Break the dinner routine

The challenge: Ruth Rhymaun often turned to the same ingredients to make her family meals. We showed her how to put more variety in her dishes.

By Meredith Cohn | Sun reporter

February 27, 2008

Ruth Rhymaun of Bel Air tries chef Lisa Hardiman's Salmon Cakes With Lemon Dressing. Hardiman develops menus for the area's Let's Dish! shops. (Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam / February 5, 2008)

Ruth Rhymaun is a good cook.

The busy Bel Air wife and mother of two knows the terms, she has the knife skills, and she routinely turns out pasta, soup, burgers and Shepherd's Pie for dinner.

Problem is, it's become too routine.

She uses the same 10 ingredients over and over as the base for many meals, and knows her husband Martin, 4-year-old Willow and 3-year-old Lucas would like to try some new foods.

So Rhymaun volunteered for The Sun's Make Over My Meal series. She wanted some new ingredients that would be easy to keep in the house and spin into new meals. She wanted the meals to be healthful, devoid of trans fats and full of vegetables. She wanted to cook more fish. And, of course, the recipes had to be tasty enough to compete with the family's old favorites.

"I know I can always feed my family if I have those 10 things in the refrigerator," Rhymaun said. "I know if I've been painting and my husband is going to be home in 15 minutes, I can make something. But they're bored with that something."

We went to her home with an expert who tries new foods and mixes and matches them for a living.

Lisa Hardiman co-owns and does all of the menu development for the nine Let's Dish! shops in the Baltimore-Washington-Virginia suburbs. Customers come to the stores and assemble their own freezer- or oven-ready meals from ingredients on hand or order ahead and have workers do it for them.

Hardiman is also a working mother who knows how to get her 6-, 8- and 11-year-old kids to try some adult foods without completely hiding all the healthful stuff.

We gave her Rhymaun's regular list of ingredients: ground turkey, onion, carrot, celery, olive oil, sea salt, pepper, tomato paste, soy sauce and apple juice.

And told her what Rhymaun makes: pasta sauce, meatball soup and Shepherd's Pie, among other dishes. Regular side dishes are broccoli and mashed potatoes with pureed cauliflower mixed in.

Hardiman liked the Shepherd's Pie that Rhymaun made first. She replaced the ground turkey with a different protein - salmon - and told Rhymaun that from the same kind of fish, she could produce Salmon Cakes With Lemon Dressing, Garlic-and-Herb Salmon and Grilled Salmon Pesto Pasta Toss.

Salmon is a little higher in fat than some fish, but is packed with omega-3 fatty acids, protein and other nutrients. It also lacks the mercury content of tuna. And a lot of kids like the pink color, she said.

Still working with Rhymaun's desire for recipes that have common ingredients, Hardiman came up with a second set of foods that revolved around fruit. The recipes included citrus tilapia with almonds, pork tenderloin with chile-apricot glaze and pork tenderloin with chimichurri sauce that contained orange juice. The sweet elements are appealing to younger taste buds, too.

She brought the ingredients for all of the dishes to Rhymaun's house and launched into the salmon cakes.

Hardiman told Rhymaun that recipes didn't have to be complicated to be good and good for you.

Many of the ingredients Hardiman used were common to most kitchens. She used fresh fish, but said canned works well for most recipes also. She also picked ingredients that were more healthful choices than the alternatives, such as olive oil, fruit or juice and low-fat sour cream.

She told Rhymaun to experiment with new herbs, cheeses or other ingredients to refresh a tried-and-true, but tired, recipe.

Hardiman also suggested making meals with a variety of colorful foods - such as red, yellow and green peppers - to add aesthetic appeal.

To shop for her fish recipes, Hardiman recommended going to a quality market and asking about when the fish was delivered. She usually passes when it's older than a day or two and never shops on Mondays because few markets get deliveries on Sundays.

Most tuna and shrimp have been frozen, but salmon and tilapia can be purchased fresh and then frozen at home for later. It's a bad idea to freeze fish that has been frozen before if it hasn't been cooked because bacteria can form, she said.

Hardiman likes the salmon cakes because they're simple and tasty. Her kids prefer them without sauce; she likes them with the topping. They also can be made smaller for little fingers or for appetizers. They can be made larger, served on a whole-grain roll and eaten like a burger, too.

Add corn or other chopped veggies for variety.

"Kids like fun finger foods, and they like colors," she said.

Rhymaun always serves a vegetable on the side, and Hardiman gave her a couple of suggestions to replace her regular broccoli.

