Salmon Burgers with Summer Salad

These burgers turned out fantastic, despite being a total improvisation.  A pound of salmon, a little bread crumbs, some bottled teriyaki sauce, and a spin in the food processor.  I lightly coated the outsides with bread crumbs before pan-frying them.  They were great on thin sandwich buns with some lettuce, although I might add a little sauce of some sort to the sandwiches.  Teriyaki mayo of some sort? Wasabi mayo?  Just a little teriyaki thickened up?

The salad was also great, very light and summery and nice after a hot few days.  Cucumbers, tomatoes, and radishes in a tahini-lemon-yogurt dressing, with cayenne, cumin, and garlic.

Shrimp Picatta with Peas

I wanted something like chicken picatta, but without real meat (shrimp and fish don't count, in my version of vegetarianism) and so this super easy and bright dinner with hints of spring.  Which is a bit cruel as winter will probably last another month, or more.

Saute the (peeled) shrimp with a little garlic and oil, then remove while keeping the good juices in the pan.  We like it really piquant so I added just over a half cup of lemon juice and a small bottle of white wine.  Season with a little salt and pepper and parsley if you have it.  Meanwhile, cook small pasta (alphabets if you grocery shopped with a 3 year old) until al dente.  Scrape the bottom of the pan and then reduce the sauce to a thick, saucy consistency.  Add the shrimp back and coat and then mix in some peas.  Serve over the pasta.

The peas turned a bit of a murky canned-pea green, despite being good frozen ones.  I'd like to try either fresh peas (ideally from the pea pick at the farm in the summer) or steaming them first and adding in at the last second.  These needed to thaw in the sauce and maybe got overdone.  They tasted pretty good, despite my not liking cooked peas much.

It all came together nicely and quickly and was quite delicious.  I always forgot how much I like small pasta.