Friday, June 10, 2016

Pasta Salad with Corn, Tomatoes, and Avocados



As promised, a few recipes about food.  This salad is delightful.  Each bite is creamy and packed full of flavor. I love the combination of avocado, corn and tomato.  You also have a lot of freedom with this recipe.  If you need to use gluten free pasta you can.  The sauce is pretty basic but feel free to mess with the flavor profile. Use fresh herbs or dried.  I will always encourage my readers to alter any recipe to fit into their family's comfort zone.

A side note, if you will.  Typing with single space and not double space is so WEIRD!  I have been in school these past six months and everything is double spaced with size 12 font.  I feel like such a rebel typing in single space.  Honestly, I kind of like it.

Thank you friends who took the time with my last post to send me messages (public and private).  It meant so much to myself and to my husband.  I didn't know how Cory would react with me sharing such a personal story and experience with the world.  His comment to me was one of relief.  He said it felt good to finally let everyone know that we are not perfect and that our marriage is fragile at times.  We make mistakes and try to learn from them.  I had to agree.  I felt a release too.  Cory said we weren't hiding the fact that we had a dip in our relationship, we just never openly talked about it.  Twenty-eight years is a long time to be married.  If in that time we did not have a few hiccups along the way, I believe, we would never grow as a couple.



Again, thank you for the support and kind words.  I appreciate each comment. They always touch me more than you know.  The private messages tug at my heart.  I believe with all my heart that we are each living and doing our very best at any given time.  Could we be better? Absoultely.  That's not the issue though.  Now is our only reality and it's now that we must live.  Now is how we will shape our future and deal with our past.  Now is sometimes easier than others.  Staying present and living the best NOW that I know is keeping me positive and on track.  Allowing myself to have a down moment is okay too.  It's easier to work my way through those feelings or disappointments instead of harboring them.  When they say to push through your each moment, good or bad,  I really do believe this.

Living an authentic life is raw and complicated.  Living an authentic life will make you more free than anything else.  Being the real you is better than trying to be something you are not.  A lesson that took me a few decades to figure out.

Love you.  It's okay.  Give yourself permission to be okay with yourself.

Oh, and make some pasta salad.


Pasta Salad with Corn, Tomatoes, and Avocados

1 package of your favorite pasta, cooked according to directions
1-2 avocado, diced small
1-2 tomato, diced small
1 cup of corn (frozen or canned) 
1/2 cup cubed cheese (omit if vegan or use vegan cheese)
1/4 cup mayonnaise or Vegannaise 
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
1/4-1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic
salt and pepper to taste
garnish--Chow Mein Noodles (if these fit into your diet plan)
garnish--fresh curly parsley

1.  Prepare ingredients.  Toss together in a large bowl.  Taste and adjust.  You can always add more seasoning but it's hard to adjust if you add to much.  Top with garnishes.

2.  Refrigerate any leftovers.  Good for 3-5 days.


Recipe and Photo's by Sherron Watson

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

What's Happening in My Life--It's a Long Piece



Hi, It's me.  Did you think I had left you forever?  Maybe.  I thought about it to be honest but the pull to return is too strong.  I miss it.  I miss the friendships, the comments, the interaction with readers who feel connected to me.  I miss you.

I had to take some time away though.  I was in a bad place. I set off to correct a few thoughts and to find my way.  I wasn't happy but I was happy.  Does that make sense?  What is being happy anyways?  I found I was walking in a shell of a body.  My mind was numb and I was going through the motions.  I don't believe I was depressed but maybe I was.  I felt happy most of the time just empty.  

So empty. 

 I felt I had ran this huge race and crossed the finished line only to discover , "why did I run at all."  You may have felt this too about me as you read some of my last entries here on the blog.  I tried to push through and find out what was holding me back.  Why did I have these feelings of numbness? Why couldn't I feel joy like everyone else?  Was I broken?

 So many questions.

