So Many Dishes

It turns out that I’m not the spring chicken my brain tells me I am. It’s telling me, “time to get it in gear.” My body, on the other hand, is screaming, “not so fast!” My recovery from surgery hasn’t been as easy as I expected.

As a result, I’ve become more of a kitchen consultant. While Ben was here for several days immediately after my surgery, he took command of the kitchen. Since then, Ken has done most of the cooking, and I’m going to be posting one of his recipes soon. But now it’s time for one that Ben cooked.

Ben decided to comb through some of my cookbooks. I mentioned that he made veal Marengo, I recipe I’ve posted before, that’s in a cookbook I bought because, otherwise, I would have had to steal his copy. Ben also made a Venezuelan-style arroz con pollo from Healthy Latin Cooking that I wasn’t crazy about. That was probably because I feel like I lost my taste for chicken, at least temporarily. I think I’m over that, but it’s happened to me before. (When I was pregnant with Ben, and especially with Alice, I couldn’t stomach chicken through the first few months. I remember when Ken made one of my favorite dishes, but the smell sent running to the bedroom, crying, “sorry!”)

For dinner the last evening he was here, Ben turned to one of our most used cookbooks, Mediterranean Made Easy from Taste of Home. I’ve posted several recipes from this source, because we haven’t tried anything from this book that has disappointed. The lemon-lime salmon that he made is an absolute winner. I’m not sure how I missed this! It was delicious and went together very quickly. Ben worked remotely while he was here, and had a late meeting that afternoon, so Ken prepped the vegetables for him. Once Ben actually started cooking, dinner was on the table in a half hour, I think.

The recipe calls for seafood seasoning. We rooted through my collection of sample-size Penzey’s packets, and Ben decided on Ruth Ann’s Muskego Avenue chicken and fish seasoning. I’m sure there’s a story behind that name, but whatever it is, it was perfect for this dish.

The original recipe makes six servings, so Ben basically cut it in half, and it was perfect for the three us. The biggest change was to the seasoning: in place of tarragon, he used fresh Italian parsley that was in the fridge. That was fine with me, as tarragon is my least favorite herb.

Lemon-Lime Salmon with Veggie Sauté

• 3/4 to 1 pound salmon fillet, cut into 3 pieces
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon seafood seasoning
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1/2 large red onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cups fresh asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen corn, thawed
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley

Place salmon in a baking dish; add lemon and lime juices. Sprinkle with seafood seasoning and salt. Bake, uncovered, at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Sauté peppers and onion for 3 minutes. Add corn, mushrooms, and asparagus; cook and stir just until vegetables reach desired doneness, 3-5 minutes longer. Stir in Italian parsley.

Serve salmon atop the veggies. Makes 3 servings.

You can be sure that this will be on our menu again, once I’m back to work in the kitchen. I promise more pictures the next time.

Happy eating!