Have you ever had that feeling? One hour your fridge is fairly empty. Then you go to shop at your favorite store–Costco, Trader Joe’s, Publix, the farmer’s market, whatever– and your fridge is full to the brim with SO MUCH FOOD that you become overwhelmed. I experienced this a couple days ago after my mom came home from Costco and Stew Leonard’s. I know, my issues are unusual. I put some requested items on the grocery list, but she basically came back with enough stuff to set up a farmer’s market of our own. For some reason, I feel like I have to think of a bunch of ways to help use up all the food so that A) it doesn’t go bad B) we don’t get bored eating the same things all week C) I have an excuse to actually use at least a few of the bajillion recipes I have bookmarked on my toolbar.

Here are just some of the goodies she picked up:

Cowboy caviar! We shall see if this compares to the TJ’s version.

Sweet deal on Wheat Thins. Everyone is loving those Sundried Tomato & Basil ones!

No dried figs, but no-sugar-added dried apricots were available! 

Avocado oil. We’ve never used it before, but I guess my mom wanted to see if it was good! Any suggestions?

Vanilla beans! I’ve never worked with real vanilla beans before and these are HUGE. I’m thinkin’ vanilla bean scones 😀

Aside from the lovely products above, my mom also got a plethora of fresh herbs–basil, dill, and cilantro. I absolutely love using fresh herbs whenever possible because they add such an aroma and flavor that dried herbs just can’t live up to.

Here are some recipe contenders that could help use up them greens:

Roasted Tomato and Caper Pasta Sauce via Yeah…Imma Eat That

Copy Cat Chipotle Cilantro Brown Rice via Fit Foodie Finds

Avocado and Basil Bruschetta via Little Ferraro Kitchen

Avocado and Chicken Caprese Salad via Iowa Girl Eats

Did those make you hungry? Yeah, I thought so.

A couple years ago, my aunt and uncle made a fantastic salmon with lemon-dill yogurt sauce, and I fell in love. Salmon is one of my favorite things ever, and it’s oily nature paired so well with the fresh herbs and cool, creamy sauce. Occasionally, I still dream think about it, so I decided to take advantage of the fresh dill to make it myself!

Baked Salmon with Lime-Dill Yogurt Sauce

by: Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Serves: 8-10

For the salmon:

• ~3 lb. fillet of boneless, skinless salmon
• juice of half a lime (or lemon)
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 2-3 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
• 4 tbsp. chopped fresh dill

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lay out the salmon on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper* and add lime juice, salt, pepper, and dill to the fish. Use your fingers to distribute the juice and seasonings, then let it marinade for 3-5 minutes. Cut the salmon into fillets of desired size or keep it whole. Place in the oven and bake for 9-12 minutes if you cut it into fillets. Bake for 15-20 minutes if you kept it whole. **

For the yogurt sauce:

• heaping 1/2 c. plain or 2% Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp. olive oil (may omit if using 2%)
• juice of 1/4-1/3 a lime
• 2 tsp. mustard (I used spicy brown, but any kind would work)
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 4 tbsp. chopped fresh dill

Mix all ingredients together.

Notes:

*We used a cedar plank that we soaked in water overnight to bake the salmon, which was wonderful, but definitely not necessary.

**We like our salmon medium-rare, so we cook it for the shortest time possible (still making sure it’s not completely raw though!). If you like it more well-done, cook it longer. Also, I kept it whole this time, but I would recommend cutting the salmon into smaller fillets. That way it can cook faster and you can remove thinner pieces sooner so that they don’t overcook.

Before going into the oven.

That sauce….yes, I even put it on my brown rice.

Ahh it was utterly delicious! Please let me know if you try this out. My whole family loved it and I am just happy that I didn’t drop the salmon or anything freaky like that. I will certainly be making this again (…and again and again)!

So tell me: Do you ever get that overwhelmed feeling when there’s so much food in the fridge? Any fun grocery finds recently? What do you like to make with fresh herbs?