Day 125 - Steamed Salmon with Peas

I think this may be the only dinner-for-one recipe in the whole book. It seemed like a fitting time....

Steamed Salmon with Peas (p. 213)

Easy. Quick. Delicious. This is a very special meal for one. It's such an improvement on the usual dinner-for-one fare, i.e. a thrown-together sandwich or a thrown-together salad. It took me no time to prepare, and when it was done, I felt like I had treated myself like a king, with little effort.

I didn't opt to buy a bamboo steamer. It was something I thought I could do without, and Martha wasn't insistent on it. I used my big pasta pot with steamer insert, and I was able to fit everything together on one level, vs. the duplex approach in the recipe.

I've been seeing the English peas in the markets for weeks (months?) now and would you believe, when I finally want to buy some, they're gone? So I used frozen peas, which is not the end of the world, because I think peas are the least offensive frozen vegetables out there.

I treated myself to a beautiful piece of wild salmon, and I used Boston lettuce to line the steamer. The wine in the steaming liquid was a great addition to the flavor. And dill, an herb I don't use a lot, is so perfectly paired with salmon. The peas couldn't be cuter in their cabbage cup, dotted with butter. I have to say, this meal looks so sweet in the steamer basket before it's cooked, maybe even better than it looks when it's done.

Even though my fillet was rather thick, it was perfectly cooked in 8-9 minutes. The yogurt sauce, which is literally only yogurt, lemon juice, and salt, was such a perfect accompaniment. It was truly a perfectly-formed meal, just the right amount of food, amazing flavors, not a lot of clean-up, super-healthy. Martha, you should do a whole book of these!

Jeff: A
Martha: A+

Until we eat again....

This is before - isn't it sweet?






This is after. Not plated very well, but wonderful to eat.