Lemon-Paprika Salmon

It's the second day of my Virgin Diet. Nothing new to report. As I mentioned yesterday, the Virgin Diet isn't significantly different from how I normally eat. However, thanks to the handy website PaleoTrack.com, I noticed that during these past two days my protein intake has increased and my carb intake has decreased. And by carb I mean starchy veggies and fruits. So I'm falling into the ketosis/intermittent fasting range of carb intake, or < 50 g of carbohydrates. Reference this graph here. I had talked about ketosis the other week as a way of potentially reducing my migraine frequency, but I never really expected to do it. Seriously, I had already cut down on so many things, that the idea of cutting down on my fruit/starchy carbs intake was unappealing. Yet here I am now, cutting down on fruits. Ketosis, here I come... Let's see how long I can keep it up without having a bad day or a weak moment and attacking an entire bag of dried fruit (dried mango has become my weakness over the last couple months... curse you, Trader Joe's for have unsulphured, unsweetened dried fruit). In the meantime, get some Omega-3's into your diet with this salmon.

Lemon-Paprika Salmon

1 wild-caught Coho salmon fillet
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp lemon juice (or orange juice)
1 Tbls olive oil

1. Mix the garlic powder, paprika, sea salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil together in a small bowl.

2. Coat the salmon on both sides with the mixture, and place in a covered container in the fridge for half an hour.

3. Set oven to broil.
4. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the salmon has turned a light pink shade and is slightly flaky.

5. Let sit for a few minutes and then slice and serve.

Steamed broccoli or asparagus are good side options.

Backup Protein

The one thing that I feel is the most important thing to have in the fridge, especially when you're feeling lazy, is a carton of eggs. Often when I'm not in the mood to cook, I'll just toss some veggies and eggs in the frying pan and call it dinner. Yeah, eggs are typically considered a breakfast food, but you learn to move past that with Paleo/Primal/healthy eating. When you start eating steak or meatloaf for breakfast, then "breakfast" kind of becomes unimportant. Tonight's meal (since it's not a typical "dinner") consisted of smoked salmon with spinach, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, and eggs.

Vegetable Scrambled Eggs
1 cup spinach, packed
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
1/4 cup shredded carrots
2 eggs
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
1 shake of crushed red pepper

1. Heat a little bit of olive oil in a pan. Once hot, add the veggies. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until desired softness.
2. Add the eggs and stir. Cook for a few minutes until eggs are fully cooked, then serve.

Breakfast Bites

Breakfast Bites - Veggie Base

1 dozen eggs

1 red pepper, chopped

1 white onion, chopped

5 mushrooms, chopped

2 large garlic cloves, sliced

1 head cauliflower

1 head broccoli

salt and pepper

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Start by roasting your cauliflower and broccoli. Use 1 Tbls olive oil with a little bit of salt and pepper for a flavor base. Wrap with the aluminum foil, and cook in the over on 425°F for 25 minutes. It doesn't matter if you don't roast it enough for your usual liking, because it will cook further later.

Heat 1 Tbls olive oil over medium-low heat (4 out of 9). Once you think it's ready, wet your fingertips and splash a little bit of water onto the pan. If it immediately sizzles, you're ready to add your onions. Cook the onions until they start to become translucent. Then add your sliced garlic. After cooking the onion and garlic for another 10 minutes, add your red peppers. Cook for ~5 minutes.

In a separate pan, heat 1/2 Tbls olive oil and 1 1/2 tsp bacon fat over medium-low heat (3 out of 9). Once ready, add your sliced mushrooms. The trick to cooking mushrooms properly is don't overcrowd. Cook until they've started to brown and have reduced in size.

While these veggies are cooking on the stove, whisk your dozen eggs. After all of your veggies are done cooking, stir in the broccoli, cauliflower, onions, garlic, red peppers, and mushrooms. At this point you're ready to make veggie muffins.

Veggie Egg Muffins
Veggie base (see above)
1 muffin tin
Muffin tin liners

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Pour roughly 1/4 cup of the mixture into each muffin liner. Bake for 25 minutes or until the egg is fully cooked and solid.

Chorizo Egg Muffins
Veggie Egg Muffin base (see above)
1-2 chorizo sausage links, casing removed

Take your chorizo sausage links and make a slice length-wise down the link. Pull the link open and turn inside out, removing the meat from the sausage casing. Break the meat into pieces and mix into the egg muffin mix. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour 1/4 cup of the mixture into each muffin liner. Bake for 25 minutes or until the egg is fully cooked and solid. The "muffin" won't rise, so feel free to fill the muffin tin.

Salmon Frittata
Veggie Egg Muffin base (see above)
~ 1.5 cups of Lemon-Rosemary Salmon, shredded

Mix salmon into the veggie and egg mixture. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a round 8" pan with coconut oil. Pour the egg-salmon-veggie mixture into the pan. Cook for 30-35 minutes or until eggs in the center are cooked through and are solid.

And now you know what I've eaten for the week. Yum!

Lemon-Rosemary Salmon

After studying with SD at a Barnes and Noble for four hours on Sunday, I came home with the intention of using my Sunday evening to cook some of my meals for the week. I'm trying to get back into that habit. We'll see if I can or not...

Lemon-Rosemary Salmon Packet

1 whole side salmon, scaled, with skin, de-boned (~3 lbs)

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp coarsely chopped rosemary (use fresh if possible)

2 lemons, thinly sliced

6 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 425°F. Rinse the salmon under cold running water and pat dry. Put a large piece of aluminum foil (large enough to make a packet around your salmon fillet) on a large baking sheet and place the salmon in the center, skin side down. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Then place the lemon slices, onion, and garlic on top of the fillet. Pour the olive oil evenly over the salmon. Fold the edges of the foil up and crimp to seal.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. The salmon should still be moist when it's ready. Here's the final result. Cut it into portions and drizzle with some of the lemony olive oil you can see below. Serve with kale, cauliflower rice, or a side salad.

Please practice good office etiquette and DO NOT bring salmon into the office for lunch. There's nothing worse than the smell of fish permeating the office as someone heats it up in the communal kitchen. Be kind, leave the fish at home!