Supper in under an hour.....

When I don't have a lot of time to cook or don't feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen, I have a collection of quicky stand-by favorites that I turn to again and again.  One of the things my entire family loves is salmon cooked almost any way, but especially teriyaki.  I've experimented with lots of different teriyaki glazes.  I like a thick glaze and have found the best way to do this is to heat the glaze up with a cornstarch slurry. 

Tonight I made supper in under an hour, start to finish, and that includes dessert.  However, if there is a more messy, more unorganized cook anywhere on the planet, I would like to meet him or her! 

It doesn't matter how hard I try: my kitchen turns into a complete disaster when I cook.  Things happen to me.  Like, my clothes get caught on something and when I turn to disentangle myself, I knock something off the counter.  I spill things on the floor.  I cut myself on the lids of tin cans.  I drop eggs into the wrong bowl.  And I generate SO MUCH garbage!

But I always get the kitchen cleaned up before eating.  That way, I can enjoy my meal without the pressure of knowing I have a huge mess waiting for me.

Tonight, I made teriyaki salmon cooked under the broiler.  To go along with it, I made a barley salad filled with veggies and tossed in a sesame/soy dressing.  And I made a salad of thinly sliced daikon and cucumber in a sweet/sour marinade.  The cucumber salad was delicious and went really well with the salmon!

The barley took 45 minute to cook and while it cooked, I chopped the veggies and made the dressing.  I did this early in the day so the barley would have time to cool.  Just before dinner, I sliced the cucumber and daikon, made a quick marinade with rice vinegar, sugar, and a little salt, tossed it together and stuck it in the fridge while I made the salmon. 

For the salmon, I made a standard teriyaki glaze, dipped the salmon in the glaze and stuck it under the broiler for about 10 minutes.  While it was cooking, I tossed the barley salad together.

For dessert, I made a banana cream pie.  (Yes, that's right.  A dessert that does NOT involve coconut!) Years ago I sold Pampered Chef and this is a recipe I remember from my days as a Pampered Chef consultant.  It goes like this:

Mix together

   3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

   2 T sugar

   1/2 cup melted butter

Press into the bottom of a nine-inch pie pan or spring-form pan

Mix together

   12 oz Cool Whip

   1 cup sour cream

   1 package instant vanilla pudding

Spread half of this mixture over the graham cracker crust and top with

   3 sliced bananas

Cover with the remaining Cool Whip mixture.

Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

This pie sets up quickly.  It doesn't need more than 30 minutes in the refrigerator!  So YUMMY!!!