Let Your Kitchen Do The Work

Today was one of those days where I drove home in a brain-fried haze and walked into my house wondering if I was even in the right house.  I remember petting a little black, happy animal.  I’m not sure what it was. As my eyes began to focus, so did my stomach. So, of course dinner had to be minimal effort if any at all. I pointed to my oven, my rice cooker and my steamer and said, “you, you and you!”  Then I pointed at my sofa and said, “hello lover.” 30 minutes later a balanced meal appeared before our very eyes.  Like MAGIC. Or humans plating our own dishes. Same thing.
Hoisin Glazed Baked Salmon with Wild Rice and Lemony Green Beans:

What it took:

2 Atlantic salmon filets, thawed
2 Tbs. hoisin sauce
splash of orange juice
1 tsp. honey
½ tsp. brown sugar
1 cup of wild rice
2 good handfuls of green beans, ends trimmed
zest from ½ a lemon
juice from ½ a lemon
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat your oven to 375.  In a little bowl stir together the hoisin sauce, orange juice and honey. Salt and pepper both sides of salmon. Then drizzle 1 Tbs. hoisin mixture on each filet. Sprinkle each with a wee bit of brown sugar. Bake for about 25 minutes. While the fish bakes, put the rice in the rice cooker and add 2 cups of water. Put the steamer basket on top of the cooker and throw in your beans.  Put the lid on, click “start” and fo’get it. At this point watch an old Friends episode.  The dings and beeps from the kitchen will let you know when heaven has opened its gates. Lastly, squeeze some fresh lemon juice and zest on top of your green beans and salt and pepper to taste. Das it!
*If you don’t have a rice cooker you can definitely use a saucepan and cook it the traditional way.