Garden Chat and a Recipe

The best part about living in the middle of two Italian families as well as having an Italian Step Mother, is that we are constantly being given fresh vegetables from their and their families gardens. :)

We get fresh lettuce, fresh tomatoes, fresh cucumbers, the list goes on and on and it never gets old. The recipes you can make with fresh vegetables always taste so much better then what you buy at a supermarket and something about the look of a nicely grown green onion from your neighbour's yard is a good way of knowing that you are nourishing your body as well with fresh produce. :)

I attempted to make a tuna salad with some of the lettuce and onions we received, but I'm not a huge fish fan so I got really grossed out and fed it to my dogs, ha. If you like tuna though, you'll love the salad.

What You'll Need:

• Sun Dried Tomato Tuna (or if you can't find that, a jar of sundried tomatos in oil and a can of tuna)
• One Tomato, quartered
• A fresh head of lettuce, chopped
• Green Onion, chopped
• 2 tbs of Olive Oil
• 1 Lemon, Freshly Squeezed
• Salt, Pepper to taste
• Garlic Salt

Mix it all together and you have a salad. Easy Peezy

Salmon Salad & Dill Gouda

Man, not having a computer sucks.
I swear to you that I've actually been taking photos of my cooking but I have no where to plug my camera into! So for now, I give you instagrams!!!

Anyway, I'm trying desperately hard to enjoy salmon because it's so so good for you... but I'm sorry. I just can't... UNLESS it is on the Barbecue in which case, it gives it a smokey flavour and doesn't taste like I just scooped up a salmon from the water with my bare hands and ate it. That's what baked salmon reminds me of...marinated or not. Sigh. Sorry.

But I did create a final attempt at the fish last night and sort of masked the foul flavour with all the veggies and dressing that were in with it. And for salmon lovers, hey. Maybe you might just enjoy this!

The Recipe is from an amazing new blog that I just found but slightly adapted by me. Enjoy!

Oh and before I forget, here's a picture of Gouda because well, Gouda is just awesome.

Salmon Salad:

What you'll need (Recipe is for 1 so you can adapt for your family or friends):

Salad

• Marinated Herb & Wine Salmon (I only used 1 fillet because I made it for myself)
• 1 Red Pepper
• 1/3 of a Red Onion
• 1 Avacodo
• A TEENY Bit of Orzo Pasta (To cut down the carbs ;) )
• 4-5 Artichoke Hearts, Sliced.
• Lettuce of your choosing.. I used a mix of Romaine and Red Leaf.
• Crumbled Feta

Dressing

• 1/3 cup of Olive Oil
• 1/3 cup of Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 tsp Onion Mix
• 1 1/4 tsp dry oregeno
• 1 1/4 tsp dry basil
• 1 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp of Sweet Onion Mustard

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Mix up all the ingredients for your dressing and then set aside.
• Wrap your salmon in tinfoil and put in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or when salmon is flaking.
• Cook your orzo according to package.
• Slice all of your veggies.
• When the orzo is cooked, put in a salad bowl and add 1/3 of your dressing mix and toss to coat. Then add in all of your vegetables and add the... 2nd 3rd? haha.
• Your salmon should be cooked by now, so take it out flake it with a fork and then add to the salad.
• Add the remainder of your dressing. Toss to coat... ENJOY :D

Salmon

I'm sort of new to the whole seafood thing but over the past couple months, I've started to really enjoy lobster and even crab!
I've tried Salmon in the past but I always found it very fishy tasting so I turned up my nose to any offerings.
But on Sunday, I ate dinner at John's house and his parents barbecued a herb and wine Salmon and I tried a bit... and holy man was it ever delicious! I didn't taste any fishyness at all!
So last night, I decided that after yoga (and a really bad back strain.. ugh) I was going to bake salmon! And I did.. with dill and lemon.. and I think it turned out pretty good!
I had to mix it in with brown rice though because on it's own, I sort of felt like I was drinking "fish water". That's just how it seemed, okay?! haha.
I'm going to try one more method maybe next week and that's to put maple syrup on it. It might mask the fishy flavour.. but if not.. I'm going to stick to keepin' it on the Barbie! :)
And I forgot to take any pictures because I was too hungry.. but you would've liked the look of it, I promise!