Salmon bruschetta, homemade pesto & couscous cakes

Every once in a while I get a wild hair to try something new in the kitchen.  It normally happens when I haven't been super busy or traveling and have the mental capacity (and desire) to do so.  I'm hoping (and thinking) this will happen more and more as I gain confidence in cooking and find that I enjoy it more than feeling like it's a chore.  And maybe writing a food blog will help to add some more inspiration!

As Travis and I were deciding what to do for dinner, my creative side flared up! Recently Travis and I discovered that we like couscous, a healthy grain-based product.  Preparation is similar to rice and you can buy different types: whole wheat (what we buy), roasted garlic & olive oil, wild muschroom & herb, etc. - hyperlink shows the exact product we use.  It pairs with most dishes, so it's a nice go-to side.  I stumbled across a recipe for couscous cakes in a small food magazine I get, and they looked too fun not to try! From there came the idea to make bruschetta as a light summer meal (one of my husband's favs)...but I wanted to snazz it up, whence came the idea to add salmon and use the couscous cakes as the base instead of bread! Travis and I eat salmon about once a week; it's easy to make, healthy and delicious! So, after deciding to do bruschetta, I looked up a recipe for homemade pesto to go on top of the couscous cake....So, there was my entire thought process on how the dinner came together!

I wasn't sure how it would all go once put together, but it was super tasty! Full of flavor and actually quite beautiful! Lot's of basil, lot's of garlic (can you ever have too much garlic?) and lot's of olive oil; how can you go wrong!

Isn't it pretty? :)  Not only was it healthy and tasty, but it was SUPER easy to make! Below are the recipes for each item.  If you try it, enjoy!

Couscous Cakes¨
1 box of couscous (need 2 1/4 cups of cooked couscous)
2 large eggs
3 tbsp olive oil

Beat eggs in bowl, add cooked couscous, salt and pepper.  In large non-stick skillet, add 3 tbsp of olive oil.  On medium high heat, add 1/4 mixture, flatten with spatula and cook for 3-4 minutes, flipping once.  Four will fit in skillet at a time, recipe makes eight cakes. Drain excess oil with paper towel.

Pesto (recipe website)
2 cups basil, packed
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts (I substituted with sunflower seeds)
3 medium garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

In food processor, chop basil and nuts (a few times), add garlic and chop some more!  Then add olive oil, keep choppin'.  Then add Parmesan cheese, chop a bit more. Recipe says you can add salt and pepper, but I didn't, as it had amazing flavor without.

Salmon
Fresh salmon fillet

Heat oven to 375.  In glass bakeware, add a touch of olive oil and spread in bottom of pan. Wash salmon and put in pan.  Top with another touch of olive oil (you don't need much!) and add whatever seasoning you desire! Depending on what we're doing, we add salt, pepper, lemon pepper most of the time.  Since the rest of the meal was so full of flavor, I just did salt and pepper.  Cook for 30ish minutes.  Salmon will still look pink, which is ok! Skin you can take off before or leave on, the fish will flake off the skin after you bake it.

Bruschetta
Tomato
Basil
Mozarella
Garlic

This you can't really mess up! We did two large tomatoes, chopped.  Add basil, mozarella and garlic (however much you want of each).  Add a touch of olive oil, salt and pepper, stir and enjoy!

Put it all together, and you have a wonderful summer meal. Enjoy!