I grew up with eating a variety of fish: mackerel, sardine, tuna, salmon and more. After I moved to U.S.A., I have a few reasons not to cook fish. First I am not quite sure if fish is fresh at local grocery stores. Some stores’ fish section doesn’t smell so good (old fish?) compared to the smell of fresh fish in Tokyo (no problem!). Second, fish is more expensive than chicken and pork. Third, my husband is picky when it comes to fish. I tried to cook fish with tomato and cream sauce. Then I discovered how to turn on his taste buds. Cook with mayonnaise!
Grilled Mayo Salmon Set Meals 485 calories
Main – Grilled Mayo Salmon
Side 1 – Tomato Stewed Cabbage
Side 2 – Bean Sprouts Salad With Sesame Dressing
Soup – Egg Drop Soup
White Rice
All recipes are made for 2 servings. This printable recipe box will allow you to change the serving size to adjust the recipe.
Main: Grilled Mayo Salmon 160 calories
The cooking method is simple and easy. Just sprinkle salt and pepper (2% of volume) and leave it for 30 minutes. Remember? Salt will help to remove moisture from meat and bring nicely firm texture when cooked. It also will help to remove fishy taste. Win win! You will find a variety of salmon, such as wild-caught from Alaska (from May to October) and farm raised from Atlantic (all year round). If it’s difficult for you to get fresh salmon, look for frozen salmon. I often buy individually packed frozen salmon from Costco. They are good quality and easy to prepare for cooking. If salmon is starting to get burned while cooking, cover it with a piece of aluminum foil.
- 200 g salmon 100 g each
- salt & pepper
- 2 teaspoon mayonnaise
- 60 g broccoli cooked
- Salt and pepper salmon on both side and leave it for 30 minutes.
- Preheat toaster oven, 450 F degrees on toast setting.
- Coat salmon with 1/2 mayonnaise on skin side right before cooking
- Place meat on toaster oven tray, on top of aluminum foil and coat the other side with the rest of the mayonnaise.
- Cook salmon for 12 to 15 minutes. If mayonnaise is starting to get burned, place aluminum foil on top.
- Add cooked broccoli next to salmon
Side1: Tomato Stewed Cabbage 81 calories
This is warm tasty side. Cabbage is great when eaten fresh or cooked. Adding just a slice of bacon makes this dish so savory. I know bacon isn’t so good for you, but once in a while it won’t hurt you. Remember those days your grandma used to cook an egg in bacon grease. Besides you have some healthy options vs. traditional bacon. There are turkey bacon, center cut bacon, low sodium bacon, nitrates/nitrites free bacon and so forth. And you can even make your own bacon, called pancetta. It’s up to you. I use Farmland All Natural Uncured Bacon. If you are vegetarian, you can skip bacon.
- 150 g cabbage
- 40 g onion
- 40 g carrot
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 slice bacon
- 1/4 teaspoon olive oil
- 80 g canned tomato
- 1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon or chicken base
- salt & pepper
- Cut cabbage into large chunks and onions, garlic and tomatoes into small chunks. Slice carrot and cut bacon into 0.5 inch rectangular.
- Heat oil in pan. Sauté garlic, bacon, onions, carrots and then cabbage.
- Stir in tomatoes and chicken bouillon.
- Cook for 10 minutes until vegetables become tender. Add salt & pepper if necessary.
Side2: Bean Sprouts Salad 39 calories
Bean Sprout is a common ingredient for Japanese and used for many recipes. They call it a budget friendly vegetable. It’s inexpensive and used to add volume to dishes. Yet they are crunchy, mild in flavor, low in calories and good source of vitamins and minerals. Sounds good? Drain water after cooked for few minutes to enjoy the crispy texture. I use ground sesame seeds for the dressing. Make sure the seeds are ground to enhance the nutty flavor. If you don’t have sesame seeds, use small chopped peanuts or cashew. Cucumber contains a lot of water. Before you mix cucumber strips with the dressing, sprinkle salt, leave it for a few minutes and squeeze it to remove the water. If you miss the step, the water will be released into the dressing and make the flavor weak. Not only does the step make the texture crisp but also cucumbers absorb the dressing better.
- 40 g cucumber
- salt
- 120 g bean sprouts
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground sesame
- Slice cucumber and cut into strips.
- Sprinkle salt over cucumber and mix. Let it sit for 5 minutes and squeeze to remove excess water.
- Lightly boil bean sprouts and drain in colander.
- Combine sugar, vinegar and soy sauce in bowl.
- Add bean sprouts and cucumbers to the bowl and mix well. Sprinkle ground sesame when you serve.
Soup: Egg Drop Soup 45 calories
This is a tweak to the vegetable soup I showed on the last post. I also modified the vegetable. I used broccoli stems that was left when I used the florets as a garnish for the main dish. Don’t throw away the broccoli stems. They are higher in fiber than florets and taste mildly sweet. Just peel off the tough outer layer of the stem. The recipe requires half of an egg. The leftover beaten egg can be stored in a plastic soufflé coup and freeze it until you need the half egg. Oh, I have to add a No Wasting Policy to the cooking tips!
- Chop onion, carrot and broccoli into small chunks.
- Put vegetables and chicken broth in pan. Cook until the vegetables become tender. If using canned corn, add it later.
- Turn off heat and stir in egg. Optional: add soy sauce and pepper for taste.
100g of Steamed White Rice 160 calories
Each 500 calories set meal comes with 100g of steamed rice. You will need to cook rice in a rice cooker or in a heavy gage pot. And measure cooked rice for 100 grams. I will show you how to make your cooking life easier. Read more How To Cook And Store Japanese Rice.