Foil Baked Mustard Maple Bacon Salmon

Tender flaky salmon wrapped in bacon and glazed with a garlic maple mustard sauce, this baked salmon recipe is sensational! You have to try it!

My friend Megan swears by her dad’s salmon and bacon. I only like salmon when it’s got enough flavor to mask the fact that it’s actually fish. Bacon to the rescue! Everything is better with bacon!

My friend Janet makes a good one, and I love a few of our own recipes like our Salmon Bowls and Asian Sticky Salmon, but when Megan said there was bacon in her dad’s recipe, I was so intrigued!

If you have been an OSB follower for long, you will know that I am not a seafood person. It’s just not my thing. Even salmon…I have been trying to love salmon for years, and I have to say that this baked maple mustard salmon has won me over!

Recommended Equipment

• Baking Sheet
• Whisk

Before You Begin…

Grab four sheets of foil that are big enough to wrap each of your fillets in and lay 2 slices of bacon vertically on each piece of foil.

How to Pick Good Fresh Salmon

Buying salmon at the grocery store can be intimidating, but it doesn’t need to be! There are a few things to look for…

• Smell – good fresh salmon should not have a fishy smell
• Color – vibrant, deep shades of red/coral/pink is what you are after and there shouldn’t be any brown spots anywhere on the fillet
• Appearance – it should look moist and not dried out
• Touch – when you gently press the salmon, it should bounce back and not leave an indentation

What Do I Need to Make This Baked Salmon Recipe?

All the ingredients are easy to find and create the most amazing flavor. Here is what you will need:

• Salmon Fillets
• Lemon
• Kosher Salt
• Pepper
• Olive Oil Mayonnaise
• Maple Syrup: Grade A
• Garlic
• Dijon Mustard
• Yellow Onion
• Bacon
• Thyme: or parsley

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card. You can also print and save the recipe there.

How to Make Baked Maple Salmon

1. Prep: Preheat the oven, get foil pieces ready and place the bacon on each piece of foil. Season the salmon fillets.
2. Sauce: Whisk all the ingredients of the sauce together and pour the sauce on each fillet.
3. Assemble: Top the fillets with the onions and wrap the bacon around the fillets. Fold the foil around each piece of salmon.
4. Bake: Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake, then open the foil and change the oven to broil to crisp up the top for about a minute.
5. Season: Sprinkle each fillet with fresh herbs and serve!

The complete instructions for making this recipe can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post. Keep scrolling for all the details.

Grilled Avocado Tacos Recipe

This easy avocado tacos recipe is made with creamy grilled avocados, a little bit of queso fresco, pickled onions and a tangy lime crema. You’re going to love them!

Grilled Avocado tacos, an absolute must this summer! They may not look like much, but trust me before you know it you’ll be shoveling your 5th taco in your mouth.

Recommended Equipment

• Wusthof Knives
• Tongs
• Pastry Brush

Before You Begin…

I like to make the crema before I start doing anything with the avocados or the grill. The flavors meld together if you let it set for a few minutes so the flavor is more bold and fabulous. Our favorite brand of crema is Cacique!

How This Recipe Came to Be

I once had a roommate who made avocado tacos. At first appearance it seemed almost too easy to me, but then she let me try one. And try it I did, over and over, and over again. They were delicious, light, easy and surprisingly flavorful. And then I got married, moved out and totally forgot about them for a few years.

And then enters my darling friend, Lisa. Lisa is a vegetarian and although I’m all about the meat I find myself frustrated for her when people or restaurants don’t have options for vegetarians. I actually think there is no excuse for a restaurant to not have at least a couple of vegetarian options unless it’s something like a place that specializes in just meat, like J Dawgs.

I’m constantly trying my hand at vegetarian recipes ever since meeting Lisa, kind of like this Roasted Red Pepper Pasta, and then one day I remembered the avocado tacos. I’m not saying that these are the most over the top, crazy delicious dinner recipe you could make, but they really are super delicious, and perfect for both vegetarian and meat eaters at get-togethers or BBQ’s.

In fact, we eat them all the time, and if it’s lunch and we don’t want to heat up the grill we just cook the tortillas and skip grilling the avocados. It’s still delicious, I promise. And because Lisa started this new search in us, we’ve actually found that we prefer to not eat meat every single night. Our bodies seem to respond better to meat sparingly. Go figure. But I will say, meat and protein in the form of meat is still essential for us. And Lisa doesn’t mind.

Ingredients for Grilled Avocado Tacos

For the Tacos

• Corn Tortillas: We have become obsessed with this Vista Hermosa brand of corn tortillas. They have such great flavor and hold up well.
• Avocado: You want a ripe but firm avocado that can hold up to the grilling.
• Salt and Pepper: Adds flavor to the avocado as i

Cade’s Chicken Gyros

For Cade’s chicken gyros, the chicken is marinated in a tangy yogurt sauce loaded with garlic, lemon, fresh herbs and spices. Then it is baked and piled into soft pita bread and topped with veggies, feta and creamy tzatziki sauce!

Alright, so Cade has reentered the kitchen and I’m beyond thrilled because he knocked this one out of the park!! I cannot get enough of the juicy, succulent chicken and I’m just sure we can find more uses for it than just gyros. Scroll down to see some of my ideas.

How to Pronounce Gyros

Let’s start with how NOT to say “gyros”…basically don’t say it how it looks! It is not pronounced jai-rohs. Though I’m sure everyone would know what you were ordering if you did say it that way. The correct way to pronounce “gyros” is yee-rohs.

What is a Greek Gyro?

A gyro is sandwich typically made with either lamb, pork, beef or chicken (or some combination of the those) on pita bread topped with tomato, red onion, lettuce and tzatziki sauce. It’s eaten like a wrap. It makes a great lunch or dinner.

