Today I thought a lot about protein. Working a universally accepted protein into the regular menu rounds at SouperKitchen is going to be a challenge for me, as a tenured vegetarian just beginning to venture back into the world of ingestible animals.
A pretty huge hunk of meat, for me
So I bought a piece of salmon. To be frank, I didn’t particularly know what to do with it. I checked my fridge several times to remind myself it was still there. I Google searched how long it would remain fresh in my refrigerator and how to store it. I reminisced about how my mom used to prepare salmon (usually in the toaster oven, either with a thin coating of mayo and lemon or soy sauce and brown sugar) and decided against treading familiar territory.
Not surprisingly, I ended up going with the scavenging method- what did I have in stock? I had an ear of corn, a small sweet potato, a couple of sad looking grape tomatoes, half a red onion. So I diced and chopped and roasted, and then took on the fearful challenge of my (electric) broiler.
Simple Salmon Marinade
What you’ll need, for every filet (mine was a hefty 6 oz portion):
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt, pepper, paprika
2 cloves garlic, minced
The serrations are from the peeler!
Adaptable Quasi-Succotash (serves 2)
What you’ll need:
1 small russet potato or 1 small sweet potato, washed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 ear corn, shucked
1/2 red onion
4 grape tomatoes
optional: 1/2 red bell pepper, black beans, basil
spices of choice
Preheat oven to 400 and put on a medium pot of water to boil. Dice onion, bell pepper, and sweet potato (peeled or unpeeled, according to preference) into 1 centimeter or, better yet, smaller cubes. Toss with spices and oil. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring after 10. Throw your corn in the boiling water for 2 or 3 minutes. Drain and cut kernels off of ear. Chop grape tomatoes, and add both into the oven with the potato and onion. Continue baking for 10 more minutes.
I left my garlic in chunks, but you might prefer your smashed into a paste.
Meanwhile prepare salmon: stir together all marinade ingredients and rub onto fish. Let sit for 20 minutes. Preheat broiler. Broil fish for 9-10 minutes, turning halfway through. (I had an episode of broiler mistrust this afternoon ended up baking at 450 for 14 minutes. There’s always next time.)
Serve fish over succotash with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprig of cilantro, if you have it, which of course I didn’t.