Looking back I think there are several reasons for my dip in mood and happiness. I won't spend a great deal of time analyzing them but will touch on a few that I think have contributed to my downward spiral.  I have talked about leaving the Mormon Church before.  This was a huge transition for our family.  Six years later and we are just now starting to feel normal again.  What ever that means but we find ourselves identifying with that word more and more these days.  Secondly, having Finnley was a blessing but it has also been very difficult.  Kids are work and when you are forty-eight with a two year old, it seems like a mole hill becomes Mount Everest.  Tired and worn out only begin to describe my state of being over the last three years.  Finally, my mind was a huge bowl of Jello.  Staying home resonated with me with my first two kids.  These last two little girls are getting a different Mom.  I felt guilty about that.  I didn't want to stay home anymore. I wanted to get out and do something for myself.  The guilt of feeling this way was burdensome.  

So, yeah, I went through some shit.

The good news is I took control of my own happiness and I feel so much better.  Let me back up for a minute.  We moved to Oregon in June 2015 and finally moved into our new home in August 2015.  This was a transitional time for our family.  Drake left home after graduating from high school, Rye stayed with us, Isabella was 8, and Finnley was on the verge of crossing the "terrible two's" bridge.  Cory and I were not in a good place and yet, we were buying a home. What the hell was wrong with us?  We were in motion and couldn't seem to get off the train long enough to repair ourselves, let alone, a relationship.  We hit a cross road.  Two weeks into our new home we said the words "divorce" and "separation".  What had driven us to this point?  It was scary and honestly hurt so deeply.  The hurt of losing my best friend is what gave us the strength to fix what was troubling our marriage.  I couldn't imagine living without him but at that moment all I wanted to do was run away.  I was so tired.  Tired of fighting, negotiating, being homeless (we lived with my sister until our house was closed), dealing with a two year old who felt the need to remind me of why she would be our last-daily, and trying to figure out "what the fuck I wanted to be when I grow up".  

Forty-eight and still trying to find myself.  It's funny--now.  

This has a happy ending.  We figured out a reason to stay together and keep the love alive. To be truthful it had nothing to do with love. We still loved each other very much.  It was out of this love that we felt the need to let each other go. If we were not making the other person happy why should we be so selfish as to not let them go to find the happiness that we each deserved.  We talked about seeing a therapist and opted to try our hand at doing some self care first.  I found two books that, in my opinion, saved our marriage.  They are The Five Love Languages and The Seven Priniciples for Making Marriage Work.  Both of these books are excellent and opened up our eyes to a ton of ideas of how to improve our foundation.  We had the bones of a good house it just needed a face lift and and update.  We needed some new furniture...my feeble attempt at humor!

I'm so glad we made it.  Cory is an amazing father and husband.  What I learned along the way is that what I thought were his problems were actually mine.  I was unhappy with myself and projecting this into the lives of those around me.  I forgot that I was in charge of my own happiness; not someone else. We worked through our issues and found a rekindled appreciation for each other.  We recognized that at this stage of our life it is important for us to do things separate from each other and to grow as individuals. We had forgotten how to fill our own cups.  Kids, moving, buying a new house, family, leaving a church, new jobs, and on and on....had over taken our lives.  We stopped living the good life and found ourselves drowning in a pool of ankle deep water.


Once we were on track again I had to look deep within myself and decide a few things.  In January of this year I returned to school for the first time in 29 years.  It was scary taking those first steps to get admitted, take a placement test, find classes, set up financial aid, and then finally attend.  This single act of kindness that I allowed myself has been life changing. 

My cup is full for now. I work daily on keeping what's inside me flowing.  

Returning to school has allowed me to grow personally. I have found a new drive and direction.  I feel alive.  My only regret is that I did not do this sooner.  I won't spend anytime beating myself over that decision and move forward with my goals and aspirations. 

