Quick Weeknight Meals: Salmon with soba noodles in peanut sauce and sesame green beans

My husband and I often work late, so we have come up with a bunch of recipes that can be prepared in 25 minutes or less (take that, Rachael Ray!). Tonight we made a salmon dinner that could not be easier to prepare -- plus, it was healthy and delicious!


Ingredients:


Salmon filets (5-6 oz per person)

Soba Noodles

Green beans

Creamy peanut butter

Soy Sauce

Rice Vinegar

Minced Ginger (fresh or from a jar)

Lime Juice

Chili-Garlic Sauce (or Sriracha, an asian hot sauce)

Sesame Oil

Sesame Seeds



Step 1: For the noodles, bring a medium/large pot of water to a boil.


Step 2: While the water is coming to a boil, pre-heat the broiler of your oven or toaster oven. Place salmon filets skin side down on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper, then lightly coat with soy sauce. Broil the fish for 5-7 minutes, until the salmon flakes easily with a fork.


Step 3: Clean green beans, then trim ends and cut in half on a bias. Place in basket steamer (or you may boil them). I prefer them crisp-tender, so I usually steam them for about 5-6 minutes.


Step 4: Place soba noodles in boiling water for 6-7 minutes, then prepare the peanut sauce while the noodles are cooking. To prepare sauce, whisk about 1/4 cup of peanut butter with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of rice vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon of lime juice, 1/2 - 1 tablespoon of minced ginger, 1 tablespoon of dark sesame oil, and 1 - 2 teaspoons of chili-garlic sauce - depending on how spicy you like it (use less if using sriracha sauce). Whisk until smooth.


Step 5: Remove Salmon from broiler and check on noodles. Once noodles are done, drain and then toss with the peanut sauce.


Step 6: Remove green beans from the steamer (or boiling water) and toss with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Then toss with a 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds (white or black).



Enjoy! Let us know how it turns out.

Virginia Wine Festival 2008

There's no better place to learn about Virginia's burgeoning wine industry than at the Virginia Wine Festival. This year's festival was held September 27-28 at the Prince William County Fairgrounds in Manassas, Virginia.

We departed our Dupont Circle condo amid gray skies, cool air, and a light rain -- fortunately we were dressed for such weather, and I was rather happy about the opportunity to wear some new fall clothes. Yet by the time we reached our destination it was sunny, hot, and oppressively humid. The dramatic change of weather had not occurred to me -- nor to most members of our group, many of whom did not even bring sunglasses. Oh well, we decided to literally sweat it out and enjoy white wine throughout the day.

The various wineries were spread out around the Fairgrounds in tents, and there was a large open area in the middle with tables for enjoying food and wine purchased on site. The $20 ticket price included a wine glass and free tastings at all of the wineries.

Each winery had at least 5 or 6 bottles of wine to sample. Many wineries had their own special blends of wine, though two varietals were showcased at every winery we visited: Viogner and Cabernet Franc.

Our group's favorite winery was Cardinal Point. They had an excellent - and award winning - 2006 Viogner, though many in our group preferred the "2007 A6," a blend of Viogner and Chardonnay. We enjoyed several bottles (there were 10 of us) of the A6 while we ate lunch and listened to the live music (the "Original" Rhondelles).

Another group favorite was the Chrysalis winery. They had an excellent and easy drinking Norton varietal called "Sarah's Patio Red." This is a light, fruity red wine served chilled. It tasted especially refreshing on such a hot day -- we all asked for a second taste of this wine! We learned that Norton is a red grape that is unique to Virginia and that Chrysalis has the largest single planting of Norton in the state.

There were too many disappointing wines and wineries to name, and on the whole Virginia wines are priced higher than their taste would suggest. Most of the wines we tasted were priced in the $15 - $30 range, yet their quality and taste were comparable to $8-$15 bottles from California and other well-established regions. We understand that that these are small wineries who need to keep prices high enough to stay in business, so we were happy to buy several bottles at the Festival. But I don't think I will seek out Virginia wines the next time I am at the store -- there are simply much better wines available for the price.