You know it is a good night when...

...You may need to call the fire department while cooking dinner. Yes, that was definitely the case last night!

I really like salmon and have made buddies with the fish guy at my local grocery store, so he’s always saving a good piece of salmon for me AND he evens cuts the skin off! Nice guy! When I cook salmon, I usually use these little paper thin cedar wrappers. Instead of the usual, I decided to get a cedar plank. They have these just right by the picnic supplies.

I looked at the directions on the package and they looked easy enough. It basically said soak the plank in water for an hour, turn your grill to medium, place the plank on the grill for three minutes, turn over, place your fish on and close the lid and let it cook. Who could mess that up, right? You guessed it…we did! And when I say we - I mean John and his pyromaniac tendencies! :)

Here is out it went…

I soaked the plank in water for over an hour as recommended, then read the directions to John. He took it from there. This was his interpretation.

1. Turn heat to high...Or blazing holy shit balls hot!
2. Put Plank on grill and leave unattended
3. Come back to plank lit on fire...laugh, then flip it over.
4. Turn the heat down to inferno, leave unattended again, AND light it on fire AGAIN.
5. Open the grill and make the comment that the burning plank smells like campfire.
6. Douse with water.
7. Move black charred plank to top rack - only seems natural and - pray that sucker doesn't light on fire a third time!
8. Finally turn heat down.
9. Decide heat is down too low and turn it back up - well, until I come out and assure the heat gets turned down and stays down.
10. Place salmon on plank and shut lid.
11. In the meantime, check 9000 times to make sure plank is not on fire.

Needless to say, it was entertaining to watch. And you know, it really did smell like a campfire! Anyway…after all of that and me thinking this salmon was for sure ruined. It was THE BEST SALMON EVER! I mean, the best salmon I have ever had. It was way moist and juicy. So, I guess I will stop giving John a  hard time. I will also start using more cedar planks. 

Oh yeah, that plank is a goner!

I served this with some quinoa. If you haven’t had quinoa, I suggest you try it. It is awesome. I actually got this recipe from my friend Monica, and have adapted a time or two for my liking. 

Doesn't look that good...but it sure is!

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups chicken broth
• ½ onion diced
• 1 large carrot diced
• 1 crown of broccoli cut into bite size pieces
• 3 green onions diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• ½ cup cream or half and half
• ½ cup shredded cheese (if you like more, then add it)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Place a small amount of olive oil in the bottom of a pan (you know like one you would cook rice in). Turn heat to medium-high. Pour in quinoa and sauté until golden. Add chicken stock, salt and pepper, and cover. Simmer for about 15 minutes - a small amount of liquid will remain.

In the meantime, add some olive oil to a sauté pan. Over medium heat, sauté your onion, carrots, broccoli, and garlic until just soft. Add the cooked quinoa to this mixture. At that time, add in your green onions. Turn heat to low and add in cream. Gradually bring heat to medium. Stir in cheese.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Quinoa is so good. It has a very unique flavor…but dang it is yummy!

Well, hope everyone has a great weekend and has some fun Super Bowl plans. I know I do and I am excited to make some awesome snacks!