The amazing thing is my family is okay.  By going to school, our schedule has changed a bit, but I can do both.  I am learning that I can take some time for me, give to my kids, be with my husband, and juggle.  I should have joined a circus act because, honestly, I can do more than I thought was possible. I doubted my abilities, and it threw me into a tail spin.  Thankfully, with a lot of soul searching and self-love, I was able to pull out and stay the course. 

I found me.


 Why am I sharing all of this?  Well, because it's who I am. These moments are not unique to just me.  This is life.  These types of events are happening everyday to families, to mothers, and to women.  We feel at times empty.  We struggle to find balance.  We try to be everything to everyone and leave ourselves in the dust.  It happens. Shit happens.

I have learned a great deal about finding a community that elevates who you are and hope to become. This is an important part of building and retaining my happiness. I feel the road was long and rough at times but these past five years were all worth it.  The home we have created is beautiful.  We love living at the beach.  Our marriage is solid.  Our kids bring us joy.

I am happy.  Happiness does not equate to perfection.  It means that I am able to swing back and forth between the highs and the lows with out hitting rock bottom.  We spend a lot of time at the beach. Our whole family feels a connection to the waves, the wind, the sand, and the smell of salty air.  If I felt lost before I feel found now.  I am home.


This means change.  Change for my blog.  I have tried and struggled to do the whole food thing.  My own eating habits change constantly as we are still trying to figure out what is going on with my auto-immune system. I have recently had all the allergy testing done AGAIN.  I have been told that I have a very sensitive immune system and that I need to visit a rheumatologist and we need to start looking at a possible Lupus diagnosis.  I'm not ready for that so am trying to control my symptoms with diet. I am back to a strict vegan diet.  It is the only things that keep the inflammation, redness, foggy brain, aches and pains at bay.  It's hard.  I am frustrated.  I have felt so alone with this journey and at rock bottom on some days.  I am pulling the plug on my food only blogging format.  It is too depressing because I am so limited in what I can eat and prepare.  I feel the fun I experienced of cooking and creating is gone. I started to pull away last year because of my frustration and this year I made the decision to do something different. When I felt the spark return, while at the beach, which I had originally felt with cooking, I knew the beach was my way to keep writing and to stay connected.

Change is good.

I love the beach and all that it offers.  Through my Instagram account I am finding that others feel the same way I do.  So I am trying to re-brand myself into a lifestyle blog.  I hope to share lots of beach things as well as some food recipes. The ocean is my happy place and I feel compelled to share this joy with others.  The beach is a sanctuary and it is here that I have found a connection like no other place that we have lived.  It might be the coolness of the air and water to my firey personality or the constant beauty that I am surrounded by. Whatever it is, I will never let go.

These are a few things that I have been thinking about writing in several blog updates, and, well, it all came out in one post.  I just regurgitated my last year with its highs and lows for the world to see and dissect.  Oh well.  Life happens and we either sink or swim.

Thankfully, I am turning into a great swimmer.

A few images from my Instagram account below in a collage. I would love to see you visit me over on Instagram. I share daily updates there.  I will try to write weekly on my blog. I am still on Facebook, Twitter, and StumbleUpon.  I have some great Pinterest boards too. My second semester is ending today and I will have a lighter load this summer. I am hoping this gives me the chance to write again.  I love writing. I love the beach.  I'm pretty sure I can weave a tale or two combining my two loves.

Have a joyful day!


Friday, January 15, 2016

Kale Salad with Maple Dijon Salad Dressing



Well, here I am.  Two weeks into school and my life is busy and exciting.  I have not felt so alive in a long time.  I struggled for quite some time to justify my decision of returning to school and pursuing my education. I was taught that my job was in the home.  I have supported my family and husband and watched with elation as they have met their goals, dreamed their dreams, and obtained their educational degrees as well.  I played the part of supporting actress, high spirited cheerleader and motivational speaker for some time.  I have been a stay at home mom for 21 years.  This role has brought me great joy, and yet recently, I have felt empty.

