What's in the Fridge?

Ever try to decide what to do for dinner only to look in the fridge and think, "How in the world am I going to make a meal out of this random assortment of stuff???" That's what we do most every night! Here's one perfect example.

We were getting hungry and no one had enough of anything to make a whole meal, so we decided to combine what each of us had to contribute to a meal. What did we have? Well, some collared greens, butter nut squash, and jasmine rice. One of our members doesn't handle the gluten of the white rice so well, so she went with some quinoa instead. We decided to make a quick trip to the local market for a protein of some kind, which was decided to be salmon steaks. mmm! Believe it or not, one can make a well-rounded meal by having a simple collection of one-item foods.

1. Cook rice according to packaging. This is the easiest to cook first as you just stick it in the rice cooker or sit it on the burner and leave it alone for 15-25 minutes.
2. I believe we had bought already chopped butternut squash, so it was easy to cook up. Stick in a frying pan with some oil or partly boil in water (I believe we used water in a frying pan). Add some salt to bring out the flavors and saute until very soft, at least 25 minutes.
3. Boil up the collared greens until limp; thoroughly dry and saute with some garlic powder and salt for extra taste.
4. We seasoned the salmon with some basic Italian spices (oregano, rosemary, thyme) and added a pinch of red pepper for some spice! Bake in a deep baking pan for 15-25 minutes, depending on how thick your salmon is. It took ours a good 30 minutes; they were some thick steaks! Test with a fork to see if it flakes easily; then you know it's done.

Pile onto your plates and enjoy! The spice of the red peppers, saltiness of the collared greens, and butteriness of the squash were brought together well with the blandness of the white rice.

**Lesson of this day's meal: Be adventurous!
The beauty of cooking is that it is not an exact science but rather an art form that is to be tested and perfected! Combine different seasonings; throw together strange combinations; how else will you learn the perfect way to make a favorite meal?! Till next time, lovelies....