The long-awaited reappearance of trout

Tonight's Menu

• sauteed trout fillets
  
• ricotta-stuffed mushrooms
  
• green salad "bar"
  

It's been forever since I made fish for dinner and I'm not really sure why. We were eating a lot of tilapia for a while there, and I guess I kind of got sick of it. Anyway, my supermarket had some really nice rainbow trout fillets today, so I bought a couple and just seasoned them with a bit of salt and pepper before sauteing them in EVOO on the stovetop. I always start them skin-side down but I have no idea if that even matters. They were delicious and the boy had seconds and made a point of telling me how good they were. Remind me to start cooking fish more often!

I had a bunch of cheese filling leftover from when I made ravioli the other day and was looking for a way to use it up. I figured I could either make more ravioli (um, no), make lasagne (maybe, but that would involve the making of a meat sauce, which takes a while) or stuff mushrooms with it (bingo!). I modified the cheese filling slightly by mincing the mushroom stems and a couple of cloves of garlic and cooking those together in a skillet with some EVOO until soft. Then I cooled them and mixed them with the leftover ravioli filling, stuffing the mushrooms from whence came the stems and baking them in a foil-lined pan for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees F. I thought they were absolutely delicious, but DH is not a huge fan of ricotta and prefers the cream cheese-based mushroom stuffing. WHATEVER. More mushrooms for me!

The salad bar tonight was chopped romaine, sliced cucumbers and the last of the carrots from my garden (sliced). Time to make way for the spring veggies!

Soft things

Tonight's Menu

• sauteed tilapia fillets
  
• buttered egg noodles
  
• steamed broccoli
  

The boy child had four primary molars pulled Wednesday in anticipation of braces, and he's been eating nothing but pudding, applesauce, Jello and the occasional bowl of overcooked pasta ever since, poor kid! I wanted to cook a dinner he could actually EAT that contained a bit of protein and veggie. This worked out great and he was happy to get some real food in his tummy. Who knew a 12 year old could get tired of pudding and ice cream?!

This was also a super easy dinner to make. I just seasoned some tilapia fillets with salt and pepper and sauteed them in a skillet with EVOO -- done! The egg noodles were from a package, just boiled until done and then drained and tossed with some butter. Broccoli was steamed in the microwave. I cooked everything a little longer than usual to yield a softer texture for the boy, but nothing was mushy. Hooray for easy, nutritious, AND soft on the gums!

Fish tacos

Tonight's Menu

• fish tacos, deconstructed or not according to taste
  

Okay, so here's the deal. I made panko-breaded tilapia in the usual way, and also coleslaw (ditto). Then I warmed some flour tortillas in the microwave and set out a bowl of shredded cheese. Diners had the option of filling their tortillas with crispy fish fillets, cheese and coleslaw, or eating any combination of those items separately.

I was surprised to see the kids really going for it, loading up their tacos! The girl ended up not liking hers and took it apart to eat piece-by-piece. The boy opted for just a fish and cheese taco with coleslaw on the side, and didn't eat much, but he's been sick for the past few days so he doesn't have much of an appetite anyway.

I, of course, thought they were delicious.

Eating locally (at least partially)

Tonight's Menu

• sauteed tilapia fillets
  
• red quinoa
  
• green salad "bar"
  

Okay, this was pretty easy. The tilapia fillets were just seasoned with salt and pepper and sauteed in a pan with EVOO. My family has come to prefer the panko-breaded version but it was a long day and I couldn't be arsed. The sauteed version is delicious too, so bite me. (Did I mention it was a long day? Yeah. A REALLY long day.)

The red quinoa is Ancient Harvest brand. It's supposed to be just like regular quinoa, I think, but it tastes different to me and has a slightly different texture (crunchier and a wee bit bitter, to my palate). Frankly, I prefer the traditional ("blonde") version. But this one was okay, too. I tossed my individual portion with a bit of EVOO, salt and pepper and that made it a bit more palatable.

Tonight's salad bar was quite an exciting affair, owing to the fact that we picked up our first CSA share today! I've been wanting to get involved with a CSA for ages, but most of the ones in my area have long waiting lists and/or no distribution points that are convenient to my house (I mean, saving fuel IS part of the point, right?). We finally found one with no waiting list and a relatively close pickup point, so YAY! Fresh, local, organic produce! Can you tell I'm excited about this? (Incidentally, if you're in the Austin area and want the scoop on this particular CSA, feel free to email me at makeyourowndinner AT gmail DOT com.)

