Salmon with crispy skin

You too can have salmon with crispy, crunchy, edible skin!

First, season your salmon with whatever you like. I used salt, pepper, and italian herbs. Another good combo is salt, smoked paprika and garlic powder. 

Now, here's the key to getting that skin to crisp up. Cut slits into the skin, being careful not to cut through the whole filet. This may take some practice.

Get a cast iron skillet super super hot. Add the tiniest bit of oil  (I recommend grape seed oil or any oil with a very high smoke point) and using a folded up paper towel, spread the oil thinly over the bottom of the pan. Once that oil is almost smoking, place your salmon skin-side down. Now, wait. Don't touch it. Wait like, 5 minutes. You will see the salmon becoming opaque from the bottom up and wait for it to hit about half-way through the filet.

 Carefully flip with a spatula. It should look like this. If it appears to be sticking, then wait longer. Nothing should stick to your cast iron if it is properly seasoned (oiled). Cook skin-side up for another 2 or 3 minutes on high (or longer if you like your salmon less pink in the middle). 

 Serve skin-side up if you like it crispy or skin-side down if you don't. 

Bok Choy Stir Fry with Chicken

This is a dish that satisfies every Chinese food-related craving I have and is low-sodium and pretty healthy.

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into tiny strips or bite-sized chunks
2-3 large heads of bok choy, rinsed, separate the white from the green but chop both
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, diced
1 cup diced sweet peppers
1 cup broccoli florets, chopped
oil for stir frying (grape seed, wok oil, sesame oil)
Cooked white rice

For sauce:
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup Soy Vay teriyaki marinade
1 tblsp rice wine vinegar
1 pinch red chili pepper flakes
1 small chunk ginger, minced
3 garlic gloves, minced

1 tblsp corn starch

Prepare your vegetables. Break the white parts off the bok coy and chop them separately, as they take longer to cook than the greens. Mix together ingredients for sauce and set aside.

Toss the cut up chicken in some sesame oil. Heat another tblsp of oil in your wok or cast iron skillet. When the pan is super hot, brown your chicken in small batches. After each batch browns, place on plate. Make sure the pan does not get to crowded or else you won't that nice brown glaze on the chicken.

Once all the chicken is cooked and removed from the pan, start stir frying the vegetables in small batches, starting with the broc-onion-pepper-carrot mix. Stir fry for 3 min per batch. Move cooked veggies to another plate.

Now stir fry the whites of the bok choy until tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Throw in the greens and allow to wilt. Reintroduce the chicken and other veggies into the pan and add sauce. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the sauce thickens and the chicken cooks through and the veggies are tender but not too soft, about 8 minutes.

Serve over rice!!!!!!!!!!