Toasted Sesame Oil side dishes

The other day I was looking through my veggie crisper trying to decide what kind of side dish to make with dinner. I had some carrots, mushrooms, chard, cucumber, onion, broccoli and lettuce. Hmmm...what to make with some of those ingredients. I decided to saute the broccoli and mushrooms in some butter then went to the pantry to see what I could use to season them. Toasted sesame oil was the winner! I actually love toasted sesame oil in a lot of different dishes both warm and cold. It gives everything a deeper flavor, like you spent more time on it or used a lot of different spices to reach the end result. Once I had the toasted sesame oil out, I decided to make a cucumber salad to go with the meal as well. I paired those 2 side dishes with a piece of wild Alaskan salmon that I simply baked with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Voila! Dinner was served!

Sesame Broccoli and Mushrooms
1 head of broccoli
8 oz of mushrooms of choice (I used button mushrooms, but crimini or others work just as well)
1 Tbs butter or ghee
1-2 Tbs toasted sesame oil

Chop broccoli stem into small 1/2 inch chunks and crown cut into florets, then slice mushrooms into thick slices or quarter whole mushrooms. Saute broccoli and mushrooms in butter until they are slightly browned. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Add toasted sesame oil then toss to coat and cook for about 1 minute longer.

Toasted Sesame Cucumber salad
1 Cucumber
1/2 C sweet or red onion
1/3 C white vinegar
2 Tbs Toasted Sesame Oil
Dash of salt and pepper to taste

Slice cucumber into thin slices and finely dice onion. In a container with a lid add onion, cucumber, vinegar, Toasted Sesame Oil and salt & pepper. Cover with lid then shake to coat veggies with dressing. Refrigerate until serving.