Tag: Scott Loftesness

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Healthy Trader Joe’s Dinner: Salmon and Asparagus

Our local Trader Joe’s sells Norwegian farmed salmon in several different packaging. Our favorite is the BBQ Cut which is typically two pre-sliced salmon pieces that can come right out of the package and into the pan.

Picking up some fresh asparagus to accompany the salmon makes shopping for this dinner really quick and easy. Cut off the bottom inch or two of the asparagus after washing to prepare for cooking.

I’ve watched a number of YouTube videos about cooking salmon but find the one I use most often is this one by Frank Proto.

The keys in Frank’s technique: oil in the sauté pan, high heat to start, USE TONGS!

Importantly, once the salmon is in the pan (skin side down at first) do NOT play with it – don’t move it around – just let it cook. The salmon will release its tight grip with the bottom of the pan when it’s ready to be turned over. This is typically 7-8 minutes or so in my experience.

After turning the salmon over, reduce the heat to medium/low and finish the cooking – typically another 5 minutes or so. While waiting, slice a fresh lemon to accompany the salmon and the asparagus.

Once the salmon is finished, remove it to a plate and put the asparagus into the same pan while turning the heat back up to high. Add a splash of water or white wine to the pan and cover it, cooking for 2 minutes. Remove the lid, add a couple of tablespoons of butter and a squeeze of lemon and saute for another 3-4 minutes so the stalks are still snappy. Remove and plate with the salmon.

Enjoy! If you’re extra hungry, you might want some white rice to accompany.

Ina Garten sauce: as an option, if you want a nice Asian-style sauce for the salmon, here’s one that Ina Garten recommends – combine these ingredients in a small bowl.

  • 1 tablespoonsDijon mustard
  • 1.5 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon very finely minced fresh garlic

You can optionally use 1/2 of the sauce to marinate the salmon 30 minutes before cooking. Use the other half on the salmon just before serving.

Here’s her video if you’re interested:

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Thanksgiving 2025

For our Thanksgiving celebration recently, we put together the following menu:

Serving Suggestion
  • Diestel Bone-in Organic Turkey Breast – 6 lbs. Used the recommended “rub” (a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, some salt, and smoked paprika) before putting into a pre-heated 325 degree oven. Came out perfectly at 165 degrees internal temperature after two hours. We let the turkey breast rest for 30 minutes while the stuffing (below) cooked in the same oven. Compared to roasting a full bird, this bone-in breast was a simpler, faster way to go! See: https://diestelturkey.com/products/organic-bone-in-turkey-breast
  • Sausage, apple and herb stuffing – based on a recipe by Ina Garten. We used Gala apples – although Granny Smith was recommended and might provide a little more apple flavor to the stuffing. We used a half-pound of Jimmy Dean regular pork sausage that we cooked ahead of time prior to sautéing the other ingredients before adding to the bread mixture. Some may want to use the full pound of sausage. Seemed like the 1 cup of chicken stock wasn’t enough so we used some additional to further moisten the bread cubes before putting into a 300 degree over for 30 minutes. We used the same oven as the turkey – we took the turkey out and put the stuffing in while slightly lowering the oven temperature. See: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/sausage-and-herb-stuffing-recipe-1943434
  • Butter-poached carrots – On a whim (actually based on a tip from Sam Sifton in his Morning newsletter for the New York Times) we made a small side dish of butter-poached carrots for the first time. “It doesn’t seem that butter, water and salt should result in carrots that taste this supremely of carrots, but the magic is evident in the incredible distilled carrot flavor, thanks to a little technique.” Couldn’t be easier – butter, water, salt – bring to a vigorous simmer for 10 minutes and you’re done. Instead of sliced carrots, I used a couple of handfuls of the mini carrots we get for snacking. Turned out great. A local steakhouse we enjoy visiting serves a side of broccoli and carrots with their steaks – and I’ll bet they’re using a simple recipe like this to prepare them. See: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1026250-butter-poached-carrots
  • Mashed potatoes and gravy – we used some local store-bought potatoes and gravy this year. Heated up in the microwave – couldn’t have been easier!
  • Missing this year: no rolls or bread (other than the stuffing). We also had some green beans we thought we’d sauté but decided that we had enough with the carrots, stuffing, etc. so skipped making them.
  • Dessert: For dessert we had a box of frozen chocolate cheesecake bits from Trader Joe’s which we just right – small but flavorful way to end the otherwise big meal! See: https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/chocolate-cheesecake-bites-077104

We started cooking about 2 PM and sat down for dinner about 5 PM. Not too much work and a wonderful Thanksgiving meal!

Diestel Bone-In Organic Turkey Breast – after cooking

PS: that stuffing is even better the day AFTER Thanksgiving!