Something inside of me was not right.  I struggled to place my finger on exactly what was causing me to drop into depression, suffer from anxiety, doubt myself, and, I was aware that I was slowing drifting away from my life.  The island, that is my family, was slowly drifting further from the raft that I was floating in.  I felt the embrace of being pulled under or away.


It wasn't until things came to a head this summer after moving into our home that I realized I needed a direction.  I needed to do something for me.  My unhappiness with myself was affecting my family, my relationship with my husband, and with my life.  I needed a life line.

Facing the strange fear of possibly losing it all--I made a decision.  Cory has never ever once told me to not go to school.  It's the opposite.  He never wanted me to quit and has pushed me onto this course for some time.  I finally took the bait and did what I thought was impossible, I enrolled in school.  Knee shaking, heart pulsing--I was accepted.  I told my family and they have supported me 100%.
  

This one decision will affect our family.  Cory is still working from home but he still needs to work so I have been able to adjust my schedule so that he can work and then take care of Finnley while I am away a few hours each day.  Isabella is back in school for this school year.  Rye is working and her schedule allows her to help while I am at class too.  This whole process is teaching us to work as a team.  I am learning that I can let go of the steering wheel for a while and someone else in my family can drive the "home" ship just fine without me.  I needed to learn this lesson.

 
Cory and Rye are so cute because the other day they reassured me that I did not need to do all of the cooking.  They were capable of making a variety of dishes and they had my blog to fall back on.  I can't tell you how happy this makes me feel.  I still cook a lot but the responsibilities are being shared.

As for me, I feel good.  My spirits are high.  I am like a kid in a toy shop.  I never knew how addicting learning could be.  I am like a sponge.  I don't want school to end.  My goals are hefty and I am looking at 6 years of college but I can do this.

Our meals have become easier and more fresh.  This kale salad is delightful.  The kale and swiss chard work well together to create the base for this winter salad.  I have added a few crunch elements that my family likes but you can always exchange those for things you like more.  


Our favorite part about this salad is the Maple Syrup Dijon Salad Dressing. Twang meets sweet.  Together the flavor is "moorish" in the fact that I want more and more and more.

I hope you can appreciate Finnley as my photo assistant.  I have come a long ways since the first few years of taking pictures.  I had this idea that they needed to look perfect.  Those days are long gone.  The pictures you see are my life.  A busy Mom trying to blog, cook, photograph, write, go to school, clean house, help with homework, do homework, be a partner for my husband and still find time to pursue the things I like to do.  Finnley is my life right now and for now on you may see her foot, finger, hand, head, or shoulder in a picture or two.  I wouldn't have it any other way either. I love those little glimpses of her still small frame.

Too soon, I will have an empty home and my life will slow down.  I am trying so hard to find the balance and help my whole family achieve their goals, dreams, and personal educational needs.

It's challenging but so worth it.

Kale Salad with Maple Dijon Salad Dressing

Salad:

4 large winter kale leaves, center vein removed
4 large swiss kale leaves, center vein removed
1/3 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
1/2 cup dried pomegranates
1/2 cup sesame seed covered cashews
1 lemon, juice only

Dressing:

1/4 cup sunflower oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
REAL maple syrup, to taste
salt if needed
pepper to taste
dash of garlic powder

1. Cut the kale and swiss chards into bite size pieces or narrow strips. I like the strips personally.  Add the remaining ingredients; toss to combine.  Squeeze the whole lemon over the salad and massage into the kale and swiss chard.  This should be done before adding the salad dressing.  Let sit for 15 minutes.

2.  In a small bowl, combine salad dressing ingredients.  Taste you product.  Add more mustard or syrup depending on how you think it taste.  Add salt if you think it needs it. Pour all of the dressing over the salad.