Anyway, so tonight's salad bar was mixed salad greens (from the CSA) and diced raw kohlrabi (ditto), along with cucumber, baby carrots, and mixed cherry/pear tomatoes, all of which were from the supermarket. It won't be long until we have lettuce and veggies from our own backyard salad garden, though! Hooray for spring!

Crispy fish, take two

Tonight's Menu

• pan-fried tilapia in panko
  
• coleslaw
  
• green salad "bar"
  

Yeah, this was pretty much a repeat of our dinner from January 23 but with last night's salad bar instead of the warm veggie salad. (And also, I used the food processor to chop the cabbage and shred the carrots tonight.)

No leftovers tonight! The girl had seconds on fish and the boy had thirds on coleslaw!

Another (delicious!) take on cabbage

Tonight's Menu

• sauteed rainbow trout fillets
  
• mixed-grain rice
  
• savoy cabbage with bacon and mustard
  

Yes, I know. I'm talking about cabbage again. But hey! Don't run away! This time there was BACON!

All I did was lop off about half a head of savoy cabbage and cut it into 1-inch wide strips (more or less). Then I chopped up a few thick strips of bacon and cooked them in a large skillet until they were not quite crisp and had rendered out quite a bit of fat. I tossed in the cabbage, stirring until it had wilted down a bit and the bacon had crisped up. I ended up having not QUITE enough bacon fat to really wilt down the cabbage, so I added just a few tablespoons of water to get some braising/steaming action happening. When the cabbage was tender, I stirred in a teensy amount of stone-ground mustard (like maybe half a teaspoon) and some freshly ground pepper. I didn't add salt because both the bacon and mustard were salty.

This was absolutely DELICIOUS, I am not kidding. You couldn't really taste the mustard at all, but it gave the dish a nice depth and provided some acidity to balance out the richness of the bacon. The crinkly texture of the savoy cabbage (as opposed to my usual plain green cabbage) was a perfect vehicle for the crunchy mustard seeds and crispy bits of bacon. SO GOOD! I will make it this way again for sure.

The trout fillets were just seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper, then sauteed in a large skillet with some EVOO (that's extra virgin olive oil, for those who don't know). I started them skin-side down and then flipped them halfway through. They really only take about five minutes total, if that.

The grain thing was something new. My favorite skincare company, DHC, also sells a few high-end food items and when I placed my last order for moisturizer I decided to give the multi-grain rice a try. It was kind of a pain, actually -- you have to soak it for 30 minutes, then cook it for 15. Not all of the water got absorbed so I let it sit, covered, for a while and then ended up draining it. It was actually really good, though! It has barley and rye berries in addition to a couple of different types of rice, and it has a lot more flavor and texture than plain rice. With a little salt and pepper, it makes a really tasty side dish. DH even liked it, and the boy had multiple helpings!

It was SO cold and windy and nasty today, but I'm hoping this is winter's last hurrah. I have a bunch more GRILLING to do, yo! Stay tuned!

Salmon and sweet potatoes

Tonight's Menu

• baked salmon
  
• oven sweet potato fries
  
• green salad "bar"
  

I love salmon but I am pretty much the only one in the family who does, so I don't make it very often. However, last night I made a double batch (er, can you call it a "batch" if it's meat?) of spiced pork tenderloin (broiled for 20 minutes instead of grilled) and decided that anyone who didn't want salmon tonight could have leftover pork. So there!

Anyhoo, the salmon was one of those big fillets, so I just sprinkled it generously with Jane's Krazy Salt and some garlic pepper, then popped it into the oven for about 20 minutes (it was thick -- do 10 minutes per inch) at 450 degrees F. This is my favorite way to make it. I'm not fancy with my fish, as you all know.

Sweet potato fries were made the same way as usual. I took them out of the oven before I cranked it up for the fish.

A couple of people have asked about the salad bar idea, and I explained it in the comments but I'll clarify it here, too. All I do is put the greens/lettuces in a big bowl, then put all the other salad ingredients in separate bowls alongside, kind of like a restaurant salad bar (but on a much smaller scale). That way everyone can mix their salad however they like.

