S’s Swap, 1/11: Coconut Salmon, Green Beans & Wild Rice

I am very happy to start the new year with this swap menu! I made this combination of dishes twice over the holidays, once for my father and once for my brother-in-law and his wife. Both times, all three items a big hit…with kids and adult alike. Hope the J-M’s will find it as enjoyable!

Here’s what I made:

– Salmon with Coconut Sauce
– Green Beans in Fresh Tomato Sauce
– Indianized Mushroom Wild Rice Pilaf

The salmon recipe is from Bal Arneson, who is the Spice Goddess on the Cooking Channel. I usually don’t enjoy salmon made with a lot of spices but Bal’s got it spot-on…the right spices, the right blend, the right amount…the coconut sauce is just heavenly and goes so well with the salmon.

I also made the green beans using another one of Bal’s recipe. This time the modification was to eliminate the paneer, only because I didn’t have any. And I made a desi (i.e., Indian) version of wild rice pilaf. Basically, I cooked the wild rice using a bit more water (1/4 cup more than the 2 1/2 cups called for). While it was cooking, I sauteed onions, garlic and mushrooms with some ground cumin, dried fenugreek leaves, salt and pepper. Once the rice was almost done I tossed in the sauteed mushroom mixture and let the rice finish cooking.

Salmon, green beans and rice…with spice!