TV Wasteland

Jamie was watching some Kevin Bacon as a stockbroker-turned-bike-messenger-turned-stockbroker-again movie from the 80s when I got down from putting Jane in her crib.  Maybe watching is the wrong word—the TV was on for noise as she folded clothes.  But there’s nothing on at 1:30 on a Saturday, which may be why Kevin Bacon was on.

 

Eventually, when we noticed the movie was still on, she told me I could change the channel.  The problem was, it was 1:30 on a Saturday.  I finally stopped on a PBS cooking show, as I finished up the week’s menu.  I picked five meals, plus fish for that night.  I couldn’t find a fish I wanted, so I figured I’d do something with whatever Whole Foods had to offer.

 

And as I was getting up, I glanced at the TV, and was transfigured.  They were making a gorgeous salmon dish, one that used chopped mint.  And I’m a sucker for mint.  I haven’t done salmon in a while, and never a salmon steak.  And salmon is fish, so it was perfect.  It was a simple dish, but I didn’t move until the next recipe.  We had it tonight.  It’s a perfectly springy dish; we had it with lemon spinach couscous, but it would great with quinoa, too.  Below, the recipe.  (I meant to include a photo, too, but we were running late, so we ate rather than photograph, and were still fifteen minutes late.)

 

Mint-rubbed Salmon Steaks with Zucchini

For the rub:

One or two clove of garlic, smashed and minced

A handful of mint leaves (say 1/3 cup), chopped

A tablespoon or so of dried oregano

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

 

For the vegetables:

Two zucchinis, halved and cut into quarter-inch portions

A handful of grape tomatoes, halved

4 green onions, cut into ½ inch sections

 

Preheat oven to 425

Rub both sides of salmon steak with half of the rub.  Put salmon in an oven-proof skillet, then in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

 

While the salmon cooks, heat olive oil in another skillet.  Sauté the zucchini for a couple minutes.  Add tomatoes, green onions, reserved rub.  Continue to cook for 1 minute.

 

Plate nicely—I divided the plate into three parts, the couscous on a third of the plate, vegetables on another third, and salmon on the final third.  The green, red, and pink (of the salmon) look great.  Enjoy!