Smoked trout salad with arugula and fennel

This smoked trout salad with peppery arugula, crunchy fennel and horseradish dressing is the perfect light meal or elegant salad course.

So last week I showed you how to smoke trout -- or salmon or salt or lots of other stuff -- easily at home, either on the grill or your stovetop. (Yes, right on the stovetop!) And I promised that I'd show you some great ways to enjoy that smoked trout -- you know, other than just eating it with your fingers.

Today's that day.

This smoked trout salad gets some extra peppery flavor from fresh arugula, as well as a little complimentary crunch from sliced fennel. Drizzled with a horseradish dressing, it's an amazing blend of flavors that will have you wishing for seconds.

DIY smoked trout

Learn how to smoke trout, salmon, veggies, salt or just about anything else quickly, easily and with no mess on the grill or even on the stovetop.

Let's talk about smoked trout. Or smoked salmon. Or any kind of smoked fish. Do you love it? I do. Whether I enjoy it as part of a charcuterie board or a cheese plate at a cocktail party or added to a pasta dish or salad (like my bagels and lox pasta salad!), I'm a smoked fish junkie.

So the "I can do that!" DIY side of my brain kicked into high gear when I discovered an affordable little stove-top smoker a few years ago.

Yes, a few years ago. Believe it or not, I got this stovetop smoker, made by Camerons Products, for Christmas more than two years ago and just never got around to using it.

(To be fair, we wound up beginning a big cross-country move just after Christmas that year, so smoking fish for fun wasn't really my top priority.)

But I dusted off the box earlier this year and smoked some fish. And then some more fish. And then some salt. And now, since it's so easy, there's pretty much no stopping the smoking train around Casa de Ninj.

If you do nothing else this year that I've told you to do, do this: buy this stovetop smoker -- or give one to someone as a gift. It's the coolest thing ever, I swear. Not to mention that it's crazy easy to use and you can smoke all sorts of stuff with zero mess.

Here's exactly how it works:

Bagels and lox pasta salad

Turn your favorite breakfast into your new favorite dinner with this unique bagels and lox pasta salad.

I have this theory -- which I put into action every Friday night -- that you can turn almost anything into a pizza.

Whatever leftovers I have lurking around in the fridge at the end of the week generally get turned into pizza toppings for Friday Pizza Night. Totally true. Even things like my pan-roasted cauliflower pasta -- minus the pasta itself -- ended up on some pizza dough, topped with cheese. And it's (almost) always a success. Hence my theory.

Now, seeing as how I swear I eat pasta at least twice a week -- I know, at my age I do not need this kind of carbo-loading but I can't help it: I just love the stuff -- I'm working on a similar theory that
lots of your favorite flavor combinations can also be turned into pasta dishes.

And I'm proving my theory today with this bagels and lox salad.

Bagels and lox -- IN A PASTA SALAD. I know, right?!!! Double the carbs, double the fun.

I'm in love with this salad. We've eaten it too many times to count and I'm not tired of it yet -- and Mr. Ninj doesn't have a choice unless he wants to cook for himself. (Yeah, like that's going to happen.)

But seriously, this salad really has got it all going on: crunchy veggies, crunchy-chewy toasted bagel bites, salty smoked salmon and soft mozzarella, all in balsamic-and-onion dressing. Really, it's not so different from a summery panzanella salad ... but with some pasta.

Easy Thai tuna sliders

Easy Thai tuna sliders -- a fast weeknight meal and a great way to add Omega 3s to your diet.

Even though creating, tweaking, photographing and writing about food and recipes is my passion, all that can often leave me tired and not too psyched to spend a lot of time making dinner every night. Just like you.

Therefore, I'm a big fan of quick and easy weeknight dinner recipes -- like these Thai tuna sliders.

I think I read somewhere that the slider craze is "over" -- whatevs, people. The Ninj isn't trying to stay one step ahead of the trends: I'm giving you real-life solutions and strategies to real-life eating situations. And one of those situations is not wanting to spend a ton of time making dinner.

(And sliders? Over? Come on -- who doesn't love cute food? Jeesh.)

So, can you open a can of tuna? Can you toast a bun? Then these tuna sliders have got dinner covered for you.

Pasta con sarde

Around Chez Ninj, we love anchovies -- a lot.

If a recipe calls for three anchovies, I'll add at least five. And there is no such thing as "leftover anchovies" in this house, because they make a nice snack all by themselves.

Therefore, you might think it odd that neither of us has ever had sardines before. Little canned fishes seems right up our alley, yes?

I thought it was odd. So I went searching for a sardine recipe.

And I found a doozy: pasta con sarde (yep, Italian for "with sardines").

Sardines (also called pilchards) are small, oily fish from the herring family, rich in calcium and omega-3s. It is historically thought that they received the monniker "sardine" because they used to be so abundant around Sardinia.