This came about when the boy child, who apparently got tired of picking the stuff he didn't like out of our tossed salads, requested it. It does use up more dishes (and table/counter space) than simply tossing all the salad ingredients together in one large bowl, but aside from that it's really no more trouble to do.

An interesting side effect of this has been that sometimes the kids ignore the lettuce/greens altogether and just pile their plates with the raw chopped veggies/fruits instead. In fact, I think they've both been eating more fruits/veggies at dinner since we started this!

Crispy fishy

Tonight's Menu

• pan-fried tilapia
  
• coleslaw
  
• leftover warm salad of caramelized veggies and spinach
  

Okay, so I was a little bored with my usual tilapia sauteed in EVOO and decided to try something a little different. It was a bit more time-consuming than usual but not at all difficult (because, you know, I don't DO difficult). Here are the steps as I went through them:

1. Cut some boneless, skinless tilapia fillets in half lengthwise and put them in a shallow dish/pan of milk. Yes, milk. Stay with me here.
2. Take another shallow dish/pan and put in some flour mixed with salt, pepper, dry mustard, dried dill, basically whatever herbs and spices your little heart desires.
   
3. Take yet ANOTHER dish/pan (incidentally, pie pans and round cake pans work great for stuff like this), crack an egg into it, add about a tablespoon of water, and whisk to combine.
4. Take a fourth dish/pan and pour a bunch of panko into it. (You should be able to find panko at your local market -- look in the Asian/ethnic food section or in the baking section with the bread crumbs and cornmeal and whatnot -- but if not you can order it from Amazon or some other online retailer.)
5. Now you want to get a heavy-bottomed skillet with relatively high sides and pour in enough canola oil to cover the bottom about a half-inch deep. (You COULD do this in a deep-fryer, but deep-frying scares the hell out of me. I am a pan-fry kind of gal.) Heat the oil over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes.
6. Okay, now the fun part! Take a (half) fillet out of the milk, dredge it in the seasoned flour, swish it in the egg mixture, then dredge it in the panko until it's entirely coated. Then oh-so-carefully place it into the hot oil.
7. Repeat with other fillets, working in batches so as not to crowd the pan (that lowers the temperature of the oil and makes everything soggy). Watch fillets closely and turn when golden brown on the bottom (this only takes about 2-3 minutes, tops).
8. Remove from pan when both sides are a nice, golden brown. Place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain.

That's all there is to it! It sounds like a lot of steps, but once you get all your little pans o' stuff ready it's an absolute breeze. The fish comes out moist on the inside and crispy-crunchy outside, not at all greasy, and because you made it from scratch, YOU control how much salt and fat is in this stuff (hello, have you ever read the label on a box of frozen, breaded fish? it ain't pretty, y'all).

Everyone absolutely raved about this fish tonight, and you longtime readers might want to sit down for this one: The girl. Had. SECONDS! The child who lives on cheese and crackers and air actually went back for more of this stuff! You KNOW it has to be good.

We've discussed coleslaw before, right? Just shred up some cabbage with a knife, combine a little mayo with equal parts sugar and white vinegar, maybe throw in a little celery seed, toss and chill? It's like the easiest salad in the world, y'all. I was feeling fancy today and added some grated carrot! WOO! We live on the edge around here.

Eat your heart out, Jamie Oliver

Tonight's Menu

• herb and lemon roasted coro coro fillets
  
• chuffed potatoes
  
• green salad "bar"
  

So here's what happened: while at my local sucky supermarket buying tilapia, I saw that they had this relatively inexpensive fish called coro coro. I had never heard of it before, but it was cheap-ish and I was up for an adventure, so what the heck?

I had no idea what to do with it, but it appeared relatively meaty and had the skin still on, so I decided to roast it a la Jamie Oliver. First I slashed the skin with a knife and sprinkled both sides with salt and pepper. Then I cut two lemons into quarters, squeezed a bit of juice into my giant mortar, added some EVOO and sprigs of fresh thyme, rosemary and oregano, and bashed away at them. I fished out the larger sprigs that were still intact and layered them along with the lemon quarters (including the ones I'd already squeezed) in the bottom of a shallow baking pan, then I rubbed the leftover herby oil all over the fillets and placed them skin side up on top of the lemons/herbs. Then I roasted them in the oven at 450 degrees F for about 13 minutes or so (they were fairly thick -- a good rule of thumb is 10 minutes per inch of thickness). After they came out of the oven, I grabbed a lemon wedge with tongs and squeezed it on the fish again. This came out really good! If anything, it could have used even MORE herbs. Next time I will really go nuts, and maybe throw in some capers or something.

