Salmon with Mustard-Dill Sauce

This recipe calls for salmon steaks, but I think they are too bony. I go for filet every time. One of the things that makes this recipe so easy is you probably have most of the items on hand. What respectable diva does not have wine on hand?(photo by House of Sims)

Salmon with Mustard-Dill Sauce

1 1/2 lbs. salmon cut into four pieces

1 cup white wine

1-2 minced shallots

1 big handful dill

1/4 cup plain yogurt (Greek yogurt is the best)

2 spoonfuls of Dijon mustard

2 squeezes honey

2 squeezes of lemon

Place salmon in a baking pan and pour wine on top of them.
Sprinkle the shallots over them and bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.
Baste with the wine once or twice (in between sips of your own).
Meanwhile, mix dill, yogurt, mustard, honey, and lemon in a pretty bowl.
Place cooked salmon on warmed pretty plates and drizzle mustard mixture over them.

Make it a meal: Serve with a fresh side salad.

Wine: Pinot Noir

Elegant Swiss Cheese Chicken

This is a great one to serve to guests. It looks like you spent all day cooking. They don't need to know you spent all day getting a pedicure and a massage.

Elegant Swiss Cheese Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts

4-6 slices of Swiss cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup white wine

2 cups herb stuffing mix

1/2 stick of butter

Place chicken in a casserole dish that is greased.
Top each piece of chicken with a slice of cheese.
Mix the soup with the wine and pour mixture over the chicken and cheese.
Spread stuffing over the top and put bits of butter over the whole thing.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes until chicken is done.
Serve over rice.

Make it a meal: Serve with green beans with herb butter (see recipe)

Wine: Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc

Creamy Hamburger Topping

Do you get tired of making hamburgers the same way all the time? My husband does not: ketchup and lettuce. All the time. Just to clue you in, he has also been eating the same two cereals for the last 15 years: Frosted Mini-Wheats and Honey Cheerios. Five days a week. (photo by elizabethtrittipo)

I simply cannot survive that way.

Creamy Hamburger Topping

½ onion, sliced

½ red pepper, sliced

a few pinches of dill weed

salt & pepper to taste

½ cup mayonnaise, (I use light)

2 hamburger patties

1 whole wheat bun

Sauté onion and red pepper in olive oil or butter if you are feeling thin.
Add dill weed, salt, pepper, and mayonnaise and stir for a few minutes.
Set aside.
Grill burgers and toast the bun. (Divas love their buns toasted.)
Serve burgers open-faced on top of bun slice smothered in the creamy topping.

Options: Add mushrooms to the onion and red pepper sauté.

Make it a meal: Serve with a small side salad.

Wine: Beaujolais

Salmon Wellington

Talk about elegant and easy. This recipe is everything I wanted this web site to be. I served this to my favorite guinea pig, my mother-in-law. She is my favorite, because she loves everything I make. Unlike my husband. He actually tells me when he thinks something did not hit the mark. Bastard. Pork Wellington used to be my go-to dish for company. Now this is.

Salmon Wellington

1 box puff pastry (I use Pepperidge Farm)

1 lb. salmon filet

handful of spinach

1 beaten egg

1 can cream of mushroom soup

a few splashes of sherry

a splash of half & half

Thaw the puff pastry, and cut each sheet in half.
Cut the filet into four pieces.
Place each piece of salmon onto a puff pastry piece.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Place some spinach on each salmon.
Wrap the salmon pieces in the puff pastry and pinch shut.
Paint some egg on top of each puff.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, heat the mushroom soup.
Add the sherry and half & half.
Spread the heated soup on each dinner plate and place the salmon puff on top.

Options: Saute shallots or onions and garlic to place atop salmon pieces with the spinach.

Make it a meal: Serve with roasted garlic and a baked potato.

Wine: Pinot Noir, Rose, or Chardonnay

Pork with Sauce over Quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a new “super food” that’s only been around for thousands of years. I cook my quinoa in chicken broth instead of water for extra flavor. It is high in protein and fiber and cooks easily like rice about 15 minutes. It is a whole grain and gluten-free. I don’t really know what gluten-free is, but it sounds like something my thighs don’t need.

Otherwise, the pork is fall-apart delicious. This dish works great for leftovers and lunch the next day.

Pork with Sauce over Quinoa

4 pork chops or center cuts

2 14-oz. cans of diced tomatoes or the equivalent of tomato sauce

½ sliced red pepper

½ sliced green pepper

½ sliced onion

a big splash of Worcestershire sauce

a dash of coriander

a dash of cumin

1 cup of quinoa, cooked

Put everything except the quinoa into the crock pot.
Cook low for 5-6 hours.
Serve over quinoa.

Options: Substitute rice for quinoa.

Make it a meal: Serve with steamed broccoli.

Wine: Shiraz or Zinfandel