Now, everything I read says that fresh sardines are preferable to canned. But I live in a landlocked state, it's the middle of winter and I have yet to find a great local source for unusual fresh seafood, so I went with canned sardines.

Caper pesto: a recipe

Whole wheat spaghetti with caper pesto

When I think about those certain ingredients that draw me to a recipe in a cookbook or to a dish on a restaurant menu, I realize I'm probably a little too addicted to salt.

And bacon, but that's another story.

I'm mainly thinking of anchovies and capers, extra awesome when in combination. (Remember the Mediterranean tuna pasta? Just like that.)

So imagine my delight in finding a recipe for a pesto (one of my faves because of how easy it is) made largely with anchovies and capers.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Summer is a great time of year for pesto, since it requires a large amount of one herb or another as its base. I usually have an overabundance of basil, which often ends up as a traditional pesto that gets frozen in small containers for use throughout the winter.

Mediterranean tuna pasta: a recipe

Mediterranean tuna pasta

Here's a super-quick way to get a huge dose of your weekly Omega-3s!

A few weeks ago I signed up to be a recipe tester for Food52's weekly community picks. It's a cool concept: the editors pick a theme (e.g., chocolate and spice, celery, canned fish) and readers submit their original recipes that revolve around that theme. Finalists are chosen by the editors, who then ask readers to test those finalist recipes. Each recipe tester submits her/his notes about the dish, which are then featured on the page for that recipe, along with the author's notes.

It was a fun way to try out a new recipe and be able to share my thoughts with a cooking community, in only about 100 words, rather than a whole blog post.

Cold cucumber and avocado chowder with shrimp: a recipe

Now, all of you regular readers know that I love Mark Bittman. And this is another one of his great recipes from The Food Matters Cookbook.

But he refers to this as not only a chowder but also a cold soup. Really, Mark? It is neither.

What it is is a delicious, healthy cold salad, perfect for hot summer days.

So why no picture of said salad, you may ask? Because this is another one of those dishes that tastes better than it looks.

(But hey now, just take a look at my awesome little Kirby cukes there on the vine! I sense pickles in our future...)

Seared scallops with cauliflower puree: a recipe

Not the best photo but, hey, we were hungry and eager to eat

This is a delicious, elegant dish yet ridiculously quick and easy. Seeming oxymoron, I know, but I swear it's true.

I used to fear the scallop. Not in a food poisoning way, but in a scared-to-cook-it way. I was always afraid they'd be too rubbery when cooked at home, so I reserved them as one of my dining-out-only options.

I no longer fear the home-cooked scallop. Neither should you.

The recipe guidance is to cook them about 3 minutes per side (this was pretty accurate for me and my stove) or until "desired degree of doneness" -- I prefer to call that the would-I-eat-this test. Just look at it and ask yourself (you knew it was coming), "Would I eat this?" If it looks right/done/edible, you're all set.

Tomato and bread soup with fennel and fish: a recipe

Mark Bittman's tomato and bread soup with fish and fennel...
and apparently a big piece of basil

You must believe me when I say that this soup tastes so much better than it looks.

(You will also be happy to know that I have signed up for a food photography and styling workshop later this month, so perhaps I can dish up some slightly more appetizing photos in the future!)

The soup -- really, more of a stew -- comes from Mark Bittman's new Food Matters Cookbook. In a nutshell, Bittman's philosophy is that we can improve our health and help save the planet by changing the way we eat: focus on eating more plants and fewer animal products and processed foods. (Bittman is, first and foremost, a journalist, so if you want to learn all about the facts and figures behind this argument, I'd urge you to check out his book, Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating -- it makes a whole lot of sense to me).

For me, this philosophy fits in very nicely with not only Detox January but also my efforts to eat locally and sustainably.

What we ate this week: Detox January Week 1

Me with Elvis tribute artist Keith Henderson

Happy Elvis' Birthday!

Well, actually, it's tomorrow (January 8), but I don't post on Saturdays so you're getting the love and cheer a day early.

I'd love to hear if you've joined us for Detox January and how it's going for you.

Here's a roundup of some of the things we ate during Week 1:

• Chicken Larb -- I served this with naan rather than on lettuce leaves and used the leftovers to make a pizza
• Chicken and Blue Cheese Salad -- one of my old standbys, I make this frequently with leftover chicken or turkey. It's quick, easy and very satisfying (you could omit the meat and have a great vegetarian meal salad, too)
• Fresh Salmon and Lime Cakes -- I modified this recipe by not frying the cakes at all but instead baked them at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes (turned out perfectly!)

If you need a splurge, may I recommend The King's favorite?

Detox January (and a sauteed fish recipe)

(courtesy 1876 from stock.xhchng)

Time for a quiz...

Over the holidays and/or the past few months, did you

• Eat too much?
• Drink too much?
• Let your exercise regime slide?
• Justify your muffin top with "these things happen when you get older"?

If you answered yes to most of those (especially the last one) I invite you to join us in a little somethin-somethin we call Detox January.