Before singing the praises of my air fryer I’d like to take a moment to talk about salmon. Salmon is one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. This popular fatty fish is not only loaded with nutrients but also may reduce certain risk factors for several diseases. What’s more, it’s tasty, versatile, and widely available.

There are several health benefits to eating salmon and they include but are not limited to:

• salmon is high in important nutrients such as protein, iodine, and various vitamins and minerals
• salmon may lower your risk of heart attack
• salmon can boost brain health
• salmon helps to treat depression
• salmon is a great source of Vitamin D, most lacking especially in older adults
• salmon can assist with improving sleep quality
• salmon is easy to prepare and absolutely delicious

And that last point is the primary focus of this post. Salmon is easy to prepare in a wide variety of ways but my go-to prep method these days is my air fryer. At this point, probably the best appliance I have in my kitchen is my air fryer. I use it all the time. And, over time, I have perfected this salmon recipe which I have, on average, twice a week. It is delicious, satisfying and most of all good for you.

Just a few words about air frying – like ovens all air fryers are different. I’ve found that part of the success of using any appliance is knowing the basics of how it functions. Case in point, I had one well known brand name air fryer that I absolutely hated. I just couldn’t master how it functioned. I gave that away, bought a very inexpensive lesser known model and after just a few practice runs learned how to use it to create perfection.

I always tell people not to give up on an air fryer just because something doesn’t come out the way you want it the very first time. Get to know the appliance and only after many, many tries give up on it if you feel you can’t get it to work. I’ve found hardly anything comes out exactly right the first time you make it be it in the oven, toaster oven, instant pot, microwave or air fryer. But if you’re persistent success will come your way.

The pictures below show how my salmon, using this recipe, comes out of the air fryer every single time.

Hello World! It’s been ages, and I mean ages, since I published on my blog. But the weather here is below zero, it’s dangerous to go anywhere outside, and so I decided there’s no better time than now to reconnect with all the people who may still be following this blog.

What is it about really cold weather that makes you want to sit and enjoy a cup of hot hearty soup? So, in preparation for these few days of sub zero fun, I decided to whip out the old slow cooker and make a batch of beef barley soup.

I never made this recipe before, at least not in recent memory, and I had chuck roast roast meat in the freezer and all the other ingredients on hand so I thought what the heck, give it a try.  And boy am I glad I did! The hardest part of the recipe was finding barley at my local grocery store. I wanted regular barley and not quick cooking barley and trying to find that was like going on a scavenger hunt. But, with persistence, I prevailed and put together a soup that was to die for.

In the past, I’ve posted lessons learned when making recipes. This one was so simple, the only caveat I would provide is to sear the beef before putting it into the slow cooker. Not only does it provide great color to the meat, it also adds a depth of flavor you don’t get from simply dumping the meat into the slow cooker.

And for those reading the recipe and not sure what beef base is, below is what I used. You can easily find it in the grocery store in the soup aisle most often near the bouillon.