The potatoes were the usual, small red-skinned potatoes parboiled until tender and then tossed around in a hot pan with some butter.

The salad bar tonight was stocked with mixed lettuces, sliced cucumber, sliced carrots, and grape tomatoes. Yum!

We were in kind of a hurry tonight (the boy was participating in his school spelling bee this evening -- he took 12th place! woo!) and this was actually relatively quick, believe it or not!

Enough with the spices?

Tonight's Menu

• tilapia
• spaghetti squash
  
• green salad "bar"
  

A couple of months ago, as you may recall, I discovered (ha! kind of like how Columbus "discovered" America) a recipe for spaghetti squash with Moroccan spices, and that became my favorite way to cook not only spaghetti squash, but tilapia as well. I loved it SO much, in fact, that it became my go-to tilapia meal and I haven't made tilapia or spaghetti squash any other way since.

Well, my family has gently indicated that they'd be a-OK with me giving the Moroccan spices a bit of a rest, so tonight I went a different (more boring, but still yummy) route.

The tilapia was simply seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper, then sauteed in a skillet with EVOO. The girl child blew my mind by actually trying some -- she still only eats maybe 20% of the dinners I make -- and she said it tasted a bit like white meat chicken. But she only ate a piece the size of a dime, and then didn't want any more. WHATEVER. The boy loved it.

I did the spaghetti squash in the microwave this time (as indicated in the Epicurious recipe linked above), mostly due to a lack of advance planning on my part because it takes a while to do in the oven. It came out fine, and after I shredded it into a bowl, I added a knob of butter, some salt and freshly ground pepper, and topped it with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Yes, the real $tuff -- I splurged on a little hunk over the holidays. This was really yummy even without all the spices. I GUESS. (No, it was, really!)

Our salad bar this evening featured mixed lettuces (I dunno, I buy them in the package already mixed), sliced cucumbers, sliced baby carrots and chopped snow peas.

Spicy squash

Tonight's Menu

• tilapia and spaghetti squash with Moroccan spices
  
• giant green salad
  

This was way yummy and fairly easy.

I followed this recipe on Epicurious for the spaghetti squash, except that I halved my squash lengthwise and cooked it cut-side down in the oven rather than in the microwave. The oven caramelizes the sugars in a way that that the microwave doesn't, and I like the added flavor. It's way quicker to do it in the microwave, though, so you do whatever.

I made the spiced butter in a heavy skillet and then, after pouring it all over the squash and tossing to coat, stuck my tilapia fillets in the same skillet to cook them. They picked up some of the spice and were SO good! The boy child had two helpings!

Chowderific!

Tonight's Menu

• fish chowder
  
• leftover herb bread
  

I've been indulging in a lot of cooking "experiments" lately, and most of them haven't worked out so well, which is why I haven't been posting much. I mean, there's only so much public humiliation I can take. Tonight's chowder, though, was an experiment that worked out wonderfully. Here's how I made it, to the best of my recollection. This was totally one of those "use what you have" type recipes, so if the specific ingredients sound a little weird, that's why.

Okay, first I chopped up some baby carrots and tiny red potatoes and simmered them in some veggie broth just until tender. While that was going, I cut up half a sweet onion and about 5-6 slices of pre-cooked bacon. I tossed the bacon into a big pot over medium high heat, just to crisp it up a bit, then reduced the heat to medium and added 3 Tbs. butter and the onions. I cooked and stirred them until the onions had gone translucent, then I added 3 Tbs. flour and stirred until it turned golden. Then I slowly stirred in some milk (I have no idea how much -- 4 cups, maybe?) and brought that to a gentle boil, stirring all the while so it wouldn't scorch on the bottom. Once it started bubbling, I added two large tilapia fillets which I had cut into bite-sized pieces, plus I drained the potatoes and carrots and added those in as well. I tossed in a bunch of dried thyme and parsley, a little dried basil, some salt and pepper and brought the whole thing back up to a boil. Then I reduced the heat to low and let it simmer about 15-20 minutes, just enough to cook the fish through and meld all the flavors.

