I’ve been watching a lot of Chopped recently. It’s nice because it’s formulaic enough that I can throw it on while I’m washing dishes or whatever and be able to track with it without having to watch the screen the whole time. It’s also inspiring, in a way: if these chefs can make decent, creative meals out of zany ingredients, surely I can make decent, creative meals out of the normal food in my cupboards, right?

So here’s one I came up with, which handily used up the last two salmon fillets that had been hanging around forever, and a package of gnocchi (spellcheck suggestion: chignon), ditto. Now gnocchi is, of course, Italian, and I did asian-esque seasonings on the fish… but hey, look, it’s fusion… or whatever.

STIR-FRY SALMON WITH GNOCCI — serves 2

Gnocci:
1. Buy a package of gnocchi and cook according to directions. Bam.

Salmon Stir-Fry:
– 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
– 1-2 Tbsp soy sauce
– 1 onion, finely chopped
– 4 cloves garlic, minced
– 2 fillets salmon, cut into stir-fry sized strips
– spices: sea salt, black pepper, chili powder, ginger (fresh or dried)
– a good squeeze of lime juice

1. Combine oil and soy sauce in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onion is beginning to get transluscent
3. Add salmon to skillet
4. Season liberally with salt, pepper, chili powder, and ginger. Cook, stirring frequently, until salmon is done.
5. Remove from heat and give it a squeeze of lime.
6. Serve warm, over gnocchi.

We also made this with cod the other day — that was good, too, but the salmon was better. Serve with a green side salad.