

Olive oil

Black pepper

Directions:

- Wash and dry asparagus, cut ends

- Toss with olive oil and black pepper

- Then take one asparagus spear and a slice of prosciutto. Start wrapping the prosciutto around the   spear, at angle, all the way down to the scaled end. 

- Repeat the steps for each spear.

- Place spears evenly on baking sheet.

- Broil for approximately three minutes or until golden and crispy, then, flip to broil other side.

- Let cool and enjoy!

                          

This is quick to prep and takes less than ten minutes to prepare and can also be made in advance and chilled for later on.

                                       

Look at the lovely golden goodness. Very tasty. I opted not to add salt when I tossed the asparagus with the olive oil and black pepper as the prosciutto has salt and will add flavor to the spears. Be careful not to over broil as the asparagus will loose it's crunchiness.

Toodles,

         Takeisha