The broth thickened a bit while it was cooking, and it was SO yummy and flavorful. I debated whether to add dill, but I really don't like dill with creamy sauces/broth. I'm weird, I know. The thyme was awesome, though.

The herb bread was left over from a few nights ago when I made an (unsuccessful) attempt at beef stew. A little tip from me to you -- don't use crappy beer in your stew. Take it from me, y'all.

More grilling

Tonight's Menu

• grilled tuna steaks
  
• grilled asparagus
  
• giant green salad
  

Dudes! It did not rain AT ALL today! Not even while I was grilling! Yay!

Okay, the tuna steaks were brushed with EVOO, sprinkled with Jane's Krazy Salt and garlic pepper, and grilled for about 4 minutes per side. They were really thick so they came out nice and pink in the center. Yum!

Asparagus was trimmed and then grilled on one of those grill overlay thingies with the holes in it. I drizzled it with EVOO and then sprinkled it with salt and pepper halfway through the cooking time. I wasn't really timing it -- I sat outside and drank a glass of wine while babysitting the grill -- but it didn't take long to cook at all. Maybe five minutes? Six? Ten? It was like my third glass of wine. I can't really tell you.

Easy dinner, though!

Cooking disasters: haste makes waste

Tonight's Menu

• grilled tilapia fillets
  
• citrus salsa
  
• big-ass green salad
  

Oh dudes. When will I ever learn?

Tonight's dinner went wrong in a number of ways, not the least of which had to do with timing. Like I realized at 6:00, when I was just beginning dinner prep, that we were getting together with our neighbors at 7:00. Which did not allow a lot of time for sectioning citrus fruits (two Rio Grande grapefruits, two Valencia oranges, and one ill-advised lime). I ended up just tossing the sections with some sliced green onion and chopped cilantro, doing absolutely NOTHING to cut the acidity of the citrus, and it was, shall we say, VERY TANGY. Ugh.

And also, I don't know why I keep trying to grill stuff like tilapia. I have never managed to grill skinless, lean (i.e. non-oily) fish fillets with any degree of competency whatsoever, so why do I keep trying? Give me some tuna steaks or skin-on snapper fillets and I'm fine, but tilapia? Um, no. It turns to mush. I'm a moron.

Everything TASTED okay, except for the overly acidic salsa, but still. Bleh. That's what I get for rushing, I guess.

DON'T try this at home!

Rain rain go away

Tonight's Menu

• sauteed tilapia fillets
  
• grilled romaine salad
  

The neverending rain here in Central Texas (not West Texas! I don't live there, despite what the New York Times might think!) is putting a serious crimp in my summer grilling plans, y'all. So tonight's dinner was an indoor affair.

The tilapia was the usual deal, pan-sauteed in EVOO and then seasoned with salt and pepper. Dead easy.

For the salad, I took some romaine hearts (you can buy these already packaged up at the grocery store), cut them in half lengthwise, brushed them with EVOO and slapped them on the grill pan. When they were still crisp-tender with sexy little grill marks I removed them from the pan, gave them a rough chop, and tossed them in a bowl. Then I cut a bunch of cherry tomatoes (from the garden!) in half and put them cut-side down on the grill pan for about 30 seconds before chucking them in with the lettuce. Toss with a bit of EVOO and really good balsamic vinegar, season with salt and pepper, and hey presto, you've got a nice warm salad to go with the fish! I thought it was pretty damn tasty. I don't think DH was crazy about it, though. (More for me!)

I need some checkered pants, STAT

Tonight's Menu

• beer-battered tilapia
  
• leftover peach-mango salsa
  
• steamed broccoli
  
• leftover green salad
  

NEVER work with hot oil while wearing shorts. You'd think I would have learned that by the ripe old age of 40, but you'd be wrong, because I am a dumbass. I burned the FUCK out of my leg tonight when a piece of tilapia slipped off the fork I was using to transfer it from batter to pan and splashed into a pool of hot oil. I'm going to have a hell of a humongous blister (followed by a hell of a humongous scar, most likely).

Anyway.

We got sick of boring old SAFE sauteed tilapia, so I modified a recipe from Eating Well's website based on what I had in the pantry (and, of course, I used my own salsa that I made the other day). Flour, cornmeal, cumin, salt, cayenne and beer, whisked together to form a thin batter. Then I dredged some tilapia fillets (halved lengthwise, like the recipe says) in it, heated some oil (a tablespoon or so, which turned out to be a little TOO MUCH oil) in a skillet, and fried those suckers off.

