Potatoes, Shrimp, and Veggies over Rice and Lettuce

This was an interesting dinner I made about a month ago.  For some reason I was craving potatoes (well, aren't I always?), but also kind of wanted something fresh and salad-like.  So I figured I'd assemble pretty much everything fresh in my fridge on top of lettuce, but added some rice for texture and substance.  It was pretty good.

Ingredients: Romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, potatoes, basmati rice, shrimp, red onion, garlic, tarragon, cumin, coriander, salt/pepper, yogurt sauce to garnish

Start by peeling and chopping your potatoes.  I chopped into ~1 inch cubes, but do whatever you prefer.  Then, just as if I was preparing breakfast potatoes I cooked them in the skillet with a little bit of olive oil and added the tarragon, salt/pepper, cumin, and coriander.  Let them cook for about 20 minutes to cook through, and if you want you can periodically add a little broth that will be absorbed and soften the insides. 

Once primarily cooked, I added the red onion, a little garlic, and the shrimp to the pan.  Saute until the shrimp are pink and the onion softened.  I opted to chop my shrimp for the sake of having more shrimp scattered throughout in smaller bites.  It makes the shrimp go further.

Once cooked through you can assemble your meal.  I layered lettuce on the plate first, covered with the rice (it was leftover from a previous dinner so I just reheated it), piled the potatoes/shrimp on next, topped with fresh cucumber and tomato slices, and finally drizzled the sauce over.

The sauce was also leftover from a previous meal (see: Salmon w/ a Zucchini Yogurt Sauce).  It's basically a combination of 1:1 yogurt and mayo.  Then you throw in diced zucchini and chives, but really you can add whatever you like.  Or make your own yogurt sauce. 

So this dish is kind of like a salad, kind of like an mediterranean burrito bowl, but the combination of hot/cold, heavy/light makes for a tasty, hearty meal.

Salmon with a Zucchini Yogurt Sauce

Served with mashed potatoes and asparagus, both of which also taste good with the yogurt sauce

This has been a favorite recipe of mine for years, though I forget where we first discovered it.  I like it because it's pretty quick and easy with few ingredients but it tastes way more involved.

Ingredients for the sauce: plain yogurt, mayo, zucchini, chives
Ingredients for the fish: salmon fillets, poaching liquid (I usually like white wine and water with tarragon, but this time we used chicken broth and it still tasted great)

Poached fish results in way more tender and juicy fillets than most other methods of cooking.  However, it is still possible to overpoach a fish.  I like to put the salmon in a saute pan that covers about 3/4 - 4/5 of the salmon with the poaching liquid on medium to medium-high heat (you want it to be just under a boil).  Once it appears that most of the fish is cooked slightly, aside from a small portion of the top part (maybe about 5-7 minutes) flip the fillets over.  Cook for the same amount of time on the other side and you're done.

For the sauce, mix equal parts plain yogurt and mayonnaise (we did 8 ounces each and had lots of leftovers).  Then take one small zucchini and dice it and a small handful of chives and dice them.  Add as much of the zucchini and chives as you'd like to the yogurt/mayo (we went for a whole zucchini and maybe 1/4 cup of chives).

And that's it.  Plate the salmon, spoon some sauce over, and make sure to leave the bowl of sauce on the table with dinner, because your guests will definitely be going for more.  (Zucchini garnish optional)