Healthy Meal

Ugh...after feasting on delicious Austrian delicacies for the past week, not to mention eating dessert with every meal or for a meal...all I wanted was a good, balance, healthy dinner.  My mom and I went grocery shopping together today which was really nice because I got to catch up with her plus, I just love grocery shopping.  I went on the Food Network webpage and found a great section where they actually give you example menus of healthy meals.  I found this great one centered around a Mustard Salmon dish and then we went shopping for the ingredients we needed.  This site is really neat because you can design a meal to fit all types of dietary needs and it gives you the nutritional information below the recipe.  Of course, we made some alterations and we decided against the dessert portion of the menu, but overall we followed the original which you can find here: Healthy Meal

Here is our version:

Mustard Roasted Salmon

Ingredients:
2 pounds salmon (whole piece or cut into four pieces)
2 tbsp whole grain dijon mustard
2 tbsp lite maple syrup
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of 1/2 fresh lemon

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Wash salmon and place on a pan lined with parchment paper.  Cook salmon for 10 minutes.
2.  While salmon is cooking: mix mustard, maple syrup, garlic, and lemon juice in a small bowl.  After 10 minutes, take salmon out and brush with the mustard mixture.  Place back in oven for around 20 minutes, or until it is cooked to your liking.
Enjoy :)

Herbed Basmati Rice

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked whole grain brown rice
1 3/4 cups water
1 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, minced
1 tbsp fresh dill leaves, minced
1/2-1 tsp onion powder
pinch of pepper

Directions:
1. In a small pot, bring rice, water, butter and salt to a boil over high heat.  Stir once, lower heat to low setting, and cover.  Let this simmer for about 15 minutes.  Turn heat off and stir in remaining ingredients.  Serve warm.
Enjoy :)

Green Bean Salad

Ingredients:
12 oz fresh green beans, ends cut off
2 tbsp chopped pecans
2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, minced
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Directions: 
1. Steam green beans until they are fully cooked and place in a bowl.
2. Toast pecans in a dry pan until they are fragrant for around 2 minutes.  Place pecans in a bowl with minced parsley and onion powder and stir together.  In another small bowl, whisk olive oil, vinegar, and mustard.  Pour dressing over the green beans and toss.  Sprinkle pecan mixture over the top and season with salt and pepper.  Serve warm.
Enjoy :)