Aggie's Baked Five Spice Salmon & PW's Sesame Noodles (with Asian Veggies)

Today, you get two--yes, two--new recipes!!! I decided to do a riff on a dish from a blog I follow called Aggie's Kitchen. She recently made a Baked 5 Spice Mahi Mahi recipe that looked delish, so I thought I would tweak it ever-so-slightly and use salmon instead. I also added a couple of ingredients to her fish topping. Then, I was trying to come up with both a side dish idea and use a ton of leftover thin spaghetti noodles that I cooked a long, long time ago. (Okay, it wasn't that long ago and they still smelled fresh, so what the heck.) I remembered a Pioneer Woman recipe for sesame noodles and decided to improvise with those and mix in some steamed Asian vegetable medley. Hence, our dinner was born. Hopefully, it will turn out as yummy as I think it might.

Aggie's Baked Five Spice Salmon
Adapted From: Aggie's Kitchen

Ingredients:
3-4 salmon fillets
2-3 tsp canola oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp of rice vinegar
1/2 tsp of soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1 1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
1/2 tsp of ground ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
small pinch of salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl combine both oils, 5 spice powder, ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and garlic. Place the fish fillets in a glass baking dish coated in nonstick spray. Coat both sides of fish with spice mixture. Pour remainder of mixture evenly over fish. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes until fish is flaky.

Pioneer Woman's Sesame Noodles (with Asian Veggies)
Adapted From: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
12 ounces thin noodles, cooked and drained ( I used leftover, whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles)
1/4 cups Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Sugar
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Pure Sesame Oil
1/2 teaspoons Hot Chili Oil (I substituted Sambal Oelek)
4 Tablespoons Canola Oil
2 Tablespoons Hot Water
4 whole Green Onions, Sliced Thin
1 bag of frozen Asian-style vegetable medley, cooked (I steam mine in the microwave)

Directions:
Whisk all ingredients (except noodles and green onions) together in a bowl. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed. In a separate large bowl, combine cooked noodles and cooked/steamed veggies. Pour sauce over warm, cooked noodles/veggie mixture and toss to coat. Sprinkle with green onions and toss. Serve and enjoy!



The Result:
This was a really tasty dinner. My favorite, by far, was the noodles. They were so easy to put together and totally delicious. I will definitely be making those again!
As far as the fish goes, I would say it was just okay...with a caveat. Don't get me wrong...it was still fairly yummy, but I felt like it was missing something that I just couldn't put my finger on.

Okay here is the caveat...

To be fair, I do have a rotten cold and my sense of taste is a little wacky right now. Both my husband and son really liked both dishes. It could very well be that my taste buds are on the fritz. I wouldn't put too much consideration into my review of the fish right now...my opinion is presently unreliable. If it sounds good to you, I would try it and see for yourself.

With that being said, I think I will make the noodles again for sure, and probably try the fish again sometime when: (A) I am feeling better and (B)I can tweak the sauce/topping more to my liking, IF NEEDED (i.e. after I taste it again with a normal sense of taste to see if it truly needs adjusting). Either way, I love that this was a satisfying and healthful meal for my family.