In the cold months of winter my stove gets lots of use. Usually every day there is something stewing on top and bread or a roast baking in the oven. But once the summer heat gets here and the air conditioner is running, I try to use it as little as possible. When DH is home most of our meats and a lot of the veggies are cooked on the charcoal grill. It's a big one that can handle several meals at once. But I'm no grill master. So when I'm home alone, I turn to the toaster oven on the kitchen counter. I can reheat stuff or even cook some things from scratch without heating the house. It takes a little longer to cook than if I used the microwave, but then again, the microwave doesn't always turn out a tasty meal. With a little bit of planning for extra time I can save some energy and eat food that doesn't taste like cardboard!
Yesterday I had a hankering for salmon so this is how I cooked it in the toaster oven.
First I preheated the toaster oven. I set it to 375* to warm up while I prepared the salmon. On a pan lined with foil and sprayed with no stick spray, I placed the salmon filet and drizzled it with soy sauce and maple syrup (about a teaspoon of each.) I added a side of garlic scapes mixed with olive oil because I knew they would cook in the same amount of time as the salmon. Then I cooked it for 10 minutes. I checked for done-ness and then put it back in and changed the toaster setting to broil for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile I had a sweet potato baking in the microwave.
When the salmon was nice and flaky and the scapes were extra crispy (just the way I like them) dinner was served!
First I preheated the toaster oven. I set it to 375* to warm up while I prepared the salmon. On a pan lined with foil and sprayed with no stick spray, I placed the salmon filet and drizzled it with soy sauce and maple syrup (about a teaspoon of each.) I added a side of garlic scapes mixed with olive oil because I knew they would cook in the same amount of time as the salmon. Then I cooked it for 10 minutes. I checked for done-ness and then put it back in and changed the toaster setting to broil for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile I had a sweet potato baking in the microwave.
When the salmon was nice and flaky and the scapes were extra crispy (just the way I like them) dinner was served!