They were actually really delicious, but not worth the second-degree burn.

Ouch.

Oh well

Tonight's Menu

• rockfish in foil packets
  
• chuffed potatoes
• leftover roasted asparagus
  
• leftover big-ass salad
  

My supermarket had rockfish, which I think is maybe a type of cod but I'm not 100% sure, for cheap today so I thought I'd try it. Aaaaand ... I don't think I'll be trying it again.

I cut it into serving-sized pieces and layered them in foil packets with paper-thin onion slices, thyme, salt, pepper, EVOO and some white wine. It was flavorful I GUESS, but I didn't care for the texture. Maybe the bastardized en papillote thing was a bad idea, I don't know. But all things considered, I'd rather have had salmon. I am a fatty fish kind of gal at heart.

Spring has sprung, apparently

Tonight's Menu

• tilapia with mango salsa
  
• leftover quinoa
  
• leftover big-ass salad
  

The ataulfo mangoes have arrived at my local supermarket, and that means one thing: MANGO SALSA. Oh HELL yeah, bitches.

2 mangoes (ataulfo if you can find them, but the regular ones will do), diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
2 serrano peppers, minced (seeded or not, depending on how hot you like it)
fresh cilantro
lime juice

Combine the mangoes, onion and peppers in a non-reactive bowl. Snip some fresh cilantro into the mix (how much is up to you because some people love it and some people hate it -- I use maybe a tablespoon) and sprinkle on a bit of fresh lime juice (the juice from one small lime should do it). Toss to mix and refrigerate for a couple of hours to let the flavors blend before serving.

(Incidentally, if you've never worked with fresh mango there is an easy way to dice it. Just cut it in half vertically, working around the thin but wide pit in the center, so that you have two halves. Discard the center section with the pit. Then take each half and cut a crosshatch pattern through the flesh but NOT through the peel. Run a spoon between the peel and flesh and it should scoop right out in nice little cubes. Sometimes it takes a bit of practice, but it's about a thousand times easier than trying to PEEL a mango and then cut it up.)

It's weird -- I don't like mango by itself, but I LOVE mango salsa. In addition to tortilla chips, it goes great with grilled chicken, pork or fish. Tonight's fish was just seasoned with salt and pepper and then sauteed in EVOO (SO quick and easy!), but that worked fine with it, too.

Vinho Verde was a great accompaniment to this meal!

Fishy!

Tonight's Menu

• baked salmon
• pan-sauteed rainbow trout
  
• leftover quinoa
• steamed broccoli
  

I have successfully gotten the boy hooked upon my salmon, which I just brush with EVOO and then sprinkle with garlic pepper and Jane's Crazy Salt before popping it in the oven at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes per inch of thickness.

The trout was for DH the salmon hater. As usual, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then give it a once-over in a hot pan with EVOO.

As you may have noticed, I have switched (or more accurately, I've BEEN switched, against my will) to the new Blogger, which means I can do labels and stuff. I'll be going back through old posts and adding them, so eventually you'll be able to, say, click on the "salmon" label and pull up all my posts about salmon. I haven't decided whether I'm going to do the REALLY old posts, or just the ones since I switched the blog over to general cooking (as opposed to Get My Kids To Eat Normal Food cooking). I figure you're probably looking for recipes and meal ideas, so I may just stick with that.

Anyhoo.

Fishes

Tonight's Menu

• rainbow trout fillets sauteed in EVOO
• baked salmon fillets
  
• quinoa
• big-ass salad
  

Yeah, I made two different fishes. DH likes trout and I like both, and I wanted to make enough that the kids could try both or either (the boy tried both; the girl passed).

I made the trout the same way I always do -- sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, saute in EVOO for a couple of minutes per side (skin side first, then flip). The salmon was brushed with a bit of EVOO, sprinkled with Jane's Krazy salt and garlic pepper, and baked (skin side down) at 450 degrees F for about 12-13 minutes (you want about 10 minutes per inch of thickness at that temperature).

I washed mine down with some Vinho Verde. It was sunny and in the low 60s today for the first time in FOREVER, so it was a good day for something nice and light.

Of course, it's supposed to be rainy and cold again all week so I may be busting out the soups and stews again after this.