She said roasting vegetables such as carrots and tomatoes is a favorite preparation in her house. She also buys bags of edamame, soybeans still in their pods, that are ready-made for three or four minutes in the microwave. She said to sprinkle them with salt and teach the kids not to eat the pods, but to "pop" them in their mouths.

This day, Hardiman made roasted tomatoes by halving plum tomatoes and baking them cut side up with a little olive oil drizzled on top, as well as a little salt and pepper sprinkled on. She put them in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Rhymaun was sure that the salmon cakes and tomatoes would go over well, and they did. A string-bean recipe that called for bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and olive oil was not as big a hit: "They required a certain amount of parental pressure to finish them," Rhymaun said.

All and all, however, Rhymaun said that she was pleased to have a new set of meals to get into the rotation.

As for the unsuccessful recipe, Rhymaun said, "It was worth the try."

Salmon Cakes with Lemon Dressing

Makes 5 servings

LEMON DRESSING:

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

2 scallions, minced

dash kosher salt

dash pepper

SALMON CAKES:

1/4 cup packed Italian parsley, chopped

4 scallions, chopped in 4-inch lengths

1 1/4 pounds skinless salmon fillet

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon light mayonnaise

1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

To make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk dressing ingredients together and set aside.

To make the salmon cakes: Place Italian parsley and scallions in a food processor. Combine until finely chopped.

Add the salmon, mustard and mayonnaise. Using on/off button, blend until salmon is coarsely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the panko, salt and pepper. With gloved or moistened hands, shape salmon mixture into 5 large patties or 10 smaller ones. The patties can be covered and refrigerated at this point to cook later.

Pour olive oil into a nonstick skillet and heat over medium high heat. Add salmon patties and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve as a "burger" or on a plate with no roll. The salmon cakes also can be prepared on a grill. Serve dressing with the salmon cakes.

--Courtesy of Lisa Hardiman, coowner of Let's Dish!

Per serving: 299 calories, 29 grams protein, 13 grams fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 16 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram fiber, 75 milligrams cholesterol, 571 milligrams sodium

Garlic-and-Herb Salmon

Serves 6

1 salmon fillet, about 2 pounds

4 teaspoons garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

1 teaspoon rosemary

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Tear a piece of foil, about 24 inches long. Place salmon on foil, skin side down.

In a small metal bowl, stir together garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil. Drizzle the mixture over salmon. Cover with another large piece of foil and seal edges with a double fold.

Place salmon on a baking sheet. Cut slit in top of foil packet to make it easy to check doneness at end of bake time. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until edge of fish flakes easily with fork but center is still slightly firm. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. To serve: Use a spatula to cut into and lift portions, leaving skin stuck to foil.

-- Courtesy of Lisa Hardiman, co-owner of Let's Dish!

Per serving: 291 calories, 34 grams protein, 16 grams fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 1 gram carbohydrate, 0 grams fiber, 96 milligrams cholesterol, 396 milligrams sodium

Grilled Salmon Pesto Pasta Toss

Serves 6

1 salmon fillet, skin on, about 1 1/2 pounds

3 tablespoons olive oil (divided use)

dash salt

dash pepper

1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes

1/2 cup peppers (green, red or yellow), sliced

1/2 cup sliced onions

1 cup broccoli florets

2 cups bow-tie or penne pasta

1/2 cup prepared pesto

Place a sheet of foil on a work surface and place the salmon on it. Drizzle salmon with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and add dash of salt and pepper. Set aside.

On another sheet of foil, place the grape tomatoes, peppers, onions, broccoli and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Fold foil over vegetables and double fold edges to seal.

Preheat grill to medium-high. Place salmon (on the foil) on grill and sealed vegetable packet on grill. Cook 20 to 30 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork and reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Turn vegetables once. Or, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put another sheet of foil on top of the salmon and wrap to make a packet. Bake vegetable and salmon packets on a baking sheet, side by side, for 40 to 50 minutes, until the internal temperature of the salmon reaches 160 degrees.

Meanwhile, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Salt water and add pasta. Cook pasta 11 minutes or until tender; drain. When salmon is cooked, use spatula to lift salmon from skin, which will stick to foil and come away easily. Place cooked pasta in a large bowl and top with vegetables and large pieces of salmon. Toss with pesto.

-- Courtesy of Lisa Hardiman, co-owner of Let's Dish!

Per serving: 500 calories, 35 grams protein, 25 grams fat, 5 grams saturated fat, 32 grams carbohydrate, 3 grams fiber, 78 milligrams cholesterol, 246 milligrams sodium

meredith.cohn@baltsun.com

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