Ingredients for Chicken Gyros

Here is a brief overview of the ingredients you will need for this gyro recipe. The measurements of each can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

• Chicken Thighs: You want them to be boneless and skinless and chicken breasts also work fine. Chicken thighs just tend to have more flavor.
• Plain Greek Yogurt: adds flavor to the marinade and helps tenderize the meat. It also makes the marinade thick so it sticks to the chicken when you bake it.
• Garlic: the purpose for garlic is always to add flavor and you’ll want a lot of it in this recipe!
• Olive Oil: adds richness to the marinade and also helps it not stick when baking
• White Wine Vinegar: adds tanginess and flavor
• Lemons: fresh is a must and you’ll want the juice and zest for maximum flavor
• Oregano: fresh is definitely preferred here, if you have to use dried then use 1 teaspoon
• Parsley: same story as the oregano
• Herbs de Provence: Italian seasoning also works too, and this is a dried herb blend
• Salt: adds flavor
• Smoked Paprika: adds a delicious smokiness to the chicken
• Black Pepper: adds flavor and a little heat
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: use as much or as little as you want for the heat on the chicken

For the Gyros:

• Small Campari Tomatoes: You could use type of tomato you want but I love the size and flavor of the campari tomatoes!
• Red Onion: slice them super thin, they add so much flavor and beautiful color to the gyros
• Parsley: adds a delicious pop of freshness to the finished gyro
• Pita Flatbreads: you can buy these at the groce

Chicken Birria Taco Recipe

If you’re craving a delicious Mexican dinner, this chicken birria taco recipe is exactly what you need. With savory shredded chicken and a crispy cheesy shell, they’re hard to resist and so easy!

So the kids and I did a little thing. I was making our totally viral cafe rio copycat for sweet pork tacos and accidentally made too much sauce. I poured it into a ziploc and threw it in the freezer for another day. A couple of weeks later I snagged one of those handy packages of pulled rotisserie chicken from Costco and the light went on… birria chicken tacos. The rest is history.

The chicken already is moist and flavorful thanks to the slow roasting, but then throw on some seasoning and pan cook it so you’ve got a few crispy pieces, smother everything in sauce and it’s hands down some of the best chicken you’ll ever put in a taco.

But like all Birria tacos, this tortilla should be cooked in a little oil and sauce, stuffed with meat (cheese if you’re awesome) and then dipped in a little extra sauce or sprinkled with pico de gallo for the ultimate chicken taco experience.

Recommended Equipment

• Cast Iron Skillet
• Tongs

Before You Begin…

You’ll want to have two things ready before you get too far into this recipe. First, have your chicken ready. I love to buy the packages of pre-shredded rotisserie chicken at Costco. If you want to save a bit of money, buy a whole rotisserie chicken and break it down yourself saving the breast and thigh meat. Shred it using two forks or toss it into your stand mixer and use the paddle attachment to break up the chicken.

Second, make the sweet sauce from our sweet pork recipe mentioned above. It only takes a few ingredients and is so tasty!

What is Birria?

Birria is a rich stew originating in Jalisco, Mexico that simmers on the stove all day and is so tasty. It typically made with goat or lamb and has a flavorful rich broth (or consommé). It is eaten like a soup, and no tacos are involved at all. Haha! People find that sort of shocking since birria tacos have been taking the world by storm the last few years.

What are Birria Tacos?

Some genius somewhere decided to take the tender, juicy meat from the birria and stuff it into a taco and then use the consommé as a dipping sauce for the taco. And the birria taco was born!! The corn tortillas are fried in a little oil and some of the saucy broth to create the tastiest tacos ever.

So in its most basic definition, a birria taco (also called quesabirria taco) is a braised juicy meat stuffed inside a corn tortilla (along with some cheese if you’re smart) th

Cream of Mushroom Pasta +Video

Creamy mushroom pasta starts with buttery caramelized sauteed mushrooms and ends with that deep rich umami flavor in your mouth. It’s literally love at first bite! But it hasn’t always been that way…

As a little kid in church I learned the sweetest song, “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus”. Sometimes even now it goes floating through my mind with the simple reminder to be like Him. But lately a new version has taken over, “I’m trying to like those mushrooms….” It’s a bit of a journey for me.

Picky eaters will understand, it’s a texture thing. But truly, I’ve come a long way and this pasta is a bit of a nod to the delicious flavor a well caramelized mushroom can bring to a pasta, elevating it from simplistic to romantic.

How to Make Cream of Mushroom Pasta Video

We are going to share all the tips for making mushrooms the star of the show and not the rubbery, squeaky undesirables that they can be if they are cooked incorrectly.

Ingredients for Creamy Mushroom Pasta

I am going to include a brief description of the ingredients you will need. This is meant to be just an overview. You can find all the measurements and details in the recipe card at the end of the post.

• Mixed Mushrooms: cremini, shiitake, chanterelle and oyster or any combination
• Olive Oil and Butter: the combination of the two caramelizes the mushrooms perfectly
• Garlic: adds flavor
• Kosher Salt: adds flavor and enhances all the other ingredients
• Nutmeg: this might seem strange, but trust me, it adds the best little flavor to the mushrooms
• Pepper: adds flavor and a little heat
• White Wine: adds richness and depth of flavor
• Bucatini Pasta: you can use spaghetti, but I love the thicker noodle for this recipe
• Heavy Cream: creates the creamy sauce
• Lemon: cuts through all the heaviness and adds a bright pop of fresh flavor
• Pecorino Romano: you can use parmesan cheese instead if you can’t find it
• Pasta Water: helps thicken the sauce
• Fresh Parsley: adds a freshness to the dish

Which Mushrooms are Best for Pasta?

I love to use a variety of mushr