I turn 35 tomorrow. (And the day after that, my son graduates from preschool, which is even more perplexing. …How did this happen? Am I happy about it? Am I going to cry massive crocodile tears? The answers: I have no freaking idea, yes with qualifications, and ohhhmygoodness yes.)
The fact that it’s my birthday has nothing to do with the photos of salmon in this post (other than the fact that I suppose I should be ingesting more omega-3s…?). It’s just on my mind.
The thing is, I’ve never been into New Year’s resolutions; New Year’s is a holiday that I’m not especially fond of because it stresses me out (HAVE FUN! NOW!), but beyond that, I’ve never gotten that grand “Hooray! This is my chance to start afresh!” burst that apparently motivates dedicated resolution-makers. This birthday, though, I’m sort of getting that feeling: the desire to hit the refresh button in certain ways. I don’t think it’s any mystery that I’ve been going through some searching with regards to how I can live better, feel better, and mostly be better, as a partner and mother and daughter and person. These are obviously things that I’ve always thought about to some extent, like everyone, but something about this particular moment in my life seems different.
I think it’s as simple as the fact that I finally feel ready to do the work. And a lot of the reason I feel that way is because of the support and suggestions I’ve gotten here, especially on my last post on this topic (currently reading Alan Weeks, and a Brené Brown book is on its way to me via Amazon right now). So thank you. For reading here, and for sending me the loveliest emails, and in many cases for being my real, actual, not-just-on-the-Internet friends. This place means the world to me, and it never ceases to amaze me that you guys give me the gift of coming here to say hi every day.
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Okay, apparently I’m getting sentimental in my own age. Enough me me meeee: let’s talk about salmon.
What happened over the past two days was that you all gave me the most insanely delicious-sounding grilling suggestions in the comments under this post (and FYI, the contest to win a $350 Ace Hardware gift card is still open through tomorrow night, so if you haven’t entered or want to enter again, there’s still time), and now I want to curl up with my grill and never leave its side all summer long.
Over the coming weekend I’m making oh, so many of the things that were suggested (including grilled stone fruits, grilled pizzas, and possibly – if Kendrick is very lucky – grilled jalapeño poppers), but last night I thought I’d try something new: cedar-wrapped salmon. I’ve eaten cedar-plank salmon before (where you place the fish on a damp cedar plank so the smoke infuses it with flavor) – mostly because I spent about a year waitressing in a West Hollywood restaurant, Cheebo, where the chefs would make it for us as our shift meal – but have never actually made it myself, because it seemed sort of…fussy. Who, exactly, has things like cedar planks laying around?
And then I saw these cedar wraps in the supermarket – they’re really thin strips of wood that you soak in water and then wrap around the salmon to create little packages – and thought: ooh. Still kinda fussy, but also fun. Instead of my go-to lemon/white wine salmon marinade, I decided to make a marinade loosely based on the soy-sauce inclusive recipe on the back of the cedar wrap package because my son is a soy sauce nut. I also made garlic-sauteed spinach and pan-fried polenta as side dishes for the excellent reason that I had them in my refrigerator. And anyway, it all seemed like it’d go together. (It did.)
Recipes below, if you’d like to try being all impressive and “oh I just casually wrapped this fish in cedar to infuse it with fabulous smoky flavor and am now presenting it to you in an adorable little package, nbd,” during your Memorial Day Weekend festivities.
* * * CEDAR-WRAPPED ASIAN SALMON (serves 4) * * *
What You Need:
- 4 6oz salmon filets (I bought massive ones, so I only made two to serve all four of us)
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 4 cedar wraps (1 per piece of fish)
What You Do:
- Preheat your grill to about 400 degrees (medium heat).
- Place the cedar wraps in a bowl of water, weigh them down with a smaller bowl, and let them soak for about ten minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the soy sauce, olive oil and ginger in a large ziploc bag. Add the salmon filets and shake to coat, then let marinate until the cedar wraps are softened.
- Place one filet in the center of each cedar wrap, fold the edges of the paper over the filets, and secure with cotton string.
- Place the packets on the grill and cook for 4-5 minutes per side. Serve immediately.
* * * GARLIC-SAUTEED SPINACH * * *
What You Need:
- 1 1/2 lbs baby spinach (rinsed and patted dry with paper towels)
- 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
- 2 tsp salt
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 3 tbsp olive oil
What You Do:
- Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the garlic and cook about a minute, stirring constantly, until golden.
- Add the spinach and salt, toss to combine with the garlic and oil, and sauté gently for about 2-3 minutes, or until all the spinach is wilted.
- Squeeze over some lemon juice, remove from saucepan with a slotted spoon, and serve immediately.
* * * SIMPLE PAN-FRIED POLENTA * * *
I buy pre-cooked polenta because the degree to which it is less-good than the homemade stuff is lesser than the degree to which I do not want to spend twenty minutes standing in front of a stove cooking polenta. Really all you’re doing with this is reheating it and adding a little flavor (so that it doesn’t overpower the other flavors on your plate), so just slice it into rounds, season lightly with salt, and fry in a little olive oil for about 4 minutes on each side, or until golden.
Pictured: Noritake Cher Blanc and Sandefjord china.
