I could swim in this sauce. It's divine. I used to steer away from sesame seed dishes because a little glass grocery store bottle of the stuff can be quite pricey (I find that the same can go for poppy seed). Well, I found some in bulk, which is totally the way to go. But I needed a divine dish for my new found (reasonably priced) seeds. This dish definitely does the sesame seed justice. As for toddler approval, Sweet Pea really enjoyed playing with her Daddy's noodles but didn't give them a chance until Cheap's last few bites.

Ingredients:
6 oz linguine or spaghetti (I actually used whole wheat)
3 cloves garlic, minced or 1/4 tea garlic powder
1 Tbs vinegar
1 Tbs brown sugar
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
¼ cup soy sauce (I had dark soy sauce so I used halved the soy sauce with water)
¼ cup sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 small chicken breasts, cooked (however you please) and thinly sliced
4 Tbs sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 lbs sugar snap peas (can use other green if snap peas are $$)
2 green onions, diced
1 small cucumber, diced into 1/4 inch pieces
salt to taste

Directions:
Put diced cucumber and green onions to the side

Add pasta to a pot of boiling salted water

Toast sesame seeds under a broiler or in a frying pan for a couple of minutes (will toast fast)

In a small mixing bowl, stir together peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, vinegar, garlic, cayenne pepper, and 3 Tbs of the toasted sesame seeds (Oh this sauce is so good...)

As the pasta finishes up, add the sugar snap peas to blanch them for about 4 minutes. Then drain liquid from pasta and s.s.peas

Mix pasta with sauce and sliced chicken. Place in a serving bowl (or individual bowls) and sprinkle cucumber, green onion and the remaining 1 Tbs of toasted sesame seeds on top. Dig in!

I actually had a craving for Salmon! Yippee! I rarely crave fish, so on the rare occasion that I do, I make sure to take advantage of it. This is so easy and with Salmon on sale (why do I always want to capitalize Salmon? Hmm.. weird) all I can say is "WAHOO!" I enjoy Salmon (I did it again!) with the caramelized topping that kind of pops like a crème brûlée when you first cut in. And my mom's favorite restaurant once offered salmon with small potatoes underneath, which I thought made a ka-pow combo. So I made my own (even better) version.

By the way, for some reason the top of my salmon looks burnt in the picture more than caramelized. I swear, it wasn't burnt. I'm happy to note that it was a very tender fillet.

Ingredients:
For potatoes:
3-4 Tablespoons olive oil
2 large potatoes, diced into 1/4 inch cubes
1 medium onion, diced
2 sprigs of rosemary (if you don't have rosemary you could use 2 cloves minced garlic and make garlic potatoes)

For Salmon:
4 Salmon fillets
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice


Optional:
Leafy greens to top (I used arugula, which the Brits call "rocket")

Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet and add rosemary

When rosemary starts to sizzle, add potatoes and onion. Stir occasionally and let cook until tender, about 20-25 minutes or so. If the potatoes are starting to look dry, you might want to add a bit more oil (not to throw a wrench in the mix, but if I have to cook a lot of raw potatoes for more people, I put the diced taters in a 400F oven for 40 min)

While the potatoes are cooking, mix honey, soy sauce, balsamic, and lemon juice to make dressing for the salmon

Pour dressing over the raw salmon, just so each fillet is topped and reserve the rest for dipping

Once the potatoes are done, remove from the hot skillet onto a plate and let rest

Put hot skillet back on the stove and add salmon, marinated side down. Let cook for 2-3 minutes on high so that the top of the salmon gets caramelized. Then flip the fillets over and let the fish cook for 3 more minutes. The salmon should be slightly pink in the center.

Place salmon over the potatoes and the optional leafy greens on top of the salmon. Pour the rest of the dressing over the salmon and enjoy! You'll feel like quite the gourmet!