3.  Store left over salad in air tight container and refrigerate.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Greek Yogurt with Oranges, Mint and Pistachios


I have officially completed my first week of college.  I have felt many emotions this week: fear, excitement, and joy.  My favorite class is choir.  Yes, I am taking choir because I never took it in high school.  I love to sing and want a chance to work with a teacher to better my skills when it comes to belting out my favorite songs at random times in my life.  I like to say that my life is a musical.  

This little bowl of deliciousness is my favorite flavor combination when enjoying yogurt in the morning.  I can't explain why this combination of flavors works so well together--but it does.  I am not usually a person who eats loudly.  I am a quiet consumer when it comes to my table manners until I eat this.  Then, it's noisy and embarrassing.

I can't help myself.  You have the creamy texture of the yogurt combined with two crunchy elements-the pistachios and chocolate chips.  The tang of the oranges is never the same experience because they all taste different and finally the mint.  The mint is fresh and unexpected.  It is the glue that holds the dish together.  One without the other does not give the same experience.  Believe me I have tried and it doesn't punch the same POW that the original 5 ingredients do.  

I use dark chocolate chips and I unshell my own pistachios. You can use the kind that are already shelled.  I use all types of oranges and have even cheated with a can of canned mandarins.  I have tried this with greek yogurt, honey flavored yogurt and soy yogurt.  

We eat a lot of greek yogurt in our house.  So much that I just bought the system to make our own yogurt.  I plan on using coconut milk for ours. I bought a vegan starter from Amazon that was highly suggested by several blogs I follow.  

Yay me!  I hope it works.



This is our second favorite way to enjoy yogurt.  I have never lived anywhere that we could buy huge bags of cherries.  Well, we can in Oregon and it is amazing!  The come frozen and combine two types.  We heat them in the microwave until warm.  The juice just pours out of them when heated.  The fun part is that your yogurt turns pink.  We add my homemade granola to the mix and ta-da--it's a bowl of desire and comfort. 

To make homemade granola you can try these recipes below.  I make all of these throughout the year.  My newest one is Pecan Pie Granola.  I am still testing it and it should be added soon.





Greek Yogurt with Oranges, Mint and Pistachios
Makes one serving

1/2 cup of your favorite yogurt--plain, honey or vanilla work best
1 orange, peeled and diced into segments
1 teaspoon fresh mint, minced
handful of pistachios-shelled
as many chocolate chips as you want

1.  Grab a bowl and start adding ingredients.  Mine looks pretty just for the picture.





Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Jalapeno Fried Rice




My family has decided if I put jalapeno in any dish I make, it instantly becomes a hit.  This rice dish did not disappoint the family on a day when it was cold, rainy and gray.   

Very, very gray is how I would describe this time of year at the beach.  We get very few brights sunny days and having a bit of color in our food and on our walls helps with the blues.  When we were looking at homes the one thing that seemed to be common in each of the homes we liked were the painted walls.  Not white, cream or beige but bright orange, vibrant blue, canary yellow, and cherry red.  Bright and cheery and a bit of an eye sore when you see these rooms in person.  

I get it now though.  I see why the homes here have a lot of personality on the inside.  Those of us that live on the Oregon Coast spend a great deal of time inside the walls of our brick and mortar dwellings.  What has saved us from being down on these extended gray days are the windows in our own home.  Our living room has 10 huge windows and each and every day we get to watch the gray roll in and the gray roll out.  There is beauty in a monochromatic scene that I did not appreciate until we found ourselves immersed deep inside the gray-dom of living along a stretch of the West Coast that is simply breathtaking.  


I have never lived in a place that is constantly changing.  One day the beach has sand dunes and the next day it is flat.  The logs the size of telephone poles come to the shore with such ease that you forget that they are 25 feet tall.  They stack themselves like toothpicks near the sand dunes and in any nook they can find. Walking on the same beach you will have sun and then rain and probably more sun.

The weather is always changing and the weather is always changing the landscape.    Change, in my opinion, is good.

