The year’s focus on eating healthier continues right along with a renewed focus on fusion cooking, my favorite means of taking flavors and textures to new heights.  Our weather has been unseasonably warm and the market had the most beautiful baby bok choy, so I had to find something that would go well with it and salmon just seemed to fit the bill.  Add some pan fried noodles and not only do you have yourself a wonderfully healthy and filling meal, but one you can feel good about eating.  no compromises here!

The inspiration for the salmon came from an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s F-Word, but only loosely, as I couldn’t remember exactly what he’d done to his salmon, just that he’d used soy to glaze the fish, which sounded wonderful.  The rest of the dish was whipped up on a whim with ingredients I had on hand, but the combination was perfect for a firly warm evening and a lovely meal with my wife.

The recipe may sound complicated, but in actuality it doesn’t get much simpler than this.  There are only three primary ingredients and a few accompaniments that can be found at nearly any supermarket in the Asian section, so even if all you have access to is a BigScaryMegaMart, you should be able to get everything needed for this recipe in a single trip and for just a few dollars.  It really is worth it, trust me.

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, simple flavors are usually the most profound.  The art of great food is not necessarily about the number of ingredients, the amount of spices and flavorings, or even the technical knowledge of the person preparing the meal.  It’s about a perfect balance of flavors, textures and aromas.  This is true of the perfect serving of escargot as much as it is in the perfect plate of simple southern greens.  They are both beautiful experiences in their own right, and neither one is complicated.

The same holds true of this simple little dish.  It could be used as a tappas, an appetizer, a snack or even a great little brunch dish.  The ingredients are simple, straightforward and complimentary in ways that would not be possible had any other ingredient been added. In this case minimal is better, and if you try it, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Not only are these tiny tidbits a wonderful taste sensation, they are healthy.  Packed with Omega-3 fatty acids and lean proteins that we are all supposed to get more of. The cream cheese is low fat and so provides calcium without too much guilt. Of all the ingredients, only the bagels may cause worry for some, but they souldn’t.  The tiny addition in carb count is more than worth it. Top it all off with the fact that this dish weighs in at only 4 Weight Watcher’s points, and you’re golden.

Even my wife approved, and she’s not a salmon fan!

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If you’re looking for a meal that is cool, light and refreshing, look no further than this simple pizza. While it may sound odd for me to talk about cool meals in the wanting days of February, our part of the world has seen some pretty strange weather this winter, with temperatures ranging from the sunny and a bit over-warm 80’s, then dropping to a very crisp 24 degrees the very next day. It was on one of the warmer days that I decided something a little light was in order.

I used Alaskan smoked salmon for this dish that my wife had bought me as a Christmas gift. Unlike Nova Scotia smoked salmon, or Pacific Northwest “Jerked Style” salmon, this particular preparation leaves the consistency of the fish much like what you would find in a canned salmon. It would be a lot more attractive with slices of the other type, but aside from having slightly milder flavor than the hard cured varieties, this pizza was absolutely fantastic. (Enough so that I told my wife I needed to make it again for “testing” before I posted it here. I think she knew the truth, but she, as usual, let me think I was getting away with something. What you’re looking at is my second attempt, which was just as wonderful as the first.)

I got the original recipe for this pizza from Rachael Ray’s Food Network Recipe collection and modified it to suit my tastes from there, but her inspiration is almost definitely taken from the famous Wolfgang Puck, who introduced his version of this pizza to a hungry audience at Los Angeles California’s Spago in 1982, thus starting the gourmet pizza craze and making “California Cuisine” a term recognized worldwide.

It was great then, it’s great now, give it a go!

Do you have any great seafood pizza recipes? Care to share them with us? Leave a comment!

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