I guess this why I need to change up our fried rice a bit.  I won't lie and say I don't miss the bacon, egg and fried onion of my old fried rice recipe.  Bacon just adds a level of saltiness and smokiness that is hard to find in other products.  I don't like the Vegan Bacon and so I am learning to live without bacon.  My mind misses it but my body does not.  This body of mine does not process meat very well and we have been eating a plant based diet for some time.  

For this recipe I went with the spicy route.  We love all things hot.  Jalapeno's are a great way to infuse flavor and color into any rice dish.  This dish is flavored with a combination of Tamari (wheat free soy sauce) and Braggs Amino Acids.  I kept the veggies simple: garlic, onion and bell pepper with jalapeños and green onions thrown in at the very end.  

The ingredients on the list are the basics--designed for individuals who don't want raging hot fried rice, BUT, if your dinner crowd likes it extra HOT HOT HOT, well then, you might want to up the Sriracha Sauce and the jalapeños. Just go for it!


Jalapeno Fried Rice 

2-3 cups of day old prepared rice
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1/4 cup red onion, sliced
1/4 cup bell pepper, sliced
1 teaspoon garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce or Tamari sauce
2 tablespoons Braggs Amino Acids
1/2-1 whole fresh jalapeno pepper, I remove the seeds
salt to taste
chopped sliced green onions for garnish
Sriracha Mayonnaise 

1.  Heat oil in large saute pan.  Add onion and bell pepper.  Let cook until tender.  Add garlic.  Cook for 1 minute.

2.  Sprinkle day old rice over cooked vegetables.  Add the soy sauce/tamari/ Braggs and stir.  At this point--add more of these liquids--as needed.  If it looks dry, then add more.  Stir to combine.

3.  Slice jalapeno's thinly and add to cooked rice and vegetables.  Remove from heat and let jalapeños warm and wilt a bit.  

4.  Prepare Sriracha Mayonnaise by combining equal parts--if your brave--and mixing well. OR add more mayonnaise and a dab of the red stuff.   Dish up rice, criss cross the sauce across the top with a piping bag or a spoon and sprinkle with green onions.

OH, and be prepared to share the recipe--people want this one!


Friday, January 1, 2016

Gooey Hasselback Sweet Potatoes


Sweet potatoes in January?  Yep!  We are starting our year off right, in my opinion.

We eat these all year round plus I needed a reason to make marshmallows.  I think everyone needs a reason to make marshmallows.  They are beyond amazing.  I personally don't like the texture of store bought marshmallows and was leary of making them for the kids.

Little did I know that I would be hiding said "crack" from the kids because if they touched my marshmallows--someone was going down.  They are ridiculously easy to make and WAY better than the store bought version.

Now don't go crazy--you can use the store bought marshmallows for this recipe. I still buy them on occasion BUT just in case you want to try and make them yourself--GO HERE!  I love this recipe and mine turn out great each time.



Back to the sweet potatoes.  I was curious about this thing that people are always posting titled " hasselback" this and "hasselback" that.  I dug deeper and found that it has to do with the way you cut your potatoes and there is a recipe that was originated in Sweden. If you would like to see that one--go here!  I'm not sure they would approve of using a sweet potato so don't tell them.  It's our secret.

It's fancy and different.  I wasn't too impressed with it because of the stress I put on myself of cutting the damn thing in half--then what?  I like mine just fine baked the old fashion way but for variety I would suggest trying it for company. A gourmet presentation with a simple technique.

I gussied mine up with homemade marshmallows and a pecan crumble.  After that I didn't care how they were cut.


Gooey Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

4 sweet potatoes
1/4-1/3 batch fresh marshmallows or 4 large store bought marshmallows
pecan crumble--recipe below

Pecan Crumble (Make ahead--see below)
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. chopped pecans 

1.  Preheat oven to 400.  Wash and slice sweet potatoes into thin rows.  Do not cut through the entire potato.  To make this easy, I laid a set of chopsticks out and put the potato in the middle.  Then I held all three together while I sliced away.  The chopsticks prevented me from cutting the potato all the way through. 

2.  I baked the potatoes until soft, about 45-60 minutes in my oven.  I laid the marshmallows across the top and returned to oven until melted.  I added the premade crumble before I served them.

To make the Pecan Crumble: Mix ingredients together and spread in the bottom of a cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Check and add time if needed.  Once cooled, use a metal or plastic spatula and break apart.  I would recommend parchment paper--this helps because you can lift the parchment and break it apart.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Citrus Baked Salmon with Pomegranate



I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday season.  We celebrate Christmas and had family in town.  Now we are trying to justify our food choices and figure out a plan of action.  This dish is on the menu for the week.

If you know a thing or two about Oregon then you know that Oregonians love their salmon.  Our home sits on a bay.  When the weather is good you will find many fishermen up early trying to land a popular Chinook Salmon.

Driving around you will see these said fishermen piled into flat boats all fishing in the same place.  Seriously, you will see 8-10 boats all together with their lines out.  Sometimes you mights see 30 or 40 fishing boats in one spot.  It's a sight to see and during PEAK season--good luck finding parking to even get your boat in the water.

Personally I don't have that kind of desire to hunt fish with a community effort. If we go, I prefer sitting by a quiet creek with little to no foot traffic or boats by the dozen.

We have yet to catch our own salmon.  Cory bought the gear and has tried a few times with his brother from the shore but without a boat I hear it can be tough. Eventually we may have to get a boat.  Although with the amount of rain we might be building an ark soon.

For now I get our salmon like most people do.  At the store.  I try to buy the freshest pieces I can.  Again, this is not hard in my area because we live in a fishing community and I go to the boat and buy it from the mornings catch.  Yes, we are spoiled that way.

If you read my blog, then you know that we don't eat much meat.  We do eat fish on occasion.  Let me explain.  Our not eating meat has nothing to do with animal cruelty.  I am opposed to inhumane conditions of these factory farms that are horrible to their animals.  I don't buy from these places when we do eat meat.  I try to shop locally from sustainable LOCAL farmers and fishermen.  I know the people who are raising the little meat that we do eat.    For me, it is a protein issue.  My body does not like animal protein.  I am able to eat fish without any visible or noticeable issues.  

For this recipe I wanted to try and experiment with spices and herbs.  I went with a coconut and orange juice bath with slices of oranges and lemons.  I added whole anise and cinnamon sticks while the fish was baking.  I also seasoned with salt, pepper, thyme, garlic, and onion salt.  Use any spices you want.  My thinking was to go with flavors that I thought went well together: orange and cinnamon.  These two flavors remind me of winter.  

It's winter.  It's cold.  We had salmon.  Simple stuff Maynard.



Citrus Baked Salmon with Pomegranate 

1 large filet of salmon, this piece measured about 15 inches long
2 oranges (1 for juice and 1 slices to bake with fish)
1 lemon, sliced
1/2 pomegranate, seeds only
2 whole anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 can of full fat coconut milk
2 teaspoons curry powder
salt, pepper to taste
garlic powder
onion powder
fresh thyme, minced

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Oil a baking dish.  Lay filet in the bottom of baking dish.

2.  Add all of the ingredients (except the pomegranate seeds).  The fat from the coconut milk I scooped on top (see picture above) and poured the liquid in the bottom of the dish.  I seasoned the fish by sprinkling said spices across the top. I don't have a heavy hand and never measure this method. I use it for all of my fish dishes.  It works for us.

3.  Lay the slices of lemon and orange across the salmon.  I added the juice from one orange to the coconut milk--notice the orange color when baked--to add flavor and to extend the broth.

4.  Bake fish until flaky.  Salmon cooks fairly fast.  I usually check it after 15 minutes.  Each oven is different so keep that in mind.

5.  We serve the salmon in steaks over rice and sprinkle the pomegranate seeds for color and flavor.

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